Damian spent a few long seconds looking at the approaching horde and their master,he wasn't sure how much time they had probably no more than thirty minutes at most until they were engulfed, it also seemed like the horde had grown over night, now having close to thirty creatures under the servitude of the Devourer.
The sight sent a chill down Damiana's spine as he watched them move, the smaller creatures out front sniffing at the ground seemingly following their scent whilst the larger ones simply wandered along,ready to sprint forward at a moment's notice. Ducking back into the artificial cover he saw Jasper attempting to scrape the last remnants from the inside of the can with a loose piece of alloy.
"Jasper, we need to leave now! The horde is on their way and I'm in no state to be carrying you again."
Jasper looked up from his task and stared at him with a strange glint in his eye,
"And go where my good sir? If they were able to follow us all the way out here then they can follow us anywhere, including the shelter. You want to bring those things to your family then that's the way to do it. I for one would like to get back at the big bastard for using me like a meat puppet."
Damian stared at him in disbelief, contemplating if he was still under the control of the Tyrant. What he was saying made sense, he understood that but they had no chance to kill all those creatures without at least one of them dying in the process, and Damian wouldn't allow that to happen.
"What are you saying? Do you really think we have a chance against a foe like this, even if we tried to set up an ambush there's just too many of them, we can't kill them all, we may have magical powers now but we are not immortal."
Jasper set the can down, satisfied that he had gotten every morsel of synth meat out of the can and stood up, dusting himself off and staring up at Damian,
"Who said anything about killing the horde? That my very large friend would be suicide, even I am not foolish enough for that…. Anyway I'm not saying we kill the horde, all we need to do is take out the big bastard no? Once he's gone the others should return to normal and we can evade or kill them like normal."
Damian stared at him with an odd expression before delving into thought, what Jasper said made sense, the influence of the creature would only go on for as long as it lived so killing it would cause the horde to break down in theory, but in practice getting close enough to attack it would be easier said than done.
The chance of success of slim but they wouldn't be able to outrun the horde forever, if they kept moving they would possibly have 2 maybe 3 days tops before they couldn't outrun it any longer, and with each passing day more and more monstrosities would be indoctrinated into the swarm, if there was any time to strike it would be down it would be fore it got too many more minions to serve under it.
Jasper waved his hand in front of Damian's face snapping him out of his thoughts,
"You good there Sir? You were spacing out again, so are you in or out, because with or without you I've got to try, I'm not a big fan of being used like a drone personally and I kinda want to get some petty revenge on the guy, or at the very least take out a few of its legs in the attempt before running for my life…whichever happens first"
Pinching the bridge of his nose Damian sighed, he knew what he was about to say was stupid but he had no choice, he had promised himself to keep Jasper safe so he would be left with no choice but to help him out in his crazy plan.
"The horde is focused around the front, if we strike from behind we might have a chance at taking out the Devourerer."
Pausing for a moment before continuing
"We could do a pincer attack, I'll draw their attention over here, using my dormant ability to stay hidden and attacking the horde with my rifle whilst you sneak around behind them and strike whilst they are distracted. If anything goes wrong you are to run away immediately, understood?"
Jasper nodded before walking to the entrance, his face seemed confident but Damian could see the subtle tremors running through his body.
'Why was he trying to act so brave all of a sudden?' Damian didn't know why he was acting this way, just yesterday..he thinks it was yesterday at least he was so meek and timid yet he was now trying to play it like nothing could bother him. Had something happened whilst he was sleeping, that was the only reason he could think of for the sudden change, he would have to ask him about it later, but for now all he could do was reload his rifle, which he had emptied in the previous fight and prepare for the attack on the horde
Damian waited for a couple of minutes after Jasper had left before he started his end of the plan, Jasper was to wait to hear for the second shot before he started his part, in order to get as much distance as possible to build up as much power as possible. Damian studied the swarm through the lense, the snarling beasts only a couple of minutes away yet not hurrying their pace knowing they would get their prey in the end.
Damian steadied his breath before taking his first shot, aiming for the many eyes of the Devourer itself. Letting the first shot ring across the embankment the attention of the horde was suddenly focused on his direction, the many eyes of all the beasts stared at him with hunger reflecting off their surface. The bullet itself didn't do much to the Tyrant, leaving barely even piercing into one of its many eyes, the creature screeched from the annoyance as the horde suddenly came alive, with all the creatures big and small rushing in one single direction, leaving their master alone.
Jasper was running through the shallow end of the river, making sure to stay out of sight of the creatures above hoping to circle around fully before committing to his attack, he knew this plan was idiotic and truly believed he would die here today but he had no other choice, after spending the last day and a half looking after the unconscious Damian, building the shelter and protecting them from threats that got too close he felt strangely protective. The feeling had passed after the strange chain had disappeared but it had left an impression on his mind, he owed Damian for saving his life twice over, he felt like he had already repaid it once by keeping him alive when he could have easily left him to die on the edge of the embankment.
As he was running he heard the first shot fire out and the distant snarls of the horde flooded his senses, he wasn't using his Aspect yet but his speed was already beyond anything he had ever experienced before, his speed, strength, agility all overflowing with inhuman potential.He quickly made his way up the side of the embankment without decreasing his speed even for a moment.He had maneuvered himself quite some distance away without even realising it, watching the frenzied horde from over his shoulder as he ran in the opposite direction, he had learnt during the long…long night that it took him some distance to properly turn without losing his speed.
It didn't take long before the second shot rang out, signalling for him to begin his strike.
Damian fired shot after shot with his rifle, and after the 4th shot he was beginning to feel like he had been tricked, he had moved back, using his dormant ability to hide from the swarm which easily tore through the makeshift outpost that Jasper had constructed as if it was little more than an anthill to them. Damain kept moving further and further back, dropping his ability each time he made a shot but there was still no sign of Jasper, had the young man left him to die.
It wasn't until the 5th shot where Damian could finally see it, the figure looked like a storm came alive, shrouded I lightning with a trail of dust and smoke following close behind him, the sound of his steps was echoing over the embankment to the point the vibrations were felt through the land like thunder, he had thought it was just the power of the swarm before.
After a few moments of the vibrations shaking the earth the Tyrant turned to face impending danger, with the swarm following in its footsteps.