The beast lunged for them.
Rushing on all-fours, the immense monster barged into the group of men. The soldiers to Tomas’s side were thrown off their feet and flung backwards into the men behind them.
Smiling John went flying into one of the firepits, the campfire collapsing in a plume of smoke and embers. Flames engulfed the man.
He wailed before leaping to his feet and running to the snow to try extinguishing his agony.
Another soldier who Tomas did not know was thrown into the air, back into the fallen tree log and impaled through the pelvis on an outstretched broken branch where his limp body then hung.
Tomas heard the crack of broken ribs from the immense force, even over the screams of the men around him as they charged the creature.
The men encircled the towering beast, the tips of their swords and spears enveloping it. Tomas came up from behind with Rilan and Landry, all three jabbing the thick, ghostly hide as hard as they could.
The beast spun around like an enraged dog as it realised it was encircled, thrashing its long limbs, knocking the soldiers over, sending them hurtling away.
The bony spikes along its back rattled in a sickening symphony, like the crack of breaking wooden sticks.
The beast slashed at an attacking soldier, ripping his face off in one swift motion. The man fell to his knees, spitting up blood and torn bits of flesh. His face was nothing more than a dripping red chasm.
Tomas was hit by the beast’s hindleg and was flung hard into the snow, landing violently on his back. His body still ached after his fight with Ref and Styna, and the strike did little to help his pain.
Rilan and Landry, still on their feet, stepped back to avoid the violent lashing.
Everything around Tomas began to spin. His ears were ringing. Muffled screams and shuffling. Swords clashing.
A soldier charged, screaming at the top of his lungs. His sword went straight through the bottom of the beast’s monstrous hand.
Black blood flowed from the wound.
The monster did not hesitate to react. It grabbed the attacking soldier with its free clawed hand before biting down on his upper body and taking it off in one swift movement.
The soldier was torn in two. Bits of blood and dangling skin hung from the severed legs as a wave of blood splattered into the air before what was left of him fell like a deadweight.
An arrow flew through the air, striking the beast in its underbelly. It howled, glaring at Landry, bow in hand with another arrow already nocked. The squire fired again, the second arrow ricocheting off the thick hide.
These things were tough.
Tomas could only watch for a moment. His head was aching, his nose was bleeding, and everything was still a blur. He struggled to breath- his chest felt as though it weighed a tonne.
With Britus beside him, Gharland waited for an opportunity to strike, spears in hand.
It pounced on another soldier before ripping his arm clean out from the socket like it was nothing and tossing it away.
With the creature’s back turned to the Captain and the Lieutenant, the two men charged with their spears held out before them. The spears impaled deep into the beast’s back before they twisted the shafts.
It let out a chilling shriek.
Suddenly, the bone spikes on the creature’s rear vibrated before some of them fired out from the hide on its back, like bolts from crossbows.
Several of the smooth, white spikes hit Lieutenant Britus directly, skewering him through the front of his body and shooting out from his rear. One spike went straight through the man’s open mouth, shattering his teeth, and flying out the back of his head with a cascade of broken skull fragments and brain matter.
Britus’s eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed. Blood seeped from the three-inch-wide, jagged holes strewn across his body.
Captain Gharland took a spike to the collar bone which sent him falling, writhing in agony.
Tomas, still struggling to get to his feet, watched in terror at the scene unfolding.
The holes in the hide on the beast’s back where the spikes had launched from began to weep black blood before more bony white growths started pushing out from within, like weeds breaking through topsoil.
What the fuck is this thing?
Tomas rubbed the back of his head to attempt to quell the ache he suffered from his rough landing. He looked back at his hand- it was smeared with blood.
Tomas heard more shouting as the men once again charged to attack.
Landry grabbed the injured captain under the arms, pulling him away from the creature with the spike still embedded in his upper body.
Rilan came to help Tomas up from his fall. “You’re alright, you’re alright. Time to get up now, Tomas,” Rilan said, trying to reassure Tomas.
After getting Tomas to his feet, Rilan spotted Hemish lying in the snow. He ran over to his injured comrade without a second thought, pulling him away from the fight.
The beast flailed about chaotically and unpredictably as it was encircled.
Tomas heard a rumble from his rear. He turned, facing the trunk of the old fallen pine tree. He gasped as he saw huge, talon-like claws atop the trunk above him.
Another beast clambered up from behind the fallen tree. Tomas realised they had forgotten all about the second creature stalking them, as all their focus was on the one that had already attacked.
Fuck.
The hideous beast atop the trunk crouched, ready to launch itself.
Rilan, to Tomas’s side, was facing the first creature, unaware of the danger behind him.
The creature leapt from the trunk.
“Rilan!” Tomas turned to his friend and ran.
The beast crashed atop Rilan and the injured Hemish, sending snow and dirt cascading into the
