Which was exactly what I wanted right now.
Wasting no time after seeing the snake’s eyes fixate on me, I leaped high into the air, hearing Freya shout something I couldn’t make out. Soaring through the sky, I felt nearly weightless as my spell practically negated gravity’s hold on me, giving me the opportunity to look down at the snake and see the muscles in its body coil as it prepared to snap out at me.
Take the bait, I urged the snake as I felt myself reach the highest point of my jump before beginning my descent downwards. Take the bait…
Exploding with near blinding speed, I almost reacted too late as the snake launched itself up off the ground and into the air, its mouth opening wide as it sought to catch me in midair. At nearly the last possible moment, I triggered Blink Step, choosing a space in the middle of the air just above where I was now.
My world blurred into a spray of colors just as a loud snapping sound filled the air, leaving me staring directly into the snake’s surprised eyes as I canceled my Jump spell and landed directly on top of its head, my free hand grabbing a length of bony ridge above its eye socket.
I can’t believe that worked! The thought pounded through my head as the snake recoiled in rage after realizing what I had done and began to thrash wildly.
“Crap, on second thought, I didn’t quite think this through,” I wheezed as my chest slammed into the snake’s head and knocked the wind out of me as I desperately tried to keep myself on top of the snake, refusing to let go of Razor in my other hand as it tried to shake me loose. “Can’t hold on like this much longer.”
Careful not to stab myself, I shifted my grip on my blade and thrust it downward into the snake’s skull, hoping to either create a second anchor point on the creature’s head so I could maintain my position or be enough of a distraction so that those on the ground could close without worry. Unfortunately for me, however, the snake’s skull proved to be too strong for Razor to pierce, the tip of the blade skipping off the bone and carving a long bleeding gash in the process.
Cursing at my ineffectual attempt, I struggled to maintain my grip on the snake’s eye socket and raised my sword for another attempt. But before I could bring my blade down, I felt the entire body of the snake recoil as something heavy charged into it from below, a savage feline roar reaching my ears, followed by the shouts of several Adventurers.
Spitting in pain at the attacks, the Moss Snake’s head shot downwards as it attacked the tiny creatures causing it so much pain, forcing me to abandon my efforts at stabbing the snake’s head, in favor of trying to maintain my grip. With blinding speed, the snake’s attack brought me back practically to ground level, leaving me staring into Freya’s surprised eyes as she spotted me holding onto the snake’s head.
“Lyrian!” she managed to shout just before the snake rushed forward, forcing her to dodge out of the way or be overrun as it circled away from all the Adventurers crowding around it and rushed back towards its mate.
Clinging onto the snake as it retreated from Freya and the others, I found myself with a perfect view of Drace’s side of the battle, seeing the emerald Moss Snake’s head shoot forward with a burst of speed into the mass of Adventurers swarming around it, catching an unfortunate guild member in its maw. In one smooth motion, I saw it toss the now screaming man high into the air behind it before returning its attention to the group, leaving the Adventurer to windmill his arms uselessly in the sky then land with a bone shattering crunch.
“Oh damn!” I exclaimed in between breaths, not seeing the Adventurer rise from the snake’s attack and feeling a growing numbness in the hand that clung to the snake’s head.
I need to slow this guy down from rejoining its mate and give everyone else a chance to catch up, I told myself while pulling my body forwards towards the snake’s brow and gripping Razor tight, another idea on my mind. But I have a feeling this one is going to hurt…
Before I could talk myself out of my decision, I pulled myself forward and swung my body over the snake’s brow, looking down to see a large yellow eye gazing up at me.
“Forgot about me, did you?” I said to the snake, a heartbeat before I stabbed a crackling Razor into the snake’s eye, managing to bury the tip of the blade into the creature’s head before discharging a Shocking Touch into the snake, seeing a pair of notifications appear in my combat log.
You critically hit a [Grey Moss Snake] in a vulnerable location for 298 points of damage!
Your spell [Shocking Touch] critically hits a [Grey Moss Snake] for 102 points of electricity damage!
