The sun was high in the air, and a cool breeze of autumn was brushing off Harry and his group. They have been traveling for a long time, and the time has finally come for them to rest a little. And they have found a perfect spot to relax as well.
Like the big waves of the stormy sea, their group had stopped by a patch of hills which were in the shape of waves. The hills were not big or steep, so one could not be able to get their cart across. But they were big enough to make both Harry and Dora start to huff and puff after crossing just one or two hills.
But the hills turned out to be a great spot to relax, as it gave them a very small spot of shade in the noon, which they truly yearned for.
The kids who have been a bundle of energy ever since they woke from their nap started playing something called hunters and prey. While Harry and Dora were having a very important conversation out of earshot of the kids, "We need food. And we need water, if we want to survive the 5 days long journey," Harry said.
"Well, for water, I spotted some Ruttle Berries when we were coming here. It would be enough for us, for now," Dora said, pointing to their east.
"Which leaves us with only one problem. Food,"
Dora then added, "I don't think it would be that hard. We will be able to hunt something out here. I truly believe so.. But the problem is not that we would be able to hunt. The problem is the place where we would be able to eat in peace." On the first day of hunter training itself, Karina had taught him the consequences of eating out in the open.
The beasts and other monsters of the plains are attracted to blood. That is why whenever some hunter drains the blood out of their victims, they usually tend to do it on the tribe's grounds, or try to drain and return as fast as they can.
Now, cooking out in the plains is possible only when one has at least a dozen Vita-wielding hunters in a group. Then, usually, beasts tend to stay clear of them. But now, not only were they low in numbers, while not to also lacked their prowess, which is only enough to survive out there.
"We cannot starve ourselves, not to mention we cannot eat raw meat. The only thing that we can do now is hunt, and then hope for the best." They didn't have any choice in the first place.
Harry then pushed himself up, "I will go and see whether there is something edible around the place. Why don't you take the kids to collect some firewood and collect the roots of Ruttle Berries?"
"Got it," Dora said.
Harry took his bow and arrow and was about to go ahead, when he started feeling it, a weird vibration in the air. Confused, he looked around, but could find anything noteworthy. To get a better look at their position, he jogged up the hill, but still saw nothing.
He knelt down, and touched the ground. It is then that he realised that the ground of shaking.
Dora, who looked as confused at him first, suddenly widened her eyes with realization, "FUCK! A stampede!"
"A what now?" Harry asked. But soon he got the answer he needed. From a hill which was 5-6 rows away from them, he spotted a bovine-like creature appear above the hill. The sheer size of the creature was astonishing enough, but the creature was not alone. With it, the thing brought its herd, and a variety of animals followed its lead.
Harry didn't even have the time to understand what kind of creatures were headed their way. He just has to act now.
He came down the hill, and Dora acted smart, as she was already loading the kids onto the cart. In order to save the cart, he started pulling it as Dora was putting the kids in. After throwing everyone onboard, Dora soon joined him, and they started making their way away from the path of the stampede.
They ultimately have to push Vita through their body to get that extra boost flowing through them. With that, they were able to go past three hills and finally came to a stop. Harry noticed that the stampede was passing through the hill behind them, which got him curious.
He went up their current hill to see it for himself, and the various kinds of beasts in the stampede.
This group contained multiple herds of beasts, and they seemed not to have any problem with one another. What surprised them was the sheer number of the beasts there were.
From what he saw, he counted at 700 something beasts going before his eyes.
Oh fuck, He cursed himself.
He now realised that the way the group came running up the hill, towards them, something would have surely spooked the group, which made them come here.
There is a predator or predators nearby, he thought.
"AHHH!" He heard a scream from behind. Harry turned around to see that their group was now surrounded by feline creatures. They looked like overgrown cats, with yellowish fur with black spots over them. All of them were the size of a decent motorcycle, and were looking at the kids as the meal of the century.
The creature had surrounded the cart, on which Dora and the kids were. Dora had her battle ax in her hands, which was clearly very heavy for her, yet still she was pointing it towards the creature that was trying to get up the cart.
Harry immediately nocked an arrow, aimed at the one trying to get up the cart, and let it fly.
With Jenny's guidance, the arrow went through the creature's skull, impaling it to the ground.
The other beasts were not happy that their comrade had been killed by Harry. Leaving Dora, some of them started running towards him.
Harry immediately nocked another arrow and shot at the creatures running towards him. He got one of them at the bottom of the hill, and another one as it made its way up the hill. But Harry's time ran out, as before he could even nock another arrow, one of the creatures was upon him.
The creature pounced at him, digging its nails into his shoulder. Momentum of the attack made Harry fall back, and both he and the creature started sliding down the hill.
During the fall, Harry lost his bow. And felt that his arrows also fell from his quiver, as they started toppling down.
They rolled down the hill like a rag-tag doll, when Harry grabbed the beast, and as they approached the foot of the hill, he used their momentum to throw the beast aside, with some help, the boasted strength using Vita.
His plan worked; the creature was thrown aside with ease. But he was not done yet, with the hunting knife on his belt, he ran for the creature.
The creature had landed gracefully, and it also quickly ran to Harry.
The creature was faster; it had attained some momentum by the time Harry came near it. With its full power, it jumped on Harry, but at the last moment, Harry slid on the yellow grass, escaping the vicious attack.
Harry started pumping Vita through his body, and entered his boasted state. He then came up to the creature with incredible speed, as the creature landed on its feet. Before the creature could turn around and face him again, he had already jumped on the creature, with his knife aiming for the head of the creature…