We were all highly alerted, an understatement for me. But I forced slow breath through me, after all Snap said everything was alright. It was just a neckwound he joked. I knew he was nervous, but I didn't wanted to let him down. I thought we both were freaked out. Just no one else in our group reacted too much, so we held in.

With our changed party composition we continued on. Senses ever sharp. When it happened again - this time the attack came from the right side, to Greg our main Ranger. A Sniper, someone cappable to shoot a wild animal from several hundred feet distance. That was sadly absolutky useless, when attacked from next distance. Greg survived the attack, but was crippled, his right leg got cut. The tendons were cut through with the precision of a royal tailor. Not that Ker ever has met any, but he has seen what tailors for nobles could achieve with scissors and it was nothing short of wonderful.

Greg got the short, necessary medical treatment. It was also not enough to bring him back to fightable condition. Therfore Helm was forced to make a difficult decision.

Helm:" You can't continue like this. At best you can stumble beside us, it will throw us back in our schedule and make the hunt much more difficult."

Greg insisted:" I can still shoot...", he painfully grimaced as he reposition his leg. " I still can, just have to sit down, it will be fine."

Helm denied:" No you can't! Every movement for you is visibly painfull. I can't risk this. You will be sent back towards the support group." Greg vehemently gesticulated:" You know how much worth this beast is. With the right shot at the right time..."

Helm draw a sharp breath:" No, you will be sent back with Adam. You are wounded and participated, so you will be paid the standard fee for that. Now I don't want to hear another word about it, we have to think about all hunters here."

With that the discussion was ended. A makeshift stretcher out of cloth and sticks was build. Greg would be transported with this, not a comfortable solution, but a working one. Adam pulled a loud swearing Greg on the stretcher through the woods. Adam would most likely return in a few hours. It was surprising and at the same time logical how much more powerfull a high level person was.

So they waited and waited. Snap and Ker occupied themselves with the old game 'I spy with my little eye'. Just the hunters edition. So the rules were tweaked: everything one knows by themselves is aloud; if the other one finds the target, but oneself didn't know it actually, they get one point withdrawn; the other one only have a certain amount of breath time, defined by the choosing party, so between 3 to 7. Ker chose a vole, in quite the distance between trees, eating blackberries. That was his luck, since those voles are quick and not easily spotted. 'Snap should have a hard time' thought Ker.

"Just left of the birch, in front of the undergrowth, about 40 yards in that direction.", pinpointed Ellora with acute precision. She looked at Ker for confirmation. "Yes, that is correct", Ker sighed, "Did you have to spoil the fun." On that she retorted:" I just go certain that my pupils keep everpresent senses and don't loose themselves in a game focused too far outside. Let's tweak the game some more, anything you spot has to be within 20 yards. Plus points for anything in less than 10 yards and hidden in the treetops." With those additional requirements they continued to guess things in their surrounding, mostly wildlife.

At one point Finn joined them:" Little bit red on the feathers, short beak and white in the span you said... there it is." He found it without effort, proving again what a good tracker he was. "Now what should I give you lads as a challenge..."

Our nerves had mostly calmed down at that point, everybody tended to be more tired in their attention. After all humans can only keep so long watch with full attention.

Finn looked around and seemed to find something in the distance, when

THUD

Everybody looked at the center of the little makeshift camp.

Finn's eyes widened in horror. Someone screemed.

Ker could hardly progress what was going on.

In the center of their group was a head, blood dripping from it. Blood was dripping out of it.

The face, Ker knew it, Ker knew him - it was Greg. Just moments ago they send him away, to safety.

It seemed many more had serious problems understanding what was going on. Then everything became chaotic.

Another screem was heard, Hellauer, the chef gooten a headwound. Fighting was heard from the same direction, it instantly dissolved. Then Ker saw a black shadow flitting over the treetops to them. He wanted to warn Snap. Finn was faster, of course, standing in front of them and drawing his shortbow. Right as it attacked he loosened his bow. Even as Finn hit something in this creature, it just ignored the dealed damage and pushed through Finn towards Ker and Snap. Ker could now see it more defined and how he wished he wouldn't.

