Monster Run Part 3

A twinkle entered Crackers eyes, then she started to push the boulders off the cliff. Before he joined in Kit took another swig of the apple cider to top up his luck, then he ran over to joined in. When they were finished Kit felt like he would never be able to lift his arms again. He was so exhausted, he couldn't help but plonk down on the ground.

Crackers followed his lead and sat down next to him. Kit twisted his body around so he could watch the others. He knew this was all he could do now, his tired body was done for the day. He spotted Mud with a staff twice his size standing on the cliffs edge.

A blue glow was emitting from the tip of the staff. He watched as the glow turned in to a huge blue bubble. It floated off the end of the staff and headed towards the creek below. When it reached the trampling thickheads, the bubble didn't pop on contact. It squeezed past the monsters and headed towards the ground underneath.

Kit held his breath waiting for something exciting to happen. Disappointment flooded him when not a single thing happened. The was no change to the trampling thickheads that had been standing on the spot the bubble had gone.

Why had nothing happened? Kit finally noticed that the trampling thick heads no longer hurtled forwards. They were now packed in tight in the crevices between the hill cliffs. They had stalled in their momentum forwards.

The fire that had been ragging like an angry sea before had now settled to a soft glow. The constant screams of pain had also disappeared. Kit felt it was safe to finally pull the cloth from his nostrils. The smell of charred meat filled his lungs as he took in a deep breath.

Kit continued to watch the herd of monsters down below. His eyes wandered searching for the cause of the stagnation in the decent to the plains. His eyes finally settled on the earthen walls at the base of the hill leading into the grasslands.

The break in the five raised earth walls had been sealed off stopping the monsters from leaving the gorge. Kit could see the trampling thick heads at the start of the line slamming their horns into the earthen obstacles.

Out of the corner of his eye Kit noticed more blue bubble floating down to the bottom of the ravine from different vantage points. He was curious to see what would happen this time.

When they disappeared from sight between the bodies of the trampling thick heads Kit had expected something to finally happen this time. He frowned when there was no change to the jostling monsters.

What the hell were they doing? If this is not working, they should try something else. Maybe the trampling thickheads are immune to this particular attack. Kit started to worry as the sounds from the horns hitting the earthing wall reverberated up the gorge.

He wondered how long the structures could last against a force that strong. He continued to watch as more of the blue bubbles were descending towards the bottom of the ravine.

Finally, he noticed a difference to the bottom of the passage. Water was rising quickly amongst the monsters. Kit's eyes widened in surprise, he wondered if the trampling thickheads could swim? His gaze was rooted to the rising water.

When the water level came to a point that the beasts would be submerged if they didn't swim Kit became disappointed.

The trampling thickheads were able to keep their heads above the water. Kit could see their strong legs paddling frantically underneath the water. He had thought it was a good plan to plunge the giant beasts in the rising dam, who would have thought that they could swim!

He was sure he wasn't the only disappointed person right now. Before his disappointment could take root a surge of golden lightning dashed across the surface of the water. Wails of terror pierced Kit's ears, he quickly slapped his hands over his offended appendages.

Lightning kept dancing across the water acting as conduct for the electricity. The golden streams spread to each of the trampling thick heads trapped in the water. If it weren't for the screams of terror, it would be a beautiful sight.

Kit had been starting to think that the monster run would be a flop when he saw how many of the trampling thick heads were left to kill after his team had finished with their destructive arrows. Now he was thinking that they had a good chance of being successful.

They hadn't even got to their trump card yet. He was starting to wonder if Peaches would even need to raise the dead creatures. Kit felt his heart start to pump in anticipation. His eyes started to gloss over thinking of the drops that such a high level creature would leave behind.

His mind started to race towards the profit they would receive from selling the items. Spartan Fire could finally fill its coffers! Kit wanted to rush back to Spartan Fire and start spending the village's money on improvements right now.

He could picture the promotion from a small village to a village already. Then he could finally promote his own restaurant! Joy filled his lungs with each breath. A smile danced across his face. As he was starting to get delirious with happiness a loud crack rang clear.

Kit's eyes shot to the first earth wall. Water started to spill through a crack in the earthen structure. With the pressure from the water pouring out, the crack crumbled into a large hole. Water and trampling thickheads spilled into the next section blocking the way.

The joy Kit felt turned into nervous tension. The lightning display coursing across the water increased in intensity. Slowly the tension faded when Kit realised there was still four walls to break through before the trampling thickheads reached the plains.

Kit watched the flailing goats at the front of the herd. They were slowly turning their large bodies around, so their rear end was facing the earthen wall. He watched as the trampling thickheads ducked their heads into the water then secured their horns with a monster in front of them.

Then they kicked out with their back legs smashing into the solid wall. Kits eyes grew big with fright. If this continued it wouldn't take long for them to break out through to the next section.

