Priestess

Mighty walls shimmered like an obsidian curtain in the distance, visible through the trees, rising high above their tops.  A dark spire on the nearest corner rose even higher.

Mezopkhan.

The temple.  A promise of safety.  Near, yet an eternity away.

“Move up!”  the guard lieutenant ordered, directing his men as he tried to gauge the approach of the monster crashing unseen through the woods beyond.  Raan moved fearfully against Naro, who had drawn her sword.

“Send the chalk!”  the lieutenant barked, pointing.  Several of the Shug warriors on that flank pulled and, with sparking stones, lit slings of the explosive powder.  They began spinning the stones at the ends of long straps.  Around and around they went, blazing circles.  Then, in a flurry each released, sending little balls of fire whipping well out into the foliage.

Pow! Pow!  Loud retorts snapped back, a roar of challenge their only result.  Raan’s skin crawled at the ferocity of the answering bellow.  The still-hidden beast began to charge.

At that the lieutenant turned to the entourage, fixing Naro, “Back them away!  Move!”  he gestured with a sharp stroke of his arm to the forest behind.  The path of the creature was now known with certainty, its deadly rush creating a hail of noise.  The entirety of the Shug force set themselves to face it.

“Behind me!”  Naro directed Raan in particular as the group clambered off the opposite side of the road, crouching in the tall grass.  Raan complied, terrified, her attention on the warriors and the approaching monster.  Their bravery astounded her.  Her life depended on them and for that, for her life, each prepared to give his own.

She caught a glimpse of the shadowy form in the distance, dark against the underbrush, lunging toward them.  Massive.  Sporadically the form defined itself, ruddy orange hide thrashing unnaturally through the forest.  A brutish outline.

She swallowed.

They had identified the primascutus only moments ago, possibly the most lethal beast in Aedro Shuldine.  Solo hunters, they defended broad territories, making them rare as a result of self attrition: no primascutus tolerated any other within its domain.  This one must have been watching this region of the Long Road, far enough from the temple to avoid projected attacks from within, yet close enough to take advantage of the funneling effect of the passage.  For on this final approach groups from each of the six cities would travel.

Another glimpse, then the monster was in full view, bursting from the greenery, arms whipping as it flung itself between the trunks.

Someone behind Raan screamed.

Thirty paces was all that separated her group from the beast as it leapt roaring among the warriors.

Raan watched the Shug crouch, setting themselves, a whirl of axes striking low, shields up as it charged into their midst.  Bodies flew back, kicked or batted away, the monster twice the height of the tallest warrior, ten times as massive.  Primascutus moved erect, much like a man with an exaggerated gait, leaving its arms free to grab or hit.