CHAPTER 14 PART 3 OF 4

A DESPERATE HOPE

The bear turned its head slowly. They made eye contact for a moment, both feeling a bit unsure about what was happening. The bear then left its tree, going back to all fours, and started walking towards him. Lucas, suddenly remembering he was meant to run for it, turned around and bolted towards Korah. As he started running, so too did the bear. The bear was much faster, its enormous frame bound after Lucas with terrifying speed, covering much of the distance in one leap.

It bellowed a roar with so much force that Lucas could feel the air being displaced around him. Luckily Korah was only a few metres away or Lucas would have been dead before the fight started. He saw her hiding behind a tree trunk as he passed, barely noticing her suppressed Aura. Lucas didn't have time to see what happened behind him but Korah’s battle cry rang out, followed by the bear’s surprised bellowing.

Lucas hit a tree to arrest his momentum and turned to look. The bear tried to swing its massive bulk around to face its new attacker, but one back leg crumpled under its immense weight. Korah had ripped through its hind leg with her axe, savaging the muscle and maybe snapping its achilles tendon. Her form was glowing with a blue energy as she spun, carrying the momentum of her first blow into an attempt to hit its other hind leg. The bear twisted around with remarkable alacrity, catching her mid swing with a paw. The blow only clipped her as the bear had to swing from an awkward angle, but it was enough to send Korah toppling over the uneven ground.

Combat Spider chose this time to join the battle. A massive leap sent it several metres into the air to land on the Bear’s back. There it used its Combat Scythes like clamps and dug in between the Bear’s shoulder blades. The bear tried to get up and bound after Korah but it was again surprised by its rear leg, which collapsed immediately. The Bear stumbled to the side until it found footing on three legs, then stood still for a moment as green energy began to glow through its Aura. Lucas was about to call out to Korah that they had to hit it now, but she was already running back in to attack.

Lucas sprinted out from cover to reach the bear from behind as the blue glow enveloped Korah for the second time. The bear was ready this time and swung a paw the size of a fridge across the space she was running into. Korah stopped mid stride, turned to face the incoming paw, braced her feet into the rocks, and brought down her axe with all of her strength. The great paw looked like it had enough momentum to demolish a building.

When it met with Korah’s Empowered axe strike the impact sent shockwaves through the air. A grinding sound like steel on stone rang out as the axe raked along the bones of the bear's arm, and great slabs of flesh peeled off. Two gouges were ripped into the earth by her feet as Korah was driven back by the impact but held her stance. The bear's bones remained intact, but the flesh and skin was ripped and ravaged all down its forearm. Incredible amounts of blood pumped freely onto the forest floor. Lucas used the distraction to get close.

When the bear stepped back, Lucas could see the twisting knots of muscle in its rear leg knitting back together. The tendon was still intact, meaning the bear would be back in fighting shape very soon. While the bear howled over its ravaged arm, Lucas wedged his dagger in between the tendon and the leg bone. Holding his dagger with both hands he pulled it hard to the side, leveraging against the bone to rip the blade into the tendon.

The bear spun around wildly. Lucas held the dagger firmly against the tendon as the bear turned but 4 Strength just wasn't enough. His arms gave way before he could cut it cleanly. He leapt away before the bear could reach him, his dagger sent clattering among the stones. The bear didn't make a move for Lucas once he was out of reach, instead hobbling backwards as it tried to keep both he and Korah in its sights.

The fading green energy in its Aura radiated freshly again as it activated Regeneration a second time. Lucas watched in dismay as flaps of skin and flesh knitted back together around its wrist. He looked over to Korah. Her arms were shaking as she held the axe in front of her, the impact of the last engagement must have done internal damage. It had looked like sufficient force to rip muscles all over her body. The bear settled its attention on Korah as it finished healing.

“It can regenerate itself two more times, then it should run out of Mana,” Lucas called out. Korah only nodded in acknowledgement, focused on the bear as it got ready to charge her. She had enough Mana to keep using her Empower ability, but it wasn't enough if she had to absorb the force of another direct impact. Lucas suddenly realised he would be forced to watch the only person who had helped him in this world get crushed to death. He needed a way to help, now.

Lucas focused his mind and skimmed over the variables. Korah was an experienced warrior, she wouldn't go down easily but couldn't kill it alone. Combat Spider was still lodged on it’s back, but the bear showed no signs of being bothered by the venom, probably due to the regeneration ability. One spider was not enough, but if he could get more somehow the venom would become their win condition. That was when Lucas remembered the bear had been hunting something. Maybe whatever was hiding up in the tree could be made into more spiders. While Korah and the Bear prepared for another clash, Lucas slunk behind a tree. As soon as he was out of sight he ran to scoop up his dagger, then made for the partially uprooted Oak.

