Thirty-Three
 
A twelve foot long snake was draped across the thick limbs of the tree branch, eyes locked on Kon. Its scales glittered, hints of metal in the striping across its body, as it bunched up slowly. There was no warning as it burst forward in an explosion of violence and Kon was nearly too slow as he fired the laser rifle.
The snake’s mouth had opened until it was a cavernous maw, jutting fangs glistening with venom. Heat washed over him as the snake’s head disappeared, the laser rifle searing straight through and forcing an explosive evaporation of the fluids in the snake’s head. Gore splattered him as the body slammed into him, heavy enough to stagger him back a step.
Metal leaves fell to the ground as the trees above them rustled and Kon could make out movement. Slithering shapes that shot across branches with surprising dexterity and speed. Diur’s sword rasped as it left its sheath.
“We’re surrounded. These are weak beasts, not E-Grade at all,” Diur proclaimed and Kon nodded before realizing she couldn't see him as they were back to back.
“What do we do?” Kon asked. Diur was the resident of the region and the more experienced fighter.
“Shoot them!” Diur barked and Kon did as ordered. Bolts of energy lanced through the trees, striking and causing small explosions as the recipients of the focused heat of the laser burst apart. He kept squeezing the trigger as he tracked back and forth, occasionally striking one of the beasts which would fall to the ground.
Every time he hit one of the snakes it was a fatal blow. They simply weren’t sturdy enough to withstand the energy. It was hitting them that was the problem. The trees were swaying back and forth with various degrees of violence and Kon had a hard time getting a clear shot.
“Have you ever used one of those before?” Diur asked as he ejected the spent energy cartridge and retrieved another. He fumbled with the cartridge as adrenaline thrummed through his body and made his hands shake.
A snake ripped free of the foliage and lunged at Diur from the side. She spun on and slashed in one smooth motion, her sword wreathed in her blue aura. Metal met flesh and the beast split cleanly down the middle to fall to either side of her. Half the snake hit Kon, smearing him in more offal.
“Once or twice. Wasn’t really that far into my schooling, you know,” Kon said as he snapped the receiver shut and lifted the rifle back to his shoulder. The forest was alive as more and more of the long snakes closed in on them.
“This is a terrible defensive position. I’m going to make an opening and you’re going to run right away,” Diur said as her aura burst out from her in a wave of power. She took a deep breath, sucking in as much air as her lungs could hold. Kon glanced at her from the corner of his eye as she took a single step forward. Blue energy swelled around her sword as she twisted at the hip and bent her knees. She exhaled and cut horizontally in front of them.
Darkness filled the space her light had previously occupied as her aura shot forth like a reaper's scythe. Blue lights flashed across the world and dissipated with everything it crossed. Silence fell like a hammer as everyone paused. Kon thought nothing had happened, it had just been an elaborate lightshow.
Then the first tree fell. It tilted to the side and fell to the ground with a crash, leaves shaking and rattling as they fell to the ground. Everywhere the blue line had touched, the world had been cut. Trees, leaves, bushes, snakes, rocks, it didn’t matter. The blade of aura had severed it all.
Diur’s knees buckled and she folded as she hit the ground. She was drenched in sweat and blood ran out of her ears and eyes as she gasped for breath. Kon didn’t hesitate, tucking the rifle in between the straps of the backpack. He ran in front of her and bent low, putting his shoulder into her gut and then heaved as he stood up, hands grabbing the back of her thighs to heft the woman up.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
He grunted as the surprisingly heavy Ulmna woman nearly made him topple backward. She groaned in a mix of pain and exhaustion as Kon spun and looked to where she had cut their opening. It hadn’t been perfectly horizontal cut, but had started low and ended high. He ran toward where the end of the cut was, there were less trees on the ground to hurdle.
“What the hell do they feed you?” Kon spoke through gritted teeth as he ran. Diur felt like a solid stone on his shoulder as he ran. Her sword smacked off his side, her iron grip on it betrayed by her loose arms. She managed to make a groaning sound and ineffectually slapped at him.
