The tension was unbearable. Sniffer and Tiddles stood watching the creatures as they walked backwards and forwards on the rooftops, but none of them made a move. Sniffer started to back up slowly, and Tiddles followed. They were about thirty feet from the net, and Sniffer glanced at one of the windows and could see Stevo staring intently at him. He hoped Holland was ready with the other group.
The Angelore let out a short shriek, and one Spylore suddenly disappeared on the rooftop where it had been standing. “Shit, what now?” Sniffer said.
Suddenly, he heard screaming from the direction of the building where everyone was staying. He turned and saw the beast had landed in the street by the building entrance. It ran at the doorway, crashing into it. It backed up and struck it again, the thud clear from where Sniffer stood. The third strike caused the door to give in and the Spylore to disappear. The screaming and shouting intensified.
“Go, boy, go.” He shouted to Tiddles. Tiddles turned and bolted towards the building, not stopping as he disappeared inside.
Sniffer stared at the beasts above him and cautiously took more steps backwards. He guessed he only had about ten feet left to go. That was when the two from the opposite rooftops jumped down to the street level. He was surrounded. They were probably no more than eighty or ninety feet from them, one on each side of his position. He was slowly backing towards the net position and one of the Spylore now. ‘Who stupidly stands in the middle of a street-facing down Spylore with no weapon?’ he thought. The Angelore suddenly leapt into the air and flapped its wings, rising swiftly. Sniffer followed its movement until it turned and, in an instant, began to dive straight for him.
“NOW!” Sniffer screamed. He dove backwards as the creature flew directly at him; its speed was unbelievable from standing start, and it careered down the two-block distance instantly. Sniffer heard the ropes move and the sound of the net being lifted. He had not managed to dive beyond it, and as the beast got within a few feet of him, its talons glinting, showing him his death, it noticed the net blocking its path. It pulled up, realising that it would collide, trying to manoeuvre out of the net's way rather than hit Sniffer but could not.
The speed at which it travelled and the late realisation of the net blocking its path was too little too late. It hurtled into the metal strands of the net; the screeching sound it made as it ripped the net, firstly from the hands of those holding the ropes and secondly from the street light bases, was horrendous in Sniffer's ears. Its talons had only passed over his head by a mere couple of feet as it had tried to climb. The Angelore was tangled and went tumbling down the street. The Spylore approaching Sniffer from behind received the full force of the Angelore as it plummeted to earth, crashing straight into it and sending it sprawling into the snow.
It started to struggle in the net, sending snow clouds into the air as it fought with the object that had restricted its movement, trying to break free. Sniffer noticed one of its wings looked crooked and at an unusual angle. Sniffer heard the hissing sound, and the terror he had been feeling suddenly quelled as he realised the Spylore approaching him from the other side was still coming. ‘I always knew I would die to a Wild One,’ he thought. He had no weapon, no way of fighting the beast off, and was lying prone in the snow and no beast nearby to protect him. The calm that had instantly come over him in those last moments of realisation was one of the most serene feelings he had ever had. Sniffer just closed his eyes as he saw the haunches of the Spylore tighten as it got ready to pounce.
There was the crack of a rifle, and he felt the impact on his body as the beast landed on top of him. He felt a sharp pain in his leg, and his display flared with a warning. He could smell the fetid stench of breath from the Spylore, but it did not move. He slowly opened his eyes, looking directly into the eyes of the Spylore no more than 20 centimetres from his face. The massive maw and sharp teeth glistened with its tongue lolling out of the side of its mouth. The eyes were blank. They had no spark in them, and he realised that blood was dripping down the side of its massive head. It was dead. He looked sideways and saw Stevo holding the smoking rifle at the window where he had shot the advancing Spylore as it pounced. The shot was one in a million to hit a moving target as he had, but Sniffer would not complain. He tried to push the beast off him but could not the weight well above his limits to move.
He looked down the street where the Angelore struggled to get untangled from the net, screeching and crying angrily. The Spylore the Angelore had collided with had not moved either. It lay still in the snow where it landed, and Sniffer only hoped it was dead.
