Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 20: Fighting the Herald

Zac had slowly inched his way back toward the Herald. It was currently lying on a rock, and it was actually eating a Gwyllgi it had caught somewhere.

All eight of its legs except the front pair were lying in the same side, exposing its back toward Zac. He was currently crouching behind a tree only five meters away from the huge barghest. He barely dared to breathe in fear of being exposed too early. He couldn’t get any closer without entering an open area and getting completely exposed.

Zac’s heart was beating furiously, and his hands were nervously shaking. It was one thing to make plans and preparation, but a completely different thing to actually turn those plans into action. Now that he was this close it was as though he could sense a primal pressure emanating from the beast.

He knew he couldn’t wait any longer, as this was a golden opportunity. The beast was feeding and was distracted. If he kept waiting he would miss his chance, and also tire himself out by stressing and fretting.

Zac soundlessly got to his feet and circulated cosmic energy through his body. Wasting no time he pumped his leg full of energy, and shot toward the exposed Herald like a bullet. His hatchet fell with an empowered swing, striking down at the lower spine of the beast. He was hoping to use the same tactic as he had in the beginning of killer Vul’s smaller brethren.

The axe sunk into the back of the beast, but it felt like he had tried to chop through reinforced steel when he reached the bone of the spine. His plan had failed, as it ended up as only a flesh wound. His right arm ached from the impact, but he quickly adapted and swung down and created a deep gash down along its side.

He planned to strike its belly as well and hopefully damage some organs, but a thundering roar interrupted him. The Herald had finally reacted, and with a jerk pushed back with all its legs, forcing its whole body toward Zac.

The monster’s back slammed into Zac like a truck and he flew a few meters backwards, and he spit out a mouthful of blood.

As he got up, so did the Herald. Suddenly they stood facing each other and a low growl emitted from the beasts mouth. Its wound was bleeding freely, but didn’t seem that it had incapacitated it at all.

Rage was burning in the beast’s beady eyes, and it let out another tremendous roar that seemed to cause the very air to vibrate.

Zac wasted no time, and immediately ran into the forest. He wanted to make use of the complicated terrain to keep the large lumbering beast at bay. He kept infusing his body with energy, not daring to let up. The sounds of loud thuds and branches breaking from behind proved that the herald was hot on his heels.

Zac was dismayed to find out that the terrain didn’t seem to impair Vul even through its huge size and stocky build. It was far more nimble than the barghest, even though it seemed even bulkier than its smaller brethren. Finally he tried to use another tried and true trick, and ran straight towards a thick maple. He could hear that the beast was ever closing in on him, and now only were a few meters away from him.

This was a test of sorts against the herald, to see if it would fall for this simple trick. He had his doubts about it after observing it, and didn’t want to blow his best shot for killing it. He therefore held off on running straight towards his pikes.

He waited until the last minute until finally jumping to the side and dodged the tree. He turned around mid-air, hoping to take advantage of the beast knocking itself out.

Unfortunately for Zac, a herald was appointed a leader for a reason. Zac’s suspicions about the herald’s superior intellect proved true as he saw the beast’s reactions.

Noticing the incoming tree, the Herald stopped in his tracks with his front legs, while he sidestepped away from Zac’s direction with the hind legs. Its front legs carved a deep groove for a few meters before it stopped, while it changed angle to point toward Zac. This resulted in the beast still moving towards the tree, but it instead slammed into it with its shoulders rather than its head.

Due to the breaking the slam seemed to enrage the beast further rather than hurt it. It hadn’t lost much time from the slam, and now Zac was in a precarious situation.

The beast immediately jumped towards him, its huge jaws trying to rip him in two from his chest.

Flustered Zac rolled on the ground down in between the beast’s leg, hoping to gain access to the more vulnerable belly. He knew now he needed to thoroughly enrage the beast so that it would blindly charge through the bushes and into his palisade. He was now in an awkward position in between the front legs, and could only rely on cosmic energy to generate force in his swings.

