Chapter 15:
The scent was intangibly cognizant, but the remnants of its prey's odor still lingered, as the H'rukai alpha inhaled the morning air into its nostrils slowly, ambling cautiously through the heavily vegetated valley floor. Its senses knew it to be just another male like itself, attempting to challenge its station as an alpha, but somehow, it was also different. For some reason it couldn't see it with its eyes, but it could definitely smell it, faintly, but smelled it nevertheless. One thing did make it clear to its instincts; staying close to the strange creature had proven to be a bit more dangerous than it had anticipated, as it spied the tattered flesh of its right forearm.
The attack itself had baffled it; in which the reasoning within its primitive mind suggested that it would be beneficial for it to track its quarry from a distance, biding its time, so that it would have a better opportunity to strike again. For it knew that with preferable conditions, it would eventually hunt this creature down, and once it had, it would indeed kill it.
The sudden boisterousness of the bellow erupted through the calmness of the forest, causing the H'rukai to look in the direction where flocks of birds were exploding out of the trees some distance west from where it stood. It discerned that the bawl was something more than just a mere noise in the woods. No… it was definitely something more. Recognizing the challenge, it grunted with a sound of vaingloriousness, and loped off westward, toward the source of the inimical calling.
"What do you think it was?" squawked the corporal's communicator.
"Not sure, sir… whatever it was, it wasn't the H'rukai," the corporal answered, motioning the rest of the group to turn into the direction of where the deep-toned din originated.
"We'll check it out…"
At least twenty minutes had elapsed since he issued his challenge into the surrounding forest, during which the sun had slipped within a canvas of ominous clouds, its bright rays disappearing quickly behind them. Lantern utilized this time to focus on the behavior of the two animals he had faced earlier, distinguishing their subtle differences, as well as their similarities. The first H'rukai was smaller, and acted more impulsively, rushing into its attack, jumping the gun so to speak, which suggested that the animal may have been young, while the other, much larger, took its time to size up the situation, weighing its options, and then attacked. More experienced… older, perhaps? It hid in the shadows, and most likely studied its prey… Looking for weaknesses?
Pilar had said that they were cunningly deadly… so the real question is… just how cunning can these things be?
Studying the leaves on the oak's branches, Lantern noted that the breeze was blowing slightly to the northeast, realizing that it was possible for the creature to pick up the scent of the now dried H'rukai blood on his armor… even with this slight gust of wind.
A sound… registered from across the clearing… to its far side, on the left. Staring intently from his vantage point, Lantern spotted what had made the noise… creeping slowly through the trees were a group of armed Talon soldiers, approaching the edge of the open field.
This ain't good… what are they doing here?
Deciding that he didn't want interference, Lantern concluded that he would most likely have to 'talk' with the uninvited guests, before they unknowingly foil the plan that he'd already set in motion. Starting his descent slowly, and looking downward, he froze abruptly. He stared at the ground for a moment. Were his eyes playing tricks on him? It looked like something was beneath one of the branches of the giant oak. Movement. Slow, calculating movement…
It was the H'rukai. From its head to the end of its tail, it was at least six meters in length, moving fluidly from within its crouch, purposefully, inherently… for it was hunting. It slowly came to a stop, standing perfectly still, blending in with its surroundings, beneath one of the largest branches of the giant oak. It gazed across the open field, its eyes, practically level with the tall grass, waiting patiently. It undoubtedly heard the noise, as well; for its muzzle was pointed in the general direction of the winged soldiers, its teeth parted slightly, as it prepared to launch its attack.
Uh oh…
Lantern could see that this would complicate things, considering the fact that one, if the Thanagarians were to interfere, it may somehow cause the Tribunal to revoke his claim in this opportunity to complete the ritual, and two, the soldiers were in no doubt, about to be ambushed by the very beast they had set out to kill him. No matter how ironic it would seem; he had to make sure that neither would happen.
"Lieutenant… there's nothing here that indicates that the human is even here," the corporal whispered to the communicator, noting the faint drizzle of rain starting to fall from the semi-darkened sky.
"He could be dead for all we know…" another soldier whispered.
"The shuttle will be over to your position in a few minutes, there's still trouble with the tracking system… so it is very difficult to ascertain the location of the remaining H'rukai… be careful…" crackled the communicator.
"Will do, Lieutenant…" Corporal Karos responded. "Karos out…"
The soldiers were beginning to get impatient with this whole mission. None of them felt that the human needed to be saved from a fate that he deserved, and on top of all of that, it was beginning to rain.
"Pan out! Let's do a standard three by two cover… and keep your eyes open!" Karos quietly ordered.
