Defiance of the Fall

Zac took a quick glance behind him and noticed the Demonling following , as he started calling it in his head . It wasn’t dissuaded at all from continuing its pursuit , though it looked slightly disoriented from the previous charge . Or perhaps the still bleeding gash on the neck was starting to show some effect . Its speed was somewhat slowed , but it was still quickly catching up to him .

No longer being able to afford to care about adages such as not putting weight on a hurt leg he ignored the pain and started charging towards the split boulder he passed earlier . His wounds split open even further and his left leg was now completely dyed red . The pain was excruciating as he ran , but the fear of death kept him pushing forward .

He was pretty sure that this was his only shot , as the short run managed to up his pain to a terrifying level , and he was starting to get woozy from the blood loss . And who knows what poisons or pathogens a demon dog has on its claws . Zac could only pray that his new super-powers included super-white blood cells as well .

Finally arriving at his goal , he heaved a few raspy breaths and turned around toward the monster , now roughly 40 meters away from him . Seeing that its prey had stopped moving , it hesitated slightly and stopped . The demonling slightly growled and hissed in a register that sounded much too low for something that size .

Zac was afraid it would wait for his wounds to worsen his condition even further , or even gather reinforcements . If that happened his small chance of survival would be completely extinguished . He needed to end this fight quickly in any case , as the pulsating wounds on his legs reminded him that time was limited , with or without back-up .

COME GET IT PIECE OF SHIT DOG! - he roared , inwardly cursing his lacking cursing ability . He then picked up a small rock and flung it with all force he could muster at the Demonling . It drew a great arc as it zoomed through the air and missed spectacularly by a few meters . Luckily , it seemed the demon dog needed almost no encouragement for mayhem and slaughter , and with a great roar , it started barreling straight towards him again .

Come on , come on… - he whispered , once again readjusting the grip on his hatchet . This was it , do or die now . When the monster was just three meters away from him he once again dove to the side with all his might . This time the monster was somewhat ready for it and managed to swipe him at his calf . It didn’t seem as deep as his last gashes but still burned like hell .

The momentum of the Demonling pushed it forward straight into the cleft of the split boulder . The space was barely wide enough for it to get in , and it got stuck when the second set of legs reached the edge of the rock . The collision caused a massive thump and gravel and rocks chippings flew about , accompanied by an enraged , but pained , snarl .

Zac knew he couldn’t hesitate , and quickly scrambled to his feet . The pain was staggering , but the coursing adrenaline in his system kept him going . This was the small window he created for himself and if this didn’t work he had no other recourse .

Mentally praying to long lost gods of lumberjacking he took a two-hand grip on the hatchet and swung with all its might at the lower end of the monster’s spine . Hopefully , the anatomy of hell spawns was somewhat similar to normal animals , where a cut on the spine would cut important nerves , and maybe even nick an artery .

The axe hit true and severed the spine , and even dug a bit further . A great spurt of blood and a pained yelp accompanied it . The thick hind legs completely gave out and it thumped down into the ground . But while the Demonling was temporarily stuck , it was no sitting duck . It thrashed wildly from the strike , and one of the remaining four legs managed to hit Zac squarely in the stomach . He was thrown backwards and lost grip of the handle of the axe .

He hit the ground with a thud , losing all air in his lungs . He didn’t dare take account of his steadily worsening wounds though , and immediately got back up on his feet . The world spun for a second as he scrambled up , but he forced himself to stay awake .

The sight meeting him seemed even more positive than he had dared hope . Both its hind legs uselessly slumped down , and dark red blood was quickly pooling beneath the beast . The wound he had managed to create on the beast must have actually cut a couple of veins , as blood unceasingly poured out of it back wound in far larger quantities compared to the shallow wound on its neck .

There was still some fight left in the monster , however , and it was still trying to excavate itself from the rock with some minor success . It also desperately unceasingly roared , perhaps hoping for some of its brethren arriving .