Beyond The Stone

Chapter 4

Tristan glanced back over his shoulder warily. A huge, grotesque creature was looming over him. Its skin was a dull grey colour, and matted long fur grew thickly from its groin, legs, lower arms and down it's spine. It looked like some sort of cross between a gorilla and a tiger, massive white teeth glinting from saliva in the early morning light. Perhaps the most alarming thing of all – the telltale sign that he couldn't possibly be in merry England anymore - was the massive single eye that now leered at him with a dark, animalistic eagerness. This was a creature unlike any seen by either Tristan or Ava, and it seemed very intent on getting better acquainted with them.

"What the f..." Ava started.

"...flying gadzooks..." Tristan supplied.

"...is that thing?!?"Ava finished, effectively helping them to form their first coherent sentence as a unit.

"Run for your life!" the guard that had been trying to arrest them moments before squealed with terror.

Before Tristava could respond, the massive beast swung one of its meaty palms at him. Tristan instinctively dove out the way and rolled. It was not an unfamiliar sensation to Ava, since she'd enjoyed her fair share of outdoor activities. The pair found their feet almost instantly and spun to face the giant. Ava noted that they seemed to only take the creature up to mid-thigh! Tristan realized that it was going to be extremely difficult to injure the beast meaningfully if they couldn't get close to its torso. The creature roared and swung at them again. They out-maneuvered it successfully a second time. While fast enough to be a threat, it was not as fast as Tristan. That, at least, was something!

This time the beast's focus got snagged on the sight of the second guard trying to drag his unconscious friend to safety. It lumbered the two steps between them and swatted at him. Ava noted that there was something off about the creature's movement – something that made it inefficient. Before she could ponder over it, the beast made contact with its prey. There was a loud thwack and a nauseating crack rang through the air. The guard cried out in agony as the arm he'd tried to shield himself with sagged down at his side with an ungainly, misshapen appearance. His leg too, seemed to falter, and a splash of red seeped out into the tunic at his chest.

'Bodkins! If that be an indication of the beast's strength...' Tristan thought on an anxious exhale.

He backed away two steps apprehensively.

The guard was well and truly stuck after that. Even with the creature's less than graceful movements, it was able to swoop the badly injured man up off the ground gleefully. Tristava watched in horror as it wasted no time in tearing the good arm off the guard's screaming, terrified body before devouring it. Blood sprayed everywhere. Thankfully for the man, his head was the next thing to quite literally get chewed off, effectively ending his earthly struggle.

Tristan backed up another two steps. He was trying to move slowly enough so as to not draw attention, but at the same time was wondering if he could outrun a beast with a stride that long. He saw the monster finish its first victim in next to no time, then pick up the second, unconscious guard by the leg.

'Oh God... he's going to eat him too!' Ava realized with horror.

Her stomach would have been churning with horror if she wasn't so pumped full of adrenaline right then. Even as the creature dragged the guard along happily, it spotted Lord Brantly trying to quietly mount his horse with his feminine burden. In that instance, Ava realized that this creature, whatever it was, had every intention of eating every last one of them, including herself. She gripped the hilt of her sword firmly.

'Be thee insane?' Tristan growled as he sensed her intention.

'I can't sit back and watch it happen,' Ava replied stubbornly as she set their feet in motion and ran towards the beast.