Xavier perched silently atop a thick tree branch, his gaze fixed on the gruesome scene below. The injured beast, its once fearsome presence greatly diminished, now feasted upon the corpses of hunters and handymen scattered throughout the small clearing in the dense forest.
The beast tore at the flesh and organs of the fallen, oblivious to Xavier's presence, and driven by a desperate hunger. It seemed to believe that consuming the corpses would aid its regenerative process, an opportunity Xavier had patiently been waiting for.
As the creature finished feeding on one corpse, it moved on to the next, one that was closer to Xavier's hiding spot. This was the moment he had been waiting for, his chance to strike. Xavier prepared himself, his hands ablaze with fierce flames, as he descended from the tree.
With a great leap, he descended towards the ground, and the fire between his palms grew into a fiery sphere, rapidly expanding in size. The burning orb collided with the head of the unsuspecting beast.
The impact was explosive, the fiery ball smashing into the creature's skull with tremendous force. As Xavier landed on his feet and then fell to his knees, he watched as the beast's head was violently driven into the corpse it had been feeding on. Flames and smoke enveloped the beast as it let out a monstrous howl of pain and rage.
Xavier grimaced as he rose to his feet, his legs feeling numb from the pain of his fall. The roaring flames in his hands had dissipated, but his determination burned brighter than ever. He couldn't afford to stay there, not with the injured but dangerous beast so close to him.
As the creature let out a painful cry, Xavier knew he had dealt it a significant blow, but he also understood that it was far from defeated. It was in moments like this that he had to remain cautious and vigilant.
Xavier didn't dare to stay close to something so dangerous. With a leap backward, he just barely left the range of the beast. In the blink of an eye, the creature's massive claw swung towards him with startling speed. Xavier could only see blurs as the claw raced through the air, inches from where he had stood just moments ago.
His shirt tore as the bloodied claw-shaped mark appeared across his chest, drops of blood sprinkling from the fresh wound. Xavier felt a sharp pain, but he knew that he had made the right decision to keep his distance. If he had hesitated for even a second longer, he might have been killed instantly, or at the very least, severely injured by the beast's ferocious attack.
Xavier's hand gingerly moved to check the wound he had received from the beast's lightning-fast attack. To his relief, his fingers encountered only a shallow gash. It was painful, but it wasn't as severe as it could have been. He realized that he had managed to evade the full force of the beast's strike, a stroke of luck in the midst of chaos.
With his wound assessed, Xavier quickly began conjuring another fireball. The flames flickered to life, forming a fiery sphere between his hands. As he prepared to launch his next attack, he glanced at the beast.
The creature, now aware of its attacker, looked up to see Xavier with an expression of genuine confusion. For a moment, its eyes revealed a hint of doubt, as if it questioned everything it had ever known. It had killed this human before so how is he here again?
The beast's initial bewilderment soon transformed into certainty. It recognized this human, both by appearance and the unique power he wielded. The flames that Xavier commanded were unlike anything it had encountered before. The memory of its previous encounter with this human resurfaced, and it couldn't forget the fire.
Never before had the beast encountered a human with such a formidable ability.
Xavier released the fiery ball, and the beast, with uncanny agility for its size, side-stepped to the right in an attempt to evade the attack. But Xavier's actions were far from what the beast anticipated.
Surprisingly, Xavier didn't continue in the same direction as his fireball. Instead, he started running to the right. His eyes remained calm and calculative, for he had a clear plan in mind. He remembered the one major advantage he held over the beast, the wound he had inflicted on its right eye during their previous encounter.
With the beast's right eye now non-functional, it was operating at a severe disadvantage. Xavier took advantage of this knowledge, leading the creature through the dense forest, weaving between trees and foliage.
The beast displayed a frustrated look as it continued to give chase. It anticipated Xavier's movements, thinking he would simply keep running ahead as they both moved between a massive tree, but Xavier had other plans.
As the beast ran past the massive tree, it realized Xavier did not make it out of it. halted its advance, sensing a trap. It quickly turned around, prepared for an attack from behind since Xavier may have moved around the tree trying to attack from its blind spot.
However by turning it unknowingly exposed its blind right side to where Xavier had truly hidden, which was the opening Xavier had been waiting for.
With silent, calculated precision, Xavier slid out from the right side of the tree, moving swiftly and unnoticed. He took full advantage of the beast's blind spot, and as he emerged, he unleashed another fiery ball of power. The fiery projectile streaked towards the exposed side of the creature, poised to strike and turn the tide of their deadly encounter.
Xavier watched with a sense of triumph as the fiery ball he had conjured struck the beast, making direct contact with its wounded side. The creature let out a tortured cry as it collapsed to the ground. This was the first time Xavier had seen the beast fall like this, and the sight filled him with excitement.
Overjoyed by the advantage he had gained, Xavier began conjuring another ball of fire, a final one to end the battle once and for all.
"This...This is for Travis!" Xavier said to the beast looking deep into its eyes, hoping it could understand his words.
But as Xavier prepared to unleash the fireball, the wounded beast had other plans. It had been biding its time, waiting for Xavier to finally stop moving into its blind spot.
With a sudden burst of renewed strength, the creature sprang forward, lunging at Xavier with speed and ferocity that took him by surprise.
Xavier's face paled as he realized the beast still had some fight left in it. In desperation, he hurled his fireball forward, smashing it into the beast right in front of him. Fierce flames erupted between them, and the creature's pained cries filled the air, momentarily giving Xavier a sense of relief.
But his moment of relief was short-lived. He felt a sharp, excruciating pain in his belly as the beast's claw pierced through the flames, stabbing into him. Even in the face of death and in agonizing pain, Xavier managed a weak, joking remark,
"Is this thing on some sort of performance-enhancing herbs or what?" Xavier cried out in shock while desperately suppressing the urge to spit blood.
However, the beast didn't find it funny. Its towering figure loomed over Xavier, and with ruthless intent, it stabbed its second claw into him.
In a horrific and gruesome display, the beast tore Xavier in two, causing his organs to spill onto the ground. Xavier's lifeless body lay in a pool of his own blood, his final words still echoing in the forest. The beast, now completely weakened and near its end, collapsed beside Xavier's lifeless form.
Despite its victory over the human, the creature couldn't help but curse the tenacity of the man who had crossed its path not once, but twice. It knew that, given its own injuries, its chances of survival were slim, and it had paid a heavy price for the encounter.