Chapter 30: Separation
Jet screamed at the top of his lungs as he began firing into the hole Maze had just been pulled into a second ago.
"PUPPIES!" "They have us surrounded from all sides! Open fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rapid gun-fire from the trainees high tech weapons filled the air as they swiftly moved away from the frozen pond, firing into it and around the cliffs. So far, nothing besides the initial puppy had shown itself yet.
Alexander pulled out the guns he had packed as he tossed one over to Arbus. There was no point in stealth now that they had already encountered part of the pack.
When they got to a safe enough distance, Rin dropped her bag instantly as she unstrapped her high tech rifle from her back. She set it up as she aimed at the very first cliff the noise came from.
Several seconds passed in tense silence.
Finally, something caught their attention on the first cliff. As they all looked over, their eyes widened in shock.
A truck-sized puppy emerged from behind the frozen cliff, its body covered in thick, overlapping scales that glistened like wet metal in the dim light. Its single massive eye that took up most of its wolf-like head, swirved from trainee to trainee as it scanned the group. It's Jaws that could easily snap a person in half opened slightly, revealing rows of jagged teeth.
Everyone took aim at the creature immediately, but then froze as they realised there was more movement on the surrounding cliffs. One by one, more creatures similar to it in size and appearance appeared, until their number easily surpassed thirty. It was an entire squad of puppies.
"By the emperor..." Alina whispered in fear as tears began to form in her eyes. "We're going to die here..."
"Run!" Jet shouted, abandoning any pretense of calm.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The group immediately bolted, firing backwards as they fled. Most of the shots bounced harmlessly off the creatures scales, with the exception of Rin's heavy rifle rounds set to level two, which seemed capable of penetrating their skin.
She managed to injure two of them before she abandoned her setup, catching up to Jet and the other trainees.
The puppies descended from the cliffs in a frenzy, moving with horrifying speed for their size. Their growls echoed across the mountain pass as they chased after the trainees.
Arbus, Alexander, Rin and Jet were naturally ahead of the group, due to their speed.
Eventually they reached a point where the path ahead split into multiple branches. In their panic, the trainees separated into smaller groups. Jet, Rin and Alina went down one path together, while Arbus and Alexander went down another. The other trainees ran down different paths, secretly hoping the puppies would go after the others, giving them more time to escape.
Arbus's expression turned somber as he looked back and noticed they were being chased by one of the puppies.
"This way!" Alexander called out, as he led them deeper into the frozen ravine.
The creature gained ground with each massive leap. It's single eye remained fixed on them as it closed the distance with terrifying speed.
"We can't outrun it!" Arbus shouted, skidding to a halt. "We need to fight!"
Alexander looked back in alarm.
"Are you crazy? We can't even penetrate that thing's scales! there's no way for us to-"
Ignoring Alexander's warning, Arbus drew his sword, activating its second level. They had been forbidden from using this during training before, but he no longer had to worry about that. The blade hummed to life as a faint coating of energy enveloped the metal, increasing its cutting power tenfold. These weapons were designed to mimic Heart shard weaponry. Arbus was really hoping they came close enough to the real thing.
His emerald eyes narrowed with cold determination as the puppy charged at him, it's massive jaws opening wide enough to swallow him whole.
Arbus dodged its lunge with inhuman speed, but couldn't avoid it completely. The creature's teeth caught his right arm just below the shoulder, as it severed it cleanly.
Alexander's eyes widened in horror as Arbus's blood sprayed across the snow. His expression darkened immediately as he activated his ability, his eyes turning as black as a void.
Before he could issue a command to the creature, he noticed Arbus leaping upwards and onto the puppy's back. His expression remained as determined as it was before, as if he didn't feel any pain. Alexander's gaze darted to where Arbus's arm had been severed from, only to find it completely intact.
Landing on the creature's scaled back, Arbus drove his blade straight through its skull and into the brain beneath.
Blood gushed out from the wound, coating him in it.
The puppy thrashed around in agony before collapsing, its massive body sliding several meters through the snow before coming to a stop.
Arbus sighed with relief as he pulled out his blade and leapt off the creature's corpse. He rolled his left shoulder and arm, making sure everything had regrown properly.
"Looks like I was right about the swords," he said, wiping blood from his face. "We should run now before more come down this path."
Alexander stared at him, his expression unreadable. "How did you do that? How did you regenerate your arm like that?"
Arbus paused for a moment, then exhaled slowly, his breath visible due to the cold air of the planet. "It's my father's abilities. I inherited them, though to a significantly lesser degree."
Alexander's eyes widened with disbelief.
"Half-humans can do that? Inherit abilities? That shouldn't be possible."
From what Alexander knew, Reincarnator abilities were gifts from the Primordial. He couldn't believe that something like that could be inherited. The implications were staggering. The Reincarnators could essentially create countless offsprings with powers just like theirs, and eventually overwhelm the Renegades.
"Well, now you know it is," Arbus replied, already moving. "As far as I know, I'm the only one who's inherited them. I didn't exactly gain them from the moment I was born either."
"Let's just talk about this later," he added, increasing his pace. "For now, we have to keep running."
Alexander stared at his back with a serious expression. He thought back to everything his brother had told him concerning Arbus. He was starting to understand a few of them.