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Chapter 5
Ronon managed to kill a few of the creatures when they first attacked. Ingrained survival instincts kicked in, as well as a burning desire to destroy the things that hunted him. It was a mindset he'd formed while living for years as a runner, and one he was unlikely to break. Therefore, Ronon followed the rest of the creatures when they retreated and dispersed into the surrounding forest. He ran at top speed, chasing them and firing his blaster while knowing that, despite his best efforts, he was losing ground.
Their large size notwithstanding, the creatures were swift-moving with an almost preternatural ability to move their bodies in ways that made them faster and more lethal than anything Ronon had ever encountered. He soon lost them within the trees and was left to track them as best as he could through the forest and all its hidden dangers.
Ronon followed a fresh trail when a huge armoured beast almost took him down. It had six stubby legs and two, very sharp, three-foot-long horns. Ronon pulled himself into a tree seconds before it gored him. He waited in the branches for the enraged animal to cool down and wander off.
When he finally caught up with one of the creatures, he discovered it was injured. Its pelt was riddled with holes from P90 bullets and it was losing vast amounts of black blood. The beast screeched between intermittent pauses and deep, guttural utterances that Ronon took to be words. It was so alien and different that it lacked the ability to communicate in any meaningful way. Ronon's failure to understand its incomprehensible language only enraged the wounded creature. It reared up to its full height, all eleven feet of it, and towered above him threateningly. The fur on its body stood on end, further enlarging its already impressive size. It attacked Ronon viciously, carving deep rents in the flesh of his chest and stomach with its sharp, elongated claws. Three rounds from his blaster soon dispatched the dying creature.
Ronon hissed as he raised his shirt to inspect his wounds. None were life-threatening, but they hurt like hell. He struggled with trembling hands to tape the wounds closed, growling as he pinched the edges together. He allowed himself a few minutes to breathe through the pain then set off again.
He found the next within minutes, wandering aimlessly through the trees. It was less alert than the last and unaware of his approach. Even when he stealthily passed to stand some yards before it, the creature took no notice. Then, with sudden, blinding speed and a bizarre twisting movement, the beast careened towards him with gnashing teeth and slashing claws. The mass of movement and fur continued to throw itself at him, yet Ronon saw no real awareness in its unfocused eyes. He blasted it fully in the face and staggered back from the corpse, drenched in blood and ichor.
He tracked a third creature that went in a different direction than the others. It headed easterly, and Ronon followed it with the hope it might lead him to the rest of its kind. He stopped behind a tree and watched it closely. It was thin, so much so that its skin hung loosely from its bones as if the slabs of muscles beneath had deflated. It shuffled along, slow and weak and wearing the same vacant expression as the second.
In his ear, Ronon heard Rodney activate the com with an emergency call. He didn't reply, afraid that any movement or sound might trigger the same violent response in the creature as the others had displayed. He tried to ignore McKay, but the man was unusually frantic. Ronon clicked the com three times to let him know he could hear him.
The beast stopped moving, raised its head and smelled the air. Ronon froze and held his breath until the creature restarted its haphazard journey once more. He ventured cautiously from behind the tree and followed it for some time.
It stopped and slowly turned to face Ronon, seemed to sense more than see him as it opened its mouth to growl. All that left its throat was a rasping sigh. The creature shook violently and its wasted limbs trembled when it raised them to attack. Ronon saw no threat in the sickly beast and considered ending its misery.
In his ear, Rodney informed him that he and John were heading to Lake Parnak, and Ronon clicked his acknowledgment through the com.
The creature tensed, its claws extending further from its pads and Ronon quickly raised his blaster. The weakness of the beast was misleading and in a frantic mass of speedy, erratic movement, it launched itself towards him. Slashing and biting, the creature gave Ronon the fight of his life. Its attack was relentless even though it wheezed and panted and trembled. Ronon's blaster was knocked from his hand as the creature wrestled him to the ground. He desperately fought to keep the claws and gnashing teeth from contacting with his body.
The weight of the beast pinned him to the ground, making Ronon wonder how heavy a healthy one of these creatures might be. With both hands on the beast's sagging jowls, Ronon stopped it from chewing his head off as its massive teeth snapped shut mere millimeters from his face. He grunted with exertion as it pressed down on him, the enamel of its long incisors rubbing against his skin as it hungrily breathed in his scent. He saw something moving beneath its fur and then Ronon's body was ablaze with pain and he cried out. He shuddered uncontrollably beneath the bulk of the beast. Electricity arced between them rendering him little more than a jittering mound of misery.
The beast hesitated, wheezing and gasping as if it was about to collapse. Then it pulled back, opened its jaws, and went for the kill.
The moment of hesitation allowed Ronon some recovery, giving him the strength to force his trembling body to move. He grabbed the massive head and pushed it away from him. He tried to get a good enough grip to wrench it to the side and maybe snap its neck, but the beast pulled back suddenly, raised one huge paw and slammed it into Ronon's right arm.
He roared with pain as the bones of his forearm shattered beneath the powerful impact. One claw punctured right through his flesh and for a few seconds, they were both anchored to the ground. The beast wrenched its claw free of the earth, swung its arm back round so fast it slammed into the side of Ronon's head. His eyes watered and vision dimmed as stars ignited and exploded in his mind.
The creature reared up to throw another blow and Ronon's feet churned earth and vegetation as he scrambled away. The blow struck the root of a tree and shattered it to pieces. With increasing sluggishness, Ronon raised his uninjured arm and grabbed for the slender knives hidden in his hair. When his fingers folded over one, he threw the knife with such precision that it punctured one of the creature's eyes. It bellowed with pain, paws rising to its face and Ronon took the moment of distraction to attempt escape. But he was disoriented and dazed and could feel himself losing consciousness even though he fought against the growing darkness.
He knew death would be all but inevitable if the beast attacked again, and attack it did.
It bounded towards him, mouth gaping, claws fully extended and long arms reaching for him. Ronon stumbled backward. His foot caught on a rock and as he fell he was sure this was the end.
A crashing sound came from above, as a dark object fell speedily and collided with the beast. Surprised and grateful, Ronon watched as a massive, dark insect wrestled with the braying creature.
The insect was fat and slimy, with a giant pincered mouth that snapped viciously at the creature's neck. The beast yelped as the pinchers grabbed it by the throat and it struggled to free itself. Electricity arced between the combatants, each jolt weaker than the last. The insect was left unharmed and slowly closed its pincers around the beast's windpipe, crushing it.
Ronon winced at the sound of crunching bones and saw the beast's head drop down, its body instantly sagged to the ground, long arms dropping by its sides, the lethal claws withdrawing slightly into the massive paws. The frightening insect scrambled atop it and began to enjoy its meal.
Ronon's lungs heaved in gulps of air as he pulled his broken arm to a less painful position across his stomach. He'd been lucky, and he knew it. Never before had he come up against such a creature. So dynamic and unpredictable, he was sure a healthier specimen would have long bested him. The sight and sounds of the beast being eaten told him he should get up and run, but the blow incurred minutes before made running all but impossible.
Ronon somehow managed to his feet and staggered forward in search of a safer place to collapse. He spied his blaster by a rocky outcropping, picked it up and took three attempts to get it in the holster. Ronon looked at the outcropping and decided it was a good enough shelter to keep him safe for a while.
He dropped to the ground with a thud and a groan and rolled himself under the rock, where he surrendered to the darkness.
To be continued... Cookies...