Before the Scaly-hound's frantic barks had even faded, a piercing siren ripped through the night from inside the complex. Immediately, powerful searchlights swept up the hillside, turning their rocky perch from a safe haven into a deadly stage.
Kael didn't need to wait for orders. His muscles were tuned to the rhythm of hell. He rolled to the side just as the first burst from a heavy machine gun chewed into the rock where he had just been, hot fragments stinging his cheek.
"Contact!" Gryphon's voice roared, cutting through the gunfire. "Jotun, suppressive fire! Viper, Wraith, left flank! Spectre, with me, right flank! We're falling back to rendezvous point Beta!"
There was no panic. Only calculated movement. Jotun, the massive sniper, was already prone, his rifle resting on a rock ledge. A deep, echoing BOOM rang out, and one of the searchlights below shattered in a shower of glass.
Rounds zipped through the air around Kael. He took cover behind another boulder, the Kestrel pressed to his shoulder. Through his scope, he saw figures pouring out of the buildings, guns blazing. Beside them, more Scaly-hounds were being unleashed from their chains.
Damn it, they're letting all the dogs out.
"Spectre, cover!" Gryphon yelled.
Kael targeted a group of MLF soldiers trying to scramble to a higher position. He squeezed the trigger twice. Two dry cracks. Two soldiers collapsed backward. He didn't aim for the head. He aimed for center mass. Fast and efficient.
On the left, Viper and Wraith moved like two phantoms, laying down continuous fire to keep the enemy from advancing. The sound of their rifles was sharp and precise, different from Jotun's thunderous roar.
"They're climbing! East side!" Viper reported.
In the remaining light, Kael saw them. Three Scaly-hounds were bounding up the rocky slope with unnatural agility, their claws striking sparks against the stone. A thick, acid-colored saliva dripped from their open jaws, and their growls were a choked, hateful sound.
"Fall back! Move now!" Gryphon ordered.
Kael threw a smoke grenade towards the charging dogs. A thick fog enveloped them, but he could hear their furious barking even through the smoke.
They didn't run chaotically. They retreated in pairs, one providing covering fire while the other moved back into the jungle's darkness. Step by step, they gave up the outcropping and fell deeper into the green hell.
The sounds of gunfire and shouting chased them, but the dense jungle swallowed them whole.
"Status, Oracle?" Gryphon panted as they crashed through the thick undergrowth. Sweat dripped from his forehead, mixing with the streaks of camouflage paint.
"Not good," Anya's voice came back, laced with a bit of static. "The entire complex is on alert. I'm counting at least thirty armed hostiles and a dozen Scaly-hounds fanning out to hunt you. They're boxing you in."
"We can't make it to rendezvous Beta," Kael said, his eyes constantly scanning the darkness around them. "That path is too exposed. They'll catch us."
"You have a suggestion, Spectre?" Gryphon asked, clearly respecting Kael's judgment.
"West," Kael said immediately. "Deeper into the jungle where we found the elephant. The MLF might be well-equipped, but they're still human. They'll hesitate to go deep in there. There's something in there that they're afraid of too."
It was a gamble. Trading a known enemy for an unknown one.
Gryphon was silent for a second, then nodded. "Done. Change course. Head west. Move fast, but stay quiet."
The team changed direction. They weren't running anymore, but moving with a fluid grace, slipping through the trees and vines. The sounds of pursuit grew fainter, but they didn't disappear entirely. The barking of the Scaly-hounds still carried on the wind, a reminder that they were still on their trail.
The jungle grew darker and more oppressive. The strange silence Kael had felt earlier now seemed to press down on them. The insects had gone completely silent.
Suddenly, Wraith, who was on point, stopped and raised her hand.
The team froze, weapons at the ready.
Kael moved up beside her. Wraith pointed to the ground. In the faint light of their night vision, Kael saw a large, fresh pool of blood. Beside it lay a rifle bent in half, and a crushed MLF helmet.
There was no body. Just a blood trail leading deeper into the bush.
"Oracle, we've found signs of an attacked MLF soldier," Kael reported quietly. "This just happened."
"I'm not picking up any other life signs besides yours in that area," Anya replied, her voice strained. "Whatever attacked him... it wasn't MLF."
The team looked at each other. They had escaped the frying pan only to jump into the fire.
They were in the backyard of the monster that killed the elephant.
And it looked like it had just finished dinner.
"Keep moving," Gryphon whispered. "Find somewhere defensible. Now."
They picked up the pace, the silence now more terrifying than the gunfire. They could feel it. A presence. Something watching them from above.
Kael kept glancing up at the canopy. He saw branches swaying when there was no wind. He caught a glimpse of a dark shape flitting between the layers of leaves, large and agile.
CRACK!
A large branch, as thick as a man's thigh, snapped and fell right beside Jotun, forcing him to leap aside.
"Damn it!" he cursed.
"It's in the trees!" Viper yelled. "It's toying with us!"
A tangible fear began to creep into their discipline.
And then, it attacked.
Without a sound, a massive black shape dropped from the canopy, aiming directly for Viper, who was at the rear of the formation.
It wasn't a beast. It was a nightmare woven from claws and muscle. It had the form of a black panther, but it was as large as a bear. Its skin shimmered as if covered in a chitinous shell. And from its back, two scythe-like secondary limbs, sharp as razors, unfurled.
Kael only had time to turn when he heard Viper's choked scream.
It all happened in a second.
One of the creature's scythe-limbs had impaled Viper through the right shoulder, lifting her clean off the ground. Blood sprayed.
"Viper!" Kael roared, his Kestrel immediately spitting fire.
The 7.62mm rounds sparked against the creature's chitinous hide, seeming to do no serious damage.
The creature shrieked, a high-pitched sound that was a mix of a big cat's roar and an insect's hiss. It jerked violently, throwing Viper against a nearby tree like a rag doll.
THUD!
Viper hit the ground, motionless.
Jotun let out a roar of fury and emptied his entire magazine into the creature. Stung by the hail of bullets, the monster took a step back, then with a phenomenal leap, it vanished back into the darkness of the canopy.
All that was left was silence, broken by the team's ragged breathing and Viper's faint, pained moans.
Gryphon and Kael rushed to her side. The wound was horrific. The creature's limb had nearly torn her right arm off.
"Apply pressure! Get the medkit!" Gryphon ordered, his own hands already pressing down on Viper's artery to stem the bleeding.
Kael stood up, aiming his rifle into the darkness above, his back covering Gryphon. He could feel it. The monster was still there. Watching. Waiting.
They had escaped the MLF's encirclement.
But they had paid a price. And now they were trapped. Wounded. And being hunted by something from the worst of nightmares.