Screaming beyond pain, the Moss Snake recoiled, whipping its head so viciously that my tenuous grip on the snake finally gave up and I found myself flying through the air, before brutally crashing into the ground and bouncing through tall grass, hearing the sickening snap of bone as my elbow hit something hard and unforgiving. Vision blurring with pain, I let out a brief yelp as I came to a stop, reflexively cradling my shattered arm in close to my chest, the movement only serving to intensify the agony.
“Shit that hurts!” I breathed, the smallest motion of my left arm causing a wave of nausea to grip my stomach. Wincing in pain, I forced myself to take a deep breath and collected myself, seeing a warning alert appear in the corner of my vision, followed by an alert in my combat log.
You have fallen for 234 points of damage!
You have suffered a [Broken Arm], and the affected limb has been disabled!
“Great,” I seethed through clenched teeth as I dismissed the alerts then forced myself up and into a sitting position, seeing Razor lying in the grass beside me and suddenly being thankful that I hadn’t lost or fallen on top of the blade as I landed.
After sitting for a few heartbeats, I felt the pain of my injured arm fade from the forefront of my mind, giving me the clarity to look around the battlefield once more and see the two battles unfolding around me.
A glance to my right, showed the Grey Moss Snake a fair distance away from me as it continued to thrash wildly in pain, Freya and the others were on the verge of catching up with the creature, which was beginning to look worse for wear, with blood streaming from countless broken scales and wounds. Focusing past the snake, I caught a brief glimpse of Stanton, Samuel and Quincy all standing where we’d left them, watching the battle unfold completely frozen in place.
I guess that tells us everything we need to know about them, I thought with a scowl as I shifted my head in the other direction, seeing that the battle with the Emerald Moss Snake wasn’t proceeding as well in comparison. I saw several unmoving bodies in the distance, with the smaller and agiler serpent having coiled itself around a distant figure and had begun squeezing the life out of it while lashing out at any Adventurer that drew within range.
Shit, that’s Drace! I realized as my eyes recognized the familiar armor in the middle of the snake’s coils. Have to see if I can help them before it’s too late! The others seem to have the grey snake under control for the time being.
Pushing myself up onto my feet, I rushed towards Drace and the Emerald Moss Snake, each and every step causing my arm to flare with pain. As I approached the battle, I saw both Caius and Halcyon standing on either side of the snake, the pair throwing balls of magic at the creature with little effect, with several of the other recruits trying to close into melee range but unable to get past the nimble creature’s hissing head.
“Lyr!” Caius called out without looking at me, sensing my arrival via Party Sense as he threw another ball of fire at the snake. “Watch out; it’s venomous! It’ll paralyze you if you get bitten, we’ve lost at least four to the venom already!”
“Damn, okay!” I called out, understanding now why everyone was hesitant to close with the creature. Raising my voice to the hesitating Adventurers, I barked out an order and continued my charge directly towards the snake. “I’m going to distract it! Rush the creature when you can!”
Not waiting for any acknowledgment from the recruits, I looked up at the Emerald Moss Snake’s head
as I sprinted, seeing its eyes fixate on me and mouth open in preparation to strike. Not trusting myself to get the timing right this time around, I decided to pre-empt the snake’s attack and triggered Blink Step, the spell thankfully not needing a free hand to cast. With a familiar blur of colors, I teleported inside the snake’s guard, my feet coming down on smooth scales as I reappeared just a few feet away from Drace.
“Lyrian!” The warrior gasped in surprise, his face completely red as the snake’s muscular body attempted to crush him, the big man straining desperately to keep the creature at bay. “I could use a hand—shit, what happened to your arm?!”
“Don’t worry about it!” I shouted back to the warrior as I stabbed Razor deep into the Moss Snake’s coiled body that held Drace, throwing my hip against the hilt of the blade to drive it in as deep as possible. “Just be ready to move when it lets you go!”
“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Drace yelled back at me as the creature spasmed from my attack and a loud hissing filled the air. “Oh fuck, Lyr! Dodge left!”
