Chapter 3

Yixing heard Kris’ and Luhan’s elated gasps at everything new. The entire island was so full of greenery, and they had already found a fresh water source, which they drank from greedily. As they gulped down the cool, clean water from the pool, Yixing noticed that there weren’t many animals around. And the ones that were around were extremely large.

Luhan turned around in annoyance when Yixing prodded his shoulder multiple times, with an increasing urgency. “What?” He snarled. He had been too engrossed in filling his belly with the sweet-tasting spring water after days of salty seawater to notice his surroundings.

Yixing’s eyes were fixed on something in the bushes. “What… what in the world is that?”

Luhan followed Yixing’s frightened gaze to the bushes, and what he saw shocked him too. Kris stared on in mute silence, unable to fathom what animal in the bushes was staring at them. None of them had ever seen it before on their island. Yes, when they were born, they had never seen many animals on it to begin with, but even so, the largest animal on the island had been a goat, and it had been a small, sickly one. The last of the herd that had died out by the time they were born. However, this animal in front of them shocked them and took away their powers of speech.

It was a magnificent animal, with a thick, vibrant coat of fur. Black stripes stretched across the orange hairs in an irregular pattern, and strong muscles rippled under the layer of fur. The sheer size of the animal was frightening. It was larger than all three of them put together, and the wicked claws that poked out from its paws looked strong enough to cut a tree in half. But the scariest part of the animal would’ve been the eyes. The amber eyes flickered dangerously at them as it watched the three men crouched by the pool. There were flecks of gold in its irises, and it watched them with caution.

It had probably never seen a man before, and wasn’t sure of their power, Yixing realized. On their walk around the island, they hadn’t come across any human sounds of life. In other words, that large animal was as intimidated by them as they were by it.

Kris was oddly aware of his surroundings, and he noticed how Yixing and Luhan had frozen at his side, hardly daring to move a muscle. The large animal crooked its head and stared at them, whiskers quivering. It looked like what a cat would have looked like, the way he heard Hanwen describe it when he was a child. The whiskers, the footsteps as quiet as the night. But the size. Oh, the size was so different! A cat, Hanwen had said, was the length of his thigh and it came up to mid-shin when the cat was standing. But now, as Kris surveyed the animal, he felt that Hanwen was very wrong. Cats, are a very, very big and scary creature that looks murderous and… almost hungry.

Hungry? Oh, no.

The great cat plodded slowly forwards, eyes narrowing and tail held high in warning. It bared its teeth and loud out a threatening hiss before slinking forwards a few more paces. Yixing’s breath hitched and he leaned back a little, hoping to get away from the animal without startling it.

Just as the gigantic creature had almost reached Luhan, its ears pricked. It kept its eyes on the three of them. However, Yixing could tell that it had heard something, and could only pray that it isn’t another bigger animal. He strained his ears and heard a muffled sound in the distance, and the ground started to shake violently. A growl ripped from its throat that set Yixing’s hairs on end, before it turned tail and raced off, bounding over a fallen tree and out of sight.

“What happened?” Luhan asked, eyes wide, shaking visibly. “What in the world was that?”

“It was a cat.” Kris replied grimly. “And more importantly, why is the ground shaking? And what is that I smell?”

A thick, acrid smoke had filled the air, and dust was all around them in an instant, turning the world grey once more, except it was worse than last night because so many other things were happening that were a cause for alarm. The shrieking sounds of animals had broken the silence that hung over them moments before and the shaking of the ground had intensified. Yixing cursed under his breath and struggled to retain his balance after he fell against a swaying tree.

“What’s going on?” Kris cried out in terror when a tree collapsed right in front of him, nearly knocking him out.

The three of them stared at each other with fear in their eyes, unable to give an answer to Kris’ question. Just then, a brown-coloured animal covered in spotted fur burst into the clearing. It’s long, spindly legs quivered in surprise when it saw the three of them. It was much like a goat, but different somehow. However, it ignored their presence and bounded between the three of them, brandishing its antlers menacingly.

However, it didn’t get far. A large mass of something landed on it, falling from the sky. Yixing felt the heat before he saw what it was. He felt as if his skin was being scorched off, even from a distance. Sweat immediately began to pour down his back. The animal screeched in pain when the glowing red, sticky liquid covered it. Its dying cries filled the three men’s ears and they watched on in horror as the deer died in front of them. The liquid seemed to have melted the animal’s body with an immense amount of heat. The stench of burning flesh saturated the air. Yixing continued to stare on in shock as the glowing red liquid slowly oozed towards them, burning everything in its path. Even nearby plants shriveled from the heat.

“Let’s go!” Someone yanked his arm, jolting him to his senses. Yixing followed behind Luhan and Kris as they ran for the shore. As they crashed through the jungle noisily, animals ran ahead of them in a wild frenzy, desperate to get away from the heat. As they ran, Yixing became more and more aware of the rising temperatures behind him. Risking a glance back, his eyes widened when he saw bright red lava surging towards them, consuming everything around it.

“Faster!” Yixing gasped, pushing on, pumping his arms and legs as hard as he could, overtaking Kris.

Finally, they reached the shore, and the trio immediately jumped into the boat, rocking it with their weight and nearly overturning it. Kris untied the boat as quickly as possible while Luhan hoisted the sail at lightning speed. Yixing gripped the wheel of the boat and directed the marine vessel away from the island as fast as possible. Behind them, animals plunged desperately into the water, while further to the right; hordes of them clambered to higher ground.

The lava hit the water with a hissing sound, boiling the animals nearby alive. The red-hot liquid immediately hardened and turned black, with traces of a glowing yellow within the rock, like dying embers but more ferocious. For the first time, Yixing noticed how the beach was not much of a beach. There was no sand, and nothing but hard black rock, much like the cooled lava in the water. Further in the distance, a large mountain was spewing lava from its peak, and dust rolled down the sides of the mountain in waves.

Panting from the physical strain and the mental shock, Yixing collapsed on the deck as he felt the adrenaline wear off. Kris and Luhan were in various states of exhaustion, and Luhan was throwing up over the side of the boat from shock. Their narrow escape chilled Yixing to the bone, and he was feverish from all the stress. Back on the island they escaped from, Yixing saw an orange blur as it leapt from rock to rock, before being pushed into the lava by another animal as big as it. It’s enraged roar of pain cut through the air and across the water before it ended with a piteous mew. And then, all was silent as the eruption stopped, except for the distressed wails coming from the stranded animals.

The three of them turned their stricken faces from the island and back to the ocean as they contemplated the mass destruction they had just managed to escape from.