Chapter 307: Serpent Of Thorns

The crash from her fall was loud. 

Perched on a ridge above, Morgana watched the falling debris with interest. It worked better than she expected, taking out quite a few scorpions in its wake, with several boulders burying Arsinoe at the same time.

The dust wouldn't settle for a long time, providing the cover she needed to move around and Morgana couldn't have hoped for a better outcome - letting Arsinoe follow was worth it for this moment alone. 

In truth, she would have done this earlier and saved herself time spent on pointless chatter, but the right moment never revealed itself. 

Morgana sighed.

Arsinoe wouldn't die, of course, she was far too resilient to break from such a fall, her love filled, mushy head on the other hand...might become even more deranged.

Still, it was surprising how close Arsinoe was to the right answer. The scorpion Queen was indeed laying eggs, but she didn't care what happened to them. She was hidden together with her strongest soldiers for protection - If anything she was producing them at a faster rate to serve as buffers between her and the enemy.

If Arsinoe knew, she would loathe her so much more.

Morgana giggled, surprising herself momentarily, before returning to her senses - this was no time to be amused. She leapt off the ridge, circling high above the dust storm to make out how many scorpions were still alive and moving. 

She had a limited window to kill the Queen and return to unearth the unconscious Arsinoe, before the scorpions started nibbling on her.

However, she didn't fly far when she heard a terrible rumble and a pillar of stone shot up high into the air as something burst out from beneath. It was dark, fast and vaguely stocky.

Was there another grotesque scorpion that she missed?

Morgana plunged lower to get a better view, only to have something swift lash out at her. She instantly pulled up to evade it but the creature switched paths to chase her midway, forcing her to fly up and nearly collide with a pillar of stone.

But then, just as she thought it was going to catch her, the creature stopped short with her body just out of its reach.

Morgana's eyes widened. This was not a scorpion, it was more similar to the vines those pesky Valadrys created, only these were thicker, faster and covered in thorns.

In addition, she had a vague sense that this thing was trailing her, since it didn't do much to the scorpions within its reach. 

Once it was clear she was out of its reach, more tendrils spread out, cutting through their surroundings with unsettling speed. Soon, there were several vines running up the walls, some reaching out for leaning rocks to leverage themselves to climb even higher. 

As if to catch her.

Morgana shivered uneasily, leaving her place to land somewhere higher.

[What...is that?] She exclaimed. The vines increased in width as they spread, becoming darker and stronger as more thorns covered them. 

Morgana immediately scanned the rubble for their source and was startled when she realised all the vines had the same origin - the rocks where Arsinoe was buried.

No way.

Now it was her turn to be impressed.

When did she gain the ability to manipulate plants? 

And why didn't she rush to tell Typhon about it?

Morgana grinned savagely at the unexpected discovery. What a dishonest snake!

It seemed she wasn't the only one keeping secrets. 

[YOU'RE DEAD!]

Morgana heard an angry shout as more vines forced their way towards her. 

Since they couldn't reach, they broke up everything in their path to tunnel under the ground. The scorpions that tried to intercept, all blasted through. Soon, the surrounding obstructions were clear, giving way to reveal Arsinoe's serpentine form.

[YOU'RE SO DEAD!] She hissed, fangs bared as she searched for Morgana above.

She was unrecognisable after getting buried under all the dust, but her ferocity remained, her battered figure trembling with anger. 

[How frightening.] Morgana cooed in delight, confident Arsinoe hadn't found her yet, until she glimpsed a thorny tendril making its way towards her in the periphery. 

She leapt off just in time just as the column she perched on crumbled to dust. 

Looking around there was nothing else high enough to land on - Arsinoe had made sure to do away with all of them. Anything lower and she would be caught immediately.

Now cornered, Morgana glanced at Arsinoe's angry face with a grin, headed straight for the nearest tunnel with a sinister cackle, before the thorns could grab her.

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Inside, she briefly came across a scorpion before slicing through it like butter. Darkness and acid flooded her vision, but at the speed she was going, she could not afford to stop.

