The roar sounded like that of a dragon and a bird mixed together. The group was instantly alarmed.
"Uhhh, what the heck was that?" Ethan asked while looking towards some trees, searching for the source of the roar.
"I have no idea, bro. Everyone stand back to back," Dex said.
The group quickly stood with their backs at the center while they looked for the source of the roar.
A huge bird foot with claws suddenly emerged from behind the huge boulder.
"Guys, what is that?" Nia asked, walking backwards, her eyes glued on the huge bird foot.
Everyone quickly looked toward the boulder and noticed the huge bird foot.
"Shhh, everyone walk back slowly. No noise," Dex said while slowly walking back.
The crew listened and started walking back slowly, sweat on their foreheads and their hearts about to beat out of their chests.
The creature's other leg appeared, prompting the crew to stand still, not making a single movement.
Behind its two legs, its huge head started to appear. Its head was like that of an eagle with the mane of a lion around its head. Its back was like that of a huge lion but with huge wings, and its back legs and tail were that of a lion.
Its full body was now standing atop the huge boulder. It let out another huge roar, its crimson red pupils staring at the frozen group of teens.
"Don't move. It won't do anything if we stay frozen," Dex said in a low voice.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A voice echoed behind them, screaming.
It was Kareem, already ten meters away from the crew, running for his life.
Dex slapped his forehead and took a deep breath when suddenly the griffin-like creature leaped into the air, heading towards them.
"Run for your life!!" Dex screamed, taking off following Kareem.
The rest of the guys noticed that it was too late to take off running. They jumped to the sides. Nia and Chloe jumped to the right, and Ethan jumped to the left, leaving Marquis standing there frozen, his pupils shaking in fear.
The griffin creature's head slammed into Marquis's abdomen, sending him flying. He coughed out a mouthful of blood, then slammed to the ground and started rolling down the steep slope of the mountain. His back slammed against a tree, instantly stopping him in his tracks and knocking him out.
Chloe, Nia, and Ethan got up from the ground, instantly taking off in different directions. The griffin creature roared, and smoke shot out from its nose. It roared again, this time fire came out from its mouth. It moved around in a circle, aiming its flames at Chloe, Nia, and Ethan. They all jumped at the same time and were barely missed by the flames.
When the griffin creature stopped, the whole area around it was full of smoke.
Ethan, Nia, and Chloe quickly rose to their feet and scattered into the woods, trying to use the trees as cover.
The griffin creature spread its wings vigorously, clearing the smoke, then it took off into the sky. Kareem was sprinting, tears welled up in his eyes.
"I don't want to get eaten!" he screamed inwardly.
Dex was right behind him, sprinting down the steep slope of the mountain, their speed greatly increased.
The first person the griffin noticed was Chloe. She looked up, realizing that the creature was after her. She increased her speed. Her breathing was heavy, but she had to keep running.
The creature increased its speed, heading towards her. She quickly skidded to a halt. The path she was running on had stopped. If she took one more step, she would fall down the mountain to her death. The side of the mountain she was at was too steep to go down. She could either climb up or down, but it was too late, the creature was already too close.
The creature landed right in front of her and roared. Its roar pushed her back a little bit. Chloe closed her eyes, fear evident on her face, accepting her fate. The creature slowly walked toward her and shot smoke out of its nose again. When it was only a few inches from her face, it shook its head and looked deeply at her face, its eyes turning from red to blue.
It shook its head, remembering when it was getting fed by a woman who looked similar to Chloe. It turned around, facing the other way, its eyes turning red again.
Chloe slowly opened her eyes, and the creature was nowhere to be seen. She quickly started running back to check on Nia and the others.
With the help of the steep slope, Kareem and Dex's speed down the mountain was incredible. Kareem was still ahead, sprinting when—
"Ddhhh!!!"
The creature landed a few meters in front of him. He skidded, trying to stop, but that only made him tumble and fall. He started rolling down toward the griffin, trying to grab onto trees and grass to save himself.
"Ohh sh*t," Dex said, his eyes wide open in fear.
Dex knew that if he tried stopping at the speed he was going at, he would only end up hurting himself, self-serving himself to the griffin, so he made a tough choice.
He ran straight towards a tree.
"THAD!"
He slammed into the tree face first. His terrible plan worked, the tree stopped him dead in his tracks.
Ethan was running like a madman, pushing bushes to the side, making way for himself. He kept running until he saw the bushes in front of him shaking.
"Ohh please, God, no," he said while skidding. Nia's head popped out from the bushes.
"Ahhhhh!" Ethan screamed in fear, falling to the ground. "Oh thank God it's just you. You scared the sh*t out of me," he said, getting up.
"Shhh! Are you trying to give away our location?" she said, mad. "That thing is still out there looking for us."
"Sorry, my bad. So what's the plan?" he asked.
She crouched down and pulled him down too.
"Let's hide here for a while and see what happens," she whispered.
Ethan looked at Nia, realizing how close his face was to hers. He started blushing, his eyes moving back and forth between her beautiful eyes and her scrumptious bosom. She turned to him, noticing his blushing.
"What?" she asked, a bit confused.
"You smell great," he said, having a hard time looking her in the eyes.
She smiled a bit. "Well, duh. What did you expect?" she replied, proud of herself.
