A Desperate Flight

Gordon kept his eyes fixed on the Rathalos circling overhead, his mind racing for a way out.

The camp was not far away, but running nearly a kilometer across this exposed riverbank under the Rathalos's attacks was all but impossible.

The other escape route was the swift-flowing river nearby.

It was early spring, when the river ran high. If he could jump in, he could at least escape the Rathalos's pursuit. The water-hating monster was unlikely to dive into the river after him.

That, too, would mean gambling with his life. Wearing armor in those raging waters, one careless moment could leave him drowned or smashed against the rocks.

But it might be his only chance of survival.

With a plan in mind, Gordon began edging toward the river, telling the bewildered Porkchop to run as soon as he had an opening.

The Rathalos seemed to see through his plan. It wheeled around and landed in front of him, blocking his path to the river.

Left with no choice, Gordon reached back with his right hand and gripped the hilt of his Buster Sword, facing off against the Rathalos.

But the Rathalos clearly had no interest in drawing things out. Its enormous head tilted slightly upward, flames and sparks dancing between its teeth.

"Oh no, a breath attack!"

Gordon's expression changed drastically as he hurled himself sideways with all his strength once again.

A crimson fireball as large as a millstone blasted from the Rathalos's gaping jaws like a cannonball. In the blink of an eye, it crossed the riverbank and slammed into a massive tree at the edge of the jungle, its trunk so thick that several people together could barely encircle it.

Flames scattered amid the thunderous blast.

The old tree, its hard wood tangled with vines, was blasted in two as though it were a dry twig.

Gordon felt his heart skip a beat. If he had not dodged ahead of time, there might not have been anything left of him.

A breath attack that powerful was far beyond what the Blue Velociprey Armor Set could withstand.

With another attack thwarted, the Rathalos roared. Its dark yellow eyes locked onto Gordon, and its feet pounded the ground as it charged, its spike-covered head aimed straight at him like the tip of a lance.

That reckless, headlong attack reminded him of the Bullfango King's charge. Performed by a Rathalos, it became a wyvern charge several times more powerful!

Gordon knew perfectly well that he could not afford to panic against an attack like this.

Judging the Rathalos's speed and the distance between them, Gordon rolled aside at the last second. Even after avoiding the charge, he did not let his guard down, rolling farther away once more.

Even a Bullfango King knew how to stop short, turn, and pursue. Why wouldn't a Rathalos?

Sure enough, the Rathalos followed up.

With a beat of its wings, it rose into the air, then lifted both feet and raked its venomous talons toward Gordon's back.

In the end, Gordon had misjudged its reach. Despite putting everything he had into gaining distance, the Rathalos's talons still tore through his Blue Velociprey armor and left a deep gash across his back.

Purplish-black marks spread outward from the wound. This was Rathalos venom, far more lethal than Poison Mushroom juice!

Gordon could feel the wound on his back lose all sensation almost instantly. That was no good sign.

Numbness rapidly spread from his back throughout his body. His blood began racing, his eyes grew bloodshot, and blood poured uncontrollably from his nostrils and throat.

His limbs were growing weak and unresponsive as well. At this rate, he had no hope of dodging the Rathalos's next attack.

"Toot-toot~ toot-toot~ toot-toot~"

The shrill call of a horn suddenly rang out, drawing the Rathalos's attention away for a moment.

It was Porkchop!

Gordon had no time to think about anything else. Fighting to hold on to his fading consciousness, he pulled an antidote from his pack as quickly as he could-the very thing the Instructor had stressed countless times that he must always carry.

As he gulped down the antidote, the venom flowing through his blood rapidly broke down. The fierce pain in his back returned, while the numbness that had made his limbs so difficult to control gradually faded.

Blood loss and lingering traces of venom still left him weak, but most of the poison had indeed been cleared.

"Porkchop! Burrow underground and get away!"

Seeing the Rathalos about to catch Porkchop, Gordon shouted.

Porkchop had long since been terrified enough to want to flee, but concern for Gordon had kept him fighting down his fear and drawing the Rathalos's attention. He immediately crouched and dug furiously with his claws. In moments, he had made a hole large enough to squeeze into, and he slipped inside just before the Rathalos could bite him.

Feeling it had been toyed with, the Rathalos unleashed another furious roar, beat its wings, and rose into the air before diving in the direction Gordon had fled.

Running for the river with everything he had, Gordon heard the beating of wings behind him. He abruptly turned and hurled the object clenched in his palm.

A Flash Bomb!

As the Flash Bomb burst, a brief but blinding light erupted before the Rathalos's eyes.

With a roar of shock and fury, the airborne Rathalos crashed headfirst into the ground. The fall seemed to have hurt it badly enough that it could not get up for a while.

Gordon pumped his arm in exhilaration, then resumed his desperate flight.

Several seconds later, the Rathalos stood back up. Its vision had not fully recovered, but it still managed to determine Gordon's general direction by scent.

Smoke billowed, and another blazing fireball blasted forth.

Boom!

The fireball struck the riverbank seven or eight meters from Gordon. The spreading shock wave made him stumble, and flying fragments of stone slashed his cheek, yet he breathed a sigh of relief.

Still better than taking a fireball to the face, wasn't it?

What he had not expected, however, was that the Rathalos was not firing a single shot this time, but a volley!

Three fireballs erupted from its mouth in succession, spreading in a fan across Gordon's escape route.

The last fireball exploded directly against the Buster Sword on his back.

Sulfurous smoke engulfed him. Scattering flames scorched and melted his armor, while the blast lifted his entire body off the ground and hurled him four or five meters away.

He landed hard on the stone-strewn riverbank. Under the impact of the powerful explosion, another great mouthful of blood gushed from his mouth.

It was hard to say whether this was misfortune or a stroke of luck.

For the temporarily blinded Rathalos, that fireball had essentially been a lucky hit.

On the other hand, if the Buster Sword on his back had not happened to block it, the fireball might have killed him outright.

Luck or misfortune? Gordon had no room to consider that now.

The raging river rushed past less than two or three meters in front of him. Escape lay right before his eyes, but he barely had the strength left to keep them open.

Just then, a familiar figure burst out of the ground.

It was Porkchop, who had burrowed underground earlier!

"Meow, meow, meow!"

Porkchop threw aside his Felyne Pickaxe and clamped both little paws onto Gordon's shoulders. Screaming, he began dragging Gordon, who weighed several times as much as he did.

A year earlier, when he had first arrived in Kokoto Village, the small, scrawny Porkchop could never have dragged an unconscious Gordon in full armor.

But a year of high-protein meals and rigorous training had helped him grow far beyond what his wild kin could match.

"MEOW!!!"

With a scream that took every ounce of his strength, Porkchop dragged Gordon with him into the surging river.

Only the Rathalos remained, circling above the river after losing its prey, venting its boundless fury.