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Fallon whistled, then spoke swiftly to Kolt, seeming to angle the mount both with the reins and by wrenching the muscles of his legs. Soon, Kolt had aimed his terrified sprint towards the fencing. We careened towards the fence at an alarming rate. It felt like I was in a shuttle that was about to crash.
True to his word, when a gate came into view ahead, Fallon adjusted his grip on me. As Kolt dove by it, Fallon lifted me and dropped me as gently as that sort of speed allowed. Which was to say, I crashed to the ground in a crumpled heap. The adrenaline meant that I didn’t feel any pain. I lurched to my feet, fumbling with the gate’s latch. I got it open, turning to see if Fallon was looping back around to come through it…
Only to see something big and fast lunging up at Kolt with impossible, liquid speed. It swiped a massive paw at Fallon’s leg, ripping claws through leather and flesh.
No!
Kolt panicked, but instead of bucking this time, he put all his weight on his front hooves, kicking powerfully backwards. One of his back hooves connected with the genka’s ribs. The kick also sent Fallon flying over Kolt’s head.
Fallon hit the ground and he didn’t get back up.
And then I was running, my legs pumping, lungs burning, boots kicking of massive amounts of dust. Kolt bolted, racing past me and heading through the open gate. Another animal came through the gate at the same moment. I wouldn’t have noticed if not for the manic fits of barking.
Sora.
Sora was way faster than me. She reached Fallon before I ever could have hoped to, standing over his immobile body and barking her gorgeous, furry head off at the genka.
For the first time, I got a good look at the alien predator. It was nearly as big as Sora, somewhat feline in shape but with no tail and with what looked to be scales instead of fur. It seemed like it had at least been disoriented, if not badly injured, by Kolt’s kick. It hobbled sideways, as if in pain, or dizzy, as I finally reached Fallon and Sora.
I skidded down to my knees beside my husband so fast I knew I’d barely have any skin left. Not that that mattered now. A dark pool of blood had formed beneath Fallon’s injured leg, staining the dirt.
“Fallon,” I cried, grasping his shoulder and shaking it firmly. “I need you to get up. I can’t carry you back!”
I had to get him back inside the fencing before he or Sora got hurt. Sora’s barking grew suddenly louder. I looked up and jolted, seeing that the genka had regained some of its sharpness. Silver eyes pierced the night as it slowly crept closer.
“Get back!” I shrieked. I pushed my arms under Fallon’s back and half lifted his torso, hugging him to me. Fucking hell, even just the top half of him weighed a megaton. My arms shook as I dug my knees and clutched him protectively against my chest. “Get away!”
We had bears on Terratribe II. For some species, you were supposed to make yourself big and angry and loud to scare them away.
But then again, weren’t you supposed to play dead for other kinds? And a genka wasn’t even a bear, for fuck’s sake!
But my screaming had some effect, at least. The genka hadn’t been scared off, but Fallon was rousing himself at the sound of my voice. His eyes flickered open, dark for a moment, then a sputtering white as he sat up all the way and saw me, saw Sora. Saw the genka, still creeping closer.
“Get inside! Take Sora with you,” he hissed, scrambling to his feet. His injured leg immediately gave way when he stood, sending him down to one knee. “Blast!”
“I’m not leaving you out here to die. Tell me what to do,” I said hurriedly, never taking my eyes from the genka. It was growling now, still coming tentatively closer. “Does it have any weaknesses? Are you supposed to be loud? Play dead? Try to fight? What?”
“I had a knife,” Fallon groaned, trying and failing to get up again. “It was in my satchel on Kolt.”
“Kolt kicked the genka then ran inside,” I lamented.
Shit. No knife for us. If I hadn’t come running out here straightaway like a fucking idiot, maybe I could have grabbed one, or something else, anything else.
But then I saw it.
A leather bag, lying in the dirt, clearly knocked from Kolt’s back when Fallon had been. Fallon saw it at the same moment I did. His tail shot out to snatch it, but we weren’t quite close enough.
The genka was, though. Close enough that it tried swiping a paw at Sora. Sora went fucking crazy, barking and lunging to bite. The genka hissed, its scales puffing up in response. But it didn’t retreat. That thing was bold, or maybe really hungry. It wanted a Fallon fucking sandwich and was not prepared to back down without a fight.
Well, neither was I.
Before Fallon could tell me not to, I was on my feet and running for the bag. My heart collided with the walls of my throat as I reached it, grabbing it with fumbling hands. I’d planned to chuck the whole bag over at Fallon, but it was already too late for that. I’d moved away from the safety of my little huddled herd and the genka had zeroed in on me as the easiest prey.
It leaped, and it was only the lasso-like snap of Fallon’s tail around its neck that kept its fangs from locking around my throat. I couldn’t think fast enough, but luckily my body functioned where my brain didn’t. I jumped backwards, only a hair’s breadth from getting disemboweled by the same claws that had sliced open Fallon’s leg.
His leg. Fuck. We couldn’t stay out here like this. He was losing too much blood. He wouldn’t be able to keep his hold on the genka’s neck for long. Even now, the genka was pulling so hard that Fallon’s whole body was being jerked with the motion.
I tore open the bag, quickly finding and pulling out the knife. I ripped it out of its hard leather sheath.
