Muzzle fire lit up the trees all around me, glaring in my night vision goggles. The bear, panther or whatever the hell it was had hit the next [Time Barrier] but there were seconds before it would be upon me. Bullets whizzed past, bouncing off its body, ricocheting off into the darkness of the forest beyond.

  “What the hell is it?” one of the soldiers shouted out.

  “Calm down!” Davies bellowed, but he looked to me and gave a small shake of his head.

  I understood what he meant. We couldn’t take this thing on. It was a couple of metres ahead of me when I activated the [Time Loop], but it was taking a significant amount of mana. It wouldn’t be long before I became too fatigued.

  “We need to run,” I announced. “I can hold it for a bit. Maybe a minute at most, but it’s taking everything I have right now.”

  Davies didn’t need to hear anything further. He started barking orders. Soldiers carrying the dead were commanded to run, other soldiers given orders to escort them. As the soldiers began their tactical retreat, my mind was racing as to what to do. As soon as I let go of the loop, this thing would shred me and my friends.

  “Let it go,” Kaelyn shouted to me. “You need to get out of here. I’ll hold it off until you’re safe and then I’ll rejoin with you.”

  “You can’t do it alone,” I replied.

  “We have no choice, River. This foe is beyond you without those tanks.”

  “No. We go together. I can hold it long enough,” I started shuffling backwards. Kaelyn didn’t object, and we started moving as a team several metres away, Captain Davies’ team with us. Sweat started beading on my head, my muscles cramping a little. I had to hold on. I couldn’t let it go yet.

  Someone put a hand on my shoulder. Kaelyn.

  “Go. I can do this, “ she pulled her knife from its sheath. I was reluctant but then Carmen put her hand on my arm, gently pulling me away. Kian and Charlotte were nodding their heads though it was clear in their faces that they didn’t want to leave Kaelyn alone. But it was the sensible thing to do.

  “As soon as we’re clear, get yourself safe,” I said to Kaelyn. I looked at the others. “Let’s go.”

  We ran a few metres away before I dropped the [Time Loop], glancing over my shoulder as the bear swiped at Kaelyn and she jumped away, but it ignored her, its eyes on me. It dropped down to all fours and started bounding in my direction, but Kaelyn was onto it, slamming into its side, slashing at its body. She’d got its attention.

  I turned back, keeping an eye on where we were going. Carmen led the way, with me behind her and Kian and Charlotte bringing up the rear. Davies team was parallel to us as we cut through the undergrowth, twigs snapping under our feet, arms whipping branches out of the way.

  “Captain,” I shouted out. “How far are we from the tanks?”

  “About fifteen minutes, if we keep the pace up.”

  If we did. I wasn’t used to this much running. We were somewhere between a jog and a sprint. Mana exhaustion hadn’t set in yet thankfully. I had enough energy for a final construct, but I needed to make it out of the forest. If that thing followed us back to the tanks, we had a chance. Unless Kaelyn was able to take it down. She was tougher than any of us. If anyone could survive that thing, or even kill it, it would be her.

  “I think it wants me,” I shouted over the rustling of fallen leaves that crunched beneath our boots.

  “That would be a reasonable assumption,” Davies shouted back. Was the man being sardonic? Really. At a time like this?

  “We need to get to the tanks. Radio ahead.”

  “I already have,” Davies replied. “I’m not a Captain ‘cause of my good looks.”

  A couple of minutes later, we had caught up to the rear guard of soldiers, running at a pace slower than ours, accommodating the soldiers carrying the dead a few rows ahead. We slowed down to their pace, casting brief glances behind us as we ran. I was loathe to put out another [Time Barrier]. The loop had taken a lot out of me, and with the running, recovery wasn’t an option. No. I decided against it. We needed to get to the forests edge.

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  As if to mock me, we heard the sounds of branches snapping behind us. Something was coming. Something big.

  I had no option. Time to gamble.

  I dropped a [Time Barrier] first, slowing the creature a good thirty metres away.

  “Carry on running. I’m coming,” I screamed at the rest, as I turned and placed [Gravity Circle], [Time Circle] in the creatures path. Carmen hesitated at my side, seeing me stop, but only for a moment before she trusted me and ran on with the others.

  I could just about see the bear through the trees. I threw out three [Fireballs] in succession. With the SE coins earned during the week, I’d invested in other skills. [Dying Embers], which provided three ticks of damage for each fireball, and I took [Eternal Embers], which was a small percentage chance of reapplying [Dying Embers].

