War Beast

Book One: Chapter 17

On their mounts, they rode under the shining sunlight through the open plain desert with flatlands, covered in rocks and small dune hills.

Jenny rode in the lead on her Rammer, riding on it like a horse. So fast, the wind breezed past her face.

She does not know where Horde was, but that won't stop her from trying to stop him. The world depended on her stopping him. "Where are we supposed to go?"

"To Horde's city," Huntar suggested, riding next to her. "His secret weapon might be there."

Jenny nodded. "Good idea."

She then dashed forward past her friends, remembering where the city was when she got captured. If she could recognize the area, then she will know the location of the city.

Jenny looked back and saw black dots running through a stream of dusty smoke behind her friends. "We got company!"

Huntar and the others looked back.

The dots grew, revealing to be ten Cocidius warriors charging on their black thick-skinned Rammers.

"They must be from the mining yard!" Zena shouted.

"Those bastards never let their slaves escape!" Huntar shouted.

The ape-men carried bows and arrows. When they came close enough, they shot their arrows at their fleeing target.

One arrow flew past Jenny's face, nearly cutting through her hair. "They are ganging upon us!"

"We must split up to slay those fiends out, one by one!" Huntar shouted. "Keep moving!"

"Okay!" Jenny kicked her Rammer to run faster.

Huntar and the others steered around and charged toward their pursuers.

As Jenny looked back, Huntar leaped onto one archer and tossed the archer off his mount. Torag swung his fist into the other archer, knocking the archer off his mount too.

Zena swung her battle staff, knocking a few flying arrows. When she came close to the archer, she knocked him off his mount.

The enemies circled around her friends without charging after Jenny. While her friends kept them busy, Jenny continued charging forward. Her friends will catch up with her because they knew she cannot fight alone.

Far at the front side, three ape-men on their mounts charged toward her. How did they reach her so quickly? Maybe they didn't come from the mining yard.

Two ape archers shot their arrows toward her. Their arrows hit her Rammer's lower legs, making him roar in pain. But her Rammer kept running as if he just stepped on a splinter.

Jenny reached them, but she made a quick turn to avoid their close-range attacks. The ape-man in the center pulled out a net and tossed it upon Jenny.

Before she knew it, the net landed on her, and she fell off her mount. Her Rammer charged away while she hit the ground.

She crawled out of the net as the three ape-men approached her. She jumped onto her feet and pulled out her sword, facing the ape-men. "Stay back! I am warning you!"

The ape-man at the center laughed and pulled out a blowpipe. He shot a dart into Jenny's neck.

She pulled the dart out of her neck and stared at it as her head went dizzy. "Not again..."

Jenny fell directly to the ground as the ape-men approached her.

*****

Huntar beat the ape archer while both of them battle on top of the running black Rammer.

When Huntar pulled the dagger out of the archer's left hand, he punched the archer's face and tossed him off the Rammer.

Three other ape-men riders dashed down the empty desert ahead. He beamed his eyes and noticed one carrying Jenny. It looked like she was unconscious, and Huntar did not understand how those ape-men ambushed her at the front.

"Kronos, how many times does that gal needs saving?" He tightened his hands on the Rammer's harness and kicked it to run fast. One thing he was good at was rescuing damsels in distress.

While charging behind them, Huntar found an extra bow below the saddle near a quiver. Archery wasn't his thing, but he knew how to use a bow when he hunted.

He grabbed the bow and picked up one arrow from the holder. As he sat up, he aimed at one of the ape-men and fired.

The arrow hit the ape man's neck from the back, and he fell off while the others still rode.

"Most wondrous shot!" Huntar aimed the next arrow at the second rider as he pulled the bow's string back.

He released the arrow and watched it hit the next rider. The ape-man fell off his mount, screaming in pain.

The last ape rider carrying Jenny looked back. His mouth dropped when he noticed Huntar rode upon his tail.

The ape rider turned around and kicked his Rammer to charge faster.

Huntar tapped the Rammer's butt to move faster. If that ape rider gets away with Jenny, who knew what will happen to her.