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Description
July 11, 12973 BCE; Colombia

Three weeks passed for Arktalaki’s recovery. The tribespeople provided her food and water and shelter. The children of the settlement would visit her every so often, in awe at finally seeing the woman that their parents had told them so many legends about, the Great Chieftess that brought their people across the ice and into a whole new world. It was a nice change of pace from walking the span of a continent all alone.

Now Arktalaki and Qambaq were armed and ready to hunt the Terror, this beast that had plagued their nightmares for dozens of moons. Arktalaki didn't like it. She didn't want to do this. That sound still rattled in her brain. But innocent lives were at risk because of this demon, and that was simply not something she could allow.

“It lacks the capacity for mercy,” Qambaq told her as she followed him and the hunter team across the grasslands. “It would come in the night and steal away anyone in a flash of darkness. We'd only ever find them days later, their poor bodies ripped to shreds and beaten to a pulp.”

“By the Spirits…” Arktalaki said, holding down her lunch.

“Men, women, children, it does not matter to this demon. All it desires is destruction and slaughter. The way it kills is just… just… it captures its prey and… it lifts them up and smashes them into the ground, over and over and over again until their bodies are just limp sacks of blood that the creature feasts on. It is a beast more evil than any Templar you have ever faced.”

Arktalaki did he best to hold back her fears. Come on, she told herself, she's dealt with huge animals and vicious predators before. Why is this one scaring her so badly?

The screeching. The sheer terror that this thing shook into her. It wasn't like any other predator she'd encountered. It moved like a giant shadow, too fast to be seen through the grass. It didn't attack like any tiger or wolf or anything she had fought before. It hunted like something entirely different. No open combat, no chance to assess the danger. It came in the shadows, stole in the shadows, killed in the shadows, and all it left behind was the shattered remains of its victims and the echo of its soul-shattering screeching.

“We will bring it down,” she said, trying to shake the thoughts away. “If it is the last of its kind like you say, then that means it can die like the rest of its brethren. We just need to figure out how to kill it.”

“Or even catch it.”

“Hopefully we can corner it in its lair as I saw in my vision.”

“Hopefully. I cannot allow our people to suffer any longer.”

The group continued on their trek, eventually getting a brief break from the beating sun of the grasslands as they wandered into a loose patch of forest. The trees gently swayed around them, giving them some much needed shade.

“I feel bad for sending you all to live in such inhospitable heat,” Arkatalaki laughed.

Qambaq laughed back and waved her off. “It is fine,” he said. “It is a destiny imposed upon us by the Spirits themselves. I would not go against such a journey, despite the obstacles to it. It is our fate, and now it is our home.”

Arktalaki nodded, thinking in the back of her head if she'd be able to show the same determination when she was face to face with the Terror as her own destiny seemed to be.

They continued walking through the forest, making sure to keep their spears at the ready just in case something tried to attack them. Suddenly, there was a crack through the woods. The hunters all froze, raising their spears up a little on instinct. Qambaq held up a hand to tell them to hold back. A low grumbling echoed out from the trees, more a grunt than anything, followed by more such noises in response to the first.

“Damn,” Qambaq whispered.

“What?” Arktalaki asked. “What is it?”

“There are creatures in this part of the land that I was hoping we would not have to cross. We call them sloths. They're harder to hunt than mammoths, and about as large too.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I'm afraid so. We tried to hunt them in large swaths when we first arrived and settled, but we learned the hard way that they are best left alone.”

The ground rumbled a bit as a massive figure started lumbering into view from the trees. Arktalaki turned and looked in awe at the size. Qambaq was right. It was definitely the size of a mammoth. It looked like a giant bear walking on its knuckles, with massive claws dangling from its hands. It seemed slow and lumbering, though given the size of those claws and the telling description that Qambaq had given, she imagined that its looks were deceiving.

Qambaq ushered the team into the bushes to hide, and they didn't hesitate to scramble into the shadows as the massive beast strode their way. It sauntered up to a tree, rearing up on its hind legs in order to reach up and start shearing leaves off of the canopy with its claws and slowly dragging them into its mouth. Arktalaki watched and observed the creature and noticed more of its kind doing the same in the distance. She looked over at Qambaq and whispered, “What do we do?”

“Use the foliage as cover,” he said. “We can't fight so many of these beasts in this kind of environment. It would be suicide. Stay low and stay quiet. If we're stealthy, we can escape these woods without any problems.”

