Chapter 17 - The older the ginger, the spicier. The older the person, the wiser. (II)
The three arrows hit the trees and quickly shattered in various others trees around the general, and from the places where the pieces reached countless vines surged, launching in the direction of the general's back, entangling his insectoid legs and his body.
Despite the fact that they weren't strong enough to seize hold of it for a long time, the few seconds that the general lost freeing himself from the vines were enough to create a breach in his defenses and allow the fourth arrow to hit it without a chance of missing its target.
As the general couldn't dodge, he still managed to use the force of his lance-type-legs to tear the vines and close them around his chest, to shield hum from the attack. The arrow, with concentrated vital force, hits the legs, causing an explosion of energy.
As soon as the *tud* sound of the arrow hiting the carapace was heard, and the wave of energy surgeg through the arachno, emerald veins emerged in the spear-type-legs. Despite not being able to tell how much pain the general was going through just by the expression on his arachnid face, the sharp hissing, and erratic whistles he was making, was enough to tell that the pain was intense.
- Start the clock.- Ed thought.- Now, it's all on your hands elder.
With a sigh, the old woman concentrated again. Incantations continued to be murmured by her, and vital energy circulating without stopping. A faint energy bond could be seen between Ed's men and the General's lances-like-legs, while the emerald veins kept pulsanting. The elder controled her magic, seeking to guide the explosion of vital energy.
- There is too little space to fight against those lances in the forest, so let's get rid of them first.- she said, as she moved Ed's hands.
At the same time, the general gave an acute hiss of pain, or anger, as its insectoid legs pulsated in the rhythm of the emerald veins, growing and diminishing, until they exploded, creating a rain of blood and queratin in the forest; while the general was left with only mangled members on its back.
Seeing the pieces of arachnid legs on ground and the trees, the general hissed loudly several times. Ed didn't know if it was from pain, anguish ou rage. But one thing was certain: Ed and the elder was on a path of no return.
The general, with his privileged vision and high intelligence, did not take long to recollect himself and determine the direction from which the arrows were shot. Flexing his legs, he immediately ran in the direction where its enemies were. In his head, all it had were thoughts of vengeance.
Meanwhile, a few meters away from there.
- Second step, distance it from his subordinates. Let's start a little race.- thought the elder, before sprinting between the trees, using magic to propel herself between the woods, as she jumped from trunk to trunk.
From time to time, the elder would throw seeds on the ground, or shot an arrow in a tree, from which trees, bushes, or thorny vines would rapidly grow and bar the way.
These magically nurtured plants were just small distractions, since they clearly weren't enough to stop the general, but it was enough to gain the elder some time and keep a distance between them.
The pursuit bought time for Ed, while leaving the general even more irritated. Seeing a simple human intruding in his war against the elves and still cause so much damage to him was disgracing. How could its subordinates respect it if this situation was to spread?
The elder, on the other hand, continued to guide Ed through the forest. Despite the terrain having changed during the last time she was out of the village, after comuning with the trees she saw a clearing dozens meters ahead, where she could have better mobility in a battle against the general, and whith the bonus of being at a greater distance from the village, so the its reinforcements would take longer to arrive. Of course, Ed didn't have any backup either, but that was the assumption from the start.
....
After ten minutes of running and chasing, a clearring appeared in front of Ed. With a jump, propelled by a wind magic, he got to the other side. Using the bow, two arrows were shot in sequence in the direction that the general were coming in a frenesi.
*zum* *zum*
The first arrow hit the ground, as the second arrow was shot at the general, to his surprise. The first arrow was apparently a common one, from which the elder had changed the tips for seeds; the second was a bamboo arrow with emerald veins, vibrating with vital energy.
As it got shot again, the general roared while raging against that puny human, who surprised it time and time again with those glowing arrows. Where did a little man get these powerful weapons capable of destroying his limbs?
It was born an arachno general, but after he found the crystal in the forest it was allowed to evolve. It became the first Arachno King to emerge in the Umbra Forest, maybe the world! He overcame the suppression of the bloodline, killed the queen, defeated the dissidents, controlled what was left of its race. His path was glorious, he would dominate the elves' territory and expand to the rest of the forest!
And yet, a mere human, a being that doesn't even lives in the forest, was using vital energy to defeat him. At each step he comes up with a different way to engage in combate with fim, winning the initiative and now was defeating it!
- Hiiiiiiisssssss.- Thinking all this, the general roared, as it used its hands to grab the arrow that was flying in the direction of its chest. However, when his fingers were holding the shaft of the bamboo arrow, he felt a wave of energy radiate in his hands. With a reflexive movement, he threw the arrow down.
Due to his instincts, its fingers did not explode like legs on his back, but, still, his hands were badly wounded due to the excess of vital energy that invaded it during the few moments he held that arrow.
What surprised him, yet again, was that upon falling to the ground, the arrow continued the exploding with vital energy, nourishing the seed planted there by the arrow fired earlier by Ed.
In a few moments, the general hadn't even recoved from the wounds in his hands, when he was brought back to reality, feelling a terrible pain in his feet aand legs, which were perforated by various metal-like grass leaves.
- Iron-grass.- Explained the elder, before Ed asked.- Its a miracle of Arboreus. When He and Ignivomus clashed in the mythical era, a large area of grass was burned in an attempt to weaken Arboreus, but to counterattack Arboreus used a vital energy explosion to save the vegetation of the burned and petrified region, the plants that still have some vital force absorbed a large amount of iron and other minerals that are in excess on the ground due to Ignivomus spell to support and survive on the ground, giving rise to several plants with metallic characteristics. This grass is one of them. The conditions for them to grow do not occur naturally, but more often than not natural disasters still occur and cause this plants to appear. When I brought the elves from the forest to the border, these treasures were given to me, so that they would be kept safe. It's a shame I had to use them.
As she explained about the origin of the grass, the elder continued controlling the body to position herself and prepare for the next attack. A battle would still last a long time, and they had to finish it soon.
On the other side, despite having a privileged view, tone of the arachnos' few blind spots is their feet. Despite being surprised, he was able to defend himself from the bamboo arrows fired at his chest, but he was unable to dodge the blades of grass that suddenly sprouted from the ground. Each metal leaf pierced the general's feet and legs, leaving a trail of blood running through the woods, and a howl of pain echoing through the Forest.
- This time surely the other arachnos will hear this brute screaming. We have to end this here, and hope that the general's death affects the arachnos enough for them to give up attacking the village.- Ed thought.
-Now, it's time to wrap it up.- replied to the elder, as soon as she said it, she pulled three of the five bamboo arrows that remained in the quiver. - Now that it can't walk, we'll see how he's going to defend himself.- the elder affirmed, with a definitive tom. For her village, her children, she was ready to exterminate this race.