“…hunched back, armored skin, tougher than steel and iron riddled with spikes that could impale, tear, and reduce the flesh of any and all creatures that dared to cross its path to shreds but one of its most defining characteristics is its uncanny ability to roll up in a ball of spikes to crush the life out of their prey…”
Ibaeran watched with horror as horrifying, hunched back creatures emerged out of the green giant’s carcass before proceeding to tear the giant’s leafy green skin, ripping out its green flesh and devouring it. Ibaeran watched it all with eyes filled with fear, horror, and disgust, seeing how the savage hunched back beast ruthlessly tore and mangled apart the remains of the giant, wondering how those creatures managed to take down the massive green beast that towered over the entire forest. Ibaeran continued watching while hiding herself behind one of the massive trees that surrounded them. The creatures eat and eat, slowly devouring the giant, slash and tearing through the giant’s flesh with their razor sharp teeth and claws like the savage beasts they were. Ibaeran watched with her own eyes with a mix of awe and fear, as the giant slowly disappeared and all that remained of it was skeleton that looked like it was made of solid stone and green blood splattered all around as the grassy floor, painting the surrounding grass with an unnatural dark green.
Ibaeran upon witnessing the massive green giant fall to those hunch backed creature, could not bring herself to utter a single word out of a strange mix of awe, shock and fear, as she wondered how creatures could be compared to ants beneath the towering green giant, not only take it down make its carcass disappear in a matter of minutes before her very eyes. Witnessing that sight was the most frightening and horrific, but yet astonishing things she had ever seen before, strangely feeling pleased to see something seeming small and feeble bring down a towering giant. But however, whatever form of enjoyment she derived of seeing those hunch back monster devour the giant, vanished and was completely overshadowed by the overwhelming fear that consumed her heart as her gaze landed on one of the creatures staring directly at her.
A monstrous shriek escaped the mouth of the creature, alerting the others and causing them all to turn to Ibaeran’s direction. Ibaeran looked at the creatures, feeling their full gaze fixed on her with a mix of green blood and their own saliva dripping down from their lips. Ibaeran felt her heart begin to pound from within her as she remained motionless, gripped and held tightly in place by an overwhelming feeling of fear and dread, Ibaeran could not even bring herself to turn her head. There was an intense moment of silence shared between Ibaeran and the only sound Ibaeran could hear was the sound of her heart pounded like a drum being slammed and hit repeatedly over and over again, and feeling as though it would burst open at any moment as her fearful gaze locked in place at the sight of the hunch backs straight back at her a predator locking eyes with its prey be leaping in to devour.
The silence was then finally broken by one of the hunch back, letting out an immensely loud roar aimed directly at Ibaeran, signaling the others to prepare for the hunt. Then it happened, the moment Ibaeran had been dreading from the very second the hunch backs locked eyes with, leaping straight towards with a look of pure rage and bloodlust before rolling and folding their bodies up to form a ball of spike huddling straight for her.
“…they had to be one of the most aggressive creatures on Kiri Dumo, with a pretty nasty temper, they would attack anything even there to cast their gaze at them, and if their temper wasn’t bad enough, their appetite was even worse. These creatures were more than willing to change the greatest of beast in the land that exceeded them all colossally in both strength and size, all just to sink those razor sharp teeth of them in to their flesh. I’ve been observing them for years now and I still to wonder if the have any sense at all for satisfaction, as even in days when they have successful hunted down an abundant amount of prey, devoured them all still their bellies are at the brink of bursting wide open, they are more than willing and ready to hunt down and completely devour anything unlucky enough to cross their path. They are ruthless, fearless, fierce and vicious, and willing to devour anything that has flesh and draws blood, and because of this I saw it fitting to call them, the Balayifribo, The All Consuming Ball of Doom…”
Ibaeran, seeing the Balayifribos rolled in their ball forms huddling straight for her, felt her racing heart begin to pound harder against her chest as a greater wave of fear washed over her. Ibaeran then turned around before begin to sprint away, running from the savage spike covered balls of death that hungered for her blood.
