Never

Chapter 30: The Hunter

She buried her claw in a bush, then in another and another, until suddenly, as she thrust her claw into a clump of leaves, she felt an excruciating pain that caused a guttural scream that almost ripped her throat. She tried to get the limb out as fast as she could, but it was stuck, held captive by something sharp that grabbed her.

She lost her breath when she saw six eyes twinkle through the leaves, the hunter's signature body of branches emerged from the ground to his full height without releasing the mantis.

Now Orchid hung from her claw which was obviously held by the hunter's jaws, as dangerous as they were mysterious, since it was impossible to see his face under the hood.

Overcoming the pain the mantis began to shake trying to free herself, but when she felt her limb creak she stopped. If she continued she could lose her arm and that was inadmissible for her, she did not want to be a cripple, but her life was at risk.

She was still considering her possibilities when the hunter dropped her. The pain of the fall was not compared to the pain she felt in her arm, she grabbed her member and gathered herself on her body trying to stabilize herself and gather strength to stand up and escape. With an effort she stood up with the only idea in her mind to save her life, she glanced at her monstrous adversary who was standing still, as if he were a statue watching her.

Keeping her senses on alert, she took three steps back, expecting the hunter to attack her at any moment. The look of the beast showed a hint of disdain. Up to that moment he had been silent, but finally he let out his deep and grave voice.

"I expected more from you, you have disappointed me, cowardly mantis."

It was a simple message, but very meaningful to Orchid. She felt ashamed of herself. How had she even considered the idea of escaping? It was a disgrace! And also a madness, she was not so unhinged as not to know that it was a losing battle, but in her way of thinking, if she was not able to measure up in combat, she was no longer worth living.

Willing to die fighting, she stood up and raised her good claw against the hunter, who immediately responded to the challenge by running towards her on all four limbs. The volume and speed of the opponent forced her to dodge the onslaught of her body, but the lack of an arm took her balance, a bad movement made her stumble, the deadly and ruthless six-eyed monster did not miss the opportunity and scratched her in the belly exposing her bloody flesh, but this time the orchid's determination caused her to respond to the attack by burying her claws into the predator's arm.

It wasn't a cut deep enough to disable him, but it did cause a good deal of blood to drip. But far from being furious or scared, the eyes hidden under the hood gave away a smile.

"This was what I expected."

The grassy being jumped back and expelled a stream of thorns that the mantis dodged as best she could by rolling, she manage to not be scratched, but it increased her anxiety greatly, he had the advantage of ranged attacks, which she did not, she needed her spear, though that would hardly be useful, her blasts of cutting air were too slow

A second blast of thorns followed the first, and this time Orchid, moved by the adrenaline of combat, even with all the damage she had, managed to stand up to jump. She was looking for an approach to cause damage. As the hunter took a few seconds to recover after expelling his thorns, he was not able to respond to the offensive of the lord, he barely moved a little to avoid the damage in his face, but instead he was hurt in the shoulder

The hunter's left arm was bleeding and his right shoulder had difficulty moving, but that did not affect his lethality in the least, he had Orchid in front of him and without giving her the opportunity to escape he sprayed a shower of thorns on her.