FicWad

Chapter Seven
Final Approach

Logan had been leaping through the trees for about an hour. He had become quite fast, and the scent of blood was growing stronger. He had nothing left to lose. All that mattered now was killing this thing. Not even to save the village, but now it was personal. Not only did he have to get his tag back, but the nagging in the back of his head was getting stronger. Dutch…Dutch…Dutch... The connection between this thing and that name was driving him insane. Had he known someone in his past life? Had Logan fought this thing before and it was codenamed Dutch? What was the connection?
He finally came to a clearing where the bloody stink was the strongest. There were no more branches to climb on, nor trees to hang from. Just an open grassy plain. The bloody path stopped as well. As if it had just flown away from this spot. It was impossible. He was about to jump down and scavenge the area, but he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Something moved, or didn’t. He looked again, focusing on certain points while moving his vision. He finally spotted it. It was about as big as a motor-home and it was camouflaged the way the monster had been. He had found the son of a bitch.
He took stock of himself. His cuts and bruises had healed. His ribs had stopped hurting and his arm wasn’t really sore anymore. He leaped down from the tree. Some of that sneaking ability would really be appreciated right now. He kept his claws in and tried not to get overexcited as he slunk through the tall grass towards his target. He could only focus on what was waiting for him.
Was it there in the open waiting for him? No, it was sneakier than that. For all he knew that thing he saw was a giant robot. He’d handled sentinels before and gleefully too, but he had no idea what he was walking into. So he kept moving cautiously and slowly.
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He was armored and ready. As ready as he’d ever be. He had his emergency set of armor on, he had his spear with him, his blades were sharp and ready, and his bomb was strapped to his back.
He decided to meditate before he stepped out of the ship. His people were notorious for their temper. It gave them great respect and fear throughout the universe, but it was a double-edged sword. The Frenzy made them much stronger and faster, but also irresponsible and dangerous even to each other. He knew that this beast could not be approached without caution or focus. The Frenzy would rob him of both. So he sat there with is legs crossed. His mind focused on the glory he would receive upon his return. He thought of his mate waiting for him. He thought about the hate he felt for this creature. But he found he also respected it. He had drawn little blood from the creature, and not deterred it’s fighting spirit. For half of a second, he even thought it almost worthy of being a member of his race. But no. It was a human; naturally inferior. And it would die before the next solar cycle. He was sure of it.
But even he could not deny the thought of defeat lingering in the back of his head, which is why he carried his bomb. He never even thought of using it on any other hunt. But this was different. He knew with absolute certainty that this would be his greatest battle. He stood up and moved toward the ships control panel. He set the ship to his bombs frequency. If he really felt that his destruction was necessary, then the ship would leave nothing behind.
He opened the door and stepped out. It shut immediately behind him. The impact of the ship had flattened the grass, creating a large clearing circle. The local star was falling, signaling the impending end of the solar cycle.