First Encounter #4

Out among the shorter trees and mounds of scree, Talon and Daiv clung to the meagre reins of the montiger. This one was called Durga, the fastest in Yerz and more than fast enough to outrun the puppethead. For Talon, the constant rocking was making his work difficult.

'Couldn't we go by a more direct route?' he asked as Daiv handled the creature's ducking and weaving across the mountain side. Talon had almost finished the makeshift trap, a heavy fishing net with sinkers strapped to each side. At one of Durga's leaps Talon dropped the sixth sinker.

'Dammit!' he said. 'This won't work, there's not enough weight.'

Daiv tried to be optimistic, pausing to guide the montiger over a barely visible creek.

'You'll confuse it, right? Maybe that's all we need.'

Talon folded the net several times, trying prepare for when they arrived at the saddle.

'I think we're keeping pace,' said Daiv. 'On the road we'd have caught him back behind the ridge, but we wouldn't –' The montiger growled.

'I think we're just about there.'

Lookout Ridge oversaw most of the southern forest and the foothills before the plains. It was also very exposed to the mountain trail below but the Ferran puppethead had not yet caught up with them. Behind him, through the gaps in the trees, Talon thought he saw the man running along the winding road.

Talon dismounted and slid down the rocky ridge. He crouched behind the larger of several boulders that lined the pass, and before long the puppethead ran past. Just ahead, Talon could hear it slow down. Daiv and Durga had blocked its path.

'You've got to turn around and give my friend his body back,' said Daiv. Durga took several steps forwards but its rider murmured something and the montiger stopped.

'How are you going to stop me?' the thing said in a conceited, condescending tone that reminded Talon of the voice that his father had put on, back when he read tales of the dastardly conquestors before bedtime.

'I only need to touch you and then you'll be trapped here as I run away,' the puppethead gloated.

'I didn't expect monsters to be so verbose,' said Daiv. 'Talon, now!'

The boy leapt from his hollow. He thought of fighting fish on the lake during the best of times – especially when Ferran told him he was the best fisherman of Yerz since his own father. He heaved the net while holding onto the nearer reaches and let it collapse without grace over Ferran's body.

The puppethead fell forward but did not appear to be injured, and Talon backed away quickly so he would not touch it. The thing struggled and rolled over.

'You didn't really think this through, did you?' it said. 'How dumb can you monkeys get?'

Talon growled angrily. 'What is your problem? Why do you things even care about “us monkeys”?'

The puppethead was almost out from under the net when a noise caught both human and monster's attention. The sky behind Talon had begun the pre-glow of dawn and outlined against it was a massive upside-down, tear-drop shape, floating towards them like a jellyfish of the air.

'Step a little to the right, if you please, Talon,' the voice rang over the mountains. At the same time, the inscrutable mound of lake bed that hid Ferran in the puppethead body was approaching along the pass.

The voice from the hot air balloon continued, magnified by a large horn that glinted in a little of the approaching daylight.

'Attached to this rather unassuming craft is a sort of gyroscope-stabilised cannon. For your information, it is aiming directly at you, lake monster.' The voice was of the Big Honch. 'If you don't return to your own body, quickly and without a fuss, I will blast a hole in you.'

'You don't even know how to use it!' yelled the monster. It ventured a lunge at Talon who ran straight for Ferran.

'Ah, no,' said the Honch. 'None of that funny stuff. It's your own body or none at all.'

'You're bluffing, monkey,' the thing yelled back.

'And you somehow think it's worth taking that chance?'

The puppethead appeared to dance, or at least jump around like a nervous child.

'I don't think this is...' Ferran started saying. He was breathing very quickly. 'I'm not going to last.'

Talon watched as his teacher convulsed, trying to suck in air but without the lung capacity to do so.

'You've run out of time, interloper,' said the voice of the Honch.

The puppethead stamped up to Ferran and clasped the beaked head with its hands. Talon jumped backwards in case of – in case of nothing. There was no sound, no bright flash of light. Ferran's body crumpled and the puppethead stumbled to its left and into a tree, shaking the ground as it too collapsed. It exhaled for the last time in an agonised curse.

'Are you alright?' Talon said, kneeling by the body of his teacher as he sat up, rubbing his forehead. Daiv dismounted Durga and joined them.

'How can we be sure?' he asked. Ferran seemed to be shaking.

'I know,' said Talon. 'Where did you find us last night?'

'Ugh... the old tree house?' Ferran stood up.

'Welcome back,' Talon said. He extended a hand. Ferran was still jittery as he shook it.

'Are you all there?' Daiv said.

'You can't believe what it feels like to be... so weak and helpless...' their teacher began. 'That thing,' he pointed to the puppethead, somehow looking less like a mound of dirt and more like a tangled mass of arms, 'it was using me.'

'It doesn't look the same any more.'

'I was ashamed,' Ferran said. 'I made it look like the thing was hidden under a mound of weeds and sand, apart from whole lot of actual weeds and sand.'

'They can do that?' Talon said.

'They can't really change shape but – I guess that's why they do the other thing.'

The hot air balloon was nearly overhead, and amidst the clanking sounds of the Honch trying to keep it level he let down a rope ladder.

'Good to have you back, Ferran,' he said.

The three on the ground climbed into the basket. To Talon's surprise there actually was a kind of cannon attached to the side.

'Boys,' the Big Honch said, 'I'm sorry for acting so ignorantly, I should have seen this coming.'

'How could you have seen it coming? What do you mean?'

The Honch ignored the question and turned to Ferran.

'I don't know how I can ever make it up to you. I would not have lifted a finger to save you from those things.'

'You did a pretty decent job of saving us all just then,' the fishing teacher said. 'Anyway, it's good that you're willing to fight. We're going to need everyone in Yerz to stop this war.'

The Honch adjusted a secondary burner and piloted the balloon back to the village, and fittingly enough, towards the rising sun.

This is the last of the First Encounter series of stories.  Talon, Daiv, the puppetheads and more will return in "The Puppethead War" which (I hope) should start soon.  In the meantime I've been working on Search for Dastardly, the next instalment of which should be ready by this time next week.