This was a mistake

The ground shook as the beast lumbered forward, where it had lain, the ground dipped, its shear bulk leaving its mark on the very earth it trod.

‘At least this means it will be slow,’ Kato thought. There was just no way something of that size could be faster than him.

Out of all of the things Kato wished he hadn’t been wrong about this was probably one of the big ones, the distance between the pair and the monster was easily two hundred metres yet in seconds it had halved the distance, it was at least as fast as he was.

“We need to go, now!” Kato shouted, not prepared to spend time arguing the point. He shoved the poker back and with a frightened squeak it tumbled down the hill, coming to a stop part way down and turning to glare at him.

‘Was it dense, or did it believe he could beat this giant monstrosity by himself?’ Either way it mattered very little, Kato turned to run, but in the corner of his eye he saw the little poker amping itself up.

‘No, it just can’t be this stupid’ he looked at it for a moment mouth agape.

It charged towards the lizard stick raised above its head screaming, it jumped, and the world seemed to slow down as it arced through the air. The point of its weapon adjusted and struck true digging into the lizard’s flesh, before the entire weapon bent and snapped, with a sickening crack, the remnants scattered along the floor.

The lizard stared down at the little pest as if a fly had landed on its nose. With a simple swat the poker was sent flying again, this time much less elegantly, landing in a crumpled heap with a pitiful crunch some distance away.

The creature turned, ignoring the broken poker, it reeked of casual indifference, the same arrogant smirk of its brethren marring its scaled features.

Kato stared at the beast, his heart pulsing with rage, it didn’t even care; and why should it? they had intruded on its territory.

But at that very moment Kato didn’t care about the technicalities of who started what. He would finish it. Even if he was in the wrong.

Kato sprinted towards it, the world blurring past him as dew sprayed his legs. The lizards’ eyes turned up slightly in surprise as if shocked, asking ‘did you not just see what happened?’ Kato’s blood boiled further “so what!” the words came out sharp and with an edge, ‘the beast would learn to care.’

Kato gripped his knife tighter and tighter, his hand starting to throb in pain as it dug into the hilt, his knuckles morphing to a startling shade of white.

He continued to run forward straight at the beast heading straight towards it, the beast tensed glowering at him as it also charged prepared to meet him head on.

At the last moment Kato darted around the beast’s head stabbing his blade into its head leaving a long slash along its cheek.

The beast turned the casual difference now nowhere to be seen, its eyes contracted, and it snorted angrily.

Kato continued running around the beast, as the lizard tried to halt its forward momentum.

His knife danced as it scored the beast again and again, each blow accompanied by the furious grunts of rage he had come to expect of the lizard.

The beast spun around its eyes’ locked on Kato, its nostrils upturned as it snorted out, a cloud of mist accompanying its breath.

It was getting madder and madder as Kato’s emotions settled down. He didn’t know why he had charged towards the beast it was as if he had been possessed.

With his rage retreating Kato’s fear reared its ugly head and it took the form of a lizard.

‘Just dart around it again, disappear into the forest’ Kato thought as he tore towards the beast again he knew he couldn’t outrun it in the open behind him.

He ran to meet it straight on before darting it around it as he had before.

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Except this time the beast had come prepared, its tail flung forward cutting off his escape before slamming into him with a brutal thud, the sound echoed out in the sudden silence. Black spots materialised in his vision the wind was knocked from his lungs, he crumpled slightly and collapsed on the ground.

The tail reared back and struck him again, this time with no forward momentum to propel him forward, Kato was sent flying through the air.

“Ugh” he groaned on the floor, his ribs were aching, and he was having a hard time breathing. But this would not be his end he wouldn’t let it be. Weakly he rose to his feet, wiping blood from his lips.

The lizard just looked at him for a moment, then smirked, an evil glint in its eye.

Kato involuntarily took a step backwards, before freezing in place as a voice wormed its way into his mind. ‘We will prevail’ it had returned and with it came a familiar surge of energy, Kato found his footing and ran.

The beast wasted no time in its pursuit, the ground shaking and each step accompanied by a thunderous clap that only got louder as the beast closed the distance.

