The beasts speed was not to be underestimated, it moved so fast that it appeared that the arrow shot straight through a after image. Its rage only grew after she attacked first. It wanted her blood more than anything now. Like a bolt of lightning it shot out of the foliage, its enormous body zig zagged this way and that appearing before her in less than a second. The beast looked at her with a smirk, it was moving so fast that its meal had barely even moved her hand after loosening the arrow… even the was still warped and had yet to snap back into place."Arrogant human." It thought in satisfaction. What was the point of being so arrogant when that was the best you could do? It almost laughed as its gigantic mouth opened intending to bit down on her neck… it was going for an instant kill, and it was very proud of itself.
ROAR!!!! It wailed in pain just as its jaws were about to clamp down on her. It couldn"t understand. It had already won hadn"t it? Why was it suddenly in pain?
The giant beast fell to the ground then quickly attempted to retreat so that it could find out what had actually happened. It was having a hard time breathing, and at this point it was extremely confused. But before it could move further both of its back paws had been pierced with arrows, it howled again and looked to the woman it thought it would have already been devouring.
Mira wore a well satisfied smirk.
"Well d.a.m.n…" In one hand she held a bloodied dagger and her bow in the other she had another arrow that she was already putting back into her quiver. As she walked up to it the bow folded back up and she placed it back in its pouch at her thigh then with just the dagger in hand she stopped in front of it.
The beast was huge indeed, about the size of an elephant and resembled a panther from earth. Instead of being a solid black it was black with deep red streaks throughout its fur. Its eyes where deep and murderous blue and very focused on her. Its enormous paws were slowly moving from side to side. It was trying to free its paws from the arrows but was unable too. The wound on its side was already healing. Mira was amazed, her weapons were anything but normal.
She shook her head looking up to it, she was just out of it bite reach. "Aren"t you a big fella?" She chuckled softly. She was a bit astounded, she"d come across intelligent animals before but not one that could talk. Just looking at it made her feel like she was in some kind of animation. It was simply amazing, she couldn"t help shaking her head again.
"Pfft… do not act so amazed human just finish me. This king here will not be humiliated by a arrogant filthy creature such as yourself." It narrowed its eyes as it looked into her own golden ones. It was more than ready to die… but it could not tolerate the idea of being humiliated, not by a human… never by a human. It was still trying to work its paws out of the arrows, but not matter how hard it tried the arrow wouldn"t budge. It honestly couldn"t understand why with its enormous strength it would still be unable to remove two puny arrows.
"Don"t bother… you can"t remove them, only I can." She was still smiling. She was quite excited to see something so novel… so new. After everything she"d been through over the years it was extremely difficult to find anything new anymore. "If death is what you want then I can certainly grant it to you." She said softly the smile ever present. Though the truth was she was loath to end its life. It was magnificent in her opinion… absolutely beautiful. Yet she also understood that she wouldn"t be able to actually free it either. She inwardly sighed because she understood the moment, she freed it, it would most certainly attack her… and it would do so likely without any hesitation. It seemed to have a deep-rooted hatred for humanity, and it was unlikely to have any pity on her just because she showed pity on it. She knew she would have to kill it no matter how much she didn"t want too and she would of course, just as soon as she got what she needed from it. "But first I would like to ask the you answer just a few questions. I won this battle and I did it honorably. Answer a few questions of mine honestly and I will grant a last request of yours so long as it is reasonable. What say you?" She maintained eye contact while she spoke. She understood that with humans this was usually the best way to show sincerity. This was her first time interacting with a sentient animal but she knew that dominate an animal you mustn"t show fear and eye contact was often very important as well.
The beast stared at her for a long while in silence. It never stopped trying to free itself. This human was certainly different. Most humans didn"t hesitate. They would certainly attempt to contract with it and then when discovered that they couldn"t they would then kill the beast immediately. They would only conversate just enough to issue commands… This human however looked as though she actually respected it. Its eyes narrowed a bit more. Though it was likely going to die at least it was going to die at the hands of this unusual human… it certainly could be worse. The beast could tell that the human would give it a clean death and wouldn"t try to torture it. "Very well, speak. If I know the answer, I will speak the truth."
Mira"s smile turned a bit kinder. "Thank you." She said with a slight incline of her head. "Is there a city or village anywhere near?" She got straight the point. She could still hear the thunder and smell the rain in the air. If she could find a village or a city that would be best. She was actually pretty tired. Using her eyes was putting a drain on her. She didn"t quite understand why though, and she hadn"t the chance to figure it out why yet.
"There is a human civilization not far from here in that direction." The beast said calmly then indicated the direction with a gesture of its ma.s.sive head.
"Is there an any military there?"
"Not that this king has ever noticed. This king has not seen any troops in this kings land in a very long time." It said watching her closely still gauging her expressions all the while still trying to free itself.
"The people do they have any special abilities? Can they fly? Super strong that kind of thing?" She wasn"t sure if this was a world with cultivation or not. It was best if she knew a head of time. It might help her avoid some dangers for now.
"It depends on their cultivation level of course, though I haven"t sensed anyone powerful in that human settlement in centuries." The beast was looking at her strangely now. How could this human not know such a simple thing?
"Thank you very much. I"ll grant you what you wish." She pulled back out her bow and took out a arrow and pointed it at its head. "Tell me what favor I can grant you and also…" She paused for a moment before speaking again. "Also… do you have a name?" She asked finally. She didn"t like killing, although she knew that sometimes it was truly unavoidable… like now.
The beast looked at her curiously for a moment before it finally stopped struggling to escape and sighed. "You are already granting me a favor and my name is Xu Fan Hong."
She nodded resignedly and notched the bow. Just when she was about to let it loose she changed direction silently to released the arrow, it flew just the beast and once again into the foliage behind Xu Fan Hong, a b.e.s.t.i.a.l howl could be heard.