Taking Drace’s warning to heart, I reacted at the speed of thought and threw myself to the side, yanking Razor free as I moved, barely a heartbeat ahead of the snake’s snapping maw. Twisting to look behind me, I found myself barely more than an arm’s length away from the bright yellow eyes of the Emerald Moss Snake as it rushed to attack me, its mouth opening once again to strike. Not wanting to end up as a meal, or even suffering a paralytic bite from the creature, I reflexivity swept out with Razor, catching the snake across the snout with the tip of the blade and slicing open a line of scales in a spray of blood.
Jerking its head away from me in pain, the snake aborted its attack, allowing me the opportunity to sidestep away and take cover behind the bulk of its body, slashing out with Razor as I ran, doing my best to make sure that the creature never had a clear view of me. Frustrated by my speed, the Moss Snake twisted the length of its body in an attempt to catch me, but was forced to abandon its efforts as the rest of the Adventurers finally arrived, their weapons landing punishing blows as they stabbed and sliced deep into the creature.
The battle then dissolved into chaos, as half a dozen guild members swarmed over the snake’s coiled body, turning its pristine emerald scales into a patchwork of blood and gore. All I heard was magic thundering through the air as balls of fire seared into the snake’s flesh, while axes, swords and spears flashed through the air, turning the ground crimson. However, for as much damage as we did, we weren’t all able to escape the snake’s wrath indefinitely.
Twice the snake managed to catch Adventurers too slow to move out of its path or pay sufficient attention to where its head was looking, resulting in one being bitten and left lying on the ground as the venom paralyzed her, the other being swallowed whole, vanishing down the massive creature’s throat before any of us could react.
“It’s getting ready to run!” I heard Drace’s distant shout filter into my mind as I carved yet another line into the wounded snake, keeping my eyes focused straight up at its head. “Lyrian, watch out!”
With the exhaustion of battle weighing upon me, Drace’s warning took too long penetrate my brain, leaving me glancing away from the snake’s head just in time to see its massive tail sweeping across the ground, seconds before it hit me.
For the second time in the day, I felt myself sailing through the air, reeling from the snake’s powerful blow as I numbly considered my combat log, confused by the latest entry that had just appeared.
An [Emerald Moss Snake] kicks you for 155 points of damage!
The snake…kicked me? The weak thought floated through my confused mind a heartbeat before I crashed back into the ground, bounced twice, and slid to a stop once more, leaving me lying stunned for a moment as my vision blurred from the pain of the landing.
“Shit! Lyrian!” Caius’s voice called to me what seemed ages later, his face appearing directly over me. “Your arm!”
“B-broke it earlier,” I told the dark elf weakly as I tried to sit up, only to be forced back down by a steady hand on my chest.
“Hold on a second, Lyr,” Caius ordered, taking a deep breath and moving his hand to touch my arm. “You don’t look so great. Let me heal you a bit first.”
“Sure,” I said to the man dizzily as I felt a wave of energy shoot through me and the pain in my arm recede to a dull throb, the bones forcefully realigning themselves with a disturbing crack. “Thanks, Caius.”
“N-no problem,” Caius replied wearily, suddenly sounding exhausted as he spoke. “That’s the best I can do right now. I don’t like my chances of getting close to lifetap one of the snakes.”
“I don’t blame you,” I told the warlock, feeling much better as I sat up. “I have been in close and got creamed twice.”
HP: 487/737
Stamina: 249/670
Mana: 30/640
Damn, I’m running out of mana, I thought, just realizing now how fast I’d been burning through it. Not being able to regenerate anything at all is proving to be a colossal pain…
“Let’s get back to it,” I told Caius as I twisted towards the sounds of battle, seeing that both of the snakes had broken free of their respective engagements and were now fighting side by side a short distance away from us as the surviving Adventurers rushed to form a loose circle around the pair. “Looks like the snakes are just about done.”
“I hope so,” the warlock replied wearily as he hefted his skull-tipped staff in the air. “I’m just about out of mana.”
