Capítulo 43: Manticore

The morning dew condensed onto the leaves on the top of the rainforest. It fell down the various branches and tree bark until it dripped onto a spiked tail. The Manticore shook its head and continued into the forest. Each heavy claw sunk into the rich dirt. It lumbered around in circles, getting more irritable by the second. Eventually it lay down and waited for something to pass by.

It didn't have to wait long before a stone hurdled out of the shadows and struck its paw. The dormant beast pounced into the shadows but found nothing but tree bark under its claws. It growled and circled around the tree. A black tail waved back and forth, ready to kill whatever threw the rock. After a few seconds, it walked away. Another stone struck it, this time in the hind quarters. Turning around, it blindly ran through the forest. This time, the perpetrator didn't have enough time to get away. The Manticore heard the rapid and heavy footsteps. Its human face smiled more wicked and greedy than a Goblin. As it ran, it was getting closer. It jumped over roots and bushes. Rocks kept flying towards it adding fuel to the fire. It roared.

…

"What was that?" Wade halted the group. They weren't on a marked path. The only thing that guided them through the mess of trees and bushes was a compass and a rough map. "Doevm, you know the most about beasts, do you recognize the roar?"

"No," Doevm lied. "The books I read only had information on beasts, it didn't tell me about the sounds they made. I can take a guess though. This is a jungle, home not only to the Elves, but to the Manticores. This war is supposed to be away from them, but what if one got lost. It would be angry that humans are trespassing on its territory."

Wade cursed and turned to the rows of scared soldiers, "Where's Hopi?"

"Right here sir." Hopi said as he emerged a hundred feet behind them. "I found some claw marks, so I went to investigate them. It's a Manticore. We should report back to base so we can inform the general. We need multiple squads to take this thing on."

"Understood." Wade looked to Doevm, who nodded. "Then, that ends our short expedition. Try to be quiet as we return. Hold tight onto your equipment. I've already lost enough of my body to a beast. I'm not going to lose my men."

"Just like that?" One of the soldiers asked. Despite their trust in Wade being increased, three days was not enough time to form complete trust and respect of a superior.

"Yes, just like that." Wade said. "You all don't understand what a magical beast is. They're even more terrifying than humans. Their abilities are beyond what we can handle. Just a single tier one beast is enough to wipe out everyone here. A Manticore is dangerous. It's…looking right at us. Formation three!" Before any of the soldiers could register his words, a giant beast lept out of the shadows. Wade managed to block with both his spear and red life essence, but he was knocked back into the forest by its claws.

Since the light crystals didn't light up the forest floor, the Manticore was covered in a layer of shadows. It glared at the soldiers, who were attempting to get into formation. Doevm was the closest to it. He could see its wicked smile and the dried blood around its lips. Hopi and Frey had their spears out and were in a stance in seconds. The soldiers completely forgot their training and fell back.

"Formation three!" Wade's voice echoed. "Get into formation and stay alive." Doevm didn't have time to see if his squad was getting ready. He was focused on the scorpion stinger nearing his head. He ducked and rolled back. It didn't follow him and went after the weak soldiers first. One swipe cleaved through three men and their armor. Instead of attacking, squad six screamed. Some even threw their weapons at it, but they either missed entirely or bounced off its thick fur. Frey ran in front of the Manticore with his Bloodwood spear in an underhand stance. Hopi ran around to the back. The stinger flashed and bounced off Frey's spear tip. He slid back a couple feet and groaned but remained standing. Hopi used the chance to activate his life essence and drive his spear into its backfoot, but only managed to cut a little of its fur off.

Squad six surrounded the beast while the three strongest members engaged it. Their weapons were picked up and aimed at its head. Doevm, Hopi, and Frey all stared down the Manticore. Both sides waited for the other to move as they circled each other. "Squad six, follow my voice." Wade boomed in the forest. The soldiers didn't hesitate. They ran. The Manticore let them go while its tail waved in the air. A couple drops of green acid fell off onto the floor.

