“Full stop!” Ragnir barked out once Juni called out Neska’s finding. “Neska, Juni, can you go investigate? I think you see a damn sight better in the dark than we do.”

  “We'll check it out together,” Juni answered.

  Finally, our time to shine. Neska slipped forward, sticking to the tangled roots that lined the forest floor, with rocky outcroppings here and there providing cover. Juni scampered off to her side, nose twitching.

  Neska saw cooling bodies contrasting against the rest of the terrain, now that she was closer. What was strange was that the bodies were partially buried. It was eerie, to put it mildly.

  She used her tail to get Juni’s attention and pointed. The mouse squinted. Then, Neska pointed to her own eyes.

  “The bodies are submerged in the earth. Creepy." Juni whispered. She kept pace with Neska, and they took shelter in the cover of a large, gnarled oak just by the overturned wagon.

  Neska saw soldiers’ bodies–blue uniforms, metal armor, partway submerged in the dirt of the path. It was almost as if the earth had swallowed them up.

  Worse, the men were missing their heads and upper shoulders, torn apart by something massive, something strong. Were they torn apart, or bitten off? She dared to get closer, using the roots as partial cover. Nearby, she could hear Juni’s breath, rapid and shallow. She played out the possibilities. None of them was good.

  Monsters, maybe? Definitely not men. She didn’t know what powers other classes had, but eating the bodies, as it appeared, definitely indicated monsters. The horses had not fared better. Large chunks of flesh had been ripped away, exposing viscera and bone. The animals hadn’t stood a chance.

  “Neska, we should go tell the others. I’m thinking…it could be a terramouse like me. We can dig tunnels like this.” Juni stilled herself and took a deep breath. “But, we aren’t the only tunnelers that we know of.”

  Neska drew in the dirt. {Snakes dig, too. Or moles.}

  “Snakes…underground.” Juni’s eyes lit up with a fearful recognition, and she put a finger to her snout for silence. It was a humanlike gesture, and Neska took no offense to the fact that she could, at most, hiss menacingly.

  She felt the ground shift beneath them, trembling on her scales. “Big creature underground,” she whispered, pointing to the road. “Big. Tunnel Viper. Maybe.”

  Tunneling through the ground? She wondered if that was an evolution path she could take. The ground continued to shift, and Neska saw the earth rise, ever so slightly, along the road.

  It moved toward the wagons, inching slowly. {How to fight?} Neska drew in the dirt slowly.

  “We don’t.” Juni’s voice trembled, and her teeth clacked together gently. “They can’t dig through trees or rocks, though."

  Then, an idea hit her. It might work.

  {Root and Spike.} Neska laid out her plan in three words. Juni picked up on it, her expression brightening.

  "Can you drive the roots underground?"

  {If it works, hit hard.}

  Juni let out a calming breath, even as her paws shook. "Got it. I'll shout out a warning. We need to move fast."

  {Ready.}

  Neska narrowed her gaze on the mound. They dared to hide beneath her belly? She owned the earth. She had her hexes to help out on this one.

  Juni sucked in a sharp breath and drew power to her paws, glowing golden for a few seconds. “TUNNEL VIPERS, FIND SOLID GROUND!” she screamed, just as Neska triggered her [Rooting Hex].

  She was not searching above ground, though. She forced the roots deep below the ground, looking for foes beneath, flailing around in the surprisingly soft earth.

  She felt the roots clamp onto something sliding under the mound, and she wrapped them closed like a clamshell, trapping whatever was underneath with a constricting force. She was already on the move, charging a [Mana Bolt]. Juni threw her paw to the ground, driving a wave of earthen spikes forward at the shifting earth, vines poking and writhing above the ground for a target to hit.

  Neska heard a shrill screech that bored into her skull as Juni’s rocky spikes erupted through the earth, and two of them appeared bloodstained. The mound of dirt burst apart in a plume of particles and rocks flying up and outward, pelting them with dirt that made it hard to see.

  What she saw made her feel incredibly small and vulnerable.

  A massive serpent, easily twenty feet long and covered in dark scales, loomed over them. The scales ridged outward from its body, and it bore a smoothed skull and rows of teeth. The serpent flailed about with two stone spikes driven through its flank. It roiled and thrashed, and wagged two tiny arms that were attached to the upper portion of its body.

  Her first reaction: she felt like she had been ripped off as a snake; even these guys had something close to arms!

  Her second reaction was that this was going to be a fight to the death. There was no running from these creatures.

  Neska fired off her empowered [Mana Bolt], and then several more of them, not giving the creature a chance to retaliate. She focused her fire at one spot on its face, impacting the scales, cracking and shattering them. The combined blasts left the exposed wound glowing with molten blue energy, blood dripping freely from the deep wounds.

