Chapter 7 - Saviour (1)

The impact was so strong that Zok rolled over on the ground a couple of times before finally coming to halt. It looked like Huruk's tail got Zok in the chest. But Zok managed to involuntarily block the attack using his left arm. However, blocking the blow didn't reduce the pain he felt as he was forced to let out a nasty groan, following the cracking sound. His left forearm had become useless as it had snapped immediately upon coming into contact with the tail.

'That hurt like a bitch... My arm's gone for good. But considering it was either going to be ribs or arm... I guess I made the right choice.'

Just because an involuntary action saved his life, it didn't mean he would get lucky again. Zok looked around the room thinking there would be someone to help him. But the room was completely deserted. No one was there except for other monsters. Even Suhi had ran away.

'That oldie better have run away to bring help or I'm gonna beat him with his own stick if I die here.' Zok shook his head, 'The hell am I even thinking? If I die, I'm gone for good. How the fck would I beat that oldie's a*s then? I need to survive to do that. Enough chatter with myself... gotta channelise my inner monster!'

There was an old saying in the Zukira tribe that the tribesmen were all born with a little monster and a little angel within. Those who nurture the monster get the courage to fight against the beasts and those who nurture the angel were the first ones to die at the hands of the Wilderness.

Zok, however, had none of the above. He didn't have a monster inside of him, nor did he had an angel. Because rather than feeding either of his sides when he was young, he was busy feeding himself. In other words, he had unintentionally starved both of the sides and now... he was useless.

Zok had never thought of the Tulaks as frightening beings, but Huruk had changed his entire perception of the species. One of the few things that Zok did know about the creature was that they tend to charge in if they feel threatened. Their charge was said to be so strong that only a few can survive the impact and Zok did not want to test the theory out. Not on himself at least.

'I better not trigger him in any way...' Zok mumbled thought while lying on his chest, 'But I don't know how to calm these as*holes. Maybe if I slowly move backwards, he'll think that I'm surrendering and let me go. I should try this out.'

Unlike Zok's expectations, his actions had quite the opposite effect on Huruk. Upon seeing his opponent move, the Tulak felt that he was being made fun of and immediately charged in. He was out for a kill, even if it meant to beat Zok into pulp. However, Zok's rotten luck shined again as he narrowly escaped by rolling sideways mere moments before Huruks huge feet could touch him. Huruk, however, wasn't as lucky as Zok.

Zok hadn't noticed but he was lying right in front of a thick supporting column. But he wasn't the only one who hadn't notice the column. Tulaks had side vision that helped them keep a lookout for predators. Due to their side vision, they were able to cover a wider area sideways. This, however, came with a demerit... they cannot see what was straight ahead of them.

Thus it wasn't a surprise when Zok rolled out of Huruk's way, the Tulak went headfirst into the column. the column broke in half as Huruk rolled over while howling in pain. When Zok turned back and saw the beast on the ground and howling in pain, he burst out laughing.

"Serves you right, fcking maniac!"

But laughing at the beast wasn't enough for Zok. After all, he had a broken forearm all thanks to that stupid beast. So he did what any immature person would do. He went ahead and kicked Huruk right in the head. That... was a bad move. Even if Huruk was in pain, his pain soon subside and when Zok kicked him, the tulak completely lost it.

"Oh sh*t!!!"

Zok yelled when Huruk bellowed loudly and once again charged straight towards him. Zok didn't stay stationary either. He ran for his life. But this time, Zok did something that was completely out of his character, he used his brain. Rather than running straight to the exit, Zok manoeuvred in a zigzag pattern. This confused Huruk, who no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't catch up to the human.

Zok now knew that the tulak could not see straight ahead and was guided by his memory of where Huruk had last seen the human. Thus by running in a zig-zag pattern, Zok also managed to confuse Huruk who saw the human appearing and disappearing at the same time.

Following this pattern, Zok made it to the entrance of the enclosure where the tribesmen were watching his father and brother fight the commander wolf. But they were still too far away to do anything when Zok ran out of luck.

"Someone help me!" He shouted to gain the attention of the tribesmen, but Huruk was the one who got his attention instead.

Tulak were intelligent creatures, not much but a bit. Since Zok kept running in the same pattern, Huruk knew where the human would go next and instead of charging at Zok, he charged in the opposite direction. As soon as Zok turned in that direction, the tulak hit him.

Zok went flying towards the ring where the wolves were and stopped right in front of it. His head had split open, while his vision had gone blurry. With whatever that was left of his vision, Zok could see Huruk charging straight at him. He wanted to move, but his body didn't respond to his cries. However, just before the tulak could reach him, something jumped over Zok and smacked Huruk away.

At first, Zok thought maybe it was a couple of tribesmen who jumped to his rescue. But he soon realised how wrong he was as his vision got a bit better. The thing that saved him, was no man. But a wolf.... the commander wolf.