Liraeth and Sylvara moved with caution through the dark cave that had the bare minimum of illumination. But that was not a problem for their enhanced senses.
From the outside, the cave looked small, however, when the two entered and walked forward a bit, what appeared before them was an entire cavern with herbs growing everywhere.
"Amazing…"
Liraeth muttered with a dazed look; a look shared with her sister. There were countless herbs of different kinds all growing in their own space.
Some of them had brightly coloured leaves and flowers that glowed in the dark, lighting up the space in a mesmerizing glow of colours.
The sisters could make out other paths that lead deeper into the cave, promising the discovery of many wonders. After a quick glance at each other, the elves descended to the field.
"I can't spot the one we're looking for."
Sylvara stated looking around, yet her expression did not mirror her disappointment in not finding what they were searching for.
"Relax, would you? No one is here and even though we haven't found what we want, these herbs are quite useful too. Definitely worth using them in other research. We could also sell them, you know?"
She noticed how her sister still carried a nervous look despite the clear excitement on her face.
"That's good and all, but do we have the storage capacity for everything in here? And this is just the entrance. I'm pretty sure there is more to be discovered the deeper we go."
"I know what you mean. We can just collect what we need for now and maybe come back later for the rest. We might even run into some of our colleagues who might be in need of such herbs."
Soon, they arrived at the sight of the wonderous herbs and they identified most of them with ease. And with each discovery, their excitement grew as the various applications of the herbs came to mind.
"Come on, you know how to harvest them. Let's get to work."
Liraeth directed as they both moved to different areas and began harvesting. Their focus was entirely on their work when they heard a slight hiss. It was subtle, almost missed if not for their senses.
"Did you hear that?"
Sylvara asked her sister as they both stood upright the moment they heard it.
"Definitely. Something is here."
Liraeth looked around here and the surroundings yet spotted nothing unusual. However, they were not about to let their guard down.
She retrieved her mage staff followed by her sister as they carefully looked around and approached each other with their backs facing.
*Hisss….*
The hissing sound came again, this time louder and the two elven beauties snapped their heads in the direction the sound came from.
High above the ceiling of the cavern, a ginormous serpentine beast hissed at them. It had dark green eyes with its slit a bright yellow. The magical creature camouflaged with the dark ceiling, making it difficult to spot.
"Sis…?"
Sylvara called out to her sister in a low voice, not daring to make any sudden move. Her eyes trembled as she felt shivers down her spine.
"I know…"
Liraeth stepped before her sister with her head raised as she stared directly at the beast. She couldn't tell the actual length of the creature as it coiled around multiple stalactites.
"That's a Voidscale Adder. Its scales are extremely tough to damage and can absorb celestial energy, allowing it to blend with its environment. What's more, it's very poisonous."
Liraeth described the creature to her sister who swallowed nervously. The beast remained up there as if it would not attack, but Liraeth knew it was studying them.
"Get your spells at the ready."
Liraeth instructed as she channelled her mana through her staff. Mages always carried their staffs around because it cut the casting time short as well as not requiring the caster to call out the spell loudly.
The only thing they needed to do was envision the spell in their heads and the staff would do the rest. It was a marvel of engineering that boosted the prowess of mages, made by the Magic Conclave, an organization she herself was part of.
A moment of silence passed between the opposing sides and Sylvara could hear the rapid beating of her heart.
Suddenly, the creature hissed as its exposed maw revealed its two main fangs that dripped with a colourless liquid before lunging at the two elves with incredible agility.
"Split!"
Liraeth yelled the moment the beast moved, and the two sisters jumped out of the way in different directions.
*BOOM!*
The ground trembled briefly as the beast impacted the herbal field. And in that moment, Liraeth and Sylvara's eyes opened wide with shock as they saw the entire length of the serpent!
'Over 50 meters! It's larger than the ones we know!'
Liraeth felt her heart jump in fright just imagining how powerful this snake monster was. Even with its body lying on the ground, its height reached 7 meters.
"Attack!"
Liraeth quickly regained her composure as she yelled for her sister to attack before the monster moved again.
She slammed the butt of her staff into the ground as it rumbled violently and travelled straight to the monster.
Thick wines as large as a person's arm broke out of the earth and wrapped around the monster and tightened their hold.
"Aim for its opened maw. It's the only weak point of the monster!"
Even as she instructed her sister on how to tackle the monster, the monster did not remain idle. The moment the vines wrapped around the monster; it screeched loudly as it wiggled to break the death hold.
Its scales were extremely difficult to break, so the monster did not worry about taking damage to its body, and the constant struggle caused Liraeth to struggle with her spell as more mana was pumped into it.
Sylvara heard her sister's words loud and clear as she moved with purpose to face the creature. And although she was scared shitless, she had to do as her sister instructed if she didn't want to die here.
Before she arrived at the creature's face, she waved her staff around as she pointed it at the monster whose eyes now locked on her.
"Damnit! The monster is moving around too much!"
Her spell was at the ready with the corresponding magic circle appearing before the staff and the only thing she needed to do was to aim at the creature's maw, yet that was a problem even with her sister's hold on the Adder.
"Just do it!"
Liraeth didn't have the luxury of delaying any more as she could feel her vines breaking.
'Any moment now and it would break free!'
"Right!"
With no choice in the matter, Sylvara aimed at where the monster's head was going to be and then shot a barrage of ice lances that sped right to the target.
However, the Adder was no easy monster to deal with. It saw the speeding icicles coming its way as its opened maw gathered mana before firing a breath entirely made of poison.
The colourless beam of condensed poison clashed with the icicles as it instantly melted them and continued its path straight for Sylvara.
"Shit!"
Without delay, she jumped out of the way as the beam rushed past her and wherever it passed, the herbs and rocks melted like butter. Then, the ground sizzled as the poisonous smoke quickly spread around.
Sylvara's eyes widened in horror as she witnessed the degree of damage the creature did and it sent shivers down her spine.
'I would have been dead instantly!'
The Adder on the other hand did not remain still after firing that attack as moments later, it broke its binding before it slid speedily in Liraeth's direction.
Liraeth cursed witnessing the prowess of the beasts. Suddenly, the creature sped towards her the moment it broke her vines.
'Oh shit!'
She quickly backed away from the monster, yet she missed something. While the Adder approached her, its tail slid around Liraeth as it came from her right side.
Liraeth caught the whipping tail too late and even though she reacted quickly, the momentum of the tail was too much for the protective ward she conjured around herself.
*BAM!*
"Ah!"
The power behind the whip cracked the ward before sending her flying into the cavern walls.
*BOOM!*
"Liraeth!"
Sylvara couldn't react in time as she herself missed the tail whip too late.
'We can't win.'
Her expression was gloomy as she witnessed her sister's state with blood leaking from her lips. What was worse, she was knocked out cold!
The situation was a bleak one as Sylvara did not know what to do. Her fear gripping her prevented her from moving as she clenched her staff tightly to her chest. She knew her sister would die If she delayed, yet she couldn't move!
Tears freely fell from her eyes, "Somebody... A-anyone out here, please save my sister!"
Sylvara knew the chances of anyone in here moving in to save them from their plight were nonexistent, yet that was the only thing she could do.
She watched in horror as the Voidscale Adder slowly slid towards Liraeth, completely ignoring her existence.