Chaos erupted at the sight of the ten foot predator. It had a humanoid torso, raptor-like legs and feet, elongated sapien arms and a long whip-like tail. Its head was similar in shape to a humans, save the oversized jaw and protruding teeth. Its extremities as well as its sides were covered in the same scaly material most hunters had in small patches on their shoulders or thighs. The Kiichi’s, however, were a deep blue in color.

Its eyes flicked between the hunters before it, even as it continued screeching at them. Bato slammed his shield into Krone’Dahl as the horrific sound came to an abrupt end, and no fewer than a dozen more of the predators leapt from the trees, showing no hesitation in charging the nearest prey. Krone’Dahl took the full force of the attack, sent reeling by the unexpected impact. He slammed into the ground and slid several yards in the direction of the newly arrived guests.

As the hunters yelped and made to intercept or dodge the charging predators, Bato dashed towards the one holding the girl to the side of the fight. The man had been momentarily stunned by the events that unfolded, resulting in too slow of a response. As Bato withdrew his sword from the taller man's chest, he looked down at the prize he had recovered from the box. Her eyes were moist and glossy, and her face held little emotion. Slamming his sword back into place and shifting the whole contraption to his back, he quickly picked her up and dashed in the opposite direction of the commotion.

On either side of him, several of the other hunters had taken flight too. Facing one Kiichi with a half dozen men was winnable, though obviously terrifying. Facing odds of even four to one, let alone the currently outnumbered circumstance? Unthinkable. There were stories. The great hunters of the past faced them down and won. But they were tales, nothing more.

Bato pumped his legs as fast as he could, ignoring the yells of the others. Intent only on putting as much distance between himself and the pandemonium behind him, he was able to push the pain in his side from his mind. The forest whipped past his face, branches snapping as his headlong dash carried him in a desperate attempt to flee death. He kept his hand over the head of his prize, forcing her face towards his chest. He would not let himself come out of this ordeal empty handed.

Once again, luck had called his number. The sound of rapid feet behind him told Bato at least one of the predators had chosen him to be their target. It was closing in. Glancing over his shoulder he was met with the almost human intelligence that filled the eyes of the very same Kiichi that had first shown itself to the Hunters. They seemed to almost grin at him, as if to say “Do you regret calling us yet?”.

It was closing the distance, body perpendicular to the ground, tail trailing through the air behind it. The long arms dangled under its chest, bent at the elbow so the hands bounced under the head, perfectly poised to grab its quarry once in range. Of all the animals that shared the world with the tribes, it was the use of their hands and opposable thumbs that made the Kiichi such terrifying creatures. A trait unique to them.

Now, injured, poisoned, laden by armor and prize, Bato found himself chased by the one monster even the most capable Hunters feared facing without strong reason. What options were available to him? He could not outrun this target, not for long. If he wanted to hold onto the girl, he would not be able to wield a weapon effectively against such a fearsome opponent.

“Fuck!” The single rage filled word burst from his lips as he tried to find a way out of his predicament. Branches whipped his face, splitting the skin and spraying blood. He flicked his eyes every which way, searching out any sign of recognizable land. He let loose a cry, begging the gods for a break. Anything he could use to his advantage. Nothing.

Again, the single tone escaped his lips, and again he received nothing but endless forests. Glancing down at his prize to ensure she too was holding on, he whipped out a short blade and began slashing at branches. It was a desperate ploy, but perhaps one would strike the Kiichi and throw them off, creating even a little room. Another ping returned with a strange and abrupt end to the foliage.

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Without much thought to its meaning Bato wheeled hard left in the direction of the anomaly, all the while continuing to slash at branches around him. It only took a few seconds at his speed to come across a sudden decline. But it was too late now to change direction or slow down. Throwing himself over the edge he let go his blade and curled his arms around the small figure pressed against his chest.

The first impact ripped his prized weapon from his back, sending it off in another direction. The torque created by its ejection resulted in a loud CRACK! from the leg directly under his poisoned wound. Pain erupted from his thigh, nearly escaping his mouth. But he had to keep it shut for fear of biting his own tongue. His armor took most of the damage from the remaining death defying slide. Save for the last one.

Even as he felt the angle of the incline begin to lessen, his head slammed against a hard surface, scattering bright lights across his eyes. The world seemed to shrink, everything racing away from him. The sounds he heard were muffled and warbling, as if only reaching him through a layer of water. He felt so weak, and it felt so nice to lay on the ground.

Perhaps a short rest. He could worry about everything later. He closed his eyes as the edges of his vision seemed to dissipate to darkness, thinking only of how heavy his body felt. Taking a deep breath he relaxed his arms, giving in to the desire to sleep. He appreciated whatever held the fire in his side at bay. It was the feeling of something slapping his cheeks that drew his attention to that thought. Why wasn’t his side hurting anymore?

Reluctantly opening his eyes, Bato was met with the sight of the small one slapping his cheeks. Her eyes were wide and fearful, face pale, and she continually looked over her shoulder. Each time she did, her efforts to rouse him seemed to increase. It was this action that drew Bato’s sight up the side of the steep hill. Three of the massive predators were carefully making their way towards him, jumping between solid footholds to avoid the horrific slide their prey had just taken.

He watched them for several long moments, admiring the beauty of their gem-like hide, glittering a brilliant blue from the leader, and a deep green from the two behind. It was a far cry from the dull black of the hunters. Another slap from the girl finally did the trick of ripping Bato from his dazed condition.

“Get up! Get up!” she screamed at him desperately, tears rolling freely down her face. Get up? Those words sounded so familiar to him. Why? He looked at her with uncertainty as he began to lift himself from where he lay, but a screech from the predators above cut any further thought on the matter.

He quickly picked the short one up and stumbled off away from the hill. He needed to put distance between himself and those monsters while they were still descending. Caving his throat again, he made to release another echoing cry, but the damage from the day had finally begun to take its toll. The cry was short and weak, dying out feebly. The return gave him little, if any, useful information on what lay ahead. But after a few more seconds it became clear that, even if his echo had worked, it would have served little purpose.

A deep canyon lay before him. It wrapped around from either side and was wide enough that, even in perfect condition, he wouldn’t have been able to leap across. He turned around and through the thin line of trees he had just passed, he recognized that his situation was already doomed. The first of the Kiichi, sapphire scales still glittering in the sun, began a headlong dash, mouth agape and horrible cry vibrating the surroundings. There was only one option left. Bato set the girl down and twisted around motioning to his back.

“Hold on, quickly!” he yelled over the deafening screech. She looked at him in confusion. Of course she wouldn’t understand his words.

He grabbed her arms and threw them around his neck, forcing her to clasp her hands together. Even as he lunged for the edge, he heard the crashing of the Kiichi as it hit the wall of trees only a dozen yards away. His legs, then torso, went over the edge as he scrambled to find places to hold his weight. His right leg screamed painful protests at the pressure. As Bato’s eyes reached the lip of the canyon he saw the mouth of the monster closing in on his arm and head. He did the only thing he could.

The free fall felt as if it lasted an eternity. He twisted the girl around and into his arms, knowing she would be crushed if she landed beneath him. The blue predator above him leaned out over the chasm, staring down at him with intense hatred. Again Bato was struck by the beauty of the creature as hundreds of blue lights danced around the walls of the canyon.

The exhaustion took over as he slammed home, and darkness engulfed him.