Caradorynee: Feats & Wagers #12

Post date: Jun 19, 2016 12:53:29 PM

Caradorynee: Feats & Wagers

#12

Lark felt satisfaction rush through him.

The Human girl had heard and understood him and was now headed once more in the proper direction. The fact that two Pouriecolts were baring down on her gave Lark little pause. The girl had numerously proven that she could out think and out maneuver any and all creatures she encountered on Caradorynee.

But Lark didn’t let his confidence get the better of him. He could still lose everything. The Shegata shackles still clamped around his ankles told him he was far from being out of the woods just yet.

Lark was nudged by an Oit. A short creature of about two and a half feet tall.

Lark smiled.

The Oit was waving a wagering disk and gesturing wildly.

Lark’s smile widened.

The Oit tribesmen were intelligent warriors. Swift and cunning. Lark often did business with the wolf-like creatures for they were the quickest way for him to acquire the valuable chewqas he’d used in the baking of his caradoras.

This Oit was obviously one of their elders for the tuffs of long hair that bracketed the creatures muscularly lean body shone translucent in the mid-day sun revealing the faintly visible webbing of many Shegata markings running over the creature’s leathery flesh.

Lark nodded and made a gesture with his left hand indicating that he would take the Oit up on his wager. The bet was small and was based upon whether the Human girl would use her weapon in defeating either of the Pouriecolts, like she had done so during the competitor’s battle.

Lark bet against the weapon. His gut told him that the girl, if forced to fight again, would find some other method to defeat the Pouriecolts.

Star ground her teeth.

She couldn’t catch a break could she?

Two Pouriecolts and virtually no weapon.

She didn’t want to think about how many more obstacles the maze could throw her way, but she had to be prepared.

She scanned the top of the maze walls in front of her. All appeared to be debris free and solid. No shifting walls or walls that suddenly disappeared. Good sign.

She turned her head to the left and then right. The Pouriecolts had both honed in on her and were bounding over the walls as if there was no gaps in between.

Star reached for the end of her towline. At some point soon the Pouriecolts would converge upon her. The question was: what was she going to do about it?

Star ran another hundred feet and stopped on the edge of one wall.

In the near distance she spotted the end of the maze. It comprised of a large gap in the maze walls with a lava boil directly in the exit’s path.

She didn’t have time enough to finish the distance before the Pouriecolts reached her. She had to think of something and quick.

The Pouriecolt, the one that was still intact, let out a thunderous roar. It reared it’s head and bellowed again.

The act of the creature stretching it’s neck gave Star an idea. It wasn’t a great idea and there was little hope that she could execute it properly, but she didn’t have many options.

Hurriedly Star sheathed her knife and began to reel out more of her towline. She then took the end and secured it tightly partway down the towline, making a lasso.

She gauged the weight of the towline and judged that it was lighter than the lariat she had practiced with, while capturing virtual wild horses, back on Artemis.

This wasn’t a game though and if she mistimed her release or missed her target entirely she would properly end up dead.

The two Pouriecolts were almost upon her.

Star flickered her right wrist and set the lasso into motion. She turned her attention to the Pouriecolt that still had flesh on it’s body.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She had the beast square in her sights.

Four walls away.

Star hefted the lasso up.

Three walls away.

Star began rotating her wrist and then her right arm while her left hand held secure to the towline.

Two walls away.

Star visualized the beast’s path and released the lasso into the air.

One wall away.

The beast veered away from her and the lasso hung loosely in the air.

Star grunted a loud cry of frustration. The beast had anticipated her move.

Damn! Damn! Damn!

Star was about to reel the towline back in when she was unexpectedly yanked violently forward.

Star screamed as her already injured left shoulder was instantly dislocated. Her hand let go of the towline and her body was immediately flung in a wide arc over the top of the maze walls.

Star’s head spun and her stomach threatened to revolt. Her knees collided several times with one wall and then another.

Desperately Star made grappling motions toward the towline that was still attached to her towline belt with her right hand, while her left shoulder hung limply at her side.

She felt her left foot smash against the top of a wall as she was dragged unmercifully along in the skeleton Pouriecolt’s wake.

Unable to grab the towline Star reached for the retract button on the towline reel.

She pressed it and was forcefully pulled upward until she came into abrupt contact with one of the Pouriecolt’s protruding bones of the creature’s ribcage.

Star quickly grabbed onto the bleached structure. She held on as tightly as she could while she wrapped her legs around the bottom half.

She wet her dry lips and sucked in air. She leaned her head against the rough surface of the bone, thankful that the spinning of her body had finally come to an end.

The Pouriecolt came to a jerky halt, offering Star a moment’s warning before one of the creature’s cloven hooves made a sweeping motion toward her.

Star ducked her head and was shocked when the razor-sharp claws missed her entirely.

Not wanting to waste a moment Star wrapped her right arm around the rib bone and worked her way into a standing position.

The Pouriecolt roared and Star felt the beast turn.

Star pressed her cheek against the bleached bone and looked around.

The end of the maze was still in sight. It was now only a few walls away.

Without much thought Star grabbed her knife, put it between her teeth, and without haste hurled herself off the Pouriecolt’s rib bone before the beast could take another swipe at her or take off at a run again.

The towline immediately began to let out at her dropping weight and with surprising grace Star sailed through the air.

Landing on the top of one of the maze walls she grabbed her knife and sliced the towline and then sprinted along the top of the wall towards the exit point.

Taking the extra precaution to jump over the section of the wall that was adjacent to the lava boil Star then crouched down and sheathed her knife for hopefully the last time.

Grasping the edge of the wall with her right arm Star swung over the edge and dropped to the ash ground.

Star dashed for the maze exit.