Chapter 14:
It had the resemblance of something straight out of the Cretaceous period, almost two meters in height, its eyes, three glowing red orbs, were triangularly placed, one, right above the bridge of its muzzle, and two, on either side of its cylindrically shaped head. The rows of sharp teeth that protruded from its reptilian mouth, just before its gullet, spread apart menacingly, as it bellowed a high, piercing cry, swinging its scaly, muscled limb downward and across at the seemingly motionless Green Lantern.
Lantern dove into a low crouch, his right leg extended outward, lunging himself as low to the ground as possible, as the alien lashed out violently, just above his head, hitting nothing but air. Swinging back roughly, the creature caught Lantern square across his chest, sending his six foot one frame sprawling into the air, landing onto his back, sliding nine meters into the muddied embankment.
Stunned slightly, and engulfed by the oozing sludge from head to toe, Lantern became aware that his armor had absorbed the brunt of the blow, and scrambled to his feet quickly, keeping his posture loose, standing in readiness for the creature he knew to be the H'rukai, both of his daggers drawn.
The H'rukai bounded into the mud, heading straight for its human prey, disregarding the slipperiness of the surface, its jaws agape. Lantern waited composedly, as the monster vaulted itself towards him awkwardly, exhaling a blast of its hot breath from its snapping jaws within just a few centimeters of his face. Bending low, he side-stepped to his right with his left foot, jutting his left arm horizontally outward, his dagger, blade-side out from underneath his left palm, thumb over the hilt, as it sliced deeply through the H'rukai's left side, all the while spinning away from the monster's advance, and followed suit by pirouetting into a full circle, swinging his right arm slightly upward with the dagger held in his right hand, blade-side up above his thumb, this time, slashing deeply across the creature's exposed neck.
Howling in pain, the H'rukai fell face first into the mud, sliding a few meters further into the embankment, clutching its neck and side, realizing that its hide had been penetrated.
It roared its anger as it jumped back to its feet, charging into Lantern's direction once again. Its clawed hands thrashed wildly as Lantern evaded the attack by consistently blocking the creature's onslaught with his gauntlets, each time retaliating with his daggers, dishing out a little punishment of his own, infuriating the alien creature further.
Clearly frustrated with this ploy, the alien reptile began to chomp ferociously at Lantern's helmeted head, causing the human to stumble backwards. Taking advantage of this slight opening, the H'rukai swiftly whipped its body around; its tail extended, and hammered Lantern into his mid-section, catapulting the human fifteen meters into the air. Landing with a grotesque thud into the bright sunshine of a grassy knoll, Lantern winced as his left shoulder hit the hardened earth, feeling the searing pain, and relinquishing his daggers from the impact.
Feeling the veil of unconsciousness creeping upon him, Lantern rolled onto his side, seeing the H'rukai slowly trudging towards him, its blood flowing moderately from its wounds.
NO!! Don't blackout!!
Willing himself to stay conscious, Lantern stood up slowly, as the H'rukai impetuously dashed toward him, its arms outstretched, leaping for his throat.
Still groggy, Lantern shifted the scabbard diagonally onto his back, then thrust his hands outward to impede the path of the creature's imposing claws, throwing himself backwards toward the ground, rolling onto his back, using his legs and the momentum of its weight to propel the creature three meters airborne, crashing it into a row of shadowed trees.
"Pilar!! You gotta let me outta here!!!"
"You know that that is not possible… Shayera! John knew the risks when he agreed to do this…" P'thal said sadly.
"I can help him!!"
"If I let you out… it will ruin any chance you may have to stay your sentence at the Tribunal… Think!! What if he succeeds?!!"
"UUUUUUAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Shayera shrieked her frustration, slamming her elbow against the unyielding force field, showering herself in sparks, while realizing that P'thal was right.
"Get that shuttle over to that position and tell me what has happened!" P'thal ordered sharply into the communicator.
"Right away, sir!" a voice answered.
Man and beast, outside of the embankment now, completely covered in mud, stood measuring each other in the tall grass, within four meters of each other, both beginning to reveal their fatigue, exhausted from the fierce fighting between them. The H'rukai, panting heavily now, its blood still seeping slowly due to the two gaping wounds it had received during the battle, stood erect, near the edge of the heavily shadowed trees, ready to persist with its attack.
Then, something caught Lantern's eye, movement, within the darkness of the trees, just behind the alien. Squinting, his eyes watered, as he tried to confirm what he had seen through the bright, shining rays of the early morning sun.