Arktalaki nodded and waved a hand in front of them. “Lead the way, my friend,” she said. Qambaq responded with a nod, and he began to push forward through the brush, leading the hunting team as quietly as they could step. Arktalaki watched the beasts eat their fill as they snuck past them. She kept her eyes on those claws. She couldn't even imagine getting into a fight with one of these animals. She hoped she wouldn't have to.

The forest was hardly dense, and it didn't take long for them to be able to see the edge of the woods where the grasslands kissed the trees. Arktalaki inwardly sighed. Looks like they were going to make it without a fight after all.

And as before, looks were deceiving.

They had just reached the edge of the woods when Arktalaki noticed movement just out of their field of view in the trees next to them. It was one of the sloths, farther off from its kin, seemingly coming out of nowhere. It probably wasn't looking to attack them, but the sudden giant movement was enough to spook one of the hunters. They reflexively tossed their spear in defense, hitting the beast but far from landing a fatal blow. The only thing it resulted in was making it mad.

Very mad.

It let out a bellowing moan and swatted down at the hunters. Arktalaki gasped and lunged out of the way of the massive claws. “Run!” she shouted as she scurried to her feet. The team didn't hesitate. They sprinted into the grasslands, running as fast as their feet could carry them. Arktalaki looked over her shoulder, and gasped in horror as she saw the beast lumbering after them, and was easily catching up. She cursed under her breath and stopped in her tracks, grabbing a spear and spinning around.

“We can't outrun it!” she called to her hunters and she lunged out of the way of another claw swing. “Help me fight it so we can escape!”

The hunters looked at one another and nodded. With a collective war cry, they charged back to aid their Great Chieftess. Spears started swinging wildly, many failing to make their mark as the creature swung back with equal ferocity. Arktalaki ran around the beast, looking for the best route to taking it down. The closest thing to an experience like this was when she would hunt mammoths back up north. It was rather different but still similar enough for her to try and apply her tactics here.

She did her best to avoid getting into close combat with this beast while it was still strong and fast. They had to weaken it first. She grabbed a few of her spears and started hurling them at the animal. Some of them missed but enough landed their mark to make the animal roar and start slowing down. It managed to rip gashes in a few of the hunters, causing them to fall screaming in pain as their blood mixed with the creature’s on the grassland soils. Arktalaki grit her teeth. She raised another spear high and hurled it with all her might. It hit the animal square in the shoulder, causing it to let out another bellow. It staggered a bit, weakened and slowed just like she was hoping for. She seized her chance. She grabbed another spear and she sprinted forward. The creature reared up for another strike as she charged up to it, but she didn't give it the chance. With all the strength she could muster, she thrust her spear upwards, sending it directly into the beast’s heart. It let out one final roar before finally it tipped over and fell limp to the ground.

Arktalaki stepped back, breathing heavily. Qambaq rushed up and put a hand on her shoulder, silently asking if she's okay. She nodded and took a deep breath, trying to calm her body from the terrifying adrenaline rush. Once she was calm, she walked up to the creature and knelt down, wishing its soul a safe journey to the realm of the Spirits.

“This is why we stay away from hunting sloths,” Qambaq told her.

“Yeah…” she said. “That's… that's understandable.”

They looked around at their hunting team. Many of them had serious injuries that would need tending to immediately if they had any hope of surviving them. They couldn't continue like this, that was for sure.

“We need to send some of our men to carry them back to the settlement,” Arktalaki decided.

“You're right… as unfortunate as that is… Without them at our side our hunting party will be drastically shrunken.”

“We set out on this mission to save lives. I won't let these warriors die like this.”

Qambaq nodded in agreement. They picked out a few of the hunters to carry the wounded men and the resources they harvested from the sloth back to the settlement, leaving behind a now much smaller team. Arktalaki cursed her luck. She thought back to the Apple's vision. She was alone when she was facing off against the Terror… did that mean none of these men would make it? How many would end up wounded or worse on this quest. And… would she even make it out alive? Questions like that terrified her, shook her to her core. She wondered what the hell she had gotten into, and felt awful for getting these noble people just as stuck in this terrible situation right alongside her.

But they all knew they had to carry on. They had to put an end to the Terror, or else it would continue to bring death upon the innocent tribespeople trying to make a peaceful living in these new lands. Arktalaki sighed as her new, smaller team carried on into the grasslands that led towards the lair of the demon. Gabriel had told her that it was the destiny of her people to expand out, to colonize an entire land mass so that their descendants could call it their home for generations to come. She remembered every word and image she gave to her of their destiny as founders.

She just wish he had told her how difficult it would prove to be.

