Chapter 3: The Mysterious Orb

The giant wolf already had them cornered but wasn't finishing them off. Odin was just a bit puzzled in the midst of his senseless terror. Was it just toying with them, or was it waiting for something? The answer came to him the next moment.

"Ahh-rooooooo! Ahh-rooooooo..."

A few more savage howls sounded from the valley. They echoed over and over again all through the jungle in sequences of about four to five seconds, making a cacophony of sounds that rose and waned every second or so.

Odin was bewildered to realize that the howls seemed to form syllables that gave a semblance of words assembled with the intent to communicate messages. Whatever the case, Odin felt it wasn't a good sign.

"Are these wolves trying to communicate something?" He wondered.

He could not help but break out in cold sweat. He glanced out of the window again and started observing the wolf. Surprisingly, it wasn't trying to break into the truck’s interior any longer. Instead, it had just cocked its huge wolf head slightly and was seemingly listening to the howls coming from the distance pensively. Its massive ferocious blue eyes were, at that moment, exuding a trace of intelligence, giving the impression of someone listening.

"What has the world come to?" Odin mumbled to himself, his hands feeling clammy.

"What's happening?" Nicole whispered. She had already buried her face into Odin's chest. She was obviously not aware of what was happening outside.

"The beast shows traces of advanced intelligence," Odin replied.

"Oh, my God!" Nicole whimpered. "Are we going to die?"

"I don't know," Odin replied. His body was quivering as he felt the threat of death slowly enshrouding his entire being. "Let's try calling 911. Do you have your phone with you?"

"It's in the other car," Nicole said, her voice barely audible. "What about yours?"

"I also left it in the star wagon," Odin said, feeling dejected. "I didn't want to get interrupted while working. So, I left it behind."

"We're fucked!"

"I know. But maybe the Tonys have already called 911. They might—"

It was at that moment that the sound of those terrifying howls ceased. Before Odin could complete the sentence, he felt a chilly atmosphere suddenly spread around him without any warning. The feeling was hard to shake, and his heart started pounding like a drum in his chest.

"What the fuck!?" He swore, letting loose a string of expletives. The scene on the outside of the Ford Ranger truck had drastically changed. It seemed like the enormous wolf was no longer playing around after listening to the message from its counterparts in the distance.

Its large blue eyes had turned a deep blood red color. They no longer oozed any trace of intelligence but rather an intense murderous aura as they stared straight at Odin through the vehicle's window.

Danger! Danger! Odin felt a threat of imminent death descend upon him immediately. Every instinct within him told him to leap to his feet and run. But where would he go?

The mutant wolf already had them trapped inside the vehicle. He could only pray hard to the Almighty to descend and save them. Otherwise, they were fucked, for sure.

"Grrrrrrrrrrr..."

The wolf outside didn't give Odin any time to think. With a growl, a few traces of a bluish sheen emanated from its fur as it took a few steps back. And then, with a whoosh, it instantly became a silver flash and was upon the Ford Ranger in a second.

"BANG!!"

The collision sound came next as the wolf swiped its enormous paw at the Ford Ranger, sending it a few meters away. The sheer force transmitted by the powerful limb had deformed the car body on one side, while the claws had left deep piercings on the point of impact. But that wasn't the end.

"BANG! BANG! BANG..."

The sound of the gigantic paw meeting metal continued sounding in quick succession, causing the car body to twist and deform with every blow. It was only after a few more seconds that the beast halted its assault on the vehicle.

"Fuck!" Odin cursed out loud after recovering from the crash. His insides were swirling around — as an after-effect of being tossed around whenever the paw met the car body. He tried to regain his bearing but felt his head hurting and vision turning blurry. It seemed like he'd hit his head somewhere and was bleeding.

"Are you okay?" He asked while glancing at Nicole worriedly after his vision had cleared. He'd protected her by keeping her secure in his arms. She shouldn't have been that much impacted by the series of collisions.

"I'm okay," Nicole replied while struggling to sit upright. Her body was still trembling slightly due to the shock she'd just experienced. "Has it left yet?"

"Not yet," Odin replied, his voice hoarse. His heart was firmly lodged in his throat as he stared at the terrifying beast. Through the already shattered glass of the car window, he could see that it was about to attack again. With one more swipe of its paw, it would be able to break down one of the car doors before having a go at them.

