The serpents disrupted the flow of the whirlpool below, sending the water into a chaotic state as it collapsed in on itself. The currents just below the surface were trying to reform, but the temporary halt of the water caused the other serpents to scatter in all directions, unable to fight pull.
Emily’s eyes widened at the scene below as gravity took hold again, and Cupcake began to fall towards the approaching maw. Grunting she triggered her lift spells and directed them out of the path of the serpent. The sudden change in direction was met with a resounding snap just beside them, as the reptilian jaw slammed shut. It screamed in annoyance as all three of them fell toward the surface.
“Go Cupcake, we can’t fight these things!” Emily screamed.
Cupcakes growled but understood as they crashed into the surface of the water. The she-wolf took off immediately but the second serpent wasn’t interested in letting them escape, it slammed itself into the surface nearby, creating a small tidal wave that crashed into Cupcake
All at once they were sucked underneath the chilly water, caught in a spiral of air that turned the world on its end.
Emily couldn’t tell which way was up or down but she couldn’t afford the few seconds it would take to get her bearings. So, without knowing which way was which, she again cast her lift spell.
Both of them went hurtling in a random direction, but it was different underwater. The drag from the denser material caused the cord connecting Emily to Cupcakes's saddle to go taunt and fray.
It was about to snap completely when she felt the she-wolf’s whip appendage wrap around her waist and pull her back into the saddle.
Emily couldn’t even breathe a sigh of relief as they continued to hurtle out of control.
The sudden opposing current was the only warning she got before a blurry figure appeared from the depths. Emily couldn’t make much out but it was nowhere near big enough to be one of those two titans, so she expanded a line of blood out in front of her.
When the opportunistic serpent smacked into it, she had the tendril of blood wrapped around its neck and squeezed, but killing it was not her intention. When the car-sized serpent realized something was choking the life out of it, it tried to flee. Emily then allowed her blood to pull taunt and drag them behind the creature.
Her legs and hands burned as she tried to hold onto Cupcake and the Beast at the same time, but she refused to let go. She knew they needed to keep moving even if it tore her in half, which it just might as Cupcake had to tighten her whip around Emily to keep her in place.
An explosion of bubbles signaled one of the serpents moving above, but they both hung on as their ride carried them out of the worst of the currents.
When they stabilized Emily squinted through the depths in search of light, the moment she identified the surface she cast her spell before cutting their ride's neck clean off.
The force pushed them towards the surface and when that wasn’t enough she cast it again.
A body crashed into her chest as they burst from the water and into the open air.
No sooner had Emily taken a breath than it was constricted out of her as a smaller serpent wrapped around her chest and left arm, beginning to squeeze the life out of her.
“-you..shit..” Emily gasped causing the serpent to increase its grip on instinct. Emily was dimly aware that Cupcake had started running again but all she could see was a serpent looming over her. It looked poised to strike, but everything spun from the lack of oxygen. Emily’s blood surged out of her chest, soaking her gear, and ensnared the serpent in six places. With a violent snap, sheared through its body, reducing it to nothing more than bloody chunks that tumbled from her like broken chains.
Emily’s lungs expanded, drawing in the air they desperately needed. Sadly the relief of fresh air was short-lived when she spotted one of the massive serpents still above the surface.
It had to be searching for them, and when it found Cupcake dashing across the waves, the serpent locked on and opened its maw with a furious hiss.
Its size made its moments slow but they were currently on its home turf so that barely mattered as it closed in on them, sending waves in their direction.
Emily ground her molars, she could potentially send them flying like she once had with Mist and Atticus, but she didn’t trust they wouldn’t be struck out of the air. The last time Emily had stayed behind to distract the creature, but they had no such advantage now.
“Dammit all! First the Wyrms, and now you guys!? Fine, come at me, you phallic fucks!” Emily growled as she pulled her scepter from her waist.
Contrary to her words, Emily had no intention of fighting these creatures. Right now, it would only end painfully or with her in the belly of one of them.
Which wasn’t a bad idea…
Emily shook the thought from her mind. Killing these creatures from the inside might work for her, but Cupcake wouldn’t make it—and Emily was just starting to like her fluffy sidekick.
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Lowering herself in the saddle, Emily wrapped her arms around Cupcake’s neck and placed her mouth near the beast’s ear.
“Run, girl, just like before. I’ll foot the costs.”
With her eyes closed, Emily triggered blood price, opening the connection wider between herself and the Rime wolf.
In that moment, the serpent struck. They had been fighting against the tide and the shaking waves, but as the rain fell against Cupcake’s pelt, steam began to rise from her body. In a single bound, their speed doubled, and a joyous howl bounced across the waves.
In the same motion, Emily threw open her bridges and poured her power into the scepter, building the largest sphere of source she could manage.
The sphere shot forward with a flick and struck the side of the serpent's massive head. It wasn’t enough to cause it pain—not enough to make it reel back—but it was just enough to change the direction of the serpent’s strike, allowing them to get out of the way in time.
When the serpent missed it plunged into the water resulting in a similar wave to the one before, only this time Cupcake’s reactions were faster and she rode the wave of foam. Stepping along the crest of the tide of water.
