Sorry for the wait, posting slipped my mind with homework I had to do! Sorry about the wait, let's get into another chapter of A Rat's Second Chance!
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The rough and gray scales of the dragon contrasted the brownish-pink, leathery skin of the giant worm. The limbless monster worm wrapped itself around the dragon's front leg. Despite the leathery skin that one would have expected to be dry and rough, the way its body effortlessly slid across the dragon belied that idea.
The monster's circular mouth took up the entirety of its head, and its stained teeth poorly reflected the light while it reared back. With all its might, it slammed itself into the dragon's rocky skin, and like a leech would to a fleshy human, it dug its teeth into the dragon with ease. While the stone-infused skin of this dragon would normally be a great defense, the worm's specialized lifestyle of traveling through the earth has given it an easy way to bypass the dragon's first line of defense.
Of course, with the power of the status screen, a creature is bound to have more than one layer of defense. The dragon's presence seemed to soak back, disappearing from all forms of detecting aura, but soon it flooded back out, blasting the worm away. An ear-shattering roar erupted from the dragon as a wave of pure, unadulterated energy and aura crashed with the surroundings.
The worm flew off, landing at the edge of the open plain, and dirt, rocks, plants, and other parts of the terrains were also flung distances away. Of course, the newly added addition to the terrain of Kali, on the very edge of the plains, was no exception. While weakened by the distance and used up energy of launching other various parts of the terrain, she still felt the energy as she was launched nearly ten meters away before being slammed firmly into the trunk of a tree.
She felt a surge of pain run through her, coursing through her nerves and attacking her senses. She could feel her Hp drain away, although not much at all, it was still startling as she was so far away. Cracking and rumbling boomed much farther in the forest away from her, and a bellow thundered soon after. The sound assaulted her eardrums, shaking them violently as another wave of energy ran through the area, rattling the trees and pressing on Kali's body.
The surge of energy soon stopped with the worm once more starting its attack on the dragon, and the dragon's energy levels must be decreasing by a non-insignificant amount. She ripped her body from the crater in the tree. Scratches littered her body, though they were barely noticeable with how small they were. Splintered wood fell from the trunk, and sweet-smelling sap soaked her back
Her rattled mind soon calmed itself, and she thought of her next actions. First off, she probably shouldn't go any closer to the plains being the dragon and worm that most definitely out-leveled her were still fighting tooth and claw. Of course, the certainly lower-leveled, but just as terrifying, Eodum was giving chase, and that thing was the last thing Kali wanted to fuck with. With one last heave, she ripped herself from the splintering bark of the huge tree, and she landed with a thud on the dirt and rock covered ground.
She began to get up, but when she turned around to survey the area, it was only for a slip second that she saw the bottomless fur, spotted with glittering white. Right after, it disappeared from sight, jumping from shadow to shadow. The small sparkles whenever it seemed to stop forced Kali's attention to the area it was in, but found nothing as it quickly hopped away.
Fear struck her, and she quickly ran away. However, everywhere around her seemed to contain the monster, and she was chased away from the opening. Strangely enough, the clearing where the battle took place was quiet, oddly quiet for where a recent battle took place. Kali's distress filled mind, despite being chased by the thing she feared most, did take note of it. What it also took note of was the disturbing rumbling in the ground near her.
With each step slamming into the ground, the rumbling seemed to get louder and more intense. She wasn't the only one who felt it, and Eodum went from trying to communicate with and calm down Kali to running along with her. A bulge of dirt formed on the surface, drawing closer and closer while it rushed at the two. Kali was suddenly thrown into the air when the dirt under her swelled. She flew through the air for a momentary second, and her world seemed to slow down.
In slow-motion, the ground in front of her flying body erupted and showered her in dirt, plants, and other parts of the forest floor. The worm from before that had fought the dragon was in front of her, gaping maw waiting, ropes of thick saliva and other various liquids drooped down and shook in its mouth. The many teeth, that were stained with the lasting damage and aftermath of many battles, were covered in blood as the urged for Kali's body to come just a little further.
Then, something unexpected happened. A pull came from her side, ripping her to the left and up. Something had tightly wrapped itself around her waist, and it was dislocating her from the worm's plan to have her as her next meal.
Confusion clouded her mind as she thought her final resting place would have been the stomach of a monstrous worm, so when she looked down, confusion and terror struck her greatly. Eodum had created a tendril that pulled her along with it. The being she feared the most, the thing she feared the most, the monster she feared the most was holding and taking her away. She was strewn off into the forest, and while the terror that was Eodum held her, the worm from before gave chase.
Two monsters, two things that should be feared by all beings, sapient or otherwise, were both after her.