Chapter 29
The decision is obvious, we attack first. It's best not to give these beasts any chance to get us wrapped up, no amount of portable magical barrier would hold up long against that.
My new sword flashes in the sunlight, cleanly decapitating the closest snake, sending the others slithering to the side to be met with the whips and spells of the two mages. A second comes for me, straight from the front attempting to swallow me whole, like it never occurred to the beast that I might defend myself.
An upward thrust of the claws on my left hand tear through its skull, as its body weight knocks me to the ground.
Standing up, I see more paths forming through the grass. Not Good. Not good at all.
"Guys? We've got more incoming" grunted responses tell me that they've heard, but are too busy to respond. Two more incoming strikes keep me from even taking a good look back to survey the situation. Creative these beasts are not, but they're strong, every hit sending me spinning or stumbling to keep my footing. Gone is any semblance of formation, as more slithering paths in the grass are forming for every snake we drop.
"We're getting too spread out" Karl yells "Everyone take 10 steps backwards when you get a chance" 10 steps? Have I gotten that far from the others?
A quick glance back shows me that I have. That and more, as the snakes seem to be corralling Mary away from us.
"Get Mary, they're separating her"
Karl jumps into action, a large explosion in front of him clearing his current targets as he makes a graceful flip to land by Mary, his whip scourging the ground and taking out another of the snakes.
"Is there no end to these things?" Mary wails "Have I ever mentioned how much I hate, fear, totally loathe all things slithery and slimy?"
Well at least she can still keep her sense of humour.
I can feel the energy surging in my body as I swing my sword, collecting by my hands.
Curious, I try pushing it out, and it forms a thin film along the blade. The sword now feels less like a weapon Alpha Petros trained all his pack warriors in, and more like an extension of my arm. A natural part of me.
Three more snakes drop and I'm back into the circle that the Mages have cleared to fight in. Karl's shield looks a bit dimmer than usual and Mary is panting hard, the exertion definitely getting to her. I'm in better shape, but that's expected of my Lycan physiology. A collection of bites, tears and bruises now litter my body and clothing though.
The scales on the sides of their heads are sharp and hard, making even a near miss dangerous.
"Mary, send up a drone and see what you can find for a defensible position. I've already blocked the portal so these things can't get out to run rampant in our world." Karl announces.
Mary's drone is out of her backpack and quickly in the air, while me and Karl have switched to shotguns with explosive rounds, trying to keep a clearing until her work is done.
It's been nearly 5 minutes, the explosive rounds are gone, and the penetrating rounds are running low. Mary had better have something quick. The numbers of snakes are thinning, but there's still a few a minute coming through the grass.
How many of these things can this area even support?
We have killed hundreds already and the air is getting dense with the accumulated power of the dead magical beasts. Every breath I can taste it on my tongue and feel the energy seeping into me, foul and bestial, but refreshing in a way.
"Guys, there's nothing. No hills, just the forests and the grasslands before the pocket dimension ends."
Guess Mary isn't going to have good news for us.
"It is what it is Ladies. Take turns clearing the incoming snakes, while the other two recuperate and harvest the materials. Once that's done we're out of here and closing that portal behind us."
Now that's the best news I've heard in a while.
Mary sets to clearing the few incoming beasts with a barrage of Magic Missiles while I follow Karl's lead, cutting the heads off at the spot just behind the skull near where the mana gem lies, then slicing where the belly scales meet the side of the snake and peeling the skin free. It's revolting, and I'm not sure how the snake phobic Mary is going to deal with it, but Karl seems insistent that we collect as many materials as possible.
As we work I notice the realm is starting to change, the sky is turning more blue and defined, less of an indistinct cloudy haze. Maybe we're in for some sunshine? But the sun seems to be about to set, this day just won't cut us a break.
It's long past dark and I've got next turn on defence as Mary is beginning to tire again, only a few dozen snakes remain to be harvested, and we haven't seen an incoming in the last couple minutes. Maybe we've cleared this zone out? One can only hope.
That's when something truly odd begins to happen.
