Ren was breathless with fear. Why did the old say they were dead?
The camp erupted in chaos, the men waved torches of fire and kept firing at the spot where they suspected whatever attacked them was hiding.
"How the hell does something hide in plain sight?" The Courteous Gunman said, holding his guns up.
After a dozen rounds of fruitless firing, he motioned to the others to stop.
The men stopped firing and their eyes darted to him for instructions.
"Mitch. Hart. Get my treasures up and out of here."
"What?"
"Now!"
A loud hum vibrated throughout their camp. The earth trembled, the men stumbled and screamed in agony, the sand and stones around them bounced around with vigor.
Ren shut his ears with his palms as he felt the vibration in his brain. His heart beat increased, like he was about to have a seizure, and he could feel his bones rattling beneath his skin.
'What the heck is this?'
Pow!
Someone fired into the air. The vibrations stopped. The men clamoured again, but this time in fear, while they stepped away.
Mitch yanked one of the chains, dragging the prisoners up.
"Let's get out of here."
Hart pulled the others up, and led them back to the track close to the edge of the rift.
The other men followed behind, running with torches in one hand and weapons in the other. Ren turned his head and was frozen.
A large round figure rolled behind the armed men, pulling up dust that further cloaked it. Ren staggered as he ran; he was barely running as his brawny partner pulled him. Ren couldn't keep up with his pace, not when he felt lighter than paper.
He looked back, the giant ball was gone.
Something landed in front of them with a heavy thud that quaked the earth beneath their feet. Mitch was lucky, lucky to be just an inch away from the giant ball. Such terrible luck.
It uncurled to reveal a towering figure that was as tall as two adult men on top of each other. Those glowing red orbs dotted a rough, circular part that was for sure its face.
Everyone froze in dreadful awe of the monster in front of them.
It lifted its long, uneven rocky arm up to the skies and let it down. Mitch was crushed in seconds, along with two of the prisoners, without having the chance to scream. The impact threw off the rest like a wave of explosion.
"Move!" Hart yelled as he tugged one of the prisoners.
All the prisoners huddled together, running away from the rock monster. The armed men pushed forward, shooting at it.
Ren saw that each successful shot forced a crimson fluid out of the monster. But, the crimson fluid hardened after some minutes, forming an extra hard layer.
Shooting this monster was utterly useless. Their only salvation was to escape.
It swept five more armed men into the rift. Some of the chained prisoners followed, and so did their partners.
Ren wriggled with the chains and so did Brawly.
"You're the cause of all this!" Brawly spat at him.
"If I die, my blood is on your head."
"I hope you die soon," Ren said, staring angrily into his eyes.
"Move, you idiots!" The Courteous Gunman shoved them forward.
What was left of his army were just about three men who were leading the two pairs of prisoners behind him.
They were all helpless. The men had wasted their shots so much that even the air smelt like gunpowder and yet, the rock monster was relentless. It trailed them wherever they turned to. It glowing red orbs tracked them with a lazy, murderous curiosity, as though it had all the time in the world to end them.
Another man with a torch screamed as he was scooped off the ground by a thick, stony limb and hurled into the abyss of the rift.
'Why isn't it eating them? This monster must be a sadist.'
The monster took another thunderous step. The convulsions of the earth sent the prisoners tumbling into one another. Chains clanked as they clashed.
The monster hummed again. Ren felt his legs lose coordination as he tried to stand back. Everyone groaned in pain, covering their ears and gritting their teeth.
Brawly had already started bleeding from his nose. Ren clutched his head again, gritting his teeth as the vibration crawled into his bones. It was like his skull would crack open from within.
'How... does it... do that?'
Even his mind was somehow affected by the vibrational wave.
A large arm swept down at them again.
Ren found himself in the air before slamming into the ground. The impact knocked the breath out of him. Brawly crashed beside him with a gasp, coughing up dirt.
Torches flew up and scattered across the ground. Loud screams came from every direction.
A prisoner's body hit the stones near Ren. He could see clearly in the darkness that it was the old man. His body was limp, and his eyes void of life.
Ren rolled to his side, trembling. He had seen nightmares before, but this trial beat them all.
All the torches went off after they all fell. They groped around in the dark, trying to get back on their feet.
The monster didn't attack anymore, but in the darkness, Ren could see it just standing at a spot. It bent back, slowly, curling back into a ball.
The Courteous Gunman lit a match. He searched around, picked one of the torches and lighted it up.
The monster sprang back to its full length.
'It's triggered by light.'
They all turned to their heels as the monster charged at them.
What was left of the hunters shot at the the monster again.
'These idiots don't learn.'
Hart, who was watching the slave got ripped, his torso flying to the edge of the rift and his lower part landing right in front of Ren.
Keys jingled as the legs landed. Ren reached for the key, grimacing. He unhooked it from the trousers and unlocked himself. He tossed the key to Brawly. He fumbled with it but finally he got his wrists free. He helped the last prisoner out of his cuffs too.
Brawly reached for a torch and was scrambling around for a match to lit it up with.
"If you light that torch, we are going to die," Ren said.
"Shut up, you heretic," he barked back at him.
"The fact that you found the keys in the darkness doesn't make you so amazing."
"Hart! Let's go!" The Gunman called out, approaching them with the torch.
A loud yell echoed and faded at the same time.
Ren saw the monster running like a gorilla some meters away. It was bleeding, but it didn't solidify yet. And for some reasons, it was slower than before.
The Gunman waved the torch, revealing only the faces of his prisoners. He waved the torch down and found what was left of Hart—his detached, bloody legs.
He pointed the gun at them. They stepped back, raising their hands up.
"The monster killed him," Brawly quickly said, dropping the torch.
The gun clicked.
"That monster is blind..." Ren finally spoke up.
"What?" Brawly choked.
"But it's attracted to the fire and the gunshots," His eyes darted to the monster who was gaining on them.
"And it's close. If we don't turn off the light, we'll all be dead."
The Gunman scoffed. "Or you're just looking for an easy escape?"
The thuds got closer and closer.
"Where would I escape to in this godforsaken wilderness?" The other prisoner cried back.
Ren's heart was pounding fast. His eyes didn't leave the monster that was already about five feet away.
The Gunman bit his lower lips and kissed his teeth. He blew the torch off. Immediately the lights were out, the monster froze. It wandered around for some minutes, lost. The Gunman and the three surviving prisoners froze in their spots too, not moving an inch.
"It has rolled back into a boulder," Ren announced.
"Good. Since you see so well, you'll lead us down the length of the rift. And if any of you tries to disappear, I'll blow your head off."
The monster must've have stopped rampaging, but Ren was once again trapped.
The only way he could escape was to play along till the sun came up.