  The creature snarled and glared at her with intensely bright yellow eyes, and snapped its body forward. It wrenched itself free from the spikes and tore the vines to ribbons after a few seconds of struggle. Neska fired off more shots of [Mana Bolts] to deal more damage.

  [Ember Hex] was useless this time. Her venom, even if it had incredible potency, wouldn’t be effective here, not unless she delivered multiple bites. She had to wear this creature down.

  She felt a tingle at the back of her head as it snapped down, barely missing. That had been too close, and she wasted no time slipping across the roots and kept her [Spring Scales] as an emergency evasion.

  Judging by the shouts and arrows piercing the scales of the beast, the others had joined the fray. But Juni screamed out as she sent another row of spikes. “It’s a trap, the road is–”

  She never finished as the ground gave way under the rest of the team, sending the horses sinking down into the earth. The wagon sank in next, the entire front half engulfed in a tunnel below the surface.

  Neska saw Hadley cut at Ragnir's saddle, freeing him from the panicking animal. She pulled him up from the dirt, shouting in fury, and pointing out two other shifting mounds of earth.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  These things are dangerous , Juni and I can't hurt them enough, not on our own! We need to drag this out, or get them above the ground! Neska fired off another volley of [Mana Bolts]–the extra soul must be doing some heavy lifting, because she didn’t feel the chill inside her body yet.

  “Neska, I can’t get a good shot!” Juni called out as she tried her [Terra Spikes], but the serpent dodged out of the way, moving with incredible speed.

  But she had one trick left.

  She triggered her [Baleful Eye] after shooting one more mana bolt to get its attention. As soon as it did, its body slowed. Its eyes went glassy, and it reared back its head, as if trying to break eye contact.

  But it was just enough for Juni to slam the ground with a furious blow. A single massive spire of stone skewered through the serpent, punching through scales on both sides of its body. It thrashed and writhed on the ground, blood seeping from its jaw and the holes in its body.

  In its erratic movement, it finally broke eye contact with her, but the damage was already done, the creature going into the throes of death.

  Juni panted with exertion. “Gotta…help…others.” Neska surged forward as fast as she could slide across the ground, with Juni sprinting beside her. The others were engaged with the serpents, staying mobile to avoid being targeted from underground as easily.

  Or at least, that was the plan. One of the creatures dove deep underground and emerged a few seconds later underneath one of the guards. Neska heard Finks gasp out a warning, right before the razor-sharp jaws dragged him down.

  He screamed as he tried to stab down to dislodge the creature. Ragnir attempted to grab the man, but Finks disappeared under the soil. The screams became muted.

  Then, Neska heard the moistened crack of bones.

  The screams stopped. Only shifting earth remained.

  She couldn’t help that poor soul, but she could stop this monster. They’d have to use the same tactic: use the roots to immobilize them or force them above ground, and then attack them with the [Terra Spikes] and her mana bolts.

  Jurik grabbed Hadley and helped hoist her onto one of the scattered boulders towering over the area within the forest, disturbed earth trailing toward them.

  Neska surged forward, trying to cast a wide net of roots to ensnare both serpents, drawing up the roots like they were limbs of their own body. Mana surged through her, and the fiery feeling from the battle against the wolves returned. She pushed out the roots, searching for the vibrations of the subterranean lurker.

  But Juni was ahead of her, sensing the tremors. She pointed at a spot at the ground. "Target there, ten feet down!" She screamed out.

  Neska fired off the hex immediately. She felt the roots make purchase on the rough scales of the serpent and wrapped tightly, disrupting the its path and hauling it backward. Halted, it erupted out of the ground, roots thrashing and winding tightly around its body. It used its stubby claws and sharp fangs to try to rip at the roots.

  The maneuver bought Jurik and Hadley the reprieve they needed. Jurik cast out a jet of flame from an open wound on his palm, lighting the creature aflame. It let out a shrill scream, finally snapping the roots with its enormous strength in an attempt to escape.

  It almost felt like the roots had been wrenched from Neska’s body. She reeled from the feedback, like roots had been ripped out of her This was a strange tactile sensation that left her staggered from the pain.

  Juni took the opening, using her stone abilities to create a large plank of stone under Ragnir’s boots and the other soldier he was trying to pull from the overturned wagon.

  Neska realized her plan had one weak link. Damn it! These guys are too strong for me to hold them with my low Vitality! I need another option, more roots fired at once!

  She had an idea forming. What one root couldn't do? Maybe she could tie them together?

  But she didn't have time to figure out how to pull it together yet. The third serpent was closing, and Neska couldn’t react in time.

  The creature dove down on Gort, jaw first. Ragnir managed to dive away just in time, though he was caught by the coils of its body and sent spinning. A red aura lit up around him, and he rose with a murderous look in his eye. His axe was in motion as the screams of his fellow soldier ended in a gurgle and a crunch.

  Neska launched a series of [Mana Bolts] to get the creature’s attention while Ragnir lunged, chopping at the body of the snake with his axe. It slashed through the scales and drove deep into the monster’s body.