White arrows soared through the air towards the kicking trampling thickheads. The impaled goats floated to the surface momentarily blocking the way for the goats behind. Kit felt a moment of happiness before he realised this mightn't be enough to stop them.

With the pressure of the water as well as the direct hits to the wall he didn't think it would take long to break through. Killing one or two wouldn't be enough to stop them breaking free.

It was only one person shooting the white arrows and there were still hundreds of beasts left. Kit watched as his thoughts turned into reality. Another loud crack filled the air and water started to spill through towards the third earthen wall.

Kit looked along the dam filled with trampling thick heads to see more than a third floating dead in the water. He remembered Peaches said they would only need to kill at least half of the monsters then he would take care of the rest.

A seed of hope once again sprouted in Kit's heart. They were actually close to defeating half of the herd! Kit wanted to cheer his team mates on, unfortunately the apple cider was still in effect. Kit continued to watch with bated breath.

It was a rush between the trampling thick heads breaking the walls and the lightning slowly taking them out. Kit felt his hands clenched in frustration. Right now, he was only a spectator. There was nothing he could do to help his team members with this part of the fight. The suspense in waiting to see how this would end was killing him.

Finally, a result emerged. Trampling thickheads and water poured out into the plains below. Kit watched as the dazed beasts stumbled to their feet. Bellows of anger filled the air, fear spread like wildfire through his veins. He could see the spartan fire residents rushing towards the giant monsters.

They looked so small next to the enormous creatures. Splashed of colour darted in all directions heading towards the large beasts. Kit watched the magical attacks land on the goats, the ground below turned into a frenzied madness. Bellows and screams bombarded Kit's ears, from his vantage point it was difficult to gauge what was fully happening down below.

He swung his eyes to the bottom of the gorge hoping to estimate how many of the trampling thickheads had died before they made it out to the plains. Dead goats littered the floor of the gorge. Majority of the dead bodies were pressed up against the earthen walls.

Kit wanted to be relived at the amount he could see. But when he looked back to the open plains, he felt a squeezing around his heart. He noticed a flash out of the corner of his eye. Water welled in his eyes when he looked at the counter.

Time remaining until event complete: 01hour 21minutes 23seconds.

Spartan Fire residents: 174/175

Even though he knew death was a strong possibility today he had been living in a dream that they had done enough preparation to prevent any deaths. He had even given them each extra protection with luck. Why had the luck run out so quickly?

His watery eyes looked down at the chaotic fight. The size of each beast alone was a devastating disadvantage to the spartan fire residents. How could they possibly survive against these beasts long enough for Peaches to work his magic? Fear wrapped around Kit like a cloak. How many people would die today.

Screams of rage mingled with screams of terror. Kit watched as the trampling thickheads began to rampage. Bodies could be seen tossed in the air and people were being crushed underneath giant hooves. Kit frantically searched to catch sight of Peaches. If he didn't start raising the dead creature soon there would be no one left on the battle field.

Kit's eyes couldn't help move his eyes back over to the counter.

Time remaining until event complete: 01hour 19minutes 40seconds.

Spartan Fire residents: 169/175

A suffocating feeling welled in his chest. NO, this needed to stop, tears fell from Kit's eyes. His fist clenched in frustration. There was absolutely nothing he could do to stop the counter from falling. Why had he raised the idea of this monster run?

A crushing weight fell on top of Kit. This was all his fault. How was he going to live with these deaths on his conscience. These people dying were someone's father, mother, or children. A silent sob escaped from his mouth.

Kit started to frantically look for the sight of Peaches. He was the only one that could stop this madness.

Kit caught sight of a group of 8 people walking through the broken earthen walls. Kit couldn't stop himself from standing. The sight of these people made his heart pound. He wanted to scream at them to hurry up.

They were just casually walking through the burnt corpses. Why were they not running!

Kit's eyes focused on the figure in the middle of the group. Long silver hair caught his eyes. Finally, Peaches had arrived!

Red swirls drifted out from the slender youth surrounded by the group. They twined around the heaped pile of dead bodies. The red swirls reminded Kit of fresh blood. The corpses on the ground that the red ribbons covered, looked like they had been slashed open and blood was concentrated in the wounds.

The bright red colour contrasted against the dull grey coats of the monsters. Kit watched in fascination as the bright red swirls started to saturate the heaped corpses. The further Peaches walked amongst the dead the more the red swirls congested.

Once each corpse was fully covered in red. The group of eight stopped in their tracks. The silver haired man in the middle lifted his arms towards the sky, black smoke started to fill the air above the outstretched hands.

Kit wanted to scream 'faster'. They were too slow, the counter kept falling. Fear that they wouldn't be able to raise the fallen monsters in time filled Kit's heart. What was the point in raising the dead if the living were no longer there to enjoy life.