Of Gods & Champions: Book I: Fate

IX. A Battle In The Dark Of Night

WITH THE SKY DARK AND THE AIR STILL WITH NIGHTTIME CHILL, the only sound to be heard is the pounding feet amid snow and sleet as I run along the surviving upper edge of Shadoun's walls, hearing the pounding rhythm on the wood mirrored all the way on the other side of the town where Ronin runs speedily.

Pounding in time to my feet is my heart, beating so fast I fear it might tear out of my chest.

Sewn to my cloak are the satchels that hold many explosives, bouncing up against my sides and my rifle bounces against my back as a constant reminder of the killing I must do... Assuming I don't get killed first.

This could very well be the end.

Oh, shut up, why don't you! I scold myself. Worrying about death isn't going to boost my determination any.

My lungs are heaving, sharp pain striking on every struggling inhale of the freezing stinging air.

I strain to look ahead,and I startle. I can see the jagged end of the walls, broken off by the claws and teeth of the danger that lays beyond the end, and who knows what else.

I glance to the cliff stretching alongside me, and I see an old tree bent over with age right where the wall I run on ends. There's one thick branch stretching out... I think I might be able to grab it.

As the end nears, I suck in another painful breath and I crouch down. Just as the branch is above me, I spring for it, gripping it tight and swinging my body over it as the wall disappears beneath me.

After I've cleared the branch, I let go, and I drop, flailing through the air. I force myself to keep my eyes open and I twist so I land in the snow on my feet, very catty.

I glance up, a grin on my face, but it quickly vanishes as I freeze rigid, terror striking into my very soul as I see the gigantic army of devilish beasts I now face... And now face me.

Ranging from eight to twenty feet, these creatures stare down at me, eyes glowing with evil and malice. Snarling sabertooth tigers the size of elephants, rabid foaming elephants with tusks longer than a python, and pythons with fangs longer than me... Those are just a few of the beasts that I see... There are more than a hundred more, fiercer and more terrifying than their regular species.

I'm terrified.

Suddenly, there's a loud animalistic shriek that pierces the air and my ears, and that's when the beasts attack.

They charge, and I grit my teeth, scared out of my wits. But I have a job to do.

With a loud yell, I run towards them, snow spraying up behind me in cloud, not even comparable to the sky-high spray the creatures are kicking up. Somewhere I hear Ronin's gun going off repeatedly, and I know she's already begun the battle.

With another yell, I charge a large buffalo with spiked horns and long whipping tail. It charges me as well, roaring a loud savage roar that rattles my bones.

Before it can reach me, I leap high into the air, pulling a grooved bomb out of one of my satchels and I strike the side of it against my chest armor, and fire flies, attaching itself to the rope fuse quickly. As I begin to come down, I hurl it at the buffalo, swinging to the side to land on a tree that's barely standing, gripping onto a branch while kicking desperately to get a foothold on it. As I hang by one hand, the bomb explodes, a bright flash of fire and light that illuminates the surrounding area for a moment and the buffalo wails as fur and blood splatter, and it falls sideways.

It's not dead though, I notice with dismay, and I angrily swing my legs back, swinging myself back on the branch. It gives me just enough fuel to launch into the air, pulling out two bombs, one from each satchel, lighting them, and tossing them onto the buffalo. The ensuing explosion flings the buffalo's now dead carcass backwards and knocks me down into the snow.