Continued in pt.2...

I crawled on my one hand and knee’s for an indeterminate amount of time, the concept of minutes and hours faded to be replaced by the halting repetition of shuffling my knee’s forward with a brief pause to move my supporting hand along. I noticed that the texture of the floor became gritty, I’m sure that I was starting to shuffle through sand. A dim refracted  light was starting to reveal the floor and the walls of the tunnel. It was indeed sand I was crawling through, it was coarse and yellow with the walls of the tunnel were dark grey rock. Confident that the arrival of light into this narrow tunnel was a declaration that the end of this uncomfortable journey I picked up my pace.

Poking my head out of the exit to the tunnel a desertscape presented itself. The gently undulating sandbanks were punctuated with large mounds of the same dark grey rock that I had just crawled through. They rose abruptly from the ground more as if placed on top of the sand as supposed to it forming from the ground. My view was foreshortened by a black fog, with visibility of over a mile impossible.

I stood from the tunnel, my journey here thus far having made perfect sense to me I was suddenly overcome by the strangeness of my predicament. A wave of nausea plumbed its fathomable claim on me as I staggered a few steps forward. I struggled to comprehend just how it was I came to be in this foreign and alien land. Just as I could feel an incomprehensible rave start to work its way through my body I was dumbfounded by what my eyes took in. A gargantuan reptilian head writhed its way through the dark smog. It was easily thirty yards across, teeth and rough scales protruding unkempt from its face. What’s more it was clearly over one hundred feet from the floor and travelling at quite the pace straight for me.  I had little time to wonder at the even thicker beastly body that contorted behind the monstrous head as the very same survival instinct that saw me through two bloody wars kicked in and I ran for cover.

The gust of wind that battered my body as it passed over me, still some distance from any cover, knocked me clean off my feet. I turned on the floor to at least see my killer, but the beast seemed quite uninterested in me. I watched yard after yard of scaled body pass before my eyes, details were hard to make out due to the pace of the beast. I perceived the occasional limb which seemed somewhat redundant as the beast seemed to use its body to beat its way through the air, much like some of the snakes I’ve witnessed swimming it the tropical regions of the far east. After several minutes of me lying on my back staring at the body of strange animal pass not too far from my head it started to thin leaving a whipping tail chasing the rest of it. I stood to look after it disappearing into the murky sky.

Dusting myself off I came to realise I was quite out of my depth, but thanks to my innate survival instinct and my hardy demeanour I dusted myself off and went to retrieve my abandoned coat and hat. For panicking now would not help any chance of me living to see my beloved home again. I must try to retrace my steps I can remember thinking, amongst several prayers to any god whom might have the inclination to be listening to me, for where I came in should surely lead to my way out. Picking both out the sand and dusting them off, I put them on whilst looking for my footprints in the sand. My heckles aroused as I sensed something approach me from behind. I turned to not only see another behemoth loom through the mire of sky but dozens. These beasts were different in composition but most similar in size. I saw what looked like elongated big cat’s to misshapen horses, a myriad of beasts completely alien yet disturbingly familiar were all twisting their way across the sky. I was in awe of this sight.

With so much to take in a once and with a little more perspective between me and the animals I was better able to take in the details of them. On each of their backs were sickly protrusions, which looked like vast tumours of ill growth. The smog that beseeched this land poured forth from these growths leaving inky trails settling in the beasts’ wake. I noticed that they were weaving close to the rocky outcrops.

A familiar grating voice told me to ‘Climb.’ Rending me from my observant reprieve I glanced about to locate the girl. She was nowhere to be seen, but I deemed I should follow her suggestion. I ambled up to the rocky mound that I came out from; looking for an easy path up, it wasn’t a difficult climb. As I neared the top I looked in the direction that they were flying in from and saw that a beast like a huge malformed tiger was flying in my direction. I could see what might be described as a pained expression on its face.

‘Climb.’ Her voice came again.

‘I cannot get higher!’ I declared to this world. No sooner had I finished shouting I heard an unearthly scream berate my eardrums on many different levels. I staggered as a burst of tinnitus whined through my ears. Looking up I saw what looked like a much smaller version of the reptilian airborne beasts was stamping its way toward me on long stick like limbs came across the sand. Maybe it’s an ingrained knowledge from our early animal years that told me that I was very much prey to this very hungry predator.

What sounded like the rapid and heavy beating of wings encroached on my hearing, I turned to see what looked like a massive ladybird hovering a few meters away. ‘Are you still confident you made the correct decision?’ Her voice was clear in my mind yet the whine of my ears was replaced by a rage of noise that was the wind shear from the great tiger like beast passing very close by me.

‘What are you?’ I shouted over the noise.

‘You could not begin comprehend the answer when you’ve more pressing matters at hand, now climb before you’re food, climb!’

The rapid thud of the smaller beast brought my attention back to my immediate surrounds. It was yards from where I stood; quickly I rolled to the opposite side of the stack. It’s monstrous head peered at me as it curled it’s neck around the rock. Clinging to the rock with my fingertips I scrabbled for foot purchase finding it just as it lurched for me snapping at the rock where I was just clinging I kicked around the rock leaping and pulling with every fibre of strength I had. It was twisting its body around the narrow stack of rock while trying to find purchase of a descent lunge at me. Hurriedly I began to think, I couldn’t keep climbing around this rock I could feel myself tiring already. Where could I go? As I rounded the rock I saw my escape, the tiger-like beast, the long fur of its body was rustling past the very rock I was on. I leapt for a handful of it just as the smaller more dangerous beast snapped at my legs grabbing a mouthful of my long coat. I was thankful for its sharp teeth as they neatly sliced through my coat as I whipped away clinging to the flank of flying behemoth.

‘Climb.’ Her voice taunted me again.

‘I’ll give you bloody climb in a minute missy.’ I muttered under my breath.

I tried to inch up the side of the beast, standing on the ground each loop and twist of the behemoth’s looked stationary as their long bodies passed though the same point but it was all I could do to clutch to the side of the body as I was thrown about somewhat as the beast whipped through the air. My hat was long lost in the ferociously beating wind and whilst I was glad for what warmth my coat could provide its drag though the air weighed heavy on my arms. Just as I thought that the strength of my arms was wan the beast arched up to shoot to the skies. A jolt of adrenaline was all that my body could muster to aid me to cling to the deep fir; the acceleration it put me through was breathtaking. As it levelled off the beast stilled to a gentle glide above the murk that had enveloped the land.  Grabbing tufts of fir and clamping it between my feet I shimmied up the side of the beast.

As I crept on to the flat back I looked up to encompass my new surrounds. The dense cloud of smog appeared to cling to the surface of this world, dumbstruck I stared at the crimson sky; it fell to a deep sanguine at the horizon with an infinite array of strange stars penetrating through past the glare of a huge white and pink moon. The ruffle of my hair brought my senses back from the vastness of the sky. Thin trails of smoke gently fell from the foul nodes running down the length of the stripped body. The head of the beast was small in the distance, it was soaring straight and true. I could make out in the periphery of my vision other massive beasts breaking the surface of the murk all around, though they seemed not to stay above for long.

Closer afoot the ladybird was clamped to the back a little ways up from me; I felt steady enough to stand on the massive back. It was time for some answers. I strode toward it and as I took a breath to speak she unmoving said. ‘Answers, answers. First questions you must find. He wishes to speak with you.’ And with a twin flick of her antenna dismissed me. If answers I wanted it wasn’t from her that I’d be getting them.