As Lana walked back toward those in her charge, she noticed a smirk not too far away. A handsome man was watching her instead of where he was using his water ability. On the bright side, Chekof was no longer bloody.
In their head:
{Blaine}: Stop her! She's going to get hurt!
{Kyle}: Hurt? I'm more worried about the beast!
{Blaine}: Damnit Kyle! That thing breathes fire!
{Kyle}: Did you see how sexy she was when she evaded the fire?
{Blaine}: It doesn't matter. She's on top of the beast!
{Kyle}: You mean the dead beast?
{Blaine}: Dead?
{Kyle}: Yes. The beast is dead and she doesn't have a drop of blood on her. You were so busy complaining at me, you weren't paying attention!
{Blaine grumbled}: Go make sure she's okay.
Kyle rolled his eyes but decided to go to her anyway, for his own reasons.
Dobin lightly jogged toward the beast she had just defeated. Lana pulled a scared kitten from her hair and held him below her chin. He was shaking. It seemed the little guy had a natural and healthy fear of fire. She wasn't going to complain about that.
Three pairs of eyes stared at her and the little black thing in her hands.
She spoke to Kent in a soft, soothing tone.
"We are okay."
She stroked his fur and he started lightly purring.
"Do you think I'd die so easily?"
Lana rubbed her chin against his head.
"It will take a lot more than a fire-breathing giant ant to take me away from you!"
Kent was soon comforted and fell asleep purring. She held him in the same spot while she waited for the team to finish getting ready to continue exploring.
Dobin came over, seeing the sleeping kitten, quietly presented her with her crystal. She took it carefully and put it in her bracelet.
Kyle sauntered over to her while trying to be discreet about it. He put a hand on her waist and leaned into her ear.
"Careful how sexy you look down here or I'll have you put an earth wall around us and do something about it!"
Lana let out a short, shocked chuckle and her face turned bright red. She had no words.
Kyle winked at her with a sexy grin then looked around as everyone was finally gathering.
Lana, holding Blaine's hand, veered to the left instead of following the arrow to the right. She was taking long, quick strides. Everyone was confused but every time they tried to talk, she hushed them.
Soon, she took a right and before they knew it, she was leading them to the surface. They were all wondering what was going on and how did she know this was an exit?
She brought her watch up and called Sergeant Rage so she would only have to say it once.
"Sergeant Rage, we rescued three students who were trying to steal a lioant egg. The other two in their party were dead on the floor, burnt to a crisp. The lioant colony was whispering about evolving a level-6 to a level-7. I believe we can take it but we are babysitting. Is anyone nearby? We have already rescued people on the surface. We can't leave this beast alive."
"I see the situation is serious. Have them head due North. I'll have someone meet them."
"Thank you. We need to cover their retreat. It's coming."
Lana promptly hung up.
Speaking in a normal tone, she made sure everyone was listening. Pointing at the three lower-level students, "you heard Sergeant Rage. Get out of here while you can."
They didn't even blink and were off.
To the others, "the last fights were against a weaker beast. We work together on this one."
"Dobin, Lana, by me. The rest surround the hole." Kyle issued a command and the others thought it sound and followed.
However, they were not all in place when they heard the scurrying they had come to associate with these particular beasts.
Lana was the first to move, "shit! There are three!"
She could tell the weight was lighter in the back based on the sounds and quickly moved to the other side of the hole while the level-7 lioant raced toward a waiting Dobin and Kyle. They both put up earth walls as it seemed the first attack these beasts used was their breath weapon.
Lana dropped down on the next lioant with Chekof dropping on top of the last one. Both screamed with rage. Lana needed the fight over quick, so she did her vine-whip thing around its throat. This time, it didn't work as effectively. When she looked closely, she realized there were extra scales around the beast's throat. She had cut it in some places but not lethally. She was going to be there for a bit longer than she expected.
The lioant Lana was riding was doing everything it could to get her to fall off. She was holding onto her vines, tightly. She decided to reach in and pull out the diamond knife her brother made her all those months ago. The blade was only 4 inches long but it would be like using her spikes. She waited for the exact movement of the lioant. When it was perfect, she allowed herself to be bucked forward and stabbed her knife into the top of the head of the beast.
The bucking became more violent and she would have fallen off had she not gotten her spikes into the carapace the minute she landed. She wrapped her vines around her left arm and pulled hard on her knife, slowly bringing it toward her and eventually down the back if its head and back. While she got the kill on her own, it took a lot out of her. Her muscles ached, her energy almost drained. She felt dizzy. While she was sure this was a level-6, it seemed stronger.
Chekof was stronger than she was. He noticed the same amor reinforcements but was able to circumvent them. He removed two legs, which were not armored. However, he noticed all the vital places were.
The beast was fast, a hair faster than him, in fact. It caused him to fall off it's back by moving unexpectedly before Chekof had a chance to prepare. This was not something he was used to. Taking off the two legs slowed it down and he was able to dodge the breath weapon. He guessed he'd find out the frequency that weapon could be used soon.
With the front two legs gone on the left side, the lioant was struggling to stay balanced. The monster was now on its shoulder and nothing the lioant could do to shake it off. These humans were constantly invading their area and killing their warriors.
The queen had an idea and they decided to implement it. It took a long time for all of them to evolve. They had started conducting extra hunting raids in the night and eating as many beasts as possible. They understood getting stronger was the only way to defend themselves from the human monsters that invaded their planet and hunted them for sport.
The beast screamed in pain as Chekof removed yet another leg on the same side. He was on the beast's back and there was no defense against it. The other two were still busy and unable to help. In frustration, it used its breath weapon in hope of hitting one of the other humans attacking his brethren. Maybe if it could help them, they could help him.
It screamed again as the last leg on that side was ripped off. Black blood was flowing from 4 different injuries. Mobility was no longer possible. Soon, it felt teeth sink into its neck and it could no longer see or feel anything.
Chekof stood up with black blood dripping from his transformed mouth. Noone was looking, preoccupied with their own fights. He decided it was safe to eat his conquest. Werewolves grew in strength by consuming their conquests. It was very hard to do in the human world while trying to hide their identities. Most refused to undertake such missions as it was seen to stunt their growth. Chekof didn't care about that. His brother was one that was taken by Abel Genetics. This was personal.
It didn't take long for him to feel stronger. He didn't eat the whole thing because that would draw suspicion. He looked around and the big fight was still going on. Lana had just finished and was looking at him. He could tell she knew. But he could also tell she would keep the secret. She looked tired. He offered her a hand and they both looked at the other fight.
"Are you okay?" Chekof asked Lana.
"Dizzy," was her only reply.
"Drink a sip of water and eat something. We may need to jump in. This doesn't look good."
She nodded and did so. While she ate an apple, she pulled Qi in from the air around her. This took her some concentration so she couldn't do it mid-fight. She didn't like doing it anyway because she didn't know the impact on the environment. Dobin was injured while Kyle was doing okay but getting tired. Lana was getting concerned and knew she was needed.
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