Lindsay
Schopfer

By Lindsay Schopfer

Keltin Moore deftly stepped over a twig, stirring the smoky mist with the toe of his boot. The full moon filled the night with a pale glow between the black trunks of the trees, bathing the forest in ethereal light. Keltin moved slowly through the gray haze, sometimes taking a minute between footfalls. He needed no speed, only stealth. His quarry would not be moving after it had eaten. He knew it would be sleeping.

An hour stretched into three and still Keltin crept forward. The bracken thickened, forcing him to circle the denser pockets of brambles. He held his rifle vertically, angling the long steel barrel to the sheltered sky to avoid tangling his most prized object in the bushes. The oak stock felt solid and reassuring in his grip, the cool of the metal trigger guard seeping through his gloves.

A rustle in the bracken froze him in mid-step. A long moment passed and Keltin let his hovering foot gently lower to the ground. The faint odor of ammonia drifted through the trees to his nostrils. The beast was before him. Shifting his weight gradually, Keltin inched forward until a shaft of moonlight gave soft definition to the monster lying barely a dozen yards from him.

Its forearms were over-large and muscular, wrapped around its massive head and serrated horns. The broad shoulders and thick chest flowed into two coiling tails, each tipped with a venomous barb. The bristles and fur covering its back were blacker than the night around them. Keltin judged the total size of the beast as something between a bull and a grey bear.

His quarry found, Keltin now began the studied examination of his prey. The muscular forearms wrapped around its head made a neck shot impossible, and the broad shoulders suggested muscles thick enough to halt his bullets before finding internal organs. Instead, Keltin decided upon the place on the beast’s side under one of the extended forearms, where the skin pulled tight just under the joint. He moved a few yards to the left, allowing the angle of his shot the best chance of piercing deep into the beast’s chest. Satisfied with his position, Keltin then crouched down to finish his final preparations.

The five chambers in his rifle were loaded with Reltac spinners, designed for deep penetration. Keltin gauged the short distance between himself and the beast and decided to replace the final three rounds with Alpenion rounds filled with the metallic acid belferin. At this range, he knew that if the beast did not fall on the first two shots he’d need it distracted by as much pain as possible to allow him a chance to finish it with the Ripper. He placed this final weapon within easy reach before him. The wicked-looking stabbing point and wide-edged ax blades barely reflected the light of the moon on their tempered surfaces.