Description
July 11, 12973 BCE; Colombia

Three weeks passed for Arktalaki’s recovery. The tribespeople provided her food and water and shelter. The children of the settlement would visit her every so often, in awe at finally seeing the woman that their parents had told them so many legends about, the Great Chieftess that brought their people across the ice and into a whole new world. It was a nice change of pace from walking the span of a continent all alone.

Now Arktalaki and Qambaq were armed and ready to hunt the Terror, this beast that had plagued their nightmares for dozens of moons. Arktalaki didn't like it. She didn't want to do this. That sound still rattled in her brain. But innocent lives were at risk because of this demon, and that was simply not something she could allow.

“It lacks the capacity for mercy,” Qambaq told her as she followed him and the hunter team across the grasslands. “It would come in the night and steal away anyone in a flash of darkness. We'd only ever find them days later, their poor bodies ripped to shreds and beaten to a pulp.”

“By the Spirits…” Arktalaki said, holding down her lunch.

“Men, women, children, it does not matter to this demon. All it desires is destruction and slaughter. The way it kills is just… just… it captures its prey and… it lifts them up and smashes them into the ground, over and over and over again until their bodies are just limp sacks of blood that the creature feasts on. It is a beast more evil than any Templar you have ever faced.”

Arktalaki did he best to hold back her fears. Come on, she told herself, she's dealt with huge animals and vicious predators before. Why is this one scaring her so badly?

The screeching. The sheer terror that this thing shook into her. It wasn't like any other predator she'd encountered. It moved like a giant shadow, too fast to be seen through the grass. It didn't attack like any tiger or wolf or anything she had fought before. It hunted like something entirely different. No open combat, no chance to assess the danger. It came in the shadows, stole in the shadows, killed in the shadows, and all it left behind was the shattered remains of its victims and the echo of its soul-shattering screeching.

“We will bring it down,” she said, trying to shake the thoughts away. “If it is the last of its kind like you say, then that means it can die like the rest of its brethren. We just need to figure out how to kill it.”

“Or even catch it.”

“Hopefully we can corner it in its lair as I saw in my vision.”

“Hopefully. I cannot allow our people to suffer any longer.”

The group continued on their trek, eventually getting a brief break from the beating sun of the grasslands as they wandered into a loose patch of forest. The trees gently swayed around them, giving them some much needed shade.

“I feel bad for sending you all to live in such inhospitable heat,” Arkatalaki laughed.

Qambaq laughed back and waved her off. “It is fine,” he said. “It is a destiny imposed upon us by the Spirits themselves. I would not go against such a journey, despite the obstacles to it. It is our fate, and now it is our home.”

Arktalaki nodded, thinking in the back of her head if she'd be able to show the same determination when she was face to face with the Terror as her own destiny seemed to be.

They continued walking through the forest, making sure to keep their spears at the ready just in case something tried to attack them. Suddenly, there was a crack through the woods. The hunters all froze, raising their spears up a little on instinct. Qambaq held up a hand to tell them to hold back. A low grumbling echoed out from the trees, more a grunt than anything, followed by more such noises in response to the first.

“Damn,” Qambaq whispered.

“What?” Arktalaki asked. “What is it?”

“There are creatures in this part of the land that I was hoping we would not have to cross. We call them sloths. They're harder to hunt than mammoths, and about as large too.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I'm afraid so. We tried to hunt them in large swaths when we first arrived and settled, but we learned the hard way that they are best left alone.”

The ground rumbled a bit as a massive figure started lumbering into view from the trees. Arktalaki turned and looked in awe at the size. Qambaq was right. It was definitely the size of a mammoth. It looked like a giant bear walking on its knuckles, with massive claws dangling from its hands. It seemed slow and lumbering, though given the size of those claws and the telling description that Qambaq had given, she imagined that its looks were deceiving.

Qambaq ushered the team into the bushes to hide, and they didn't hesitate to scramble into the shadows as the massive beast strode their way. It sauntered up to a tree, rearing up on its hind legs in order to reach up and start shearing leaves off of the canopy with its claws and slowly dragging them into its mouth. Arktalaki watched and observed the creature and noticed more of its kind doing the same in the distance. She looked over at Qambaq and whispered, “What do we do?”

“Use the foliage as cover,” he said. “We can't fight so many of these beasts in this kind of environment. It would be suicide. Stay low and stay quiet. If we're stealthy, we can escape these woods without any problems.”

