The Mak Toras Chronicles

Chapter 13 - Monster

Echoes reigned throughout the halls, escaping the lab like mere cries of a mouse, soon silenced by the cat's paw. Shouts of warriors being flung across the room broke the air in cracks along with the clang of metal. One by one, they fell to exhaustion until, eventually, the only remaining fighters left were the king himself and Deja Kaan, awestruck to the sheer power of the minature devil. The horror he unraveled, despite his humanly face, forged his ferocity. Barely anything human of him remained; mutated, twisted into a sickly form of flesh and claws.
"Mak Toras..." Deja Kaan muttered, feeling his decisions prior were merely a recipe for disaster. Several hunters lay wounded behind him-all by his doing. My fault; my charge...blasted- his thoughts shrowded away as the creature barged into him, sending him back a few feet. King Talar regained balance, only to be kicked back along with Deja Kaan.
"Any ideas, Kaan?" He said with frustration of keeping the monster a bay. "Now is the time before we're shredded to ribbons!"
The frightening roar of the creature struck their ears before it charged once again. From its mouth that Deja Kaan could see, rivers of phosphorus green ran down its mouth end as it gave a toothy smile; one of his comrades served as a post for such a bite, glancing back to find the shoulder gored open. Its orange eyes flashed into his soul before Deja Kaan leaped over the monster, watching it run past at full speed.
With a sizeable counter, Talar sprung into action, catching the humanoid beast in a net. Yet even with the steel enticing wires, it was not enough to hold back what danger bared its teeth at them; as it cut through, so did his hopes of stopping the monster. Deja Kaan thought fast without hesitance. Aside from being half their height, Mak Toras, transformed and unleashed, overpowered the Yautja ten to one.
"We need to move this fight to a larger area," he yelled, "he dominates at close quarters."
Nodding with a grin, Talar made another attempt to subdue the monster by the ankles, flinging it through the walls with a straining shout. Layer upon layer was pulverized as it smashed into the lobby, whereas scientists quickly cleared the area.
    "Couldn't you have at least made a smaller mess?" Deja Kaan looked to Talar less than impressed.
    "We could've stayed here instead but you chose the lobby. After all, he's your responsibility," he shot back before running out the exit. Deja Kaan rolled his eyes, following him to the outskirts of the lab. Twist my arm a little more, why don't you?
    They greeted the beast in arms bearing their blades, reflecting the light menacingly. Scimitars of the king grinded sparks into existence from dragging them. Alas, intimidation only led to anger as the monster roared again and pounced Deja Kaan, cutting off his charge. Upon landing, it immediately went berserk, slashing its claws away at his skin.
    He roared in pain as his attempts to smack him away were no avail. Green streams of blood soon flew into the air out and away from the scene. Grabbing its neck with a fierceful choking hold, he stopped the onslaught of his torso, socking his fist right to its jaw. A loud crack of bones echoed in the lobby along with a shriek of pain. The creature stepped back holding its limp jaw in agony only to be met with another punch, forcing it to the ground.
    Blood painted his hands like an estuary seen from space, jumping onto Talar's hand as he helped him up. The cuts were deep, inflicting a stinging sensation unto his nerves.
    "That 'close-quarters' trick you mentioned?" Talar joked.
    "Not now, my king!" Deja Kaan exclaimed, holding his wounds. Sirens wailed in monotone, carrying out to other sources in a chain. An alert would surely draw backup in their favor. Still, he feared for the life of more Yautja. Standing back, he nodded to Talar in entitlement to confront the monster himself. Inside, he knew it was a mistake allowing the king to go head on. There's got to be a better way to knock him senseless... an idea snapped to his attention: the monster lacked the skills the king as well as he had; nothing more than an animal in action, going all out with its arsenal. With the right blows placed on the target, they could bring it down in no time.
    In the distance, Talar was already ahead of his game. Knocking it down once again, Talar stood over his prey in glory.
    "I have him on the ropes, my friend," he said grinning to meet its gaze. The grin was soon returned to the king, only to realize something was up.
    Catching the king off guard, the monster grabbed his leg, channeling its power into the victim. In a small burst of energy, the monster's power raced through the body of his prey, ending its journey into the cranium. From what Deja Kaan could see, his comrade-his king in arms-was forced into submission within a second. He watched as he fell to his knees, succumbing to his own mind as if the king himself fell into darkness. There was more to this monster than meets the eye. Yelling from across the lobby, Talar fell further into the mind games of the beast as it circled him like the Vy'drach of the scorching deserts of Prime, waiting for prey to die from the blistering heat. Smiling wickedly, it raised its claws to strike Talar down. Growling in rage, Deja Kaan lunged forth, biting back the pain, snatching its tiny, sinister hands and slicing the arm off near the shoulder. A fountain of red spurted from the open wound as the creature stumbled back without its arm, shrieking to the floor in pain.
He held Talar in his arms, fearfully watching his eyes twitch rapidly. Lost in sight and mind, Talar was kept in a prison of hallucinations. Deja Kaan made every attempt to snap him out of this delerious state but no avail, setting him down to rest.
He's out cold.
At the corner of his eye, the creature stood up, negating the pain of its dismembered arm. Deja Kaan's gaze met its demonic glare, trailing to the missing limb only to witness the unthinkable. Upon which he saw, a new arm slowly regenerated into form, taking the place of the old arm. His eyes widened with terror. Never before had he seen such resilience in an organism.
"Impossible!" He stood up, readying his wrist blades. The new arm flexed, mocking Deja Kaan's attempt to severe it completely. What the hell are you?
Before it could charge again, a device lashed out onto his forehead, tazing the entire body of the creature in an electrical field. The shot came from behind-from Talar's wrist bracer. Glancing back, he saw his king's strength dwindling as he tried to sit up properly, collapsing soon after.
Luckily, and at long last, the monster fell to the floor unconscious. The terror that had once plagued the warriors was finally subdued with only the flick of its tail ceasing to move before halting all movement. With a sigh of relief, Deja Kaan rushed over to his fallen king. Guilt and shame filled the void of his mind, now in deeper misery than before at the mess he caused, or so let out of control. But on thing was certain, it was a power like no other: raw and fresh like the meat prepared at a feast set for the king himself. To harvest this ability, it would require Deja Kaan alone to pierce the veil of this secret power-when the time comes.

