Alexander tried to back away, but his legs felt heavy, as if he were trying to move them across cement. He strained to steady himself, but he was too sluggish. Rather than standing upright, his legs buckled under the weight of his body, and Alexander realized he was falling. He thought it was strange it took him a moment to realize he had tumbled to the ground. Of course, he had fallen if his legs were not below him, but thinking was not so easy at the moment.
His ears were ringing, and try as he might, all he could see was a wall of white. Maybe somebody had thrown a flashbang or the lightning equivalent of one. This was a battlefield, and Alexander supposed weapons such as that one were used at times like this. He wasn’t sure. The thinking was making his head hurt. He tried to roll to his side and use his hands to circumvent his legs, but his arms failed him as well. They didn’t hold him up like he expected, and he fell face first to the ground. Perhaps the universe wanted him to shut his eyes. The idea of sleep was enticing. The ground was comfortable, certainly more comfortable than the tent he’d been sleeping in these past few days, but a tiny voice in the back of his head told him he couldn’t sleep.
It was a nuisance. How Alexander wished he could ignore it, but the voice was persistent. “Get up,” it said. “Wake up. The pirates are coming.”
Go away. Thought Alexander. He wanted a nap, a chance to sleep away the dizziness and headache that accosted him. Relentless in its attempts to rouse Alexander, the voice began to transmit images. Weapons clashed in an arena of fog and fire. He saw polar bears running alongside pumas, tearing apart warriors clothed in orange crystals. There were winged reindeers blowing fireballs from above, beside them were humans cloaked in the phantom of an eagle, but greater than everything else, he saw two cruel eyes. Hidden in the fog of the mountain, a beast slithered through the battleground. It surveyed the warriors fighting for their lives like an emperor observing his people. The two yellow pupils were pompous, as if they were superior to everyone else. Alexander stared at the slit eyes of the beast and felt anger wash over him.
Yes, I have to get up. He dug his hands into the ground and pushed. His mana reacted to his willpower, and the white flames flowed freely. Little by little, the ringing stopped, and his vision cleared up.
As the white flame’s curative effects swept through him, Alexander became more aware of his surroundings. He was lying at the bottom of a crater, slumped on a bed of ash, and his hand was itchy. Very itchy.
Turning his head to see what the problem was, Alexander stifled a gasp. His hand was gone. Not in the chopped off or deleted sense, where his forearm simply ended without a continuation, but in the gory missing digits and exposed bone kind of way. Bringing it closer for inspection, Alexander marveled at his lack of pain. Part of the bone of his thumb was still present, and it joined his pinky as the only remaining pieces of his fingers. Any semblance of his three middle digits were gone, along with the majority of his palm. The muscles of his wrist held the only skin left.
But rather than soul-curdling pain, Alexander just felt itchy. He chalked it up to the mystical powers of the white flame, having no other medically reasonable argument for how this could be, and focused on climbing out of the trench. The image of the giant Green Mamba was seared into Alexander’s psyche, and he was desperate to find out if it was reality or his imagination.
Cresting over the top of the crater, Alexander found Pengu driving away a horde of pirates. The penguin was masterfully controlling a wave of fire to push back and, in some cases, eliminate any pirates who approached. It was an impressive sight, if a little daunting, to see how powerful the little chick had grown. More impactfully, as Alexander drew near, he noticed a charred corpse at the feet of the penguin.
The lacerations at the base of the neck informed Alexander the captain had been burned posthumously, although Alexander wasn’t sure if this had been an act of savagery or a glancing strike. Regardless, he tried not to dwell on it. They were at war, and Pengu was not just battling the pirates. She had manipulated her flames to create a clearing around the crater Alexander had collapsed within.
Stuffing his wounded arm into his suit jacket, Alexander struck a pirate with his left fist as he stood beside Pengu. “Miss me?”
You went boom, Pengu said. Driving her flippers into the shoulders of the rushing pirates, she incinerated anyone unlucky enough to be stabbed by her.
Alexander ducked as he resorted to pushing pirates towards Pengu’s flaming wing. The loss of his right hand had completely thrown off his rhythm. Narrowly dodging strikes even from these weaker pirates, he felt as if he were dancing with two left feet.
