ShanDeRad
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Chapter 22
🕑 Added 2024-04-20 17:52:58 +0000 UTCShaun knew his chances of success were slim to none, but he was going to give everything he had to his plan, and if that included his life, so be it. Time to cause some chaos. With the Alpha in front of him and none of the monsters aware of his presence, he threw his first dagger right into the eye of the unaware Alpha. He was proud of how good he had gotten with his aim when throwing his daggers, when he started to incorporate this method of attack it was hit or miss, mostly miss, but now when he had the time to line up a throw and could put as much strength as he could into it, he would hit his mark 9 times out of 10.
What followed after the dagger went straight into the Alpha’s eye was complete and utter chaos, just as he had expected. The Alpha let out a squeal that was so loud that Shaun had to fight himself to not cover his ears, the noise caused all of the surrounding Mole Rats to starts scurrying around frantically, a number of them almost running straight to where Shaun was standing, who had to continuously use his detection skill to dance around them using every point he had in his Dexterity attribute to both avoid them and stay in stealth.
The Alpha got to its feet, showing more speed than Shaun assumed it would have, and as he had thought earlier each step it made shook the cavern. He was both thankful that none of the monsters could see him yet but also unable to follow up with another attack as his full concentration was on not getting run down by the surrounding Mole Rats. He didn’t want to alert the monsters to his presence by attacking anything but the Alpha, who currently was continuing to let out angry squeals while moving its head around trying to find its attacker.
None of the Mole Rats were getting close to the Alpha, all too scared of its frantic state, if any of them got too close they could easily be squashed underneath its strong claws. Shaun took advantage of this and moved closer towards the Alpha where he was still far enough away that he could move out of its way if it did something unexpected, but also close enough that he no longer had to worry about the rest of the Mole Rats.
The second part of his plan was a lot more risky than the first, he needed to reduce its ability to move, and to do this he needed to get up close to one of its legs and do enough damage that walking on it would hurt it every time it moved. Figuring with a dagger in its left eye he would go for one of the legs on its left side, the back one, as it would give him more time to move out of range before it could attack him.
Moving around to the Alpha’s rear was easier than Shaun expected, it was more focused towards the direction that the dagger had flown from rather than what was behind it. Once he was in position he ran towards the Alpha and with his short sword, cut as deep into the joint of its back left leg with all the strength he could muster, and rather than staying close, used his forward momentum to get as far away from the monster as he could get.
It had worked, but barely, his cut through the monsters back leg had done enough damage that the back half of the Alpha immediately collapsed, not able to support its own weight from the unexpected attack, what Shaun hadn’t accounted for was the swing of it tail which, as a reflex, swung right towards its leg and hit him right in the chest sending him flying to the ground a few metres back.
Winded from getting hit, Shaun couldn’t get up from the ground quick enough to get any further away or even attempt to drop back into stealth, thankfully he had kept hold of his sword. The Alpha turned around, each step causing vibrations to run through the ground, which he could feel run through his body, it struggled to turn, limping on it back leg from where he had done just enough damage to cause it some pain with each movement and also reduce its ability to move with any speed, but that really didn’t help Shaun at the moment.
The Alpha, after a quick sniff and hiss at its back leg quickly looked around until its eyes landed on Shaun, with a hiss directed right at him, the Alpha closed in on where he was on the ground. He didn’t have enough time to get up anymore or to even move away so had no choice but to let the monster approach him, having only enough time to adjust the grip he had on his sword.
As the Alpha got into striking distance, it lifted up its front right leg and slashed right down towards him, seeing the move coming, he rolled as quickly as he could to the side, rather than the claws coming down into his chest they instead grazed his shoulder, leaving five gashes in its wake. Ignoring the pain, he swung his sword around wildly towards the leg that had attacked him, it wasn’t controlled like his first hit and instead born out of a need to live.
He did successfully hit the Alpha’s attacking leg, not doing as much damage as his attack on the back leg, as he wasn’t at the best angle and couldn’t hit the joint, but it was enough to cause the Alpha to jerk back, giving him enough time to get to his feet and get a little more distance between them. Before he could even get ready for his next attack on the Alpha, he caught one of the smaller Mole Rats coming right at him from behind. He didn’t want to turn around and put his back to the real threat but he was left without much of a choice, he quickly turned around and moved sideways, as the Mole Rat was coming in for the attack, the Alpha let out a squeal that echoed through the cavern. Rather than every Mole Rat swarming at him like he expected they all started backing further away, even the one who was going to attack just moments ago.
So this is how it is, you want to finish me yourself. Shaun thought, the Alpha didn’t want its minions killing him, he had done enough damage to annoy the Alpha, and now it wanted its pound of flesh in return. Bring it on you overgrown rat!