Yet, this did not stop Arsinoe from giving chase. Several angry vines flooded the tunnel, ripping their way through the scorpion's corpse right after she did, the sounds of them smashing through walls, hot on her tail, all the more intense.

It seemed Arsinoe was hellbent on exacting her revenge. Fortunately, Morgana knew the fortress better than she did, immediately heading down past a series of sweltering rooms to create more distance. 

But these were immediately torn down as the vines reached them, not leaving her much choice except to continue.

Nevertheless, Morgana made sure this wanton destruction served her, targeting the tunnel's structure where it was at its weakest. She effortlessly weaved a complicated web through the passages, making sure all the weak areas were hit before forging her way through to the other side. 

It didn't take long for the entire section to collapse under the strain, and like an uneven pile of bricks all the vines that followed through were trapped underneath and Morgana emerged on the opposite end of the massive central chamber, safely out of reach. 

They were separated by distance and quite a few tunnels in between, but she could still make out Arsinoe's figure frantically searching for her. 

That rage. Morgana tutted disapprovingly. 

It had always been her finest quality and her biggest downfall. 

With some training, it could be honed to her benefit. But Morgana was glad today was not that moment.

[How foolish.] She muttered.

Using so much of her magic to chase her was wasteful and she was going to run out soon. 

Morgana could already see her gasping for breath, and behind her, a scorpion was patiently biding its time, creeping forward now that she was exhausted and her vines were gone. Another was hidden behind a large rock.

Arsinoe was completely unprepared on both sides and Morgana's eyes lit up in excitement.

Would she live or die?

Morgana was waiting to see things unfold when something unexpected happened. A tendril of  hardened vine shot out from the ground, stabbing through the rock to gorge itself deep into the scorpion's head, the creature twitching before falling instantly. 

The second scorpion was quick to run, but it was set upon by a series of vines that didn't melt even when showered in acid. Eventually, the scorpion was pulled into the ground, never to be seen again.

The others did not carelessly risk coming closer after this.

[I KNOW YOU'RE STILL HERE.] Arsinoe yelled hoarsely, her breaths coming fast. [STOP HIDING LIKE A COWARD!] 

Morgana felt herself twitch, immediately dispelling the wind blade she had been preparing to throw. 

How distasteful. And rude! 

She really had no shame. 

Morgana turned away, determined not to get distracted again.

On this side of the fortress she could feel the faint breeze from the forest, and smell the wet leaves. She could even make out the glowing lichen in the trees, and it was all because this side of the fortress was completely open to the outside, having mostly been destroyed.

There was a gaping hole in the walls where something exploded inwards, and from then on a blaze of destruction could be seen where something crashed in through the central chamber, culminating in a massive hole in the ground. 

She could only think of one creature other than their leader who had that type of strength - the colossal ape. 

From the looks of it, he had already been here once, and if he fought with the scorpion Queen, one or both of them may already be injured.

Morgana gave a chilling smile. 

Unbeknownst to Arsinoe, after this brief reprieve there would be another round of fighting and she was keen to find out who would win.

Going forward her plan remained the same - wait until the colossal ape attacked again, then take the head of whomever was defeated first. If both were fatally wounded, she might even get both of their heads in one sweeping victory.

Either way, these scorpions were small fry's in the broader spectrum and Arsinoe was wasting her time. 

And yet, when she looked over, Arsinoe was still fighting, every new victory bringing her closer to claiming the prize. The apes were yet to show up and if she succeeded in reaching the scorpion Queen before they did, she would ruin everything. 

Morgana felt her cool demeanour slipping - it was becoming harder to wait. 

Like a thorn in a line of perfectly manicured scales, Arsinoe was determined to get under her skin. 

She finally made her decision, flying down into the dark hole on the bottom to enter the fortress's lower tunnels.

There was far too much competition for this 'scorpion Queen's' head already and she wasn't about to let Arsinoe become another obstacle.

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