Predator Of The Night

Before she could even react, the owner of the light, or eye, blinked once, before lunging towards her. Surprised, she attempted to evade the attack, but fear prevented her legs to process what her mind wanted them to do.

Instead, she fell miserably on her rear end. Luckily, this mishap made her avoid the monster's attack by a hair's breadth. Shaken, but unharmed, she managed to regain her footing.

Checking her personal effects, she was searching for anything that she could use. That's when she realized she left them all back at her camp. She looked in the direction of her campsite.

Will she make it to her camp if she makes a run for it now? She was contemplating the options she had. However, reality doesn't let her have such choices.

Not expecting to have its attack evaded, the monster sets its eyes again on Fei. It made another lunging attack, its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth threatening to swallow her whole.

Having regained her composure, Fei managed to roll sideways just in time. Missing yet again, it stumbled across a few feet away before colliding into a row of trees. Its massive size became apparent as several trees were knocked down in all directions.

Some of the fallen trees blocked the direction of the camp.

As silver beams of moonlight shone on the creature, Fei was able to get a clear view of its aggressor.

With a metallic green body, the creature was easily five (5) meters tall. Its hunched figure shows two large front legs, each equipped with razor-sharp claws. Its mane stretches from its nape all the way to its back. Its skin is visibly loose, with some portions hanging only by a few threads. Its belly is bare, and what seems to be bandages are wrapped around it. Its head the size of a bull, bears four eyes, three on the left and one large one on the right. With a mouthful of sharp teeth, its jaw can be dislocated at will to accommodate larger prey, much like how a snake would swallow its prey whole.

(This isn't good), she thought to herself.

Her inner researcher got the better of her as she found herself analyzing the appearance and biology of the monster despite her current predicament.

The monster stares at her, its largest eye fixated on her profile.

With no weapon at hand, she could only rely on her spells. These are the times when attack-type spells prove to be most effective. But, despite how much she lamented, she can't do what she can't do.

She racked her brain, trying to find a spell perfect for this situation.

And then it struck her.

Before her brain could register what happened, she was flung several meters away.

She managed to catch a glimpse of the monster while airborne and the area where she was a few moments before. That's when she realized what happened.

It used its trunk-like tail to send her flying.

The darkness of the night made her unable to see the monster's tail as it swiped toward her.

(I should have known better!)

She cursed her own inexperience as she coughed up blood. Luckily, the attack missed her vitals.

"Ciura".

She cast a minor healing spell. Soon after, the pain in her abdomen faded.

Seeing its prey on the ground, the monster charged.

Fei, having recovered from the sudden attack, unleashed another spell. Raising her open palm towards the sky, an orb of light started to form.

"[Lumenus]!", she shouted the name of her spell.

The orb began emitting a light so bright that you could confuse the time of the day. The intensity of the light illuminated the surroundings, enveloping them in a field of light.

The intense brightness blinded the monster for a brief moment. But that was all she needed. The monster opened its eyes, only to find out that its prey managed to slip away.

Fei used Lumenus to confuse her pursuer. At the same time she cast Lumenus, she cast as well Silento, making it harder for the beast to track her after.

With no time to waste, she went straight towards her campsite. She could hear the monster roar nearby as it frantically tried to locate her.

In no time, she made it to the camp. She took all her gears, equipped the Curse Creep cloak, and then went quite a distance away before hiding behind a giant boulder.

"[Terra]!"

Terra is a spell used to manipulate the earth. To be on the safe side, she created a hollow space inside the boulder, before hiding it away with the same spell. With this level of concealment, one would be hard-pressed to locate her hiding spot.

Now with her dagger in hand, she slowly calmed her breathing. She managed to perfectly hide herself. All she needed to do now was to wait for the monster to leave even if it took till morning.

Suddenly, her ears perked up. Her ears picked up what sounded like a very heavy object being dragged across the ground. A low, bestial growl could soon be heard.

(It's here, and it's near!).

The sound seems to be only a few meters away from her location. Her spell wasn't the best, but she takes pride in her skills. She was sure she hid herself perfectly well.

The sound stopped.

(It finally left?), she thought, but soon after, the ground began to tremble.

(It couldn't be ... !)

Then it happened.

The boulder Fei was in was totally obliterated.

"Arghh!".

She managed to undo [Terra] at the very last second, but one of the boulder fragments landed on her feet, trapping her in place.

The creature, with a look of ecstasy to have finally found its dinner, raised its gigantic claws, before crushing it down towards her in astonishing speed.

Fei could only watch as death slowly descends towards her.

(Ah, so this is the end), she thought.

But before the beast could reach her, her eyes caught a glimpse of what seemed to be metal slicing through the air.

A loud crash was heard as a sword came crashing down in front of her. The claw threatening to end her a few seconds before is now on the ground, twitching still as if it hasn't realized that it was cleanly separated from its body.

"Target confirmed".

Then she saw him, appearing as suddenly as his sword was, a man in a grey and black outfit.

Pulling the sword from the ground, he pointed it toward the monster.

"Manifest, Dantalian", he chanted.

Soon after, a wisp resembling a girl appeared out of thin air before turning into a black grimoire. The book hovers behind him, as if careful not to get in the way.

"Beginning risk assessment".