Without warning, a large figure sprang out of the shadowed darkness, barreling into the H'rukai, slamming it down into the tall grass, gripping its neck with what appeared to be its mouth, raising its body into the air, writhing it furiously, until Lantern heard a loud snap. The H'rukai's body fell limp within its attacker's jaws, its blood flowing freely from its neck.
Then, Lantern could see what had killed the creature, as it dropped the alien's body into the tall grass; it was something he wasn't prepared for.
God…
"Lieutenant?"
"Yes, Corporal?" P'thal answered patiently, eyeing the communicator.
"Sir, the signal for the H'rukai… there something very wrong about it… it's almost like…"
"Like what…?!!" Shayera interrupted impatiently, staring at the blue icon, as it continued to blink erratically on the view screen.
"Like… there were two signals… transmitting on the same frequency…"
"What?!" P'thal stammered.
Two signals… transmitting… same frequency… Shayera's mind raced, deliberating the new information, then a dark feeling crossed into her mentality. Kragger!!
"Pilar! T-there are two of them… there are two H'rukai out there…!!" she rationalized, staring at the blue icon's erratic signal.
He stood perfectly still as the creature shoved the H'rukai's body with its snout, looking for any signs of life. Sensing that it was dead, it shifted itself into the direction of Green Lantern, its bloodied, toothy maw, coming to a stop not more than five meters of his position. Sniffing at the air slowly, the larger H'rukai, about four meters in height, bent low to the ground, sticking out its snake-like tongue to the earth as if searching for something, and lifted its snout to the air once more, inhaling sharply. It acted as if Lantern was literally invisible, heedless to the fact that he was standing practically in front of it.
What's the matter, boy… can't find my scent? Lantern mused, as he spied the location of one of his desolated daggers, which was about two meters off to the left behind him. Then he noticed that something was different, it didn't rush in to attack, like the one before. It, instead, stood upon its legs, and stretched its head to its full height, again sniffing the air harshly.
What the… it can't see me?!! Lantern thought, astonished by this discovery, looking down at his arms and legs…. Heightened olfactory senses…
The mud… must be blocking my scent… but why can't it see me?
He realized that he was indeed still covered in the semi-dried ooze, however it was covered with something else as well. Blood. H'rukai blood. The elephantine monster smelled it as well, and bellowed its challenge, charging its bulk towards Lantern's direction.
Lantern quickly turned, retrieved the dagger, and bolted through the trees, heading southwest, the alien beast in close pursuit.
The Thanagarian shuttle silently hovered over the last recorded coordinates of the human, the blowing mist from the waterfall dissipating briefly as its retro engines hummed steadily, its camera emerging slowly from one of its access ports.
"Are you getting this, Lieutenant?" the Talon soldier asked.
"Yes, I am… Sergeant." P'thal's voice radioed back.
"I don't see him…" Shayera voiced with a hint of optimism, staring intently at the view screen, as the shuttle's camera methodically panned the surrounding area.
"Wait a minute… Sergeant, can you pan back to the upper left quadrant… there, what is that?"
"Where?" P'thal questioned, looking as well.
"There… near the trees… is that blood?"
The camera zoomed in, displaying the tall grass near a heavily wooded area, the focus changing speedily, until it became clearer, revealing the crumpled body of the lifeless H'rukai, its neck clearly broken.
Panic was starting to set in the back of her mind as Shayera's heart pounded faster, hoping for some sign that John had survived. John… where are you?
Black Talon soldiers, heavily armed, were in the perimeter now, searching for whatever was left in the apparent battle zone, walking slowly up to the dead animal, for a closer look.
"Lieutenant… there is nothing here… only this dead H'rukai… it's a beta male, by the looks of it. Most likely killed by an alpha. However, there's no sign of the human…" the communicator squawked.
"There are indications that some fighting went on here, though… there's mud everywhere," another voice said.
"He's alive…" Shayera breathed out heavily, realizing how resourceful John could be.
"We don't know that… Shayera." P'thal looked at her, not convinced.
Only a few had ever survived against the attack of two H'rukai males, and they were very experienced warriors, but with John Stewart's nescience with the creatures, she believed that it was unlikely that he could have.
"Over here!" someone shouted, off to the left.
The camera panned towards the commotion, a young Talon soldier pointing off to a section of trees on the opposite side of the small clearing.
"Lieutenant… you're not going to believe this, but this human may still be alive…" the voice responded with disbelief.
"What do you mean?" P'thal requested, with amazement.
"We found this…" the soldier reported, as the camera zoomed in on the ceremonial dagger he was holding.