He slammed the hatchet up into the torso of the beast a few times, hoping to puncture a lung. It was effective, as a stream of blood showered him, and the monster elicited a painful yelp. He only had time for a few swings though, as he suddenly was slammed on his left side by a kick. Zac flew away once again like a ragdoll, and this time he felt that he had broken at least a rib as breathing felt like getting stabbed.

He could only grit is teeth and circulate more cosmic energy to keep his injuries in check. He was already starting to run dangerously low, and fatigue was starting to set in.

He kept running toward his trap, but still afraid to run into it. The beast was enraged, but it still hadn’t lost its reasoning completely, and Zac was afraid that it would notice the trap. Then he would be well and truly screwed.

He needed at least one more effective assault.

The Herald was soon upon him again, this time swiping with its front paw, hoping to catch Zac in its claws. Zac could only frantically dodge and jump out of the direction. He tried to get a swing in every now and then to hurt its legs, but it largely proved ineffective. He had hit true a few times, but only some flesh wounds were created.

Zac once more tried a riposte after dodging a swing, but this time a large head closed in with extreme speed. The Herald tried to chomp off his arm during his swing.

Zac quickly retracted his arm, and it was almost too late. The maws closed a fraction of a second too late, allowing Zac’s arm to disengage. His hatchet wasn’t as lucky however, and the monster chomped down on the head. A crunch was heard and when Vul opened its maw again to try to take another bite the axe was released.

The already worn axe was now completely deformed, and had essentially turned into a stick with scrap metal on top. The edge was gone and instead it more resembled a mace now with some random sharp edges.

A flame of rage ignited in Zac’s eyes when he saw his trusty companion being completely ruined by the Herald, and he completely forgot about safety. With a roar he stopped backing away, and instead forced most of his remaining cosmic energy into his right arm and legs. With a desperate lunge he jumped straight for the Herald, surprising it for a split second. That was all he needed as Zac plunged the Scrap weapon into the left eye of the beast.

The demon forcefully jerked backward from the pain, for a second standing only on its back legs, reaching an impressive 3-4 meters in height. Pained yelps quickly transitioned into roars of blazing fury, and Vul stomped down towards Zac, trying to flatten him like a pancake.

Zac had no time to care about his beloved hatchet being stuck in the eye of the monster, and started a mad dash away from the beast. He saw that the monster was completely and utterly raving with anger and pain right now, so this was his chance.

He focused the last of his energy in maximizing his speed as he dashed the last distance toward the trap. The Herald was hot in pursuit, not caring about anything anymore, completely smashing through any smaller rocks or trees that was in its path.

Finally he reached the bushes where the poles were hidden, and by now the huge beast was right in his heels. Zac could even feel the heat from itʼs maw. Zac simply dove through the bushes headfirst, making sure to keep a height below that of the placed spears in order to not skewer himself.

It was with great relief Zac could sense that the Herald thundered straight into the bushes right behind him, intending to simply rip through it.

As Zac landed on the ground he felt a huge impact behind him which caused the ground to tremble.

One of the trees had struck the Herald straight in its chest, entering at least a meter and impaling it where it stood.

The beast shuddered and let out a miserable roar which echoed in the surroundings. Blood was flowing out of its mouth like a waterfall, drenching both Zac and the surroundings. It immediately started wildly thrashing around, unheeding of its wounds. The contraption couldn’t take the weight and almost immediately collapsed.

Even if it was almost blinded and bleeding out, the Herald wouldn’t go quietly, as it incessantly wailed and thrashed about. One of the swings hit Zac square on his left arm, punching him down in the ground before he could get out of the way. A loud crack could be heard, and Zac almost passed out from the pain.

It followed up with a few frantic swipes with its claws, which rent long gashes all along his back while he helplessly lay on his stomach beneath the impaled beast.

Luckily for Zac the thrashing didn’t continue for too long, as a huge amount of cosmic energy entered him. Some helped replenish a small part of his severely depleted reserves, while most worked toward leveling him up.

The surroundings felt extremely quiet after the sounds of battle had subsided. He lay panting on the ground, and couldn’t help smile with bloodied teeth. He’d done it.

But just as Zac felt elated over his victory, a responding roar echoed in the distance. And then another, and suddenly the forest was filled with a cacophony of bestial roars.

Backup was coming.