Rontu managed to duck in time to avoid the hand that reached for his head. Judging by the way it had so easily been gripping the glass before, he could only imagine how easily his skull would be crushed. He found himself on the floor of his mine, quickly scrambling to his feet in a crawling run up the incline he had dug. The Honno followed him with a slow turn of its head as if trying to locate Rontu by his footsteps. Clearly it wasn’t seeing much without eyes.
Rontu made it out of the shaft, frantically patting around his pants and looking for his rock pick. He didn’t have a lot of confidence in combatting the Honno with it, but even just the idea of having a weapon made him feel better. He looked back into the pit, his stomach forming one of its own as he saw the tool left in the deepest recess. It looked like Rontu was going to have to get to his vehicle barehanded...somehow. That was going to be a challenge considering that the Honno had so graciously placed itself between the man and his machine. Rontu estimated that he had a thirty-foot sprint to the side door of his rig.
Now that he was above ground, Rontu could finally get a better look at the creature. It seemed like he had already been able to witness the scariest part of it, and now by comparison the rest was a little underwhelming. Behind the large and bulbous head was a ring of bones, sharpened spikes with gnarled and crooked shapes. It lacked any sort of legs, the flattened torso merely tapering off into a spaded, reptilian tail that wavered ever so slightly with each step. Clawed hands scraped into the ground, crushing it into bits with each drag of its body. That menacing jaw still hung wide open, just a hair from dragging itself along the ground as well.
Beyond all of this though, it seemed sluggish. Rontu had heard stories of Honno that were faster than trucks, ones that could upend buildings, and even flying variants. It seemed like he had managed to luck out. Well, as lucky as anyone who was toe to toe with a Honno could be. This one was still looking side to side, searching for Rontu despite the fact that he was still posted at the end of the pit. After a few more of the longest seconds of Rontu’s life, the Honno stopped advancing, even the swiping of its tail slowing sown. Did it find him? Was it giving up?
Slowly the Honno raised its head high, staring straight up into the sky with the ugly “face” plastered to its head. The spines around its neck began to slightly twist and twitch, sharp and jerky movements at first before they began to smoothly expand outward. Small pools of pus and blood leaked from the exits like freshly picked scabs as the bone grew thinner and thinner in length. Once they had extended to several feet in length, the bone suddenly seemed to turn much more pliable. Wavy and fluid. Rontu managed to count seven of them before he flinched hard, the spines suddenly impaling themselves deep into the glass surrounding the Honno. Thankfully he had the foresight to cover his mouth and prevent himself from yelling out in panic.
Rontu watched as the Honno seemed to brace itself against the ground, lifting the spade of its tail high into the air before it roughly slapped the glass surface and sent a shockwave through the terrain. He felt the tremor pass through the area, the soles of his boots vibrating with the force of the impact as it swept through him. Almost as soon as he felt it, he could see the bone tentacle nearest to him swell and vibrate in tune. His eyes widened, his heart thumping almost as hard as the creature’s tail had.
Seismic location.
Had he not chosen this path in life, Rontu may have been blind to the technique the Honno was using. No wonder it seemed to lose sight of him when he stopped moving, it was using the vibrations of the ground to seek out prey. Could he use this to his advantage? He didn’t think he’d be able to outrun the monster, not for the mile or so it would take to get back to Lowlam and get help.
The Honno’s head whipped forward in Rontu’s direction, the seismic waves had already alerted it to his presence. Running would just lead the thing right to him, his feet creating tiny earthquakes with each step.
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The man reached into his bag, grabbing one of his finds from the day. Hefting the chunk of glass that appeared to encase some sort of beetle, he threw it as hard as he could to his left. The beetle rock smashed into the surface, splinters of glass echoing across the surface like raindrops to the Honno’s sensing organs. The monster lunged in that direction, retracting the bone tentacles back into its neck like elastic rubber bands before using its long arms to pull itself into a leap. That was all Rontu needed to confirm two things;
One, it was definitely drawn to the tremors. It probably showed up in the first place due to his pick hitting the ground earlier.
Two, there was no way he was gonna outrun it on foot.
Rontu pulled another sample from his bag, a red gemstone this time. It could have been worth some money, but not more money than his life. He slung it even further, this one skipping across the surface a few times but staying mostly intact.
The multiple bounces seemed to work though, as the Honno quickly twitched and went to investigate them one by one. It was now close to twenty feet away, the distance growing just a bit larger as it jumped to where the object had landed. Was that enough? Could he run to the rig before it sensed his footprints and tackled him? One deep breath was all the time Rontu had to think about it, as the Honno was slowly extending those sensors out once more.
He grit his teeth, hand gripping around a fossil he had excavated. Rontu lowered himself in preparation to run his ass off. With a heavy grunt, he shot forward, his footsteps catching the Honno’s attention just as he anticipated. It seemed to flinch, turning completely around and lowering itself for another leap.
It was at this moment that Rontu flung the fossil, breaking it right at the location he had been at before. The Honno did a charging leap, easily clearing the top of Rontu’s head as it landed. The wide jaw took one bite of the surface and sent bits of glass scattering about. The Honno clearly didn’t care about the cuts and gashes across its gums as it chewed and crunched the material between its teeth. It let out a screech, obviously angered by the lack of flesh and bone it was tasting.
That pause was just long enough for Rontu to barrel into the side of his mining rig, yanking the metal door shut as he clutched his chest. He gasped loudly for air as he felt his heart pound blood oxygen into his lungs. He knew he didn’t have much time to catch his breath, the vehicle lurching to the side slightly as the Honno slammed into it. Rontu scrambled to his feet, making his way past the bunk beds in the living quarters to the driver’s cab before another impact nearly knocked him off of his feet. He hit the ignition switch just in time, catching himself on the cloth seat before sliding into it and mashing his foot on the pedal.
The rig purred to life, barely a whimper betraying the huge amount of space it took up. Six wheels, all powered by a massive electric motor, began to spin wildly. Two in front, four in back. Rontu had managed to convince the old Institute scientists to leave it behind when they abandoned Lowlam, and it had served him well as both a home and a transport. Hopefully, it would work as an escape too.
He pressed a button on the dash, turning on one of the exterior cameras that overlooked the flatbed in the rear. The Honno was trailing behind, no doubt following the vibrations of a four-ton mining rig tearing through the Glassway. While it had seemed to have quite the leaping capabilities, it instead seemed focused on using its arms to swing itself forward at a quick pace. Its bleeding maw drug across the ground, tilling the glass in one shallow ditch as it gave chase. Unfortunately for the Honno, Rontu’s rig had been soaking the sun into its battery all day. His “Gemmer”, he called it, was easily able to reach eighty miles an hour on a full charge. Especially on a mostly flat surface like the Glassway.
The Honno slowly shrunk away in the rear camera, Rontu finally allowing himself to breathe and slightly relax his knuckles on the wheel. He’d done it. He’d been face to face with a Honno and survived, won even. Rontu didn’t know anyone else that had ever been in that situation. Most ended up leaving in the throats or bellies of the beasts.
He turned his attention from the rear to in front of him, Lowlam slowly becoming more and more visible on the horizon. Rontu could feel his throat closing, lightly choking back a cry of anguish. Pillars of smoke rose from the quaint little town, doing little to ease the worry that he had been the only one to have Honno troubles that day.