The Dragon Sorceress

Part 6 - The Camazotz

It took several minutes for their eyes to adjust to the darkness of the forest, but the sprites stayed close to the river's edge, where the light of the moon was strongest. After what felt like ten minutes of uninterrupted jogging, they finally veered deeper into the forest and through a thick patch of large, thorny bushes.

Heavy breathing filled the small space in which they huddled together. Julia landed on a branch and held her finger over her mouth while pointing to a clearing in the forest to their right where a beast kneeled, its body hunched over a man. "We must be very quiet. The camazotz has extraordinary hearing."

"What's going on?" Drake asked. "I've never heard of a camazotz. If we hope to help your friend, then you need to tell us what we're up against."

Cassidy jumped onto his shoulder and peered around at the group. "It's a demon bat as big as you, Drake."

"With huge fangs," Julia whispered, "for sucking blood."

"And very strong wings," Cassidy said, taking flight and landing on his nose. "If we don't hurry, he'll drag Ranger Tavis up into the Tree of Death."

"Why is it called the Tree of Death?" Harold asked, staring hard into the dark forest.

Julia's eyes widened in her little round face. "Because once he drags you up into his lair, you're never seen again."

"Well, that's just great," Ferra hissed, her eyes shooting daggers at Julia. "Why did you bring us here? I'm mean, look at him." She pointed at the forest ranger lying still on the ground one hundred feet away with a ridiculously large bat attached to his jugular. "He's already a goner. For all we know, every last drop of blood has already been sucked out of him."

"Oh no," Cassidy whispered. "It will take at least three or four feedings to empty him. Don't you know anything about bats? They puncture the skin and then lick up the blood. Ranger Tavis is quite large."

Julia's eyes narrowed on Ferra and sized her up from head to toe. "Now, if it was you...well, that would be a different story. You're nothing more than an appetizer."

"Enough already," Kali whispered with her eyes glued on the grotesque hairy back of the creature. The sheer size of the wings set her heartbeat racing. "If what you're saying is true, then we need to act fast. I can kill it with an arrow, but I'd feel better if someone distracted it. Got it away from Ranger Tavis so I don't hit him by mistake. It's still quite dark."

"I nominate Harold," Ferra whispered. "He's good with animals. Maybe he can calm it."

"What?" Harold spun his head around and swiped a bead of sweat away from his forehead. "I've never even heard of a camazotz before. You're the thief. You do it. Isn't that your specialty? Sneaking up on people unawares?"

"That's not people! It's a monstrously large bat who would suck the life out of me in a flash. You might be skinny, but at least you're every bit as tall as Drake and that guy over there." Ferra turned to the only other male in their party. "Or maybe you should go, Drake. It'll be good practice for fighting the dragon sorceress. They both have wings."

"Oh, my gosh," Drake hissed, shaking his head. "You're a bunch of babies. I'll do it."

"No, wait." Kali reached over to grab his arm. "You're all going. I want each of you to spread out. Ferra, you're the lightest on your feet, so you head over to the gathering of bushes on the opposite side. Drake, head to the crop of trees right over there," she said pointing slightly to the right of the bat and his victim. "And you go behind the Tree of Death, Harold. In two minutes, I'll send Julia and Cassidy zipping out. When they reach the camazotz, you'll all spring out of your hiding spots and shout. It'll be confused and ideally stand up, looking for a way to escape. And that's when I'll shoot it."