After the shockwave passed, we all started bolting, the more distance we could put the better, a couple of minutes later we were getting tired and had to slow down. We found at outcrop(fancy word for rock formation) with a large ledge to hide under if necessary to sit down at, we were all comforted by the sound of birds nearby. Once we sat down we finally had the time to think about what happened. 3 people who we were talking to less than an hour ago, are now probably dead. As we come to terms with it I ask the question we are all thinking "do you think we ran far enough away?"
Pierce sighs "Probably, if it can't track us then it would not have been able to find us anyways, and if we did we probably have lost it by now, I hope"
"So if it is able to make a bite out of a train that big and make that loud a roar what do you think it is?" Laura asks.
"The biggest land animal in the world is the African Elephant, and that is not big enough to eat a train, so unless a blue whale or something climbed out of the ocean for a mid-morning snack I think it is safe to guess that it has something to do with the gate we saw earlier." As I say this I notice something, I can no longer hear the birds nearby. I motion to the other two and hide under the ledge. The other two quickly hide as well and soon after I can hear a hushed stomp from the direction we came from and we soon see what is making it.
A giant hippo shows up on the horizon, it is taller than the trees nearby and is probably around 10 meters tall and 30 meters long. As it gets closer its huge size begins to tower over us, I think about running for a moment before I notice that it is walking right now faster then I could run. As the hippo gets closer I quickly try to regain my mana, I don't want to use my abilities in front of others because they might become too curious or jealous, but having the option is better than having none. Pierce turns to us and whispers "If it keeps getting closer it is probably going to see us, we can try to run now before it gets to close, stay here and hope that it won't notice us, or attempt to kill it, which is a terrible choice but probably the only one that does not mean certain death if the other two fail, I personally vote that we stay, we don't know that this hippo will try to kill us and if it does then we can try to run"
Laura "I agree, besides, it might not even notice us, if it does attack then we can try to shoot it in its mouth, do either of you have any experience with a gun?" We shake our heads no and realize nobody really knows how to use it, I take it and look over it and notice something else we forgot, the ammunition.
As the hippo comes closer I look at it and notice that it seems to be looking right at us, "Guys, I don't think you have to worry about the hippo noticing us, it already has." We look at each other and sigh, "running it is then" Pierce says. We all bolted out of there, the hippo was still gaining on us even with us running at top speed as it got closer the giant size of it began to overshadow us. At this point, I looked over and saw Pierce's surprised face as his legs transform to a pure golden sheen and he quickly accelerates, I follow suit and coat my legs with a dirty yellow-gold color, it is obvious he goes faster and he goes and picks up Laura and we bolt. Quickly outrunning the hippo we hide in a nearby small cave, just large enough inside for us all to lay down and rest. As soon as we reach the cave I retract my mana and I see Pierce's retract slowly as he calms down.
Laura looks at both of us and asks "So, what did you two guys just do?"
Pierce looks at Laura "I don't know, I just felt like I needed to run faster and right when the hippo was about to reach us I felt like my legs suddenly became light as a feather and I noticed my legs became golden"
PART OF AUTHORS NOTE HERE!!! (Authors note is stupid and says 500 words is the limit and then only lets me use 500 characters so the rest of it is here)
AND CLIFFHANGER!!! WE HAVE GOT TO TRAIN THOSE FINGER MUSCLES! Actually probably not that much of a cliffhanger but I have spent 30 minutes at this computer trying to come up with the next line and I have got nothing.
This has been an interesting project so far and I expect to be putting out around 3-5 chapters a week more or less but I have a vacation starting tomorrow so, you might be getting regular chapters or they might be more or less frequent, worst case scenario I am unable to publish chapters and you get a small mass release.