The Dabba staggered, its roar cutting off abruptly into a wet, choking sound. Its legs buckled beneath its massive weight, and the creature crashed to the ground with a heavy impact that sent up a cloud of dust and debris. For a brief moment it tried to rise, its powerful muscles twitching and spasming as it fought against death itself.
Then it went completely still. Motionless. Dead.
Jelo exhaled shakily, the sound somewhere between a gasp of relief and a sob of exhaustion. He was victorious but utterly spent, barely able to remain upright. The fight was finally over.
His body swayed dangerously, and he had to consciously lock his knees to keep from collapsing where he stood.
Blood dripped steadily from multiple wounds, creating small dark pools on the cracked earth beneath him. His vision was still narrowing at the edges, darkness pressing in from all sides, but he'd won. Somehow, impossibly, against a creature that should have killed him, he'd won.
