"Come on, Femi, don't stop running!"
Femi forced himself up, his legs trembling beneath him like brittle twigs in a storm. His lungs burned, each breath a ragged gasp that tore through the icy air. The forest around him was a blur of white , the snow-laden branches clawing at him as if the very land conspired to slow him down.
"You have to get out of here!"
The words echoed in his skull, half his own, half the ghostly whispers of the Krags he'd left behind, krags whose faces were already fading in his memory. Shameful.
Gritting his teeth, he pressed forward, his clawed feet sinking into the snow with every step. "I didn't have a choice," he muttered between breaths, the fog of his words dissipating into the frigid wind. "Wasn't my fault, dammit."
But guilt was a weight strapped to his back, heavier than his pack, heavier than exhaustion. The Krags war band would be waiting for the scouting reports. And when he returned alone, what then?
"How am I supposed to go back and tell their Chief that they all died? That somehow, I'm the only one left breathing?"His voice cracked, the frustration boiling over. "No be me dem go use as sacrificial lamb o."
The thought twisted his gut. If he went back, they'd blame him. If he didn't, they'd hunt him. Either way, death waited.
"How I go survive at this point sef? So na bush I go die put?"
The despair was creeping in, a slow poison seeping into his veins. But before he could sink deeper into it
THUD.
His foot caught on something buried beneath the snow, and suddenly, the world tilted. Femi cursed as he tumbled, rolling uncontrollably down a steep slope, his body slamming against rocks, roots, and finally
CRACK!
a tree trunk brought him to a brutal stop. Pain exploded across his ribs, and for a moment, he just lay there, blinking up at the gray sky, half-convinced his bones had shattered.
"Lizard shit," he groaned, pushing himself up on unsteady arms. "Don't tell me they're this active today. This is my village, people, dem no even want make I escape."
The forest had always been treacherous, but today, it felt alive, hunting him as much as the men on his trail.
Using the tree for support, Femi tried to stand, but his hand slipped on the bark, and something wet and sticky smeared across his palm.
"Wetin be this?"
He frowned, bringing his fingers closer. The substance was thick, translucent, with a faint golden hue. He rubbed it between his fingers, then, against his better judgment brought it to his tongue.
A sharp, scent filled his nostrils and the taste was, familiar.
"Wait… I remember where I saw this before…"
A memory flickered at the edges of his mind, hazy like smoke. He'd been a child, small enough to be carried on someone's back. An elder? A hunter? They had taken him deep into the forest, pointing at trees, whispering secrets of the land.
"Who was it again? That person carried me… showed me things in the forest…"
His head throbbed, the effort of recall like digging through mud. Then...
"Ah! This na Ewu! From the Okololo tree!"
The realization hit him like a slap. He knew this sap. Knew its uses.
Glue. Medicine. And...
His breath caught.
A slow, dangerous grin spread across his face.
Without hesitation, Femi grabbed his axe and swung it hard into the trunk. Once. Twice. On the third strike, the bark split, and thick, golden liquid began to ooze out in glistening rivulets.
He watched it drip, his mind racing.
Then his eyes fell on his waterskin.
"Maybe… maybe I don't need to leave them to die there," he murmured, the plan forming like a spark in the dark. "This fit work."
His fingers closed around the sticky liquid, and for the first time in hours, Femi didn't feel like a man running from death.
He felt like a man with a better AK 47.
----+----
PRESENT TIME
Femi's voice cut through the battlefield like a blade, sharp and commanding. The air itself seemed to shudder at the sound. The Eri, mid-lunge toward Varga froze, its grotesque, elongated face snapping toward the noise. Its eyes, twin pits of inky malice, locked onto the small, ratling standing defiantly at the edge of the clearing.
Varga's breath hitched.
"You fool," she thought, her pulse hammering in her throat like a war drum. "You were supposed to run."
But he had come back.
He stood there, a lone figure against the snow-dusted earth, his water skin slung carelessly over one arm. His grin was manic, feral, his whiskers twitching with barely contained adrenaline. His tail lashed behind him like a cape caught in a storm.
Then—
"VARGA! CATCH!"
Femi's voice cut through the bloody snow field. She saw the ratling toss his waterskin in a high arc. She caught it with her free hand, the leather sloshing heavily with something thicker than water.
"Pour it on the ropes!" Femi shouted, already turning his gaze back toward the Eri, which had gone unnaturally still, its head cocked like a predator about to get it's meal. "All of them! Now!"
Varga's fingers tightened around the skin. The scent hit her it was unmistakable. Pine water, why would he tell her to prow this on the ropes.
"That's right, you overgrown abused monkey!" Femi taunted, his voice cracking only slightly. He spread his arms wide, his chest heaving. "Look at me! I'm the one who's going to skin you alive and hang your bones from the highest branch!"
The Eri's lips peeled back, revealing rows of jagged, needle-like teeth. A guttural growl rumbled from its chest, vibrating the air like distant thunder.
Then it moved.
It lunged for Femi with terrifying speed, its massive form a blur of sinew and fury.
Femi did not flinch.
At the last possible second, he darted sideways, his small frame twisting like a leaf caught in a gale. The Eri's claws raked empty air, tearing deep furrows into the earth where he had stood. Snow and dirt erupted in a spray.
"Too slow!" Femi jeered, already sprinting in a wide arc, his bare feet kicking up snow. "Come on, you walking corpse! Or are you afraid of a rat?"
The Eri snarled, its attention now fully locked onto him.
Varga's mind raced.
"Distraction," she realized, her grip tightening on the waterskin. "He's buying time."
