Vasya sprinted for his life toward the rocky bluff he'd climbed just minutes earlier. Some distance behind him he heard something large and powerful smashing its way through the bush on an intercept course. If he could just make it to the rocky outcropping he hoped that he could find somewhere to hole up that the blood-crazed Vanguard warrior could not reach. Still a couple of hundred meters away from safety he heard the snapping of branches as the warrior exited the bush, then the noise of something moving swiftly through the grass while Blue-Scale gained on him across the open ground.

Only a hundred meters separated him from perceived safety when the chilling realization that he wasn't going to make it hit him. He didn't dare spare the time to turn his head but he could feel the heavy vibration of the Vanguard's footfalls directly behind him. His world was abruptly turned upside-down when he found himself flying through the air, gasping for breath from an unexpected hammer-blow from behind. Crashing to the ground in an untidy heap, he attempted to spin around, but it was already too late. Razor-sharp talons splayed out, the Vanguard warrior was on top of him before he could so much as cry out in terror.

With a roar of triumph that echoed around the hills causing livestock for kilometers around to bolt with fright into the darkness, Blue-Scale pounced, slamming his fleeing prey to the hard ground. Pinning the struggling human to the ground on his back with his two rear arms, he straddled the human's waist and lowered his head until the end of his snout was just centimeters from Vasya's face. He didn't even flinch when the terrified human head-butted him, he merely shifted his muzzle out of range of any further blows. Ears cocking forward, he tried to understand what the human was screaming but his translation disk remained silent. Whatever language it was, it obviously hadn't been programmed into the device.

Waiting for a couple of minutes until the human finally calmed down slightly, Blue-Scale huffed and sat up while still astride but freeing his hands. Relaxing his talons he huffed again, not taking his eyes off the human's face.

"This one instructed you to wait. This one trusted you, so why did you disobey the order, hrrr? Your observation of this one hunting was very ill-advised."

When it was apparent that the Vanguard wasn't going to immediately rip out his throat or bite his face off, Vasya relaxed slightly, still panting from the sprinting and fear. He felt the tail thrashing around in agitation, rubbing over his thighs as the warrior continued to straddle him. Fresh human blood still stained his muzzle, black and glistening in the night when Blue-Scale stared down at him.

"What is wrong, hrrr? Has a large feline consumed your tongue?"

"I - what? Nyet..." Vasya spluttered, trying desperately to make sense of the events of the past few minutes. "Hunting?! That was not hunting! You eat soldier! All chewing and blood and... Nyet!" Feeling sick to his stomach, he realized that he wasn't even sure if the victim had been male or female.

"Why did you disobey this one's instructions, hrrr?"

"I hear scream. Of course I investigate, you stupid gaduka! "

The warrior considered this for several moments before snorting in dismissal. "Little-One must not learn of this hunt."

"I... But... You eating that human!"

"Correct. However this one prefers your beef animals. Humans have unpleasant flavor." The warrior paused and leaned forward again, bringing his snout close to the human’s face. "Little-One must not learn of this hunt," he repeated with the threat clear in his tone.

"Da! Da, I understand. But Blue-Scale, it very bad to eat people! Military will shoot you if discovered. Why you eat that person? Is boy not feeding you enough meat?" Vasya stared up at him, the bulky muscled reptilian silhouette outlined by stars. A peculiar thought briefly crossed his mind. 'So that's what the native boy sees in him...' He scowled, annoyed with himself and dismissed it.
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 rftigermode is the talent behind this wonderful pic - a scene taken from my second novel, The Cold Wind II: Taniwha.