His mind was racing, the cold breeze of the night hitting them while hiding in the bushes. He leaned a bit toward her, trying to feel the warmth radiating from her body and enjoy the irresistible feminine scent emanating from her.
She was too busy looking around to make sure their location was not found out. He couldn't get enough of her and continued leaning towards her.
"Thud!"
He fell, pushing her down, landing on top of her.
"I'm so sorr—" Her right hand landed on his mouth, then she used her left hand and placed a finger on her lips, signaling him to stay quiet. They could hear footsteps from the other side of the bushes they were hiding in. The footsteps were strong, causing the ground to shake a bit with every step.
Ethan seemed to forget about all that and got lost in Nia's shiny hazel eyes. She moved her eyes from his to his hand and back. He snapped back to reality, feeling something soft and mushy under his hand. He couldn't help but blush while slowly removing his hand from her bosom, trying his best to prolong the moment.
"I think it's gone," Nia said, getting up from the ground to look for whatever was walking behind the bushes.
"Sorry about the umm—the accidental fondling," Ethan said, his face red.
After thinking about the moment, Nia couldn't help but blush herself.
"It's OK," she said. "FYI, you scream like a girl," she said, laughing. He couldn't help but join her in laughter.
"Wait till I tell Dex about this. Ha ha ha ha, I touched them tiddies today, ha ha ha ha," he thought to himself.
After laughing for a bit, they stared at each other in admiration. Nia looked down.
"Maybe I should reconsider those love letters you—"
All of a sudden, she was pushed away by Ethan. Her eyes widened.
"ETHAN!!!" she screamed in fear.
His right arm was bitten off in one bite. A huge shadowy four-legged figure jumped between them. The creature destroyed the bushes they were hiding in and landed in front of them.
Arterial spray painted the leaves as Ethan stared at the stump where his arm had been.
A mouthful of blood fell from his mouth.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
He screamed in pain and fell to the ground, crying and groaning in pain. Nia was frozen in fear, tears running down her cheeks while she looked at the creature in front of her—a towering spectral wolf with bone-like spikes protruding from its back.
The wolf started chewing on Ethan's severed arm, blood droplets hitting the ground with every bite.
Ethan got on his knees and looked at Nia's frozen figure.
"Nia," he tried shouting. Nia snapped back to reality and ran to his aid.
"Oh my God, are you okay? What do I do? Tell me what to do. What do I do?" she said while crying, holding Ethan in both her arms.
"Run," he said, his voice low.
"No, I won't leave you, Ethan. We'll go together. I won't leave you," she said, tears flowing like a river down her cheeks.
"Please, run!" he said again.
"OK, let's run. Get up, let's run together," she said, wiping her tears away and helping Ethan up.
"Rrrrrhhh!"
The towering wolf roared again while lunging at the two. Nia grabbed Ethan and jumped, pushing him with her to the left. The wolf's claws scratched her arm, leaving four huge bleeding claw marks on her whole arm.
She groaned in pain but still got up as fast as she could and grabbed Ethan's remaining arm, taking off with him, both groaning in pain. The wolf followed, but with the help of the huge trees and grass, they would disappear from its sight from time to time, making it hard for it to capture them. Plus, it wanted to enjoy the hunt, so it took its time.
Chloe reached the huge boulder where the opening appeared when she saw an orange glow heading towards her. She quickly made a decision to hide inside the opening on the huge boulder. While hiding, she peeked and saw the phoenix walking, melting everything in its path, looking for something. After not finding anything, the phoenix finally left, and she took a deep breath of relief, sitting down.
Kareem, who was rolling down toward the griffin creature, finally managed to grab onto a tree and stopped, inches away from the creature. The griffin's talon shredded his backpack barely missing him. It roared, fire rushing out its beak, heading towards Kareem. Kareem quickly pulled himself up, hiding behind the tree. The flames barely missed him.
The griffin creature jumped, breaking the tree in half with its beak, but to its surprise, Kareem was not there. It looked up, and Kareem was already a few meters away, running back up the mountain, blood trickling down from his forehead.
Chloe was about to leave the doorway in the middle of the boulder when she heard screaming. It was Ethan and Nia screaming maniacally with a huge wolf behind them, its anger evident on its face.
Dex slowly opened his eyes, feeling dizzy and disoriented. He felt something sticky around his head and shoulders.
"Ahh, what is that smell?" Dex asked, his nose disturbed.
He lifted his hands about to touch his head, but his hands didn't reach his head. Instead, they touched a rough, scaly surface. He quickly realized he was being swallowed whole.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
Dex screamed, getting on his knees, pulling his head as hard as he could. After a few cries, he grabbed its mouth and finally pulled his head out.
Laying on the ground, breathing heavily, drenched in snake spit, his clothes dissolving where the venom dripped, he looked up.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed again.
It was the giant white snake they saw when they first arrived at the mountain.
It was hissing, pulling its head back, ready to strike. When it first saw him, it thought he was already dead. Dex quickly rolled to his left, barely dodging the huge snake's bite. Its bite left the ground boiling like someone threw acid on it.
He quickly started crawling, slipping and sliding in the snake's saliva, and after a meter, he was able to get on his feet and started running back up the mountain, slipping and sliding, groaning, trying to pick up speed.
Marquis snapped his eyes open, gasping for air. Above him was a huge spider, twice his size, dangling from a tree with its web, staring deep into Marquis's face with its eight eyes.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
A scream echoed.