[KoJ] Chapter 99: Hyena

My resolve to topple this impossible beast is welcomed with a mouthful of tar.

I never expected it to be easy, so I’m not surprised my fangs failed to pierce flesh, but for a bite to the neck to be so ineffective only reinforces just how fierce a Titan is. If I have any hope to overcome this, I must be willing to expend all of myself. And more.

A clawed paw swats at me. Unwilling to give the agile beast the mere instant it needs to skewer me, I slip through a bend as soon as my strike fails. I retch at the tar filling my mouth, and dodge the immediate follow up strike of the Titan.

The hyena is fast. Fast, and powerful enough to create raging storms with each swing of its claw and snap of its jaw. I immediately dismiss my instincts to coil around the larger beast and crush it. This is a Titan; constriction alone will never be enough.

I cannot allow myself to remain still. Constant motion is my best friend against the Titan’s power and speed. If I were to rely on the simple crushing power of my body, as I once did with every hunt, I would only leave myself vulnerable. Too many times has such a strategy been proven ineffective against stronger beings. A Titan would only maul me the moment it try.

No, If I want any chance at victory, I cannot get caught.

The hyena pounces, and I barely slip around its jaw. Before I slide through another bend, I whip my tail into its snout. It recoils, but doesn’t seem pained.

That said, this fight cannot become a battle of attrition. Titans are mountains of concentrated power. They have the energy to fight indefinitely. I will be the first to exhaust. If we trade strikes, I will be the first to falter. Really, the only way I win, is if whittle the being down while taking no hits in return.

Guerilla tactics.

But before that, I need to figure out what options I actually have to hurt the beast.

As the Titan spears its claws through the air, I try to repeat the same act that blinded the lynx. An array of distortions rip into existence before the long blades, easily twisting them back on their owner. Taking out a creature’s eyes is always an effective strategy, so I see no reason it won’t continue to be with a Titan.

Except this Titan simply ignores my efforts.

Instead of slowing down and avoiding self-inflicted damage as the lynx and many other massive creatures had learnt to do in their fights against me, this hyena powers through. Claws that should come to a halt as space itself blocks its path, instead shatter the warped connection and slam it back into its original path. Not even a scratch of damage.

Again, barely avoiding the deadly claws of a Titan, I slip through a rend and slither through the air.

This is the point where most creatures would grow frustrated. Where I absolutely would if I happened across an elemental that could avoid each of my attacks as they come. Not the hyena. It growls and snarls, but its eyes remain hard. Unbothered. It has all the time in the world to catch me, and it will play until it does.

Well, if the beast can simply power through my distortions, then I’ll have to use them differently.

Bends rise into existence over the creatures eyes. Close enough to twist its vision, but not so much that the being can touch them, and knock them out of existence. Given that I’ve sent its sight backwards, the Titan halts, confused at the sudden shift. It is extraordinary difficult to move the bends around to keep in front of the creature’s sight. Doing so with my own sight is fairly simple because my fabric follows my body, but the Titan doesn’t have a fabric of its own. I have to manually shift its position to the speed of such a massive creature.

Not that its lacking personal fabric means much. With how intensely the Titan weighs down the world’s fabric, it actually makes it a little easier to manipulate bends in close proximity. Only the space near the Titan Alps beats this amount of spatial warp.

Too bad the Titan still strikes quicker than I can shift my distortions.

Trying to take advantage of its disorientation, I dive in on its rear leg. Its hardly going to be a killing blow, but if I can damage the foot, it might slow down the beast somewhat. Give myself some breathing room.

Unfortunately, the moment my fangs break through the hard fur and taste tar, the hyena reacts in impulse. Its paw sweeps over its eyes, crushing the bends I hold there, and its other rear leg snaps at me. I have only enough time to extract my fangs before the hind claws scrape along my side and toss me back through the hole I poked my head through to bite.

I avoided the worst of it, but the gash through the scales along the side of my head show just how close I was.

The gust of wind thrown about by the kick left a desperately fleeing pair of birds to crash into the earth. That alone wouldn’t have killed them, but the churning ocean of gravel immediately shredded them to pulp. Compared to anything back in the warped tunnels, they were massive… and yet they now seem so tiny. Killed by tertiary effects.

It is another reminder that I’m facing one of the pinnacle of the world. With kilometres between head and tail, the Titan simply overwhelms any possibility to flee for a smaller being.

I now realise how lucky I was to have distortions, rather than relying on my own speed. Sometimes, these creatures have literally no paths to life.

Before the chase can begin again, I engulf its eyes in distortions. It sweeps at the obstruction, but as soon as the bends are destroyed, I reapply them. As much as it seems like I’ve finally got something to at least make the fight easier, I remain wary. And for good reason.

