Starshadow II

The realization that we were surrounded had sent ice through my veins. We were prey, stalked and herded into the open to be culled. The howling drowned out the wind, drowned out the crackling fire we huddled around. The howling faded into the wind, the growling yips a final laugh at their cornered meal; the hunt had begun. The night grew silent, not a sound but our hearts pounding in our ears. Draegon and I peered into the darkness that surrounded us, searching in vain for any sign, any movement that may give away our hunters. I tightly gripped the blaster rifle in my hands, thumbing the safety off. The light of our small campfire flickered wildly in the wind, barely shield by the makeshift tarp walls on either side of our small hollow. Its light danced against the tarps and the sand, our minds so intent on spotting the creatures that stalked us that the shadows began to twist into monstorous forms. I struggled to steady my heartbeat, to control my breathing. Draegon beside me was still and quiet, but her chest heaved the same as my own, the adrenaline flooding her nervous system preparing her to fight. Kell, curled up in the escape pod behind us, had one weary eye open, fixed upon the entry door. He had wrapped himself tightly in one of the survival blankets, but his free hand gripped a survival axe, his knuckles white against his grey uniform and the dark green blanket. 
Time passed slowly. The adrenaline slowly subsided, replaced by the creeping weariness that had soaked its way to our very bones. The edge was softening. They would not come now. We were ready, alert. The anooba would wait us out. We had nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. We could not be awake forever. I could not see them, could not hear them, but I felt them. Watching, in the darkness. Bidding their time. The night was an eon. The stars above stood still in the night sky, pinpricks of light that offered no comfort, offered no sympathy. They were the eyes of the void, uncaring, staring down upon as, waiting for us to join their ageless countenance. Hours passed, the wind slowly faltered to a light, smooth breeze, no longer snapping the tarp walls. Kell had fallen asleep, axe still in hand, as Draegon and I continued our watch into the endless void. Draegon and I both had steadied ourselves, the adrenaline now gone. My body ached from its absence, the tightened muscles now strained and burning. The night passed with no more howling, no more snarling or growling. But still I felt them. Many pairs of eyes, watching us, studying us. 
The deep black night gave way to the orange sunrise, its light scattering across the scattered purple clouds above. Draegon and I waited, knowing that until the suns had revealed themselves that we were still vulnerable. The light slowly swept across our camp, the wind following its rays as they began to heat the sand. There was nothing. We had made it through the long night without incident. Slowly Draegon and I stood, blasters readied as we moved to clear the area around and behind the pod. We were alone. As I checked the far side, I heard Draegon call to me, "Sir, you might want to look at this." Draegon stood a ways in front of the entrace to the pod, past the tarp walls, past were the light of the fire would no longer illuminate the sand. There was a single pair of tracks in the sand, dog-like paw prints. It had come within meters of us, and we had not seen it. How long it had been there we could not tell, but it had turned to leave before the morning suns. 
"Its like they're toying with us." Draegon muttered.
"They're testing our defenses. They wanted to know what we could see."
"Well they know we're blind."
Draegon and I stared at the tracks for a while. I contemplated what to do. We could not follow them, the wind and the shifting sands would make that impossible. We could not run, their was nowhere we could go. Do we bait them in? Do we fight? We had no idea how many of them their were. One anooba, sure, we could kill that. But an entire pack? Draegon and I walked back to the pod, Draegon clambering in to the pod to sleep while I stood watch and pondered what we should do. The beacon was pinging away, its battery would last months. I looked behind, seeing Kell and Draegon both curled up, backs against one another as they slept. Behind them I noticed the storage locker of the pod, inside the assortment of survival gear. In two neat rows laid power cells for the blasters, and glowrods. In a pile on one side was fibercable that we had cut to help hold the tarp walls, and pieces of metal we had fashioned into stakes. And an idea struck me.
The following night I stood watch outside, alone, axe beside me. Kell and Draegon waited in the pod, both under suvival blankets, blasters ready as they peeked just over the rim of the entry hatch. From my position, they looked sound asleep to the world. I waited, tensely, as the night grew dark and the shadows of the campfire grew long. The anooba had not howled, not announced themselves to the void that surrounded us. I knew, then, that tonight they would come. I could only hope that our trap would work. 