Kato didn’t turn around though, just pushing himself harder and harder his lungs screaming for oxygen with each ragged breath. Grass whipped his legs as he continued on, at some point his right leg had been cut open and with each step forward threatened to give.

Kato was nearly there at the forest line; he could lose the beast there its bulk too cumbersome to weave around the trees reliably.

Kato rushed under the boughs of a great tree; a flock of birds shot out from its branches trilling alarmedly as he crashed through the undergrowth.

Cold sweat dripped down his neck as the sounds of the beast’s pursuit refused to wane.

He continued darting through the trees.

Boom!

A tree exploded somewhere to his left, splinters of dry wood shooting out, its life just a roadblock in the lizard’s advancement.

The forest that just days ago he had considered to be his salvation was rapidly looking like it might become his tomb. Kato dove under another tree, a branch whipped his face, and he grunted in pain.

He continued forwards barely registering the lacerations that were now covering his body, the grass had transformed into brambles at some point and were now cutting against him as he tried to avoid them.

The beast was nearly upon him he could feel its warm breath against his back and there was a slight scent of decay presumably from whichever unfortunate animal had stumbled across the monster before him.

Kato slipped.

His legs shot out from underneath him catching on the wet ground and the lizard just tore on by, he hasn’t realised how closer it was his misfortune may have just spared him at least for aa moment he got up again and ran.

The lizard turned and roared in frustration; branches shook from trees littering the ground from the power of its voice alone.

‘Just have to keep pushing’ Kato thought grimly, the idea of taking down the giant monster now a long-forgotten thought.

Ahead of him two trees stood, the largest he had seen. A narrow gap no larger than a person lying down separated the two. Kato made for them, hoping to gain some time on the beast as it would have to work it way around the pair.

He shot forward, but the thundering noise chasing him refused to abate. Kato sprinted through the gap and…

Bam!

The forest shook and Kato was sent sprawling to the ground.

He desperately tried to lift himself up calling on any last vestiges of strength in his body, miraculously it worked, he got up again and began to move forward, the thought of the beast catching him driving him forward. He slipped. His foot sliding against the grass now slick with a mixture of dew and his own blood his hand split open once again.

‘So, this is it’ Kato had wasted far too much time, there was no way the beast wouldn’t catch him now, he pushed himself up again stumbling forward, tensed expecting death at any moment, but the beast did not oblige.

The thunderous noise of pursuit had been replaced by enraged roars, Kato turned, looking over his shoulder.

He couldn’t help but start to laugh, gently at first, but it soon devolved into delusional cackling. The beast was stuck. Trapped between the two trees, Kato stared it down, “not so tough now are you.”

The lizard made a strangled noise and pushed its body forward, the trees juddering, but refusing to give way to the beast.

Kato stared at the trapped beast, if they met again, he couldn’t imagine it thanking him for any mercy shown now, he had been given a job and one poker had already died for this, he advanced.

The knife in his hand now felt chillingly cold, it was one thing to deal with a monster in the heat of the moment, this was different.

Hs heart beat faster and his stomach churned, but he continued.

The lizards’ eyes began to shift to the side, desperate. It bucked again and again but the trees stayed firm. It was the first real sign of fear Kato had seen on the beast, its causal arrogance and indifference now giving way to the cold realisation that it was not invincible.

Kato trembled slightly as he walked forward, the fearful expressions of the young pokers at the forefront of his mind.

He was now standing in front of its head; it stank of rotting eggs and there was a glossy sheen of some mystery liquid across its scaly exterior.

It watched him, the slitted black eyes tracking his every movement. Kato held the knife up, it glowed faint white, the sun dancing along the metal. He stabbed; the beast spat. A thick viscous coat of green pushed against him. He stabbed again; the beast spat again. This went on for some time until the beast finally stopped bucking, and the last throes of life departed.

Strange symbols crossed Kato’s vision and his body shook, he turned away taking a step from the beast before promptly collapsing, ‘poison?’ he thought weakly as the world faded away.