Chapter 20: Fighting the Herald


    Zac had slowly inched his way back toward the Herald. It was currently lying on a rock, and it was actually eating a Gwyllgi it had caught somewhere.


    All eight of its legs except the front pair were lying in the same side, exposing its back toward Zac. He was currently crouching behind a tree only five meters away from the huge barghest. He barely dared to breathe in fear of being exposed too early. He couldnt get any closer without entering an open area and gettingpletely exposed.


    Zacs heart was beating furiously, and his hands were nervously shaking. It was one thing to make ns and preparation, but apletely different thing to actually turn those ns into action. Now that he was this close it was as though he could sense a primal pressure emanating from the beast.


    He knew he couldnt wait any longer, as this was a golden opportunity. The beast was feeding and was distracted. If he kept waiting he would miss his chance, and also tire himself out by stressing and fretting.


    Zac soundlessly got to his feet and circted cosmic energy through his body. Wasting no time he pumped his leg full of energy, and shot toward the exposed Herald like a bullet. His hatchet fell with an empowered swing, striking down at the lower spine of the beast. He was hoping to use the same tactic as he had in the beginning of killer Vuls smaller brethren.


    The axe sunk into the back of the beast, but it felt like he had tried to chop through reinforced steel when he reached the bone of the spine. His n had failed, as it ended up as only a flesh wound. His right arm ached from the impact, but he quickly adapted and swung down and created a deep gash down along its side.


    He nned to strike its belly as well and hopefully damage some organs, but a thundering roar interrupted him. The Herald had finally reacted, and with a jerk pushed back with all its legs, forcing its whole body toward Zac.


    The monsters back mmed into Zac like a truck and he flew a few meters backwards, and he spit out a mouthful of blood.


    As he got up, so did the Herald. Suddenly they stood facing each other and a low growl emitted from the beasts mouth. Its wound was bleeding freely, but didnt seem that it had incapacitated it at all.


    Rage was burning in the beasts beady eyes, and it let out another tremendous roar that seemed to cause the very air to vibrate.


    Zac wasted no time, and immediately ran into the forest. He wanted to make use of theplicated terrain to keep therge lumbering beast at bay. He kept infusing his body with energy, not daring to let up. The sounds of loud thuds and branches breaking from behind proved that the herald was hot on his heels.


    Zac was dismayed to find out that the terrain didnt seem to impair Vul even through its huge size and stocky build. It was far more nimble than the barghest, even though it seemed even bulkier than its smaller brethren. Finally he tried to use another tried and true trick, and ran straight towards a thick maple. He could hear that the beast was ever closing in on him, and now only were a few meters away from him.


    This was a test of sorts against the herald, to see if it would fall for this simple trick. He had his doubts about it after observing it, and didnt want to blow his best shot for killing it. He therefore held off on running straight towards his pikes.


    He waited until thest minute until finally jumping to the side and dodged the tree. He turned around mid-air, hoping to take advantage of the beast knocking itself out.


    Unfortunately for Zac, a herald was appointed a leader for a reason. Zacs suspicions about the heralds superior intellect proved true as he saw the beasts reactions.


    Noticing the iing tree, the Herald stopped in his tracks with his front legs, while he sidestepped away from Zacs direction with the hind legs. Its front legs carved a deep groove for a few meters before it stopped, while it changed angle to point toward Zac. This resulted in the beast still moving towards the tree, but it instead mmed into it with its shoulders rather than its head.


    Due to the breaking the m seemed to enrage the beast further rather than hurt it. It hadnt lost much time from the m, and now Zac was in a precarious situation.


    The beast immediately jumped towards him, its huge jaws trying to rip him in two from his chest.


    Flustered Zac rolled on the ground down in between the beasts leg, hoping to gain ess to the more vulnerable belly. He knew now he needed to thoroughly enrage the beast so that it would blindly charge through the bushes and into his palisade. He was now in an awkward position in between the front legs, and could only rely on cosmic energy to generate force in his swings.


    He mmed the hatchet up into the torso of the beast a few times, hoping to puncture a lung. It was effective, as a stream of blood showered him, and the monster elicited a painful yelp. He only had time for a few swings though, as he suddenly was mmed on his left side by a kick. Zac flew away once again like a ragdoll, and this time he felt that he had broken at least a rib as breathing felt like getting stabbed.


