No Trespassing [3]

Kito rushed into the clearing under the copse of trees. He had been following his Pit senses but without Galt to point out the fake trails he got turned around. When he stumbled around the copse he froze. On the ground lied the desiccated corpse of Galt. He stumbled over to Galt and knelt to pick up his body.

"You were a capable tracker and had a quick wit. You fought well in life. May you return to the clutch to fight and survive. May you return as a greater warrior than before."

As Kito said the last rites, he heard a gravelly deep voice behind him, "There's no point. He has become forsaken by the clutch now." Kito spun furiously about to reprimand the Ipili behind him but froze and tilted his head up.

The Captain had arrived. Standing head and shoulders over Kito, his bulging muscles creaked as he unslung a massive bow from across his shoulders. "The Huli is desperate, she consumed his gene core. He is destined to never survive the clutch."

She did what!? Stunned, Kito turned around searching for a source of brown light on the ground near Galt's body, but to his horror he didn't see one. "The Huli. She… she went so far?" muttered Kito in horror.

"Disgracing an enemy eternally for a fleeting chance at life. In this world, it is appropriate." Said the Captain. "I would do the same if I were in her place."

Kito ground his fangs in anger. If he hadn't been tricked, he might have been here to save Galt. He looked at his Captain who had his bow unslung and spoke fervently "Captain Baofa, she is going to get away if we do not hurry, but I am not skilled enough to track her without Galt. I fear we have lost her."

Baofa looked through the vegetation around him with his eyes glowing red. "No, I think we shall end this chase here."

Kito looked at his captain confused, only to see the captain's tail shoot up beside him. The captain's tail didn't end in a normal tip like his. Instead it had a vicious pointed spike that made a clack sound softly as it raised up.

The captain's gene skill made his tail into a terrifyingly strong spear, but that wasn't why he made his way up the ranks.

Crack! Snap!

Captain Baofa broke off the end of his tail without even flinching. He already paid a heavy price to interrupt his current duties and follow his men out here, and now he had lost one of his most skilled trackers. It was time to put an end to this. Baofa strung the bow with the tail, which seemed more like a ballista bolt than an arrow.

Baofa's muscles rippled in the night, making sounds like belted steel being strung together. The bulging shoulder, biceps, and triceps didn't shake one bit as he leveled his bow and pulled it into a crescent so tight the tips nearly touched.

The moonlight shone on his scaled face, the area around his eyes was completely smooth. His two hands also didn't have a single scale. He probably had unlocked nearly 35% of his ancestral bloodline, with only 65% blocked by the Fera genes.

Baofa's eyes continued to glow red as he kept looking ahead. He saw many Glamour trails. He saw the Huli in no less than ten different paths. She was amazing. But her last ditch effort would be her undoing. Baofa ignored all of the Glamour and looked for the energy of Conquest.

The ruddy brownish red energy that is signature to the Ipili would now be the biggest sign she was there. As he patiently observed, he saw several hundred meters out, a flash of the ruddy brown energy of conquest he was looking for.

Thwaaaang!

As it was unleashed, a loud ringing sound radiated from the bow. The arrow spiraled ahead at a blistering rate, tearing through trees as if they weren't even there. Baofa's eyes glowed brighter, blood dripping from his sockets as he pushed all his genetic energy into his piercing shot.

"Captain, we can get her still, you don't have to go so far!" cried Kito as he watched his captain's pain.

Suddenly, Baofa shuddered and coughed a mouthful of blood. The arrow he had fired started to lose velocity.

Ahhhhhhh!

A sudden high-pitched scream pierced the night. Right as his arrow was losing momentum it hit a tree right behind the Huli woman and made the trunk explode. The shrapnel of wood splinters pierced deep into her back, eliciting her agonized scream.

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Pain! A world of pain!

Luna's entire back felt on fire. It was pure agony to move, and she faltered in her steps, nearly collapsing. She tripped and lost her footing, falling over the ridge she had been cresting. She tumbled and bounced down the ridge, narrowly dodging tree trunks. She collapsed in a broken heap at the bottom of a valley.

Utterly exhausted and broken, she just wanted to rest… But she knew, if she stopped, she would never escape. She channeled all her focus into scrambling to her feet to take one more step. only one more. Just… another… step… She needed to just survive one more day… One more hour... One more minute...

The animal instinct for survival in her was so strong she could only try for another second of life.

She channeled the last vestiges of the genetic energy of the Ipili into recovering her wounds as best she could. Her body slowly spat out the shards of wood as she moved forward. Drip. Drip. Blood cascaded down her back and legs, leaving a puddle with every step. Still, she marched on.

As she moved forward, she suddenly felt a surge of energy flow through her body. She looked around and realized it was coming from the ground, the trees, and the air. This…this felt like pure gene energy!

As she focused on healing with her newfound gene energy, she looked around the area she had stumbled into. The trees were massive, and they hid the fact that this was a deep valley hidden between two relatively small mountains.

She moved deeper into the valley with the Ipili on her heels. There was a neat trail ahead of her that was clear of any brambles. It looked well maintained and well worn. As if it had been used since the beginning of civilization, the trail itself was deep and smooth.

It seemed as if the ground itself had been carved into neat blocks of stone. Who would waste time carving the ground though?

Luna saw that the valley continued northeast from her position, and then she saw something ahead…it looked… like a small wooden sign?

As she saw the sign she suddenly froze. Because the words written on the sign were written in Ancestral. She was one of only a few Huli who learned to read the Ancestral language.

No one would write in Ancestral. It was too difficult to read and understand. Anything written in Ancestral was considered Sacred Scripture, regardless of the Fera race who discovered it. The Ancestors were not to be profaned.

She carefully looked at the sign. After a little more than a minute, her face went white with terror. Written neatly in perfect Ancestral, the sign said "No trespassing. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again."

Beneath the neatly written Ancestral, almost as an afterthought, were confusing words. "Liam Smith, USMC, Codename: 'Sage' Born January 30 2013. RFD June 2031. Tour until present."

Violators? Shot? She knew many words in Ancestral, but as she struggled to understand those two words she realized. This was holy ground. The Ancestors decreed that anyone who profanes this holy ground would be destroyed.

They had even emphasized destruction of the profane twice. She didn't even know how to process the rest of the information.

As she froze in terror wanting to do nothing more than get away from this Holy place, she heard a tired voice behind her, "Nowhere left to run now Huli…Give me Galt's core and I won't profane you."