The Girl from the Trees(Completed)

Paramount

Taylor, Jakub, Evan, and Sam stood shoulder to shoulder at the mouth of the path, waiting, Sarzali standing behind them. Their chest heaved as they breathed in deep, working to recover their breath. Footfall sounded from ahead of them, slower and more methodical than the murkrels they had been pursued by earlier. They could hear the creature's claws ripping through the stone and earth, plodding toward them, and it would soon be in sight.

A moment later, as the sun shined over the mountains around them, a large, lipless maw appeared. Its massive fangs slightly apart, a slimy tongue hanging out of its mouth. The paramount's head was hairless, just like its tail and paws, black spiky fur covering the rest of its massive body. All four boys were frozen with fear as the paramount, which was the size of a small horse, but looked just like the smaller murkrels, began to trot toward them. As it gained speed, they could feel the impact of its footfall in the ground.

"Spread out!" Taylor shouted. "Sarzali, hide!"

Jakub and Taylor moved to their left, while the other two boys moved right, Sarzali moving into a grouping of trees that allowed her to observe the conflict. Following Jakub and Taylor, the paramount lowered its head and shrieked loudly. Jakub dived, just in time to miss being clawed by a sharp outstretched claw, hitting it in the upper foreleg with his lit curtain rod, which left a small singe mark in the dark and matted fur. The smell hit them like a punch, the smell of rot and decay, as if it had climbed from a stagnant bog. Ignoring where the flame had touched its fur, the paramount snapped its massive jaws at Taylor.

Sam lunged back into the fray, driving his machete into the creatures left hind quarters. Seeming more annoyed than hurt, the large murkrel spun, smashing its rat like tail into Sam's abdomen. He flew into the air flailing and landed hard on the forest floor, leaves flying, and rolled to a resting spot, all the breath knocked from his body.

Drool poured from the murkrels mouth as it snapped viciously at the three boys that were moving frantically around it, Evan and Jakub trying to get their torches against it at every opportunity. Getting close to the animal was difficult, every one of its limbs, its tail, and its head, were all dangerous, and it was lashing out with all of them.

Jakub stepped in at the wrong moment, landing a blow with his machete on the top of the creature's thick skull, which bounced off and flew from his hand, barely leaving a split in the skin, a few drops of blood coming to the surface. The paramount's claw slashed across his stomach, leaving three long gashes, his shirt in tatters and soaking with blood, as he fell backward and landed hard on the ground, dust flying into the air.

Evan and Taylor worked hard to draw the animal's attention away from their downed friend. Sam had recovered, but was still struggling to breath, multiple broken ribs paining his every move as he crawled across the ground to his injured friend's side.

"Hold on Jakub," Sam choked. "We are going to get out of here okay!"

Jakub could not talk, struggling to breath. Sarzali had stepped out from the tree grove, looking at the downed Jakub. The paramount caught sight of her and stopped chasing the other two boys, locking his attention onto her. "No," Jakub gurgled.

Taylor leaped forward, his axe digging deep into the animal's front left shoulder. It shrieked angrily and turned, ripping the axe from Taylor's hands, and throwing him off balance, the weapon stuck firm. Before any of them could react, its jaws slammed shut on Taylors abdomen, blood spraying into the air. As quickly as they had shut, the jaws opened, releasing him to fall limply to the ground. Time seemed to stand still as they realized what had happened. Their friend laid in a bloody heap on the ground, no movement, not even a breath.

Tears welled up in Jakub's eyes, they had been friends since elementary school, had experienced all of life together, and now he was gone. Grasping onto the still flaming torch that laid beside him, Jakub forced himself to his feet, blood flowing from his stomach and dripping to the ground. He knew he did not have long before he passed out, but he would do whatever he could to kill this monster and save his other friends.

Evan rushed in as the creature returned its dark gaze on to Sarzali. He raised his axe high in the air but was whipped hard across the jaw by its long thick tail, knocking him flat and unconscious. Sam climbed to his feet, but stumbled due to his many injuries, the bandage on his leg was gone, letting the blood flow freely.

The paramount lurched forward, clearly affected by the axe in its shoulder, making its movements labored. Red, bloody foam was frothing from the corners of its massive jaw, Jakub hobbling forward, working himself into a run. Just before it could make it to where Sarzali was hiding, he lunged into the air, screaming in rage, he drove the flaming curtain rod directly into its right eye. The creature stumbled, sliding to the ground before flailing wildly, catching Jakub with one of its legs, sending him soaring and tumbling to a heap on the forest floor, broken and bloodied. Shrieking continued as the monster rolled around, desperately trying to escape the situation, because its body had not yet received the message from the brain, that it would not be going anywhere. Soon, the dust was settling as the monster became still, its breathing labored and slowing.

Evan stirred, Sam at his side. "Taylor?" he mumbled. Sam shook his head, tears pouring down his dirty cheeks. "No," Evan mumbled, giving into the sadness that was overtaking him.

Sarzali glided across the ground, kneeling beside Jakub's broken form. Sadness filled her large round eyes, though no tears made their way to the surface. "I am sorry for your loss," she told him.

Jakub grunted, working hard to speak. "Not, your, fault," he choked out. Blood was trickling down his face now from a cut on his head, blood at the corners of his mouth. "My, dad, will, come, soon." He could feel his vision fading, pain radiating across his entire body.

"You killed it," Sam sputtered. "You are badass." Tears where still streaming down his face, leaving trails.

"Lay still," she ordered him. "This will hurt."

A small laugh escaped him against his will, "Everything already hurts." Evan and Sam appeared at his side, grasping his hand.

Sarzali's eyes began to glow golden, the air around them becoming hotter. Sam and Evan stumbled backward; Jakub screamed in pain. She placed her hands on his abdomen and a strange smell filled the air, the smell of ash and blood flowed over them. Jakub's eyes rolled back in his head, and his vision went black.