The straps holding the enormous green and brown sword broke, as Mike too hastily withdrew the blade. Kyle, who was using a smaller blade as well as a shield, had a similar problem. Neither hunter was worried about the financial outcomes of their haste at the moment. This was due to the fact that a large wyvern the size of a mountain was only meters away from their post on a now-fragile-feeling rock wall.
"You think out blades will do anything to it." asked Kyle, who really didn't want the truth.
"The guild wouldn't have put us here if not." Mike lied. He knew he and his apprentice were just an elaborate diversion to prolong the attack on the main gate. He was told that some "unusual" hunters were posted there, and were to prepare the defenses for the monster to arrive. This seemed like a good plan to Mike, minus the fact it meant that the beast would make it to the gate.
The monster approached, but he took time to nip and ram any scrambling hunters or scaffolds that were in his way. Frantic hunters tried to scurry up the ladder to Mike's position. Kyle rushed to their need, putting out his hand. The hunters were both gunners, and attempted to climb from harm single-file. The upper hunter grabbed the young apprentice's outstretched arm, as the supports for the ladder snapped below him. His companion fell, an easily survivable distance. The hunter recovered, and peered up hopelessly at the three on the top of the wall. He noticed a look of fear pass their faces, as they looked straight above him. He turned to try and see the cause of the fear. He instantly regretted the move, for he found himself only a meter from the monstrous Lao Shan Lung's snout.
The hunter felt alone, as if the battle around him didn't exist. He just stared into the giant evil yellow eyes, shielded by huge red plates. From the beast's nostrils came a blast of warm air, almost throwing the stunned hunter of balance. The imaginary silence seemed to gradually crescendo into the roar of bowgun fire and pained screams. The two stood facing each other, until the the monstrous jaws opened and lurched forward, instantly impaling the unfortunate hunter upon his fangs. Lao Shan Lung then tossed his head around a bit, as if to try and get the meal off his teeth and into his throat.
The luckier gunner's shock was replaced with rage, and he quickly snapped out of his daze. He pulled out his gun, which mike judged to be an arbalest, and began unloading various ammunitions into the beast's skull. The monster didn't even flinch. Instead he began angling his approach more toward the enraged gunner, who just happened to be standing next to young Kyle. Mike noticed this, but it seemed to late. He was sure that he wouldn't make it to the other end of the wall in time, but he knew he had to try.
Kyle's blade was prepared for a strike. He just hoped the monster would come a few inches closer, and then meet the pain of his sword.
"Move!" yelled Mike, who hoped his warning wasn't too late.
Kyle couldn't quite make out the words due to the noise, but Mike was gesturing violently. He turned around to see the gunner still at his firing, and the monster's head reared back. The gunner didn't seem to care about the unusal stance of the beast. The head then starting rushing forward, staying low to the ground. Mike made his move. He was the same distance from Kyle now as the beast, so he made a daring dive. Kyle felt a intense, painful thud in his side, and then his head, as he hit stone, and lay staring up into the fog. He rose and noticed that the wall where he was standing, and the gunner standing with him, was no-more. Instead there was a rocky, and blood smeared gap. He looked next to himself, and noticed a recovering Mike, whose leg happened to be under a rather large piece of debris. The other leg was bent into an unnatural position, and his once silver armor was splotched with red.
"You okay?" asked Mike.
"Am I okay? Look at you!" gasped Kyle. After he'd realized the danger he avoided, he added."Why'd you do that?"
"Your my responsibility, Kyle."
Kyle attempted to respond, but couldn't overcome his sorrow. Instead, tears started streaming from his eyes.
"Quit crying! This is something you'll have to get used to." commanded Mike."Besides, I'm gonna live."
Kyle looked in the direction Mike was now facing, as two scurrying felyne were trying to figure out a good method to cross the gap, which now was filled with the head of the slow moving giant.
"They'll be here, don't worry. Just get back to doing your job." replied Mike, in answer to the question Kyle was about to ask.
