That Which Devours

I rolled across the ground, the crystals digging into my shoulder through the various layers. The cloak slowed me down as I leaped to my feet, running as fast as I could toward the archway and the open gate.

Something green streaked across my vision on my left and I dodged around the crater to my right. Whatever it was, missed. So I kept going. The gate was coming ever closer when I heard something hiss behind me. I couldn’t help but look back at what chased me. A cat the size of a bike, covered in layers of armored plating along its back, chased me. Bright yellow eyes stared at me as it raced forward, and it roared. An arrow slammed into its rear leg, making it hobble, slowing it down and opening a bit more distance between us.

I sent up a mental thank you to Jimmy. He’d helped.

[Armored Jungle Cat, Level 12]

The message appeared over its head and I moved faster. I stumbled slightly on a crystal that had been lying on the ground. It slipped under my feet, flinging backward toward the cat. I expected claws to sink into my back, but they didn’t. Instead, I heard the thud of a second arrow hitting the cat, causing another growl behind me. The open gate mocked me, with the crystal glowing overhead. The humming echoed inside my head.

I needed to get there.

My fingers wrapped around the edge of the closed left gate, as I raced inside the right. I spun along the axis, slamming the open gate shut behind me. My heart pounded as I grabbed at the crossbar to lock it.

The cat slammed into the already closed gate, which had a locking pole running through it vertically. It bounced me away from the sturdy fencing and I gripped the wooden slats to keep myself from flying away.

Another arrow slammed into the cat’s behind. It reared back, and I yanked my knife from my belt, slamming it through the slats in the gate.

The cat didn’t notice my movement as it crashed down onto the closed gate. The hot tip of my crystal knife slid into its neck easily.

It only shuddered once, then died.

[You have gained bonus experience from combat for surviving against an Armored Jungle Cat twice your level.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

I yanked my knife back, hands shaking. Blood dripped down from an arrow wound on the wooden slats, filling my head with the siren song of food. My mouth watered.

Somehow, I’d done it. It was dead. It was actually dead.

The frantic motion of something in the trees drew my eyes upward. Jimmy made some motion at me, that I couldn’t fully make out.

“It wasn’t alone,” buzzed Noseen.

Then I remembered. Jimmy mentioned the pack was at least four cats. I’d only killed one, with Jimmy’s help. I spun about, turning toward the tree leaning against the far fenceline. Jimmy had warned me it provided a way for the cats to climb into the fenced area. The tree let them keep away from the crystals that were still grounded on the far side.

The dropship wasn’t far, with the two large crystals glowing brightly in front of the obviously newly added door. The hum reached me even where I stood. That zone had to be safe.

My feet moved faster than before. My heart pounded in my chest as something green and black jumped onto the tree trunk leaning on the far side of the fence. My distance to the dropship was shorter than it had to go, but I bet it was faster than me over open ground. It leaped over the rest of the fence, landing on all four feet in the cleared area.

[Armored Jungle Cat, Level 14]

Its bright yellow eyes locked on me and it hissed before launching itself across the dirt.

I did not stop, even though I was running toward it. The crystals weren’t far; I just needed to make it close enough. My knife was clenched tightly in my hand as I ran, and I prayed I wouldn’t stumble. The cat gained ground despite the increased speed adrenaline was giving me; I just wasn’t fast enough. Somehow, I needed to be faster.

With a quick thought, I opened my stat sheet and tossed my free points into Quickness and Flexibility. Immediately I sped up, flying across the dirt, yet pain echoed down my spine. I groaned as I ran toward the nearest crystal. Then, my right calf locked up, pain flaring down into my foot. Tears came to my eyes and I almost stumbled. Instead, I leaped forward, sliding across the dirt like I was playing a game.

Another hiss came from nearby, but that was all. I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see large talons swipe at my feet. Quickly I rolled over to my back to try to scramble closer to the safety of the grounded stones. This time I wasn’t as lucky.

Pain shot up my foot as two of the claws sunk into the side of my boot, and the cat yanked me away from the crystal. I slid a few inches away from safety, then swung out with my knife, the tip glowing as I swiped toward the claws.

“Not gonna eat me!” I screamed.

The crystal sizzled as it touched the edge of the clawed paw. The cat’s talons drew back into its paw as it jerked, growling at me. It snapped its large teeth my way, but didn’t move any closer. The hot stink of its breath drifted in my direction, but I used the moment to crawl backward, getting closer to the humming crystal and safety.

All I could hear was my beating heart and heavy breathing.

It stared at me with glowing yellow eyes, prowling just out of reach of the crystal. The distance wasn’t far; it could make that leap with no problem, but it didn’t move closer.

