As Ashwin was panicking in the top of the baobab tree, he remembered the series of deafening whip cracks he made.
His Anxiety increased as the corners of the picture started coming together in his mind, real or imagined.
He started reasoning out possible scenarios.
Could what he have heard been some kind of insectoid beast mating call?
“Like certain cicada bugs?”
He barked an amused laugh before mocking his own idea.
“Get real Ashwin!
Think!
What could be making those noises like that?”
His mind spat out another theory, all of it in the effort to maximize his survival odds.
If the noises are indeed manmade and from a person, could they be a scout who just happen to hear Ashwin’s deafening whip cracks and raised an alarm for back up.
“Did I just announce my existence to the whole valley?
But I mean I haven’t even done anything wrong.
Why would anyone be after me?”
Besides, even though the whip cracks were deafening he doubted they would carry that far, but it was a quite night in Death Valley, or at least it was.
A sensation washed over him, almost like…feeling lightning before you see it.
”KA-BOOM!”
Ashwins eye’s shot open.
“That was an Animus powered attack…”
Whatever happening was getting more serious.
And that’s when Ashwin started to understand what he might be looking at.
Could it be a hunting party?
Ashwin started to relax now that he understood that he was not the one being hunted, and his anxiety lifted completely.
They probably weren’t after him.
Coupling this with the fact that they were using some kind of improvised noise makers to communicate over distance suggested this was possibly a hunting party.
And clearly, they too only operated at night.
Ashwin wanted to know more but didn’t know if he could risk it.
What if they were hostile? Get faster updates on g.com.
or from a rival clan?
A new thought formed.
What if his clan handed him a mission to spy out an enemy?
What experience would he have if he didn’t do this?
That gave him pause.
“This is what the rite of passing is all about.”
He now knew that he had to do this.
“Consider it cultivating your reconnaissance skills”
And he would do it unarmed.
This was not about engaging an enemy force.
This was about cultivating pure stealth.
Besides if he was captured, he didn’t want to risk the ghost mantis whip and curved obsidian clever being taken.
Also, being unarmed would actually make him less threatening should he fail and be found out.
Where upon he could use his words over force to massage the situation.
They were eight hills over, he really, really hoped that the one that was nearest his location didn’t detect him using his Animus earlier.
He had touched only the thinnest wisp of his Animus for a tiny little hop.
His mind was made up.
“C’mon, eight fossilized bone hills away isn’t far, you can hoof it!”
Ashwin descended the baobab tree rapidly, but before he made his way through the night, he looked back at his new campsite.
“Don’t Move”
And then he set off.
Marla yelled as she raised her beast crystal imbued compound bone bow and took aim.
“GET CLEAR”
Boris circulated a breath technique and performed a series of Animus enhanced flips, twirls and dodges as he gained the agro of the floating horror.
A huge black viper hissed and struck at Boris, followed by another and another.
There were hundreds of them. New chapters come out on g.com first.
And that was scary all by itself.
But these were not just regular snakes.
Nor was it their size and amount that made this situation overwhelming for Boris and Marla.
It was the gigantic floating eye that they grew out of.
Its skin was like gravel, but huge chunks of it were blown off and its underlying tissue was exposed, if Marla could land a charged arrow in this fleshy weak area, she was pretty sure she could kill it.
She let her Animus flow into the imbued beast crystal of her bow when all of the vipers atop the huge floating eyeball snapped their heads in her direction.
The Eyeball spun and the fleshy weak spot was covered, the vipers atop the eyeball opened their mouths and a fiery torrent rushed out!
Marla released the charged shot just as Boris leapt into her taking her down and back into a ditch.
The fire from the vipers’ mouths rushed over Boris and Marla.
The searing heat was nearly too much to withstand but a moment later there was another devastating”KA-BOOM!”
Marla’s charged Arrow had hit the nest of vipers.
Boris and Marla both peeked up out of the ditch towards the floating gravel eye, it was closed!
Nonetheless there were large portions of visible bloody flesh, the floating gravel eye had taken damage from the charged shot.
But the viper nest atop had been blown apart and black blood sprayed from the now headless bodies that writhed and twisted.
It was gruesome.
Boris laughed and clapped Marla on the back, who was now sweating, not just from the searing flames of the viper, but from the Animus used in charging the shots.
“SEE!
I told you using that fire drake crystal to enhance your bow was worth it.”
Marla panted, “So it was.”
The giant floating gravel eye that had chunks of its stone hide blown apart snapped violently open and bulged out of its socket!
The veins of the eye were huge and visible, and a hideous voice rang out from it!
”why do you reject our beauty?”
There was a flash in the night!
Boris and Marla covered their eyes!
When they opened them again and looked the floating gravel eye was completely whole again.