Ibaeran raced through the forest, the very fear that froze her in place moments ago driving each and step she took. Her mind was blank as she was able to conceive a single thought and the only thing that dwelled within thing the realm of a mind was single base instinct, like prey, the only semblance of a thought in her head at the moment was to flee from the predator chasing after her. So she, fleeing away like helpless prey being chased by a hungry beast, frightened and scared with the sole desire to being crushed and shredded to death by the spinning balls of spikes chasing after her.
Ibaeran ran and ran, journeying deeper and deeper in to the forest, but no matter how deep she went, the Balayifribos were still behind her, rolling and spinning through the forest, crushing, tearing, and bursting through any and everything that laid before them, be it the tough and mighty trees of the forest or another living creature born of Kiri Dumo, it mattered not to them, they were simply savages who lived for the hunt, be it a colossal beast like the Green Tree Giant or a small frail girl, it made no difference with them for what drove these bloodlust creatures was single primal instinct and that was to hunt and devour. Ibaeran ran and ran, the fear prevent her feet to give in to fatigue, a fear that grew even more when she for the ground underneath her feet begin to rumble and shake, signaling that the Balayifribos were right behind her. Ibaeran ran with all her might and strength, not wanting to meet her end in the hands of such savage beast but then, almost as though her fate despised her, she looked up her and found the path her head of her was block by a massive boulder.
Ibaeran stopped up reach the boulder, before looking around in search a place she could run to or another path she could take but the sounds of rumbling earth coming from every direction she casted her gaze to seemed to her seal her fate. Ibaeran now found herself back up against a massive rock from behind and an army of savage flesh eating balls ahead. She had nowhere to run as they would soon all come from sides, flying out of the cover of trees and then crush proceeding crush and shred her to death.
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Ibaeran looked ahead, hearing and feeling the rumbling earth on her feet as the Balayifribos rolled through the earth, tearing it apart with their spikes. Ibaeran felt as though her end and was unable to see way to escape what seemed to be her inevitable fate. The earth rumbled more and more, with the surrounding tree shaking due to their rumbling. They were close and Ibaeran knew it was only a matter of a few short moments before they all came bursting out of the thick forest straight for her. Ibaeran just stood there waiting for her inevitable demise, gripped fear and an overwhelming feeling of impending doom.
Ibaeran’s eyes then widened with dread and horror as she spotted something emerge from out of the forest, a single massive ball covered from all over with armor like scales that resembled fine steel along with razor sharp spike, and behind, much to Ibaeran’s dismay, were even more balls with each of huddling straight from her. Ibaeran could not find a way out and so she simply chose to cower against the boulder that blocked her, feeling the overwhelming wave of fear hold on to her tightly, making her genuine believe that at that every moment, she would meet her end. Then, just as the Balayifribo was about collide with her, time itself seem to stand still, leaving everything frozen in place as though they were statue. Ibaeran took in the stillness that had seemly befallen the entire world before focusing her gaze on the Balayifribo all rolled up in ball form hulling straight for her. She wanted to run but her feet, firmly gripped in place stillness that had seemed to have engulfed everything around her, refused to move.
Ibaeran then looked at the ball of death spiraling towards her and then wondered to herself if those very moments would truly be her last and as that thought permeated through her mind, she began to see flash of her past and the life she lived up until that point. Watching her life through her eyes, seeing how she alongside the rest of her people suffered under the oppressive reign of the Uha Tamunaran, working and laboring each and each everyday of their life, serving, pleasing, and obeying each and every one of their commands, and daring not to disobey any command give. She saw how bodies fell down to the ground and rotted away in streets in death that served as a grim reminder to those who wished to oppose the Uha Tamunarans or were deemed unfit to serve them. She saw how struggled to, working all day sometimes all through the night, without rest, only to begin handful of grains. Ibaeran then saw Preyina, her ray of sun shine in a dark, grim, and hopeless world. She had a way of make Ibaeran smile and laugh even when it all seemed hopeless. With her, Ibaeran felt as though she could live through the pain, despair, and misery of being a slave to the Uha Tamunarans but all that changed after she died, leaving being a single promise she made Ibaeran make during her final moments, a promise that led her down path of fear, doubt, and uncertainty.
