CHAPTER 22: BATTLE OF THE BEASTS
This chapter follows Mane as Iva runs through the forest in search for a way out. This chapter will require this song, “Dominion” by R. Armando. This chapter has “Cinema mode”, so you can have the experience of a movie within a book. The words between the lines are meant to be imagined in slow motion. Play song when notified.
Mane watches as Iva runs for her life and becomes devoured by a wall of fog. He shifts to his right and realize that Hellhound’s concentration is being focused entirely onto him. He may be a little groggy but the fight is far from over. He will stop at nothing to fulfill his self-proclaimed purpose.
Mane is in for a rude awakening if he thinks Hellhound will ever let this one slide easy. Mane growls as their eyes cross paths. Both of them share the equal amount of anger towards each other. The time has now come. Here’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for; the giver of fear versus the fearless lion. The fight between two perfect enemies is about to commence and they can feel the adrenaline preparing their bodies for it.
Two beasts of immense might and determination are about to go head-to-head in a no-holds-barred grudge match.
“So, we meet at last,” Hellhound announces while plucking a twig from his clothing. “Isn’t it ironic that we meet at this exact moment in time? It almost seems like a perfect encounter; the villain versus the hero.”
Mane roars and then replies...
“I didn’t come here to talk.”
Hellhound laughs and nods his head in agreement.
“Fair enough,” Hellhound replies.
Hellhound growls and then leaps forward with rage exploding from his entire body. Mane growls underneath his breath and then leaps forward as well.
Cinema mode
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Time becomes sluggish as Hellhound’s foot splashes into a puddle of water. The water gradually disperses up into the air, separating into millions of droplets that slowly showers the ground and plant life surrounding his foot. He looks like a track runner a second after the gun goes off. His vicious face is filled with focus and the determination to win. Large blood vessels in his neck are swollen as if snakes are slithering under his skin.
His lips are lifted higher than his gums, revealing all of his sharp carnivorous teeth. Strings of saliva are caught between his teeth like a spider's web. Weighing in at two-hundred and twenty pounds, with the height of six-feet and four-inches, he isn’t the biggest monster out there. However, his supernatural strength is equivalent to two powerlifters.
His speed is easily comparable to that of a cheetah. With that amount of speed combined with his strength, he can most definitely afflict harm to whoever comes his way. Both of these factors are what make him such a devastating killer.
Time continues to be delayed as Mane's large paws smashes into the ground; each claw digging into the soil one by one. His ears are bent back like a rabid Rottweiler on steroids. All of the muscles in his face, limbs, and body, are bulging underneath his skin like a lion version of Bruce Lee. Not one ounce of fat appears to be prevalent on his muscular physique.
Play song now
Weighing in at four-hundred and fifty pounds, and with the speed of a horse, and the strength of three powerlifters, Mane is one hell of a force to be reckoned with. As he pushes his body off the ground into a dash, his claws brings up roots and chunks of dirt into the air. Little by little, the shredded pieces of plants and soil are flung across the air like a one man stampede.
Time returns to its original speed. Both beasts harness all of their strength into a single sprint. They collide into one another with tremendous power. Immediately, Hellhound begins to regret his decision to go toe-to-toe against Mane’s brute force.
He forces Hellhound backward until his back hits a tree. Mane snaps at Hellhound’s neck and gets a decent grip. Luckily for him, Mane is only able to grab a mouth full of fabric instead of skin. The lion then jerks his head to the left. All you can hear is the sound of fabric shredding as Hellhound is violently flung across the ground.
His body tumbles forcefully over stones, roots, and sticks. Hellhound uses his agility to roll into a predator position. He smiles at the bold lion as if his attack meant nothing to him.
“You’re going to need far more than that to stop me!” Hellhound shouts at Mane.
Mane swiftly advances. Hellhound gets off the ground just in time for him to dodge one of Mane's deadly swipes.
Cinema mode
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Time decreases speed all of a sudden like a movie playing in slow-motion. In this moment, Mane's right claw is swiping across the air in order to slice the murderous creature’s exposed neck. Mane's ears are folded back with a ravenous snarl on his face. Saliva is slowly whipping across the air from his roaring mouth. Hellhound’s entire upper-body is tilted back like a boxer dodging a career-ending hook. The creature's chin is pushed back into his throat; trying his best to widen the distance between his neck and the lion’s sharp claws. His eyes are gazing directly at Mane's claws as they barely, and I mean barely, misses his throat. A tree happens to be right beside the murderous monster during this process. His claws passes Hellhound’s jugular vein by a half an inch as they connect with the tree instead. Slowly, Mane's pointy claws dig deep inside of the bark of the tree. Each claw is dragged along its rough surface; bringing up large chunks of splinters. The pieces of wood slowly scatter across the air.
Time transitions back to its regular speed again. Hellhound counters Mane’s missed opportunity by stepping back and kicking him in the ribs. The black heap of muscle rolls across the dirt and then uses his claws as breaks. Mane's aggression increases. They both lock eyes and are about to go at it again until they hear screaming from a distance.
“Someone help me!” Iva shouts from afar.
