A New Life in a Parallel World

Chapter 9, The Bounty

Lerris turned to his cousin and looked at her, "do you have any bright idea on how we could flush that monster out in the open, because for sure, I don't like the idea of going inside that barn." He asked in an exasperated tone.

"And flushing the beast is a clever idea?" Lydia asked as she gave her cousin an incredulous look.

"Well, we have two choices, confront the beast out in the open where we could shoot it, or go inside and pray we don't find it standing before us." Lerris pointed out.

Lydia scratched her head in irritation but said nothing, since Lerris was right, going inside is out of the question. Even armed with guns, the odds were still stacked against them. At close range, they may be able to kill a Reaper but not as quickly as they would hope for, and given the tenacity of the beast, it may be even able to kill them both before it could succumb to the wounds that she and Lerris might be able to inflict.

Lerris gently puts down his makeshift grenade and took out a small Hanunah pipe and small bag of tobacco.

"You smoke now?" Lydia asked as she gave her cousin a surprise look. She had been with his cousin for quite a time now, but she never had seen him smoke a pipe. In fact, she rarely seen people do it except the Hanunah, as they were the only people who are too fond of it.

"Off course not," Lerris told her as he began stuffing the pipe with the aromatic leaves from his pouch. "I'll use this to light fuse later," he added as he began lighting the pipe with his flint, metal striker and piece of charred cotton.

Lydia watched her cousin struggled lighting his pipe, and after a moment, he had his pipe lit and puffing that thing. Once her cousin was satisfied with it, he quickly picks up his grenade and musket, and slowly made his way towards the barn.

As soon as her cousin reach the side near the barn door, he quickly lit the fuse of his grenade, and after a moment, he tossed the grenade in and sprinted back to where she is. Moments later, they both could hear the unmistakable sound of bear rearing in surprise, and before her cousin could even reaches her, the walls of the barn suddenly burst outward and at the same time, there was sudden roaring sound of thunder followed by a gush of intense winds, all coming from inside the barn, forcing her to duck her head down.

And after that, was a deafening silence around her, and when she looks up, she could see half the side of the barn was gone, exposing the interior of the barn. She then quickly looks for her cousin and saw him lying face down on the ground.

"Lerris!" Lydia screamed in horror as she stood up and ran towards his cousin. She felt almost crying when she reached him and gently touched him.

She heard his cousin groans the moment she touches his shoulder, "thank the heavens you're alive," it was all she could say as her cousin starts to stir.

"God, that hurts," Lerris groaned as Lydia helps him sit up before she looks around with her rifle at the ready.

"Can you stand?" Lydia asked while keeping a sharp eye on the broken ruins of a barn before her.

"I think so," Lerris said as he shook his head to rid the loud ringing in his ears and at the same time, trying to regain his bearing as he feels disoriented by the blast.

"The Reaper," he groaned again as he crawled to where his musket was and picks up before he struggled up to his feet.

"I don't think anything could survive that," Lydia said flatly as she stares at what remains of the barn.

Lerris blinked when he saw the barn. Half of this side of the barn was gone, and he could see tendrils of smoke coming out of it shattered ruins as small fires broke inside. He could not believe his little grenade could be this destructive, and for a moment, he became clearly aware of the second grenade that he has on the left pocket of his cargo pants.