PERILOUS JOURNEY
The journey to Boontown (cont.)
They followed west passed their campout, both keeping pace to not tire themselves out.
Ezums roamed more densely, as the morning heated up to their cold-blooded hides.
Umi looked over her shoulder, smiling confidentally at the Knifal, standing upon the tree branches, its eyes locked on her, with a glitter of readiness.
She nodded to it, following back with Stranger.
The Knifal snorted away from their path, gazing ahead, among the quiet field, the Ezums groaning contently.
Its eyes scanned the grasses flowing gently in a repeating pattern against the cool breeze.
A distressed groan flurried up over the grass.
The Knifal's eyes locked on the Ezum that snorted, its head snapped up, and mouth open.
It snapped to the violent, swift rustling passing through, ignoring the brushing of the Ezums' legs, and the terrified groans they cawed loudly.
Three large snouts popped over the grass, glaring ahead to the wanderes taking leave from the tree.
The Knifal's eyes widened, and spun around to the human, quickly transferring a heat to catch the human's attention.
The heat sprung on her arm, almost spinning her around.
She stopped, and turned to the Knifal.
Its head pointed distressed, oppositely of the tree.
She tried looking out further, but nodded up to the Knifal, and turned back to Stranger, urgent eyes locked on his back.
"Uh...I think we'd better move faster," Umi sped up, wringing an arm around his elbow, and forcing him faster ahead.
The Knifal darted back to the place where the Hunters surfaced, only to see their snouts submerge back in to the grass.
Their eyes glimmered of a scheme being plotted, leaving the Knifal in a nervous wreck.
It watched the Hunters, they purposely tackling themselves in to the Ezums' legs.
The Ezum's head popped up, its mouth wide open, and teetering uneasily by the Hunters squawking intimidatingly to it.
The Ezum stamped, as the Hunters began to snap at its heels.
It nervously snorted, beginning to rush away from the Hunters, and letting out a distressed bellow to the others.
The Knifal watched, as all the Ezums' heads popped up, staring at the sprinting Ezum fleeing from the Hunters.
They saw the swift rustling of the Hunters approach them, and whipped their heads forward, forcing an alarming roar out to their kind further ahead, and followed along with the fleeing Ezum.
It snapped back ahead, the other Ezums' head popping up immediately.
As the runners passed them, they joined in with the rush, creating a sudden quake of a stampede.
The Knifal grunted in disbelief, the Hunters' machination actually working.
It darted ahead to Umi, not knowing of the brewing stampede just bound to come right to them.
It leaped off the tree, and carefully followed along with the stampede forming greater, as the Ezums grew oblivious to the forwarding calls.
-**-
Stranger stopped immediately, staring at the Ezums' heads popping up urgently.
They bellowed a fearful cry ahead, running forward by the smaller beings.
"What in odd's name-"
He spun around, feeling the earth quake below his feet.
A cloud of dust and mud formed over the grass, ahead of it, a mass of Ezums fleeing away.
His mouth dropped open.
Umi stared at him, then turned to where he looked.
The trail of pressed grass revealed the top of the dust cloud, then immediately felt the ground tremble.
"W-what's goin' on?" Umi asked quiverly.
"No way..." he shook his head.
They stood there, each second passing, the Ezum herd crawling closer.
"Stranger!" Umi shouted nervously, tugging at his arm.
"What is going on!?"
"STAMPEDE!" he roared, snatching Umi's arm tightly, and quickly ran away.
Umi, being dragged behind him, drove her legs her best to not trip down from the wrapping grass cutting her down.
But even at a full sprint, Stranger couldn't beat the speed of the Ezums.
After moments of the heart-pounding chase, Stranger was overrun by Ezums at his every side.
The Ezums splitted from the smaller beings fleeing as well, but blocking their way ahead with them cutting in front.
But what made the entire populace more urgent to escape, was the piercing shriek that flurried just behind them.
Three of them.
Stranger growled hatefully.
"Hunters! They started 'dis!" Stranger roared.
He snapped over his shoulder, the triplets hissing right behind them, while stirring up the brewing stampede by snapping at the Ezums' ankles.
"Odd-damn bastards..." he growled.
But even though the stampede would slow them down, the Hunters were running at full pace, their mouths wide open, with their extra mandibles hanging down threateningly.
Running would do them no godd if they continued like this.
Something had to be done, quick.
Stranger gazed upon the Ezums right next to him, them not paying any attention to him, but staring straight ahead.
His lips curled down skeptically, but it would probably save their life.
