Three animals lumbered across the site toward Chadrick. And they definitely fit the bill of Grand's description: monstrous. It looked like someone had taken the head of a hyena, stuck it onto the neck of an ostrich, and stitched it to a raptor's body.
One of the creatures, which had bits of chain crisscrossing its torso, stopped at the hole where Chadrick had first discovered the artifact. Its neck dropped to the ground while oily eyes stayed on the archeological team.
Grung, grung, grung, grung, grung, grung came guttural sniffs from the bottom of its neck. Chadrick's lip curled in disgust. Instead of nostrils at the end of its face, this creature's nostrils were on the bottom side of its throat. It stopped and rose up on two hind legs. Membranous skin whipped open from behind both ears while its head moved around like some prehistoric satellite dish.
The creature found him.
Reegh!
Chadrick scrambled for the closest hovertruck. Clattering chains moved toward him. He reached for the handle. It was locked. Claws grabbed at his back and forced him down. He flipped over and found himself looking back at a canine mouth. It opened, revealing teeth for gutting set in a jaw for tearing. He heard his own machine gun breath. The creature's neck slithered over until the two neck nostrils found his face. The nostrils flared, sniffed, growled, and then sniffed unsatisfied. It turned to the briefcase in his shaking hand.
Grrrrh.
The creature's gaze returned to Chadrick. Its bottom jaw unhinged with serpentine ease. Between rows of teeth pulsed a tubular, pink throat. He closed his eyes for what he knew would be the last time in his life.
"Ooh," he moaned.
A long, oily tongue licked his hand.
The membrane fans folded behind the creature's head, and it looked back at the other two who were currently investigating their own team members.
Schreeg-gah! It commanded them. In a gravelly voice, it said, "We're too late! His grandfather now has the key! We can't allow him to activate the machine."
A terrifying scream came from all the monsters at once. Their chorus of horror caused the entire archeological team to drop to their knees and cover their ears.
"If the boy uses the key, then they'll escape Earth. This cannot happen!"
In one strange movement, all the heads lifted northward and in the direction of Grand.
And just like that, they marched away.
Chadrick rolled over. He watched the tip of the last creature's tail disappear into the jungle. What were they? He recalled the Sheriff's trackers that Ludwig had written about in his stardust letter. The project leader had been on the run from them for a long time.
He shook his head and thought, Project leader leaves babbling about his grandson? Says he needs to fetch Nikolas and complete the mission? Monsters attack the site? Attack me? They're after the boy, Nikolas. I could…I could try to warn the boy the monsters are coming. In order to do that, I'd have to be a … hero?
"A hero," Chadrick said the words out loud. He knew what he had to do next.
He tapped the inside of his eardrum.
A voice answered, "Communication One. How may I connect you?"
"Chadwell Melbourne, please."
"Connecting…"
"Yo?"
"Chadwell…"
"You asked me if I wanted to start a line of clothing for Chihuahuas. The answer is: yes."
Heroes were suckers, Chadwick decided at that moment. And he didn't want to have any part of it. And so Chadwick retired from archaeology and became a moderately successful producer of scarves and leggings for Chihuahuas. Never again did he have to worry about a hyena-faced monster and some crazy old man talking about how his grandson, Nikolas Lyons had to use a key to turn on some machine and save the Merfolk.