"We'll need to disable its tail." Hopi said. "One scratch from it and we're dead. The poison has no cure." He shifted his eyes from its claws to its face to its back. He saw Doevm's and Frey's red life essence. "Only you two can pierce it. I'll just be in the way. I should go meet up with the rest of the soldiers."

"Nonsense, you can be the distraction." Doevm said. "circle to its back again. You can't kill it, but you can still annoy it." 'He's never acted like this in a fight. First the training field and now this? He's too volatile.' "Frey, you need to-" the Manticore pounced at Hopi, having identified the weakest link. Its human mouth spread out as wide as Hopi's body with fangs as long and sharp as daggers. It snapped on Hopi's breast plate and shook him around. Its tail raised up to deal the killing blow.

Doevm took out three throwing knives. The tail is armored, but every armor is weak at its joints. When the Manticore curled its tail up, several gaps between its segments opened up. In each of its three gaps, Doevm pictured the dummy. Red life essence covered his arm as he launched the knives into the gaps. The tail went limp as green blood poured out. The Manticore screamed, allowing Hopi to escape. Frey stabbed at its underbelly, barely missing its heart. Its eyes went red. It turned around and used its limp tail to knock Frey into a tree. He bounced off and slid down unconscious. Hopi collapsed. The Manticore's teeth had bypassed his breastplate, slightly digging into his chest. Doevm was the last one to face it.

The two opponents resumed their dance. Doevm dodged under claws and teeth while the Manticore went on a frenzy. Scratches covered the spear. Each hit blocked was another creek in its staff. Dirt and leaves were knocked into the air. Doevm slid out of attacks on his sweaty feet and limbs. His life essence lessened by the second. 'Am I going to have to use magic even after day one?' His lightheadedness formed into a single question. The spear clashed against claws. Doevm's consciousness faded into a state of suppressed panic.

'Of course you should use magic.' The Lich came out and stood next to the Manticore, who didn't seem to notice in its rampage. 'You're a lich. If you die to a lowly Manticore, you'll never make it to the hero. You've used it before.' Doevm's armguard was shattered. Another blow knocked his helmet off.

'No,' Somewhere in Doevm's state of half-consciousness, a voice came into existence. His ragged breathing stabilized. He bit down on his lip. Each claw swipe slowed down by a fraction of a second.

The Lich laughed, 'What a pitiful attempt at resi-,'

'No!' The voice boomed again. Doevm tightened his grip. His life essence thickened. His spear's frame was nearly broken, so he switched to his dagger. The rapid change in speed and weaponry caught the Manticore off-guard. Doevm's hand blurred. A throwing knife embedded into the Manticores eyes.

"My head." Frey mumbled as he opened his eyes. He stood up and shook his clouded mind awake. "Doevm, needs my help." He picked up his spear. Each step was heavy, but as he kept walking towards the battle, a second wind brought his breath back. The Manticore knocked the dagger out of Doevm's hands. As it went for the killing blow, Frey got between them, parried, and headbutted the beast. Blood trickled down from his forehead to his chin. "I got this. Go get Hopi's spear." Frey shoved Doevm away and dodged under a snap of the beast's jaws.

'It's slower,' Frey thought as the side of his cheek received a new wound. 'But it's still faster than me.' They exchanged blows and Frey received wounds similar to Doevm. Since his knockback, his vision still hadn't recovered. Every move by the Manticore had an afterimage to him. It had only been a dozen or so exchanges until his shoulder popped out of its socket. One wrong move was all the Manticore needed. It jumped into the air and crushed Frey into the dirt, who could only block with one arm. Its bloody jaws opened.

A boulder tied with various weapons whistled through the air, smacking into the side of the Manticore. Frey propped himself on his spear to see squad six all holding onto a thick vine that lead over a branch and attached to the boulder, which had swung into the beast. The Manitcore struggled against the dozens of weapons piercing through it. It roared and kept scratching at the boudler. After a few seconds, it fell limp.