"Hold tight, Umi!" Stranger yelled, moving closer to the Ezum.
He held up an arm over its neck, bringing Umi closer to his hip.
He slung his arm over the back of its neck, and swumg around in front of it.
He lifted a leg over its shoulder blades, and scooted up on its back, securing Umi right behind him.
She hugged tightly around his stomach, burrying her face in his back.
The Ezum groaned of the new weight sitting upon its back, but continued to run and not bother to wrangle with it.
Its back was wide to ride on, but very sharp, its scales poking up with its spine.
It wasn't simple like riding on horse-back to Umi, but nearly similar.
The Hunters gathered around the Ezum's sides, two going left and right, and the last going in front.
Umi stared down at the Hunters hissing ominously, their mandibles hanging low.
She quivered fearfully, looking away from the Hunter, and next to the Ezum right next to them.
She heard the Ezum groan painfully, feeling its pace lack down quickly.
The weight of her and Stranger was too much for the Ezum to handle, which would cause it to slow down greatly.
Her idea was foiling, but the hardest part was to announce it to Stranger.
She knew what the answer was going to be, but it would probably help them greatly if she brought it up, quick.
"Stranger!" she shouted.
"Our weight combined is too much for it! Both of us should take our own, for our own sake!"
"Are you out of yer mind!?" Stranger bellowed.
"I ain't separatin' from yeh!"
"But we're tiring out the Ezum! If we do that, the Hunters'll get us!"
Stranger kept silent, staring at the Ezum's eyes.
It flapped its eyelids tiredly, its tongue peeping out from under its lip.
He groaned ruefully, glancing back to Umi.
"Fine!" he shouted, slowly rising off its shoulders.
He placed his hand on its head, keeping balance while staring over to the Ezum of choice.
He crouched slightly, then leaped off the Ezum's back. He landed upon the second Ezum's back, almost losing balance with his leg wrapped around its belly.
It snorted irritant, shaking its head of the being holding a hand on its neck.
"Keep together!" Stranger shouted to Umi.
The persue continued, the Hunters still going along with the human's Ezum.
They began to pressure the Ezum, flashing intimidating glares in to its eyes.
It snorted off their glare, but it wouldn't last for long.
One of the triplets accelerated forward, keeping a glowering red eye stuck on the Ezum's face.
Umi watched the Hunter, initiating its plan in an awkward way.
It suddenly stopped, jumping around, and showing off its mouthful of teeth, shaking its mandibles violently.
The Ezum bellowed, uphelding its back straight up, skidding to a stop from the Hunter.
Umi's ring around the Ezum's neck slid off quickly, knocking her down within the mass of the stampede.
Her Ezum took different directions, flooding in to the hoard of Ezums away from her sight.
The Hunters, however, stood there within a pack, all three of their eyes locked on her fearing eyes.
She began to scramble in to the stampede, the Ezums leaping over the body scooting in their path.
The Hunters closed in on the human, their arms up, and their jaws down.
So...this is how it's gonna end
The Hunters boxed her in, beginning to run closer to the human.
She lifted her arms over her head, awaiting the stinging feeling of death take over.
A brush of wind passed in front of her, feeling the cool shadow of a tall figure overshadow her.
The Knifal stood in front of the human, its eyes a deep scarlet, locked upon the Hunter ahead of it.
The Hunters stopped in their tracks, gagging from their breathing being cut off of the choke hold the Knifal had on them.
Its eyes closed, and its rage built up.
The Hunters levitated off the ground, hovering high above the stampede.
Its eyes tightened, then suddenly shot open, a quick golden flash pierced upon its eyes.
The Hunters were thrown out among the fields, scattering them within the rush of Ezums.
That would give them some time to escape.
The Knifal ignored the pounding in its head, and shook off the dizziness lingering.
It turned its back to Umi, staring at her, and darting its snout upon its back.
She nodded, grabbing ahold of its shoulders, and wrapping her arms around its neck.
She placed her legs easily on its hips, then nodded to it that she was secure.
The Knifal snorted, staring ahead to the flat top mountain border.
It seemed miles away, veiled within the fog of dust clouding over the sun.
Hold tight
Umi nodded, pressing her forehead on its neck, its scales pressed down to not poke her uncomfortably.
Its legs tensed, kneeling down to a running poise.
Its nostrils flared, suddenly taking off to such a great speed, it compared Ezums to sloths.
Catching up to the Steef was its main plan that would save the human's life, rather than its.
But it wouldn't be a sacrifice.
It would be an honor.
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