Chương 14: Harrowing Hares

At first, the dire-rabbits tried to climb the tree. One had managed to get precariously close to a tree limb, but Darwin, having proved himself a loyal companion, had lashed out his tongue, hitting the rabbit in the eye and causing it to fall. It landed hard in the dirt below, kicking up dry leaves and thistle fluff as it rolled. It stared up and hissed, its mouth still full of blue blood. Since the failed attempt, the dire-rabbits had taken a new strategy: knocking down the tree itself.

First, they had thrown their bodies against it. With each strike, the rabbit's body made a wet squelching sound, with the underlying tone of bones snapping. You'd have thought that would be the end of it, but each time they recovered, the bones reformed, and they tried again. Thud. Crack! Thud. Crack! Over and over again. Maddening. The whole tree shivered beneath me with each attempt. Leaves trembled overhead. Tiny bits of bark rained down on my shoulders. Eventually, they began to gnaw at the tree bark.

First small bits. Then more. Their teeth scraped and tore with a steady rhythm. In the span of an hour, they had chewed at least twenty percent of the way through. Pale wood showed beneath the ruined bark, wet with sap where their jagged teeth had carved it open. It was as if the tree itself was bleeding. At this rate, they'd fell the tree with me in it. And if that happened… I swallowed hard.

I used my time to think of a plan, and what I came up with was not exactly the greatest idea in the world, but serviceable in an emergency. I just had to pray it worked. Three dire-rabbits sat below, taking turns nibbling at the tree. Their fur was crusted with blue scorpion blood, their long black claws digging grooves into the roots as they moved. I just had to distract two of them. I pulled some dried meat from my pouch. As if they could sense it, the rabbits stopped to stare up at me.

"Yeah, that's right," I taunted.

"You want this, don't you?" I ripped the meat apart, and I could see white foam flowing from their mouths. Three even pieces… two, I would send into the field, and one I would drop below. Whoever took it would be my target. I stood on the tree limb, which bent, sending a shudder up my spine. It held… just barely. I threw two pieces into the thistle and dropped one at the same time. Sure enough, the three rabbits glanced at one another before two rushed off, leaving one below who grabbed the meat greedily.

It started in on it, and it was already halfway devoured in no time. I held my knife pointed down, one hand pressed against the pommel. I leapt from the tree. The dire-rabbit turned to look up at me the moment before my knife struck. I saw the gleam of it in the monster's eyes as I descended. Slam! My knife plunged into the creature's neck, and only a soft sound of air escaped its mouth. Warm blood coated my hands. To be sure, I dragged the knife horizontally, completely separating the head from the body.

As if the monsters had some otherworldly connection, I heard the hardened cries of the nearby dire-rabbits. I heard movement through the thistles and saw it a moment later. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Duck, master," Darwin warned. I did as a dire-rabbit launched itself over where my head had just been. I turned and fell upon the rabbit, driving my knife down into its back before it could recover. Over and over again until I felt nothing but the involuntary twitch. The thistles around us shook violently, their spines catching on my clothes and skin as the creature kicked beneath me. I turned and put my arm up. Teeth sank into my flesh. Hot blood burst from the wound.

I could feel the dire-rabbit nibbling on my bone. I screamed, turned, and slammed it into the side of the tree. It flew off, rolling in the dirt, but it recovered quickly.

"Master, master," Darwin said, his water bubble bouncing back and forth.

"Run, run." I tried to scramble for the tree again, but the rabbit was fast. Unnervingly so. It caught my ankle, taking a chunk of flesh. Then the back of my calf, and a portion from my thigh. I was bleeding considerably now, red soaking into my trousers and dripping down into the dirt. I'd have to fight. I needed the knife. I needed… I noticed that my knife, its blackened handle covered in red, was still stuck in the second dire-rabbit a few feet away… Directly behind the third.

Almost I thought I could see a smile on the dire-rabbit's face, and anticipation of an easy meal in its red eyes. It launched itself at me. I thought back… I was supposed to be a fighter class, but I didn't have any useful skills. I didn't… Wait. Yes, I did— Goblin Punch. I merely had to think it when I felt a surge of power flow through me. The dire-rabbit was midair now, mouth open, revealing rows upon rows of sharp teeth. With everything I had, I turned my hip and punched.

My fist connected with the side of the rabbit's head. System Goblin Punch… Critical Success! For a moment, everything froze, as if time itself had stopped. The air hung still. The thistles stopped shaking. Even the blood dripping down my arm seemed to pause in place. I felt the power drain from me as it went into the rabbit until time itself snapped back into place.

The rabbit's neck broke as my fist carried the head into the side of the tree, where it exploded, gray matter and blood covering every square inch of me. The rabbit's body slid down the side of the tree, and where my fist had impacted, there was a small crater and various spiderweb cracks in the wood. I slumped down and went to my knees, blood pouring out of me. I had to staunch the bleeding. And quick. My pack was nearby; some of the contents tipped out onto the grass and dirt.

I remembered that Lina, in her infinite wisdom, had packed some medicinal supplies, including bandages… yet that wouldn't do with how much I was bleeding. Thinking back to what I knew, in dire situations, people would cauterize their wounds to avoid bleeding out. The thought of burning my own skin gave me pause… but the thought of bleeding out and my corpse being eaten by man-eating rabbits gave me the drive I needed. Still, I was having a hard time reaching the pack.

"Darwin," I said, my voice low and hollow.

"Can you get me the pack?" Darwin bobbed nearby, and the water seemed to droop with his worry. Still, he lashed out his tongue, caught the bag, and dragged it to me. I reached inside. Strange white powder and a striking stone. She had packed it. Good. I'd seen that strange white powder before. She had used it to instantly light some wood. I wondered if it would do the same for me. I pulled down my pant leg. Most of my wounds were superficial, but I found the bleeder. One must have nicked a vein of some sort.

Blood pulsed from it in steady, terrifying rhythm, darkening the dirt beneath my leg. I packed the wound with the powder. It burned something fierce. I went to strike the stone… and couldn't. How could I? I was essentially setting myself on fire.

"Darwin…" I said.

"Tell Lina… Well, I don't know. Just tell Lina thank you, I guess."

"Master…" Darwin replied sadly. My companion floated near my head. I couldn't move my hand anymore, and the two strikers fell precariously close to my wound, yet they did not spark. My head lulled. The world was closing in, going to nothing more than a pinpoint. The thistles blurred into streaks of purple and green. The sky above the branches dimmed.

"No die, master," Darwin said.

"No die." The last I saw was Darwin tongue-lashing one of the stones, it sliding by the other, sparking, and then a white-hot pain shooting up my leg as darkness claimed me.