Chapter 144: 144: No Man's Land [1]

They had been running for what seemed like forever. All four members of his team had made it to him eventually and they had continued their journey together. From their reports, there was no delay from getting ambushed by creatures, meaning their formation had worked.

Cygnus turned to the snake he 'rescued' beside him and she smiled. Of the four snakes, she was the least out of breath and seemed to almost be keeping pace with him. It looked like she had been following him far more closely than she let on.

Cygnus didn't see much of a problem with it. If she hadn't followed him, her little skill would have remained unknown for a long time. However, even if she wasn't exhausted, he could see the rest of his team was and it didn't seem right to continue without a break. So, Cygnus called for the group to stop.

The exhausted snakes were all relieved to catch their breaths and Cygnus looked out of the undergrowth to see where they were. He had no particular destination, only the desire to see the end of the forest, and he had been following the markings left by the monsters in the area to find his way out of their territories. But what he could see around him made little sense.

They were in a space so vast that dwarfed everything he had ever seen. Each tree was incredibly tall and spread wide apart, so much that there was barely any ground vegetation connecting them and the wide path between the trees was also busier than normal. 

Cygnus found various tracks, some were deep and left by heavy creatures while others were light and barely noticeable. The trees were also very busy with the scratch marks of various monsters.

The place they had stopped was interesting indeed.

Normally, an area would only have a few marks for the specific monster that frequented it, but this place seemed to follow no such rules. It was obviously visited a lot, yet he didn't see any of the creatures he expected.

[What are you looking at?] The snake came up to him to ask.

[Marks.] Cygnus replied.

The imprints all seemed to be coming from everywhere before converging in one direction. For so many creatures to head here, there had to be something attracting them. However, there weren't many imprints showing the reverse. It seemed only those of the heavier creatures made it back.

The snake's eyes were bright and filled with curiosity as she stared at the marks. [Should we follow them to see where they lead?]

Even without her asking, he was already curious. The temptation to unravel the mystery was great, and if there was something interesting at the end of the tracks, it would be fun to see the reactions of the rest of the nestlings when they returned. His team was also in agreement that they should follow it. And so, they did.

The further they followed, the more spaced out the vegetation became. The ground soon became dry and coarse like rock, with hardly anything growing. The trees scattered in between were tall with their tall canopies concealed by mist. 

He couldn't see anything that far up, but he could hear large monsters moving above them. They called to each other with strange cries and he could make out what looked like a series of overhead nests.

He was immediately on edge. It was getting harder to conceal themselves with the ever shrinking vegetation, and they stopped at the last line of shrubs overlooking the vast space.

There, Cygnus saw a rather bizarre gathering.

There were a few creatures that had arrived before them, a large feline monster, a small tawny canine with a rather bushy tail, an armoured creature that could roll into a ball, four hairy spiders and a group of slender four legged creatures with feathered tails. They were creatures both large and small, yet none seemed to be attacking anyone. 

They all growled and hissed at each other with wary looks, each one making sure not to stand too close to the other. Some newly arrived creatures saw the gathered group, and quickly returned to the forest, seemingly giving up.

Cygnus eyes sparkled at the strange sight. Between those that were gathered, some were on the smaller side. He had to make sure they wouldn't get attacked if they chose to come closer, but there was no way to tell.

However, he soon heard the sound of beating wings and the creatures all stopped glaring at each other, to stare up at the trees. Cygnus could make out shadows moving within the mist, but nothing came down – it seemed the creatures in the trees were the groups biggest concern.

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Beyond the trees was a stretch of emptiness. A wide canyon with many rocks jutting up from the dry ground with more rocks on either side, and nothing in between to conceal themselves with. 

Some of the creatures decided to try their luck. Cygnus saw a pair of tall four legged creatures' stride onto the rocky ground. And at once, a burst of sound erupted from the trees as massive, birds shot down after it. The pair was quickly snatched up by sharp talons and taken up into the mist before they even made it a few steps.

Cygnus wanted to continue exploring further but he could see why the creatures were all in a standstill. If any strayed past the cover of trees to barren ground, what awaited them was death after being picked off by the creatures in the trees.

The creatures that were taken were very tall, and normally this would make them difficult to hunt, but the birds were large, and they worked in pairs. But most of all, they had been slow.

As the group watched this happen, some of the waiting creatures retreated back into the forest, but Cygnus grinned. It seemed only those that were fast could make it across safely. 

It was the feline's turn next and Cygnus saw the creature sprint across the dry ground, swerving to avoid the birds that made a pass at it, until it entered the canyon beyond, to safety. Cygnus thought it curious that the birds did not chase it further, but he didn't pursue the thought further. 

The group had seen it pass successfully and more prepared to cross, each gearing up to run as fast as they could. Cygnus and his team came out from hiding to join them. The armoured creature rolled into a ball to cross next, and in its rush it didn't see one of his team members approaching and nearly flattened the snake. Fortunately, Cygnus was paying attention and moved quickly to push it to safety.

The armoured creature moved on without stopping and it soon forged across the sparse ground, moving too fast to get caught. The angry birds lingered in the air, but refused to chase it past a certain point, yet again.

[Let's go! We can make it. We're just as fast!] The female snake called eagerly from his side.

[Not yet.] Cygnus replied as they watched more creatures attempt to cross over.

Soon it was the spider's turn and he watched them make it across without any issues. His group was beginning to get impatient, but Cygnus ordered them to wait.  He retreated from the area, settling down behind one of the large trees to hide. 

At last, it was only the small canine left.

It stared at them curiously, wondering why they had refused to cross.  And after watching them for a while, it too also settled down not far from them to watch the canyon.

Cygnus glared at the creature, but even as they were completely alone, it didn't try to attack them.

Soon other creatures approached the area to cross, each new one more confident to cross than the last, with varying success. Some crossed safely and others were cruelly snatched up before they could make it past. 

And just as Cygnus expected, none of the creatures that crossed made it back. There was nothing beyond the canyon that should have made them stay, and he could only conclude something else had gotten them.

His team members looked at him with worry, but they chose to wait with him all the same. Along with the canine. 

Soon, the creature he was waiting for appeared through the trees. It was a massive four legged creature with powerful jaws and many sharp teeth, it had short legs with clawed toes, thick plated skin with tough armoured spines along its streamlined body. The creature waved its powerful spiked tail and ripped a large gouge out of the tree it struck.

The birds above were in an uproar as the large creature appeared and all seemed to scatter away with loud cries, but it paid them no mind. It was far too large for them to attack and so powerful, their claws couldn't even penetrate its skin.

Compared to it, the birds were like mere bugs.

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