Red Snow [Monster Hunter Story] /english ver.

Chapter 7

'No way... She's never gonna make it in time.'

They needed to find a way to stop the monster's charge, before it would put their friend out of his misery. And not in a good way.

Brandon looked around, trying to find a solution, when his gaze met Donniel's shield once again.

'This might just be crazy enough to work.'

He quickly grabbed hold of the outer rim of the shield and stretched out his arms. He then began spinning around on the spot. After three turns he let go of the shield, which sent him back to the ground.

"Tess, watch out!!"

She looked behind her to see the unexpected object closing in on her. Thanks to her fast reflexes she managed to evade to the side. The massive shield rushed past her and crashed directly into the Blangonga's path.
The beast's arms got snatched away, causing it to topple over and slide in the snow.

Brandon suppressed his amazement over the success of his absurd idea and immediately caught up to Tess.

"How the hell did you pull that off?!"

"Lucky strike," he shrugged, "Now let's get going! Don't think I can do that a second time."

Without wasting any more time they arrived at their injured comrade.
Brandon sat down next to him and carefully turned him on his back.
Tess readied her blades and kept watch on the Blangonga.

Brandon removed Donniel's helmet and checked his breathing.

"He's alive."

Tess sighed in relive and her face relaxed a bit. As usual she tried not to show it too much though.

"Good... " she panted, "So what now? That thing won't stop attacking us!"

Brandon scratched his chin uneasily. Then he looked back to Runa, which he could hardly see as a small shadow in the distance.

"Okay, change of plan! I'll take Donniel's barrel bombs and you lure the monster to Runa."

He quickly took the two small explosives from Donniel's pouch.

"Wait, what are you up to?" she couldn't really follow his thinking.

"No time for questions now. Just trust me!"

He motioned Tess to hurry before he faced Donniel again, trying to wake him up.

'Runa... I'm counting you!'

A bit confused she promptly acted on his order and tried to gain the monster's attention.
She ran off, swinging her blades above her head and shouting at the Blangonga as loud as she could.

The creature was already back on all fours and actually seemed to ignore the two Hunters on the ground. It must not have considered them as a threat anymore, as all its attention now focused on Tess.

Even though it had been her intention to distract the monster; she couldn't stop a cold shudder running down her spine as she realized she'd just promoted herself to be the bait.

The nervous Huntress sheathed her weapons on her back, to make for an easier sprint back to Runa.

She started running without once looking behind her. The angry grunts and snorts at the back of her neck were more than enough confirmation it worked.

Luckily the beast was already weakened by the previous attacks of the team, so its speed was greatly reduced.

Halfway down she could finally see her partner through the snow storm.

Runa was kneeling on the ground, working on her arrows, until the loud stomping of the Blangonga snapped her out of her concentration.
She flinched and quickly spotted Tess running towards her – with the monster dangerously close behind.

Runa instantly knew what she had to do.

She picked up all the arrows she managed to prepare in that short time and stood up. She nocked the arrow in her bow and faced the enemy.

Landing a clean shot under these circumstances felt impossible to her.

The storm and the darkness were bad conditions for an archer and the wild and unpredictable movements of the monster only enhanced the difficulty.

And to make matters even worse, she had to be careful not to accidentally hit Tess with one of her arrows.

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat and focus on her aim.