"There are tracks that are moving away… from this position… to the southwest," the soldier reputed, pointing to the left. "And that isn't all…"
"What else?"
"By the looks of things, the alpha is definitely on his heels," the communicator squawked.
Lantern ran as fast as he could, his lean form slicing through the foliage of the forest, pacing himself as if he were in some long marathon. He could hear the H'rukai keeping pace, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why it couldn't see him, but the scent from the previous H'rukai's blood had caused the beast to come after him with savage tenacity.
Stay to the southwest… Stewart… should be getting close now… he judged, quickly looking into the sky, then at the landmarks he was passing, never looking back. He knew he couldn't chance a look back to verify the creature's position, because if he were to lose his footing, there would be no way that he could survive fighting this thing in close proximity. No. He needed to focus on the path in front of him, and reach the 'yellow' zone.
Lantern sprinted past a large tree that had a distinctive 'YZ' carved into it, pulling his dagger out with his right hand, he focused on a taut, intertwined vine secured by an old log that was to his right, extended his stride, and sliced it with an outstretched swing of his arm while passing by in one swift motion.
The H'rukai, five steps behind him, could not evade the flexibly, tightly stretched tree branch, consisting of six thick wooden stakes, almost thirty centimeters in length that whipped around into its path, into its right forearm, and the right side of its chest, tearing into its scaly flesh.
Its horrible scream resounded throughout the valley floor.
The contingent of Black Talon soldiers stopped in their tracks, after hearing the ragged outcry, as they followed the crude pathway left from the evident hunt that was currently going on.
"Wings of Ratok!! That did not sound good at all…" an alarmed Talon soldier said, looking up realizing that the sound came at least a kilometer ahead of them, his weapon raised.
"What is it… Corporal?" the communicator squawked.
"Not sure… sir. It sounded like the H'rukai may have caught his prey…" the corporal radioed back.
"What do you think?" another soldier whispered, walking up along side the corporal.
"I don't know… "
"Do they expect us to rescue this human?"
"Perhaps…"
"He deserves to die… if he thinks he can accomplish what a true Thanagarian was born to do…" the soldier commented.
"Don't let P'thal hear you say that, she seems to feel that this 'Green Lantern' deserves a chance to speak for the traitor at the Tribunal."
"Come on, Karos… there's no way that this human will survive, the traitor is as good as dead…"
"Whatever the case… keep your eyes open…" Corporal Karos warned.
The fear was definitely deep within her now, as Shayera watched the view screen, uneasily. The camera displayed the tree tops as the shuttle had to hover above the forest, because the trail was too heavily wooded.
"Are you alright?" P'thal asked.
"Yeah… I just hope that he's ok…" Shayera sighed nervously, her body, visibly shaking.
P'thal observed the concerned look on Shayera's face. She wished that she could do more for her friend, but this was not up to her, like it ever was to begin with. No, only John Stewart would be the only one to do anything about it, the only one that would make the difference.
Lantern had two traps remaining in the 'yellow' zone, however, he never released them on account of the H'rukai's painful shriek from the first one, it had discontinued its pursuit of him, but, nonetheless, he kept running, heading for the 'red' zone. For the creature to cease its chase indicated that it had some form of intelligence, because for some unfathomable reason, he could not shake the feeling that it was nevertheless hunting him. Which meant that this H'rukai would not leave him any choice, it was either it or Shayera, and to Lantern, this was a very easy choice to make.
Less than a quarter mile, Stewart… run!!
Picking up the pace, he began to extend his stride further.
A few moments later, Lantern slowed, then eventually stopped, as he came to a large clearing, its terrain sloping downward slightly, towards huge clumps of bushes that lined the far edge of it, and appeared to have grown abundantly at one particular spot, with two huge oak trees widely adjacent to each other, one above the bushes. This was where Lantern decided to make his stand; the 'RED' zone, here was where he would have to survive. Looking around cautiously, he didn't see or hear anything that suggested the creature was in the area. He knew it was out there, lurking, possibly trying to snare him as it did the previous H'rukai, but it could only approach him from one of three sides of the clearing, he had made sure of it.
Lantern scaled the large oak tree on the left side of the far edge that gave him a vantage point of the whole area, in which nothing could enter without him knowing about it. Gazing at the morning sky, he knew that time was starting to run out, and that he needed to get this accomplished quickly, for the Tribunal was to begin the very next day.
It was time to take the fight to this larger creature; it was time to finish it. Looking over the perimeter, he again saw no indication that his opponent was near; therefore he decided to give it a little help. He took in a deep breath.
"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"