The Minecraft Story: The Beginning: Chapter 24
The ride took about fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes of pure terror, gliding through the trees. Nobody spoke to each other the entire ride, they were all engulfed by their own thoughts. After everything they'd seen, they believed nothing could surprise them. Nothing they'd seen had ever roared before, not the mobs and not the pigmen. All Marcus could wonder was what abomination waited for them now. He already believed it would be bad, but as they got closer, the screams of their comrades became ever more prevalent.
The sounds of trees being smashed, knights being killed, and almost constant roaring were becoming louder as they continued to ride as fast as they could. Marcus could only hope that Xavier Squad wasn't far and could provide some backup to whatever this new unholy monster was.
"It got Gregor!" They heard one knight scream as they got even closer.
"Don't get close!" Another knight screamed.
"Retreat! Everyone Retreat!" This made Franz halt the squad. Soon, the leaves and bushes ahead of them started shaking. The sounds of horses panicking came charging at them.
"Franz Squad is at your front!" Franz tried to yell to warn the coming knights. Luckily, he yelled just in time for four members of Connor Squad to evade the still knights.
The leader of Connor Squad immediately yelled, "Don't engage, it's already wiped out Herman Squad! Retreat back to the fort!" And just like that, the four knights ran away on their horses towards the fort. Marcus could see Franz considering riding to the monster as they could still hear screams coming from that direction. But then, whatever beast that could only be about twenty blocks away gave another deafening roar. The squad had to cover their ears. Marcus tried to figure out where the beast was, but the trees were too thick, he couldn't see anything, but he could feel the beast's footsteps from under him. It was coming their way.
"Franz Squad retreat! Get the hell out of here!" Franz commanded, he could also feel the beast running in their direction. They quickly turned their horses and ran. They were running even faster than they were before. The thunderous stomping of the beast could be felt from beneath them, and heard behind them. However, they still couldn't see past the trees. The trees gave a level of despair at the lack of visibility, but also comfort as they heard the beast slamming into them. Whatever it was, it was too big to be around the trees, so it was smashing through them and slowing it down just enough.
It wasn't long until they were riding past Zamafar. And even shorter until they were back at the battlegrounds with the pigmen. Marcus had to jump over a pile of dead knights and pigmen to keep pace with the others. Luckily, they had been provided with some of the most well trained and fastest horses in the army.
It wouldn't take much longer before they could see the end of the treelines. The beast sounded like it was further behind them than it was before. The trees had really helped slow it down, but that was luxury they soon wouldn't have anymore. Bursting through the trees, the afternoon Sun temporarily blinded them. When their eyesight came back, the beautiful long stretching fields of grass and flowers was almost calming. The clashing environment with the impending beast behind them gave Marcus a sense of whiplash. This field of flowers was mostly barren of trees, especially compared to the forest behind them. It acted as a natural border between the Holy Notch Empire and the Southern Territories. They were back on holy land. But this holy land was about to be spoiled yet again. Behind them, Marcus saw a lone rider escape the trees. Judging by his armor, he was a member of the Holy Golden Knights. He couldn't remember the knight himself and therefore didn't know what squad he was from. But it didn't matter.
Behind him, the trees came crashing down with a mighty thud. The lone rider dared not to look back, but Marcus could see the terror on his face. It was out of the trees, and they could finally see it. It's large, muscular body. The arms and legs resembled mossy tree trunks and its barrel-like chest gave it the impression that it could lift all of them and throw them with ease. Everything else on its body was so large, Marcus almost didn't notice the tiny head on top. The head appeared to be the size of a normal human head, although the beast itself easily stood at twelve blocks high. It appeared to be wearing a giant ripped blue shirt with purplish ripped shorts. But the most defining feature was the green, puke like skin. It appeared to be a giant, mutant zombie; and it was gaining on the lone rider. Marcus yelled for the rider to speed up, but he could only look back for a second before the mutant zombie kicked him and his horse about fifty blocks into the air.