17 Utter End

"Don't let your guard down; the enemy is still nearby!" Alerted one of the warriors.

Glen-gohr, after launching a preemptive attack on its pursuers, disappeared again into the shadows. The monster's nest, where the deadly combat was taking place, was indeed not an ideal site to engage the vicious foe; rather, it was way worse than the Governor's palace they had fought in earlier. Large in both width and height, but much dark inside, The place were just full of too many hiding spots the monster could easily take advantage of. Though the barbarians were all wearing their night-visions, still these alone could not solve the problems to their roots. They definitely needed to do something, and fast, about this pitch-black darkness that sheltered the beast.

"Do not recklessly wander off. Cover each others' back, and stand with your brothers and sisters." Aelthred cautioned his warriors.

So did the fighters stay together as one, leaving one another's dead six to his or her comrades. With their eyes peeled and sensors active, they were on the lookout for any sign of Glen-gohr, their arch-enemy. They aimed the weapons in every directions possible, seeking to lay their eyes on the target. With his heirloom sword broken, Aelthred took out an ancient war-gear that he borrowed from one of his battle-brothers. It was a tech-sword, its blade around 50 inches long and thick in its width, with a flamethrower mounted on its back. The warrior had gladly entrusted the Prince with his precious heirloom, for he, too, had been there to witness his master ripping off the monster's arm with bare hands. With everyone's expectations placed on him, Aelthred could not possibly let his foe slip away; it must die in his hands, right here and right now.

Soon enough, Glen-gohr lunged at the hunters' right flank. It aimed to pick off, at least, one among their ranks with its talon, but it failed; the skillful enemy managed to parry its attack. Restlessly continuing the assault, the wounded beast rushed onto the warriors from behind. While doing so, the cunning monster sent out a multitude of holograms so as to blur the enemies' sight. Glen-gohr, this time, was able to grab one of the enemies in its left hand. It then smashed the victim's body onto the solid ground, without giving him any moment to scream nor moan in pain. Still, this act alone could not grant the beast a higher ground; the enemies' spirit seemed yet far from being broken.

Now seeing that there had been made some distance between them and the foe, Aelthred shortly ordered the warriors to fire their weapons. The Prince instructed them to adjust their night-visions, and soon activated his flamethrower in order to give them a clearer vision on their target. A volley of lasers and plasma, while letting out their screeching sounds, fell upon Glen-gohr all at once. It tried to cover itself from enemy firepower. However, most of the shots still managed to score a hit on the body, dealing considerable damage to it. Now the monster's flesh was oozing everywhere with blood, tar-like smudge and even yellowish pus. For each plasma shot landed on its bare skin, it shrieked and squealed helplessly like an animal in utmost pain.

Nevertheless, this did not mean its utter defeat just yet. Out of an excruciating agony, all other miscellaneous thoughts and emotions were washed out from its mind. Instead, there now left only extreme anger, fury, hatred, and its killer instinct within. Mustering all its remaining strength, Glen-gohr first wound up its bloated left arm around it, and, while providing itself some cover by doing so, soon charged onto the enemies ahead. Alas, woe to the valiant warriors, for even their fierce firestorm of laser and plasma failed to hold back the furious monster!

Glen-gohr then whirled its clawed arm with all the might it could harness. Two of the warriors, up in the front, were hit and flew away. One, unfortunately, crashed right into the ceiling, and her life signal shortly went off as well. The other victim fell onto the ground from above. He too, due to his severe injuries, died soon after. Now reaching the backside of its opponents, Glen-gohr leaped, and swung its huge fist onto the enemy standing alone there. With a terrible crunching sound, his body was completely destroyed, and his soul left the earth to reach the heavenly realms of 3-Divines. In the wake of havoc it had wrought so far, the monster retreated to the shadows. Despite suffering such casualties, regardless of such tragic fall of their beloved siblings-in-arms, the rest did not lose their spirit even still. They stood firm on their feet, weapons ready, while holding their ground against the vicious enemy.

Nevertheless, Aelthred could not afford to lose his warriors any further. He, at this point, needed some other way to effectively deal with the monster; merely holding onto the positions and letting it take a lead on the entire battle were not among their viable options any longer. He and his warriors should instead make the beast play by their tunes. Yet, in the darkness, they could hardly even locate the enemy-unless it would show itself while seeking to prey upon them, let alone taking an initiative to attack it first. The noble prince, along with his band of tech-warriors, ought to get a clear visual of his foe should he ever wish to achieve ultimate victory against it.

"To all able brothers and sisters; send me its exact location as soon as you get to lay your eyes on the target." Aelthred ordered his people.

Still, even if he somehow managed to know the beast's current whereabouts, after that, there would be no telling when he shall be granted yet another chance to get its visual again; thus, the whole situation wouldn't get any better if this ever persisted. In his mind, he desperately sought the wisdom of his venerable ancestors. Reminding of the teachings and lessons he had been given so far, he tried hard, though silently, to come up with any idea that would help win the battle. He thought, he endeavored, and he prayed, solely on a purpose of acquiring the way to end Glen-gohr's life forevermore. Then, he looked at the flamethrower attached to his war-gear.