The Talon soldiers silently spread out to about three meters between each other, and began to walk slowly into the clearing.
"Not… yet…" Lantern whispered to himself, working into a position directly above the crouching H'rukai, his dagger held tightly between clinched teeth, measuring the distance to the beast. He had to time this just right or the element of surprise would be lost, and he couldn't afford that.
The alien monster launched itself into the clearing, not aware of the dark figure plunging quickly from the branches above, landing upon its back. Lantern's right arm shot upward, grabbing the dagger out of his mouth, and swung downward, driving the blade deep into the creature's upper right shoulder. Bucking wildly, the H'rukai sprang into the clearing, screeching in agony, all the while reaching for the human that was clamped onto its back.
"Karos!! Look!!" a soldier shouted, pointing to the other side of the clearing.
The stunned soldiers stood dumbfounded as the creature rolled forward towards a grassy mound, trying to crush its pesky intruder. Lantern jumped off the reptile's back and rolled back onto his feet, almost three meters from the creature, reaching onto his back, pulling the sword from its scabbard.
"Stay out of this!!! This is my fight!!" he shouted to the astonished group of Thanagar's finest, facing the monster now.
The Thanagarian shuttle slowly hovered closer to the clearing, its camera displaying the group of winged Thanagarians to the right, and the two combatants facing each other in the middle of the open field.
"Ch'tera's beak! You were right, Shayera! He survived… John Stewart is alive…" P'thal said optimistically, smiling briskly, spotting the human on the view screen.
As the shuttle's camera zoomed in on the combatants, she saw him standing there, defensively, opposite the H'rukai alpha, his sword held vertically in front of him, both hands on the hilt.
He was alive! Her breathing became rapid, as she mentally reminded herself that this was not the time for fear; that this was the time for faith, and for hope, however, all Shayera could produce was a halfhearted smile, because she knew that this was far from over. She closed her eyes, not able to watch, for she was afraid for his safety, but she knew that deep in her heart that not even fear could shake the feeling that she had held onto for the past two of the five years, stranded on this little planet. She had believed in him, and he believed in her, for he'd already proven that.
Now, others from her world would see why she did what she did, why she was willing to give up her life for the people of Earth. They would see a mere human risking his life for hers, to speak for her when she couldn't, to battle without the one power that would protect him from such odds. She had never felt more proud of what she'd felt, proud enough to tell anyone, and everyone that she was in love with the human named John Stewart.
Be careful… she thought, opening her eyes, staring at the view screen, still trembling, wishing that she were standing next to him.
The H'rukai roared with vexation as it reached up with its left claw, ripping the dagger from its right shoulder, sending it flying off towards the bushes near the far back edge of the clearing, staring hatefully in the direction of the one responsible. Again, it sniffed at the air harshly, again unable to locate its enemy.
The drizzling rain became a sudden downpour, falling rapidly, hitting the clearing with sheets of wet liquid immersing the area with its moisture. Lantern focusing on the creature ignored the rainfall that was hitting his armor, saturating the dried layers of mud, causing the ooze to quickly wash away. Then as quickly as it had begun, the shower of droplets had stopped, as if some huge spigot was quickly turned off to interrupt its flow.
The H'rukai glared in the general direction of the human, shifting its head, and then clamored with anger as it pounced to Lantern's left, causing him to jump to his right, only to step into its extended tail that it swung around, clubbing him across his stomach, knocking the wind out of him, flipping him over its tail, falling to the ground. The creature quickly brought its tail up and powerfully launched it downward toward the fallen human. On his back, Lantern rolled onto his left side, as the tail slammed onto the wet earth, shaking the ground beneath him. The reptile propelled itself forward, its jaws snapping with engrossed fury, as it reached for the human's lower body. Lantern rolled to his right this time, avoiding the attack, and jumped to his feet, sword in hand.
The H'rukai jumped in front of him, swinging its clawed hands at Lantern's head. Lantern countered by bringing the sword up, obstructing the creature's claws with two side to side parries, followed by an outward thrust with the weapon, driving the creature back a step.
The H'rukai sidestepped forward with its left foot, and its tail suddenly swooped in from the right, attempting to strike Lantern from behind. Lantern quickly brought his armored hands up above his head, swinging the sword blade downward, preventing the tail from ever making contact with his back, the creature's tail nicked by the sharp blade. Then swung the sword in a high arc toward the creature's chest, thrusting the blade outward, again driving it backwards.
Crap!! It can see me!! Lantern realized.