Kyle, who was like Mike in the fact he didn't like to question authority, obeyed, and leaped down from the wall, to the side that the monster was facing. He sprinted as fast as possible, even though he was sure the beast was taking his time. About half way to the second stone wall, Kyle entered a door-sized hole in the canyon wall. He followed a tunnel until he reached a dimly lit room, complete with beds and various useful weaponry. Kyle reached over a sleeping(at least Kyle hoped) soldier, and went for a large blue box. Inside the box were numerous small barrels with fuses. Kyle grabbed a few, then went for two large barrels full of gunpowder that were next to the box.
Kyle struggled to get the barrels over the prostrate soldier, but eventually succeeded. The rest of the way to the battle was a downhill slope through the tunnel, so Kyle tipped the barrels and let them roll. He chased after them, barely able to keep up. Eventually the dim light from outside started shining through, and Kyle knew he was almost outside, and it appeared he had beaten Lao Shan Lung. His victory didn't last long, as the dim light stopped, and Kyle almost stumbled into a wall due to a thunderous thud. It didn't take long to realize the monster had beaten him to the tunnel entrance. His original plan to place bombs on top of the cliff and cave in the canyon was obviously doomed now, but Kyle quickly devised another clever strategy.
Haman did his best to look calm in front of his troops, but the monster had already destroyed three walls, and was now approaching the fourth. The only thing that made this worse, was that the only accessable exit within a few kilometers was only a few meters away from the thick front-right leg of the beast. Haman barked mostly ignored orders to his legion of gunners to stay steady. Understandable so, they were a bit anxious, and most of their shots were direct hits at the ground.
One of the gunners, who was no more calm than the others, managed to land a lucky hit on the front-left knee. The knee was already bruised, and the armor somewhat shattered by some skillful blows from Haman's hammer. The gunners piercing ammo easily made it to bone, and the monster bellowed as he stopped himself from falling.
The short-lived glimpse of hope died, as the monster started to recover almost instantly. However, his recovery was interrupted by a soft rumbling sound, audible only to the giant. The confusion was made clear to all, as two large wooden cylinders barreled their way out of the cave-like entrance. The large kegs tumbled into the nearest leg, and wobbled to a stop. The calamity and chaos of the battle stopped, as every soul payed a puzzled look to the two large barrels. Most confused was the monster himself, who was still slightly bent at his left knee.
The silence was interrupted by soft echoing hiss. The subtle sound became less abstract, as it grew louder, and obviously closer. After all traces of the echo were gone, and the only sound remaining was that of a crackling fuse, a much smaller barrel made its way out of the entrance.
Haman glared, as the sparking barrel was followed by a young boy, frantically running from the mess that he was about to create. The monster, who was shocked at the young one's boldness, prepared to attack. Kyle payed no mind, convinced that his little ploy was more deadly than the great Lao Shan Lung. Fortunately, this payed off, as the monsters oncoming attack was shattered by a deafening boom. Kyle was forced to the ground, but he instinctively turned on his back to notice the beast lurching backward on its hind legs.
The monstrous mountain gave a tortured roar, as it came back down, its legs too weak to catch his girth. The beast lay flat, twitching as it attempted to regain its position. This was made difficult, as newly brave blademasters seized their opportunity, and gunners put the extra time into making and loading their best munitions. The blades went for the gut, to avoid being devoured by the still snapping jaws, which the impressive ammo of the gunners were being lodged into.
A thunderous crack was heard, as the gigantic horn of the humbled monster fell from its root on the beast's snout. Pain and adrenaline shot through every muscle of his body, and the beast felt itself instinctively jerk up. The now terrified blademasters ran for their lives as the monster began to regain its position.
Kyle's spirits instantly fell. The monster was now approaching the last wall before the fortress, and it seemed he was uncontainable. Lao Shan Lung approached the boy, the only thing standing between him and the wall. Kyle knew he had no chance, but he couldn't sacrifice his city to save himself, so he prepared for his last fight and hoped that lady luck would step in.
