Chapter 3 -- Panther

~The Demonic Panther~

            After two long hours which seems like eternity for the two of them, they finally crossed the side cliff and arrived safely on the opposite side from the previous one. Lancet helped Cairo to sit down so that she could take a rest.

 When he let his guard down, a thunderous roar exploded behind him followed by total silence from other living things in the forest. A terrible stillness had fallen; it was so profound that the whisper of the breeze was loud through the rocks of the wall of the cliff which they crossed just now. The only movement was the flutter and swirl from the green and lustrous leaves.

            Before Lancet could react, a black and monstrous animal pounced onto his back with incredible speed.

            “ Arrrrgh!!! Cairo! Get away!” shouted Lancet in pain.

            “Brother!  No!”

            Cairo quickly stood up but fell again. Although she wanted to make a run from the monster, her fear too overwhelming, and this turned her knees to water. Her tears streamed down uncontrollably, her body shivered tremendously.

"RUN!!!!"

            “ Cairo!!! Run!!!”

            With great trepidation, Cairo seized a stone with the size of an adult man’s fist and threw at the monster’s head. She missed the target, but her actions shocked the monster. The huge monster released its grasp on Lancet’s back, and this gave Lancet a chance to escape from its claws. Lancet swung his hand hard and hit the monster. The beast was astonished by his fight back.

Lancet quickly went and reached his panic-stricken sister. They attempted to run away but it had cut them from any escape routes except for the side cliff which he would not escape to because it was too dangerous. He looked around again, there were no trees nearby. There were no means of retreat.

“ Brother! Your back is bleeding!” gasped Cairo.