Chapter 3: The End
#3 of The Perpetual Oasis
The lupine carefully eyed his attacker, searching for some kind of weak point. He wondered if maybe he too was about to end up like Kieshou's brother.
"This is definitely gonna be an uphill battle.....but I'm not afraid." he muttered under his breath.
The ravenous beast lowered his head, and on all four paws, began charging. This time, however, Anfang was ready for him. The bear might of owned a great deal of strength, but Anfang had speed on his side. He laid against the wall, feigning a mortal wound. Then just as the brute was about to plow into him, the cunning wolf dodged, rolling off to the side. The bear's head slammed into the immovable stone, and his mammoth legs gave way, dropping him onto the ground in a heap.
Kieshou finally reached the encampment. She spotted the intruder and her grasp on the canteen loosened, letting it fall to the dirt below.
"Anfang! Get out of there! He'll kill you!" the raccoon shouted desperately.
"Someone's gotta teach this son of a bitch a lesson!" he replied, picking himself up slowly.
"You can't....."
"I've got to try!" he shouted.
Amazingly, the bear had already begun standing up behind the preoccupied lupine. His gigantic paw full of razor sharp claws, started to lift high above his head.
"Anfang turn around!"
He only managed to halfway face the bear before he felt the daggers ripping through his flesh. He was once again thrown by the power of the blow, but this time he slid straight through the fire. Glowing red embers singed his fur as his body came to rest next to a now trembling Kieshou.
"We have to run, it's the only chance we have!" she pleaded.
"I'm not finished with him yet." he growled, feeling warm blood rushing from the gaping wounds on his chest.
Anfang showed no signs of pain as he shot back to his feet, staring down his counterpart. The bear noticed his willingness to continue the fight, and decided it was time to comment on the situation.
"You're fast, boy. That doesn't matter........do you actually think you can win? Ha....no matter how many times you strike me, I will not fall. It's only a matter of time before I catch you. Then I'll devour you....and that girl." he said menacingly.
Hearing the threats towards Kieshou filled the lupine with rage. He sprinted full speed towards the pretentious beast, leaping onto him and sinking his fangs deep into his neck. The bear tried to knock him loose, but Anfang clang to him tightly, burying his claws into his opponent?s thick hide. The bear roared in agony as he felt the wolf's fangs gnawing on his throat. In excruciating pain, the strength to pull the lupine off of his body somehow came to him. He tossed Anfang through the air once again, his short flight ending in the same, disastrous manner as the others. He crashed face first into a large redwood, numbing his body and nearly causing him to lose consciousness. For a while he couldn't move, as the breath had been knocked out of his lungs. He propped himself up against the tree, wheezing loudly. He was lucky that his last attack landed on such a sensitive area. The bear was still roaring and clutching his neck, giving Anfang a little time to recover. He had to think fast and come up with some way to beat this oversized adversary. He looked around for some kind of weapon, anything to fend off his pursuer. Finally he found what he was searching for. He saw that the stick he had been using to cook his dinner was still laying near the flames. One of the ends was hovering just inside the fire pit. It was glowing red, the heat sharpening it to a fine point. Anfang made a break for it, diving straight through the stunned bear's legs. He grabbed the spear and spun around to face the beast once more, a look of shear confidence across his battered face.
"What were you saying about me? That I had no chance of beating you? He said with a chuckle, blood still pouring from his wounds. "Looks like I found myself an equalizer."
"Yeah! Stab him good Anfang!" Kieshou cheered from a safe distance.
The bear snarled at the arrogant remarks, still grimacing in pain from the punctures on his neck. He turned his large head and looked straight at the raccoon.
"I see the odds are now stacked against me......but still, I'm not about to leave this world before I finish what I started!"
He took off running towards the girl, a sinister look of rage in his eye. Kieshou became frozen where she stood, petrified with fear like a deer trapped in headlights. Anfang bolted after him, imagining the horrors that the murderous bear had planned for his dear friend. He knew that if he didn't stop the bear's charge, Kieshou would soon be done for. Sprinting at top speed, he could see that the bear was too far away for him to catch. Anfang's legs were incredibly strong, but his bruised lungs just weren't getting enough oxygen to them. Calling upon all of his remaining strength, he planted his feet and hurled the spear towards the crazed animal.
Kieshou closed her eyes and braced herself for the impending shock. She let out a loud yelp, knowing she was about to feel the full weight of the bear plowing into her.....but nothing happened. She opened her eyes slowly, raising her head to see what had stopped him. She didn't notice anything wrong with him at first, but eventually saw a blood red patch of fur, and the tip of the spear protruding from it. The projectile had gone clear through his body, piercing his heart. The bear let out a deafening roar before collapsing, landing just to the side of the stunned raccoon......and then it was over.
"Yes...it worked......I can't believe it...." with that, Anfang dropped to his knees, his mind growing dark.
A strong feeling of relief came over Kieshou, but it soon faded when she noticed Anfang. He was having a great deal of difficulty just trying not to pass out. He swayed back and forth a couple of times before tumbling to the ground.
"No! Anfang!" she cried as she ran to him.
He hit the cold, hard dirt with a thud, all of his muscles relaxing as he slipped into the darkness. The intense pain that he had ignored the entire fight was now cutting into him like a knife. He coughed and laughed at the same time, realizing he had just done the impossible. Kieshou picked the wolf up into her arms, laying his beaten body upon her lap. She noticed her companion's eyelids closing as she stroked his ears, trying to keep him awake. The last thing Anfang saw was a single tear running down her masked cheek.
"Why didn't you just run when you had the chance?" she whimpered.
It took nearly an hour for the small-statured raccoon to drag the lifeless Anfang into the hollow. She laid him on the pile of leaves that made up his bed, gave him a kiss on the top of his head, and left the cave. She stopped for a moment, gazing at the lifeless corpse that lay no more than five yards in front of her. She gradually made her way towards the body, looking all around for the decanter that she dropped earlier. To her dismay, she found it lying mere inches from the lifeless bear. After giving him a swift kick in his ribs, she grabbed it and hastily set off for the river. Upon arrival at the water's edge, Kieshou removed the wood cork from the top and submerged the gourd. It filled quickly, and she was soon back to the side of her crippled love. She poured some water onto his raw chest, washing away the dried blood. Then she opened his mouth and let the liquid slowly cascade down his throat, taking short breaks so it wouldn't suffocate him.
"Please be alright." she whispered. "I need you here with me....you can't die....not now, not ever."
Her stomach ached with hunger, but she didn't care. Nothing short of an apocalypse could get her to leave his side. She settled down next to Anfang and put one of his arms around her.
"I'm never going to leave you." she said as she drifted off to sleep.
To be continued....