It had black scales on its whole body, pelt coming thtough on some places, long legs with claws as feet and long arms with claws that ended in human-like hands. From head to feed at least 8 feet. Its head was like a snout, but the pelt was covered in scales and four lines parted it in equal parts. The eyes were deepest black.

Ker felt as he would stare into the abyss and it stared malevolently back.

As its snout parted, Ker knew why it was parted in four by lines, they were four parts, lined with different teeth in all sort of direction. That made no sense and added to the confusion and scare of Ker.

Than it bit and right in front of Ker the arm of his friend was effortlessly ripped to pieces. The beast take a look at Ker and spit his friends arm in front of him. Then it turned to attack someone different.

In shock Ker could only make out that the other person was Helm. He fought valiant, regularly cutting into the thing, but was also pushed back by it.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Ker looked at his friend and the stump, Finn was treating it. Finn gave short orders to Kel, which he picked up with hesitance. He was like in a nebula. Nothing felt real. In the end he could help treat the hefty wound of his friend. The moment Snap was not anymore in vital danger, Fin draw his dagger in took of, his face in rage.

Finn even managed to take the beast in surprise, ramming his dagger under some shoulder blades. That was the the last bit of resistance the beast needed. It jumped to the treetops and run away.

In the chaos, Adam had returned andctried to join the battle. He looked worse for wear. Dried blood on his face, slight wounds on the left arm and for a short moment Ker could swear to see a desperate expression on his ever stoic face.

The result was harrowing:

4 lightly wounded

3 heavy wounded

2 dead

Just Helm, Ellora and Ker weren't wounded at all. Helms armor held firm and was only dented. The light wounds were mostly superficial cuts. The heavy wounds were a headwound to Hallauer, one arm off from Snap and a stomach wound to Thomas the spellslinger. Greg and Vrenn were dead. Vrenn took basically care of all the little things in the group, including accounting and taking stock.

Their fighting force was definitely deminished.

Ker didn't want to think on continuing this hunt. It was a disaster and all he wanted was to get home and be safe by his parents. He wanted his friend to return. Conscuisly he knew that Snap was crippled. Snap was Snap mo longer. Now his friend couldn't draw a bow any longer and even with a prosthesis he would have a hard time. Complete healing was seldom and expensive.

Finn looked at his friend and immediately understood the thoughts Ker had. "Oh, no worries, we find a way to be usefull for me. I'm certain I get a new arm made out of the finest metals, you'll see." But his weak voice betrayed Snaps effords. Ker could only barely hold back his tears, for his friend. At least he told himself that.

His lost companions, were not his close friends, still they knew each other for month. He trained beside and with them. Especially Vrenns dry humor would be missed. There is nothing Ker could do here, neither forvthe dead nor for the living. There was only leaving in his mind and returning with the people that remained.

Apparently there was someone else who thought the same, Hallauer made himself heard: "That thing got us good, too good. We need to leave and be happy that we keep our lives. I tell you, that's one dastartly thing, surely came right from maw of hell." Helm turned around in quick motion and fixed Hallauer with his eyes: "We all knew that this would be dangerous. But we all agreed to do this for the gold, that we will receive ones this is over. I knew Greg and Vrenn well. Vrenn was basically my left hand at this point. But we can't undo what is. Let's hunt and slay this thing."

"You can't be serious. That thing killed Greg, while protected through Adam. No one of us is really safe. We have to make way to get home. I say let's leave this to the veterans of the garnison. Let actual militia deal with this problem."

Helm argued: "We could harm it. It flew from Adam and was wounded there too. It bleeds. We have to hold firm, restructure, then we can hunt it down. Just imagine the piles of gold we get, when we deliver this thing. We are so close to pave our own path, fortune beyond anything we ever had."

