Chapter 137: 137: Bloodthirst

After the rain stopped, everything changed for the better. The air was denser and with every breath he took, Typhon could feel something powerful welling up inside of him.

Once the initial shock had worn off, he'd suddenly felt calm and intensely focused, his thoughts filling with a singular purpose, which was to hunt as far away from the cave as possible. And so, he had taken his team and split up from the other captains.

The creatures they met on the way had been surprisingly few. Most were solitary as they searched for wounded prey to kill, while others were injured and hiding away from sight after their numbers had been severely reduced. Typhon and his team used this opportunity to their advantage, by preying on the would be predators.

They would follow the large monsters they found at a safe distance, waiting for the exact moment they came upon another wounded creature to strike. Once bitten, they would wait for their venom to work, following until the creature was too weak to resist them, before attacking and finishing it off altogether.

They had defeated a tough skinned, one horned creature in a similar way, and after making a meal of its corpse, they began to search for another. To Typhon's relief, they did not meet any  stinger beasts among the creatures they encountered, and their journey was fairly safe and largely uneventful.

One of his team members soon discovered another creature. This one was alive but weakened after being trapped in sand for so long. Normally he would have let it go unless it attacked them first, but the bloodthirst he was experiencing made him more cautious and wary of his surroundings. If they let it go and it turned back to attack them, it would be his fault.

Typhon knew he was accountable for the lives of his teammates and so, every single weakened creature they discovered from then on was swiftly slain with no mercy.

He consoled himself that he was helping them in this way. To die by poison was rather cruel but it was much faster and less painful than being eaten alive by the bottom feeders that would eventually find them. He had to applaud their leader's foresight in the matter though – it seemed she had sent them out at this time solely to get easy prey.

Since then, they had come across only a few beasts and his team had taken to exploring their surroundings while they lay in wait. Typhon knew their leader wanted his group to get stronger, she had said so right after feeding them the unknown potion. But he was still furious.

She could communicate with him and Ophelia, yet she had chosen not to - treating them just like any other snake. Why did she feel the need to explain only after she had already done the deed, giving them no choice in the matter?

The bloodthirst activated right after he drank her potion, and for a split second he thought she had poisoned them all. It was a good thing she had explained right after or he would have attacked her right there and then. 

It wasn't so much for himself, but the thought of Ophelia dying because of his negligence was something he could never forgive himself for.

Had she explained what she required of them before feeding them the potion, he would have gone ahead with it regardless. Training others or exploring their surroundings weren't anything troublesome for him. It was the lack of trust she obviously had in them that was especially hurtful.

However, not everyone thought the same way he did. Most of his team did not see anything wrong with what she had done. At this moment, the four members of his team were hidden under the brush, waiting for something to pass by. The two mischievous snakes he had the misfortune to be paired with, had not stopped singing her praises. 

The hunting environment she had sent them out to was indeed ideal. But with all the easy kills they have had so far, perhaps they had started to think there wasn't much to fear.

They were surrounded by wild grasslands with plenty of hedges to conceal themselves in. But directly ahead of them was a monster herd. 

They easily stood out because of how tall their bodies were, each creature looked like a curved boulder, with their rough grey hides that looked like stone. Their bodies were segmented, each section topped with a spike and many more along the creatures back. 

Their movements sluggish as they moved from place to place and they all had a very distinctive crystal tusk growing from their nostrils. 

The herd had appeared rather suddenly and Typhon had found their paths blocked, so he had instructed them all to hide in the nearest shrub until the herd passed. However, the boulder creatures didn't go away and started to graze and they had no choice but to wait it out. So far, the creatures hadn't noticed they were being watched from the bushes. 

His team members kept saying they were bored with simply watching and wanted to go after them but Typhon firmly refused in order to prevent a stampede. If a single snake was spotted, the heavy monsters would surely go wild and stomp them dead.

More than anything, Typhon was in a bad mood because he felt he had been used by their leader. This bad mood was so palpable among his team that most of them refused to speak in fear of angering him more. One of the mischievous snakes had expressed their discontent earlier, but neither of them was stupid enough to leave on their own.

[Captain, can we explore a little over there?]

