Free Shadow Borne by Angie West

full height, the
Coatyl went way beyond butt ugly. I occupied the darkest part of
the room, not moving, hardly breathing. Five, four. Move away from
the window. Three, two. It moved. The arrow sliced across the room;
its aim was true.
    The deadly animal was pinned by the arrow
that protruded from its chest and secured it to the wall beside the
kitchen window. The Coatyl looked similar enough in form to a
person, but the fact that they walked upright on two legs, were in
possession of two arms, a head, and a torso was where the
similarity ended.
    The torso I'd pierced was thin, bony and
elongated. These animals were designed for speed not brawn; they
were pretty much helpless against any sort of weapon that could
pierce the skin. Despite this well known fact, the Coatyl were one
of the most feared creatures in Terlain; adults spoke of them in
hushed tones and children hid safe and warm beneath their blankets
and whispered spooky tales to one another of the fanged, pale
beasts that hunted human blood.
    Hell, I snorted as I
watched the five-inch razor sharp nails, claws really, twitch and
writhe and scratch deep grooves into my kitchen wall. Thin rivulets
of liquid dripped down the faded wallpaper; Too close . I realized abruptly and
backed up a step. The liquid that dripped from it's talon-like
fingernails was a neuro-toxin that would at the very least make me
sick and at worst, lay me out flat if I got close enough for the
thing to scratch me.
    The creature was naked, although it had no
discernible 'private' parts. It was so pale it almost seemed to
generate its own light, hanging there as it was. Above the
creature's harsh breathing and the pounding of my own heart, I
suddenly heard a plop, plop, plop sound from the window next to
where I stood with the Coatyl. Shit. It was raining.
    Well, why not, I glowered. "Because I was
just saying to myself, 'you know what would make this night
complete? A storm'." I muttered in disgust an instant before I had
a terrible thought that had nothing to do with rain showers.
    The Coatyl were pack hunters. "Did you bring
friends?" I murmured, more to myself than the Coatyl. He couldn't
understand me and anyway they weren't capable of speech. Damn. My
eyes cut to the open window. Were there more of them out there?
    "Wouldn't you like to know?"
    I gasped at the dark,
gritty whisper that came at me, sinister and ugly in the small
kitchen. I almost spun around to face the unseen assailant who had
somehow managed to get the drop on me, before reality kicked in and
it hit me that the Coatyl had raised its pale head. Deep set eyes
were glaring malevolently at me from a bloodless, sunken face. Long
strings of hair framed a narrow, bony face and those
teeth... don't show fear.
    But, oh how difficult that was–the Coatyl
had just spoken to me. It wasn't possible.
    "What did you say?" I demanded in a harsh
whisper.
    "I said maybe I'm," the thing coughed,
"alone. And maybe I'm not."
    It smiled at me then, smug
even though he was pinned to a wall and at death's door. Why wasn't
he dead yet? I wondered idly. He–the thing sounded like a 'he'
anyway, was talking; my numb senses processed the implausibility of
that with grim finality. He was talking . Part of me wanted to recoil
from the intensity of the Coatyl's death stare and say no way
because it wasn't possible. The Coatyl did not talk. They were
mindless, violent animals that hunted in packs. They were not
intelligent. But...
    Acceptance crashed over me in a sickening
torrent, this one was. I could see the awareness flickering in his
eyes, just beyond the malice that plainly said the thing would rip
me in two if he weren't stuck to my kitchen wall. Yes, he was very
conscious of what was going on.
    "Why?" I breathed, "How? How are you
talking? Coatyl don't talk. They–you've never talked." I was
babbling but there didn't seem to be any help for it. What had I
stumbled upon this night? Rather, what had stumbled upon me?
    I eyed the disgusting, slightly