My eyes snapped open, the ntal spheres broke instantly. I stood and moved to the edge of the lake where Finn pointed as fast as I could, his face pale with alarm.
"There." he whispered. "Under the surface. It’s silver, but... wrong sohow."
I saw nothing at first, just the impenetrable blackness of the water. Then, a flicker of movent, a ripple that didn’t match the natural flow of water, a disturbance that seed purposeful rather than random.
"Everyone back." I said, my hand already finding the yo-yo in my pocket. "Coco, finish with the canteens, get ready to move."
Coco nodded, his hands working fast as he closed the canteens. Kira and Phinyx retreated several steps, positioning themselves behind . Finn was already running away from the lake.
"It’s coming closer!" he yelled. "It’s... huge."
The surface of the lake broke, and a silver sheen made itself present. The first thing we saw looked like an insect’s head, chitin mandibles and segnted eyes that glead.
As it surfaced, the confusion shifted to panic. The head was connected to a long, serpent like body, but with silver legs along each side.
"What the hell is that?" Coco gasped, retreating hastily and almost dropping a canteen.
The creature fully erged from the lake, black water fell from its body. It towered over us, moving its legs on a calculated rhythm. Its mouth closed, producing a sound like knives being sharpened.
There was nowhere to hide. The wasteland offered no cover, just open terrain in all directions. Running would only invite pursuit, and I doubted that everyone could outpace the monster.
"Stay behind ." I said, stepping forward. Confidence filled my voice, I’d killed Corruptors with ease, and this creature, however bizarre, was just another threat to eliminate.
The silver snake reared back, its front segnts rising higher as it assessed . I took a asured breath, focusing my mind. I’d done this before. Quickstep to close the distance, Switch to remove its head. Simple, practiced, lethal.
"Quickstep." I whispered.
The world blurred. One mont I stood before my friends, the next I was directly beneath the creature’s raised body. It reacted instantly, far faster than any Corruptor I’d encountered, its body twisting to track my movent. But I was already focusing on my next move.
The yo-yo felt warm in my palm as I established the connection between it and the creature’s head. The ntal thread ford, linking the two points in space.
Switch.
The transition occurred exactly as it had countless tis before. One mont, the silver creature’s head lood above , the next, my yo-yo tumbled through the air where it had been, and in my hand rested the heavy, tallic head of the monster.
But sothing was wrong. No system notification appeared to announce my kill. And the creature’s body didn’t collapse.
Instead, the front segnt where the head had been contracted, started shrinking slightly. Then, impossibly, it began to reform. Silver material flowed like liquid, reshaping itself into a new head. The mandibles clicked together as if testing their movent, and those segnted eyes fixed on with what I could only interpret as fury.
"Allaran!" Kira shouted. "It’s regenerating!"
I stumbled backward, still clutching the severed head. This wasn’t right. Nothing had survived having its head switched. Nothing.
"Run!" I yelled, running toward my friends. "This isn’t working!"
The silver creature lunged forward with terrifying speed, its new head leading the charge. I barely had ti to dodge, rolling to the side as its body slamd into the ground where I’d stood monts before. The impact shook the earth, sending vibrations through my body.
"What do we do now?" Finn shouted, his voice cracking with panic. "I’m too handso to die!"
The creature recovered instantly from its missed attack, its body coiling as it prepared to strike again. I frantically tried to think of another approach. If Switch didn’t kill it permanently, what would?
"Spread out!" I commanded. "Don’t bunch up!"
My friends scattered, each taking a different direction. The creature hesitated, its eyes started tracking multiple targets at once, apparently unsure which to pursue.
I used that mont to start planning. This wasn’t a Corruptor, it wouldn’t die by removing its head. This was sothing else entirely, sothing made of silver.
Silver, like the material Finn manipulated. Silver, like the Citadel itself.
"Finn!" I called. "Would you be able to control its silver?"
Finn, who had retreated toward a cluster of rocks, closed his eyes briefly in concentration. "I might be able..." he shouted back. "But I haven’t tried to manipulate silver that fights back!"
The creature decided I was the primary threat, probably because his old head was in my hands. It lunged again, but this ti I was ready.
"Quickstep!"
I blurred to the side, reappearing several ters away. The creature’s montum carried it past my original position, its nurous legs scrabbling as it tried to change direction.
"Finn, try controlling it!" I yelled. "Distract it! I need a mont to think!"
Finn’s face filled with concentration, his hands extending toward the creature. For a mont, nothing happened. Then, incredibly, the silver serpent’s movent stuttered. Its front segnt froze mid lunge, the multiple legs locked in place as if paralyzed.
"I can’t control it!" Finn shouted, but his voice was strained. "I can barely hold, it keeps... resisting..."
The creature thrashed, clearly fighting his control. Finn stumbled backward, sweat beading on his forehead. "It’s definitely not like controlling normal silver!"
"Just hold it!" I yelled, my mind racing. There had to be sothing. So weaknesses.
Finn’s eyes widened suddenly, a new understanding flashing across his features. "Wait! I sense sothing! In the middle of its body, there’s sothing that isn’t silver!"
My heart leaped. "Where? Exactly where?"
"About halfway down! Where a normal snake’s heart would be!" Finn’s concentration wavered, and the creature lurched forward a step. "I can’t hold it much longer, Allaran!"
The severed head was still heavy in my left hand. I looked at it, then at the creature, then at the position Finn had indicated. A desperate plan ford.
"Keep holding!" I shouted. "Make it keep still a mont longer!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)