We waited tensely for any sign of the anooba pack that hunted us. I dared not grab the axe beside me, lest I give away our trap. I wanted to look calm, relaxed. As oblivious as any good prey, unaware it was being stalked. Nothing had happened the night before. There was no reason to be afraid. I thought these affirmations silently, trying to focus on only the flickering flame of the campfire before me, and not the darkness surrounding us. Patience, Draven. In the pod, I could only see the peering eye of Kell, locked on the entrance to our small den. The wind, barely a soft breeze, fluttered the tarp walls. Sand trickled down the gap of the wall and the pod, a small dune having formed on the windward side. The night waited, and endless well of patience. I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath to center myself. Before I had opened my eyes once more, a blaster shot rang out in the night. The red glow of it shone through my eyelids. I grabbed at my axe, standing with it held in front of me as I looked out and I saw it. Two anooba, bathed in the dim green light of the glowrod trap. It had pulled the buried tripwire, yanking the buried glowrod to the surface. The doglike creatures, large as wolves, snarling at their discovery, hesistated at the first blaster shot. They both were slender, with long legs ending in oversized claws. Their heads were like that of a bat, tall batlike ears atop a long snout filled with razor sharp fangs. The bottom jaw sported a long, portruding tusk, slanted outwards and upwards. Both had short fur with tan and dark brown markings, with a hyena like mane that ended at a lions tail. Their mouths drooled in the anticipation of a kill, red eyes fixed on me and now Kell and Draegon in the pod. 
A second blaster shot rang out, hitting the lead anooba in the side and knocking it back with a yelp. A third followed, missing the second as it dodged away. The wounded anooba struggled to its feet, snarling as it began to turn to face me. A fourth shot hit in the chest, causing it to stumble slightly. The blaster shot singed its fur, a smoldering spot now on its chest. It suddenly strode forward before lunging at me, a fifth shot hitting it in the chest once more. It landed on the ground harshly, sliding slighty in the sand, dead. Another glow rod trap was tripped to the left, revealing another pair of anooba. I backed up slowly, Draegon and Kell now firing at the three revealed hunters, trying to down them or scare them away. A third glowrod trap came alight, the green light bathing the perimeter of our fire. The anooba slowly closed in, now darting in and out of the light. Blaster fire shone bright red in the night, the anooba dodging the bolts as they probed the defenses. Another anooba, too slow to dodge a one-two shot from Kell and Draegon, fell to the sand. The pack pressed forward, determined to find a way. They were stopped, just inside the perimeter of glow rods, visible, but barely. They continued to probe, continued to dodge fire as Kell and Draegon slowed, trying to focus on single targets. What was the pack waiting for?
Behind and above me, I heard the snarl of another anooba. Before I could turn around it was on me, tusk finding purchase in my left shoulder blade as it knocked me to the ground. I rolled, flinging the beast off me. Before I could get to my feet it had stood back up, preparing to lunge at me once more. Kell and Draegon shot it, landing several bolts before choosing another target as the pack now closed in to exploit the opening. I drug myself to my feet, my left arm now weak as the muscle gave way. The anooba were closing in, too many of them to fight off. Their snarling, nashing of teeth as they closed in. One lunged at me, but this time I was ready. I swung the axe overhead, bringing it down on its head as I side stepped the attack. Another followed, Kell sending blaster bolts its way. It fell, rolling onto the fire. Its body began to burn, the stench of its fur and the blood pouring out of my back filling my nostrils. They were closing in. They knew we couldn't take them all down. I was backing up against the pod, swinging wildly in front of me to keep them back. Kell suddenly yelled out, "Get down!" as he tossed something into the fire. The powercell he tossed landed right in the center of the fire. I turned, diving into the pod and away from it as the anooba surged forward to follow. The power cell detonated, not quite the power of a grenade, but enough to deafen my ears. As I struggled to my feet, clambering off of Kell, a ringing filled my ears. The campfire was out, only embers littering the sand. The green light of the glowrods cast shadows on the retreating anooba. Several of them laid dead between our perimeter and the small den of where our fire had been. 
I climbed out of the pod, followed by Draegon and Kell, blasters raised. The ringing in my ears subsided slowly as we waited, tense and ready. The only sound was the wind and our ragged breathing. My left shoulder burned, my body ached from the fight. My vision blurred as I turned to step back to the pod, and I collapsed on the sand.