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The sounds of roaring filled the forest behind him. Lucas tried his best to ignore it as he reached the Oak, focused on the only thing he could do to make a difference. Soon he was crawling over unearthed roots to gaze up a trunk scored with deep claw marks. Up in the branches rested an almost human looking figure. It was a Hominid, like the one Lucas had fought on his first night. It was covered in blood, weak and tired, barely hanging on to its perch amongst the branches.

Lucas hesitated when he saw the look of terror in its eyes, her eyes… It was a woman, or a girl. Something changed when she saw him, a mixture of hope and fear swelling in her Aura. Lucas silently wished that she wasn’t hoping for a saviour. As he began to climb, a desperate hope kindled in her Aura and began to shine with gratitude.

‘No, no no,’ Lucas thought. ‘I have to do this, I have save Korah. Just hate me, I need to kill you. Be like the other Hominid.’ As he climbed she continued to watch him, tears glistening as they fell from her eyes.

‘Please hate me, just be a monster.’

Lucas tried to project hostility from his Aura so she would understand, but all that came out was a mix of confused emotions. He saw her Aura clearly as he got close, she wasn't a warrior, she couldn't fight and couldn't run. She was completely powerless. Hope was all that she had. She could see that he understood her, so she chose to believe. As Lucas climbed out onto her branch a roar echoed from behind making both of them flinch. A shout from Korah came soon after, her voice had a desperate quality, like time was running out.

“I’m sorry,” Lucas said out loud. “I have to do this,” She didn't understand.

“You are going to die anyway. I can’t help you. It’s your wounds… you are going to die anyway! It's not my fault!” He tried to not look at her wounds, not wanting to know if it was true or not. He forced himself to believe it, then kicked her off the branch.

Panic and shame screamed at him as he climbed back down. The roots that the bear had exposed, while trying to uproot the tree, had created a deadly environment for a fall. The girl lay amongst the roots, still alive but motionless. When he reached her he couldn't help but grimace at the sight, her head was lolling on an unnatural angle over a root that had broken her neck. A piteous moan escaped her lips as the air left her lungs, never to return. She looked up at him when he reached her. Her Aura still glowed with hope, as if it had all been a mistake, as if he hadn't pushed her on purpose, as if maybe he would still save her and it wasn't too late.

“Don't look at me like that! It's too late!”

Lucas realised by the broken sound of his own voice that he was crying. He got out his dagger and Nexus of the Brood. He put the Nexus on the ground and covered her eyes with one hand so she couldn't look at him. He plunged the dagger into her chest but his sobbing threw off his aim and his arm felt weak. The dagger stabbed into her chest but didn't hit her heart. He knew she would asphyxiate in a few minutes but it wouldn't be fast enough to save Korah. He stabbed her again and again, but he was quickly losing what determination he had and his arm felt like it was moving through water. The hand he kept over her face was slipping and he saw her looking at him beneath it, her eyes pleading, as if she hadn't seen what he was doing to her.

“You are already dead! Just fucking die!” Lucas screamed, tears blurring his vision as he stabbed down again.

Deep red blood suddenly pooled between her breasts. Knowing he had finally hit her heart Lucas quickly grabbed his Nexus and an egg. Her Aura unravelled just as Lucas delved into the Nexus to harvest it. Four Mana from her, along with his own two, gave him enough to hatch another Combat Spider.

Lucas turned and left the scene behind as soon as he could, making for the battle. His new Combat Spider immediately ran to follow. When he reached Korah again, a deep gash in the bear’s neck was gushing blood into the earth like an upturned bucket. Korah leaned back against a tree, her axe on the ground at her feet. It looked like one side of her body had been crushed.

A misshapen arm, red and pulpy, hung uselessly at her side. Judging by her raggard breathing, several ribs had also been broken. The bear’s Aura radiated with green energy once again and the blood flow stopped as the wound closed. As it turned to face Korah it swooned and stumbled, a combination of blood loss and spider venom taking hold despite the regeneration. The new Combat Spider wasted no time, leaping immediately to latch onto the bear next to its Broodmate. The bear flinched but stayed intently focused on Korah.

Lucas broke into a run as the bear charged Korah. She waited for it to close the distance, then vaulted out of the way at the last second. The clearly disoriented bear failed to notice and dove headfirst into the tree she was leaning against. The force of its massive head making impact was enough to crack the trunk down the middle. The bear sat on its rump, shaking its head and looking for Korah as the tree loudly splintered apart. Korah had collapsed behind another tree, straining to pull air into her crushed chest. Lucas steeled himself. Hopeless as it was, he was going to need to take on the beast directly to give her a chance to retreat and heal.