Chereads / Dawn of the Lion Knight / Chapter 4 - The Beast

Chapter 4 - The Beast

The creature swayed gently without touching the ground. The fingers of that creature brushed the ground, being surrounded by the group of aspirants who coughed, vomited, and cried at the suffocating smell.

Some aspirants began to point their spears and weapons at the creature, coughing with tears in their eyes, while others were vomiting on the ground, wallowing at the silently swaying creature.

Neferet was holding her nose without removing her veil. She could feel the stench now that it was getting stronger. She sucked in air through her mouth, feeling the smell turn into a rusty taste combined with an acidic aftertaste that dried her mouth, causing her to gag.

Fighting back the urge to vomit, she barked out a quick, firm command, "Quickly!"

Just then, she felt the combining rusty taste with an acrid aftertaste.

She could feel the warmth of a prominent vomit leaving his throat while, with difficulty, she said, "Light your spears, form a circle of fire. We have to suppress the touch with fire."

With trembling legs and coughing, the standing aspirants began to light the tips of their spears in flames of different colors.

Red, yellow, and blue is of different shades. Little by little, the smell subsided, turning the paralyzing stench into a more bearable but still overwhelming, pestilent aroma.

Neferet stood up in front of the creature, trying to detail it, but the darkness of the forest did not allow her to take details of that prostrate beast in front of the group.

Although the flames of the spears were intense, they did not give off much light.

Little by little, the group of aspirants on the ground began to rise, taking their weapons.

Rifles, swords, and spears were aimed at the creature as Neferet watched its fingers in the thin, dim light that grew dimmer and signaled that its wielder was moving away.

She bit her lip firmly.

She separated her fingers and started to shake them, making the line disappear.

Clenching her fists, Neferet brought them close to her waist, lighting a yellowish line that crisscrossed her bracelet in coils from her wrist to her elbow.

With a trembling voice from retching and with the aftertaste still in his mouth, she screamed, "We fight! Stand back and attack the arms! Knights take turns attacking, but not all at once! Sorceresses stand back and cast stun spells until the creature falls! Hunters shoot with precision, shoot to kill when the beast hits the ground!"

The aspirants slowly took up positions before the motionless beast, which hung silently.

Neferet is taking a distance, pointing at the beast with her fists. Closed and raised, she could analyze the shape of that beast.

It looked like a bear, with a small head, a large torso, and small legs that dangled by brushing their fingers in the grass while large, thick, and long arms held that figure from the top of two long trees.

Quickly two young men jumped on the creature, pointing their spears, but launching a quick claw releasing one of its arms from the trees.

The creature turned, following the impulse of his arm.

The claw hit the face of one of the young men and cut the skin as if it were butter.

It quickly destroyed that young man's face, while with his turn throwing his other arm in the direction of the other boy, he hit him squarely in the chest.

Quickly the boy was able to protect himself with the shield, but that did not prevent him from being fired towards a tree, creating a strident cracking sound.

It could be either the wood of the tree or the bones of that young man.

But after a gasp from that boy, his body remained inert, embedded in the tree with his legs stretched out.

The scent intensified again as the creature stood on all fours like a gorilla with its back straight, curving at its hips.

His long arms and small legs made him stand in a curve without looking so big that way.

Particularly moving your hips and bending your back.

The creature let out a huge roar that made the smell return to be as strong as before despite the surrounding flames that were gradually fading or dimming.

Neferet held her breath as she made a slow-motion with her arms, turning one clockwise and the other counterclockwise.

He took a breath, and his eyes began to shine with an intense yellow yell, "Push!"

Standing firm, she pointed at the creature's feet and punching the air hard. She released from her hand strong torrents of yellowish air that pushed the beast off balance.

While she controlled her breathing, she said quickly, "Fast! Sorceresses use your flames to burn the trees. We need light. Hunters shoot now. Knights, attack quickly before the smell gets stronger."

Clumsily the group of applicants followed the orders. Quickly the sorceresses began to launch fireballs on the treetops making a circle that began to illuminate the forest while the roars of the shots began to resonate.

The knights aimed their spears, covering themselves with their shields, and advanced, running towards the creature that was little by little bathed in the light of the fire.