Pengu, for her part, didn’t mind the extra skewering practice. She swiped at the pirates with growing expertise, even transmitting some laughter into Alexander’s mind. Jumping to the skies, Pengu maneuvered a flaming lasso to corral a group of pirates. The men were shivering, trapped within a barrier of fire with no hope of escape. She gave them a chance.
Parting the walls, Pengu opened the trap she had laid just wide enough for one pirate to exit and butchered them down one by one. Once she finished, the little penguin somersaulted unto Alexander’s shoulder, landing both elegantly and lithely. With her best impression of a smile, Pengu looked at Alexander. I can go boom, too.
Alexander was silent as he considered how to respond. Pengu appeared to relish the battlefield, holding an element of ruthlessness within her heart. As she burned the droplets of blood staining the feathers on her wings, he could see the little penguin developing into a barbarian, but be that as it may, she seemed happy.
Scratching Pengu’s chin, Alexander pointed to the horizon. “The image of the snake you sent me… was that here?”
Rather than responding, Pengu raised her flipper, extinguishing the flames that had surrounded them and revealing the behemoth in the distance.
Its large, shimmering scales glistened in the radiance of the fires set alight in the camp. The Green Mamba’s giant fangs snapped angrily at the sky, as if to challenge the very stars. The snake was powerful. Alexander didn’t need to be convinced of that. He saw a comet of blue lightning smash against its coiling body, but the snake reacted with the same intensity one would give an ant. It twitched lightly, paying what Alexander recognized as Kai no attention, and snarled at the sky once more.
Stolen story; please report.
“There, Pengu. We need to go over there.” There was a slight tremble in Alexander’s voice, the thought of challenging the reptilian beast sent shivers down his back, but he knew it was necessary. Those slitted pupils demanded it.
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Maia wiped the blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth. Swirling the saliva within her mouth, she spat out the remaining blood that had pooled. She tried to settle her breathing, but exhaustion and pain kept it labored. Her emerald armor was shattered, broken in one of her many clashes with the giant snake. Left in the wake of the snake’s rampage, nasty burn marks adorned Maia’s shoulder, hip, and ankle. Although she had managed to dodge all attacks, Maia had belatedly realized all the snake needed was contact. The most miniscule touch led to the transfer of a terribly potent venom, one strong enough to eat through her armor.
She watched from the corner of her vision as Kaia crashed down on the snake. It was a pointless attack, but it allowed Maia to quickly stuff a mana recovery cookie into her mouth. The snake proceeded to bear its fangs towards Maia, eager to devour her but not close enough to manage it.
The mana diffusing out of her stomach and to her parched veins allowed her to fly backwards, out of the range of the snake. Thanking Alexander’s baking mentally, channeled the orange color to her hands and began to reform her machetes.
She had quickly caught on to the fact that repairing her armor was pointless. Whether or not it was there, the venom would still melt into her skin; moreover, no amount of armor would allow her to survive a strike from the gargantuan snake. This was a fight she would have to win flawlessly. Twirling her machetes in her hands, Maia prepared for the next dance.
Taking a deep breath, she kicked at the air, launching herself towards the jaw of the snake. The beast reacted instantly, hissing loudly as it lunged towards Maia. She was calm as the snake bore down on her, waiting until its fangs were almost upon her before rolling to the side. A crunch echoed through the battlefield as the snake’s mouth snapped shut, but the fury of failure was the only emotion within its eyes.
Maia had evaded death by the skin of her teeth, and as she dragged her machete across the snake’s scales, she mounted her counterattack. Sparks flew as the machete ran the length of the back of the snake’s head. Maia wasn’t disappointed, though. She’d tried to pierce the natural bulk of the snake many times, but it was a fool’s errand. No, her target was the snake’s snout.
With hasty steps, Maia erupted in blue as she augmented her speed to run along the wind. From past experience, the snake would begin to thrash if Maia spent too much time on its head, so she had to be quick about this. Bounding forward, she placed her first step on the body of the beast. It froze in anticipation of her next move. The second step provoked shaking in the snake as it tossed its head back to catch sight of Maia.
She needed one final step to reach the nose, but she was keenly aware it wasn’t possible. Once the snake began thrashing, staying on was impossible. Floating at this altitude was even more dangerous as her maneuverability in the air was terrible. Thus, forsaking her body, Maia threw the machete at the same time as her foot made the critical third step. The weapon flew true and buried itself deeply in the face of the snake.
