Prophecy Of The Stars

23.DEMONIC BEAST

The night in the forest was filled with howls, chirpings and other strange sounds. Rustling of leaves by the gentle winds and occasional hootings added to the eerie charm of the forest, bathed under silver moonlight.

Some nocturnal beasts passed by the trees where the four people were, none bothered to look up. The first quarter of night passed by peacefully.

Four of them relaxed their guard and was about to drift off to sleep when they were awoken by a low growl.

In the clearing, stood a wolf, below the tree on which Meilin was.

It's dark fur gave off a metallic glint under the moonlight and it's razor sharp fangs shined, dripping with drool. It looked up at the tree growling.

Four of them held their breath and sat still, trying to minimise their presence. The wolf too, stayed at the spot without moving, growling continuously, as if he knew her presence.

He dashed forwards, at great speed, and hit his head, against the tree on which Meilin was. The tree shook under the impact and Meilin lost her grip, as she fell, only to hang on tightly to a branch.

Wan Huang and the other two boys, noticed the seriousness of the situation and jumped down from their respective hidings, surrounding the wolf.

Four of them surrounded the wolf in four directions, limiting its space to move.

It was the armoured wolf, one of the intermediate ranked demonic beast that inhabited the Ghost mountains.

With a tough skin, just like an armour, resistant to cuts and stabs protecting it, a muscular body, and a head that is hard enough to smash a lower ranked beast to pulp, it was the worst nightmare to any humans.

Wan Huang and team never expected to bump into an armoured wolf on the first day of their mission.

Being surrounded by four humans, the viciousness in its eyes deepened. It lounged towards Meilin, thinking to take down the weakest one in the group.

Meilin nimbly dodged while Gong Li, Lu Bai and Wan Huang launched an attack from behind.

The armoured wolf stirred up, gave in to its bestial instincts and took turns attacking them.

While it attacked the prey in front, it had to suffer the brunt of attacks from behind. This distraction drove it, to the point of madness that, it wanted nothing but to tear up the puny humans around it, to pieces.

The fight continued for an hour. The wolf's attack became more and more disoriented, exposing loopholes in its defense.

Xiufeng pointed out the weak point in its defense to Wan Huang.

Wan Huang then attracted the attention of wolf to herself and when it jumped on her, she dodged to the side, simultaneously stabbing the sword through the underside of its neck, with such force, that it pierced its head and came out through the other side.

The wolf howled in agony and desperation, finally falling dead.

The battle ended. And just as four of them breathed in relief, rustling sounds were heard from behind.

In the dark, four pairs of red glow appeared behind them. The moon appeared from behind the clouds, unveiling the massive structures behind the red glow.

It was a pack of four armoured wolves. They might have been roaming around nearby, when they were alerted by the painful howl of their dead companion. They tracked his scent and what greeted them at the site, was their companion's dead body and four humans.

Four of them stood frozen. The fight just now, sapped half of their energy and before they could even breath, came another, but four in number.

Following the alphas command, the wolves lounged at them. Quickly recovering their wits, they reacted, starting another battle.

Having no time to look out for one another, each of them fully focused on eliminating the crisis at hand.

The fight went from midnight till dawn.

When the first rays of sunlight seeped in, through the dense foliage of leaves, the four teenagers sat on the ground, huffing and panting, their bodies covered in scratches and other wounds and robes splattered with blood.

On the ground laid five dead armoured wolves, all killed in the same manner, pierced through their head, and their demonic cores extracted.

The group found a clearing and a lake nearby. They washed themselves clean and tended to their wounds.

Although their injuries weren't severe, the battle had drained their energy. They needed to rest properly and regain their energy. Or else, if they were confronted by another demonic beast, even defending themselves would be difficult.

A day and a night passed. The next morning, invigorated with their regained energy, four of them searched for their prey.

It was almost midday when they reached the border between the inner perimeter and the core of the Ghost mountain forest. Scouring through the forest, they could not find any trace or footprints, let alone the beast.

Fatigue overwhelmed them. Tired and drowsy, they sat down to catch their breath.

Gong Li, Lu Bai and Meilin sat down with aching legs. Wan Huang was in a better condition compared to them, as she had gone through torturous training to strengthen her body.

"I am so tired. Are you sure that beast will be found here? Forget about its head, even a tail cannot be seen". Gong Li complained, frustrated.

"It might be here. This is its habitat according to what we were told. Let's wait for a while before searching again. But, be alert at all times".

Lu Bai consoled and warned  both himself and his teammates and walked to sit down, on a rock he found between the shrubs.

Wan Huang maintained her silence.

Sitting on the ground, Meilin observed her teammates. They all were new disciples at the sect, but they barely interacted with each other.

Both Meilin and Gong Li were in the group, who followed the five rising stars of their batch. Those five were their idols and they trained themselves to become like them.

Although, both of them possessed the green aptitude core, and were at level six of the profound earth stage, they trained hard. But in their eyes, no one among the new disciples were as perfect as their idols.

They were a bit dismayed, when the group list for the mission was put up. They were not in the team of their idols or their fellow followers, but with two 'aliens'.

So, throughout the journey, they kept to themselves and it was only after their battle with armoured wolves, they began to warm up slowly to each other.

Meilin observed that, apart from Wan Huang, three of them were in similar situations, tired and panting while Wan Huang moved around energetically, as if she had an inexhaustible supply of energy.

"Say, Li Huang, aren't you tired? We are so drained, that we can't wait to plop ourselves down. And you can still run around? What's the secret to it?".

Her question attracted both Gong Li and Lu Bai's gaze on Wan Huang for a second.

Wan Huang shrugged her shoulders in reply.

She had to thank her handsome master, for her current body strength. The torturous training he put her through, the crazy training methods and reviews he gave and the tests he created that almost made her run away from everything, would sent shivers through her body even now.

Meilin scrunched her face, unsatisfied by the lack of reply. She snorted and looked away focusing herself to rest.