“Me too,” I told Caius as we broke into a run, seeing his worried look out of the corner of my eye. Everyone in the party knew what would happen to me if I happened to run out of mana. “Should be fine though.”
The two of us rushed closer to the battle, which had fallen into a momentary lull as everyone adjusted to the snakes positioning, only a handful of arrows and spells flying through the air. The two snakes hissed angrily, their heads whipping through the air as they snapped at the closing ring of Adventurers, slowly realizing that they had bitten off more than they could handle, their scales now covered in countless wounds and blood.
“Freya!” I called out as Caius and I rejoined the group, relieved to see that the blonde-haired woman appeared to be relatively unscathed, standing beside Lazarus and Sawyer. “How are we doing?”
“We’ve lost three so far, with two more seriously injured. I just sent Alistair to heal them and get them back on their feet.” Freya wasted no time in replying, a note of relief evident in her voice as she turned to look towards me, blood and dirt covering her face. “The grey one may be slow, but he hits really hard.”
“The green one has a paralytic bite,” Caius informed. “We’ve lost one for sure, with four bitten, we won’t know for sure if any of the bitten ones have survived until after the battle.”
“Great,” Lazarus spat, turning to look at me with a hard expression and waving a rather impressive looking glass greatsword at the two snakes. “We need to take them down, now, before this gets any more out of hand.”
“No argument from me,” I replied while scanning the area and seeing the rest of the party and a handful of the still standing recruits spread out loosely around the two serpents. “Looks like everyone is as ready as they’re going to get. Let’s go finish this.”
“Wait,” Sawyer interrupted as Freya and I took a step forward. “That’s it? We’re just going to charge them and hope for the best?”
“You have a better idea in mind?” Freya asked impatiently.
“Literally anything less suicidal maybe?” He grunted.
“Enough, Sawyer,” Lazarus growled as he stepped up beside Freya and me. “It’s not
like this will be our first suicidal charge.”
“I know!” the red-armored man exclaimed. “Why do you think I’m trying to avoid another one?!”
“You lived through the last one,” Lazarus said dismissively as he glanced over at me. “Let’s go.”
“Right,” I replied taking another step forward as I broke into a sprint, mentally shaking my head at the pair.
Leading the charge into battle for the third time, I felt a familiar calm descend over me as I focused on the two Moss Snakes, seeing their heads snap in our direction as they spotted us.
“Spread out!” I shouted, the four of us quickly putting distance between one another in hopes of forcing the snakes to choose between two of us to attack, giving the other two a chance to close with the creatures unmolested.
Fortunately for all of us, it worked. Though unfortunately for me, it was because they both decided that I was the most appealing target amongst the charging attackers.
Oh shit! My mind raced in panic as I instinctively threw myself forward into a somersault, diving under the green snake’s sweeping maw and rolling back up onto my feet, only to find myself staring point blank into the open mouth of its mate.
My mind blanked as I tried to turn and twist my body out of the way, reflexively casting Blink Step in an attempt to get away. But instead of seeing a blur of colors as I shifted locations, a bright red message appeared in my vision, followed by a sad chime.
You do not have enough mana to cast this spell!
I’m screwed, I realized with a sickening sensation, time slowing down just enough for the thought to cross my mind, my foot coming down on the ground as my momentum continued to carry me forward. There’s no way I can dodge in time.
But despite the futility of my situation, I still tried, awkwardly planting my other foot on the ground in an attempt to sidestep my impending doom, only to see the gargantuan snake adjust to follow me, causing the little hope I had in my chest begin to die. But, a heartbeat before I was about to accept my fate, a streak of azure caught the corner of my eye, racing across the ground faster than I could follow. With a feral roar filling the air, I caught a single glimpse of Amaranth as he left the ground and slammed into the snake, the impact of nearly eight-hundred pounds of angry puma causing its head to snap awkwardly to the side, succeeding in only clipping my shoulder, before slamming into the ground with a crash.
Legacy of the Fallen (Ascend Online Book 2) Page 22