Once Scarlet had herself back under control and the monstrous bird had vanished into the distance, she looked over to Keera, realising that the other had taken the influence better than she had. Maybe her higher sensitivity was not just an advantage.

“That was… sporting. The Doctor told us that there were huge crystal monsters, but I never expected to see one just yet. Or maybe at all.” Scarlet said, while carefully scanning their surroundings for enemies, just in case. When she was reasonably sure that there were none, she crawled out from the bush and stood, looking at the world with slightly new eyes. Cyca came out as well, jumping into her arms, possibly seeking comfort. Scarlet oblieged, gently stroking her smooth fur.

“How big do you think it really was?” Keera asked, having seen the same monster but estimating sizes without reference was a tricky business.

“Big. Too big to fight, for now.” Scarlet answered with a wicked grin. “But I would estimate its wingspan somewhere around thirty meters, but that’s just me, guessing.”

Keera only nodded in slight disbelief, before Scarlet gestured for her to continue on their way.

They walked for a few more kilometers before seeing a nice, protected area in one of the river’s meanders. It was a good spot to make camp, protected from the elements, near the water and out of the way for animals that were just moving around so Scarlet suggested to make their camp for the night. Not seeing a problem with the space, Keera agreed and they walked over, placing their packs between a few larger bushes that would hide the two of them.

“Why don’t you go ahead and do your psionic training, while I look around for trouble?” Scarlet asked, knowing that Keera needed the training and maybe a compliment or two, to motivate her.

“Yeah, sure, sounds good.” Keera agreed and walked towards the river. The river had deposited quite a bit of sand in one of the curves, forming a bit of a beach and that was where Keera went, taking off her shoes and walking in the warm sand, before she called out her crystal monster.

Seeing that, Scarlet walked towards the other side at first, focusing her senses towards her front and the area where they had come from, carefully scrutinising her surroundings for possible danger but also looking for food. Not that there was a huge need for it, they had found a couple of edible plants on their way, so even when the river didn’t seem to have fish in the area, it shouldn’t be a problem.

As they neared the water, Scarlet noticed that Cyca was tense once more, as if the water would jump out and bite her, causing Scarlet to chuckle and pick up her sweet, little crystal monster.

Looking over the river, Scarlet feeled quite calm, despite the scare they had earlier. Now that it was over, it exited her, not just hearing about monsters that were powerful enough to challenge the Federation, as long as it was on their turf, but seeing one with her own eyes, even if only from a huge distance. If she had such power, she could truly control her fate, nobody would attempt to make her a plaything, nobody would dare to even insult her.

Shaking her head, she started to walk along the river, looking around when she noticed a disturbance towards the beach, as if someone wanted to remain hidden. Or something.

Dropping Cyca, Scarlet broke into a run. The idea to lose Keera, to lose the inroads and the progress she had made to control her, she headed towards the beach at top speed. When she heard a shouted curse, shortly before coming into view, she ordered Cyca to lead forward, following behind as fast as she could. Cyca demonstrated that she was more than a normal animal, speeding ahead, despite her shorter legs and size.

Seconds after the shout, Scarlet burst through the last bushes obstructing the view and saw a snake slithering from the water. What she could see, looked rather nasty, a triangular head, about the size of her fist, a small, pink tongue tasting the air from time to time and a rather interesting body, with a very distinct colour pattern. The snake’s back was covered in dark blue and brown scales, arranged in clear bands. The belly, on the other hand, was a much lighter, clearer blue, almost reminiscent of the sky above, glistening in the sunlight.

What stood out to Scarlet, as she took in the situation, ordering Cyca to engage the monster, was that near Keera was a large, strangely wet, area and Keera’s crystal monster was lying a meter or two away from it, wet and its form was flickering strangely, as if it was lacking the power to keep itself active.

The snake seemed to eye Keera for a moment, before slithering towards the downed crystal monster and Scarlet realised that only her order kept Cyca from pouncing and devouring Keera’s crystal monster outright.

Seeing the charging cat, the snake turned and focused on the new challenger, confident that the other prey was down for the count. When Cyca came near, she slid to a stop in the sand, just as the snake lunged forward, its maw opening wider than it had any business to, showing wicked looking fangs that tried to take a strike home in the attacking cat.

