Chapter 47

Disclaimer: I do not own Alien/Predator series or any characters and may not follow all customs and cultures found in Alien/Predator movies.

Kaail moved slowly as he turned around to see what was behind him. So far, it was nothing but pitch black but another puff of hot air told him otherwise. A growl so deep that it reverberated across the floor and into his feet. He held his hands out and backed up, only for the creature to follow and show its face.

What. The. Pauk?

This thing was massive, taking almost the entire space of the tunnel it was coming out from. Kaail was met with a set of jaws lined with ragged teeth almost the size of himself, looking sharp enough to even cut through the stone in his opinion. Something hung from the side and a closer inspection revealed where the foul smell came from. A Hish corpse dangled by the stomach, pierced by one tooth. His guts were mostly missing with a few strands left and oozing green blood coming between the cracks. The glaze over the eyes determined that it had been dead a while but Kaail got the feeling he interrupted a meal when he came.

It moved closer, revealing more of itself as some beast with scales as black as the abyss. It had scars that seemed very old so it had fought for a long time and Kaail recognized some as belonging to spears and blades. Hish no doubt

It had claws that stretched a few feet from its hand and walked on four legs. Its red eyes were the worst. Kaail could see nothing but instinct, wanting to bring death to himself. To him, it looked more like a dragon than anything else. It opened its mouth wide to let its tongue flick the corpse off of its tooth and then lick the rest. It wanted him.

Easy, boy.

Kaail made a motion to calm the beast. It stopped its approach for a moment before it snapped at him. He had to jerk away to avoid getting punctured but now his back was up against the wall with no way out. The beast inched closer, stalking him . . . hunting him. He took deep breaths and stared right into the beast's eyes. There was persuading. The beast wanted him . . . and it would try.

Wait for it. Kaail slowly reached behind and let his fingers graze over his spear. Come on and get me! He roared with all of his might.

In an instant, the beast snapped forward.

Kaail barely moved out of the way by ducking underneath the jaws. The beast chomped on the way and took out a few chucks in the process. He rolled out of the way again as it turned around and tried again to chomp down, giving Kaail a chance to attack. He pulled his spear and swung it around, leaving a scratch in its inner mouth. It screamed, thrashing its head from the sudden pain and spewed black liquid that could have been its blood. Dark inside and out.

In retaliation, the beast came at him once more with its mouth wide open. Kaail brought the spear and smashed it inside, keeping it from closing its mouth.

He smirked. Serves you right. Let's see if you—

Kaail froze as the beast snapped his spear like a twig, crumbling to the ground beyond repair. The beast snarled, infuriated. Now he knew he was in trouble and had only one option left. As quick as he could, Kaail turned and took off to one of the tunnels. The beast jumps to try and catch him but he rolls at the last minute and it smashes into the sidewall. He gets back on his feet and sees the flowers only a few feet away.

Now's my chance!

He runs past the beast but then its tail hits him square on and very hard. Kaail cries out in agony as he smashes into the wall. He could have sworn that his back was breaking into pieces. He barely got a chance to recover when the beast pins him down. The pressure on his chest was strong, barely managing to breathe at all as its claws dug across his sides and leaving deep gashes. Kaail tried his best to break free but the pressure grew each time.

The beast inches closer, baring its teeth right at his face. Kaail had to turn away and not think about its tongue left a trail of saliva over his face. He growled and the beast did in return. He watched as it opened its mouth, ready to chomp down on him.

No. I can't die here. Not now.

A'stea's face came into view. Her smile . . . her voice whispering in his ear. You're strong, Kaail. Never give up.

He growled, glaring down at the beast. I'm not ready for you yet.

With unknown strength, Kaail managed to break his arm free and brought his arm around. Somehow, the blades from the metal gauntlet came out and cut into one of the large teeth of the beast like it was butter. It took him by surprise and maybe in the beast itself. Its foot lifted off of him just enough for Kaail to escape and run into the nearby tunnel for a head start. He glanced at the blades for a moment. This thing is no joke. It's stronger than I thought.

When he heard the roar of the beast and then a stampede of footsteps behind him, Kaail ran faster and thankful he had the mask that allowed him to see through the darkness.

