Downside

The tense battle unfolded before me as Karen engaged the formidable gron. Adrenaline surged through my veins, and though I hesitated for a moment, I couldn't let Karen face the creature alone. With my heart pounding, I rushed to her aid.

The massive gron leaped towards Karen, an awe-inspiring sight despite the danger it posed. It growled menacingly, exposing rows of needles. Karen skillfully dodged its attack, slashing the tendon on its ankle with her knife. The creature fell to its knee, emitting a loud shriek. Yet, we were still at a disadvantage.

"Bigger they are, harder they fall!" Karen's encouraging words reached me, but the fear lingered. The gron, sensing my unease, turned its focus toward me. My hands clenched into fists, and a paralyzing fear took hold.

"Nathaniel! Duck!" Karen's urgent command cut through my panic, and I obeyed just in time to avoid the deadly claws. However, one claw caught my parka, tossing me to the side. I slid across the bridge until my back tapped against an iron decorative pillar.

As the gron lunged at me, a loud bang echoed, causing the creature to stumble. Karen, wielding her hunting rifle, had intervened. She urged me to stand up, emphasizing the urgency of our situation. With difficulty, I rose, shaken but determined.

Karen continued to engage the gron, evading its claws and delivering precise shots with her rifle. Meanwhile, my own attempts were marked by the erratic movement of the handgun. The small explosions in the barrel became less intimidating with each shot, and my hand steadied.

When Karen threw her rifle at the gron and used her knife to cut its tendon, I felt a surge of empowerment. However, the gron retaliated, clawing her chest. The agony in her voice resonated in my ears, and my sense of helplessness grew.

As she limped towards me, while battered gron crawls right after her. She urged me to stand up, emphasizing the need to run to a small hut on the other side of the bridge. "There is a minefield right in behind the bridge in the forest, he won't be able to chase us through it." she urged me.

"We can kill it here." I declared, surprising myself with the sudden idea. Without waiting for her response, I sprinted toward the fence, grabbing pebbles and throwing them to catch the gron's attention.

The worn-out gron focused on me, attempting a leap that paled in comparison to its previous majestic one. Its claws clawed at the air, and I took advantage of its weakened state. I maneuvered under its claws, evading its attacks until an opportunity presented itself.

Using the decorative fence to my advantage, I struck back. The gron's claw got stuck, and I seized the chance to stab it repeatedly, to its gut while he was trapped in the fence, Moving from beneath him behind the animal, I jumped on top of the gron and kept stabbing through his thick black skin.

With each stab the golden blood splattered across my face, just so I dig the knife somewhere else. I don't know for how long this has been going on, but I felt the beast falling down under my weight and stay motionless.

Exhausted, I collapsed beside the fallen gron, the weight of the battle lifting from my shoulders. Karen's soft voice broke through the aftermath, urging me to rest in the tram for the night before embarking on our journey to Vienna.