"I'm not resigned," Odin insisted even though he knew well that he was at wit’s end. Without a powerful weapon in hand, he had no way to defend against such a ferocious beast. He was truly fucked.

"Grrrrrrrrrrr..."

The humongous wolf let loose another savage growl. It raised its front limbs slightly before rushing towards the Ford Ranger like a silver flash. That time around, the beast seemed determined to finish them off.

But suddenly, an unexpected change happened within the vicinity, and the wolf stopped in its tracks just before making contact with the car body. It twitched its ears slightly and glanced at the sky above.

"The hell!"

Odin mumbled incoherently after following the wolf's gaze through the car window. As far as he was concerned, the change in the sky was like divine intervention. It was like nothing he'd ever experienced before.

"BOOM!"

Thunder and lightning rumbled across the sky, causing the entire Lamar Valley to be shrouded in a shadow. A terrifying wave of tyrannical air soon descended upon the parking space where Odin, Nicole, and the wolf were situated.

"What is happening now?" Nicole asked, also glancing outside—towards the skies.

"I don't know," Odin replied, trying his best to fight—down the dread. "Maybe, it's a thunderstorm."

"BOOM! BOOM..."

As they were talking, more lightning descended in colossal networking forks. The lightning soon gathered above the parking space to form a dark purple vortex, filled with the terrifying power of thunder. The vortex itself was reeking of an unearthly savage aura that caused Odin's body to shudder uncontrollably.

"SWISH!"

Suddenly, a blue streak came out from the lightning vortex. It cut through the then dark skies like a meteor, heading towards the wolf that'd been just about to attack Odin.

"BLOP!"

Before the humongous wolf could react, the blue streak disappeared within its form with a "blopping" sound. The gigantic animal soon began squirming and rolling on the ground uncomfortably as if trying to resist something. However, with every passing second, its resistance became weaker and weaker until it was completely motionless.

"Thank God! The beast is dead," Odin mumbled as he kicked the deformed car door open. "But was that streak some form of lightning energy?" He wondered as he stepped out into the open.

"Where are you going, Odin?" Nicole's shaky voice came from behind him. "It's still dangerous outside. Come back inside." Her tone was filled with a sense of urgency.

"Just stay inside for now," Odin said without turning back. "I'm going to try to assess the situation outside. If there's no danger, then we can think about escaping."

"What about that blue light thingy?"

"That should have been a streak of lightning that shocked the wolf to death," Odin replied. "But it should be safe now since the lightning should have already dispersed harmlessly into the ground."

"Okay, be safe."

Odin nodded before pivoting his gaze onto the wolf lying motionless on the ground. Although it seemed dead, Odin still tried to be careful. He first threw some stones at its form to see if it could produce a response, and only when he was sure it wouldn't move did he dare to approach.

His instinct as a researcher was already tickling at his senses. He couldn't resist the temptation of studying such a miraculous biological specimen. Step by step, he moved closer while doing his utmost to resist the pressure emanating from the wild beast. Its massive form was even more savage up close.

It was then that another change occurred instantaneously. The wolf's huge body started shrinking inwards as if it was a balloon losing air or as if a horde of invisible fresh-eaters were devouring its body from the inside out at incredible speed. It wasn’t long before even the skeleton of the massive creature disappeared as though into thin air.

At the very center of the space formerly occupied by the beast was a levitating pitch-black orb. It was just hovering in the air, defying the laws of gravity while emanating an oppressive aura.

"Could this orb have sucked the huge wolf dry?" Odin wondered. A chill rose within him as he focused on the pitch-black orb. Cold beads of sweat matted his forehead, and he found it almost impossible to tamp down his fear.

"Run! Dammit!" He thought frantically. But before he could take a step from his position, the orb trembled slightly before turning into a streak and plunging into the left part of his chest.

"What the fuck? Is this orb also going to suck me dry like the wolf?"

Odin's mind was messy as he patted the left part of his chest. However, he couldn't find any signs of the orb on his person. It had simply disappeared within his body, like a stone sinking into a serene pool of water.

"Boom!"

It was at that moment a tremor went through his mind. A splitting headache soon followed, tearing his mental capacities apart. It was as if something was trying to drill into his brain.

He could neither see nor move his body. It was frozen in place by some mysterious force. He wanted to scream but couldn't even make a sound. He just stood in place, enduring the searing pain until his mind blacked out a few seconds later.

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