Arktalaki nodded and waved a hand in front of them. “Lead the way, my friend,” she said. Qambaq responded with a nod, and he began to push forward through the brush, leading the hunting team as quietly as they could step. Arktalaki watched the beasts eat their fill as they snuck past them. She kept her eyes on those claws. She couldn't even imagine getting into a fight with one of these animals. She hoped she wouldn't have to.

The forest was hardly dense, and it didn't take long for them to be able to see the edge of the woods where the grasslands kissed the trees. Arktalaki inwardly sighed. Looks like they were going to make it without a fight after all.

And as before, looks were deceiving.

They had just reached the edge of the woods when Arktalaki noticed movement just out of their field of view in the trees next to them. It was one of the sloths, farther off from its kin, seemingly coming out of nowhere. It probably wasn't looking to attack them, but the sudden giant movement was enough to spook one of the hunters. They reflexively tossed their spear in defense, hitting the beast but far from landing a fatal blow. The only thing it resulted in was making it mad.

Very mad.

It let out a bellowing moan and swatted down at the hunters. Arktalaki gasped and lunged out of the way of the massive claws. “Run!” she shouted as she scurried to her feet. The team didn't hesitate. They sprinted into the grasslands, running as fast as their feet could carry them. Arktalaki looked over her shoulder, and gasped in horror as she saw the beast lumbering after them, and was easily catching up. She cursed under her breath and stopped in her tracks, grabbing a spear and spinning around.

“We can't outrun it!” she called to her hunters and she lunged out of the way of another claw swing. “Help me fight it so we can escape!”

The hunters looked at one another and nodded. With a collective war cry, they charged back to aid their Great Chieftess. Spears started swinging wildly, many failing to make their mark as the creature swung back with equal ferocity. Arktalaki ran around the beast, looking for the best route to taking it down. The closest thing to an experience like this was when she would hunt mammoths back up north. It was rather different but still similar enough for her to try and apply her tactics here.

She did her best to avoid getting into close combat with this beast while it was still strong and fast. They had to weaken it first. She grabbed a few of her spears and started hurling them at the animal. Some of them missed but enough landed their mark to make the animal roar and start slowing down. It managed to rip gashes in a few of the hunters, causing them to fall screaming in pain as their blood mixed with the creature’s on the grassland soils. Arktalaki grit her teeth. She raised another spear high and hurled it with all her might. It hit the animal square in the shoulder, causing it to let out another bellow. It staggered a bit, weakened and slowed just like she was hoping for. She seized her chance. She grabbed another spear and she sprinted forward. The creature reared up for another strike as she charged up to it, but she didn't give it the chance. With all the strength she could muster, she thrust her spear upwards, sending it directly into the beast’s heart. It let out one final roar before finally it tipped over and fell limp to the ground.

Arktalaki stepped back, breathing heavily. Qambaq rushed up and put a hand on her shoulder, silently asking if she's okay. She nodded and took a deep breath, trying to calm her body from the terrifying adrenaline rush. Once she was calm, she walked up to the creature and knelt down, wishing its soul a safe journey to the realm of the Spirits.

“This is why we stay away from hunting sloths,” Qambaq told her.

“Yeah…” she said. “That's… that's understandable.”

They looked around at their hunting team. Many of them had serious injuries that would need tending to immediately if they had any hope of surviving them. They couldn't continue like this, that was for sure.

“We need to send some of our men to carry them back to the settlement,” Arktalaki decided.

“You're right… as unfortunate as that is… Without them at our side our hunting party will be drastically shrunken.”

“We set out on this mission to save lives. I won't let these warriors die like this.”

Qambaq nodded in agreement. They picked out a few of the hunters to carry the wounded men and the resources they harvested from the sloth back to the settlement, leaving behind a now much smaller team. Arktalaki cursed her luck. She thought back to the Apple's vision. She was alone when she was facing off against the Terror… did that mean none of these men would make it? How many would end up wounded or worse on this quest. And… would she even make it out alive? Questions like that terrified her, shook her to her core. She wondered what the hell she had gotten into, and felt awful for getting these noble people just as stuck in this terrible situation right alongside her.

But they all knew they had to carry on. They had to put an end to the Terror, or else it would continue to bring death upon the innocent tribespeople trying to make a peaceful living in these new lands. Arktalaki sighed as her new, smaller team carried on into the grasslands that led towards the lair of the demon. Gabriel had told her that it was the destiny of her people to expand out, to colonize an entire land mass so that their descendants could call it their home for generations to come. She remembered every word and image she gave to her of their destiny as founders.

She just wish he had told her how difficult it would prove to be.