7. Concealed strike

Without delaying another second, Joon grabbed Benjamin's arm and wrapped it around his shoulder, "Go! Go!"

Both of us darted past trails, logs and trees. Thankfully I kept a spare bottle of oil around my waist, which could be used to cover ourselves. Shelps despised the scent of Oil, so they avoid going near it. However, we didn't have kerosene with us.

"Joon! The oil!" While keeping pace with his fast sprints, I tossed the bottle to him. All of a sudden, we were hit by spiky bushes and our feet halted. I could hear the slow, dragging beat of my heart as panic rushed through me since it was hard to select which part would be safest to set foot in without light. My mind stopped working. A deep sense of uneasiness held me rigid. It felt even heavier when the trees shook up with rustling sounds getting closer to us from behind. I glanced at Joon and saw his sweaty face when his widened eyes gave me a quick nervous glance before looking ahead with hopes shattering, and Benjamin almost passing out from blood loss. I smacked my head to start thinking and felt terrible anxiety creeping over me as my heart clenched with dread. My vision got hazy as I kept hitting to make it work, and then a sudden realization hit me as I turned to Joon, "I know it's risky, but I need you to cover me."

"What're you going to do?" 

"Light the fire!" I pointed at the wood in my hand. 

"But it's not-Sigh...Fine, I'll trust you!" He refused to hesitate that time and handed Benjamin to me. "Just buy me some time!" I walked away inside the bush and glanced back to see Joon sliding out his sword from its cover with his back turned towards us. Right then, they appeared. Even though it was dark, I could see their inhumanly large slimy body reflecting right in front of Joon. They halted before him, and the hounds I saw that night stepped out from behind them, exposing their sharp-edged bare teeth. Their appearance was even more horrid than that night. I covered my mouth and turned away, hiding myself and Benjamin inside the bushes. I felt my body quivering from intense fear. Joon will die if I don't do something. I started scraping the wood with the dagger to remove the damp part. Much time wasn't needed, due to its sharpness. The rock I picked up from before had potential similar to a Flint. I began to rub it with the dagger to create a fire spark, ignoring all the loud noises I was getting from behind with the mind that Joon will be okay. My eyes caught sight of a little spark, and I felt elated with my lips curled up in a grin with hopes of survival. The fire was lit, and I looked behind to yell, "Jo-" but my voice stopped and my eyes went darker when I saw him laying on the ground, trying to reach out for his sword that snapped in half. If I screamed and ran, they'd follow me but Benjamin would be in danger. However, if I left both of them and brought the Shelps, there was no guarantee they wouldn't kill Joon in the meantime. With a blank mind, I glanced at the wood in my hand and threw it on the other side of the bush and the fire started to spread within a blink. All of their eyes moved towards the fire along with the creatures that moved away from Joon giving him time to grab his broken sword. I picked up Benjamin and slapped his cheeks" Get to your senses. We don't have time to serve you!" Because of the fire, our sight was clear. Joon trudged in our direction and we rushed to the Shelps' nest, though we were seen by them.

"T-there's six of them and their three hounds. I killed one. You think we can make it?" His shaky voice reached my ears while we kept running through the bushes, "We will!" A reassurance encircled me, seeing the nest five meters before us. Before we could reach the nest, one of the hounds jumped at me, and Joon strode it to shove his sword inside its crooked teeth. His shoulder, head and palms were bleeding as he held the broken sword tightly, preventing its attack. "What're you doing?? Break the nest!!" Without any thought, I ran as my steps pounded in time with my heartbeat and stopped under the nest to throw the flint to anger them. But it didn't shake up the whole nest. I glimpsed at Benjamin's coat and mumbled, "Sorry dude!" My hands reached out and stripped his heavy coat along with the belt to throw it towards the nest which seemed to work. The loud buzzing sound of their wings filled the air as they flew towards me but it appeared the oil was effective since they moved away from me towards the bush. I stood there staring and waiting for Joon to show up, and he stepped out of the bush covered in blood. His lips curled into a smirk as he drifted towards us. The creature growled and yelped inside the bush as those Shelps stung them. I dropped to my knees and felt how a survivor felt when they realized they survived a pitfall. I converted my glance towards Joon and my breath almost stopped when I noticed a hound tumbling behind him. My voice Refused to come out as I saw it jump on him before screaming out, "BEHIND YOU!!"