Hallauers eyes looked sad: "Oh no, I know those eyes, there of greed. I know exactly where this ship sails. That's just like when I was part of the crew of captain blackbreath and their cursed route. Hear to yourself, that's not the level minded man we know and followed. Look around and tell me who do you think you can throw next against that beast."

Helm held in and took a good look around. He saw the worn out faces of fellow adventures, that have seen one thing too much. He glanced over Ker and Snap. Then he wiped with his hand over his face and seemed to come to a conclusion. "Fine, we leave from here. We look for the safest way back. Our priority will be safety from this point on. Ellora, Finn, Adam I count on you to find the best path and help on the way, since you are least wounded. We also need a way to transport the wounded safely and do all of this quick." He sighed "To work."

Luckily the wounded could walk by themselves, they just needed some support from time to time. They couldn't possibly carry the dead with them, so to honor them they burried them quickly and spoke a few words. There was nothing thes could do right now.

Ker helped his friend for anything he would have needed two hands. Ellora and Adam helped the other two wounded. Finn was mostly busy tracking their way back. They tried to go a different trail than they arrived from, while also moving in most direct path.

Ker noticed they turned slightly to the deeper parts of the woods. Then he smelled smoke from the other direction. Irritated he asked the others: "There is smoke in the woods. Why is there smoke? We didn't make a campfire anywhere nearby." Finn answered from the front: "That's correct. There's smoke, we are movin around it. Should soon reach a point to avoid it." His voice still carrying tension, even if half surpressed, didn't help the situation.

Soon they discovered the further they were going, the further the smell of smoke spread. Just as if it was following them. Then they saw actual smoke in the distance over some trees. There was probably a fire and a fire meant mortal danger in the woods. Ker knew they had to get as far away as possible and that fast. Helm gestured something to Finn, who took turn to the deeper parts of the wood. They followed him close. Gone were the safe and secure look over the shoulder. They didn't have the luxury to go certain that they weren't followed. Some of the group cursed about this new development. Deep down Ker knew whos fault this was, that thing, that beast hunted them now. It was intelligent in some abominable way and now it could make fire.

After a while they encountered first changes to the flora, less distance between the trees, weirder plants in different shapes and darker colors. That was a sign that they treaded now in the wilds. Ker thought they were more to the north and some pace away from the wilds, but obviously that wasn't the case.

Even if it was the wild, if they just turned fast enough there was little danger. Including that they were hunted by some apex predator there were more pressing matters at hand.

That all changed, when dusk fell. Ker was in the woods before when it gor dark. Of course his parents weren't pleased about it, he was still a child back then. So he knew, when it got dark visibility was limited, more predators were moving around, using the darkness as cover. He always liked the eerie atmosphere in the night, just right now it was everything else than welcome. The entire group stiffened for a moment and then moved on.

Finn and Helm decided to turn again to finally find a way back, even if it was in giant arc. Ellora paused for a moment and looked irritated at some place in the woods. She moved her shordsword in the direction of a large tree. Ker couldn't make put anything, when something in front of the bark shifted. As if there was a layer in front of the bark. In just a heartbeat the layer changed to black pelt and chitin. A clawed hand swatted the shortsword away, another shot forward and grabbed Ellora at her throat. In just a moment, an exchange of two movements it was decided. Everyone readied their weapons. And this thing hold Ellora between them and growled, snarled, clicked at them. Ker could swear that such a cacophony of sounds could not, should not exist. The tension rose with every movement they tried to get a better attack angle at that thing. Even in dim light Ker could make out that something was different about the beast, something changed. Then he recognized it had more pelt and less scales. Even the tale had changed, with a slight light at the end of it. Did it's tail emit light - fire, Ker could only wonder by himself.

When their group started to surround the beast, it shouldered, for a lack of a better word, Ellora and took flight. Of course Ellora had other ideas about that and rammed a dagger with her free hand in its arm. It seemed not to care.

Everyone instantly took after it. Now even spared a thought about leaving one of them behind.

At least Ker thought that was the case.