The H'rukai again came forward, its teeth biting savagely at his face, missing within centimeters, as Lantern turned away to the right, which took him into the opposite direction. The creature turned to its left, and lashed forcefully upward with its right claw, catching Lantern's left shoulder from behind, slicing deeply into his armor, leaving a wide gap within it, and shearing the flesh just underneath it, sending Lantern grasping several meters into the air.
"AAARRRGGGG!!!!" Lantern screamed, slamming into the ground with a roll, landing back onto his feet. The pain was intense, as he weakly maintained his balance, assessing his position within the clearing.
The Talon soldiers stood in awe to what they were witnessing. No one ever fought an H'rukai alpha toe-to-toe and survived.
"I'm ending this…" a soldier scoffed rigidly, raising his weapon, taking aim at the H'rukai's head.
"NO!" Karos voiced quietly, placing a hand on the muzzle of the soldier's weapon, pushing it down gently.
"Why not, Karos? If I kill it, the ritual will be over, and the human would have failed!"
"No… in case you haven't noticed, the human saved our lives by the action he took…" Karos stated looking into the center of the field, watching the dark warrior fighting off the attack from the larger creature. "It was clear that the alpha was lying in wait for us."
"So…"
Karos turned, and stared his comrade in the eye. "So… you will not rob him of his honor…"
"He deserves his chance… to finish this…" Karos said, looking back at the human who was fighting for his life.
The H'rukai assaults became more intense, as it used its height and speed to ward off Lantern's counterattacks. The creature rushed in toward him, its claws grasping at him ferociously, tearing into the front of his armor. Lantern bent slightly backwards and to the right, to spin out of the reach of the sharp claws. Retaliating with a series of parries and thrusts, nicking the creature's arms on each swing of his sword.
The H'rukai then swung its right claw forcibly at the head of Green Lantern, the sound of its claw swooshed over his head as it missed. Lantern then lunged forward and drove the sword into the creature's right shoulder area once again, this time deeper into the monster's flesh. The creature swung its right arm back forcefully, catching Lantern across the face, sending his helmet flying backwards off his head, his body close behind. Lantern's sword still embedded into the chest area of the H'rukai, wrought it with so much pain that it looked to almost pass out from the injury. It instead roared its fury, pulling the bloodied sword from its wound, tossing the weapon aside.
Lantern landed awkwardly on his shoulder again, unsure if he could still move it. His vision blurred now, as it became difficult for him to make out the outline of the creature's body, as the sun peeked from behind the clouds once again. The H'rukai bounded toward his position, and Lantern turned, racing toward the back end of the clearing, toward the bushes that lined its edge.
His head throbbing violently, Lantern ran as fast as he could to reach the waiting bushes.
The H'rukai roared defiantly, extending its stride, as its prey came within reach of its open mouth, ready to satisfy its desire to kill this bothersome adversary. Anticipating the taste of the unusual creature's blood in its mouth, it didn't hesitate as its quarry dived into the bushes, where it did the same, the H'rukai refusing to let him escape again. As the creature hit the bushes, the foliage gave way to its weight, pushing forward with it, as it suddenly saw the ground beneath itself disappear. The H'rukai screeched in terror as it fell downward into the emptiness of air, gravity taking possession of its huge form.
Karos and the Talon soldiers raced across the open field, towards the wide gap at the back end of the clearing, realizing that the opening led to a cliff.
"What a stupid human… to trap himself like that…" one of the warriors chuckled sarcastically.
"Yes, he fought bravely, but he got careless at the end…" another ridiculed.
Reaching the edge of the cliff, expecting to see the lifeless bodies of the two combatants at the bottom, what they saw next made them gasp. There was a creaking noise to the left of the opening as they suddenly saw a pair of hands reaching slowly up, one at a time, on a thick vine tied to a stake that was deeply driven into the ground. Karos reached down, grabbed the hand, and pulled upward. Up came the body of the Green Lantern, bloodied, battered, bruised, and gasping for air.
Lantern knelt down to one knee, facing the ground, slowly getting his breath back, smiling faintly.
"… Uh… thanks…" he said to no one in particular.
The Thanagarians looked at him wide-eyed wondering how in the world did he survive such an ordeal. Karos looked at Lantern.
"You had this planned, my friend?"
"Yeah…I decided not to kill it…" Lantern said diligently. "It didn't deserve to die…"
The contingent of soldiers noticed a vine on the other side of the opening, and peered down to the right side to see that the vine had snared the creature around one its clawed feet, the H'rukai, motionless, hung suspended alongside the cliff, ten meters down.
Lantern looked up quizzically, "Did I complete this T'jinn Jakat?"
"Yes, Human… you did…" Karos smiled, giving the human newfound respect. "You did, indeed."