The chase began. He felt his body cutting through the air, covering dozens of meters with each stride. However, that monstrosity was closing in faster than he could escape.
With one final effort, Feinth reached his destination, but he had no time to hesitate. He hurled himself straight toward the small opening.
A broken beam scraped his side, tearing off several scales in the process. Despite the pain, Feinth only clenched his teeth and pushed forward.
Bang! A deafening crash shook him as the giant fish slammed against the opening, unable to enter. It pounded the structure with its massive arms again and again, but just as Feinth had hoped, no matter how hard it tried, the wood did not show the slightest sign of giving way.
A growl of rage erupted from the creature as it finally gave up and moved away from his hiding place. Feinth sighed in relief at the sight, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst from his chest, as though it would stop at any moment from the fear of death. Yet soon his expression hardened.
The fish's eyes, still nearby, unfocused as they stared fixedly at a spot on the beach. Feinth followed its gaze and noticed, among the wreckage of the ship, an unconscious figure.
The fish let out a sound of satisfaction, as if it had won the lottery, and began to rush toward the figure at full speed. "That's…" Feinth was horrified.
It was a human—the first he had seen since he had emerged from the egg.
The fish stopped a few meters away, licking its lips expectantly. With utmost care, it lifted the unconscious figure in its arms, as though handling a precious treasure. It opened its enormous mouth and, just as it was about to place the human inside, a heavy blow struck its side, knocking it down and forcing it to release its prey.
Feinth had left his hiding place, charging toward it. Though his body was tired and aching, he could not stand idly by at the sight of something like this.
Perhaps it was the few vestiges of humanity left within him, or simply how repulsive he found the creature, but Feinth was sure of one thing—he would not allow that thing to eat a person before his very eyes!
Using all his strength, he crashed against the creature's side. His scales cracked under the impact and an unbearable pain shot through his skull, numbing him completely, but it was enough to knock the fish off balance and send it tumbling to the ground.
Its hooves flailed wildly, unable to regain composure, while the blue arms thrashed desperately, trying to grasp the human who lay just out of reach. Only the spider legs moved quickly, bending and burrowing into the sand with the intent to lift the monstrosity back up.
"Damn abomination, stay down!" Feinth roared furiously, unleashing a savage growl from deep within his throat.
Feinth saw his chance. Without hesitation, he lunged at one of the spider legs, opened his jaws, and sank his fangs into the limb with all his might, pulling hard with the intention of ripping it off.
The leg was tough, like biting into a metal rod, but his fangs still managed to pierce through it. A jet of purple blood spilled into his mouth, steaming as it came into contact with the air.
His tongue burned, and the ground where the blood splattered sizzled like boiling oil. The creature's blood was acid!
The pain weakened Feinth's grip slightly, restoring some mobility to the beast. Seizing the chance, the giant fish thrashed its leg, driving the tip into Feinth's shoulder. A cry of pain escaped his throat as he writhed, but he did not dare to let go.
He knew that if he released it and the creature managed to rise again, he was finished. He had witnessed the monstrous strength it possessed and the unreasonable speed it could display on land.
If not for the fish-like shape it still retained, Feinth would have doubted it had ever been an aquatic creature at all.
Feinth didn't want to admit it, but if it was this dangerous on land, he didn't even want to imagine how deadly it might be in the sea. He shut his eyes, trying to ignore the stabbing pain in his shoulder and mouth, biting down once more and tearing part of the limb, which splattered acid blood across his body.
"It burns!" he growled to himself.
In the frenzy of the moment, he ended up swallowing a piece of the leg, which slid slowly into his stomach, disappearing just like the golden crabs before.
A warm sensation spread in his chest, beginning to radiate through his whole body. It was a second wind!
Feinth felt energized, more alive than ever. With a wrenching pull, the spider leg came off as if it were butter. Determination filled his eyes, and without wasting time, before it could react, he bit into the creature's other leg. With a single yank, it tore free from the main body, still twitching in the air.
The fish screamed in pain. The blue arms, which had moments earlier been reaching for the human, turned quickly toward Feinth, intent on seizing him.
With energy overflowing through him and his enemy's mobility greatly reduced as it lay toppled in the sand, Feinth was able to evade with ease.
Launching himself toward the human, he bit into their clothes and dragged them from the sand, hauling them across the beach. He also grabbed one of the smaller remaining eggs, clutching it tightly in his two arms, and began heading toward the forest's edge, doing his best to move quickly.
He owed an apology to the other eggs left on the beach, but he had no way of carrying them with him. If they were lucky, they might hatch and escape before another predator appeared.
As for him, though the temptation to search the remains of the wrecked ship was great, his life was worth far more. He would wait until he had fully recovered before even considering returning to the beach.
He turned one last time to look at the giant fish, which was dragging itself toward the shore, its furious growl the last sound he heard before disappearing into the trees.