Frostbite & bruises

Overshadowed by the girl’s soft, excited chatter, Nox hadn’t noticed the threat lurking in the shadows behind them until he was hurled with tremendous force into one of the parked cars.

The girl’s icy scream immediately drew his attention and Nox, despite being thrown against the car with a powerful blow and being momentarily dizzy from the impact, instantly leapt to his feet.

His blood ran cold at the sight of the giant bear, its huge claws trying to lift the car that Elise had crawled under at the sight of the beast.

The girl’s high-pitched screams and the sound of the bear’s claws scratching the steel of the car echoed through the garage, hurting his ears.

Agitated, Nox looked around, searching for the weapon he had brought for safekeeping. But the bear’s unexpected punch had caused him to lose both his weapon and his lamp, and although the lamp had survived the fall, it had landed on the ground some distance away, leaving everything around Nox in shadow. The nervous screeching of Elise and the flickering of the torch still held by the young girls urged him to hurry. Frustrated at not being able to find his weapon anywhere, there was only one thing left to do... ....

“Elise!!! As soon as the bear comes my way, run for the exit as fast as you can!!!”

The angry and hungry bear turned towards the man the moment he heard Nox shouting at the girl.

Drooling and with eyes insane with hunger, the large beast lunged at him. In the nick of time, Nox managed to dodge one of the beast’s large claws, but the others slid along his arm, tearing deep holes in both fabric and skin. Out of the corner of his eye, Nox saw the girl crawl out from underneath the car and make a run for it. His relief was short-lived, however, as the bear grabbed the hood of his coat and threw Nox aside with a powerful swing.

His head hit the concrete floor of the garage hard and for a moment he saw spots before his eyes, but his survival instinct kicked in and before the bear could sink its massive claw into Nox’s chest, the man had rolled aside, just out of the bear’s reach. But the animal was no slouch and turned its head towards Nox’s legs, sinking its teeth into the soft tissue of the man’s lower leg.

Roaring in pain, Nox kicked the bear’s head, but it had tasted blood and had no intention of letting go of the man.

Nox felt the bear’s teeth sink into his skin, hitting bone, and a searing pain shot through his leg as the bone snapped from the force of the jaws.

Half in the air, he tried to reach for the old combat knife that was attached to the belt across his chest, but a blow from one of the animal’s front paws prevented him from doing so. Nox felt its claws dig deep into his chest and arm. He roared again in pain, knowing that if he didn’t get his knife now, he wouldn’t survive.

With a flick of its head, the bear threw Nox into the air, sending him crashing to the ground with a thud. This time, miraculously, Nox didn’t land on his head and managed to grab the knife before he hit the ground. But an all-consuming pain shot through his left arm as the animal grabbed it by the forearm and the bone snapped like a twig. Despite the pain, the bear’s head was now so close that Nox used all the strength he possessed to ram the dung into the bear’s eye.

Enraged, the animal threw Nox aside, tearing strips of skin from the man’s arm.

Roaring in pain, the beast tried unsuccessfully to remove the dung from its head. His one good eye rolled in pain and rage as his gaze suddenly fell on Nox, who was lying on his back, trying to crawl away with his last ounce of strength.

There had been many times in his life when Nox had feared for his life, but he had never experienced the kind of all-consuming fear that he was feeling right now. During his career as a Marine, he had been sent into enemy territory several times and had narrowly survived several serious injuries. Even when he had faced an IS soldier trying to stuff a grenade into his jacket, he had not been as terrified as he was now at the sight of the rabid animal coming at him.

With his still good arm, Nox tried to protect his head, but a searing pain shot up from his chest and arm as the beast dealt him a powerful blow to the body, the beast’s claws tearing through his coat and skin. The air was knocked out of Nox’s lungs as he landed on his stomach. The animal’s ferocious roar echoed through the garage and Nox could hear his ears ringing from the sound and the impact of his head against the concrete. Behind him, he heard the animal’s snarl approaching and braced himself for another lash of pain.

A deafening boom made his ears ring even louder and he tried to turn his head in the direction of the sound, but the movement caused so much pain in his chest that he stopped halfway, gasping heavily for air. Blood began to seep into his eyes from a large gash in his head, and Nox felt himself slowly losing consciousness. The last thing he saw was a shadow falling over him and then... nothing.