The Prince, soon after, signaled his warriors to fan out away from him. The men and women in arms obeyed him immediately without question. Now, Aelthred was practically left alone amidst the darkness. Moreover, he even lit his flamethrower so as to let the enemy know his position. This, he was sure, was not any kind of worthless strategies nor the act out of his arrogance; rather, he was now in possession of a valuable, fatal wisdom that would certainly bring the foe down. After all these done, he then boasted to Glen-gohr, confident in his sure victory.

"Listen well, O' ye disgusting brute made out of both evil and filth, for these are the words that shall mock thee and thy fathers, prophesy the destined doom of thine, and condemn thy soul to eternal torment awaiting thee! Thou truly art the weakest adversary, full of cowardice, I hath ever seen in my life, for thy shamefully hid thyself in the dark, slipping away from the agony of flesh that is rightly due to any participant in honorable battle. Thou art the weak that could not possibly bear thy own pain. Thou art the unworthy coward that ran away from thy challenger. Now, I dare thee to come out and face me like a legit warrior, unless thou want thy even slightest honor buried deep into this very ground!"

Glen-gohr heard this clearly enough. if this had been just a meaningless bragging of some fool, and if the monster still had its cold reason and sanity, it would never fall on such childish trickery of his, other than feeling quite irritated. Yet however, the beast had long lost its mind; its deadly opponent knew this well already. Within its soul, there sprang uncontrollable fury, utmost hostility, hatred, and, most of all, irresistible urges to rip and consume his flesh. Glen-gohr roared in frenzy. It could no longer contain itself within the darkness; the insane beast soon charged onto the Prince, who was seemingly out there alone. Aelthred, as a seasoned, well-collected warrior, was able to read out all its moves even from the beginning. He evaded the attack with ease, and soon got the dead six of his foe. There, he quickly turned on his flamethrower, one of its gas tanks full of sticky napalm, and set its entire body ablaze.

Starting from its back, every single part of the monster's flash was on fire. Glen-gohr instinctively rolled on the ground so as to put out the fire, but it failed. Here, alas, napalm surely proved to be a bane to any kind of living beings with flesh and blood. Through its wounds split open, the fire was scorching even the inside of its thick skin. All these brought intolerable pain upon it, with its body being slowly destroyed by baneful flame it was engulfed in as whole. Moreover, the fire not only wrought the utmost agony upon its victim, but it also brightly revealed the monster out from the shadows. Now, the warriors could finally draw their lines of sight on the target.

"Brothers and sisters, now is your chance; take off your night-visions and engage the enemy all at once!" Shouted Aelthred.

Soon, Glen-gohr was completely surrounded by its enemies. They made countless swings and thrusts of their war-gears upon it, each delivering deadly blow to the beast. Though its whole body was still on fire, this did not hinder their vengeful assault at all. Despite the searing heat, Aelthred and his warriors relentlessly pressed on their attack, for they all knew that now was their moment to finish off the enemy. Some warriors were violently thrusting their tech-swords at both of its thighs. A few others were, rather, aiming the upper body to cleave it with their tech-axes. Even though the monster was severely bleeding, the flame engulfing it soon burned every single drop of blood spurting out of its veins.

Aelthred, to put Glen-gohr out of misery and end its life, jumped onto the monster and positioned himself on top of its head. He could withstand the terrible heat and flame up there, so long as he could finish off the hunt by enduring them. With all his strength, he thrust the blade right into its mouth. Moving the sword from the left to his right, he then cut off its cheek and the muscles there alike. After this, Aelthred threw his war-gear away, and held the upper part of its head with both hands. Then, he lifted it up, with an aid of his exo-skeleton, so as to tear it apart as whole, while resisting at the same time the beast's effort to shut its mouth. Glen-gohr tried to raise its hand, but the warriors on the ground soon held it back. The moment of victory was near, for the beast's head was on the verge of being ripped apart in two. The struggle of both sides went on; it was the matter of life or death to everyone on the scene.

The sunlight shone on the warriors, as they stepped into open ground outside the cave. They were all covered with blood and bruises. Yet, however, they all wore appearances of the glorified victors. They set their feet on the land in very manners of the triumphant. Each with a sense of honor, they looked straight upon the horizon and continued on their path. Among them, a leader of the pack was walking up in front and center. Within his grasp, a trophy, with burns and hideous wounds on it, was held proudly and tight. Both of its eyes were already gone lifeless. Blood, mixed with marrow, was dripping along the way as the champion walked toward the sun ahead of him. In spite of missing its jaws and chins, it was still recognizable to anybody who would dare look into its face. The head was Glen-gohr's, and the man holding it was Prince Aelthred.