Chapter Forty-Five: Chased

FORTY-FIVE

“TAOYA! FOLLOW THE MARKED TREES!” Roan shouted as loud as he could, pointing to his final marked tree. He’d already put the warhammer and his new backpack filled with loot in another tree, hiding it up amongst the branches. All he had on him was the healing potion, his short sword, spear, canteen and Lester’s ring on his pinky.

Taoya looked over and saw him, giving him a thumbs up as Roan skipped a step and hurled the spear as hard as he could. Before entering the tower it would have been a difficult if not impossible throw. Distance and the fact the target was moving would have had Roan rethinking his plan. His strength was well beyond what it had been when he entered though.

A second eye burst in a geyser as the spear pierced it with ease. The monster stopped its lethargic swiping at Taoya and his group and screamed in pain and rage. Roan’s ears thrummed and his head felt like splitting as he suddenly stumbled in pain.

It ended nearly as fast as it had begun. Roan recovered as his amulet burned his chest, a sudden dumping of heat that scalded his skin. He ignored it as he waved his hands and jumped up and down, shouting at the massive monster. Its remaining six eyes turned to lock onto him, the spear still wedged in one of the eyes.

“Fuck, that looks like it hurts,” Roan said as he took off in a sprint. He stretched his long legs out as the beast began to pursue him. Every step of its six legs shook the ground, making it tremble beneath Roan’s boots as he cursed and counted.

“Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, fuck,” his stream of numbers cut off as the ground shook and he stumbled and bounced off a tree trunk. He spun and saw the monster, it had closed the small gap he’d had and was catching up quickly, its mouth had a long string of saliva hanging free as it snarled at him. He straightened his course and quickly resumed his sprint and count.

“Seventy-five, seventy-six,” Roan felt something strike his shoulder as the remnants of a log flew by, crashing into the forest floor ahead of him. It rolled once and came to a stop and Roan hurtled it, cursing as he landed and feeling his ankle twist. He didn’t slow as the monster kept chasing, its humid breath brushing against his neck.

“Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, hundred, turn!” Roan shouted as he made a hard turn, feet sliding across the grass as he made a ninety-degree right turn. The beast thundered past him, neck swinging around as its claws dug into the ground trying to arrest its momentum. It struck a tree and splintered it in a spray of wooden shrapnel as it continued its trajectory.

“One, two, three,” Roan started the count again as he ran. With how dense the woods were, even a hundred strides had been enough to make the battle scene disappear. He’d thought of going for one-fifty or even two-hundred, but the monster’s speed had quickly nipped that idea in the bud.

When he’d hit twenty-two he heard the roar and felt the earth tremble as the monster started back after him. It hadn’t bought him as much time as he hoped but the lead was similar to what he’d had when the chase had started.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Stupid idea. You’re going to get eaten by this dinosaur knock-off. Then what? Who’s going to find them? Who’s going to find Gabby and Preston? Who’s going to find Mom and Dad, who’s going to…shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up and focus!” Roan screamed at himself as he kept his count going.