He kept his legs pumping as he ran as all around him he heard the sounds of scaled bodies racing across the trees. All around him the forest was alive with movement. Kon breathed deeply as he ran and a cold chill ran down his spine.
It was the heaviness in the air that gave it away. The thick feel of power coating his lungs that grew stronger and stronger as he got closer. Kon looked about, but all around him was walls of scaled creatures.
“You cut us toward a rift!” Kon yelled as he kept moving. Behind him he could feel the presence of fangs, just inches away and ready to pierce his neck. Cold fear ran through his blood as his smooth strides became jerky as he tried to increase his speed.
Diur gurlged something only barely intelligible and Kon couldn’t spare the moments to figure out what she was trying to say. His world had narrowed down to just wanting to escape. Soft loam changed to hard rock from one step to the next, trees disappearing as he ran across the hard stone. Heat blistered his face as the wet humidity of the forest vanished and he gasped in sudden surprise.
Yellow energy radiated out of the rift in front of him, the only spot left for him to run as the snakes grew closer and closer. Fear clouded his mind as he ran straight at it and leapt through. A scrap of rationality noticed that the rift was twice the size of the F-Grade rift he had gone through last time.
Then he was landing on soft sand and his knees buckled and Diur went flying in a limp heap as he tumbled head over head as his momentum betrayed him. Coarse sand was flung into the air in great arcs as he tumbled, cursing as he rolled to stop. His heartbeat was frantic, hammering in his ribs as if desperate to rip its way free.
Eyes bulged as he struggled to get up, sliding his arms out of his pack and rocketing to his feet as he looked around. Diur was getting to her feet, shoulders slumped over and head hanging low as she held onto sword and scabbard, one in each hand. Her own pack had been lost in the forest.
“Calm down. Fear effect.” Diur gasped as her legs slid out from under her and she landed on her rear and slid down the soft slope of the dune. Whatever it was that she’d done, it had drained her of her strength.
Her words speared through his head and Kon focused on them as he tried to control his breathing. Now that he focused on it, he could feel how the fear was foreign. He had been scared in the forest, but not to the extent of running wildly through the forest. Thinking on it he realized that he had been herded away from the channel cut by Diur and towards the rift itself.
It took a few minutes but now that he had identified the effect he was able to isolate it and slowly strangle it in the dark corners of his mind. The frantic beating of his heart slowed to a normal exercise rate and the adrenaline soaked fear faded until he could begin to rationalize what had just happened.
“Get the rifle. Get the pack and then get out!” The snakes had wanted him here in their rift and he had followed their plan like it was a detailed guide. A burning ember of rage ignited in his chest about that. Strapping his pack back on he checked his water and realized his canteen was only partially full. In the frequent rains of the forest, it hadn’t been a big deal. Here, every breath was like inhaling directly from a furnace.
“Come on, up and back through the rift gate,” Kon said. He offered his hand to Diur who sheathed her sword and offered him a limp hand to pull up. All of the power she normally had was stricken from her.
“Hide,” Diur whispered suddenly, alertness peeking through the weariness that had consumed her. Kon supported her by throwing her free arm over his shoulder and one of his arms around her waist. His free hand held the laser rifle in a single hand grip as he looked around for what had spooked Diur.
“Gate,” she strained out and Kon looked up in time to see something enter the rift. It was thrice the size of the other snakes, its head was broader with a series of thick ridges and four scarlet eyes. It hit the sand, golden sprays flying up to shower Kon and Diur. It swung its wide head toward them and Kon felt the fear fill his body once again.
“This is what drove me towards the gate.” The realization sent a shiver down his back as he spun Diur around and threw her over his shoulder again before running down the slope. Behind him the slopes began to fall apart as the monster began to lazily chase after them. The burning sun beat down on them as Kon ran, looking for shelter as fear began to cloud his mind again.