Page 53 of Infala: The Bonding Games
“It looks safe. Come on,” he urged, hurrying to the orb and claiming their third key.
They had all three in their possession. Now it was just for them to figure out a strategy to get to the exit in the morning before the others. Dorrin spun, picking up a rock and dropping into a fighting crouch. It seemed that choosing where to camp out would have to wait.
“Stay behind me,” he commanded. “And make sure I have slack to move.”
The tone of his voice made her move at once. Only when she was in place did she turn to look at what had spooked him.
It was a six-legged animal, low and feline in its movements, almost like a puma but with deep-red skin and black tufted ears. It also had four eyes, two on the front and two on the back, likely evolved to allow it to be an apex hunter as well as defender of its kill. Its teeth were long and deadly looking, but she was pleased to see that at least its claws were relatively short. Watching it pace around them, sizing up its prey, she realized why.
The claws didn’t retract. And this was rocky terrain. It was wearing them down every time it walked. She didn’t dare distract Dorrin with her observation, but she was quite glad they encountered this one up on the stone surface of the uppermostlevel. The beast’s cousins on the grassy area would have no such handicap, and by the look of it, their claws would be quite long indeed.
Dorrin flashed his teeth, a low growl rumbling from his throat, trying to scare it off as the beast moved closer.
No such luck.
In a flash it launched itself at him, a flurry of claws and fangs as it flew through the air. Dorrin swung hard, the rock in his hand jolted free as it smashed hard into the creature’s jaw, sending it off-course and tumbling into a cluster of boulders. It rebounded quickly, spinning and jumping back into the fray, seemingly unaware its jaw was broken. This was a fight, and it was acting on instinct alone.
“Ziana, arms around my waist!” he shouted.
She didn’t hesitate so much as a millisecond, wrapping her arms around him hard, the position freeing up all of the slack between their cuffs.
Dorrin moved impossibly fast, lunging aside as the beast’s claws whistled through the empty air where he’d just been. The creature let out a surprised sound when it found the cable from Dorrin’s cuff wrapped around its neck. It was a sound that was cut off immediately as the man mounted it from behind and leaned back hard, his muscular arms bulging from the effort, his torso hardening to a mountain of rock-solid muscle as he put his strength to the test.
Ziana felt the shift and marveled at just how much strength he had. How much he’d been holding back up until now. But with their lives on the line this was no time for conserving energy. It was live or die, andtheywere not going to be the latter.
The duo and their former predator rolled on the hard stone ground, all of them scraped up from the jagged surface but none letting go despite the pain. The veins in Dorrin’s neck werestanding out, a deep, rumbling growl vibrating his entire body as he pulled even harder.
A loud crack rang out, then the animal went still, a leg twitching but nothing more. Dorrin held on a full minute longer, taking no chances. Finally, he let go.
“It’s safe,” he said, unwinding the cable, looking in shock at the size of the beast he’d just slayed.
Ziana was positively buzzing with adrenaline. “That was insane,” she blurted, shocked and more than a little impressed at what he’d just done. He’d just out-Tarzaned Tarzan, killing a savage beast with his bare hands.
She saw that Dorrin’s arms trembled from the exertion. He’d been expending so much energy already between climbing and helping her up when she wasn’t strong enough. He needed a recharge, but this challenge didn’t offer any such comforts. Whatever they were to use for sustenance, they’d have to forage on the level.
“Fuck foraging,” she said, grabbing a piece of volcanic rock and whacking it with a hunk of what looked like granite, chipping away until it formed a deadly sharp edge.
“What are you doing?” he asked when she started slicing through the animal’s thick red hide.
“We need to eat, right? Well, there’s no sense letting this go to waste.”
He watched her with a surprised look, almost in shock after the fight to the death. Dorrin held out his hand. “Let me.”
“I thought you’d never ask,” she replied, handing him the hand-made implement. “I don’t actually know what I’m doing. I’ve never skinned anything. Me and hunting? Yeah, that’s not a thing. Fishing, sure. But all the meat I’ve ever had came from a store.”
He chuckled, his stress seeming to melt away, a look of something else in his eyes as his gaze softened. “Again you surprise me, Ziana.”
“I do my best.”
He looked at the stone blade in his hand and gave an exploratory slice to the dead beast. It cut through its hide like it was butter.
“Your best is impressive,” he said, setting to work. “Where did you learn to craft like this?”
“Old TV shows.”
“TV?”
“Entertainment. Like a video program on a screen. This was just something I saw once as a kid.”
