Kekona's Story - Deadly Predator in The Village

Kekona has only just left Hollowbell behind. From a thorn-choked ridge, she overlooks a shallow ravine where a small camp rests beneath the cold night sky.

Mara Venn, lean-built with a freckled olive face beneath her dark braids,, a young adult woman with dark braided hair and a russet cloak, tends the banked fire. Old Tovin, his lined ruddy face and wiry hands visible beneath the patched wool,, a bent elderly man in patched gray wool, checks the tethered animals.

Serik Holt, his close-cropped brown hair and sun-browned skin framing the scarred cheek,, a broad young adult man with a scarred cheek and green vest, lowers a leather pack. Nella Quill, her narrow face and pale skin framed by wisps of brown hair beneath the hood,, a slight young woman in a blue hood, unloads provisions beside him.

The camp lies tightly screened by thorn trees. Leather packs, warm bodies, and nervous animals fill the ravine, while steep banks leave only two narrow routes away.

Wind carries smoke, sweat, leather, and grain uphill toward Kekona. Below, none of the travelers look toward her black silhouette as the fire settles into red coals.

Kekona descends from the thorn-choked ridge, folding her long legs beneath her as she drops into the ravine. Her shadow sweeps over the fire and startled animals.

She lands among the thorn trees beside the camp, crushing brush and scattering red coals. The mules rear against their tethers while packs spill across the earth.

Mara snatches a short spear from beside the fire and backs toward the steeper bank. Her russet cloak catches sparks as the other travelers scramble around her.

Serik raises the leather pack like a shield, while Nella freezes beside the provisions. Old Tovin fumbles at the mule ropes, his face drained beneath the firelight.

Kekona surges through the thorn brush toward Nella. The young woman turns too late, blue hood snapping back as the manticore’s shadow engulfs her beside the spilled provisions.

Nella thrusts a provision sack between them, but Kekona’s paw crushes through it and pins her against the ravine wall. Grain bursts across the dirt.

Kekona closes her jaws around Nella and kills her. In the struggle, Nella’s heel scatters a bed of red coals against Kekona’s foreleg, burning the black fur and filling the camp with sparks.

Kekona lifts Nella from the earth and devours her amid the torn sack and glowing embers. The mules scream against their tethers as smoke coils around the predator’s wounded foreleg.

Serik abandons the pack and hauls himself toward the bank while Mara levels her spear. Old Tovin fumbles at the nearest rope, hands shaking as the camp erupts around Kekona.

Kekona hisses, a harsh trumpet of warning, and her tail slips through the smoke. Its bare tip ends in a single stinger, which drives into Mara’s spear arm.

Mara’s spear drops into the coals. Poison spreads from the puncture, stiffening her arm as she stumbles backward against the thorn-choked bank.

Serik reaches the bank’s first ledge and looks back. Old Tovin hacks through a mule rope, freeing one animal as it bolts past the fire.

Mara sinks to one knee, clutching her numbed arm while the stinger withdraws. Sparks drift across her russet cloak, and Kekona stands over her through the smoke.

Kekona lowers her blood-scented muzzle over Mara. The poisoned woman braces one hand against the thorn bank, her spear arm hanging uselessly as smoke veils the camp.

Kekona’s jaws close around Mara and lift her from the earth. The russet cloak twists against black fur while embers glow beneath the manticore’s wounded foreleg.

Mara’s cry ends beneath Kekona’s teeth. She devours the helpless woman beside the bank, consuming cloak, flesh, and bone as the fire gutters around them.

Old Tovin reaches the ledge and hauls himself upward. Serik follows, but the freed mule crashes through the thorn screen below, dragging its trailing rope toward the darkness.

Kekona lunges after the fleeing pair, trampling thorn brush and scattering ash as Serik and Old Tovin scramble up the ledge toward the dark ridge.

Her long legs carry her onto the ledge before they reach the ridge. A hooked thorn tears through the fur of her wounded foreleg, drawing fresh blood but failing to slow her.

Serik turns back, abandoning the higher path to seize Tovin’s wrist. Kekona crashes into them, pinning both men against the rocky bank beneath her shadow.

The chase has ended with both survivors trapped within Kekona’s reach. Below, the mule’s trailing rope snaps against the thorn trees, and the campfire dies into smoke.

Kekona bears down on the pinned men, her wounded foreleg bleeding where the hooked thorn tore through black fur. Serik strains against her paw, shielding Tovin as best he can.

Kekona ignores the plea and closes her jaws around Serik. His protest ends beneath her teeth as she lifts him from the rocky bank, green vest scraping against her muzzle.

She devours Serik beside the ledge, crushing leather and bone while Tovin remains trapped beneath her other forepaw. Blood mingles with ash, and the ridge carries every wet crunch.

Kekona seizes Old Tovin next and lifts him from the stones. His patched wool tears against her teeth, then his voice disappears as she consumes him completely.

The men are dead, but the cost lands in the smoke and blood: Kekona’s foreleg burns with pain, and her heavy feeding scatters loose stones down the dark slope.