A New and Old Threat

The animal, feeling intense pain in what remained of its hind legs and from the piece of tongue Piotr had ripped out, could barely keep its eyes open, agonizing terribly. But as soon as it felt secure against its enemies barred outside, its immune system began to work at a more intense pace, enhancing its metabolism and accelerating its healing process, repairing tissues, bones, nerves, and anything else damaged.

This allowed it to open its eyes normally again, along with its immense mouth in a terrifying roar. Piotr was the first to react to this astonishing situation, quickly moving away from the fallen beast, dragging Kowalsk with him just out of reach of the dragon.

"Now, old soldier, we're in trouble! How foolish can you be, man, and the worst part is that your foolishness has rubbed off on me," Piotr exclaimed, continuing his tirade.

"What foolish plan are you talking about? There was no plan. I just felt obliged to help this poor injured animal. That's all," Kowalsk defended himself, already regretting his words.

"I can't believe it, old soldier, that I let myself get carried away by something so stupid," Piotr shouted.

"Take it easy, my friend, we'll figure something out," Kowalsk pacified, not quite believing what he was saying but already scheming a crazy plan for the emergency.

"And what way would that be? Outside is bad, inside is worse. The hatch is closed and probably locked. That means we're trapped with a wounded, hungry enemy who's recovering very quickly, in case you haven't noticed. And guess what's going to happen next?" Kowalsk mocked with a hint of innocence.

"He's going to devour us... Simple as that, you stubborn head!" Piotr finally vented.

Kowalsk seemed deliriously cheerful about the argument.

"Hey, Piotr! Since you're so afraid of this beast, why don't you just blow it up once and for all?" For a moment, Piotr felt embarrassed by the challenge from his war buddy, then decided to change his tactic and not get upset by that comment.

"Yeah, old soldier, you're incredibly stupid! Have you forgotten that my hand is terribly injured?" Piotr said, showing his hand.

"Yeah, Piotr, I had forgotten about that. After all, you were cutting the dragon's tongue, which is as tough as a stone, with just one hand. I had forgotten about that little detail."

Meanwhile, the dragon seemed to be enjoying their argument. But one thing was certain: it needed to eat. Regardless of its physical condition, its mouth worked just fine. Even its tongue was already self-repairing, and instinctively it knew that the more meat it ate, the faster its body would return to normal. It didn't even care that its hind legs were so injured; all it wanted was to satisfy its hunger.

It dragged itself with difficulty towards Piotr to try to devour him. Luckily, the laboratory was quite large, providing enough space for him to evade the attack of the furious, hungry animal.

"This creature must be kidding me, old soldier," Kowalsk noticed Piotr's increasing irritation as he dodged the dragon's attacks and could barely contain his anger at not being able to retaliate properly.

Kowalsk began to analyze the entire situation and understood the magnitude of the problem they were facing. In short, that beast was practically invulnerable, at least to the weapons they had, namely their bare hands. And his war companion, or rather, misfortune, had enough strength to prevent that beast from devouring him, but unfortunately, had no way to apply that strength.

Kowalsk tried to find a solution to the problem while the dragon distanced itself more and more from him in search of devouring only Piotr.

"Can you do something to help me?" Piotr shouted.

"What do you think I can do? You're the super strong one here, not me," Kowalsk replied from a distance.

"Oh, come on, old soldier. Don't make me more disappointed in you. Use your head and find something that can help me, and quickly."

"And what if I don't want to?" Kowalsk asked sarcastically.

"Think about it. With my skill, I can evade this creature for a long time or simply direct it towards you and wait for the outcome. So, I ask you, how long could you withstand this insane pursuit? If you don't want to end up losing, I advise you to help me in some way.