"Hey, that wasn't nice was it!" Curtis shouted at the angry snake, he had just blocked its strike with his ax. If he was any bit slower the snake's fang would have skewered him.
The snake responded by charging right at him, its razor fin poised to cut him in half even if its bite had missed.
The snake had been thoroughly angered by them, it had tried to return to its burrow but had found it closed off, it then circled its territory to its other nests but found it buried under some rubble.
It was tired, it didn't appreciate fighting deep into the night like this. It had already crossed paths with the bears this morning and wanted to recover.
It especially grew angrier as Curtis and Silva didn't allow it to rest. Curtis sent attacks left and right, he had been able to penetrate its tough scales, courtesy of his ax being imbued with his elemental powers. With fire, he would sear its flesh, and with ice, he would make its scale brittle.
As the night grew darker, the cold wind started to intensify and so the snake got more frustrated. Curtis and Silva had pushed it towards the bear's northern territory, it was where they made most of their preparations.
Intending to push the snake to its limits, Curtis had concentrated a portion of his ice ability into his weapon, with quick movements he rushed towards the snake's side, towards one of the wounds he had inflicted with his flame attacks.
Curtis sent his ax imbued with cold into the wound. Causing the beast to hiss loudly.
For the last time, the snake disengaged from their skirmish. It turned it's gaze west. It was looking for a place to rest, a place to recover. A path had laid in front of it. It was a path that directly led to where the bears had inhabited.
The snake wanted to rest. It had fought all day, and now it had been fighting all night. It wanted some peace. The snake moved west, following the earthen path, it searched for a place, away from these pests.
As it reached the entrance to a cave. It hissed, trying to get a read of the area. The air was different, but it was warm here. As it approached an angry roar sounded out
*ROOOOAR*
A giant Thornback bear exited the cave and charged toward the sleep-deprived snake. Curtis and the guys didn't even need to call the bears. They had already detected the blood in the air. Even though it was only a few gashes. The snake was bleeding, and the bears had noticed.
A battle between beasts had erupted. 7 adult Thornback bears with their Alpha Versus the Adult Razorfinned Snake.
It thrashed.
It spun its head, rotating its fins at a breathtaking speed.
It coiled around one of the fallen bears. Using it as a hostage.
The area was being destroyed. The bears put up a good fight. They clawed and bit at the giant snake. The biggest bear had willingly taken most of the snake's aggression. It stood right in front of it as it blocked, clawed, and bit at the snake's head
Some attacks got through though. Both of the beasts were now bleeding. The Snake had more than a few wounds inflicted by the Alpha, not even counting the wounds inflicted by the other bears and the ones done by Curtis and Silva.
The Alpha Thornback bear had suffered fatal wounds. The snake had been able to strike at its torso, almost splitting the bear in half while it was distracted.
A cornered beast is a dangerous animal.
Even as it was almost split in half, the bear had swiped at one of the snake's eyes, it had gotten too close, at the cost of being sliced in half by its fins, it struck back hitting its left eye, rupturing it in the process. It had thrown a good hit before it fell.
With the death of the Alpha Thornback bear, the remaining members of its sloth stepped back. 3 bears had died, including the Alpha. With no one to lead them the bears retreated to their cave, leaving the snake hissing angrily at its enemies.
Murder was written in its remaining eye. It wanted to slaughter the rest of the bears, make them pay for its lost eye.
Curtis didn't like how the fight went. The Thornback bears fought well, but it wasn't enough. Although it was going to deal with the bears, Curtis had other plans.
The Razorfinned snake although it was injured, it was still standing strong. He, Silva, and Dean would have to bring it down themselves.
"Let's go, it's weakened, we should take care of it now." He signaled the group behind him.
"Silva flank it, Dean you're the vanguard. I'll hit and run." He ordered.
As the group heard the orders they scattered, they were fighting for a new home. They wanted to get rid of the danger now. Carter, Royce, Brendan, Brick, and Klaus moved back, they wouldn't be able to be of help, all they would be is live bait. And nobody wanted to be live bait unless they were sure that they could handle it.
The Razorfinned snake was still in its battle mode, it knew that the pests earlier might return, so it had not dared to relax. It's body tensed as it tried to check if its movement had been affected by its prior bout.
With everyone near their designated position. Curtis started the attack. He sent an ice spear towards the snake's head, aiming for its other eye.
The ice spear flew towards its eye, but the snake's quick reflex had allowed it to dodge. It ducked as the spear flew over its head. Dean, who had already been in his position when Curtis launched the spear. As the snake ducked, he raised an earthen wall underneath its head. Even with its quick reflexes, it had not expected to be attacked from right below it.
Its head smashed onto the raising wall, causing it to be disoriented for a second. Silva who was waiting in its flank charged his sword with his element. With his lightning form, he arrived above the snake and performed a diving strike.
"Take this you overgrown ahas (snake)."
It was too bad that there were no cracked scales on its head, if there was, they could have ended this right then and there.