He could hear screaming and shouting from the building, and he only wished that Tiddles could save the townsfolk. He could see that several people had run out of the building into the street and were thankful that the two Spylores here were incapacitated, as they would have been easy prey otherwise. The Angelore managed to break free from the net and let out a piercing shriek. It leapt into the air and went to flap its wings, but one of its wings was broken and hung limply at its side. It landed back on the ground, and the sound it released hurt Sniffer's ears. It looked at Sniffer and began walking towards him, dragging its injured wing behind it.
∆∆∆
‘The cowardly bastard’, Tiddles thought as he hurtled down the street to the building. It had gone and attacked his friends. He bolted through the door into the inside. There was sheer panic and pandemonium. The Spylore was lashing out at anything in reach, and it had already attacked at least seven people. The guard by the door lay on the ground with blood pumping from a wound in his neck. Tiddles quickly surveyed the scene. One of the bodies lying on the floor nearby was that of the young boy Jez, whom he had scared on his first day in town. Jez had been a great friend and had constantly fed him since then. He was not moving, and Tiddles could see a pool of blood and a long gash down his arm. Furious beyond belief, he howled and charged.
The Spylore turned just in time to deflect the worst of his charge, and they both went crashing across the room, smashing any furnishings or knocking any people unfortunately in their way over. Tiddles recovered first and pounced at the creature. He struck out with his paws to try to hold it where it lay. He needed to stop it, to prevent it from attacking anyone else. The people were all backing up into the far corner, and a couple had even run outside into the street through the open door. The Spylore was too fast and managed to spring up just before his paws landed. It stood and stared at Tiddles and began to circle, hissing at him, its tail flicking from side to side like an angry snake. Tiddles roared, opening his jaws and spittle flying from his mouth as he bellowed in pure hatred at the Spylore. The sound was deafening inside the confines of the building, and the townsfolk inside froze from his outcry. The injured, if not dead, townsfolk and the innocent child’s form of Jez lying motionless sent his temper to heights he had never known.
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He attacked, going into an absolute frenzy towards this creature that had dared hurt his friends. He lashed out, striking, snapping with his jaws, and striking again. His bombardment was ferocious, and although the Spylore managed to dodge the blows, it was being backed into a corner of the room. Its tail hit the wall, and it glanced behind, seeing its predicament. In one last attempt to save itself, it lunged at Tiddles. He saw the attack the instant the Spylore moved and lifted his front paws, bringing them directly down onto its head as it tried to bite him with its fangs. He smashed the creature's head into the ground, stamping down as hard as he could. He heard a crack as its head thudded against the concrete floor, and it was pinned. Sniffer's full weight was pushed down, and his claws pushed out and dug into Spylore's head.
It tried to roll sideways and scratch at Tiddles with its front legs but could not inflict a significant blow, unable to get its paws into a position that could strike with any force, its feeble attempts just scratching at his thick skin, not even drawing blood. Tiddles paid its attempts to hit him no attention as he opened his jaws and bit down straight into its exposed and vulnerable neck. He sunk his fangs deep into its flesh, crushing its windpipe and cutting through the muscle, flesh and bones that attached its head to its body. Blood gushed into Tiddle's mouth and sprayed around the surrounding area as its heart kept pumping, not knowing that its life had already ended. Tiddles pulled away, tearing most of its neck off with his powerful jaws, swallowing what he had removed.
He stepped back from the body, blood covering the floor and his body. He looked demonic. His eyes were a bright red, and even the townsfolk backed further away from him, with panic and terror filling most of their eyes as he turned and surveyed the room. He then heard the shrieks of the Angelore from out on the street and, without a second thought, bolted back outside. He exited the doorway and turned, seeing Sniffer lying on the ground under what looked like a Spylore, and the Angelore was moving towards him. Adrenaline flooded his body. Hatred, pain, suffering, loss, grief, anger, every emotion flooded his mind all at once, and he began to run.
