Part 2
Hancock felt the earth shiver underneath her feet, it was a trampling and her whole body was shaking because of it. Whatever was heading her direction, it was big, it was fast and very very angry. A cold shiver ran down her spine.
The leader was screaming something on top of her lungs but Hancock couldn't hear it anymore. A group of at least 15 Rhino's had just burst through the undergrowth, unstoppable and inevitable. Hancock almost ricked her neck as she looked up to the gigantic creatures directly in front of her.
The biggest of them, probably 2 times bigger than the previous Rhino, glared at her with rage.
She was the one he was looking for.
His massive body was dashing towards her, crushing everything in his path. No matter how fast she would run, they were faster…no matter how hard she'd fight they were stronger. She was done for. The hoof of the animal was directly above her, it would crush her within the next second. But the girl was frozen in fear. What should she do? What should she do?!
Suddenly she felt a slender arm around her waist. The hoof of the rhino whooshed by so close; it brushed her cheek. Someone had saved her. Hancock tried to look up and was able to make out the darkish features of Dahlia.
The leader was still holding her upside down in her arm as she barked commands at the other hunters. The Beasts didn't even care about the Amazons around them; about the ridiculous, petty arrows they were shooting …all they wanted was to crush the tiny girl who had hurt one of them.
"Now you are the center of attention. That was what you were looking for, was it not?"Dahlia said with a soft chuckle. Normally Hancock would have answered with a cocky remark but right now she was busy with fearing for her life...
The group of Rhinos turned around to focus their target anew. Dahlia faced the Herd, and stood still without a flicker. Only the little girl was winding in her arm trying to free herself. "What are you doing? Let me down, I can run for myself!" The little girl yelled, but the leader just tightened her grip. The Biggest Rhino ran towards them with fury, the rest of the herd followed. Hancock felt panic rush though her body. But Dahlia didn't move, was she going to get both of them killed?!
"CHARGE!" the voice of leader went through the forest like a gunshot. The same second every single Amazon appeared out of nowhere and stormed to the gigantic animals. The warriors only focused on one rhino; three Amazons had used lianas and wrapped them around the Beast's legs. Hancock saw it sway, trying to keep its balance. The two other amazons attacked the head of the now defenseless Rhino relentlessly. After a couple of aimed hits the Rhino fell and the Amazons jumped to the treetops as fast as they had appeared.
Suddenly the other animals seemed confused. They had followed the command of the big Rhino, But now they didn't know were to turn, blinded by their rage. This was the right moment for a retreat. The Amazons made a run, unnoticed by the temporarily confused Rhinos. With their last powers the hunters reached their village.
The amazons fell down on their knees, panting for air. Finally they were on save ground. But even here you could still hear the Beasts rampage through the heart of the forest.
A freckled Amazon was the first to catch her breath and looked up to her leader. "Well, this hunt was quite the failure, thanks to a certain someone…" Dahlia didn't answer but just dropped Hancock on the floor carefully.
"Way to go, Hancock! You really nailed it today!" another curly-haired Amazon added with obvious irritation.
"Enough."
The leader had spoken, the girls fell silent. But she couldn't stop them from giving Hancock one last scowl before they left.
Dahlia turned to Hancock, who was still crouching on the ground. The girl was around 10 years old, even for her age comparably skinny and small. Black shiny Hair, hold in two pigtails, was framing her face.
Despite this rather unimposing exterior, the girl was energetic and cheerful. With her fury temper, she could easily convince others for her cause or even intimidate them with the right words.
But right now things looked different; her little face was glowing red; her big eyes were looking to the ground, avoiding any eye-contact. She was a picture of misery.
"Come on, stand up." The leader reached Hancock her hand. The little warrior took it only reluctantly.
"How did you know about the Rhinos" The girls asked timidly.
"It is called experience." Dahlia answered
"And you have to know that those animals are not very different from us. They would do everything to protect a member of their family" the leader smiled and stroke away the messy strands of hair that were covering Hancock's bright face. The girl winced softly, surprised by this friendly gesture. … Then she uttered a small "Thank you".
„You are welcome…But do not understand me wrong…" Dahlia's expression changed to a worried frown.
„You disobeyed my commands and could have killed all of us…You are strong, without a doubt. But you do not know what a real warrior is yet…" she sighed and looked up to Hancock remorsefully
" I am afraid will have to talk to the princess about this when she returns…"
" You will tell it to our princess?!"Hancock shouted nervously.
" Yes, she is the one to decide on your penalty. Do you have a problem with that?"
She did, more than anything else, but Hancock just shook her head slowly. Now wasn't the time for objections.
"Good, then take a rest now, and think about what happened today… I never want this to reoccur, alright?"
Hancock trotted back to her home. She felt the glances of the other warriors pierce her as she walked by. But she couldn't care less about them; she was worrying about something else. Dahlia would talk to the Snake-princess, the woman she admired the most. What would the princess say when she heard about her mistake? Hancock would rather die than fall in disgrace with her. She had to do something to redeem herself. And she had to do it before her princess returned.