[No.]

The two snakes urged him. [Are you still angry with us?]

[We said sorry.]

Typhon sighed. [We are surrounded by enemies. This isn't the best time. We can discuss this later.]

[We just wanted to let you know we didn't mean anything by it.]

[Yeah, we like the leader.]

[If you like her so much, why were you two having that discussion?] Typhon asked.

[No reason.]

[It was just a bit of fun.]

Typhon frowned. Was it that the two were just teasing the spaded snake or did they have some ulterior motive? But their next words made him stop.

[We want her to stay forever and not go anywhere.] One said.

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[Yeah, she brings us a lot of fun things. And she's fun.]

The other snakes on his team nodded enthusiastically, and Typhon didn't know what to think. Although the two nestlings acted suspiciously sometimes, when it came down to it, they were all basically children who didn't know any better. He sighed and continued to watch the herd, noticing the mood of his team had gotten a bit light.

One of the snakes nudged him with a grin. [But there is something we want to know.]

[What's that?] he asked as he kept a lookout on the herd.

[What's our leader's name?]

[She's much bigger than us, she has to have one right?] the two snakes chimed in one after the other.

[Her name is…] Typhon stopped cold. It was such a simple question, and yet he did not know it.

How could he have missed out on such an important detail? 

His teammates all stared at him for answers. But what was he supposed to say? Somehow he felt telling them he didn't know would make him look bad.

She always called to give them instructions, but he couldn't remember ever waiting around afterwards to talk to her. It didn't help that she didn't understand him when he talked normally. But perhaps he didn't know because he never gave her the chance to tell him.

[Don't tell me... you don't know…?] One of the snakes said.

Another sighed pitifully. [Of course he knows, he just doesn't want to tell us because we don't have names.]

Typhon felt his heart thudding fiercely, but he could only stay silent in the face of such a misunderstanding. But the nestlings had already moved on to discuss other things. To confess to them now would be like him admitting he wasn't the Captain they all believed him to be.

Typhon made a decision right then, to learn her name by every means necessary. He may not know, but perhaps Ophelia who spent far more time with her than anyone did. As soon as he got back he would ask her.

He huddled under the shrubs and continued to watch the herd. The stone creatures seemed to be moving on. Once the majority was gone, they could finally sneak away to hunt again.

[Ooh what's that?]

The cry brought his attention back to his team. One of the nestlings seemed to have discovered something within their shrub. They had burrowed into the sands, uncovering a bright green stem with a red flower attached to it.

[Don't eat that!] Typhon called out immediately when one of the snakes tried to bite it.

[Why not? It's not on the list of what not to eat.]

Typhon sighed. [It could still be poison.] 

He observed the plant carefully. The buried stem seemed to go on for much longer underground and after they dug more, the nestlings couldn't seem to find the end of it. Neither did it have any roots. 

Typhon decided to leave it alone, ultimately it was just a plant. However, as soon as he turned his back, one of the mischievous snakes decided to eat the red flowerbud.

[It's sweet.] the snake mused as she swallowed it with satisfaction.

Typhon wanted to smack the silly snake over the head! But the snake reported she didn't feel strange at all. And after checking her eyes and tongue, there was no sign of poison.

[I feel fine.] The mischievous snake said, as she twisted around to take a look.

[I should have tried it too.] The second snake grumbled.

[Don't eat everything you see!] Typhon scolded them both.

Was it simply him overreacting to a false alarm?

However, it was not the case. 

The red flowerbud that was previously limp suddenly stood upright and more appeared from under the sand. Soon the ground around their hiding place began to rumble as the mound of soil. And what they thought was a small hill, stood upright on long legs.

The bushes they were hiding in, was actually a creature's camouflage. Its leaves were fake, and the flower that was eaten, was also a part of the ruse. The tall lumbering monster stood up with a roar, its long neck stretching up from below to peer over its back at the snakes that suddenly had nowhere to hide. 

The stone creature herd that had been grazing, all broke out into a stampede as they saw it. No longer did they seem big, because the new monster now towered above them. 

And as the creature's face came into view. Typhon just hoped the rest of the teams were having a much better day than he was.

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