Before the spears hit the creatures and after the shots, there was an awful silence when the creature settled back down.

The sight that appeared in front of the young people terrified them more now than when they couldn't see it.

Little by little, the creature was illuminated by the light of the fire that began to consume the leaves of the trees that surrounded it.

The vision of the creature showed its long arms and short legs covered by thick brown hair with white strands full of slime and blood splattered.

The creature's fingers were sharp yellowish claws splattered with the blood of the aspirants.

On the creature's stomach, a large, slime-filled mouth with fangs protruding, the dimly lit creature's small head displayed a large eye with four pupils that quivered.

Vibrating, they pointed to all the applicants.

That grotesque vision made all the young people hesitate a little to approach, but the beast did not hesitate for a second to jump on the applicants.

Holding her breath, Neferet quickly summoned two long lines of fire that took the form of bandages and ran through the air.

Pulling one with her right hand, Neferet caused one of the flaming bandages to encircle the trunk of a tree while she made the other stretch out.

Both were tied to the trunk, forming a long pulley with the trunk as a base.

The loose bandage was tied to the arm that the creature was throwing at the youngsters.

Gathering all her strength, straining the muscles of her back, arms and hips. Neferet took a long stride pulling the flaming bandage over her shoulder as she cried out in pain from the effort.

Behind her, she could hear a howl of pain followed by a crash falling to the floor.

Unable to speak while her breathing became rapid and ragged, she could feel the smell getting stronger.

In her chest, she could feel how the yellow flame that gave her magic trembled, being possessed and extinguished by the touch of the beast.

That strong smell prevented her from breathing normally, and the nervousness of the situation made her tremble.

But taking in every little bit of air she had left in her chest, she yelled at her one last command, "Now! Everyone attack! now!"

Neferet was proud of her body, and she trained to keep it aesthetic and functional.

But she had never taken her to the limit of pulling a creature of such size, her ears were covered with the effort, and she couldn't hear the battle of her companions.

Trembling from the effort, she turned, and out of the corner of his eye, she could see how the creature had turned and, with its free arm, pushed the applicants away while rapidly moving its back and hips rolling on the floor, chewing up an applicant who screamed with an expression of pain, the teeth of that beast sank into the side of a poor girl who little by little stopped screaming.

The terrifying silence was possessed by the loud sound of repeated cracking.

Neferet lost her concentration and could feel how the flame that fed her powers went out as she was prey to that disgusting smell, releasing a little vomit on her veil, and she fell to the floor when the flaming bandages disappeared that held her to the ground.

Between retching accompanied by vomiting, Neferet crawled on the floor, saying, "No… Escape… everyone… Spread…" However, her voice was drowned out by strong retching that filled her veil of vomit as she dragged herself towards the forest, getting up as she could.

As she ran, she forced herself to take a breath and delight her flame by touching the tree with two fingers, and her yellow flame glowed again.

At the same time, she was the victim of nausea and a huge headache.

She forced herself to draw a line of faint sparkle marking that spot as she scrambled awkwardly through the woods.

Even being able to hear the creak accompanied by other screams, Neferet went into the forest while trembling.

She fell down what she thought was a hill. Rolling on the floor, she could feel how the air was cleaning little by little.

Knowing that he was out of the beast's touch, she leaned against a tree in a fetal position. She was holding her legs with her right hand, while the line indicating the path was drawn from her left hand. With a headache so bad, it made her ears ring, and she was disoriented from her exertion, fear, and stress.

She did not know how far she had traveled. Tearing the veil from his face, she looked at the sky.

As she took off her hood, her face full of sweat and with a little vomit, her face was deformed by the expression of terror that she had.

But still, you could appreciate the beauty that made her proud.

Closing her eyes, she began to breathe, following her mother's lessons.

Fanning her flame and making everything on her mind automatic, she dozed off nervously.

Feeling more like a faint than a genuine state of concentration. She stayed wrapped in her arms in that tree until a voice made her wake up.

Not understanding what that voice said, she weakened. She opened her eyes and met the gaze of emerald green eyes and dark burgundy eyes.