I swallowed and sat there watching it for a moment. My mind needed to catch up to the fact that I was alive, still breathing, and in pain.

My foot was injured, but I’d survived.

I survived.

Manic laughter spilled out of me, sitting there in the bright sunlight. The pain pulsing along my spine reduced, as the pain in my foot increased.

The groan of the wooden door opening a few feet behind me didn’t even cause me to turn. The survivors in the dropship didn’t matter right now, my eyes stayed focused on the cat. The cat danced backward at my laughter, its eyes going wider before narrowing.

“Who do we have here?” asked a deep voice.

My laughter slowly cut off, as I realized I had company. Human company. One of the survivors.

An arrow flew over my head at the cat, who leaped farther away from the crystal. The arrow landed in the dirt, missing the cat. The cat’s head stayed pointed in my direction, and then it growled once more before it sprinted toward the side of the fence with the tree. I tracked it as it leaped toward the upper branches spilling over the leaning fence, then it vanished from my sight in the dense jungle.

“Alex, my name’s Alex. I was on the shuttle,” I said without turning around, catching sight of boots beside me. Inside, I tried to calm my heart rate down. “I made it here. Jimmy’s still up in the tree.”

“You did make it here,” said the man as he squatted down next to me, his bow held loosely in his hands with an arrow. “I figured Jimmy's still up there. He’s keeping a good watch.” He didn’t move closer, or try to touch me, instead his gaze went to my knife. The tip still glowed, crisping the dirt closest to it. I quickly put it away on my belt.

His bright blue eyes searched over me, then I felt the sensation of him trying to receive info on me. Those eyes widened. “Well, I’ll be damned. Your Hellion’s kid, and not even level ten? How the fuck did you make it here?”

It took too long to realize he meant my father. Some of his old military buddies called him Hellion. That meant this man had served with my dad. Or at least, knew of him from that time in his life. That time he never talked about with us.

Noseen’s repeated comment came to mind. “I was smart.” Carefully I moved to stand, trying to not place too much pressure on my foot. Getting that boot off to see the damage would be fun. Not to mention, the boot wouldn’t be waterproof anymore. Not with the two holes in it.

“Name’s Hawk.” The guy slowly stood up as well, towering over me. “Usually, I’m the one up in the tower, but Jimmy drew the short straw during duty assignment.” He faced the tree and held up a thumbs up. “Weird how things work out like that.” Hawk had thin braids in his hair, and it was pulled back out of his face. Everything he wore was camo, except his boots. They were the standard-issue boots we all wore. The bow he carried with ease, clearly familiar with it. “You said something about the shuttle?”

“Yeah.” I scratched the back of my head. “We crashed south of here, about a day and a half going slow. Busted a crystal when we got caught in the meteor shower.” I lightly put some pressure on my foot and it wasn’t too bad. Maybe the damage wasn’t as bad as I worried it might be.

Hawk kept his gaze on the fence line. Everything about him screamed military. “Still, it's a shock you made it here. Though I bet things are off out there right now. Never did we think the fence would be breached.” His lips tightened into a narrow line. “If that hadn’t happened, we’d be fine. You got one of those cats, that’ll be good leather if I can recover it.”

“You’re welcome to it, but I’m not gonna go get it,” I said. I had no clue if the cats could climb over the far side of the fence. I didn’t think so, but I wasn’t going to count on it. I tried to take a step forward and limped a little, but only a little.

His eyes shot toward me. “We better get that foot looked at. Those cats carry some sort of infection.”

“I was gonna ask if you were gonna leave the door open all day,” said a different, deeper voice. In the doorway stood another guy all dressed in camo. He was rail thin, and only a little taller than me. Deep shadows hung under his eyes and his lips were cracked. “Then I saw we had a visitor.” He waved me in. “Let’s get that boot off.”

I carefully walked through the open door, surprised to see how bright the inside was. Small glowing crystals hung from leather straps tied to places in the ceiling. The wooden door led to an area that had to have been a large storage room before the end of the ship broke off. Two large doors were open on the far wall, leading deeper into the ship, but they weren’t lit. One was blocked off by metal wreckage.

On one side of the room were two cots. One had someone on it, bandages wrapped along his chest. His eyes were closed, but his chest moved in slow rhythm. The other side of the room had a metal table with wooden benches around it. Empty water jugs were placed near the wall. The guy I was following motioned to one of the wooden benches.

“Hopefully an infection won’t set in. We don’t have any way to cure it." He pointed to the guy on the cot. "Denver over there is fighting that battle, though I don’t know how long he’s got.”

“This is Hellion’s kid, Alex,” said Hawk. “Hopefully, it isn’t bad. We need Alex to live.”