  The creature reared back, thrashing wildly, and Ragnir endured another body blow. He slid across the ground while maintaining an upright position, teeth gritted.

  “Neska, root it in place–”

  Juni’s direction was cut off as the serpent reared its head back and spat out a transparent green fluid from its mouth. Ragnir was already on the move and tumbling to the side, but a few splatters hit his armor and cloak, immediately eating through the materials. Ragnir shouted in pain and tore off the cloak, and threw dirt from the disturbed ground onto the armor in an attempt to scour the fluid away.

  Meanwhile, Neska rooted it in place with another of the [Rooting Hexes], pinning it while Juni assaulted it with [Terra Spikes]. The massive blow from Ragnir’s powerful strike was doing the work, blood spurting from the wound, and its movements grew labored.

  She didn’t have time to finish it off; the third one was coming back. This one seemed tougher as Juni’s spikes slid off the scales, and it bit through the stone spines and shattered them like they were little more than fragile clay vases.

  This time, it locked eyes with her and arched forward, springing across the distance. She triggered her [Spring Scales] with a precision leap. She narrowly avoided being crushed by its massive body. It slammed the ground with enough force to crack stone and drive a trench through the softer dirt, parting it as though it were almost fluid. Neska landed next to Juni, who looked exhausted.

  “This thing might be a Tier above, Neska,” she said, her legs shaking under the stress. “Might be even Tier three. Would your venom even work on this thing? We can’t damage it on the outside!”

  She had no idea. Where would she even bite it? She was immediately regretting the lack of offensive abilities, and that [Piercing Fangs] evolution sounded like it might have been a good investment.

  There were serious flaws in her build–she might be powerful with disabling foes and inflicting consistent damage, but against a powerhouse like this? She had no readily available counter.

  No. There is always a solution. Risha was vastly outnumbered, yet still killed seasoned warriors and mages--many of them. I can do the same, I just need time to work the problem!

  Hadley fired a barrage of arrows too fast for human speed, but the projectiles barely pierced the scales of the snake. It hissed menacingly and recoiled from the barrage of arrows on fire that Jurik aided Hadley in igniting, after adjisting tactics.

  The burning substance refused to stay ignited on its scales. The creature countered with its own attack, spitting another jet of the deadly, caustic substance at Hadley and Jurik. Both saw it coming and abandoned the higher terrain, landing with painful shouts in reaction.

  Neska saw Hadley limping, favoring one leg over the other, and hobbled past the trees, firing arrows that glowed with blue light. The arrows pierced the scales of the creature on its upper body, but seemed to not do meaningful damage. They bounced off the hard dorsal scales of its face. Its armor scales were immensely strong.

  The creature surged forward, even with Jurik cutting his palm and igniting a fire line defensively between the serpent and them.

  “Juni, Neska, get Hadley out of here!” he bellowed out, swinging his sword aggressively to keep the creature at bay. The white flames of his sword, ignited by his blood, were the only thing that kept it from advancing. Neska knew that he couldn’t maintain that ability indefinitely.

  She and Juni looked at each other, then the others–Ragnir slowing, Hadley injured, and Jurik mounting a stoic defending line.

  Juni shook her head. “I’m not abandoning them. We’ll finish this together.”

  Neska gave her a sharp nod and then hissed at the serpent to get its attention. You bully, come and attack someone worthy of your attention! She projected her thoughts onto the monster.

  To her shock, it turned and bared its fangs. Then, it spoke in slithers. “You dare take their side, little one? To slay your own kin?” it hissed, its body coiling, its tiny arms wriggling and gripping the air. She never took her eyes off of him, and ignored the dead or dying serpents nearby.

  I was never on your side, monster. She raised her body, tiny compared to this beast, and sized up what she could do. She had one play left, but it was a risky move.

  There was only one place she could bite it reliably: in the soft palate in its mouth, given the hardness of its scales. If she could telegraph out her intent, this might work.

  The serpent let out a malicious laugh, the hissing sound grating on her hearing so much that it hurt her head, like sparks going off inside her mind. “Bold words. You’re most impressive for what you are…if somewhat small. But now it’s time for you to come back to the fold.”

  Never. She spat her [Blinding Venom] at him, but he merely flicked his tail to deflect the stream of liquid. That was somewhat disappointing, but it also meant that she’d need to either be closer or with his head out of alignment.

  “Wasn’t giving you a choice. We didn’t come all this way to come back with nothing. Either you, or your corpse,” the serpent sneered. He raised his tail like it was a weapon, just as Juni screamed out a warning.

  It came too late.

  The tail slammed down with the force of a meteor, and the ground beneath all of them collapsed, and Neska found herself falling, with no way to stop herself as the bottom of the massive pit loomed larger and larger beneath her.

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  What happens next chapter?