Chapter 68

The run through the forest from the gorilla had been stressful. But it had at least been over quickly. Waiting, on the other hand, tensed and ready for action at a moment’s notice, was exhausting on a whole different level. If I had to pick a role I’d prefer, honestly, bait wasn’t all that bad.

A crashing sound echoed from deep within the forest, in the direction of the gorilla troop. A moment later, a loud bellow. Then… a second.

I shot a look up at Quill, who was pressed tightly against a tree, high above us. He had a cloak pulled around him that helped him disappear, seeming to blend in perfectly with the foliage. Had I not known where he was, I never would have been able to see him.

A faint shaking of his head was all he gave me as we locked eyes. We had discussed our roles plenty before beginning, and all possible scenarios. This was one such scenario. And even though it sounded like more than one gorilla was headed our way, we were to stick with the current plan.

My grip tightened on the wire I was holding, and I made eye contact with Nyle. His face was stern, and sweat was clearly visible on his face. Sure the jungle was humid and hot, but the stress, the strain of waiting, was likely getting to him just like it was getting to me.

More crashing sounds, followed by the chittering of birds, and the rustling of trees. Another roar, a shout, and I could just make out two figures running. Lyn was leading the sprint back to the trapped area, her bow in one hand, the other drawing forth another arrow. Behind her, Alax was doing his best to keep up. His spear was missing, and it became immediately clear why a moment later.

Following on their heels were two of the silver furred gorillas. Neither was as large the one Nyle and I had originally baited, but in this instance, I figured that wasn’t even all that important. One gorilla had taken our whole party to bring down. How would we deal with two?

The gorilla closest to the two of them had an arrow sticking out of one its eyes, crimson blood running down its face, though the injury seemed to hardly faze it. Behind it, the second gorilla had a very obvious spear protruding from its right pectoral. The weapon was lodged deeply into the beast, part of its shaft was broken, the fragmented weapon shaking violently as the gorilla ran onward.

I steadied my breathing, calming my thoughts as I glanced hurriedly around. Quill was moving slowly, getting into position to sever the swinging log when the time came. Nyle was ready with the razor wire, just like I was. And I knew in the bushes, Shadow waited patiently, looking for the perfect opening to strike.

Lyn turned and shot an arrow as she continued to near us. The rushed shot wasn’t the most accurate, and it did little more than bounce off the lead gorilla’s skull, lacking the power to penetrate the thick bone. As we’d learned during the first fight, with her current gear, only soft spots would work.

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Alax took that as his chance to take the lead. His shield disappeared from his back. He must have mentally returned it to his inventory. With the decreased weight he dug in and sprinted, as fast as he could, past Lyn. The idiot, his face pure white, his eyes panicked, tripped on the log we used as our marker. He slid across the mud, his momentum stopping right in the middle of the kill zone.

I cursed silently but couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything just yet. Lyn leapt over the log a split second later, sliding on the mud as her momentum carried her past the fallen Alax. Another arrow was in her hand as she turned and knelt, safely past the kill zone, taking aim at the approaching gorillas.

“Help me,” Alax mumbled, as he struggled in the mud. Gone was his bluster, his previous bravado. He panicked. Scared. “Help me,” he whimpered. He slowly began to push himself up just as the lead gorilla reached the clearing. Quill’s whistle pulled me from my thoughts even as I locked eyes with Alax, seeing his pleading gaze.

My hands tightened; my muscles strained as I jerked taut the end of the wire I was holding. As I did, I moved, dragging it along the base of the tree trunk to use the large object as a brace. The moment the gorilla crashed into the wire, it’s weight pulling hard at the wire, the tree took part of the force. The wire cut into the tree as I leaned my weight into it. Quill had given us the heads up, following the previous fiasco, to use the trees as a type of fulcrum. A tactic used by Hunters who had to man these types of traps, when Climber’s weren’t around. Apparently, he’d failed to mention it to us because he’d not realized how ‘weak’, in his own words, regular Climber’s were. Apparently, most of the Climber’s he’d worked with had strength that was at least an 11.

Alax’s scream tugged at my heart, just as the gorilla’s weight tugged at the wire in my hands. The gorilla’s guttural roar was one of rage and pain, before suddenly its weight was no longer on the wire. I held tight though, knowing a second was coming. With my body partially around a tree though, my view of the area was obscured. I saw the approaching gorilla, saw it move into the kill zone, and waited.

No weight hit the wire. A second later, the snapping of a rope, a rush of air as the spiked trap dislodged itself. Alax’s cries continued. A whistle from above, Quill’s, signaled it was time to engage.

I let the wire go, which still hung suspended in the air, thanks to the tree stump it had cut itself into. Claw and Fang were in my hands as I rushed around the tree. My eyes took in the battle as I did. The first gorilla was on the ground, it’s fore arms completely severed off at the wrists. Even with the grievous wounds it wasn’t dead.

Behind it, the second gorilla had half a tree spike in its chest. It had tried, much as the first had, to catch the swinging trap. Only, it wasn’t nearly as strong as the first gorilla had been. The trap hadn’t skewered it all the way, but the weapon had dug deep into its chest. Honestly, if the first gorilla hadn’t been blocking its path, causing it to likely slow its enraged approach, the trap would have killed that second gorilla.

All of that I took in immediately. Then, my eyes fell on Alax. He was in the fetal position, underneath the first gorilla, covered in blood. He was crying, sobbing for help, clawing his face. It was pathetic, honestly.

“Help me,” he gasped, and I noticed blood on his clothes. The lead gorilla, even with its hands missing, wasn’t helpless. It had pummeled him once already, with a bloody stump. And its other arm was raised, preparing for another strike. “Someone,” Alax begged. “Anyone.”