His fears proved grounded when they finally returned to their meet up point and discovered no one. No new traces were left on the ground and nothing nearby was disturbed. The expression on his face grew ugly. Their best bet now was to wait for their companions to show up, however late. In doing so, they had time to better understand these snakes that hid beneath the herbs they were looking for. However unhelpful it may be, it was a distraction that he needed.
“How come there was a snake at every patch?”
Maximus sat on the ground in front of Ryke whilst he asked, his Warhammer laid across his lap. Ryke could only chuckle at how at ease the boy felt but he felt thankful. His own anxiety was hard enough to handle. Trying his best to answer at the same time, he took out a knife to start taking apart one of the corpses.
“I’m unsure. Food, maybe?”
“What do they drink?”
“I.. don’t know.”
“.. Don’t they need to reproduce?”
“Probably, why?”
“So why is there only one at each patch?”
Ryke cut through a scale and nearly his hand, abruptly looking up at Maximus. His mind spiralled briefly, and then he exhaled heavily in an effort to calm himself before going back to dissecting the serpent.
“Probably.. leaving the den to secure their own food.”
“Den?”
“Sigmar gave me some books to read when I’m free- details animal behaviours. Some snakes live in pits or dens. Small snakes can have thousands in a pit assuming conditions are right.”
“But if a den can sustain so many, why do some leave?”
“Growth? Maybe a single snake feeding off a patch grows stronger than any one of the thousand in a pit. But then why would they need to grow so large? To defend the den, maybe? But that would leave them defenseless.“
“Ryke.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Unless something strong remains in the den, enough to ensure some snakes can leave to grow. But then what are they defending against? We haven’t seen any other creatures-”
“Ryke!”
“What-”
The serpent lay in pieces in front of him, neatly placed into several piles of parts. He looked up to find Maximus hastily standing up and staring behind him, prompting the golden eyed boy to do the same. His eyes widened when he saw Kievra and Ravi. The girl was lending her partner her shoulder as they slowly limped out of the fog, Ravi’s bow snapped in pieces and slung on his back.
Quickly, the duo rushed over and each took one of the pair. Maximus practically carried Ravi over in a princess carry whilst Ryke gave Kievra his shoulder. The only reason he hadn’t panicked is the fact that Kievra nor Ravi said anything about their wounds, not yet anyway, they were just exhausted. Their armour had dents and marks from melting, revealing portions of the softer inner armour within, as if something searing hot had bit into the metal. Nothing else stuck out to Ryke, yet he could tell most of Ravi’s body was injured.
Sitting them down on the soft cots they had prepared, they were both allowed to rest. Kievra seemed mostly intact, so Ryke made sure to emphasise Ravi’s treatment- not that he was much of a healer. The armour had to come off to check the wounds either way. While slowly removing pieces of Ravi’s armour, he listened to their story of what happened.
He didn’t like it.
They had first found a rather large patch being fought over by two of the serpents, saving them from their hidden tactics on that encounter. Staying far away enough, they eventually killed the survivor of the fight with little difficulty, though most of the Peonies were trampled in said fight. Thinking the creature would be in the open, neither were prepared for the sudden strike from below. When it burst from below, it had quickly wrapped around Ravi and begun crushing him- though Kievra killed it nearly immediately, it kept crushing him. The blood lured another serpent that attacked whilst Ravi was being treated- and eventually led to both covered in wounds by the end. Only recently did she manage to cut the boy free of the serpent’s corpse, which allowed them both to return.
His expression turned ugly as he heard their story, looking at the bruises covering Ravi’s skin that turned it a bright red, traces of bluish black already seeping in. It was a miracle his bones hadn’t been snapped and forced his ribs into his heart. The boy had already refined his Heart, and the damage wouldn’t remain long, but he wouldn’t be in fighting condition for a day.
When he saw the battered state the other two pairs returned in, pierced metal plates and bruises scattered around their body, limping slowly out of the mist towards their small camp. Seeing the uninjured state of Ryke and Maximus in comparison was like night and day, and he silently thanked the gods for Maximus. He wasn’t sure how the boy knew something was underground, where and how it moved, but he was grateful it made things so easy. It also meant they’d need to change the plan, as mistakes will be made no matter what if you don’t know where the enemy is.
They quickly found a nearby cave to hole up in for the night, and those less injured helped set up the tents, fire and alarms while the others quickly rested. The toxic mist was filtered out by the mask, but even then tiny remnants made their way through that required rest to remove.
Ryke sat in his tent and gently poured a bag onto the flour, the various pieces of one of the serpents revealing themselves. Heart shaped scales formed from inch thick rock, crimson red eyes, sharp teeth and a vibrant red flesh still hot to the touch. The scales weren’t tough enough for armour, but they’d be great material for small trinkets and baubles. Sighing quietly, he named the serpents ‘Angicor’ and put the useless items away.
With a start, his eyes finally landed on the moving bag next to him, and the Shie slowly crawling out of it with joyous expressions on their faces.