The Titan shifts away from me, as if to dive towards where the twisted vision of myself should be. I notice the limp of leg I bit. With all its weight on its other leg, it’s the perfect opportunity. If I can replicate the last attack, then my position will only improve. It is exactly what I plan; to whittle the Titan down with whatever attacks work.

And yet… I hesitate. Something is off.

I create a hole behind the Titan’s ankle, but don’t slip through. In a flurry of motion, the hyena spins, chomping its own jaw down on its leg where I would have attacked. The bends over its eyes shatter with the movement, and hurricane mixes with the cloud of ash, twisting it into an obscuring storm around its legs.

The Titan baited me.

Now realising it has nothing besides its own leg in its mouth, the hyena growls. A thrumming pressure greater than any thunder. Its eyes lock on mine. It considers me with a greater analytic eye than I’ve seen from any creature besides the sapient. As it reorients its stance, the limp is gone. Even that was a trick. My first bite wasn’t as debilitating as I’d hoped.

Before it has the chance to strike, I blind it again and slip through a dozen rifts. I don’t flee; I lead it to the battlefield of my choice. As determined as I am to end this beast… I need the assistance of the warped region below the Alps.

The Titan is forced to gaze into the pits of the underground. Much of that gravel rushes through the distortions to bury the hyena’s eyes, but the small landslide of rock rushing down its face hardly bothers it. With only a second of delay, a twitch of its nose and a flick of the ear, it bounds after me. The continental storm spreads in its wake.

Great. It doesn’t even need its eyes to find me. As the distance between us closes, I try to form bends around its other senses, but each time I do, the Titan just sweeps at its face to remove the annoyances. I can slow it down… but not by much.

The only thing I have going for me — the only thing that keeps me ahead of this Titan — is that I never have to move in straight lines. By bouncing my distortions in unpredictable zig-zagging patters, the Titan is forced to sacrifice any build-up of momentum. I have no such problem. If not for the winds slamming into my side like solid walls, I would face no trouble opening space between us.

Unfortunately, Titans have an unbalanced influence over the environment and weather. They might as well be weapons with how freely the hyena effects them. Weapons targeted at me, but also sweep through the lands and kill any creature caught in its path.

This short chase alone has left many creatures dead. Critters that would have killed me not long ago. Critters that I no longer consider worth the hunt.

All too soon, I slide into a flow. As long as I keep an eye on the Titan, and continue to disorient it, I can slip through my distortions long before it can reach me. No need to even dodge. This doesn’t answer my question of how I’m going to take down the beast, but that can wait. I can survive the Titan’s onslaught. Until I reach the Titan Alps, that is enough.

But the Titan is not a fool.

My movement is fundamentally guided by pattern. When the chase extends long enough, the Titan comes to understand my goal. Instead of blind pounces to my current point, and falling slightly short, it veers towards the impossibly tall mountains.

Its first few predictive strikes miss by kilometres — one so far off that its claws scrape beyond the horizon — but occasionally, the hyena comes close. When I slither through a rift only to find a razor sharp talons already swinging for me, only some quick thinking, and using the spatial well near the Titan’s body to force a distortion towards me saves me.

The Titan’s frustrated growl fills me with satisfaction, even as the collapse of the bend almost severs my tail upon its collapse.

Despite how promising the idea of using its own gravity well against it appeals to me, it is far too risky. Even with the boost, my distortions do not move as fast as the Titan. I would much rather have space between us, than settle into surviving within only a dozen metres from the massive being’s body. Eventually, I’ll make a mistake and it’ll be my end.

I realise I’m being far too passive. A Titan will never fall without taking risks, and if this being truly is sapient, then the longer the battle extends, the worse my prospects. But I am all too aware of the power difference. While I may be large enough to even consider the battle, I will not survive a direct hit.

Until I can use the environment to enhance my strengths, any attack I try is simply too risky for the damage I can inflict. As proven by my earlier bite.

It is unfortunate, that the hyena’s thoughts follow mine. “You will not reach it,” it taunts, voice thrumming with presence that threatens to stiffen my body once more. “Never should have left the nest.” As it bounds after me, a chain of yipping laughs rips from its throat.

I pick up the pace, not dignifying the Titan with a response. I had hoped it was only some Titans that were sapient, but that is now all but confirmed untrue. Regardless, it does not change my desire. The Titans need to die.

The hyena suddenly ignores my movement entirely. It bounds towards the Alps, racing past me with ease. With each foot hidden behind the horizon, the Titan turns back to me. Unmoving, the tar flowing from its fur amplifies. Waterfalls of thick liquid pour down the Titan’s sides.

For a moment, I hold back, wary. A few seconds is all it takes for the tar to spread. The dark substance crawls over the horizon for dozens of kilometres to each side of the hyena. An ocean. If only that was all, I would simply fly over, but as I watch, the tar reaches to the sky. Dripping pillars rise to form a wall greater than any sapient-made structure.

Well, there goes the hope that it has no control over its tar.

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