Hellhound loosens his fighting stance and his challenger does the same. Hellhound looks into the fog, in the direction of the screams, and then he looks back into Mane’s eyes. A mischievous grin appears on his face. Before Mane could even think about stopping the creature, he takes off running through the woods after Iva. Mane growls and then pursues Hellhound as fast as he possibly can.
He charges through the woods in attempt to catch Hellhound before he’s able to reach Iva. He then stops and realizes he completely lost track of Hellhound already. He gazes at his surroundings and see nothing but trees and fog at all angles. He may be stronger but Hellhound is clearly faster.
He then relaxes himself. He takes a deep breath and calms his wild spirit. He places his right paw forward and gently touches the ground. His eyes close for a couple of seconds as he holds his breath. One of Mane’s powers, besides his brute strength, is the ability to detect vibrations from far distances. He can sense how far something is by vibrational wave currents.
These waves are like a language to him. His paws are his second ears. Tranquility overcomes his entire body as he listens to the Earth. He feels the vibration of running feet. These feet are moving very fast. A normal female cannot move her legs so quickly. These feet obviously belong to Hellhound. The second pair of feet is coming from an entirely different region. This must be her.
He closes his eyes and rest for 5 seconds in peace as his mind calculates the distance.
Close your eyes for 5 seconds like Mane and feel inner peace
Hellhound may be a lot faster than Mane, but he doesn’t have this unique ability. Mane knows the direct path to Iva, unlike Hellhound who is just following her scent. He slips from his concentration and opens his eyes. Like a bullet, he takes off gunning through the woods; heading directly to Iva.
He runs nonstop, hoping that he still has a chance at saving her. As he dashes through the foggy woods, he sees the green grass at a distance. He also sees Iva running. He shifts over to his right and sees Hellhound trailing right behind her.
She then falls onto the ground for no apparent reason.
SMH
It’s a race against time. Hellhound closes in for the kill and Iva braces herself by placing a hand in front of her to shield her face. Mane digs deep in his soul to gather enough speed to create a miracle. He pushes himself to his limits and burst out of the woods. In this very moment, when every bit of hope is lost, Mane comes leaping across the air once again. The lion collides into the creature just before he’s able to swipe her. Suddenly, the park bench explodes as the creature’s body goes flying through it.
The angry snarls of Hellhound disturb his moment of triumph.
“Nothing…,” Hellhound says while he rises to his feet. “Nothing will stop me.”
As Iva sits on the ground, completely awestruck and exhausted, Hellhound explodes into a charge. The terrified woman gulps hard. Mane lets out a ferocious roar and looks at her with urgency.
“Stay behind me!”
Before Hellhound collides into Mane, he lowers like a raging bull. He rams Mane. He thrust Mane into the grass like a linebacker, only a couple of yards in front of her.
He tackles Mane into the ground so forcefully, that it causes the grass to peel back like a rug. The vibration from them hitting the ground travels through her bones. They immediately begin to scuffle like two rabid pit bulls, yet they’re a hundred times more amplified. She quickly rotates onto her back and attempt to crab-crawl away from their fight. Iva watches on as dirt and grass gets thrown into the air.
As she tries to scurry away backwards, Hellhound takes his attention off the fight and leaps towards her. He leaps up with his claw in the air. Before he's able to dig into her flesh, Mane swipes his hand away. She witnesses the creature’s long nails barely missing her leg and slamming into the soil.
Hellhound reaches up with his other claw. His hand darts down at a deadly force. Luckily, Mane comes to Iva's aid and swipes his claw away once again. His long nails smashes into the grass next to her hand. She swiftly curl into a tight ball and covers her face; screaming at the top of her lungs like a defenseless child.
The only things she can hear are deep growling and constant pounding. Boom…boom…boom…boom…boom. Her small body cringes with every thunderous boom. Then all of a sudden, all of the pounding and grunting stops.
The only thing she hears now is heavy breathing above her head. She finally stops screaming and slowly removes her hands away from her face. She sees Mane standing at her side. His chest and abdomen are contracting and expanding rapidly. His eyes are locked onto his opponent a few yards away.
Hellhound is flat on the ground with his limbs stretched out, exhausted from fighting. She sits upright and glances around herself to discover she’s surrounded by disturbed soil. Hellhound starts to rise off the ground again, but he can barely stand because he’s so exhausted from fighting.
His cloak is horribly torn and his body is covered in bloody slashes. He touches his torso, observes the blood on his palm, and shifts his furious eyes towards us. Mane lowers to the ground, his muscles hardening like a rock, and gets himself ready for round three.
“This is far from over,” Hellhound informs them. “Nothing can stop me.”
“I can,” Mane replies.
Hellhound snarls with aggression and then takes off running into the woods. Mane then turns to her with urgency.
"Leave now and find shelter!" he yells at Iva. “You’re not safe. They will come for you.”
Without hesitation, Iva leaps to her feet and run back to school nonstop. She runs while constantly looking over her shoulder, hoping to God nothing else is chasing her. She spots two police officers jogging up the sidewalk and heading in her direction. It seems someone heard her screaming for help after all. However, they are a tad bit too late. She hopes that it's all over, but she’ll soon find out that fight between Mane and Hellhound was just the beginning….
Dun, dun, dun (suspense music)