[b][u]CHAPTER XII[/u][/b] [u]Chase Through The Jungle[/u] The sun sat upon the green hills and orange puddles of Venus. The sky blew by calmly, and the last rays of the sunset was truly a beautiful scene. On the surface three trails of plasma sped along quickly, the riders chasing a creature in the air. It had wings with claws like a bat, and teeth within its mouth. The riders chased it, pushing their sparrows to the brink, barely maintaining the distance. They sped through fields, past jungle trees and vines, but no ground was caught on the creature. "Krayzay!" Cayde yelled over the roar of their sparrows, "We need to bring it down! It's too fast in the air!" "If we stop to shoot it, we will loose it for sure!" he responded. "The young are always fast. A well placed bullet will do." Morgiana commented. An idea suddenly came to Cayde. "Krayzay!" he shouted, "jump on my sparrow!" Krayzay looked at the Vanguard in confusion at first, but quickly realized the exo's intentions. With a final push his sparrow sped a few feet in front of the group, its engine burned hot and began to melt. The hunter leaped from his seat on to the back of Cayde's sparrow and loaded his Blackhammer. "One shot. In the joints. By the claws." Morgiana instructed. "Understood." he replied, and he drew in a deep breath. The world became slow around him, as if all of time had been dropped into a pool of thick liquid. Krayzay could hear the flapping of the young Ahamkara's wings, the explosion of his sparrow behind, and the wind breeze by the jungle leaves. He fired, and the shot rang throughout the whole jungle valley. Echoing off of the walls and between the vines. The creature fell to the ground, crashing into the trees as it descended heavily. The trio stopped their sparrows and surrounded it, their weapons ready. It rose to its feet slowly, glaring like a cornered animal at the guardians. Cayde stepped towards it, outstretching his metallic hand. "We do not wish to harm you, little one." he stated. "We only have questions to ask you. We're looking for-!" "You lie, guardian!" the Ahamkara cut the exo off, its voice was crackling and harsh. Malice was mixed into its words. "You search us all out, you seek us to destroy us all. You 'hunters' in particular. You hunt us for sport! You fear my kind, and rightfully so! We are greater than you, in both numbers and stature. We will devour you all!" "Then do us the honor of education, and perhaps you may find enjoyment with yourself." Cayde now spoke with direct intention, he would get an answer. No matter the cost. "We must speak with your king, Ravák Ún." The Ahamkara gave out a shrieking cry of laughter. "Rejoice guardian!" it spoke, "For today I will educate you indeed! If I were a full grown, I would have captivated your mind by now." Then evil intent filled the beasts eyes and he lashed out with his claws at Cayde saying, "Ravák answers to none but his own hungering stomach!" The Ahamkara was too fast for the trio to realize what was happening, he torn into Cayde with three of his claws. The sharp daggers that they were easily punctured his chestpiece, and Cayde fell on to his back, screaming in agony. "Cayde!" Krayzay yelled, rage for the little demon filled him. "You will pay for damaging him!" The enraged hunter pulled out a hand cannon and began firing at the Ahamkara. But it was too fast, dodging this way and that. Jump from tree to tree, vine to vine, slowly it got further away. "Cursed creature!" Krayzay yelled. "Cayde are you alright?" "I'll make do." he said, covering the wound with some wraps. "I'll need repairs back at the Tower, but for now, what about that Ahamkara?" "It's gone already. We'll never catch it." Krayzay responded, looking to the ground ashamed. "Not yet." Morgiana stated. "What do you mean?" Cayde questioned her, and Krayzay couldn't imagine what she was thinking. "Take the Vanguard back to the ship." she said. [i]"I'll get the bird."[/i]