Chapter 158: 158: The Intrepid Heroine

The spaded snake never thought she would be fighting for her life.

This was supposed to be a routine hunt no different from the others she had done before. But she had made the choice to hold the creature back so that her team could escape.

And now, she choked as she was dragged further under into the murky water, together with the creature that repulsed her.

In the water, the creature fought against her hold, aided by vines that burst out from its mouth to spread across the murky water like grasping threads.

Everything was slippery, and she was forced back against the torrent, in competition against the wiry vines that were determined to keep them separated.

Tendrils spread across from its body, blocking her path to the creature, and she saw its murky dead eyes twist in grotesque cheer as it watched her struggling, all the while waiting for her to drown.

Restrained away from her target, the sense of being unable to leave the water was an oppressive motivator that pushed her forward.

There was no other choice. It was either she figured out how to kill it quickly or risk the slow, painful death as she lost consciousness and drowned.

Its vines were entwined around her as much as she was around them. But  only one of them needed air.

Amongst the cold scattering of vines, she remembered the gruelling training that had been ingrained into her muscles until they were sore. The thought gave her a much needed hope and she undulated swiftly through the soupy water, ignoring the resistance of the waves she created like they were air, determined to push through to the creature.

Its tendrils continued to obstruct her, but she pushed her sore muscles to move even faster, evading before it could catch her again.

Suddenly the resistance disappeared and freed from its slimy embrace, she sped towards the creature with renewed vengeance to get within striking range.

The creature's eyes widened in fear, shielding its neck, and there was a sickening crunch as another of its limbs was crushed under the strength of her coils. To maintain her advantage, she continued moving, attacking its midsection to dislocate its spine, before turning on to the rest of its limbs.

The creature contorted with each attack, its flesh torn and its bones splintering. Unable to fight her off and its vines no longer able to keep up with her speed, it could only scream underwater where its sound was completely devoured.

But why wasn't it dying?

The spaded snake was convinced she had broken nearly every important bone. But It did not bleed either.

She swam away from the persistent vines to circle around the creature's back, determined to finally break its neck, the one spot it had been protecting compared to the rest of its broken body. She was convinced that was its weakness.

However, the vines spilling out from its mouth were there, just waiting for her to get close to ensnare her again. Was it worth attacking it when this was clearly a trap?

Keeping its back to her, she swam around the creature, watching its black hair spread around the back of its head like a dirty cloud. She came close to peer through the gaps in its bloodless flesh, close enough to see the vines wriggling through the framework of its bones, before climbing out of its mouth. It thoroughly repulsed her, because she almost shared the same heinous fate.

Out of options since everything else she tried had failed, she swam towards its neck, determined to crush it and destroy the creature at last. But before she could reach it, the creature spun around, and multiple tendrils spread in her direction with immense speed. It took her by surprise and because she was so close, she was wrapped up immediately.

She wrestled to free herself from the vines. The idea of being trapped under the water, now cemented amongst her fears. Why hadn't she fled to the surface to take a breath first?

The creature had a satisfied look, its hollow eyes crinkling in amusement as it allowed her to stick her head above the water to gasp for air, but before she could breathe she was viciously pulled down by multiple vines. Her attempts unsuccessful, and  forced under the water again, she was made to witness an eerie scene.

There was a crackling noise as the creature's body straightened, its broken bones setting themselves to their former state with the aid of the veins flowing through its limbs. They wrapped around the broken parts, sealing them until the damage she had inflicted was all but gone, and soon its limbs became fully functional again.

Witnessing such a thing was enough to make the spaded snake give up. She thought breaking its bones was enough to kill it, the same had worked on the other creatures before, so why not now?

But then she realised she had never stayed long enough to watch the corpses, as she fled as soon as they went down.

Did that mean they didn't truly die, but only repaired themselves as soon as she was gone?

She had tried her venom, but it also didn't work on the creature, its skin was too clammy and cold like the dead, yet it moved and screamed like the living. The only thing that looked alive were the green vines that filled its body. 

But wait.

She sank her fangs into the thick vine restraining her and to her surprise, the creature's face contorted with pain. The inflicted vine recoiling from her like she'd burnt it with fire. Soon the other vines loosened from her body and the creature moved away.

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Had she been attacking the wrong thing all this time?

Refusing to let it get away, she took a quick breath, before continuing the pursuit underwater.

The vines propelled the creature forward, but now its movements seemed rigid and slow. She swam after its figure, avoiding the attacking tendrils wherever they appeared before inflicting it with her venom.

The vines were thick and strong, and her fangs soon grew numb from the pain of biting them over and over. However, the more she did, the weaker they became and soon the vines could no longer support its body. As it retreated, its shell of a body was seemingly dragged along, broken limbs flailing about underwater.

Seeing the vines had grown weaker, the spaded snake crushed them with her bites, before tearing the tendrils to shreds. This caused the creature to twist in pain, its vines shrivelling to thin dry stalks.

The creature's body could no longer be held together, and it wasn't long before its flesh started separating in the water. And she watched the creature disintegrate with satisfaction, until it stopped moving entirely. 

With it dead, she attached herself to a branch that was half submerged in the murky water to pull herself out, eager to find her team again. 

But to her astonishment, she saw they hadn't left the forest at all. They were fighting a group of rotting creatures some distance away from where she had left them.

Whether they had been ambushed by the creatures before they could leave, or if they had waited for her, was unknown. 

But she already knew the answer from how battered they looked. They must have tried to rescue her, before they were attacked by the relentless creatures. And since killing them didn't work, they continued fighting in their injured state instead of fleeing.

They seemed to have been trying to sink a branch into the water before they got attacked and this was what she used to pull herself up.

The spaded snake didn't know what to feel, but she was annoyed by the happiness that flickered in her the moment she saw them.

Those fools! Idiots all of them!

She told them to run, not wait for her.

Still, she rushed out to where they were fighting, eager to assist them. 

[Don't attack their bodies! It won't kill them. Attack the vines instead!]

She tackled the nearest creature and began to destroy the vines spreading out from its body. The creature soon crumbled weakly on the ground, sinking into the murky ground to never rise again.

Her team members seeing this, all followed her example and began to attack the vines instead of the creatures themselves. 

Soon, all but one was defeated, and it was about to take off into the air, when the spaded snake leapt on it, attacking the creature and its vines with rage. 

She was upset and so she took her vengeance out on the creature, tearing out its vines in large quantities as it screeched, until it too was dead. And soon after she turned to face her team.

[I told you all to run away. Why are you still here?]

Artemis looked at her with a sneer. [Don't flatter yourself. I thought about it, but then I realised you don't know the way. If we left you behind, you'd probably spend the rest of your life wandering around to find the way out.]

The happiness she felt immediately withered to nothing and she screamed at him, her anger unable to be contained. [You! How can you say that to me after everything-] 

It was then that she heard Europa and the other snakes laughing at Artemis.

[You're the one who didn't want to leave, Artemis.] Europa said. [Ignore him. He made us search for anything that could help us rescue you.]

[Yeah, he didn't want to go anywhere.] Another snake added.

Artemis glared at three giggling snakes and they quickly stopped. [As your Captain, laughter is forbidden. Don't forget we're still in danger.]

The spaded snake was speechless, but the moment soon passed as Europa began to heal them all.

Afterwards, Artemis didn't spare her a single glance and they began to move slowly through the forest in complete silence, until eventually they found the way out.

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