  It wasn’t that I would do much damage to the bear in any case. The power disparity was too much, but if Kaelyn had hurt it some and I could do more damage, I was hoping to slow it down.

  The bear roared as the first [Fireball] slammed into its shoulder, as it stepped into the [Gravity Circle]. With it’s restrained movement, it had little chance of avoiding the blows. The second [Fireball] hit it dead centre, singing the fur on its chest. It stumbled forward, fighting against the effect of the circle, but immediately stepped into the [Time Circle]. The third [Fireball] hit it flush in the face. It roared and snarled, eyes fixed on me but the [Dying Embers] took hold, small flames licking at the creature’s fur. I was just hoping the [Eternal Embers] kicked in. The bear was hurt, definitely slowed, but I knew it wasn’t enough to take it down.

  The beast was absolutely furious. I put down another [Time Cirlce] before turning and running, faster than my previous pace. I could feel some fatigue in my muscles, a slight tension in my head, but I had to fight through it. If I needed to, I’d be able to slow it down at least one more time. Whatever it took.

  It wasn’t long before I caught up to the others. As we crashed through the undergrowth, I hoped Kaelyn was okay. I hoped she’d known to retreat and was finding another way back to us.

  I don’t know how long we’d been running but in the distance behind me, I could hear the bear roar, branches snapping in its wake. Ahead of us, I could hear the front ranks of soldiers shouting, each rank behind passing on the message, until one of the soldiers in front shouted out.

  “We’re almost there!”

  I felt the slightest relief and almost instantly it was gone as the roar behind us became louder. The bear was gaining on us, the rumble of its paws on the forest floor so close that I could almost feel the vibrations. We were so close to safety. But not close enough.

  “It’s right behind us,” Charlotte shouted out.

  I was about to turn, slow it one more time but Kian beat me to it, jumping in front of me and blocking a swipe from the bear with his arms raised. Charlotte was by my side in an instant, eyes fixed on Kian, her hands glowing.

  “Go River,” she screamed at me. “It wants you.”

  Kian had reached out and was grappling with the bear, his hands holding onto the bears wrists, but I could tell it was taking everything he had just to manage that. Carmen knelt down, calmly lifted her rifle and shot a burst at the bears head, only for the bullets to ping and fly away. She was careful to ensure the stray bullets didn’t hit Kian.

  “We’ll slow it down. Go,” Carmen said, then looked at me. “Trust us.”

  Every instinct was telling me to stay and fight and help them, but I knew the only hope we had was to get this thing into the open and let the tanks take it down. The only thing I’d accomplish staying with them would be to get them all killed.

  I turned and ran, pulling my night vision goggles from my head and throwing them to the ground. I didn’t get further than twenty or so metres, when I heard Charlotte scream, and then a pitiful gurgle. My legs almost came to a stop of their own accord but forced them forwards as I ran.

  I could see the clearing ahead through the tears in my eyes. The soldiers were already running through.

  Behind me came that roar again.

  I pushed myself for one final burst of speed, urging my legs to run faster than they had ever carried me and then I emerged from the forest into the glorious light of the armoured transports and the two tanks that had been waiting for us. But right on my heels, the bear came through the clearing too. I could almost feel its breath on my back.

  “Davies!” I yelled out. “Order the tanks to fire no matter what.”

  Then I screamed as I felt claws dig into my back, tearing away the flesh and flinging me through the air. I hit the ground hard, rolling and tumbling before coming to a rest on my back with a gasp of air. I was beathing heavily, my heart pounding. I couldn’t even feel the pain as I stared at the night sky above as the bear snarled close by.

  I turned my head, looking for Davies. I knew what had to be done. There he was, near one of the tanks, staring at me. At a loss for what he should do.

  “No matter what,” I said, but my voice was weak. Hopefully he heard it. Or saw it.

  I knew how this would end.

  The bear came to stand on top of me, its paws pinning my arms down with such force that I could feel the bones shattering beneath its weight. If I died now, I’d reset. Without Carmen. Without Kian, and Charlotte, and Kaelyn. My life versus theirs. But it wasn’t just theirs, was it? It was everyone’s. All of Earth’s people needed me. And all I had to do was sacrifice the people I loved.

  The bear opened its massive jaws.

  It knew it needed to take my head.

  Then Davies yelled, “Fire!”