Ricardo was excited. They had been chasing it for nearly an entire day now, and he could feel it was growing tired. It would soon not be able to flee them anymore. He couldn't wait.

He had done this enough times to get a feeling for the phases of the hunt. The beast was formidable, but it would surely not be able to go on for much longer.

He could see it up ahead, a few hundred meters in front. Its dark carapace glittered in the open sun.

Just as he was thinking that, it suddenly tensed, as if something had startled it, and exploded with speed. It went behind a curve in the mountain, and was suddenly out of sight.

The leader cursed.

"Faster men, faster! We almost have it, do not slack now!"

Burying their heels into the flanks of their tired mounts, they picked up speed again and shot after the thing.

A big cliff, almost completely vertical, appeared up ahead in the side of the mountain. The dogs, who had entered a kind of hunting frenzy now, led them towards the right side. Apparently the beast had gone in this direction.

They followed the trail for a while. Where was it? Then, Ricardo finally caught a glimpse of black carapace again. He shouted with triumph.

His comrades, upon seeing the same thing, started to shout too. They yipped and screamed, for the hunt was almost over.

They continued down the side of the mountain at increasing speed, sure that their quarry could not run for much longer. After a while, a bend appeared in the until now straight cliff wall.

The company slowed their mad dash and finally ground to a halt. The dogs began to bark in an even more agitated rhythm, apparently having gone completely mad now, and the men grinned in nervous anticipation.

Up ahead, nested inside the bending cliff wall, was the monster.

A mass of black chitin plates, it slowly rose up. It had been big when laying down, but was truly impressive once it stood up on multiple legs.

One of the dogs, emboldened by the loud yapping of its fellow brethren and the apparently weak state of the slowly rising of the beast, launched itself forward toward one of the front legs, in hopes of biting down. Instead, when it leaped into the air, a blindingly fast extremity descended and speared it through the gut.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

With a flick, the brutalized dog was sent flying into the cliff wall. It let out a small whimper when crashing into the jagged stone.

The leader roared his men into attention. "Bring the dogs back! Call the dogs back! They are of no use now!"

But the beast did not want to wait. It sprung into action, barreling through the pack of surprised dogs and straight towards the dismounting men.

"Defensive! Defensive Formation!" a note of panic in his voice.

This was Ricardo's clue. He leaped off of his saddle and retrieved the long poleaxe strung on the side of the horse. He took the spiked shield strapped to his back, dug it into the ground, and waited for his comrades to join him. He recognized Tarano's bulky form to his left, and Marco's blue shield to his right.

He grinned madly. He noticed the 2nd line forming behind him, providing a backbone and giving him reassurance that nothing could penetrate their formation.

His grin fell. The monstrosity was headed straight his way, as tall as 2 bulls and impossibly fast for its size. A bead of cold sweat dropped down his brow.

He straightened his weapon and leaned the back of it into the ground. Hopefully the beast would impale itself.

A short prayer.

Then hell broke loose. The mass of legs and carapace crashed into the formation, sending his comrades flying.

He saw Tarano, hurtling through the air like a doll thrown by an angry child.

He saw Marco, try and raise his axe and be knocked down by a flailing black appendage.

Ricardo himself was miraculously intact, but the upper half of his poleaxe was gone. The beast had passed him, and the sharp spike of his precious weapon must have dug itself into the flank of the monster.

He unsheathed the short sword at his hip, and with a shrill cry made his way towards the black insectoid. It was rampaging among the soldiers. One of them, it looked like Antonio, had managed to get behind the thing and raised his axe to bury it into its back. One of the big rear legs started to contract. It extended, deceptively slow at first, and then blindingly fast toward Antonio. His axe made contact with the carapace, not penetrating, but cracking the surface.

The pointed end of the leg caught him in the side, piercing through the leather armor and the ribs and exiting through the other side as if no resistance was present.

Stuck on the thing's appendage, his body was dragged along as the beast kept moving amongst the soldiers.

A gout of orange flame took it on the side. A soldier, too close to the heat, let out a cry as his face was singed.

The beast staggered, but focused its attention on the flame mage. It bound toward him, determined to eliminate the threat. Whilst he recovered from the huge effort the spell had taken, the company's second spellcaster launched his own attack on the moving beast.

The ball of flames took it in the side. An appendage popped from the heat, and green-violet gobs of flesh and fluid sprayed into the air. The monster, unbalanced, tripped, but recovered and fell upon its target. It batted at him with two of its frontal legs. A brief protective barrier flared up, but burst almost instantaneously. The mage was sent flying.

The monster let out a shriek of triumph and fixed its gaze on its next target.

Nine black eyes stared at Carano, second battlemage of the barren rock company.