To Scarlet’s joy, Cyca managed to dodge to the side, the snake literally biting the dust, or sand, allowing Cyca to rake its side with her claws. The snake’s form flickered for a moment but the attack seemed far from enough, so the two combatants moved apart a bit, looking very much as if they were taking the other’s measure.

From the corner of her eyes, Scarlet noticed that Keera had forced her monster back into its crystal form and had pulled the spray given to them by the Doctor from her pouch, spraying the crystal with a generous measure and rubbing it in with the rag they had been given. Not that it likely would make a difference, but it was a good idea.

Back towards the water, the two enemies seemed to have the other’s measure and the snake slowly moved towards Cyca, before making a swift movement forward, as if it was lunging but did not. Cyca, fooled by the feint, jumped aside again, so once the snake actually attacked, she was in the air, without any way to dodge. She managed to twist a little, so only one of the fangs hit but it still caused Scarlet to gasp. Not just because her strongest, most important ally and tool was wounded, but because there was a light feedback over their connection, not quite pain but the knowledge that strength had been lost.

Cyca moved back a little, stumbling towards the water, and Scarlet ordered her to use her lightning attack, hoping that the strange attack would help to turn the tide. Just as the spark started between the tips of her twisting tails, the snake reared back, despite the fact that the distance was far too long for another lunge.

But it didn’t try to lunge, it simply reared up and a jet of water shot from its maw, causing Cyca to jump again, barely avoiding the biggest part of it. She was still splashed and again, Scarlet knew that her partner was hurt, even if not critically. And that was when the spark between her tails turned into another golden lightning bolt, striking out and into the snake, hitting it slightly below the head and travelling downwards, grounding into the earth but causing havoc all over it. An insane thought inside Scarlet almost expected the snake to open its mouth again and breath out a cloud of smoke but no, even as the lightning ran through its body, the tip of its tail shot from the water, striking Cyca, who was still in the air, and hitting her almost like a baseball bat, for the home run.

The hit dealt little damage, there seemed to be something strange at play, but it was enough to bat Cyca away, causing her to catch quite a bit of air and tumble towards the water. That tumble allowed the snake to get distance, zeroing in on its original target, the crystal in Keera’s hand.

Annoyed by the sneaky snakey, Scarlet decided to take a risk and took a deep breath, before starting to attack the snake with her mind, confident that it was greatly weakened and hoping that she would be able to keep two monsters under control. The snake hissed angrily, instantly changing her target from the crystal to the attacking Scarlet ignoring everything around it, just to get to her.

Taking a deep breath, Scarlet refocused her mind and pressed the attack against the snake, trying to force it under her control and back into her crystal form. Her attack was so strong that even Cyca turned back into her inert crystal form, just as Scarlet noticed that the snake was starting to flicker. That was all the encouragement she needed, needed to dig deep into her mind, looking for reserves of power she wasn’t sure she had. But she found some and the snake started to flicker faster, the crystal more and more subject to gravity between the flickers, before she felt something snap and the monster was gone, only the crystal remaining behind.

Scarlet sank to her knees, feeling the mental exhaustion hit her and she tasted blood. There was no question, she knew her nose had to bleed and her gums were bleeding as well but she had done it.

Gathering her mind, she forced herself to her feet, walking towards the fallen crystal as if nothing had happened. When she crouched to pick the crystal up, she noticed the differences between that one and Cyca’s crystal. Where Cyca had quite a bit of clear crystal with some impurities, the new crystal had quite a few swirls of colour, changing from soft blue to purple, depending on the light. The snake’s crystal was a little bit bigger than Cyca’s but less spherical and more a ellipsoid shape, as if it was made for the long and thin body of a snake, compared to the larger torso of a cat.

Putting it into her bag, she nonchalantly walked over to Cyca’s crystal, picking it up as well. It was a deliberate move, allowing her to wipe away the blood from her nose and spitting most of the bloody foam in her mouth into the shallow water. After that, she and started to treat Cyca’s crystal with her own spray, knowing that at that moment, she was at her weakest.

It was only then, when she felt the liquid seeping into the crystal, that she looked over to Keera, whom she had deliberately ignored.