The thrashing began as the machete was still stabbing into the mamba. It flung Maia to the ground and slammed her against a mountain of rubble as the Green Mamba’s tail repeatedly rammed her. Maia managed to put up her violet cocoon of wind, but the bleeding renewed in her mouth. Additionally, a couple of fractures joined her growing acumen of injuries: her fragile rib cage bent under the weight of the snake and her wrists dislocated.
But Maia faced this cheerily. Even the darkness that was enshrouding her as the mamba pushed her deeper underground could not sully the happiness blossoming in Maia. She had seen it. Moments before the snake had blown her away, a fountain of blood had erupted from the beast’s snout. Her eyes had remained locked on to the wound as she barreled to the ground. If she shut her eyes, Maia was sure she would vividly recall the sweet sight of the deep red liquid pouring down the snake’s face.
Relative to the behemoth, the injury was more similar to a papercut than anything else, but Maia celebrated her first victory in this dance. The tail that had been pressing against Maia finally lessened in pressure as another large crackle of electricity resounded. Taking the opportunity to claw out of the hole, Maia stuffed another cookie in her mouth. The beast can bleed. The thought roused her spirit as she began to reform her missing machete.
Outside of the hole, Maia could see a layer of ice had formed over the lower segment of the snake’s body. Beneath the middle segment, there was a puddle of water still crackling with electricity, evidence of Thomas and Kai’s interference in her battle. Maia fleetingly wished the two were fighting by her side, but their absence let her know they had only appeared to bail her out. It was their job to defeat the rest of the executives, while Maia was to stop the snake. Tucking away any thoughts of weakness, Maia clanged her machetes together to catch the beast’s attention.
The giant was irritated and seemed ready to chase after Kai and Thomas, but it became transfixed once it laid its predator eyes on Maia. Pouncing madly, the snake repeatedly bit at the ground, smashing away any buildings in the vicinity and creating large, venomous puddles. Despite the annoyances of the two boys, clearly Maia was the object of the snake’s wrath. Perhaps, the snake felt amplified pain in its nose. Maia hoped so.
Facing the full fury of the snake, Maia was forced to continuously maintain her wind cocoon. She had gained several new burns on her body, and the snake’s frenzy had no end in sight. The drain on her mana was considerable, but between mana and death, Maia thought it a simple decision. She smashed her machetes down on the face of the snake whenever she could, but the strength of its scales proved mightier as her blades shattered.
Backed against a corner, Maia resorted to bare-knuckle fighting. The first few punches were still protected by a layer of emerald, but with each subsequent punch, more of her gauntlets melted until most of her skin had gone as well. Smoke emanated from her fists as the venom got to work. Already, the bone was becoming visible in her middle finger, but Maia couldn’t afford to stop. Her violet wind cocoon was shaking profusely, indicating it was close to breaking. Even if it wasn’t, her mana consumption had trounced the meager sum the cookie had regeneration.
Hoping for a miracle, Maia continued fighting back, launching increasingly reckless attacks in the hopes one of the hits would grant her relief from the snake’s bombardment. Suddenly a blistering heat swept over her, stunting the snake’s attack. Maia jerked her head to see Pengu attempting to incinerate the snake’s hide. With a scream, she put all her mana into the physical augmentation and flew to the penguin.
She resembled a blue flash as the wind carried her Pengu. Upon grasping her, Maia rolled as far as she could, evading what she expected to be a follow-up attack. Instead, she saw the snake retreating from the wall of flames that Pengu had enacted. She set the penguin down as she quizzically observed the beast’s behavior. It was still acting feisty, hissing loudly at Maia, but it made no attempt to cross the barrier of fire. While she analyzed the Green Mamba, she heard the crunch of rocks under somebody’s footsteps.
“I’m glad we managed to get here in time. It really looked like you weren’t going to survive the snake’s onslaught for a second there.”
Without turning back, Maia responded. “You need to take Pengu and go, Alexander. This isn’t part of the plan. You two aren’t strong enough to face this monster. Your skills are needed in the field, to heal everyone else.”
Alexander walked forward without hesitation. “No, I’m needed here, I think. I have a plan, Maia.”