Tiddles was normally fast, but the speed he now seemed to travel at was a blur for anyone observing him. He sprinted at the Angelore, panic escalating above every other emotion, seeing Sniffer lying prone on the floor as the Angelore reached him. It lifted its huge taloned paw and began to strike down at his exposed face. Tiddles thundered into its side. The power and force in his body slam knocked the Angelore sideways and sent it flying across the street into the side of a building. It shrieked in surprise as Tiddles hit; it had not noticed him coming, focussing on killing the man. Tiddles stood where he had impacted the Angelore, shaking his head briefly from the impact, and looked at Sniffer briefly; he was alive.
The Angelore was on his turf now. He owned the ground, had never been bettered, and would not start now. Too many had been lost to this evil monster, and he would bring it to an end today. The Angelore got to its feet, shrieking at him. It was larger than him but did not look as stocky as a normal Spylore for its comparative size. The creature came at Tiddles and attacked. It slashed its talons through the air, and he moved back from its assault. He pawed off several strikes, backing away. The creature was fast, very fast. Its reach was much longer than Tiddles, who could not get within striking range without endangering himself to the wickedly sharp talons.
Tiddles realised it was struggling to turn due to its damaged wing and saw an opening. Without a second delay, he took it. Pouncing sideways at a building wall on the same side as the broken wing of the Angelore, he heard the brickwork starting to give way under his weight as he landed on the wall. Luck was on his side, and he managed to get enough leverage to spring back away from it before it collapsed inwards, along with the remainder of the front of the building, which cascaded bricks and dust into the street alongside the billows of snow that filled the air. He sailed back through the air at the side of the Angelore. It could not turn to meet his assault, with its injured wing dragging and catching on the ground.
He landed on its back and immediately sunk his teeth deep into its flank. It uttered another piercing shriek and began bucking, trying to throw him off. He was not going to let go and extended his claws deep into its flesh, puncturing easily through its thick fur and skin and embedding his claws into the tight muscular substance of its body. He released his jaws and then bit again down on its good wing, where it joined its body, tearing easily through the thinner limb. He was now clamped to the beast with all his claws fully extended and curled, and there was no way that the Angelore could remove him.
He bit down viciously on its back, crunching through the layers of skin and muscle. He was like a rabid animal viciously assaulting the Angelore, bite after bite across its flanks and back. He caught its left foreleg with his next bite, tearing more flesh from it, hurling it to one side and biting again. It stumbled from the attack, staggering forward as its limb was weakened. The piercing sounds the creature was now making were unearthly. Tiddles released and bit again on its other side. It stumbled again and continued to stagger forward until its front legs could no longer support its weight with the addition of Tiddle's solid form on its back. It fell forward, its chin striking the ground as its legs gave way.
It turned its head to try and bite him, but it couldn’t reach him where he was positioned. Tiddles did not stop. He continued his frenzied attack, biting and tearing flesh from its body. It started to weaken with the significant damage it was sustaining, combined with the blood loss from the multiple wounds that now peppered its body. Its thrashing began to subside, its shrieks no longer holding the same venom or volume, and Tiddles knew it was dying and could no longer resist him. He retracted his claws from its sides and dropped from its back. It tried to get itself upright, but the damage he had done to its back and legs was immense.
It lay there now, feebly crying as he walked to its head. It turned to look at him, and Tiddles placed a heavy paw on it, pushing its head sideways into the ground, trapping it, staring into its eye. He then opened his jaws and bit down into its neck. Blood was pouring out of the wounds from the injuries it had sustained, and both it and Tiddles now looked more like demons covered in blood. The Angelore's pristine white fur was now coloured scarlet, and Tiddles's fur shone with a dark maroon from his enemy's blood. Its movements became feeble until it finally stopped moving, and its life essence drained. He tore at its throat one more time for good measure as it lay there dead.
He stood back from the dead Angelore, panting from his exertion, and turned, running over to where Sniffer lay still pinned under the Spylore body, biting into its back and dragging it off him. Tiddles smiled down at Sniffer, his face covered in gore and dripping with blood, droplets falling onto Sniffer's face. Sniffer lay there looking at him with tears of relief in his eyes, “You did it, boy,” he said, coughing with the crushing weight removed from his chest. Tiddles sat back on his hind legs, letting out a howl of victory.