Defiance of the Fall

This was the only trap he could figure out that could help in his fight against the huge beast . The only other idea he had come up with was to dig a pitfall . But he did not have the tools for the massive undertaking of digging a pit large enough to trap and kill a monster the size of a large minivan .

He took one more glance at the bush to inspect his work . He would only get one shot at this and didn’t want anything to give it away before it was too late .

Satisfied with his work , he finally turned towards the Herald and started walking .

Chapter 20 - Fighting the Herald

Zac had slowly inched his way back toward the Herald . It was currently lying on a rock , and it was actually eating a Gwyllgi it had caught somewhere .

All eight of its legs except the front pair were lying in the same side , exposing its back toward Zac . He was currently crouching behind a tree only five meters away from the huge barghest . He barely dared to breathe in fear of being exposed too early . He couldn’t get any closer without entering an open area and getting completely exposed .

Zac’s heart was beating furiously , and his hands were nervously shaking . It was one thing to make plans and preparation , but a completely different thing to actually turn those plans into action . Now that he was this close it was as though he could sense a primal pressure emanating from the beast .

He knew he couldn’t wait any longer , as this was a golden opportunity . The beast was feeding and was distracted . If he kept waiting he would miss his chance , and also tire himself out by stressing and fretting .

Zac soundlessly got to his feet and circulated cosmic energy through his body . Wasting no time he pumped his leg full of energy , and shot toward the exposed Herald like a bullet . His hatchet fell with an empowered swing , striking down at the lower spine of the beast . He was hoping to use the same tactic as he had in the beginning of killer Vul’s smaller brethren .

The axe sunk into the back of the beast , but it felt like he had tried to chop through reinforced steel when he reached the bone of the spine . His plan had failed , as it ended up as only a flesh wound . His right arm ached from the impact , but he quickly adapted and swung down and created a deep gash down along its side .

He planned to strike its belly as well and hopefully damage some organs , but a thundering roar interrupted him . The Herald had finally reacted , and with a jerk pushed back with all its legs , forcing its whole body toward Zac .

The monster’s back slammed into Zac like a truck and he flew a few meters backwards , and he spit out a mouthful of blood .

As he got up , so did the Herald . Suddenly they stood facing each other and a low growl emitted from the beasts mouth . Its wound was bleeding freely , but didn’t seem that it had incapacitated it at all .

Rage was burning in the beast’s beady eyes , and it let out another tremendous roar that seemed to cause the very air to vibrate .

Zac wasted no time , and immediately ran into the forest . He wanted to make use of the complicated terrain to keep the large lumbering beast at bay . He kept infusing his body with energy , not daring to let up . The sounds of loud thuds and branches breaking from behind proved that the herald was hot on his heels .

Zac was dismayed to find out that the terrain didn’t seem to impair Vul even through its huge size and stocky build . It was far more nimble than the barghest , even though it seemed even bulkier than its smaller brethren . Finally he tried to use another tried and true trick , and ran straight towards a thick maple . He could hear that the beast was ever closing in on him , and now only were a few meters away from him .

This was a test of sorts against the herald , to see if it would fall for this simple trick . He had his doubts about it after observing it , and didn’t want to blow his best shot for killing it . He therefore held off on running straight towards his pikes .

He waited until the last minute until finally jumping to the side and dodged the tree . He turned around mid-air , hoping to take advantage of the beast knocking itself out .

Unfortunately for Zac , a herald was appointed a leader for a reason . Zac’s suspicions about the herald’s superior intellect proved true as he saw the beast’s reactions .

Noticing the incoming tree , the Herald stopped in his tracks with his front legs , while he sidestepped away from Zac’s direction with the hind legs . Its front legs carved a deep groove for a few meters before it stopped , while it changed angle to point toward Zac . This resulted in the beast still moving towards the tree , but it instead slammed into it with its shoulders rather than its head .

Due to the breaking the slam seemed to enrage the beast further rather than hurt it . It hadn’t lost much time from the slam , and now Zac was in a precarious situation .

The beast immediately jumped towards him , its huge jaws trying to rip him in two from his chest .