But when he got to the end of the tunnel, he was inside another junction similar to the one he was previously in. Where do I go now? I need to get out of here. He heard the beast coming closer. As much as he wanted to fight it head-on, the lessons he'd learned in the hunts with A'stea told him otherwise. He was in a tight space and the beast had the upper hand since there's a high chance it knows the layout better than him. He needed to get outside and to higher ground. If only I could go back to where I came from . . .

But the beast caught up to him. Kaail made another break from being crushed as it came barreling in like a raging bull. He went through another tunnel and the pursuit was on yet again. Now he felt like he was being hunted . . . and he didn't like it one bit.

Over and over, Kaail had to dodge and run from the beast's attacks, even sometimes attacking just to get away. He managed to cut a few more teeth and the side of its jaw. Still, it did little to slow it down. He needed to get out of there and fast.

But his luck ran out when he reached a dead end. Kaail scrambled to find another exit but when he turned around, the beast was right there, snarling. Backed up against a wall again, Kaail growled in defiance, not ready to give up so easily. His mind raced to find a way out but the path forward was blocked by the beast's sheer size. Even he couldn't find an inch to squeeze through if he had to. The beast stalks closer, licking for its next meal. Saliva and small drops of blood spilled on the floor as its teeth were slowly exposed.

C'jit! There has to be a way!

By some miracle or an urge, Kaail looked up and noticed there was a small opening in the ceiling. He could smell the cool air breezing through and knew it was a way out. The question was how he was going to get up there. Kaail thought quickly as the beast came closer, noticing that he could climb up it to get to the opening. He had no other option. It was his only chance.

He waited until the beast charged at him again and he jumped as high as he could, missing the beast's fangs by inches and landing on its back. He ran to the highest part of it despite the beast thrashing to get him off. Finally, he made it to the opening and climbed out into the open air and onto a small flat.

From his view, he could see that he was higher on the mountain than he thought since the fog was now below him. He looked up and saw the highest peak of the mountain was only a few feet away now. He sighed in relief for a moment. Almost there.

But the ground suddenly shook and felt like it was starting to crumble. Kaail jumped to the edge and saw that the beast was trying to break through. It managed to get a claw out but made futile attempts to get him. Kaail wasn't going to wait for it and started to climb up once more at a faster pace this time.

After a few moments, he finally made it to the top and onto a small cliff, gasping for breath. When he managed to get on his feet, he saw more bundles of the same purple flowers growing on the other side. Yes . . . I made it. He didn't waste time and kneeled to gather a few bundles of them, stuffing them quickly into the small pouch until he got enough.

He sighed heavily as he stood up. "I had enough of this adventure. Now how do I get—"

His arm was suddenly squeezed and yanked backward so fast. The beast had somehow made it through and found him at the top. Kaail screamed so hard as the beast's jaw crushed his arm. He was lifted from the ground and thrashed around quite a bit. Kaail tried to stay awake with the pain trying to pull him into subconsciousness, making it harder with him losing blood from the puncture wounds in his arm. He claws with his free hand and uses the metal blades as much as he could, leaving more gashes on the beast but agitating it more.

He must have hit something sensitive because it lets go and throws him across the flat until he slams on the rocky side of the mountain and then falls off the side. Kaail grabs hold with his other arm and manage to grip the side with his claws and feet. But now, he was hanging on the side of a mountain with a beast at the top and sudden death at the bottom. He tried to move his arm but it was clear that it was broken, mangled like a piece of meat and hanging by muscle and ligaments.

Pauk! This isn't good! This isn't good!

Kaail tries to lift himself over the edge but even this was impossible for himself with one arm. Each time he tried, he would lose his grip and skid even further down the side of the mountain.

He prepared for the worst when the beast looked over the edge and right at him. Some part of him was proud of his work on the beast. Deep gashes and puncture wounds covered its face entirely and black blood oozed like a curtain of death, looking more pissed off than before. It leaned its head closer to Kaail and gave an inhuman roar. The wind almost knocking Kaail off the edge. It leaned closer and closer, this time to deliver the final blow.

Kaail shook his head. Despite that he could die, Kaail refused to give up. He was so close and A'stea's life depended on him. After everything that had happened, he never fought hard for anything in his life except for her. She's the reason he wants to live. She's the reason he wasn't going to die in a place like this. He's doing this all . . . for her. I have to live!