Warriors from all ends poured into the lobby, surrounding the creature with armed staffs, pointing the spear tips at the body, their razor edges just barely making contact to its carapace. Yet each one lingered in temptation for drawing blood from the unconscious corpse, simmering in the light casted down upon the floor. Puddles of green and streaks of red coated the decals like a mosaic piece of art. 
    The king's bodyguards swarmed around him and Deja Kaan in no time at all. Shattered inside a head and mearly torn to ribbons, both warriors resided in the care of their peers. More hunters came into the lobby in swarms, responding to the alarm in great numbers-all ready to brutally discipline their prey. Every one of them ready to fight at a moments notice. Though, there was no conpetition today but watching over fallen heroes and a limp body.
    Deja Kaan eyed carefully at the immense crowd of guards, barely catching a glimpse of the creatures tail-lined with spikes from the top to its razor-sharp end and the hunters prepping their spears to the equivalent of a spring trap. Some jabbed at the body, hoping to startle it awake but no avail; it was as limp as a dead River Ghost with nothing more than reprisal of all corpses. He sat up, struggling to even stand, holding his breath for his fellow warriors not to kill him.
   "Stand back," he winced, "he's my responsibility." They glanced at him, puzzled at his request. To something that nearly killed him and the king, they weighed their options; reluctant enough, they kept on their vigil, seeming as if they ignored his order. Their attention was still and focused on the target carefully.
He glanced back at his king, struggling to lean up despite the support from many hunters. Whatever it was that crawled into the kings head, it left a calling card; his eyes shot from side to side, wary of his surroundings and gripping his head as if a migrane had set in. Eventually, he exchanged an ill stare with Deja Kaan as he stood up.
"What are your orders, my king," one warrior approached, "Shall we slay the beast?" The king looked back at the body, seeming lifeless as usual. As the king drew closer, pushing the crowd aside, he got a full view of the monstrous Mak Toras. From head to toe, the beast was lined in a skin similar to the Yautja, taking a deep tinge of brown and maroon, almost looking like a cross between reptilian and insect. The abnormally large tail, matching that of a crocodile, blanketed the floor, passing by the legs of the many warriors that stood around. Whatever the monster be, it appeared to be across of several species merged into one; a perfect specimen. The power Deja Kaan spoke of presented before him.
    Deja Kaan stood warily aside at the crowd of hunters. His wounds still leaked of green, although his fellow hunters did their best to seal up his deep cuts. Amongst the events that transpired, he grew uneasy to the king's possible reaction; allowing something that can bring down Yautja instantly into their custody did not bode well on his behalf let alone all who stood before the monster. Yet as he observed from afar, the king wasn't mad at all. It was as if he smiled in approval. His gaze met along again with Deja Kaan at the corner of his eye.
    "I would say that I am absolutely livid right now, my friend, but to what we just faced-," he paused, looking back at the creature, "-perhaps you were right. It's been a while since I had my ass generously handed to me anyway." Breaking out into a cackle of laughter, Deja Kaan followed suit. After what happened, he felt as if he would receive harsh discipline, only to be a wave a relief.
    "Now that that's over with, Deja Kaan, I believe you have some work to do," said the king, shooting a bona fide glance to him. With pride and delight, Deja Kaan, bowed in appeal.
    "It will be done, your majesty."
There was but a sound of scuffling as the warriors left, leaving Deja Kaan to tend to the monster to his quarters.