Shalia's Diary Read Online Free PDF

the occasional oak here and there.  I kept low as I moved among the pine trees, practically crawling and straining to hear the least little sound.  I got to one of the oaks, a big, massive thing, almost prehistoric in size.  Another stretch of pines lay before me, which would put me in danger of exposure once more.  On the other side of those waited a big boulder that I could hide behind and catch my breath.  After that, the cover would thicken again. 
     
    I was halfway to the boulder when something putrid began to stink up the place.  It smelled like a dumpster filled with rotting food.  The farther I crept, the worst the stench got.  I thought that once I got behind that rock, I’d have to puke my guts up.  It smelled that horrible.
     
    My eyes were absolutely watering only a few feet from my boulder.  My stomach twisted, getting ready to heave.  I could even taste that noxious poison on my tongue.  I thought there must be a dead animal up ahead, something bloated and decomposing in the hot, muggy Georgia summer.  I kept my eyes open for it, because if I stumbled and landed on it, I would be projectile vomiting.
     
    Then the fucking boulder I headed for and had gotten to only an arm’s length away from – it moved.  It came up and stood on two thick legs, about seven feet of monster looming over me.  Its chipped tusks gleamed in the moonlight, surrounding a rounded snout.  A fucking Tragoom.  A motherfucking, Shalia-killing Tragoom.
     
    It’s no wonder the damned thing looked like a rock, crouching there at the edge of the trees.  Tragooms look like the bastard children of a pig, a rhinoceros, and Mount Everest.  That was where the stink came from.  Those massive, nasty creatures will eat anything – or anyone – they can catch.  I had walked right up to it.
     
    It lunged for me, and I didn’t even have to think.  My arm jackhammered the knife I held, trying to stab the thing in its massive chest.  Rough, tree bark hands – paws – hooves – whatever it uses to grab – wrapped around my upper arms.  The blade bounced harmlessly off its hide.  The Tragoom jerked me close to its rancid body.  Its mouth opened wide, sending carrion stench boiling out, and I thought, I’m going to die and the last thing I’ll know is this smell of other dead things it’s eaten.
     
    Then something hit the Tragoom with the force of a runaway train.  The Tragoom let go of me and squealed a shriek.  Something roared just like a lion, and I thought maybe some animal had gotten loose from a zoo.  Except the closest zoo I know of was in Atlanta, and that’s just a crater now.
     
    So thinking these stupid thoughts, I fell to the ground as the Tragoom and something not quite as big fought.  They rolled out of the trees towards the road.  In the moonlight, I could see a human form struggling with the monster.  Then the s hwoop sound of a percussion blaster went off, and the Tragoom collapsed to the ground. It didn’t move any more. 
     
    The other figure that looked human stood up, its silhouette tall and muscled.  He stared towards me and said, “Are you all right, Matara?”
     
    I knew that deep, smooth voice even though it was a little out of breath.  It was Dramok Dusa, the Kalquorian who’d left food for me and Mom, along with a promise he’d see us in a few days.  The very reason I was out here tempting Tragooms to snack on me.
     
    I didn’t answer.  I turned and ran all the way back home, expecting the Kalquorian to grab me at any moment.  I made it without being captured.  Though my lungs burned like fire and I did finally puke, I pushed furniture against the front and back doors, to try and keep Dusa out.  To keep us safe from all the things running around out there in the dark.
     
    When I was a kid, I thought the bogeyman was a real thing, something that could pounce on me at any moment after the lights went out.  I knew that monsters roamed the night no matter what the