Defender of Mirago

Chapter 6

Rayble held up his seed. It was all he could do. There was no way to outrun an Ukbir. "God protect me, protect me, protect me!" Despite the fear that went through Rayble's body like a crashing wave, his well-trained arm held with perfect stillness. His legs, on the other hand, trembled with knees knocked together. With head turned and eyes closed, Rayble could feel the Ukbir breathe its hot damp breath down his neck. "God I need you!"

The heavy and large creature lunged claws first at the young boy. The moment it did, the transparent shield exploded from Rayble's seed and bounced the Ukbir in a backward tumble. It roared in frustrated anger and tried again, only to run and smash its snout back into the semi-invisible wall.

"Thank you God" Rayble sighed with relief. The Ukbir remained as close as possible to Rayble, staring down at him. The Ukbir wouldn't give up as easily as the Korugals. They were much more patient. It stood there without a pace or a whimper. It was going to wait until Rayble moved. Rayble would take on the challenge, he had to.

Thankfully he'd been trained to hold his stance for hours. He remembered the many gruesome days with Moreth before he had ever held a seed, where he stood arm out and could not so much itch his nose, which often tempted him under such circumstances. Those days of training were painstakingly difficult, but now Rayble could see they were worth it.

Although the last thing Rayble wanted to do was take more time. He was already gone much later than he'd like to be. His mind raced for alternate solutions. He'd hoped a group of miners would come looking for him and then seeing him in trouble, ward off the creature to relieve him of his defensive stance. He then could run back to Mirago, find the girl, and...

The Ukbir roared. Could Rayble not think without being interrupted? He looked at the salivating creature. It too was thinking, thinking of having Rayble for lunch and that it didn't have anything better to do than wait for its prey to get tired and lower its defenses. Rayble wasn't going to let that happen. He couldn't give Kessa the diamond he worked for if he was dead.

Rayble had no sense of time within the depths of the dark caves of Aspar. But it felt like a long time before the Ukbir moved. It casually turned around itself. Rayble's heart leaped with excitement. Had he won? Had the Ukbir given up?

It wasn't long before his hopes were crushed. The creature merely circled itself and laid down only a few feet away. Its eyes still attached to the boy. It wasn't fleeing, it was relaxing. A luxury Rayble couldn't afford. Or was it teasing him, taunting him even? It was as if the Ukbir was saying, "Wouldn't it be nice to lay down?" It would be nice.

Rayble's muscles were beginning to feel tired. The pain started in his arm a while ago, then his legs. He ached to wiggle a little, but could not without losing the seed's projection of the wall. However, he knew from his training that he was capable of standing for at least a few more hours. The pain was normal. He hadn't learned to avoid pain, only prolong it a little. Mostly, he learned how to deal with it. To keep his mind on other things, mainly God. To focus his mind like that was a harder challenge than to stand still. He'd learned how to do it and was fully capable of it, but at this moment there were too many thoughts going through his head. The Ukbir, the pain, the time, an escape, the girl.

Since the Ukbir was now a few feet away in a prone position, perhaps that would give Rayble just enough time to act and flee. He still had the pickax. Normally he wouldn't take such a risk, but he had to see Kessa today. He could wait to surprise her tomorrow, but it would be unlikely with how much trouble he'd be in for skipping his duties. Grandfather would surely hear about Rayble's absence. No, it had to be today. Rayble planned every movement in his head before he budged. The Ukbir suspected nothing, yet still held its eyes steady on Rayble.

Rayble was ready. It all happened in an instant. He grabbed the pickaxe with both hands and held it back, causing the seed to crack and the wall to drop. The Ukbir reacted by immediately pushing itself up and forward. Rayble swung the pickaxe with all his might, sending it swinging at the Ukbir's widening jaw. Teeth were knocked out and the Ukbir threw it's heavy head back in pain. Rayble released the weapon and ran, satchel by his side, as fast as he could, relying on sporadic candles in the distance.

The Ukbir roared. It's four legs pounding in pursuit causing the cave floor to quake underneath Rayble's feet. Rayble wouldn't have long before the creature caught up to him. He thought of grabbing another seed but hated the idea of using it. He'd be back in the same situation, only the Ukbir would be angrier and hungry for revenge.

Maybe if he ran just a little further, around one more corner, there would be the miners. He turned sharply into an opening and put all his energy into propelling himself forward, only to propel himself down into a deep hole. The ground had vanished beneath him and his gut rose to his throat as he fell. The impact was hard on his body and the rocks that greeted him were even harder. Thankfully, his stretched out arms and legs kept his head from hitting the floor first. The Ukbir was wise enough to stop before the drop. It glared down into the ditch. It was too deep for the Ukbir to bother jumping into without hurting itself. It snorted and left for there was nothing to wait around for anymore. Rayble was stuck with nowhere to go. His body laid aching and he felt he couldn't move without pain searing through a muscle somewhere. He winced, groaned, and sighed. Then he shut his eyes and fell asleep.