As the beast drew closer, Kaail growled. "Sorry, bastard. But I'm not the one who's going to die today."

As if understanding, the beast roars once more before lunging at him. But to his surprise, the mask began to beep for a split second. Kaail looked at the corner of his eyes and saw some symbols flashing. What is it doing? Before he could register what it was doing, the mask activated something on the side. He watched as the mask began to read something.

Activate . . . plasma . . . caster?

Right as he finished, a blast of blue light shot from the side of his face and hit the beast square in the mouth. An explosion of fire and blood spewed out above him, raining down on him. He closed his eyes for a second to avoid getting blinded by the fire. What the pauk was that?! When he looked up, he was met by an unbelievable sight.

The lower jaw of the beast was completely gone with hanging tendons and blood left behind. Its throat now held a large, burnt hole that took out part of its spine among other things. It gurgled for a few moments before it became silent and its eyes glossed over. Kaail was frozen by the unfathomed power of whatever shot through his mask. Although some part of him wished he knew this from the beginning and this fight would have been done and over with.

But he had a bigger problem as the beast started to fall forward and wasn't about to stop. With no option to get out of the way, Kaail lost his grip as the beast hit him, sending both of them falling.

It wasn't a straight fall either. The beast's corpse tumbled into a spiral as it hit the side of the mountain, forcing Kaail to do the same. If it wasn't bad enough, he hit a few sharp points that plunged into his skin and left behind the pain that shot through his back, only to happen again and again as they kept falling.

Kaail had to think fast as he saw the ground coming closer or else he'll end up a broken corpse like the beast. When he looked between the mountain and his metal blades, an idea came to him. Maneuvering his body in the air, he grabbed onto the beast and got his feet under. When he was close enough to the mountain, he pushed his legs and went flying through the space to crash onto the rocky surface. With quick precision, he plunged his blades into the mountain and dug as hard as he could.

Sparks flew as he skidded down the side of the mountain, praying that it would work. Sure enough . . . right as he was a few meters to the ground, the blades got stuck into a small crevice and jerked him to a stop. Kaail cried out in agony, feeling like his arm would pop right off, and the other rip out. Instead, he safely dangled on the mountainside as he heard the beast slam to the ground, echoing its last moments.

Relief flooded into his system and he pressed his forehead on the rocky wall and closed his eyes. Thank pauking whoever was looking down. He took a few moments to catch his breath, still processing what had happened and telling himself he was still alive.

When he gathered enough strength, he slowly made his way down and flopped to the ground at the end as soon as his strength faltered. But he was on safe ground for now. Kaail glanced at the corpse sprawled across the cold dirt. The beast's chest was crushed upon impact and it wouldn't have survived either way.

Good. He spat on the corpse in anger. Go to pauking Hell.

Kaail reached into the pouch and checked to make sure he still had the flowers, relieved when he saw they were safe inside. Now I need to get to A'stea. He looked to the sky and saw that dawn was coming. Some of the rays from the twin suns were rising over the mountain and his body was losing strength, barely able to take deep breaths. He could already feel the exhaustion in his muscles and the pain in his broken arm. C'jit. I'm running out of time.

But Kaail stopped and looked at the beast once more, remembering what A'stea told him.

Never waste anything. Salvage what you can.

He thought for a moment before he pulled out his blades and sliced off a piece of fang from it. It wasn't much but it'll have to do for now. Kaail stumbled out of there, glad to be rid of the mountain but the small relief was overcome by impatience. He pushed himself back to the city, to return to the hideout . . . pray that he was not too late.

Hi everyone!

Damn!

Kaail had gone through Hell and back, trying to get the flower with a monster trying to kill him. What a beast . . . but Kaail knew little of what a weapon he was hiding. I was cheering when he blasted the beast's mouth like it was nothing.

But with everything, it shows Kaail's commitment to saving A'stea's life, even ignoring his wellbeing to get to her in time. That's love for you :D

But will he make it in time? And will he survive his wounds?

Find out when Chapter 48 comes tomorrow!

Thank you for the reviews (Anonymous-E, Mariah, and lil ang3I)! They are very important for me and I hope I see more readers posting as well. All opinions are welcomed. I hope you keep on reading! ;)

And thank you for your support. :)

Happy Hunting! :))))