A humming begins in the air, filling it with energy and we're forcefully relocated outside, left standing right next to our Jeep.
"Oh, that's no bueno" Mary sighs.
"What in the world just happened Karl?" I shout at him.
"The Portal stabilized while we were inside. Midnight local time hit and we were forced out, it's become a dungeon now, one that can't be closed and nothing can escape until it kicks the foreign residents out at midnight every day."
Oh no, eternal, perpetually resetting snake dungeon. Moon Goddess, what did we do to deserve this?
Mary is digging out sleeping bags, clearly not intending on going anywhere. "We've got drone footage to go over before we return" she informs me "I'm not sure what else is there, but I didn't see any snakes in the footage of the forested areas."
Fine, sleep it is. No arguments from me.
Dawn comes way too early, showing me to be the first one up, 4 little purple golems standing watch as our camp guards. There's a stack of notes made, with an audio recorder sitting on top, the mages must have been up for hours getting everything set.
"Hey Karl, are we done here?" I ask, poking his shoulder.
"Yeah, everything is prepped, circle at the portal is set, warning placard is up, reports written. All that's left is to go back to the base and turn it all in."
Excellent. I pick up Mary, sleeping bag and all and place her in the back seat, not even getting a twitch of an eyelid suggesting I might wake her up. Then I pack all the notes into a pelican case from the rear cargo area and stow away the rest of our camp gear. Last up is Karl, obviously awake, but not yet mobile sitting in his sleeping bag.
As I come up to chase him out of bed, he makes grabby hands, demanding I pick him up like a little kid. Very Funny Karl. Obliging, I grab him under the arms and hurl him over the windshield to land in the passenger seat of the topless Jeep. Now we're ready.
"You going to put your little friends away Karl?"
"Nah, they've got this under control. They'll warn anyone who tries to enter in the next couple days before they run out of energy and vanish."
Off we go. I wonder how Lala's spa day went?
~Lala's POV~
Previous day
I've never been to the spa before. I wonder what it's like? Kat promised me it's fun and relaxing, and she wouldn't trick me. Unlike that vampire Ari who likes to play pranks on me. They're both really good friends though.
My spa appointment is really soon, so I put on my comfortable pants and a loose shirt like the instructions told me to. I wonder why it matters what I wear?
Oh, there's someone waiting for me, one of the Werewolves and the two human brothers are at the entrance to the spa.
"Hey Lala, I see you got the message about the special treatment spa day?"
"You guys are coming along too?"
"I know it doesn't sound really manly, but it's great. The skin treatment, the massage, the pedicure. You'll love it."
A magical construct ushers us in and leads us in separate directions. Are we not going together? Oh, it's a changing room. There's a cute little blue bikini and a fluffy white bath robe waiting on me, so I change quickly, excited to see what the day has in store.
Ushered back to a room with a bunch of tables with holes in one end, I see the 3 men, in blue shorts, face down looking at screens below the holes in the table. Then more assistants come and start rubbing scented oils into their backs, making me giggle at their happy noises as I lay down.
Oh, yes! This is almost as good as headrubs. Mhmm, right there, that's the spot.
I'm almost asleep by the time we're instructed to roll over and the assistants massage the oil into our fronts.
The guys are having an animated conversation about which scent is best, but they've never heard of Eldorian Silverleaf, so they'll never understand the true answer. A whole hour passes this way, and every muscle in my body feels like it's going to turn into a liquid. I didn't know that this state of relaxation was even possible.
We're ushered into a warm steamy room, where I promptly fall asleep, until I'm carried out by Jurgen, the werewolf, who finds my sleeping expression funny.
The construct assistants take us to separate rooms with big steamy tubs and give me the most amazing 'exfoliating scrub bath' as they call it. I look like a whole new bunny already. My fur is shining, my skin is creamy white and oh so soft. But the assistant says we're not even half done?
Bikini and robe back on, I'm led to a bunch of chairs, unsure what's going on as the guys aren't here yet. But I sit down anyhow, and they tell me it's time for a manicure, pedicure and mask treatment. I've got amazing friends.