The sun is setting. Another day has gone by and yet it seemed as though life has slowed down. Leaves quiver in cold winds. Occasional chirping of song birds ever so slightly lightened up the depressing atmosphere. Taking long and deep breath of arid and pungent air, the smell compliments the scenery. The scenery is a landfill of corpse; piles of smoking of corpses. The air is dotted with endless amounts of tiny flies buzzing in the air.

“Dawn is drawing near.  We should get ready for the evening.” Milorad said.  As said, everyone gathered resources and set camp for the night. The shelter was set up with twigs, mosses, dead leaves. This optimises the foolery, blending in with crowd of trees. The sense of security dawns within the remanence platoon.

Given the situation, hiding was the best option. Showing even the slightest sign of life may spell doom. The beast would be able to sniff though the foul smell of the mount of rotten flesh.

Boza, “Wash yourself in the rotten flash, it would not detect you.”

Rufus, “Gosh darn. That is a rotten idea”

The rest of the platoon chuckled at the stupidity of the comment. However, the imminent thread still lingers at the back of their minds. Everyone still disturbed by the earlier skirmish with the beast. Men were lost, blood was shed. Many have not expected this much causalities and barely making a scratch on the beast. Such power displayed was unthinkable, unmatchable or even seem real.

This creature alone may be very the reason that the Romik Empire was defeated. Knowing that the Romik Empire is the strongest country economically and militarily in the lands, or at least it was. Now the beast is on its way south, towards the country of Uronia. This sudden intrusion would add on to the already crippled country if Uronia, after a war. The redevelopment of the country has only just begun, with an addition of the lack manpower that was due to the Great war.

To stop the invasion of the beast, the Emperor hand selected a team of twenty veterans to combat or redirect the beast away from the country.

“Why didn’t the Emperor just ask for help from neighbouring countries to organise a raid against this monstrosity?” Rufus said.

“The dignity of Uronia is at stake, if we were to get help from other countries. Anyways do you really think Darmund would make a difference against this beast? That country only cares about Art and some weird thing they call Math, who needs to learn what happens when you have two apples and you give it to two people?” Boza answered.

The rivalry amongst countries runs deep into history. This rivalry was the cause of the Great War a few years ago. However, this was the past. Now, a new threat has arisen, many calls it “the beast”. Its real form is unknown. Its physical body is hidden underground.  No scholars or scouts have ever been able to catch of glimpse of the creature.

In the evening…

“Now is my turn, get some sleep, Rufus” Borislav walked forward, with trails of drool still visible his cheeks.

“Alright, so far everything is fine, no signs of any abnormally” Rufus stretched and replied.

Borislav sat down and stared into the vast and seemingly endless sky, eyes glued to the memorising night sky. The green dots; the blue dots; the white dots, sparkled at will. If only the rest of the platoon were able to marvel this breath taking view.

The break of dawn unveiled the land with bright and warm light. The members of the team woke up bathing in the warmth of the sun.  A new day seemed to rejuvenate the strength of the members.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Let us try to create a diversion for the creature and lead it into the harsh environment of the Surbidia” Milorad suggests,” It is not too far off here.”

The small chat pursued among the team.

“How would we do it? Who would bait it?” Boza asked

“We are running short of men, we cannot afford anymore causalities.” Borislav stated.

“I have a plan, but you might not like it. It involves us hiding in our friends” Milorad announced.

The plan was to wait on an unstable terrain, hoping this would slow down the creature, wait for the beast to come out of hiding and run north in inhabitable climates Surbidia.

After some time of planning, everyone went to their positions. Milorad stood in the open sand. A stones throws away is the pile of the decaying corpse pile. The pungent smell would steal any man off their lives; it does not help with the boosted decay under the humid and hot environment.

In the endless blue sky, vultures circled the sky like kids outside a candy shop. In a few moments time, the team may be the candy for the beast.

Milorad looked across the baron lands. This place is a magical place to be in; the desert borders a lush forest. The occasional chirping and squealing of nature is amplified into the desert. The heat from the sun baked the ground, causing the surface to seem ripple, mirages form over the horizon.

The ground starts to reverberate with a low rumbling sound. As moments went by, the sound gets louder. The ground shook violently. Milorad could not even stand properly, without any hesitation Milorad dive straight into the pile of rotten flesh. This was not according to plan. The beast was not supposed to attack from where Milorad should be. This was a possibility that they have not expected. The beast should not be able to with stand the heat of the desert.

The low rumbling was heard under the breathing of Milorad. The unbearable bodily odour was drowning Milorad, even though the extreme smell of the decaying bodies. This must be the smell of death. Milorad could hear the heavy beating of the heart. The blood rushing in the ear screamed at a deafening pitch.

The beast walked towards Milorad. Milorad is now accepting this fate that death is inevitable. Milorad squeezed shut both eyes.

The next moment, the sound of bone crunching reverberated in the vicinity. Milorad instantly opens his eyes to see what was going on. His heart skipped a beat. An eye ball staring intensely into his; as if life has been sucked out of it, it hung loosely in the socket.

Milorad’s heart skipped a beat.

There was no reaction…

Then blood starts to ooze out of the eye, right into Milorad’s face. The eye dropped out of the socket, hanging carefree on a strand of nerve.

Upon closer inspection, it was a shredded face of a platoon mate.  Such gruesome way to die, Milorad thought to himself. The face of the lifeless being was a layer of pale blue skin coated with blackened dried blood, yellowish part of what could only assumed as brains splattered around the head. This was not how any of these soldiers want to end their lives. What a pity.

As the beast was busy gouging on some of the soldiers decaying limbs, Milorad waited. Waiting for the most opportune moment to run and distract the monster. Milorad want to jump out when the beast was taking a new decaying body to feast on. It was going to be a difficult task as the beast was taking the bodies from behind the pile, just out of the line of sight.

Milorad closed his eyes and felt the vibration of the pile of ex-mates.

Then the pile moved violently.

"Now!", he thought.

He leaped out of the pile. With all his might, he stepped hard on to the soft sand and sprinted into the direction of the next position. As he ran, he caught a glimpse of the beast. This was the first time he sees the appearance of the beast. It was huge, the size of a full grown camel. It has the colour of clouds. Its head is a shiny surface, probably polished by constant traction with the ground. Its arms are thick as tree trunks. Shovel-like claws attached to the arms. Layers and layers of hardened scales lined its skin. Its legs looked streamlined. Its appearance fits the description of what drunken seamen says to be sharks. It is a bipedal land shark, that thought flashed into Milorad mind.

The beast turned, to see a moving “corpse” rushing into the forest. It dove into the ground, leaving a trail behind Milorad. Milorad ran. Not for his life, not for his team, but for the safety of his country.

The edge of the forest is within arm’s reach of Milorad. The ground shook. Suddenly,  it gave way, forcing Milorad to fall and see the land shark eye to eye. Milorad was certain. This was it.