As Silva pierced his sword onto it's back, the Razorfinned snake howled. Silva's attack had been charged with his lightning power. And with how deep it had pierced, the beast had suffered no little amount of painpeko.
The beast quickly shook off the pain, its instincts taking over, it was now fighting for its survival. With a twist of its body, it slammed the earthen wall with its tail smashing it into pieces. With its jaw wide open it attempted to eat the exposed Dean.
Curtis knew that Dean would be fine, he had his trusted shield with him, that block of metal had been able to block most of Chaos' attacks when their town was hit. It would surely be able to block a Snake, even for a little bit.
As expected Dean had been able to block the Snake, he had jammed his shield into its mouth, effectively keeping it from closing its jaws. He condensed a small amount on fire in his hands and threw it towards the snake's open jaw.
"Red, now!" Dean shouted, letting go of his shield.
Like a molotov cocktail, it exploded into a mass of flames slowly devouring the snake from inside its mouth. The snake Roared as it turned tail and headed for the nearby lake. Silva had tried to block it, but he couldn't really position himself between a 4000-pound snake and its goal, without the body strength to physically block it.
The Razorfinned snake dove into the lake causing a small rainfall.
Silva, Dean, and Curtis quickly followed suit. Although Dean didn't know how he would be able to help without his shield, it wasn't like his sword would be a match for either its fins or its fangs.
"What now?" Silva asked. Worried if they were going to be able to take out the beast.
"It's angry, it'll come to shore soon enough. We made sure of that." Curtis replied, and as he finished, the Snake slithered out of the lake's bed and swam to the surface. It observed them for a second before speeding its way onto their group.
Another round of exchanges was bound to happen.
~~~
Silva and Curtis were both tired. They had been battling the Sanke for more than an hour. Dean had been sent flying and was unconscious in the first twenty minutes, he was alive, as Royce had recovered him and gave them an OK signal.
But the two were currently locked in battle with the Razorhead Snake. Fighting with the snake was different from leading it away. It had made them use multiple strategies in breaking through its scales and trying to hit the exposed flesh. There were many spots that had been broken, but the snake was smart enough to protect its vital points. It had even stopped opening its mouth to try and bite the duo, it had definitely learned it's lesson from before.
"I have a crazy Idea Red." Silva muttered, loud enough for Curtis to hear.
"Shoot." Curtis replied, not taking his eyes off of the slithering snake.
"Ever heard of the game chicken?" he asked.
"What?"
"I'm gonna play chicken with it."
"You're crazy you know that."
"I know." Silva laughed. "Give me some space, I'll charge up. You go flank it, and when it dodges, use that. Got it?" he said with certainty.
Although both parties were injured. They still had some sanity left in them. And with Silva's plan he would be able to exploit it.
Silva went a ways down the mess of fallen trees and shifted to his lightning form. He focused his lightning body to be as condensed with energy as possible, making it look brighter and bigger.
In the dark of night, he had become a glowing star. And as he reached his brightest form he charged. Heading straight for the snake's head.
The snake had grown curious about what was happening in front of it. It had stopped its onslaught and observed the current events.
Silva charged towards the snake, using his body as a weapon to deliver a blow that would no doubt knock them off their feet. Like a boulder launched from a catapult, he zoomed towards the immobile snake.
As he grew closer, the Razorfinned snake seemed to recognize the danger, with only a second left to dodge, it moved by instinct and ducked as Silva flew straight above snake's head. Missing it only by a few inches.
And with the snake indisposed for a second, Curtis moved to flank it, taking advantage of it's one blind eye. He wrapped around the fallen trees and took aim. Curtis charged, he held his ax tightly as he closed in on the snake's blindside. His target was the Snake's neck. It was where the Alpha Thornback bear had focused its attacks, the scales were cracked, most of it had fallen off exposing its bare flesh.
Curtis focused his strength on this one strike, he would end it here and now. As his ability condensed itself in his hands, he felt the familiar feeling of his heart gathering the power in his body and collecting it. His heart passed it onto his shoulders, which passed it onto his arms, where it then passed it all onto his hands, where he condensed it onto his weapon. This one move would contain his strongest strike.
*CHOP*
It had connected.
Curtis' ax cut clean through the exposed flesh, he had imbued Ice in his attack. It had made his ax sharper and more durable. The Razorfin snake flopped onto the ground dead, most of its neck now detached from its body.
"Finally." Curtis sighed. He was exhausted.
"Nice hit." Silva complemented, finally back from his charge. It had only taken him a second to know that the snake had *chickened* out, and so he returned to help. Only to see that the plan had worked, and the beast had now fallen.
Curtis plopped onto the ground. He had to take a much-needed breather. That last strike had drained him, if he stood up any longer, he might just fall down next to the snake.
Silva did the same and dropped down near the lake, he had contributed a lot to this mission. He was tired both mentally and physically.
"Are we done?" Silva asked, looking east as the day sun rose again.