Since there wasn’t another javelin nearby, Nick ran toward his team while tracking the weapon’s flight. The javelin arced high, glinting in the light of a foreign sun, before plummeting back down to where the fallen beast was dangerously close to catching up with a sweat-soaked Sarah.
He prayed that it would be enough to make a difference, because in that moment, Nick simply didn’t have anything else to give. All he could do was run, try to recover, and watch how events played out as his weapon closed the distance between his position and the mutant beast.
Half a heartbeat later, the javelin punched into the rhino’s flesh, where its spine extended to form its tail, which was now just a slightly larger bulge along its grotesquely muscular hindquarters. The point sank deep, half its length disappearing into the beast’s body, penetrating far enough to strike vital tissue despite the sheet of living armor.
This time, the rhinoceros flinched as Nick’s weapon struck true, causing its gore to fall short, and allowing Sarah to evade evisceration by the narrowest of margins. The beast screamed as it spun around, trying to dig the shaft out of its back. It shattered against the protruding horns instead, driving the tip of the weapon deeper still. He let out a long sigh of relief as Sarah opened more distance, although she wasn’t safe yet by any means.
It can feel pain after all. He watched the mutant thrash with grim satisfaction. The fallen rhino bucked and writhed to no avail, allowing several more arrows and a pair of bolts to slam into its flank in a procession of meaty thunks.
Unfortunately, most of the missiles were absorbed into its hideous hide, the wounds too shallow to do more than chip away at its vast pool of health. The creature must have understood where each attack was coming from, because the monstrosity’s gaze whipped around to lock onto Nick.
It poised, preparing to charge in his direction. Oh shit. It’s time for another round of run or die. He groaned and got ready to sprint, not at all prepared to exhibit the exertion it had required to stay one step ahead of the beast’s slavering jaws.
Stolen story; please report.
What happened next surprised them all, revealing that the corrupted rhino was more than just a bladed conduit for pure rage. That a dark and predatory consciousness had been given life with the Herald’s kiss, creating a creature that could plan and think. Anticipate and deceive. Feint, and then go in for the kill.
Everyone was already shifting to disperse, providing support while Nick kited the rhino around for another lap. All his attention was focused on judging its blindingly fast charge and leaping out of the way in time, blinding him to the beast’s true intentions.
Sarah had begun to circle around, inadvertently drawing closer to the mutant pachyderm in the process. That was the moment when, without warning, the rhino spun and surged forth. It started heading straight for Sarah without bothering to charge. It doesn’t need to in order to catch her now, and it doesn’t want to risk overcorrecting again.
A sinking feeling arose within Nick’s chest, like he had taken one step over the edge of a ravine and would begin falling half a heartbeat later. Sarah was now trapped within one quadrant of the arena, unable to dart past the reach of the rhino’s horn to rejoin the rest of the team. It merely needed to advance, and it would force her back, inevitably trapping her against the wall. A certain kill with no means of escape.
The crowd went wild, bloodlust thick in their chanting cries, as team Earth began sprinting to Sarah’s side of the arena. Paul was able to land a pair of arrows back-to-back mid-sprint, executing an advanced feat of archery far beyond Nick’s comprehension.
Although both arrows sank deep into flesh, the wounds were shrugged off by the fell monstrosity, whose posture now radiated a savage joy. A feral brutality that would soon be sated in a shower of crimson vitae. Staring death in the eye, Sarah struggled valiantly, evading a lunging thrust of horn, then leaping out of the path of the beast’s snapping jaws.
Even when her body was pressed against the curvature of the arena wall, Sarah never lost her look of defiance. The wild hope gleaming in her eyes. Although the stark terror on her face told Nick that she knew her time was up. That the beast would strike again in a fraction of a moment. That this time, it wouldn’t miss.