Tales of the Herd - An Under Gods Story

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rain poured violently, distorting the craggy earth into thick mud. Three men, wrapped in hide and cloth, trudged through the slop that sucked at their shoes, threatening to leave their feet bare. One of the men flew back, his chest smoldering as he splashed into a puddle, sending moist dirt flying onto his comrades' clothes.

"Oh tusks, I couldn't even see where it came from!" one of the remaining men cried.

"Ahead of us, obviously," Gremmi snapped. "Grab his gun, dude. We need the ammo."

"No man, I'm done! It doesn't matter how many guns we have, they're wet. I can't even see in this shit." The young man snatched his hood off and pulled his scarves from his mouth, diving into the mud, almost burying his face entirely. "Please, Zoa and Gil, save me. I don't deserve to die like this, just let them capture me!"

Gremmi rolled his eyes, snatching the man's head from the mud. His mouth opened to say something, but he slammed the man back down, laying in the mud himself as quickly as he could. A burning wisp flew overhead, Gremmi could feel the warmth through his clothes.

Gremmi lifted his face, wiping grime from his eyes and mouth, spitting out rainwater. "They're not trying to capture us, they're going to kill us. There's only one of them ahead, we just have to get to him before he shoots us."

"Uh huh, no chance."

"Turn me to smoke, crawl under me, and I'll split his face."

"He already knows where we are, Gremmi!"

"Shut-!"

Gremmi was cut off by a loud moan that echoed through the storm. Pink lightning surged, even below the clouds. A spiraling mass twisted overhead, momentarily blocking out the rain, reducing it to mere droplets that dripped from its serpentine form.

"Now what?" Gremmi asked, annoyed. He looked at the creature as it flew towards the direction of their enemy, singing a song of horror with its monstrous roar.

"We're dead," the man bubbled in the mud.

"Shut up, Pikkin, our ticket to victory just showed up." Gremmi reached out towards the creature, holding his hand for a moment as he strained to elevate himself just inches from the ground. "Crack and burst," he whispered.

The creature grunted, lurching in the air like a tiny piece of its thick, plated hide dropped from its stomach, pulsating with pink energy as it fluttered downward. As it reached the ground, it exploded in an array of pink and violet fire, sending a wall of water and mud away from the impact.

"Let's go!" Gremmi slammed the ground, springing up into a sprint. Mud splashed and sprayed with his steps, but it was only his steps. Little bitch, he thought.

He was getting close to the crater that was almost filled with water already. He wiped the rain from his eyes, trying hard to see where his target was. Rising from the pool was a rather tall, heavily armored figure. Bone-like growths wrapped its body, and where a face should've been was, instead, a mess of twisted ribs that loosely clenched together, giving only the vague suggestion of eyes or a mouth.

The entity screeched, its call like bagpipes, and its face emoted with rage as the ribs adorning it angled themselves inward, a mockery of a scowl. It reached forward, the gnarled spines along its arms jetting streams of bubbling red fluid that seemed to float in the air as its palm collected a cloud of energy. Gremmi slid into the crater, mud sloshed his sides and into his face. He heard another bolt of energy fire before splashing into the pool, submerging himself for a brief second.

He jumped up, struggling to clear his vision, only seeing the blurred accents of crimson light. Shit, so close!

He jumped to the side, splashing back into the water as blistering heat scraped his ribs, burning right through his clothing and singed his side. The searing pain of muddy water rushing against his wound drew a tight grunt from him. He couldn't stand, he couldn't swim, and he could barely see as rain pelted his face with unrelenting fury.