The elf little girl had moved further out on the branch until it had begun to bend. With no room to retreat further, one of the snakes had followed her up the branch, while the other two were right behind the first.

The reptile gathered its body and kept the distance, until it was ready to launch its attack. Like a Metal Spring, its head darted toward the girl.

“Iiiiiihh!” she yelled, terrified.

She had no escape, nothing to defend herself with, and she was also frozen by fear. She was only able to close her eyes and cover herself with her little arms. The girl knew that the pain would soon overtake her.

However, that pain didn’t come. Indecisive, she slightly opened her eyes and lowered her arms, and found that the snake was nailed to the branch by several arrows. One of them was piercing its head, and even glowing.

Another of the chasing snakes was also pierced and dying, while the third had found refuge behind the trunk. Although, far from giving up, it looked at the girl and Spat at her.

It was a skill they preferred not to use, as it was a great drain on their poison pool. However, since she didn’t dare to move, and she didn’t want to let her prey escape, she was left with no other choice.

Suddenly, someone hugged the girl, stood between her and the poison, and received it in her place. The armor blocked much of the liquid, but not all of it, and Goldmi felt a terrible burn on her skin. She gritted her teeth as a dagger pierced the last serpent’s body, thanks to the precision of Fleeting Dagger.

However, that wasn’t enough to kill the serpent. It lunged towards the elf, who couldn’t use the bow with one hand, nor let go of the girl. So, she threw another Fleeting Dagger, just taken out from the inventory, as she leaped off the branch.

“Aaaaaaah!” the little girl shouted when she saw herself fall next to Goldmi, and clung tightly to her. But, far from hitting the ground, they landed gently thanks to Hover.

Meanwhile, the lynx had finished off one of the snakes. She was gripping her fangs tightly into the other, just below its head, while her claws held the rest of its body.

The other four tried to attack the two elves, but Tangle avoided it. It was true that it wasn’t easy to completely immobilize a snake by this method, but it wasn’t difficult to hinder them, enough to leave the frightened girl on the ground and wield the bow.

They tried to sneak through the roots, but, three at a time, physical and magical arrows shot out of the bow, and pierced the half-immobilized snakes. Their skins couldn’t prevent the piercing of the projectiles, which even left some snakes stuck in the ground.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

With their bodies pierced at various places, entangled in the roots, and with several arrows still stuck in them, it didn’t take long for their lives to end, and stop being a threat. They had gone to a low-level area of the forest for safety during the shedding of their skin, but had made the mistake of attacking an elf little girl when Goldmi was around.

She then looked up to find the remaining snake on the branch. She didn’t expect to see it falling on the girl, who was sitting on the ground, looking in shock at her savior.

“No!” the archer exclaimed, and quickly put herself again between the predator and her prey.

She managed to protect the girl, at the cost of receiving a bite on her arm instead of her. Its teeth pierced the armor’s leather, more useful in avoiding cuts than against piercing weapons. And, with them, the poison reached her bloodstream, unlike when it had only burned her skin.

Powerful jaws appeared unexpectedly, which surprised and crushed the snake with rage, as well as scared the girl.

“Sister!” exclaimed the feline.

“I’m fine,” she assured, and even ordered her assistant to pick up her daggers and the snakes. But it didn’t take long for her to realize that her words were far less accurate than she would have liked.

She had managed to calm the girl, by convincing her that the lynx was a friend, and trusted that her healing spell would be enough. Yet, the venom had penetrated her, and had numbed her arm and her mind. She cast several Basic Healings, which relieved the symptoms, but not eliminated the root. The poison was spreading inside her.

“It’s bitten you. You have to come to the village. Dalah will heal you,” the girl suddenly suggested, clearly worried.

“Guide us,” Goldmi accepted, and get up with some trouble.

“Get on,” the lynx offered, in a tone that didn’t accept discussion.

And neither was her sister going to argue. She felt bad, worse and worse, and it was clearly the best option. It was true that snakes shouldn’t be an enemy to them, but that didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous. They could dodge those snakes with some ease, as well as attack from a distance or block them, but their poison was dangerous. And that snake had injected all that was left.

She had no antidotes. In fact, she had some at level 100, but her body wasn’t capable of bearing it, the cure would be worse than the disease. It was something the Oracle had warned her about long ago.

By following the girl’s directions, the lynx ran through the forest, under Pikshbxgro’s worried gaze. However, there was nothing he could do to help her.

Goldmi felt dizzy. She was gradually losing consciousness, something that was clearly perceived by her sister, who was anxious and terribly worried.

“Sister! You can’t fall asleep! Keep healing!” the feline called her.

Goldmi bit her lip to try to stay awake, and used Basic Healing a few more times to heal whatever the poison was attacking. But she little else was capable of doing.

She was holding onto her sister with the strength she had left. She couldn’t see past her soft fur, and barely eared the girl.

“Over there.”

“Turn left.”

“We’re almost there.”

Little by little, the sounds became more distant. She was finding it harder and harder to cast the healing spell. She wasn’t even able to notice her surroundings.

“Sister? Sister!!!”

It was the last thing she heard before completely losing consciousness. It was barely a whisper, in a far corner of her mind.