Kyle's stare-down was stopped, as he noticed some small debris falling around him. As the monster stepped again, Kyle looked up to see a large boulder, part of an abandoned trap, slip from its position and begin falling straight toward him. The adrenaline of what Kyle thought was his last few seconds made it seem like minutes. The boulder, and the monster's teeth were both only a meter away from the stunned boy's skull, as a lighting fast hammer-head collided with the rock, shattering it. Before following-through, the head also collided with the humongous nose of the monster, making him flinch a little.
Kyle, now not on his adrenaline high, looked around confused. He saw Lao Shan Lung attempt to sneeze out the blood now obstructing his breathing, and a large man in knight-like armor trying to dig his massive hammer out of the crater it created. Kyle noticed the monster recover from its nasal pain, and he tried to grab Haman, who was still trying to grab his hammer.
"Master Haman has stated that all soldiers retreat to behind the fort, and that you especially are taken to safety!" said a small voice, matching a pair of small felyne hands that almost tripped Kyle as he tried to rescue his commander. This was the only time in Kyle's life that he ever considered questioning authority. He felt that he should save this man that risked his life to save him, even though to Kyle the man seemed insane. However, a consideration was all it was, as Kyle, the felyne, and many others turned and ran for the exit.
Kyle noticed that some unfortunate soldiers were launched out of the canyon by the cedar-like tail of the beast as the attempted to flee. Kyle tried to focus on the exit, and not the disaster that once was supposed to be a battle. Upon reaching the mouth of the cave-like entrance, he heard the familiar sound of collapsing supports and exploding rock. Kyle couldn't resist a quick turn of his head, but he wished he could have. He noticed that Lao Shan Lung was making his way through yet another gash in a too-fragile stone wall, and that the last chance for the survival of the citizens was about to be tested, prepared or not. But what troubled him the most was that he didn't see Haman. All he saw was a hammer-head, which was lodged into the dirt, and was snapped at the handle, and what appeared to be the remains of a fiercesome knight-like helmet.
"How are those ballistas coming along?!" shouted May from inside the storage room atop the fortress.
Katamar, who had volunteered to venture all the way to the bottom of the amazingly huge gate to retrieve a crucial piece that a felyne worker had dropped, reached down and grabbed a piece of metal and wood and then looked up. "Now that I got this, I think we can get these things working." he said, and then began the exhausting ladder climb to the top.
May nodded, then surveyed her team. They all seemed rather upset, with the exception of Katamar, who looked almost glad, but in a sick sort of way that made her stomach crawl. Wolfbait was himself. He wobbled atop the fort, carrying a hefty cannonball, but not daring to show the slightest emotion with his face. May could only tell he was ticked by the jerkiness of his movements. Warren understandably tried to avoid Wolfbait, and opted to work on constructing the ballistas.
As May was rationing the powder for the newly-installed cannons, she heard the worst possible noise. From the distance, she could hear a loud horn, signaling that the beast was approaching, and worse, that the others had met defeat. Katamar heard this too, and he struggled to climb to the top. Only three rungs away from the top, he looked up. To his delight, Wolfbait was kneeling, hand extended. Katamar grabbed it gladly, and shortly after the whole world seemed to shake. After recovering, Katamar and the others stared west, facing the thick fog that hid the mouth of the narrow rocky pass.
The earth shook again. The hunters still saw nothing. Another shake. Nothing. Then, at the peak of the next earth-shaking rumble, the hunters noticed the slightest off coloration in the fog. Although the threat was still unrecognizable, its scales tinted the fog red for what seemed to the gasping hunters miles.
The monster moved again, and so did the earth. The four looked at each other. Any doubt, dislike, or distrust was cast aside, as all of them realized that what they were against was the single most dangerous threat to all of humanity. The tides of the extermination-like war had changed in only a few hours, and all four knew that this would be the last an decisive battle...