Koban: The Mark of Koban Read Online Free PDF

dropped rifle, lodged in snow. He sank into the
deeper snow, bumping against his friend’s shoulder, driving Dillon even deeper
into the crevasse.
    Dillon, belatedly realizing what Thad had done to save him, frantically
shoved snow away from Thad’s legs, and guided his knee off his own bruised
shoulder, allowing the other man to sink a little lower. That was none too
soon. The raptor had whirled around and thrust its narrow head and slender neck
down into the top of the crevasse. It was mere inches from biting onto the top
of Thad’s parka hood, which had flapped up from its resting place on his back.
    Dillon reached up and grabbed Thad’s shoulders and pulled
him down hard, wedging the two of them tighter together in the crack, and
shouted at Thad to pull down his parka hood. The animal scrambled to get belly
down over the rocks, to be able to force its neck and head deeper into his
prey’s hiding place.
    The raptor finally succeeded in getting a fragile grip with
its front teeth on the prey’s fur. As it tugged, the hair began to slip through
its teeth, so it released and quickly lunged downwards again to get a slightly firmer
purchase, using its raspy tongue to pull more of the hair into its teeth. It
had a better grip this time so it should be able to drag the meal out of its
hiding place.
    The prey was struggling and making noise, spurring the
raptor to try harder to dislodge the unfamiliar creature. It repeated the previous
release and lunge to get a firm grip this time. Snorting in triumph, it
couldn’t roar without opening its jaws, it steadily pulled the struggling
animal up and out of its burrow.
    It yanked hard and the animal came free, with a cry sounding
from his prize. The raptor flexed its neck and tossed the annoying thing into
the air; it quickly gained is footing and was able to snatch the prey in
midair, crushing it between its powerful jaws.
    “Thad!” Dillon screamed for his friend, as he felt his legs
slipping upwards through his desperate grip. Thad’s rifle suddenly dropped down
to wedge next to Dillon, just as he lost grip on his friend’s foot. He snatched
at the rifle, which had a round already chambered.
    Dillon raised the rifle, looking for a way to shoot without
hitting Thad. Suddenly the light improved as the raptor leaped to its feet. Dillon,
on the verge of pulling the trigger in a last ditch effort to save Thad, saw
the sliver of sky darken again, and something jammed the rifle butt painfully
into his shoulder, and the ‘something’ grunted in pain.
    Grunted in pain?
    “Get the damned muzzle out of my crotch, will you? Damn that
hurts,” Thad complained.
    Slipping the rifle butt’s painful pressure off his shoulder,
it slid down along Dillon’s front, with Thad riding down with another grunt. The
two fit a little deeper in the crevasse now, without Thad’s bulky parka to take
up as much room.
    “I thought it had you, man.” Dillon’s relief was obvious.
    “It would have if I hadn’t dropped the gun and raised my
arms. I was all the way to the top before I wiggled free of the parka. I looked
down when I fell back and you had my rifle pointed up at me. Were you about to
pull the trigger with my nuts on the muzzle?” Thad demanded.
    “Well, you did shove me into two snow filled holes without
warning today,” Dillon answered in his own defense. They both laughed the laugh
of men that have literally justescaped the jaws of death.
    The sound of the frustrated raptor above, tearing apart the
mysteriously “skinned” animal stilled their laughter. Two of them soon appeared
over the narrow opening, cocking their fearsome feathered heads like giant toothy
birds, looking down at them. Dillon had raised the rifle, ready to fire if either
one put its head down into the gap again.
    Thad touched Dillon’s hand, “Don’t pull the trigger if you
don’t have to, we might be trapped down here if you do.” Killing a ton and a
half beast right on top of their crevasse could prove