The Voltagh destroyed the forest as it gave chase to their group. Half of them were dead, and they had run out of explosives and heavy ammo, which made them easy targets for the creature.

“Spread out! Don't Lead It Towards Everyone!”

They quickly distanced themselves from each other. There were ten of them, and the two at the edges separated from the group that the Voltagh followed. The other eight spread out as well, and their tactic worked as the large creature staggered, unsure of whom to hunt down. When they could no longer hear the creature, they stopped.

“Head count. Who is here?”

Six voices, four humans, a bestian and an ork, replied.

“Alright, we need to keep going before the Voltagh finds us. Let’s go.”

They ran through the forest until they reached a stream, where they stopped to take a drink and catch their breath.

“Where the hell did that thing come from?” One of the enforcers said as he finished drinking. “It came from nowhere!”

“Must have followed Carsen and Jorin when they were hunting! No way could the beast find us if it wasn’t following a trail of blood!”

“You are blaming us?! Me and Jorin-”

He pointed towards the enforcer and found that he wasn’t there. They then realized that there were fewer of them.

“Did anyone see Jorin? He was behind me before we reached the stream.” The enforcer looked around. “Jorin!”

“Don’t yell out like that idiot! The Voltagh will find us! We need to keep going. He’ll probably catch up.”

The rest of the group continued, but not before one of them looked back and followed the others. They had walked quite a few feet when they heard a rustling sound around them.

“Carsen keep a lookout, Jorin might be catching up.” The enforcer in front expected him to reply, but when he heard nothing, he looked around and found that the one he was talking to was gone. They were six, but now there were only five of them, so he stopped their group.

“Something is picking us off. Form a tight perimeter.”

They struggled to see in the darkness, with their torches hardly giving any light. But all of them could feel something watching them. One of the enforcers panicked when he heard a rustling sound. He fired his gun, and the shot echoed through the forest. A loud, screeching roar echoed around them.

“Run.”

They all ran ahead, as no doubt the Voltagh would be using the echo to track them.

“You're an idiot, Ray! That thing will find us because-”

Their leader looked to his side and found that the one who fired the gun was gone. There were only four of them left. If the Voltagh does not kill them, it will be whatever hunted them down.

“Stick together and watch your backs!”

The screeching roar drew closer as they spotted a clearing up ahead. They made a mad dash and hoped they could finally leave the thick forest, but once they got out, they found the clearing led to a steep ravine.

“There's no way out! There's no way out! We're doomed!” One of them panicked and spread his fright to others. But the one who held Elizabeth over his shoulders punched the man.

"Get it together! Find cover behind those rocks!”

He pointed towards some large rocks that were large enough to be used as cover. They set up and aimed their guns toward the treeline and hoped to ambush either what was chasing them or the Voltagh.

“I see movement!”

They all aimed their guns and prepared to fire, but they stopped at the sight of the enforcer who ran out of the trees.

“Jorin, where the-”

The enforcer was suddenly attacked from behind by a combat automaton with a long baton and a large round shield, causing him to fall to the ground.

“Open fire!”

They fired at the bot, but it used its shield to block the bullets. The loud, screeching roar of the voltagh pierced through the thick trees, and soon the hulking creature burst out. The enforcers did not know what to shoot at first. The bot that was dashing toward them, or the massive monstrosity that charged behind it.

Suddenly, the back of the voltagh erupted in fire and it roared violently. They turned their attention towards the automaton that was closing the distance and had already struck down one of them unconscious. They counter fired, but it was quickly blocked, and again, using its shield, attempted to strike down one of them, but missed.

The bot spotted the child behind them and attempted to grab her, but the enforcers used the butt of their rifles and landed a solid blow to its head. It retreated just as the voltagh spotted them and struck them down with its massive claws. With one swing, it destroyed the rocks they were using as cover. The blow was so strong that even the enforcers were knocked to the ground. As they lay there, the voltagh used its tongue to grab one of them and devoured him.

The others tried to fire with pistols to deter the beast, but it was no use. It grabbed another enforcer with its tongue and ate him whole. There were only two of them left now; the one who was close to the child who fired his pistol and the one unconscious that was struck earlier by the combat bot. The enforcer with the pistol aimed for the beast's eyes, landed some shots around them, but it did nothing.

As fire erupted on its body, the voltagh took the one who was unconscious and ate him whole. The last enforcer ran out of bullets and hurled the pistol at it. It grabbed him by the leg and, using its tongue, pulled him towards its mouth. The loud yells and screams of the enforcer were silenced and quickly replaced by the sounds of crunching bones. It then spotted the child and, with its tongue, grabbed her.

Servo, however, came from the side and, with a knife that popped from its arms, cut the voltagh’s tongue off and the creature roared in pain.

=0o0=

Luna kept unleashing canister after canister filled with fire jelly, but nothing worked. Even as she aimed at its back and legs, the voltagh consumed all of the enforcers. It managed to grab the child, but luckily, Servo managed to cut off its tongue.

