135 The Other Side (2/2)

There was no way he could battle the powerful beast-man and protect Zhi Ruo at the same time. The shockwaves alone from such a battle would turn her to dust.

Wracking his brain for a solution Hartley thought about his black energy sphere, he immediately dismissed the thought, Zhi Ruo wouldn't survive that blast either...

” Soon you two filthy humans are going to be begging for death, but that will be a slow process that I will enjoy.”

The black scaled beast-man growled out a statement like a cat that had cornered two rats. He made his way over the rocky ground with authority oozing from his demeanour.

Pandemonium was breaking loose within the village as all types of shouting and growls could be heard.

It seemed like the entirety of the village was roused from slumber and rushing to the bright light over the basin like moths to a flame..

Hartley gritted his teeth in frustration, he had to abandon the search for the pocket dimension, escape was the only viable option now.

Enclosing himself and Ruo in his sphere for protection, he brought down his full 250 gs of gravitational downforce onto the rocky basin...

He had to create a big distraction then try to slip away during the confusion.

With a bang that shook the ground like an earthquake the rocky basin juddered.

Cracks immediately began to appear flinging dust and debris upwards through the white light.

The scaled beast-man was caught off guard by the sudden impact. He staggered back as he was pushed down by the force of gravity, spider web cracks crawled and spread out below his feet sounding like shallow ice cracking on a frozen lake.

Huge fissures began to open up and down the length of the rocky basin.

Zhi Ruo trembled and held on to Hartley tighter. Some of the force was negated by the the floating sphere but not all, she had beads of sweat racing down her forehead as she watched the destruction in amazement.

A loud rumble echoed out in the barren lands as the rocky basin began to collapse underfoot. Sending dust and sprays of shattered stones flying in all direction.

The royal beast-man statue that had probably stood for hundreds of years, leaned one way then rocked the other before it came crashing down like an old sky scraper building demolished with dynamite.

Hartley quickly floated to the left and out of the way of the falling granite statue.

The statue fell face first onto the rocky basin and shattered with a huge bang that echoed out for miles, stone shrapnel flew out like bullets, indiscriminately injuring those rushing to the scene.

The black scaled beast-man disappeared from sight with the royal stone statue as the whole rock basin imploded in on itself with a massive hellraising crash.

Hartley and Zhi Ruo floated above the collapsing ground in the sphere twinkling with flashes of blue and watched the basin and statue disappinearing under ground.

A mushroom cloud of dust engulfed everything and rose half a mile into the sky, swallowing the light rune that was floating above and returning the night to its former darkness.

Just as Hartley was about to grab Zhi Ruo and make a run for it. A pulse of blue light flashed from the star tattoo on his chest.....

**********

There was a massive roar from within the suffocating dust below the surface of the basin, a whirlwind of green lights surged out as it seems like all the wind elements in the vicinity were summoned below.

Tornado-like winds whistled and whirred, pushing back a portion of the lingering dust-cloud and debris back above ground.

The black scaled beast-man shot back to surface in an explosion of green lights and floated above the basin on a cushion of wind elements.

The village was in utter chaos, there was growling and screams of pain, some bawled out in shock after seeing the destruction of the sacred grounds.

The black scaled beast-man surveyed the horrific scene with eyes radiating utter hate as he searched for the filthy humans.

When he saw the missing statue of the first king of the beast-men, he howled to the heavens with bloodshot eyes.

”This act of desecrating the scared grounds is unforgivable, I'm going to skin you filthy humans alive,” the beast-man shouted to the moon before diving back into rubble in search of the humans.....

************

After the beast-man was swept away with the statue, without hesitation Hartley hugged Zhi Ruo close and dived down below into the rubble and dust of the collapsed basin.

There was a maze of winding tunnels saturated with thick dust below the basin that led in various directions.

Hartley scampered to the northwest, he was sure his blue star fragment was resonating with the gate to the pocket dimension.

Booms and cries of frustration echoed out from behind as the scaled beast-man gave chase. It sounded like a bulldozer was breaking through every piece of rubble behind him.

Soon Hartley reached a dark dead end. His tattoo was pulsing quickly with a blazing blue light that was visible through his robe and the thick dust.

Hartley gave Zhi Ruo in his embrace a gloomy look, he wasn't afraid of the beast-man, he was sure he could hold his own.

It was Zhi Ruo that concerned him. If they were cornered in this dead end cave, the first exchange of blows between him and the beast-man would mean certain death for Ruo.

There was nothing special in the cave but his star tattoo was still flashing in a frenzy. Hartley held Zhi Ruo and walked over to the wall.....

There was an almighty ruckus outside, it sounded like the neighbouring caves were collapsing, swirling dust came flying into the cave. Hartley knew it was the beast-man coming.

Hartley inspected the wall for a second. There was nothing special about it either.

He looked at Zhi Ruo who looked scared and said ”Ruo I love you.”

Before she could answer he extended his left hand and touched the wall..

It immediately felt like his guts were being wringed inside out, the horrifying screams of Zhi Ruo next to him sent chills down his spine.

His chest felt tight as if an anvil was sitting on it as he tried to suck in breaths.

Both of his eyes bulged to the size of golf balls and was about to pop clean from their sockets.

Just when he was about to pass out, the pressure suddenly disappeared....