As the sun rose Silva looked at the area surrounding him. The light from the day star illuminated everything that had happened last night. The land was littered with signs of battle, the trees from the surrounding forest had fallen, some were uprooted, some were cut or smashed to pieces.
The Razorfinned Snake lay dead near the lake. It was a sight to behold, a 4000-pound snake lay dead in front of him. Its head is just barely attached to its body. Littering its body were numerous slash and bite marks, no doubt caused by the prior battle. It was a miracle that no one had died in the skirmish, after all, they had not planned to fight the monster head-on.
"At least the Snake's been dealt with." he sighed at the destruction they had just caused in their new home.
"I wonder how they're going to deal with the bears." Silva thought out loud.
~~~
8 Hours Ago.
"Everyone has their assignment right?" Curtis asked the group gathered in front of him, they would split up to do their tasks, and the only one fast enough to relay any sort of information between them would be Silva, but if they did that, he wouldn't be at his peak when and if a fight with the snake arose.
"Right."
"Yes."
"Sure."
Answers of affirmation echoed out as the group responded.
With a plan in mind, the group started to scale the mountain. They would split up near the halfway mark and then proceed to do their mission. And then at the designated time, initiate the plan.
"How'd it go with Dean?" Silva popped up out of nowhere while they were moving towards their goal. Curtis had been moving at the rear of the group. He didn't mind not socializing with his teammates, he could do that after their mission was over.
"Should have given me a heads-up Silva, I had flashbacks of the time I was in a medical bed." Curtis sighed. It wasn't that he didn't understand the situation, it was that he could have avoided it if he had explained it earlier.
"I knew I should have warned you about him being a hugger." he laughed cheekily.
"Then why didn't you?" Curtis shot back.
"And why aren't you worried about Clara?" Curtis turned the question to the lanky man. Dean had been worried, and it was understandable because she was his wife.
But Silva should also be worrying about her, he was secretly in love with her and would even go far as to kill another person for her.
"...I am. But it's not my place." The lightning powered man answered. "Besides, she's just sleeping, haven't you heard of the story, [The Sleeping Princess]? It's this old tale of a princess that had slept for a millennia, but when the kingdom was beset with ruin, she woke up and solved the problem."
"The Sleeping Princess, huh." Curtis mused as he thought it would be similar to one of the fairy tale stories he had heard before, but he was mistaken.
"Never heard of it." he continued.
"Where were you the past hundred years? That was a famous tale to tell children to lull them to sleep." Silva asked.
"Might have never needed it," Curtis replied, he was never a problem child, he slept when needed, and never complained about petty stuff.
"Why are you so chatty anyway? I thought you were the least talkative of you three. But the bear there hasn't spoken a word in this whole trip." he pointed out.
"I decided it was time for some change, I might never have the first woman I loved, but I won't get hung up over that, I think it's time I moved on." Silva smiled.
"I didn't expect those kinds of words from you." Curtis laughed, but then again, it was better this way. The man's ability was focused on speed. Once he gets over his past regrets, he might have a chance to improve them.
"Ha. Laugh it up. Once you're older, you'll get it." Silva called out.
~~~
Curtis sneaked through the forest, he was heading towards the snake's burrow. He had to be quick on his feet, and make as little noise as possible. He even swapped out his metal armor for normal leather. Although it felt weird as he was used to the metal suit, it gave him a refreshed feeling, the leather armor protected the vital points on his body and it was light. Letting him move around quicker than he was used to.
As they reached the place where the burrow was located, Curtis did a quick scan of the area. He checked the space in front of the hole. The earth was still warm, it shouldn't have been long since the snake may have just passed by. The path leading to the entrance of the cave was smoothened out, this must have been its most used burrow.
"This is it, Silva, I'll start cooling the cave, go find a good vantage point and aim an attack at the entrance," Curtis called out as he positioned himself. He called out to Brendan to run to the other group and notify them that they were starting.
If they wanted to finish this as clean as possible, they would have to be precise in following the plan. Curtis gathered his focus and started to draw the cold to his hands. And with a grunt, the cold dispersed from his hands and flowed into the cave.
It didn't take long until the snake had woken up. A sharp hiss was heard as the ground shook, at that moment Curtis knew it was time to leave, and so he hid himself on the far side of the clearing.
The ground rumbled as the hissing got louder.
"Get Ready!" he warned.
Silva was going to play a key factor in this mission, he had to distract it the moment it showed itself, once he did, its ire would have a target, and it would be easier to draw it away.
And just as the phrase says.
The calm before the storm.
It got quiet all of sudden, but it only lasted for a moment before the Razorfinned Snake burst out of the ground. It didn't come through the entrance of the burrow, but out from under the ground where Curtis had positioned himself before.
It was a good thing that he left the spot beforehand. If he had stayed, he would have been flipped over by an angry 4000-pound snake. Its mouth was open and was displaying its fangs at surveyed its surroundings, the snake might have been 30-40 meters long, he couldn't tell yet as part of its body was still underneath the earth.
Its Razor fins were in full display as it tried to find its mark. The silver fins were located on the opposite sides of its head. Starting from the side of its eyes, it extended for about two to three meters until it joined its skin, creating a silver pattern. The length that protruded out usually stated its age. And with its 80-centimeter fins, it should be an adult at its peak age.
The snake's slit eyes were still looking for a target when a lightning bolt flashed in the distance, followed by an arrow that had hit it square in the eye. A man wearing a tailcoat had arrived atop a tree opposite the snake's burrow. He held the bow as had just let loose an arrow aimed at the snake's eye.
"Goodjob Silva." Curtis cheered in his mind as the man had successfully got the snake's attention.
Even with the iron tip of the arrow, it had failed to pierce through the snake's eye, but, it had done its goal, it had made the shooter, it's target.
The snake hissed as it found something to kill, to ease its irritation. It slithered out the rest of its body, laying out all 42 meters of its scaled body in full glory.
It sped up as it reached Silva's location in a single breath. Silva used his ability and bolted to another tree, shooting arrows once he had some leeway, and led the snake onto the bear's territory.
Curtis followed suit, as the Razorfinned Snake chased after Silva, even though he wasn't fast enough to keep up, he could still try to intervene if things went south. The snake left destruction in its wake. Trees fell as it tried to catch the fleeing archer.
The game of cat and mouse was just getting started, they would need to tire it out for a bit, before they led it to the group of Thornback bears. It was going to be a long night for the group.