Divine Enmity (Catnipz)

I. Too pretty to be chased by a bull

 "Damn it!

It was impossible! Completely impossible for her to keep running from those creatures. What the hell were they anyway? They seemed like they were taken straight out of a fiction book or a farm, she wasn't sure. It was a pretty strange mix, bulls didn't usually have a metal coating or spitfire. Well, that's what she thought. She hadn't seen a bull in a long time since she had always lived in the same city. But she doubted that a bull would measure more than three meters long and chase only her. She wasn't wearing anything red! And the worst part was that no matter how much she dodged and tried to hide, the creature always managed to find her. It seemed like a dream or rather a nightmare.

She had been running away from that thing for a week now. She was super tired because every time she tried to sleep for more than five hours, she would hear it approaching at the speed of light. She was starting to feel quite exhausted, almost out of breath. Soon she wouldn't be able to keep running. How was it that no one saw such a huge beast approaching her like that? It seemed like everyone was absorbed in their thoughts, unaware that a bull had escaped and was chasing a teenager. She wasn't anything special, in fact, she was thin. Why would a bull want to eat her? Wait, aren't bulls herbivores?

All these doubts continued to race through her mind as she kept running and turned into an alley. She tried to hide among some trash cans and watched as the bull also stopped and seemed to smell something.

Damn it, she didn't have much time before the monster found her again. She had to think of something quickly, or else...

Too late.

The bull turned around and darted into the alley, ramming its horns into the wall against which she was leaning. She let out a muffled scream and crouched down, with each horn on either side of her head. She could see the "animal," if it could be called that, up close. It seemed to be made of bronze, and its eyes were more like hollow slits from which fire emerged, rather than actual eyes. The steam coming out of other slots stung her eyes and made her sweat profusely. The metal monster was burning, making her feel hotter than just the city's weather.

The bull seemed static in that position, not moving with the intention of repeating the charge and impaling her with its horns. She also didn't see it open its mouth to spit fire. It was as if it wanted her to stay there, motionless. Strange.

Time was running out. She looked around to see if there was anything she could do to escape. Her backpack was close to her, less than a meter to her left, but she feared that if she moved, the bull's static posture would change, and she would end up as ashes.

Anyway, even if she managed to reach her backpack, what would she do with it? It wasn't like she had much. She had managed to grab her phone and charger, as well as two pairs of pants and two shirts, and of course, some underwear. Before reaching the city, she had stopped by a river and washed her clothes with the soap she had stolen from a nearby hotel. And no, the hotel wasn't some humble hostel. She had managed to sneak into one of the most expensive hotels she had ever seen while fleeing and stole several things. That day she slept in a bed that could accommodate five people and stole what weighed the least and could fit in her backpack: soap, and some rags, and she sneaked into the dinner buffet to steal some food. The only things of any weight were the water bottle and the half-meter knife she had stolen from the kitchen.

The knife.

She was being foolish. That knife could help her.

Yeah, right, like a half-meter metal knife can handle a three-meter bronze bull.

She was still being foolish for thinking that way.

She continued to ponder on what she could do and saw the bull move backwards, but it seemed stuck.