She didn't hesitate. With a sharp jerk of her teeth, she tore the stopper free. The thick, amber-liquid glistened in the fading light. She dipped a finger in, it was sticky, clinged to her fingers slightly.
Her gaze flicked to the surviving Krags, barely a handful now, bloodied but still standing. They were watching Femi, their expressions a mix of shock and some awe.
"Ropes!" Varga barked, her voice raw but still carried far enough. "Now!"
Around her, the surviving Krags began moving. They ran to the fallen, their hands working quickly, stripping belts, uncoiling ropes from the dead, gathering every length of cord they could find.
A Krag his face a mask of blood, took a bundle of rope from a fallen warrior's pack and lashed a jagged rock to one end. Jorik, his broken arm hanging limp, used his teeth to knot a thick branch to another rope, creating a makeshift hook.
She heard, his voice taunting. "That's it, you victim! Keep chasing me!"
She had to hurry, she didn't know what his plans were but she would give it her all to kill that monster
Varga moved between them, pouring the strange liquid onto the ropes, coating them thickly. The Krags worked fast, their fingers slick with the sticky substance as they tied their crude grappling hooks.
"Ready?" Jorik growled, testing the weight of his branch-lashed rope.
Varga nodded. "Only on my signal."
Her gaze snapped back to Femi.
The ratling was fast.
He wove between the trees, using his small size to duck under branches the Eri had to crash through. He leaped over roots, rolled beneath swiping claws, and always, always, stayed just out of reach.
But the Eri was quickly getting use to his tricks.
Its movements grew more calculated, its strikes more precise. One graze of those claws, and Femi would be ripped in half.
Varga's jaw clenched.
All she could do was wait for his signal as she tries to recovered her strength, hoping he could give them a miracle.
-----+-----
"That's it!" Femi taunted, his voice high with exhilaration, though his chest heaved with exertion. The frigid air burned his lungs as he sprinted through the snow-laden forest, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "Chase me, you lumbering fool! Bet you've never caught anything smarter than a rock!"
His words were bold, but beneath the bravado, his heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. I don't want to die. Please, Lord, don't let my village people have their way with me.
The Eri monstrous, hulking body with grey hide and eyes like a dark hole roared in response, its frustration mounting. It swiped at him again, its claws shearing through a towering pine as if it were tissue paper. Splinters exploded into the air, and Femi barely managed to dive between its massive legs, rolling in the snow before popping up behind it. With a mocking grin, he delivered a sharp slap to its thick calf.
"Victim, victim, you are a victim!" Femi sang, his voice trembling only slightly as he darted away.
The Eri lunged, its massive form crashing forward like a landslide. Femi twisted at the last second, throwing himself to the side. The beast's claws gouged deep furrows into the snow exposing the earth beneath, where he had stood moments before. As he scrambled back to his feet, a sobering realization struck him.
Wait, why am I playing with my life. I no be fool?
The creature was blindingly fast, its strength unnatural. He had survived this long only because of his small size, speed, and skill...
What am I thinking? What skill? This is Pure grace and the Father's mercy, that has kept me this long.
Another swipe. Another near miss. Femi's muscles screamed in protest as he pushed himself harder.
This fight is too unfair, this thing is a giant. A behemoth. Goliath. Unfortunately I'm no David.
His eyes darted toward the krags, his allies were frantically gathering ropes. One part of the plan is complete, he thought, relief flickering briefly..
Before being snuffed out.
The Eri charged again, faster this time, its massive feet pounding the earth like war drums. The force of its attack sent trees bursting apart like kindling. A thick branch, hurled by the impact, struck Femi square in the chest.
"Ugh..!" The air rushed from his lungs as he tumbled into the snow, landing hard on his back. Spinning dots of light floating in his vision. When the dizzy spell faded, a sharp pain flared in his thigh. He looked down to find his own axe, dislodged in the fall, had slashed a deep gash into his leg.
"Ah, axe, you have betrayed me, you disloyal follower," he muttered through gritted teeth, yanking the blade free. Blood seeped into his shorts and snow, staining it crimson. "I'll get you back for this."
Then he saw the shadow looming over him.
Femi's breath hitched. Slowly, he looked up.
The Eri stood above him, its massive chest heaving, saliva dripping from its jagged teeth. Its eyes burned with primal fury.
"Oh let me tell you something..., wait let me tell you something.....please, abeg, have mercy!" Femi shouted, scrambling backward.
The beast raised its face to the sky and roared, the sound shaking the very earth. Then it lifted a fist, a fist that could probably crush boulders and prepared to slam it down.
THWACK.
An arrow whistled through the air, embedding itself in the side of the Eri's head. The beast bellowed in pain and whirled around, its attention ripped away from Femi.
The Krags had formed a ragged line, bows drawn. "Distract him! Don't let it kill Ratling!" Varga commanded.
Arrows rained down, peppering the Eri's hide. It roared in annoyance, swatting at the projectiles like mosquitoes.
Femi didn't wait. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his thigh, he rolled to his feet and dashed beneath the beast, blood dripping behind him like a macabre trail.
"SOMEONE SEND ME A ROPE!" he screamed.
Varga reacted instantly, grabbing a coiled rope with a stone tied to one end. With a powerful throw, she hurled it toward Femi.
Femi caught it mid-stride, then skidded to a stop. He turned, facing the Eri once more.
This time, he didn't run.
The beast paused, sensing the shift. Its nostrils flared as it locked eyes with the small, bleeding furry creature who dared stand before it.
Femi's left hand tightened around his axe. His right gripped the rope.
A slow, defiant smile spread across his face.
"I think it's about time we end this cat and mouse," he said, his voice calm. "Don't you agree?"
The Eri snarled.
Femi grinned wider.
"Good."