Chương 45: Chapter Forty-Five: Chased

FORTY-FIVE"TAOYA! FOLLOW THE MARKED TREES!" Roan shouted as loud as he could, pointing to his final marked tree. He'd already put the warhammer and his new backpack filled with loot in another tree, hiding it up amongst the branches. All he had on him was the healing potion, his short sword, spear, canteen and Lester's ring on his pinky. Taoya looked over and saw him, giving him a thumbs up as Roan skipped a step and hurled the spear as hard as he could.

Before entering the tower it would have been a difficult if not impossible throw. Distance and the fact the target was moving would have had Roan rethinking his plan. His strength was well beyond what it had been when he entered though. A second eye burst in a geyser as the spear pierced it with ease. The monster stopped its lethargic swiping at Taoya and his group and screamed in pain and rage. Roan's ears thrummed and his head felt like splitting as he suddenly stumbled in pain.

It ended nearly as fast as it had begun. Roan recovered as his amulet burned his chest, a sudden dumping of heat that scalded his skin. He ignored it as he waved his hands and jumped up and down, shouting at the massive monster. Its remaining six eyes turned to lock onto him, the spear still wedged in one of the eyes.

"Fuck, that looks like it hurts," Roan said as he took off in a sprint. He stretched his long legs out as the beast began to pursue him. Every step of its six legs shook the ground, making it tremble beneath Roan's boots as he cursed and counted.

"Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, fuck," his stream of numbers cut off as the ground shook and he stumbled and bounced off a tree trunk. He spun and saw the monster, it had closed the small gap he'd had and was catching up quickly, its mouth had a long string of saliva hanging free as it snarled at him. He straightened his course and quickly resumed his sprint and count.

"Seventy-five, seventy-six," Roan felt something strike his shoulder as the remnants of a log flew by, crashing into the forest floor ahead of him. It rolled once and came to a stop and Roan hurtled it, cursing as he landed and feeling his ankle twist. He didn't slow as the monster kept chasing, its humid breath brushing against his neck.

"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, hundred, turn!" Roan shouted as he made a hard turn, feet sliding across the grass as he made a ninety-degree right turn. The beast thundered past him, neck swinging around as its claws dug into the ground trying to arrest its momentum. It struck a tree and splintered it in a spray of wooden shrapnel as it continued its trajectory.

"One, two, three," Roan started the count again as he ran. With how dense the woods were, even a hundred strides had been enough to make the battle scene disappear. He'd thought of going for one-fifty or even two-hundred, but the monster's speed had quickly nipped that idea in the bud. When he'd hit twenty-two he heard the roar and felt the earth tremble as the monster started back after him. It hadn't bought him as much time as he hoped but the lead was similar to what he'd had when the chase had started.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it." Stupid idea. You're going to get eaten by this dinosaur knock-off. Then what? Who's going to find them? Who's going to find Gabby and Preston? Who's going to find Mom and Dad, who's going to… shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up and focus!" Roan screamed at himself as he kept his count going.

"Seventy? Fuck!" Roan cursed as he lost track of the steps. Another scream of rage rattled his mind and he screamed in pain, his balance going as he stumbled and nearly fell. His legs kept churning, pushing him forward even as teeth snapped shut with a calamitous crash. Humid air blew his hair forward as Roan redoubled his speed, adrenaline spiking as his heart thrashed in his chest.

"Ninety-five? Fuck it, turn!" Roan screamed as he spun and did another ninety degree right turn as the monster sailed by him again. His shirt was soaked in sweat, skin clammy, every breath an icy burn as he sucked in more air.

"Hundred more, hundred more, we got this!" Roan chanted as he raced through the woods. A branch scratched his face, roots threatened to trip him, but he kept his feet, racing through the pain as he kept his count.

"Forty-two," and the ground rumbled in the distance as the beast got back to its feet and started after him. Nearly double the amount of time it had taken to regain its steps as the last time." We can work with that. It's not an endurance beast. It can't be, not at that size. Unless… magic I guess. Oh, fuck! Roan don't make assumptions!" At eighty-five steps the beast was back on him, only steps away as it began to snap at him again. Roan made his final right turn and the beast raced by him yet again.

It wasn't very smart. Roan could be thankful for that at least as he kept running, hoping that he'd managed to keep somewhat in straight lines. When he hit the sixty count and didn't hear the monster coming back for him, he started to relax, but didn't slow. At ninety he heard a shriek, but no stomping earth.

"Thank fuck. Guess it does get tired," Roan said in between gasps as he slowly came to a halt at the hundredth stride. If he had done this right, he should be near where he started. He leaned against a tree and kept a lookout as he tried to catch his breath. Instead he leaned over and threw up, spewing water, bile, and bits of ration bar to the ground. Another convulsion wracked him but there was nothing left for him to vomit.

Roan stood there panting as he looked over the area, trying to find any sort of clue to where he was or where he'd left his gear.

"This was a dumb idea," Roan said between heaving breaths as he pulled out his canteen and took a mouthful, swishing it around and spitting it to the ground to get rid of the taste of bile in his mouth. On wobbly legs he stood up and started to walk carefully around, holding the canteen in one hand and the sword's hilt in the other. He kept it in its sheath though, ready to break into a run again if he had to. The good thing about the massive beast was that it lacked stealth.

There were still plenty of goblins around though and he had to keep his eyes open and look for them. It would be the height of irony to escape from the massive beast just to get gutted by a lurking goblin hiding in the tall grass.

"Bao would kill me if he saw me do that. Literally throttle me," Roan finally said as he continued to look up and down the area. He made himself do his search methodically, zig zagging back and forth as he looked for any of the many marked trees. After ten minutes of searching he found one of the trees. It took another five minutes to find where he'd left his gear, the torn up area clearly visible. He looked up into the tree where he'd stashed his gear and cursed as it was all gone.