Zef could not see the result of the initiative the wolves took; instead, he saw a sudden eruption of dust and sand encompassing the battleground. The large ball of dust enveloped the monsters when suddenly, three large expulsions of air cleared some of the dust away and within those pockets of visibility were unmoving red bodies on top of large pools of blood.

A shiver crawled up his spine, and Zef shifted his attention towards the alpha, who stood outside that dust ball. The alpha had its snout up in the air and did nothing for a few seconds, then suddenly growled, its fur bristling.

Another breeze rustled Zef's curly hair. It sped down the hill and then slowly carried the dust away towards the south or directed towards the wolf's direction, revealing three dead wolves surrounded by an exhausted Mantis. They looked like they were cleaved in half.

In retaliation, the alpha wolf howled an ear-piercing sound that made Zef drop his binoculars and cover his ears, his eyes squinting. He did not see the force of that soundwave which cleared the dust cloud away from the wolf's path. That force of that roar was so strong that it disoriented the giant Mantis, who was only a hundred yards away; weakened and beat, it fell to its hind legs and embedded its pincer-like claws onto the ground to stop itself from completely collapsing.

The surviving wolf suddenly rushed towards the Mantis. A fireball started forming between its two horns, increasing in size. Suddenly, the fireball the size of a truck's tire shot off towards the Mantis in a split second. The Mantis could not dodge in time and screeched in pain as a colossal explosion detonated at its thorax. A cloud of smoke, wisps of fire, and a huge hole appeared where the fireball hit. Finally defeated, the Mantis fell to the ground.

Instinctively but unknowingly, Zef grabbed his Dragunov rifle from his side and peered through the scope. He found his target, aimed at the wolf with his finger on the trigger, and held it softly. He had his breath and adjusted the scope's dial and closed in the distance of a thousand yards within a second. The sound of his dial clicking as the target became clearer and clearer helped calm his nerves to a standstill, and then he felt it.

A sense of machine-like quietness where his feelings and fatigue were put at the back of his mind, and only he and the target mattered. Everything else was a distraction.

His grandfather called it the eye of the storm.

He imagined firing the shot within his mind and watched the descent of the bullet speeding down the hill within seconds and missing the target's chest.

Close enough.

He locked on the alpha's chest, which treaded slowly towards its prey, giving him enough time to lick his finger and feel the wind. The wind was less mild than earlier, and the wolf was now only a few yards from the Mantis, which hadn't moved a muscle.

The wolf growled in front of the Mantis. The alpha moved clockwise, taking a better position, and seemed to want to target the neck right above the thorax.

Zef breathed out slowly and pulled the trigger thrice. The first bullet missed, the second entered its hind leg damaging it somewhat, and the third chipped off a piece of its horn and ricocheted past its head.

Although the damage wasn't life-threatening, the surprise was enough for the Mantis to strike in a split second as it shifted a bit for its scythe-like arms to plunge into the wolf and drag it towards its mandibles.

The wolf, shocked, did not have time as enormous spider-like mandibles crushed its throat and tore it apart, spraying blood all over the sand. It stood there carrying the wolf in a bear-like hug. It did not consume its enemy. It seemed to tear the flesh as if to disfigure it in retaliation for its sorry self.

Finally satisfied, it dropped the body, then turned its huge triangular head and looked directly in Zef's direction. Blood and flesh smeared its dark, ashed face. It spat some of the wolf s' fur in triumph before laying its head on top of the dead wolf.

Zef dropped the rifle, his calm state was gone, and his hands trembled. His heart throbbed like an African drum. Grabbing the canteen, he quickly gulped it down to the last drop and put it away. He grabbed his hair, trying to calm down, and slowly breathed out his excitement.

He was more than surprised that he fired those bullets. The sensible thing to do was to run down the porthole behind him, which led to the camp to warn the men, but he didn't. Instead, something inside him wanted that frightening Mantis to survive. Not that it mattered with that huge hole on its thorax.

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With his adrenaline still high, he looked at the sprawled Mantis and watched for any movement. His eyes gleamed at the thought of getting a closer look.

That giant bug of a monster should be dead by the time I walk down there, and I'm sure the men back at the camp heard that commotion from inside the cave network.

