Hunt in the Den
Chapter 534
Dean’s head turned towards the source of the scream. He saw Luna who was standing behind Ian and Martin, grabbed by a lizard-like monster. The monster was standing still and its body was covered in green scales similar to a crocodile’s skin. It had a triangular head of a snake which was opened and Dean was able to see fine teeth all over its mouth. There were two razor sharp larger teeth on both sides of the mouth. The monster’s head directly bite onto Luna’s head and the blood began to constantly spew out.
Dean’s eyes narrowed as he saw the familiar appearance of the monster.
Ian, Martin and others who heard the screams turned to look at the terrifying sight in shock. Martin and Ian were the first to react as they waved their weapons to rush past.
Puff~ It didn’t take an instant when the monster’s head squashed Luna’s skull. Her screams stopped. The blood splashed out as the brains and other blood vessels creeped out.
The monster’s body flash as it shook it tail and pushed Luna’s body towards Ian and Martin who were rushing at it. It turned around and moved past. There was no sound not even traces of footsteps as it disappeared in the darkness.
Ian caught Luna’s body. His face had turned ugly. He was taller than Luna so he was able to insides of Luna’s skull which stimulated his nerves. Ian clenched his teeth as he looked up.
Martin didn’t reach out for Luna’s corpse but instead moved towards the direction monster had rushed past. He looked around at the cave but couldn’t find the monster.
Ruby and Rosemary responded slower than them. They clutched their weapons as they nervously looked around.
“Where did it go?” Ruby waved the torch as the light shined down the rocky walls of the cave. However, there was no shadow of the monster. It was as if everything they had seen was just an illusion.
Dean was the last to move.
Martin, Ruby and others looked at Dean with vigilance as he got closer to them.
Dean frowned: “There is a monster in here… We want be able to survive if we continue with this infighting… Let me check the place maybe I can find a clue..”
Martin deeply looked at him and nodded at Ruby.
Ruby moved sideways to make space for Dean.
Dean squatted down and observed the ground. He found traces of the sticky mucus on the ground. His eyes followed the trail which extended towards the rocky wall.
Martin and Rosemary who noticed Dean’s action followed his sight. The traces lead towards the dome of the cave and disappeared there. It was as if monster teleported out.
There was nothing which indicated that the monster passed through there!
Everyone’s face turned ugly as they looked around.
Tick~~
A very tiny sound echoed from behind.
Dean, Martin and others immediately turned around. They saw a drop of bright red blood on the ground. It seems it was Luna’s blood.
Dean’s eyes narrowed as he looked up.
The top of the cave was made from uneven rocks. However, there was still not a trace of the monster.
Martin’s face was ugly as he asked: “Isn’t your thermal vision able to see it?”
“Nope.” Dean replied.
Ian brought Luna’s corpse and stared at Dean: “It seemed you knew something about the monster’s attack.”
Martin, Ruby and Rosemary turned to look at Dean.
Dean’s face turned cold when he saw their reaction: “I just saw an egg which was empty. It seemed to me that the monster had already hatched out! I was about to warn you all when she was attack. Are you doubting me?”
Ian turned around and checked Dean’s previous location. He saw the tilted egg and looked at Ruby: “Previously, I told you and Eugene to check the place. Didn’t you pay attention that egg?”
Ruby replied: “I was checking the other side while Eugene was looking over there. I would certainly inform you if I saw the hatched egg!”
Ian frowned. He believed Ruby but it seems Eugene was too lazy to inform them. It seems he didn’t seriously check the place and didn’t notice the hatched egg. Eugene didn’t have thermal or dark vision so he used torch to look around and it wasn’t the best way to check the environment. Maybe, Eugene had seen the egg but had another plan.
However, Eugene was dead and there was no way to get to the bottom of that.
“It was similar to the monster we saw in the egg.” Rosemary said out in a loud tone.
Ian’s face was gloomy: “I know that. It should have hatched out some time ago. It’s shape is bigger than the one in the egg. I think it hatched out before we entered this place.”
Martin clenched his fist: “Damned monster. It has been lurking around for sometime and now it dares even to attack us!”
“It was not far away from us since start…” Rosemary said: “We couldn’t know about its presence so its best for us to leave.”
“Leave?” Martin looked at her: “Do you want Luna to die just like this?”
Ian was silent for a moment before he looked at Martin: “It has extraordinary strength to attack Luna and its good at hiding. It will be hard to kill it if we want to accomplish it.”
Martin said: “Don’t you want to get revenge for her? What are you afraid of? Look at how many people we are… Do you really want to leave? Anyway, I will stay back to kill it. I don’t think it has any combat skills is face to face fight. I don’t think I won’t be able to lure it out!”
“I am also in favor of Martin’s proposition. We are five people in here… We can’t just go like this and don’t avenge Luna’s death!” Ruby said.
Ian frowned as he saw that his team was set: “Alright, we will kill it and leave.”
Dean felt funny when he heard the others talk about revenge: “I think its best for us to leave this place immediately! You won’t be able to resurrect Luna even if you kill the monster. Instead we will consume our stamina and strength. Moreover, the way back will be much more dangerous if we get injured!”
Martin shouted as he looked at Dean: “Shut up! What do you know about comrades?”
Dean raised his eyebrows but he didn’t reply.
Ian waved his hand as he didn’t want quarrels now: “Dean, Luna was part of our team for long time. We have performed several tasks with her. In short, she has saved our lives and of course we have saved hers too. You are a rookie and you may not be able to understand the relationship between us but I hope you will respect our choice.”
Dean didn’t want to laugh out so endured as he continued to say: “I understand your feelings towards your companion. But situation is more complicated that you think. This monster, whatever it is, had hatched much before our entry. In addition, it didn’t make a move in the last five days we lived in here. Why do you think it stayed on the side?”
“Because it is not an ordinary monster! It has intelligence and wisdom! The monster didn’t attack us before but choose to attack now is because it has grown up!”
Ian was startled.
Dean continued: “It has grown so much that it is confident to be able to kill all of us! In the last five days it has likely been lurking in the darkness and observing us! Maybe, it even was few centimeters away from us! The point is we were unaware of anything!”
Rosemary and Ruby found that Dean’s speech was reasonable. They were very weak when they entered the cave but the monster didn’t attack them!
The cold sweat began to flow down their spines and their scalps tingled as they thought of the hideous monster within the cave.