Thanks to that promise, Ibaeran found a strength she never knew she had, to fight like a warrior and do what no other champion before her could, claiming a power that could rival the seemingly overwhelming power of Uha Tamunarans, a power that could them all but yet… Ibaeran saw, with eyes filled with dread and horror, the towering kind of all Uha Tamunarans seat on his throne, looking down at her like a worm or an insect that squash and crush underneath his feet at any given moment. He was monster, one that made even the cruel Uha Tamunaran masters that tormented her people look like saints in comparison. He cared not about his people, as he saw them all like he did Ibaeran, as nothing more than insects and would be more than willing to crush them without an ounce of remorse.
It was true that Uha Tamunaran were a thing to be fear, especially their dreadful king but Ibaeran would be lying if she said she saw them all as cruel and heart monsters. Recalling Minji, Finita, Ton’Onama, and even the Uha Tamunaran guard she met at the place. They were neither the heartless nor did they look down at her for being human, in fact Minji and Finita feared for being human having some misconception in their heads about humans being destructive being hell-bent on wreaking havoc, chaos, and destruction with their machines, the guard, a Uha Tamunaran who could sense what those around him but what unsure about his feelings to his very same power, seeing him struggle of his own feelings due to his power made Ibaeran wonder if the very same power of the Uha Tamunarans that frightened her people so much could actually feel more like a curse to Uha Tamunaran who wielded it, and then Ton’Onama, despite the fact that Ibaeran didn’t trust him at first and doubted his intention, did help train her in mastering the powers of the Su Baera and revealed to her another side of Uha Tamunarans. Recalling what she saw in Kiripapaboa, an entire city of Uha Tamunarans casted away and abandoned by their king for being worthless, a fate that seemed crueler than what the Uha Tamunaran did to her own people. Seeing that sorry sight, Ibaeran found herself, feeling something she never thought she would ever feel for that Uha Tamunarans, and that was pity.
Ibaeran saw it all, all the struggles, all the pain, misery and loss, as clear as a blue sky, her entire life flashing through her eyes, and what she saw made a tear fall down her eyes for what she saw wasn’t a life that was lived, no, what she saw was simply a slave serving her master. A pathetic life of submission and servitude one she lived even after gain so much power. She watched life play out before her eyes, she couldn’t be feel as though she had always tied down by chains her whole life, dragged about through the dirt serving cruel and heartless monsters, and yet, even after gain the strength, she never once attempted to break those chain out fear of what her the monster she served would to do if dared to break them and doubt in herself and her ability to face off against him. She, despite everything she had been through, was still a slave, neither a warrior nor champion, just a slave obeying her master.
Ibaeran then felt tear make its way down her eyes, as the painful realization struck deep in to her core, transforming the fear that once engulfed her heart in sheer and utter shame and disgust her for still, after everything she had been through, after everything she happened witness, after what she had lost, and all the power in finger tips, she still bowed before a monster. The shame and disgust within grew and grew, and then began to twist and turn in to frustration, and then frustration manifested itself in to a pure infernal unrivaled and unrelenting fury and rage.
Ibaeran then felt as though her entire body was in engulfed in flames but didn’t hurt, if anything it filled her with a drive she had never felt before, overwhelmed her and filling her with desire to draw every single ounce of power she could muster and let it all out in mass fiery explosion, and so that was what she did. Yelling out and screaming at the top of her lungs, letting out all her frustration, her doubts and fears, through her ear piercing screams and as she did so, the wings of the Su Baera appeared on her back and engulfed her entire body with her overwhelming amount of power that kept growing and growing, slowing engulfing everything around her including the Balayifribos and most of the surrounding forest before erupting in colossal explosion that shook the entirety of the forest to its very core.