The obsidian blade pricked at the gloveless she had as she was patiently waiting for the wêtā's to attack. Another shrill shriek rang in the air, and the other wetas responded and launched themselves at her.
Iris drew a full circle on herself, and the wetas crashed on the ground. They appeared to be dead. She could have sworn that the blade wasn't long enough to reach all of them, maybe a few, but not all of them.
Something flowed out of one of the wêtā's heads, and the ghastly beasts jumped back on their feet as if she had never touched them. The one she was standing on shook and slowly pushed itself off the ground swaying.
" Oh, crap!" Iris plunged the sword into the beast's head again, and it slumped back on the ground.
The other wêtā's shrieked again, and more blood poured out of her nose and ears as she swung her sword again, and the wetas fell on the ground again. This time she didn't wait for them to return to life again and jumped off and ran into the thicket of trees. No time to dig into the dirt for the stone. She needed to find a nest. She looked at the sword, covered in her blood and greenish goo. She grimaced when she felt something drip out of her hair.
Iris touched her hair " Yuck!" she shook her hand to remove the sticky goo.
It didn't take long before more ear-piercing shrieks began resounding again in the forest.
" They sure don't waste any time!" Iris said to no one in particular as she walked through the forest, climbing up the slopy terrain.
Without much light, she was going around blind. Aside from the trees that stood tall in the Valley, she couldn't see much, but she definitely saw that glow in the wêtā's head. Was that the liantur stone?
The rustling sounds in the tree canopy above her head made her look up, but again, she couldn't see anything. The wetas were looking for her as the same clicking sound rang. So that's how they knew where she was.
A weta jumped in front of her and shrieked. She had been found. Iris gripped the sword and glued her back onto the closest and thickest tree she saw.
" Come on!" Iris roared at the weta before her, and the creature jumped at her.
Iris drew an arc in the air and swiped the creature's head, and crashed into her covering her in more green goo.
Iris gagged " Fuck! You ugly and stink too!" she spat the goo in her mouth and wiped it with the back of her hand, but she was covered head to toe.
Iris pushed the weta off her as the wêtā's jumped from one tree to another in the canopy. The clicking sound rang in the forest from all sides. There must be quite a few in the valley. She reasoned as the rustling sound increased tenfold since she had crossed the river bank.
She carried on walking. The dry tree branches under her feet crackled with each step she took. With no sun and no stars, there was no way to tell whether it was day or night. Tiny shrieks reached from somewhere on the forest floor, and she halted her steps. A nest, there was a nest nearby. Iris closed her eyes, but with all the clicking sounds, it was hard to tell where it came from. She did a full circle on herself and decided she couldn't stay in place for long she had to move. She carried on forward for a little while through the valley, the wêtā were still following her, but for some reason, they didn't attack anymore.
She halted her steps at the tree line and looked up. She was approaching the ridge's summit. The tiny shrieks had faded a while ago, so she didn't need to climb all the way to the top.
Iris looked left and then right and swung her sword in the air for a bit, trying to decide where she should look next.
" A small clue would have been helpful, Amwell," Iris grumbled as she turned and walked to her right, looking down through the trees.
As she began descending the slope and the tiny cries could be heard again. Iris halted her steps and looked around again.
" Where are you, little weta?" Iris babied the beast whispering, and lowered herself on her heels, hoping she could hear more or at least see something.
A loud shriek from her left made Iris jump and look up. Her eyes bulged.
" Revered Mother! What is that?" Iris gasped, looking at the beast perched on top of a tree, swiping its claws and jaws at her.
Iris took a deep breath as the weta lunged at her and landed above her, swinging its head left and right, knocking down the trees around it.
Something nipped at her leg, and she looked down at the baby wētā that grabbed her leg, trying to chop it off. Iris kicked the annoying little creature that shrieked and crashed onto a boulder with a slight squeal.
The wëtā turned and shrieked again, a lot louder this time and turned its ugly head to where its baby had landed.
" Oho!" Iris exclaimed as the weta swiped one of its legs, and she flew across the forest floor like a dried leaf and crashed onto a tree.
The weta chopped the same tree above her head as Iris groaned and stumbled to stand up heavy steps.
Iris took a deep breath and screamed at the sharp pain in her chest. The weta swiped its leg at her again but missed her by the hair as she curled up on herself in despair.
" Fuck!" Iris spat blood out of her mouth and looked at it disappear into the soil.
The weta stomped its legs, trying to kick her. Iris pulled herself onto her knees and cut each leg that came at her until only two were left. It was a futile battle, the weta would have returned, but she had to last until Amwell would go for her. She had no intention of dying in the cursed Valley. The weta wobbled and lost balance and fell not to her shrieking. Iris stabbed it in the neck, and the wets let out a dying shriek.