Chapter 50: Escaping gun fire.

Hunter fired back quickly, emptying his clip into the darkness. They heard at least two men cry out and then silence. Zyra rose, ready to pursue the shooter or shooters to the last end of the earth if she had to.

But Hunter stopped her. He touched the small red bruise on her ear, frowning angrily at faint red mark. "You are hurt."

On hearing that its master was hurt, Spice hissed furiously. The little beast dove from a branch, declaring war, as loud as it could. Like Zyra, it was ready to slither into the darkness, following after the unknown shooters.

"Spice, back." Zyra screamed. She turned to Hunter. "Are you okay?"

His eyes burned with fury. "I’m fine. But that shot... it had to be Cade. That backstabbing bastard, he cannot even face me, so he is taking shots in the dark." His eyes narrowed at the dark area. "More people are heading from that direction. It must be them; we have to keep moving."

As if on cue, a hail of bullets came from that direction again, chewing up the dry tree trunks and kicking up dirt. The shooters seemed to be amateurs, because every shot missed!

And then came a laugh and a voice. "Nowhere to hide."

Zyra touched Spice’s head. The snake was coiled around her hand again. Hunter was right, Cade’s men were ambushing them, and they didn’t have time to waste on side missions.

The system shop appeared before her eyes, and she heard its voice in her mind.

[Warning! High gun fire danger detected. Host, purchase an X-Shield to protect your beast! Cost: 10 points. Usage limit: 2.]

"Go ahead Beauty, hurry up!" Zyra replied frantically, sprinting to keep up with Hunter. "Purchase and activate!"

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Hunter asked. Now was not a good time for her to be chatting with the voices in her mind. He wanted her full focus. They had beasts in front and bullets behind.

Zyra ignored him and kept her focus sharp, her knife a blur of silver as she cut down another beast. Using a fallen tree for cover against the relentless rain of bullets, she took cover for a moment.

She could hear the twisted laughter of Cade’s men echoing through the woods. To them, this wasn’t a hunting field....it was a shooting range, and they were having the time of their lives. It seemed like they had given up on hunting beasts altogether and settled on them.

[X-Shield activated! Remaining uses: 1.]

"Come behind me!" Zyra yelled to Hunter. She stepped out from behind the tree and brought her forearms together, crossing her hands tightly in the shape of a massive ’X’.

Instantly, a translucent, almost invisible barrier erupted in front of them. The oncoming bullets slammed into the barrier, but instead of stopping, the shield rippled with a strange, alien energy. With a deafening crackle, the X-Shield reflected the kinetic energy perfectly. The bullets shot right back in the exact direction they came from, flying at twice the speed.

"What the fuck " a voice screamed from the brush, cut short by a wet thud.

"I’ve been shot!" came another

"What the fuck are you doing Hunter?" Cade bellowed angrily.

Cries of agony echoed through the dark forest as Cade’s hidden goons were ripped apart by their own ricocheted bullets.

Hunter stared at Zyra, completely dumbfounded, his plan to hide her and confront Cade’s men on his own temporarily forgotten. "What kind of mechanism is this? Is it a soul maiden thing or another family heirloom?!"

"Yeah," Zyra lied with ease.

Hunter nodded approvingly, this was why he wanted a Soul maiden. They tended to be magnets for good luck. Not only were the bullets deflected, but the beasts that threw themselves at them simply bounced off the barrier like bugs hitting a windshield. The best part was that they fell unconscious instantly.

"Less talking, more escaping!" Zyra hissed, her face pale from the strain. "The shield won’t last forever!"

"Right! Let’s get out of here!" Hunter pointed at Tyrant. The massive beast landed heavily beside them, its bloody wings extended, ready to take flight. "Get on!"

Hunter and Zyra scrambled onto Tyrant’s broad back, clutching his scales. With a powerful leap and a massive sweep of his wings, Tyrant launched them into the air, breaking through the thick canopy of mutated trees and into the open sky.

But down in the dark forest, two pairs of sinister, slitted eyes watched them rise. Cade stepped out from the shadows, holding a smoking hunting rifle, a cruel smirk on his face. "You think a flying tiger can save you, Hunt?"

Beside him, his half-life beast hissed loudly. It didn’t have wings, but its speed was terrifying especially on slightly wet grass.

"Take me to them." Cade told it as he sat on its back with a few of his men.

Moving like a streak of emerald lightning, the snake crawled furiously on its belly, scaling the highest trees and leaping across the canopy, pursuing the flying beast with relentless, deadly hunger.

Cade laughed maniacally, riding atop the serpent’s head. "Run all you want! You can’t escape me Hunt, not today!"

Zyra pulled her nasty smelling spray out of thin air, and dumped the contents, below, spilling it all over Cade, his men, and their beasts!

"That’s foul Hunter," Cade growled. "I am going to kill you and that bitch." he roared.

Hunter and Zyra laughed in response. Whatever the case was, they had managed to shake Cade’s goons loose for a moment. All they had to do was find what she was looking for, and be on their merry way.

It took them sixteen minutes to come to the place which was pinpointed by the triangle on the map as the dungeon. Unlike the dark, damp forest they had just escaped, this place was bone-dry. The air was thick with dust, and the landscape was strange, rolling with countless massive dirt mounds. It looked exactly like a endless field of giant molehills built all over the place.

"Never been to this side of Starise." Hunter noted out loud as Tyrant moved lower. In his judgement, the government had not been there either, because this was not part of their dungeon. If it was, then it was unexplored territory.

Suddenly, a sharp electronic sound broke the silence. Beep! -Beep!

Hunter looked down at the timer on his digital watch and frowned deeply. "An hour has already elapsed," he said, his voice laced with slight anxiety. "We only have one hour remaining. We have to hurry, Zyra."

Zyra nodded, her face serious. In her mind, she called out to the system. "Beauty, show me where we need to start."

A bright holographic screen flickered across Zyra’s vision. Beauty’s voice chimed in.

[Scanning area... Scan complete! Host, look at that exceptionally large molehill straight ahead. That is the starting point of the main underground tunnel. However, it is completely covered by thick, dry vines.

Be careful, Host. Inside the tunnel, my sensors are picking up a large colony of low and medium-ranked tunnel moles. The population alone might overwhelm you. Are you sure you want to go inside?]