Zenora

A loud roar bellowed once more and the breaking of twigs and rumbling bushes were heard.

“Get another shot ready, quick!” Dennis yelled at Anna and she began to run towards the supplies, but unfortunately was too slow. It wasn’t the Orc that was still alive, but the weird rhino that was used by the Orc to attack our truck! He ran up to Anna and almost hit her with his white horn!

Supplies from our truck got rampaged and flew around everywhere. Anna avoided the incoming next attack by rolling on the ground, just inches away from his horn. The dart gun which Anna wanted to use again, to make the rhino fall asleep, was stomped on by one of the big feet of the rhino. So, there was no way to get the rhino under control now.

Dennis yelled at me to run while I was clutching myself to a tree, but I was hesitant to listen to him. I don’t know what it was but I got a strange feeling about the rhino. A feeling of belonging and mutual attraction I suppose…

They have explained I was a hunter, right? So why shouldn’t I be able to compel this rhino to stop running? I could control my dogs quite easily earlier, so maybe I could with this rhino as well, I thought logically. Well, at least I thought it was logical at this moment.

I ran towards the rhino and stood still facing him. He was still several yards away from me and Dennis yelled to me again to run away from it, figuring that this raging bull of a creature was no match for me, but I couldn’t have run away anymore as he had me in his visual.

The rhino growled, his eyes turned black and his feet brushed the ground in anticipation of running up to me. Then, he lowered his head to keep his horn pointed toward me and frantically charged in my direction. I tried to focus and tried to use my mind to stop him, so I looked deep into the eyes of the rhino. “Stop running, please stop running!” I said in my mind. But then something else happened.

As I looked into its eyes, I saw an image of the rhino running on open plains in a dry land. There was a whole pack of those creatures, infants in the middle and the adults around them. They all ran together in one single motion like they were connected. The rhinos seemed happy like that and when they reached the water pool, they all came to a stop and started drinking. One of the little rhinos jumped into the water and splashed some of it onto one of the bigger rhinos, which made me smile. Watching the antics of the little one gave me very happy feelings.

Switching back to reality, shaking my head as I couldn’t understand what I just saw, I saw the rhino still charging toward me but his eyes were clear brown now and the anger had dissipated. He was trying to go slower and stop, but due to him being this big it was hard for him to be able to stop in time. When he was about to crash into me, he managed to drop his body onto the floor. And while grinding himself on the stones, dust whirled up, creating a shroud around me so Dennis and Anna couldn’t see what happened.

They screamed in fear as they ran toward me, believing that I was hit by the rhino. Maybe even impaled by his horn. They were fearing the worst as I could hear them gasp. “No!!” They yelled together.

I coughed and stood up from behind the rhino, brushing the dust from my clothes. And when the rhino got back to his normal breathing, he stood up as well and turned his gaze to Dennis and Anna. Instant fear arose on their faces and they turned around to start running again. Dennis ran behind a tree and yelled to Anna to do the same.

I wasn’t hurt by the rhino at all, besides being shoved backwards as his body had pushed me aside. But because he had tried to stop and I had seen the anger gone from his eyes, I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me. I wasn’t afraid of him or the impact he could have caused upon us, so I stepped to the side of his head. ”Be calm.” I said in my mind while holding my hand on his cheek.

The rhino slightly turned his head to look at me with his brown eyes, but then submissively laid down again, his body making a thumb sound as his belly bumped the ground. He snored softly, tilted his head and closed his eyes.

I told the fearful two, that it was safe to stop hiding. And when they stepped away from the trees that had been their cover, they couldn’t believe what they saw. “What?! This is not possible!” Anna said as she walked around the rhino with wide-open eyes and mouth. “Have you ever heard about this in your life?” She asked Dennis, when she carefully poked the side of the rhino, to check if he was really asleep. Dennis shook his head, not understanding it either.

I got confused, didn’t they tell me I was a hunter and that I could control beasts? So why were they so surprised as to how this happened then?

“Never let us scare like that ever again!” He scolded me, but then his facial expression turned into something different. “But how did you do that exactly, Emily?” Dennis asked in utter disbelief.

“I don’t know, I guess I just looked into its eyes and started to focus. I saw images in my head where the rhino ran in a pack, all happy, and then I snapped back to reality. He had been wanting to stop but since it was running so fast, he tripped and fell on his side.”

Dennis and Anna - standing a safe distance from the rhino now - started to talk to each other in whispers and finally stepped towards me, going around the rhino in a big circle.

“Emily, this is unheard of. I told you, you were able to control certain beasts. Not that you could control them all! As far as we know, hunters can control canines, felines and most flying creatures as well. But never have we heard of a hunter that could control a Rhydian, let alone a full-grown male Rhydian that was tamed by an Orc!” He said exasperated while pointing to the rhino.

Fear struck me. “Why didn’t you tell me that up front? I could’ve been killed by that beast!” I accused him.

“I told you to run now, didn’t I?” Dennis said. “You’re safe and that’s what is important now, but please don’t try to command any other creatures for a while, not until we know more of this at least.” He begged me.

I was wondering what more creatures there could be besides this... Rhydian? But for now, I let go of that idea and agreed with Dennis. I started to get hungry and asked if we could get something to eat. Dennis and Anna sat on the ground still confused as to what happened earlier and we ate our beans, rice and boiled eggs. By now, Miles and Dolly were curiously sniffing the Rhydian as it lay there sleeping and eventually decided to lie alongside it.

“We need to start packing though, I think the others will arrive shortly.” Dennis said, looking over the rampaged supplies.

What others? I still didn’t know why I grew up on Earth and not on Zenora, I was still angry as Anna was only my friend because Dennis asked her to and now we were waiting for others while packing? Why don’t they just tell me everything?

Anna had been trying to reassure me, by telling me that everything will be explained in due time. But for now, I had to deal with the information I had gotten today. The stubborn girl I am, wanted to know more so I looked at Dennis, but he shut me up by saying that Anna was right. “Just wait.” He had grunted and I sighed.

I whistled my dogs to come to me and I went to take a small walk. Earlier I had seen a cliff up ahead, and so I decided to go there and sit on the edge of it as I gazed in the distance. It was quite a nice view; A big mountain with snowy tops and a big lake with a dam at the bottom of it.

The view kept me calm, but it also kept me thinking about everything I had experienced. I thought of all the questions that were still unanswered which Anna and Dennis wouldn’t answer me right now, but I guess I have to be a little more patient.

Miles and Dolly sat beside me and nudged me with their heads every once in a while, asking me to pet them between their ears. And so, we sat there for a little, until my head had been calmed down. And eventually, I decided to walk back to the camp and tuck myself in my sleeping bag to rest for an hour or two.