Zef didn't hesitate as he confidently walked down the path across the rocky slope. He wanted to be the first at the battlefield scene. Child soldier or not, he was still a kid, not to mention curiosity and boredom coerced him to go alone instead of doing the sensible thing.

Although the Mantis saw him, he wasn't worried about it since it was probably dead. He could only think of getting those large wolf horns as a trophy.

It took him fifteen minutes to reach the battle site as he strolled down the hill trail and jogged the rest of the way lightly. Once he had better footing, he eyed the dead monsters warily. The closer he got, the more he realized how giant these monsters were. One bite and they'd snap any man in half.

Then the smell of iron in the air rattled him. It felt sharper and more potent than the blood of men's corpses. He gulped and stood still for a second to gather his courage.

He cautiously grabbed his Beretta from its holder and pointed toward the first wolf in his path. It was the wolf that was pierced through its head.

"A clean kill," he thought. He inspected the kill and moved slowly, heel to toe, until he reached an arm's length from the wolf's back. Holding his breath, Zef lifted his left arm and touched its red fur. The hair was somewhat short and soft, suited for this environment. Yet it also felt strong, similar to kevlar armor when he tried to prod it with his ceremonial dagger.

Cutting this up will be an effort—great material for body armor. The rest must be the same—time to check out that Mantis.

Zef cautiously walked towards the Mantis from its rear. He admired its tenacity for surviving this far. Its body was probably as big as a heavy-duty truck. Furthermore, it looked battered from the beating it took. There were old wounds and new ones. He sniffed the air, and a pungent smell that reeked the air entered his nostrils. The stink was coming from the grey liquid dripping from its fresh wounds. This made him gag several times as he got closer, so he had to wrap his headscarf around his face even tighter.

"Doesn't make sense," Zef muttered.

Some of the old wounds looked like they were a few days old, which meant they had been fighting and running for a long time.

Still, he wondered why these wolves would attack such a deadly creature. It was no prey and wolves were smart. They don't attack dangerous targets unless they have a food shortage, yet these wolves looked well-fed with no hint of malnourishment. The gigantic Mantis was strong enough to kill three of them in one shot.

Had it been at its best, it would have quickly taken care of them and cut them into minced meat.

He strolled around the Mantis's body, came head to head with it, and squatted to take a better look at its face. Its face was hidden within the dead wolf's fur underneath it. The side of its colossal head resembled the normal mantises he saw during the grandfather's trips up north. Except they were five inches tall.

An antenna twitched, and Zef held his breath and pointed the gun right at it. The Mantis lifted its head and looked directly at Zef with glowing red eyes. Each eye was separated into tiny cubes, and he could see his many reflections pointing a gun toward himself.

Adrenaline surged again in his body, and he wondered if he should run or shoot, but he did nothing. He sensed it. The horror in front of him was dying, and instead, he lowered his gun. The mantis mandibles started cleaning off the wolf's blood and skin against each other.

He regretted coming here and should have waited for it to die off first.

Ironically the Mantis spat out an object right next to his feet. It looked like a blade of some sort with not a hint of blood. Instead, it shone like a treasure you would find in some Jinn's hidden trove. He quickly looked up at the Mantis, and to his luck, the Mantis's eyes slowly turned white and it laid its head on top of the alpha's body.

Zef gulped and thanked the heavens. He looked at the blade, and the more he looked at it, the less cautious he became. "Very pretty," he said in his native language.

His sleepy eyes were wider than usual, and he grabbed the knife from its hilt and realized it was in a metallic sheath that was way too shiny, and on it were the engravings of spirals, moons, and stars.

He looked around warily, licked his lips, and slowly unsheathed the blade, which gleamed in the sunlight, and saw parts of his face from the blade's reflection. Like a mirror, the blade was so clear and glossed that he could even see the dark spots on his nose.

Zef's eyes followed the blade towards its hilt, which had a beautiful red stone. The dark red jewel had a diamond-like structure, and he couldn't resist as his thumb rubbed on its texture, only to look up and see his comrades shouting his name as they came out from the base entrenched within the hill. He was so surprised by the scene that he didn't even realize that he pricked his thumb on the point part of the jewel.