Emily was so focused on their connection that she fell into it, her sight mingling with Rime wolves. The world became a wash of greys and blues, with dashes of yellow. Every flash of light looked like bioluminescence, and it only took Emily a second to put together that the yellow patches were movement. Every area represented either danger or the shifting waves. This was how Cupcake predicted when the serpents would ambush them. Emily could see a brilliant mass of yellow light below them, which had to be the other serpent. It was hurtling at them, but Cupcake was already taking steps to change their course.
Seeing all this made Emily’s brain hurt but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t take advantage of this.
Life force flowed steadily between Emily and Cupcake, so when she began pulling a large amount of power from her chest, she felt something else moving with her. At first, Emily thought it was Cupcake, but this was something else. Cupcake was too focused on keeping them alive as another body brushed passed them.
The vitality in Emily’s chest responded readily and when she moved it around through her body she realized it was anticipating what she needed rather than her having to make it move. The only thing she could think of was her newest skill, but it was strange that it was only showing up now. Emily pushed the useless thoughts aside and cupped her hand to collect her blood. No sooner had she willed it, than the blood collected in her palm and became a wickedly sharp crescent. The entire maneuver took half her usual concentration and seemed far more deadly than ever before.
When the large serpent exploded into the spot they had been seconds ago, Emily swung the crescent blade out. Running it along the side of the creature's length. While sharp, the scales of the creature were old and tough. This only resulted in a shallow cut, with beads of blood weeping from the wound. To a creature of its size, it was little more than a scrape. However, the way it screamed made it clear that nothing had wounded it in a long time. It thrashed violently before crashing back into the water.
Cupcake pressed on, putting in another burst of speed as they neared the island. They had covered more than three-quarters of the distance when sensing their prey was escaping, the remaining serpent lashed its tail out in a lightning-fast strike. The maneuver was similar to an orca knocking its prey into the air with its tail. Cupcake saw it coming, but there was no way to avoid the tail's speed and sheer size.
When the blow landed, Cupcake had no choice but to use the momentum to launch herself into the air. Unfortunately, this gave the wounded serpent just enough time to surface with a furious, cold-eyed rage.
The combination attack from the large beasts was incredible and spoke of decades of teamwork, only, it wasn’t enough.
As they went hurtling into the air, Cupcake rightened her flailing legs, and at the top of their involuntary flight, she jumped.
A platform of blood hardened below her paws sending them even further into the skies. The serpent tried to chase them into the air but Emily cast her magic and they shot even higher. The serpent’s mass was too great and it fell back towards the water, hissing with fury. Cupcake took another step, and when Emily opened her eyes they were running just below the clouds.
She let out a laugh as they cruised toward the island but when she turned back she saw the serpents turning glumly back towards the whirlpool, which was building up again.
Emily scratched the side of Cupcake and had her descend back toward the water's edge, as it took a great deal of life force to maintain this type of ‘flight’. Five minutes later they arrived on the shores of another island and Emily looked back over to the now-distant whirlpool she could scarcely believe they had come from that direction. From here it just looked like a natural churning water feature, but Emily wasn’t fooled. This world hid its danger in its most beautiful sights, even now the storm was continuing to build. Pretty soon it would consume the island.
Glancing around her current little liferaft she noted that the portion of the landmass facing the whirlpool looked to have the same smooth texture, but when she moved around the shore she saw it became rough once more.
So finding an abandoned cave she hunkered down and attempted to get dry. Cupcake shook herself off the moment they got into the cave and Emily had to duck to avoid the worst of the spray.
She then unsaddled the beast and collapsed against the cold rocky wall. They both dried quickly on account of her bloodfire skill. It appeared that Cupcake retained the ability for a short while after Emily had closed the link.
With night now falling, Emily didn’t have the energy to collect firewood so they remained in the dark, but at least she wasn’t cold or wet anymore.
Just before Emily went to sleep she thought back to what had happened with her blood without there. She was fairly certain she’d triggered ruby guardian to kick in. Which is what probably helped her control her blood better. It also fit the skill’s description somewhat, at least the passive part of it.
The question Emily had was, why now?
She’d used her blood multiple times since getting the skill, so what was different?
Emily tried to think back to what would cause the skill to trigger on its own. At the time she’d been opening herself to Cupcake entirely, trusting that the wolf would get them out of there. Was that it?
Was the simple idea of trusting her skill all it had taken?
Emily had tried the skill, but it had not taken. Was it because she’d subconsciously stopped it from working?
It would make sense. She knew how she needed to move her blood on her own, something like training wheels was unnecessary.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t deny the increased ease with which she’d managed to bring out her blood.
“Okay, Ruby dude, you in there?” She said staring down at her hand.
She never expected a reply but talking to herself still felt annoying especially when nothing moved in her chest.
Growing more annoyed Emily created a blood bolt, but she tried to get the skill to activate.
When nothing happened she growled.
“Hey, what’s your deal, you worked so nicely earlier… Fine! We’ll do this the hard way!”
Blood points: 280