    He could only grit is teeth and circte more cosmic energy to keep his injuries in check. He was already starting to run dangerously low, and fatigue was starting to set in.


    He kept running toward his trap, but still afraid to run into it. The beast was enraged, but it still hadnt lost its reasoningpletely, and Zac was afraid that it would notice the trap. Then he would be well and truly screwed.


    He needed at least one more effective assault.


    The Herald was soon upon him again, this time swiping with its front paw, hoping to catch Zac in its ws. Zac could only frantically dodge and jump out of the direction. He tried to get a swing in every now and then to hurt its legs, but itrgely proved ineffective. He had hit true a few times, but only some flesh wounds were created.


    Zac once more tried a riposte after dodging a swing, but this time arge head closed in with extreme speed. The Herald tried to chomp off his arm during his swing.


    Zac quickly retracted his arm, and it was almost toote. The maws closed a fraction of a second toote, allowing Zacs arm to disengage. His hatchet wasnt as lucky however, and the monster chomped down on the head. A crunch was heard and when Vul opened its maw again to try to take another bite the axe was released.


    The already worn axe was nowpletely deformed, and had essentially turned into a stick with scrap metal on top. The edge was gone and instead it more resembled a mace now with some random sharp edges.


    A me of rage ignited in Zacs eyes when he saw his trustypanion beingpletely ruined by the Herald, and hepletely forgot about safety. With a roar he stopped backing away, and instead forced most of his remaining cosmic energy into his right arm and legs. With a desperate lunge he jumped straight for the Herald, surprising it for a split second. That was all he needed as Zac plunged the Scrap weapon into the left eye of the beast.


    The demon forcefully jerked backward from the pain, for a second standing only on its back legs, reaching an impressive 3-4 meters in height. Pained yelps quickly transitioned into roars of zing fury, and Vul stomped down towards Zac, trying to tten him like a pancake.


    Zac had no time to care about his beloved hatchet being stuck in the eye of the monster, and started a mad dash away from the beast. He saw that the monster waspletely and utterly raving with anger and pain right now, so this was his chance.


    He focused thest of his energy in maximizing his speed as he dashed thest distance toward the trap. The Herald was hot in pursuit, not caring about anything anymore,pletely smashing through any smaller rocks or trees that was in its path.


    Finally he reached the bushes where the poles were hidden, and by now the huge beast was right in his heels. Zac could even feel the heat from it''s maw. Zac simply dove through the bushes headfirst, making sure to keep a height below that of the ced spears in order to not skewer himself.


    It was with great relief Zac could sense that the Herald thundered straight into the bushes right behind him, intending to simply rip through it.


    As Zded on the ground he felt a huge impact behind him which caused the ground to tremble.


    One of the trees had struck the Herald straight in its chest, entering at least a meter and impaling it where it stood.


    The beast shuddered and let out a miserable roar which echoed in the surroundings. Blood was flowing out of its mouth like a waterfall, drenching both Zac and the surroundings. It immediately started wildly thrashing around, unheeding of its wounds. The contraption couldnt take the weight and almost immediately copsed.


    Even if it was almost blinded and bleeding out, the Herald wouldnt go quietly, as it incessantly wailed and thrashed about. One of the swings hit Zac square on his left arm, punching him down in the ground before he could get out of the way. A loud crack could be heard, and Zac almost passed out from the pain.


    It followed up with a few frantic swipes with its ws, which rent long gashes all along his back while he helplesslyy on his stomach beneath the impaled beast.


    Luckily for Zac the thrashing didnt continue for too long, as a huge amount of cosmic energy entered him. Some helped replenish a small part of his severely depleted reserves, while most worked toward leveling him up.


    The surroundings felt extremely quiet after the sounds of battle had subsided. Hey panting on the ground, and couldnt help smile with bloodied teeth. Hed done it.


    But just as Zac felt ted over his victory, a responding roar echoed in the distance. And then another, and suddenly the forest was filled with a cacophony of bestial roars.


    Backup wasing.