Red Snow [Monster Hunter Story] /english ver.

Chapter 12

The Blangonga growled and looked over to the Hunters, but didn't attack them outright again. At least for the moment.

Brandon bent down and picked up Runa in his arms. Then he glanced over to Tess.

"Donniel... Fuck it. We can't continue like this. Go grab Tess and then we're out of here."

He nodded and ran over to Tess. Brandon followed him.

The Huntress in his arms slowed him down quite a bit.
Normally it would have been no problem for him to carry extra weight. Being a greatsword user, that's what he did anyways most of the time.

But handling Runa in his arms, on top of the sword on his back, all while suppressing the pain of his broken ribs proved to be an awfully tiresome task.

At least Runa's body was very slender, so she wasn't causing that much trouble for Brandon.

The Blangonga behind them cried out again. It took a moment to recompose itself and lick its wounds.

When Donniel and Brandon reached Tess, she had mostly freed herself from the ice shards.

"We're backing out! Can you walk?" asked Donniel, offering his hand to her.

She gladly accepted his help and pulled herself up on his arm.

"Like I got a choice."

Her wounds continued to tear open the more she moved around, but she swallowed the pain.

"How's Runa?"

Brandon frowned as he watched the crying Huntress squirming in his arms. Her face was twitching in distress and her eyes kept rolling back uncontrollably.
But she flinched every time just barely before losing consciousness.

"It's not looking good..." the concern in his voice was obvious, "She's lost a lot of blood. We need to get her to safety."

"Then let's waste no more time! Follow me, I might have a way out!" Donniel pointed towards a slope a short distance away from them, "It goes straight down the mountain. Could get a little rough, but I don't think it's that steep."

Brandon thought about it for a moment, but he had to decide quickly.

"Then let's do it! It's our best chance."

They started running together and had almost arrived at the edge when a Blango jumped in from the side, blocking their path.
The group stopped immediately and Donniel and Tess unsheathed their weapons. Brandon was hiding behind them to protect Runa.

"Seriously?!" cursed Donniel, "He called more of those little pests?!"

Brandon turned around to check on the route they originally took to get up here. It was their one other option down the mountain, but it was a much longer descent.

He actually managed to scout out the snowy track, but that wasn't the only thing his eyes found in the storm.

A second Blango was sneaking up from behind and now also blocked that escape route.

In addition to that, the Blangonga was closing in on the right, with yet another Blango by its side. Brandon could only guess how much more were hiding within the snow storm.
The monster had just summoned its whole troop.

Brandon called out to his mates without taking his gaze off the impending doom in front of him.

"Guys! There are even more behind us! Now or never!"

Tess turned to face him, "Forget it Brandon! We can't make that fall!"

He looked at her in shock, "What?! Donniel, you said-"

"I wasn't sure!" he shouted, "I saw this cliff earlier. I didn't realize how steep it really is! I'm sorry, I thought-"

"It's okay Donniel. We would've had no choice either way, look!"

Brandon pointed at the horde of monsters slowly coming closer.

Tess's eyes widened at the sight.

"Oh great! And what now? All exits are blocked!" she let out a deep breath, "Guess we'll have to fight after all... What else is left for us?"

Brandon was aware of that already and by now he had chosen a place where they would make their final stand.

To their left was a massive wall of rock and ice, leading to the tip of the mountain. It was too high and too slippery to climb, but it made for great cover from behind. 

"We'll fend them off over there! We won't get a better position at this point. Hurry!"

He began sprinting and reached the wall first. He placed Runa against it and tried to keep her awake.

Donniel and Tess followed him on the foot. The Blango that was cutting them off rushed after them and made a jump for Donniel.

He was able to raise his shield in time and smack the beast on the head with the sturdy steel. The monster bounced off the shield and stumbled down the cliff.

They arrived at the wall, as Brandon struggled to give Runa some of his regenerating potion. To his discontent, most of it dripped down her chin.

Runa was trapped deep in her delirium and she was no longer responsive.
The freezing cold and the heavy blood loss strained her body to its limits. Her face had gone pale and devoid of any motion.

She was in mortal danger.

"Runa! Hang in there, you hear me!" Brandon took her hand and pressed it tightly.

Tess put her arm around his shoulder, "We'll get her out of here... We'll all get out of here, Brandon! We have overcome so many hardships together, we won't fail now!"

Donniel stood with his back to his comrades and assumed combat stance.

"Get ready... here they come."