The voltagh reared as Luna aimed for its head.

She only had one fire canister left and only had her two high explosive rounds, but with the child and servo close, Luna could kill them both if she used those. She loaded her launcher with the last of her fire canisters and aimed for the creatures' head. Upon impact, it ignited the voltagh’s head, and it went mad with pain, but it gave an opening for servo.

“Servo, get the child out of there!”

The automaton dropped its weapons and grabbed Elizabeth. Servo stayed low, and it managed to avoid the creature’s legs as it was flailing around in pain. Once they were at a safe distance, Luna loaded her high-explosive rounds and aimed for the head.

The voltagh trashed around, but she took a gamble, aimed high and fired. The explosion blew the upper half of the creatures' head clean off, and finally, the creature collapsed dead on the ground. Luna quickly dropped her launcher as she rushed towards Servo, who approached her while it held Elizabeth in its arms. She quickly removed the gag and the moment she did, Elizabeth cried loudly.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Luna repeated to Elizabeth as she got a knife from her boot and cut off the ropes. Once the child was free, she held her in her arms.

“Why did you leave us alone?” The child said in-between sobs. “Please don’t leave anymore.”

"I won’t. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. " Luna replied over and over.

=0o0=

They stayed there for a short while until Elizabeth managed to collect herself. Luna cradled her in her arms. But as the three of them started to head back, the voltagh started to convulse loudly, which made all of them stop and look back.

The creature should have clearly died, but yet it clearly attempted to stand. Once it did, it turned around to face them. Something emerged from where the creatures' head should be. It seemed like black ooze that built up and came from inside the creature. It formed into a fake head made of disgusting black mass, and a giant singular eye opened. The giant eye was fixed on them as Elizabeth screamed loudly and Luna ran as she carried her.

The undying monstrosity screeched, and its roar was much louder than before.

“Cover your ears!” Luna ordered, which the child did quickly.

But with her hands full, the loud roar caused a mind-splitting ringing in her ears and made her dizzy. The Voltagh continued to screech, and it made Luna fall on one knee. She barely caught herself before she fell to the ground completely. The roar disoriented her, and Luna could barely move. Servo sensed its master was in trouble, turned around, and proceeded to attack the creature head on.

Even as Servo distracted the monster, there was no way she and Elizabeth could get away, as Luna could still feel the effect of the roar on her mind.

Her vision was spinning and she wanted to vomit. Luna looked back and through blurred vision she could see that servo used its built-in guns and flamethrower, but it was a useless effort. Luna put Elizabeth down and pushed her away.

“We can hold it off, but you need to run, Elizabeth.”

“No!” Elizabeth quickly returned to her and gave Luna a tight hug with no intention of letting go. Luna pushed her away and caused the child to stumble backwards and fall to the ground.

“Run and do not look back!”

Luna quickly rose to her feet and ran towards Servo and the Voltagh. She staggered as she sprinted towards the creature with one thing in mind, to make sure it could not go after the child.

With some sense of awareness, she drew out her retractable staff and threw it like a javelin aimed at the enormous eye.

It missed its mark and hit the side of the eye. The massive eye closed and it was the distraction she needed. Within striking range, she put every force she could muster into her right hand and landed a punch at one of the creature’s legs. If it were a normal human, the Voltagh would not even feel it, but Luna’s punch managed to crack through the thick scales and dislocate the creature’s entire wrist. The creature faltered and reared back, unable to stand and screeching in pain.

Luna’s entire right arm, however, was completely shattered. Metal protruded from underneath her skin and blood erupted freely, causing her to shriek out in pain. The Voltagh, although crippled, quickly recovered and, with one swing of its large legs, sent her flying in the air and caused her to slam onto some nearby large rocks.

She could feel her legs, arms, and entire back had been completely crushed by the impact. Servo was trying to get its attention, but the Voltagh headed straight towards her. Luna accepted her fate when, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her portable launcher close by. The attack caused her to land near it. Despite the numbing pain and the fact that her metallic bones protruded from her skin, she turned on her belly and crawled towards the launcher.

Luna grabbed it tightly in her left hand and, with the last of her strength, fired it towards the creature.

“Servo... Chaos mode!”

When the automaton saw the explosive in the air, it dashed to retrieve the canister before it hit the ground. With it in hand, the bot climbed the leg and scaled the back of the creature until it reached its head.

The Voltagh reached her and lifted Luna with its tongue. It was about to devour her when it did not realise the bot was on its neck. Servo punched the back of the head of the creature, which caused the canister to explode. The explosion blew the creatures' second head clean off of its neck and killed it. But the force of the explosion also sent Luna flying and she landed on the ground like a ragdoll.

The last thing she saw as her consciousness started to fade was a bright light that shined above her, then she blacked out.