David Golemon - Event

The man who was standing and facing everyone was none other than Suarez. The huge man stood his ground and stared back at the men, almost daring them to make a move toward him. He had no armor and his scarlet shirt glimmered as if with blood in the firelight

"What is happening here?" Padilla asked, knowing all too well the answer to his question.

One of the soldiers stepped forward, a boy of only twenty, pointing to where the big man stood.

"That bastard did that for no other reason than the want of killing."

"He bit me and I will kill anything I wish, man or animal," Suarez said, still looking at the group rather than at his captain, shaking the lifeless body of the harmless creature.

"The man is mad, Captain, we must put him down as we would a dog with the foaming sickness," Torrez hissed, stepping closer to Suarez and forgetting his earlier words of restraint. His sword was pointing straight at the big man's chest.

"He bit you by accident, you're the one who pulled the bread away and allowed his teeth to strike you instead of the bread," another man said as the others shouted agreement.

"Suarez, you have caused enough trouble, and it ends here, now, tonight," Padilla stated flatly and without emotion. He reached over and made his lieutenant lower his sword. "This will be my responsibility; you will stand down, my friend."

"You must not go into armed combat, my Captain, we cannot risk you. I will do it."

Suarez tossed the dead creature onto the sand, backed up three paces to the water's edge, and slowly drew his sword.

"I will make quick work of the man who comes for me," he said, slicing the sword through the air.

The rest of the men placed hands on swords or pistols, demonstrating their willingness to dispatch this man. They would make sure he brought them no more ill will.

"Stand down, all you men," Padilla said as he advanced, drawing his own thin blade, not removing his eyes from Suarez. "This is your captain's duty."

Suddenly small explosions of water erupted from the lagoon as dozens of the small creatures burst through to the surface, some clearing the water by two and three feet. They hurriedly swam to the far side of the lagoon, and before the men knew what they were looking at, the fast and agile animals were all scrambling up trees and large bushes on the opposite shore. They jabbered back at the water they had just exited and then grew suddenly quiet. That was when the men noticed that the animal sounds in the deep night had ceased, as if the entire jungle had grown mute as the two Spaniards faced each other.

Suarez had backed further into the water waiting for the advance of Padilla. But he had turned at the sound of the small creatures and their noisy flight from the water.

"Rondo, take five men and follow the shoreline and see what you can see. Something has frightened them," Torrez ordered.

Rondo pointed out five men, and they broke free from the group and started to walk slowly down the slim shoreline, buckling their armor and drawing their swords as they did. Rondo cocked his two pistols and then placed himself at the head of the small band of Spaniards. They walked cautiously, and then they disappeared around some bushes at the turn in the lagoon.

Padilla was as calm as the night around them as he advanced on the larger Suarez. He slowly brought his sword up toward the other man's barrel chest. Suarez smiled and moved deeper into the water and swung his own sword in a slow deliberate arc, parting it with a swish. Then as he saw the anger etching the face of Padilla, he backed deeper into the dark water.

The remaining men in camp froze when they heard the large man shout in terror as he was grabbed from beneath the water, his legs jerked out from under him so hard that one moment he was screaming and the next he had vanished. The big man surfaced briefly, splashing and in shock with the whites of his eyes showing brightly, and then he was quickly pulled into the lagoon before he could utter a second cry of pain or terror at what was happening. Suarez quickly disappeared below the roiling surface with nothing but bubbles and two quick slashes of his shining sword to mark his trail to death's door.

"What in the name of God was that?" Torrez yelled as he ran to the water's edge.

Men pointed, and then they all saw the bubbles and a sharp "V"-shaped wake surface as something was traveling fast toward the far side of the lagoon, toward the spot that Torrez had sent Rondo and the five others. They soon heard splashing and screams of terror splitting the quiet night, and two loud reports as Rondo fired his pistols. Then amongst the screams of men and the dying echo of the gunshots, they all heard a sound they would take with them to their graves. The roar was like a deep echo of an enraged demon from their nightmares. The horrid sound reverberated and sent chills down their spines.

The screams of his men ended as suddenly as they had begun, and in an instant the night became still once again.

Torrez was suddenly at the stunned Padilla's side, pressing his armor into his hands. The captain sheathed his sword and slipped the heavy iron onto his back and chest. Then they watched the spot where the men had disappeared just moments before. Suddenly a dark figure of a man emerged through the bushes and stumbled forward, obviously wounded. Two soldiers ran to the man and brought him into the bright circle cast by the firelight. There were deep gouges in the man's face and arms as if he had been mauled by a tiger. The punctures in his armor were deep and ragged. The soldier's left eye was missing and he cried out, claiming for all to hear that the Devil had risen from the water.

Padilla ran over, knelt next to his soldier, and grimaced as the young man's wounds were some of the worst he had ever seen. The rest of the men turned to the lagoon and watched. The jungle had grown quiet around them as the captain heard the man cough out the same words as before, only the ending was different. "The Devil has risen from the water and he has come for his offering." Then the man's eyes were void of life as his pain ended and darkness covered him.

Padilla didn't hesitate in ordering his men to form up. The sentries had entered the campsite with swords drawn and flintlocks aimed. They had lost seven men in as many minutes to something in the lagoon that he cared never to see or even hear again. He would leave this place, retreat, and never venture into the jungle again. They would return to Pizarro and tell him they were cowards and that he could punish them however he deemed fit, but he could never send them here again and that was good enough.

"We march west tonight, and we stop only when we are under the light of the Lord's sun once again."

The Devil can have his home , Padilla thought, and he prayed that no man would ever find this place again, for men were not meant to be here. He would give the map he had made of the valley to Father Corinth and warn him that this was truly the playground of demons.

With the night sentries on the point, Padilla ordered his soldiers forward. But just as they nervously took their first step, the night exploded around them. The animal came at them, not from the water, but from the bush. It seemed to have followed the tracks of the soldier who had escaped it. The darkness around the screaming men was rent with the powerful and enraged cry of the beast as it attacked. Padilla felt the warmth of something striking his face, and then the coppery taste of blood filled his mouth.

"Captain, into the water while there is time. Fall back, men, into the water and swim for it!" Torrez screamed as he pushed the shocked Padilla into the cool lagoon. "We can gain the trail on the other side."

Padilla was still trying to peer into the blackness as he was pulled away by Torrez. That was when the beast stepped closer to one of the open firepits and swiped its strangely formed hand at one of his men. The soldier was silent as the claws raked down his face and tore through his chest armor. As the Spaniards watched in horror, the animal was struck from behind with a sword, and then a shot rang out from a pistol. The beast did not slow down, even though Padilla saw the ball strike the animal in the upper chest, slinging scales and red meat into the air. The beast screamed a cry of outrage and quickly reached out and grabbed the hand that wielded the sword and easily lofted the man over its head. Then it threw the body against one of the large trees as if he weighed no more than a piece of firewood.