No longer having to worry about all the other monsters around him he could fully focus on the Alpha, not that he let his guard down. Both Shaun and the Alpha just stood facing each other for a moment, each assessing the other, he had hurt the Alpha three times now, it had a dagger in its left eye, a back leg it couldn’t walk on properly and now a gash through one of its front legs. In turn Shaun only had the slices through his shoulder, which although painful, were not deep enough to impede on his ability to attack. The Alpha was now taking him seriously, recognising a threat, and at this Shaun was actually proud of himself, against all the odds he was actually still in this fight. Taking a dagger from his waist he looked the Alpha right in the eye and smiled.
That got an immediate reaction, the Alpha made its move and came straight for him, this time rather than attacking with its claws, it decided to use its massive teeth, Shaun threw himself to the side narrowly missing the attack. Regaining his balance, what followed was a dance between the two, the Alpha would follow him around attacking by either claw or bite and Shaun would do everything he could to dodge the attack. He never got a chance to follow up with one of his own and in the process received numerous injuries, but he was still alive.
Throughout this his stamina and health continued to drop, he was down to about half of his health and his stamina was near depleted. He guessed that the Alpha was at about three quarters of its health, the injuries that he had caused at the beginning of the fight having an impact on its speed and moveability, probably the only reason he was still alive. Its stamina though, that was a different story, like Shaun the Alpha was getting slower the longer they went on, having to put that much more effort into moving with two damaged legs, which was having an impact on its usage of stamina. If Shaun was to guess, if he could keep his current dance up he should be able to tire it out to be able to make his move, but at the pace they were going, he would be down before the Alpha, but he was about to change that.
After dodging the next attack Shaun took the stamina potion out of his pouch and downed it in one go, throwing the empty bottle at the monster's feet hoping that stepping on some glass shards would help him slow it down further. He knew it would take a few seconds before the potion took effect and in the meantime dodged two more attacks.
He then repeated the process but this time with a health potion, wanting to make sure he had as much health as he could before making his move. By the time that both potions had taken effect his health and stamina were back over halfway full and he was now able to dodge the Alpha with ease, causing it to become more reckless in its attacks.
Waiting for the next time the Alpha tried to attack, he would make his move, knowing that he couldn’t drag this out forever and that it could call on all of the other monsters around him that were watching on at any point, he needed to end this quickly.
As soon as the next attack came he made his move, dodging the attack was much easier this time, he didn’t move further away like usually though, instead he stepped back into range and drove his sword into the side of the Alpha’s neck, hoping that it would be enough to end the fight, or at the very least cause an injury that with time would prove fatal. Rather than backing away as it had done every other time it had hurt the alpha, it instead swung around, using the side of its head as a battering ram, hitting him like a truck and causing Shaun to be slammed into the ground.
Before he could even regain control of his body, the Alpha pounced on top of him driving the claws of its front left leg into his stomach. He could feel each one of its claws sink deep into him as it reared back its head and let out a victorious screech that echoed around them. The other Mole Rats in the cavern joined in, letting loose their own screech to celebrate the victory of their Alpha.
Shaun was close to giving up right there and then, his sword was gone, still buried in the monster’s neck which it seemed to just ignore completely at that point, as it celebrated trapping its prey. He still had the dagger in his hand and another on his waist but they weren’t enough to do any real damage and all he could attack was the leg that currently had its claws deep in his body.
Reaching for his second dagger, he decided if he was going to die this way he would make sure he would leave an impression on the Alpha, he would fight to the end. With both hands now holding daggers he waited, he watched his health continue to drop, waiting for the very last moment before he let loose his final attack on the leg, even if it wouldn’t do anything more than annoy it.
As the Alpha finished its victory screech it bent its head back down and looked at him, deciding on how it was going to finish its caught prey. With a sniff of the air, it seemed like it had decided, it was going to eat him alive. But still Shaun didn’t attack, just looked right back at it, he wasn’t scared in that moment, he wasn’t even angry at the situation he was forced into. He had accepted his death, but he was going to make sure his final act alive was going to be one to remember.
As the Alpha lowered it head towards Shaun again, it got close enough that he could see the individual hairs on its head, it sniffed him once, then twice, but Shaun still didn’t move. It was only when it started to open its mouth that he sprang into action with the last of the energy his body could offer. With both arms coming around the monster's head, he drove both daggers in, one into each side of its head, it tried to rear its head back away from him but he refused to let go, and with the Alpha’s paw holding him down it was stuck. Shaun felt like his body was being torn in two, the Alpha’s head was trying to pull him off the ground as he still refused to let go of the daggers, the more it moved the more damage they were doing, and the lower half of his body was firmly stuck under the huge paw.
Just when he thought he couldn’t take the pain any more, the Alpha dropped on top of him, its head on his chest, it squeaked once, then a second time, which only he could hear, and then all was silent in the cavern. He had done it, he had actually killed it before he died. Shaun had done the impossible and killed an Alpha monster without anyone’s help, he had given his life in the process and had to use two potions in the process, but he had done it.
