BLACK STORM: The Abandoned Son

Chapter 22: Bandages

The bear's body snakes though the treeline. Slowly approaching us. Me and Satoshi are stunned in fear. We didn't expect it to be after us so soon. How did it know we were here, did it smell us? Is that even possible from this far away? Me and Satoshi take a few steps back to assess the situation.

"Satoshi can you run?", I ask.

"I can try but it's gonna be hard."

"This is exactly what I was afraid of."

"I have an idea.", Satoshi's face fills with a sombre look.

"No, no you... you wouldn't.", I know exactly what he means.

"If I stay, I can slow down the bear, you can escape.", he explains.

"I'm not leaving without you, you'll die.", I reply

"But you'll live.", he says.

"I said I'm not leaving without you.", I tell him as I grab his hand and run, dragging him along.

I make a mad dash for the forest dragging Satoshi in tow. The bear finally makes it into the clearing that surrounds the shaft. This gives it more freedom to move, allowing it to run after us. The bear squeezes back into the tree line and serpentines through the gaps. Its movement is clearly hindered but that doesn't stop it from gaining on us.

"Newt, it's useless. You have to go on without me.", Satoshi pleads.

"I said it's not happening.", I answer.

The bear begins unleashing powerful swipes with its claws. Thankfully it seems he misjudged the distance between us, and he is much too far away to actually hit us. But it's only a matter of time in until it can. And it looks like I was right. The bear slowly inches closer to us until I can feel its breath hitting me in the back of the neck. Hopefully, his breath will be the only thing hitting the back of my neck.

The bear takes a mighty leap forward and swipes at us. But I was able to change path and swerve behind the cover of a tree trunk, and Satoshi followed. This forest is slow to navigate but it provides ample protection as long as we keep our wits about us.  But the bear won't relent, he continues to swipe at us. Damn, the claw swipes were so powerful they were able to fell trees, the very same ones I was taking cover behind. But some miracle, none of them fell on us. I may have spoken too soon about this forest having more than enough protection.

"Newt, I don't think I can run any longer. You have to leave me."

"Hold it together for a little longer, we're almost back to safety.", I'm lying, we're not close at all.

"Newt, it's inevitable. The bear is too fast. We can't outrun it."

"Satoshi, you son of a bitch, you better stay on your feet otherwise I'm dragging your body there."

This bear Isn't slowing down. I need to do something otherwise we're mincemeat. I spawn a knife using my power and I toss it at the bear. The knife embeds itself in a nearby tree. After all that practice, the moment when it finally counted comes... and I miss? The bear leaps forwards and raises both claws in the air. It's about to slam them down on me and Satoshi. If that hits us it's over, Tower Arkana be damned.

I react as quickly as I can. I jump and kick Satoshi with both legs. The kick sends me flying in one direction and him flying in the opposite direction. We both slam into trees. It hurts but it allowed us to dodge the bear's attack. I get up but Satoshi doesn't. The bear sensing weakness approaches Satoshi and ignores me. I quickly run to his aide; he wasn't that far. This doesn't discourage the bear. He approaches for an attack. It's inevitable.

"Newt there's nothing you can do, you have to escape while you still can."

"No!", I yell as tears pour from my face.