An encounter in the wild with two horrific creatures terrorized not only the humans but also the Ethisians accompanying them.
Like Anya and Jim, the six High Grade and High Ruler were struck with terror at the sight of two creatures they had never seen before, nor ever expected to encounter. The humans didn’t know what to expect, and as they watched the Ethisians’ reactions, they grew more confused and even more fearful.
Wasn’t the reason for their fear caused by them coming across their Blood Mutants? If that was the case, why were they scared of these two creatures which...
’Blood... Mutants?’ While slowly stumbling back in fear, Anya and Jim tried to wrap their minds around what their eyes were looking at.
The two creatures the Ethisians were fearing had an eerie, striking resemblance to Blood Mutants...except they weren’t shaped like them.
Their lack of a humanoid shape and a quadrupedal build with tail and tendrils extending from their backs threw their expectations off completely.
Were these the Ethisian Blood Mutants? Why did they look more like hounds and nothing like humans-turned-mutants?
"What the hell are we looking at?" With pure fear in her tone, Anya asked Enor, whose thoughts were elsewhere. Because of that, the High Ruler ignored her and instead commanded his High Grades, saying;
"Defend the humans. Don’t let the beasts get to them. If we engage them long enough, maybe the other two will come our way."
The High Grades did just that. Following Enor’s command, they stood in front of Jim and Anya with their weapons held firm, ready to put them to good use. Enor, who hadn’t come with a weapon, had no choice but to use his body. Without hesitation, his body began to glow, and so did the rest of the High Grades.
Powerful surges of Eneraflux energy escaped from their bodies frantically. The force of their surge was so great that the two humans felt a heavy, crushing weight weighing them down. Before Jim and Anya knew it, their bodies were no longer able to support themselves upright and eventually fell flat on the wilderness floor.
Looking ahead, it clicked in their minds how weak they truly were and how foolish they were to think that they could take on these Ethisians.
But that wasn’t the only thing that clicked.
’If they’re this powerful, how much more are their mutants that they fear so much?’
While the humans asked themselves questions they didn’t have answers to, the six High Grades and Enor engaged in battle with the Blood Hounds.
Three High Grades remained closest to the humans, ready to fend off the hounds in case the other three and Enor didn’t manage to hold them back.
Jumping into action, the High Ruler threw himself at one hound’s jaw, wrapping his large arms around them. The beast immediately shook its head violently in an attempt to shake him off. However, the Ethisian weighed the creature down, bringing its head closer to the ground.
Once he regained his footing, Enor lifted the beast and flipped it over his shoulders, sending it falling behind him.
The other hound wasn’t as lucky as the first.
Three High Grades zoomed around it like flies terrorizing a child with sugar-covered cheeks.
They moved around the hound quickly while delivering crushing blows to its legs. Before the beast could react, it was thrown off its feet and brought down to its knees. However, there were other ways it could fight. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍
Using the tendrils on its back, the hound howled and then shot said tendrils in many directions. They moved quickly and swiftly, catching the High Grades in their ghastly grip.
In almost an instant, the hound’s wounds healed, and it stood up again with three High Grades in its grasp. Unable to move, they wiggled about while the beast turned its attention to the remaining three.
"Stand your ground," Commander, being among the last three, commanded the other two as he gazed at the approaching hound, "we can..."
’Oh my God!!!’ Anya and Jim’s eyes widened in shock and utter disbelief as the beast, which was a few meters away, appeared before the High Grades in almost an instant.
That type of speed was mostly reserved for lean, lightweight creatures, not hulking beasts such as the hounds were. And with that speed, the hound used its paw to strike the High Grades down, pinning them under its gargantuan might.
"LORD ENOR!!!!" Commander, though under the hound’s paw, called out to the Ethisian Ruler, who was currently being inhaled by the other hound.
The creature engulfed the Ethisian Ruler in one swift motion of its jaw and quickly swallowed him.
’It didn’t chew,’ Anya observed, and then observed the first three High Grades who were wrapped around in tendrils, ’the beasts aren’t hurting them. They’re... retrieving them for something...or someone!!!’
Commander and the other two High Grades were also wrapped in tendrils, leaving the humans alone.
In a desperate attempt to save his life, Jim bravely stumbled to his shaking feet and began to transform. But before he did, Anya grabbed his hand and motioned for him not to.
He looked at her with bewilderment, wondering what sort of madness had corrupted her for her to tell him not to transform to defend himself from these Blood Hounds.
"You...we don’t stand a chance against these," she said while the hounds slowly approached them, their faces pushing towards theirs. "I don’t think they’re here to harm us. They’re probably fetching us and taking us to their owners, like real dogs. Look, they haven’t killed any of us yet, have they?"
With that bit of information, Jim noticed how none of the Ethisians were physically injured. They were only restrained and handled with care...of sorts. With that realization, the man dropped his guard and let the beasts do as they wished.
"You better be right about this!!!" He gulped and was then swallowed whole.
’I hope so too,’ Anya shut her eyes tight while the other hound opened its mouth and swallowed her as well. ’I really hope I am.’