In the end, the stygian seed was not as firmly fused into the ground as I’d feared. After a few solid blows from ebonheart, it broke free and fell into my waiting hands.

You have acquired a stygian seed. This is an artifact of unknown rank. You are unable to discern its properties.

“I have the seed,” I reported through the farspeaker bracelet.

“Excellent! Now, get that thing back here!” Simone replied, the words spilling out of her in a rush. She paused, then continued a touch more calmly, “I may have been a bit optimistic about those ten minutes. Hurry, Michael.”

“Understood,” I responded. Just how hard-pressed was the party? If I was reading Simone correctly, matters were worse than she was letting on. “I’m on my way.”

Securing the seed in my bag of holding, I dashed towards the same bank I’d first descended to get to the lakebed. I had no intention of traveling through the ravine and risk encountering more of the stygian creatures.

I scaled the bank easily and, dropping my head, ran flat-out across the rocky ground toward the rift. But I only managed half the distance when Simone contacted me again. “Michael, you’ve got trouble incoming. The flying snakes have withdrawn. They must be heading your way.”

“Got it,” I said grimly, agreeing with the archer’s assessment. The creatures must have sensed the seed’s removal somehow. Skidding to a halt, I surveyed the surrounding terrain.

There were no handy boulders to hide behind, and besides, I could not afford to remain stationary. The only safe harbor for me now was beyond the rift. Pulling the mists around me, I cloaked myself and kept moving, albeit at a more cautious pace.

Slipping softly across the hard packed ground, I kept one hand on the still-sheathed stygian blade across my back, and my head turned upwards, listening intently.

It was not long before I heard what I searched for.

The flutter of approaching wings—three sets of them.

Three hostile entities have failed to detect you! You are hidden.

That was quick, I thought bleakly. How had they reached me so fast? It didn’t matter, though. I had to keep going.

I maintained my careful advance. The Game message provided me all the assurance I needed—my foes had not spotted me yet. And with a little luck, perhaps they won’t find me at all.

Three hostile entities have failed to detect you!

Three hostile entities have failed to detect you!

…

Moments later, the same Game alert was still scrolling repeatedly through my mind. But it only told me what my senses already had picked up on. The stygians flying overhead had not passed me by. Instead, they circled above my position, keeping pace with me.

Three hostile entities have failed to detect you!

Somehow, despite failing to pierce my stealth, the flying snakes were still able to home in on my location.

My brows drew down. How are they doing that?

The three hovering creatures dropped lower. I realized they had to know where I was, if not precisely, then generally. I drew my blade. A fight seemed inevitable now.

My ears pricked at a whistling rush of air, and I froze, listening harder. Only two sets of wings were flapping now.

The third snake was diving.

I unfurled my mindsight and waited. A moment later, a bright consciousness crossed over the edge of my awareness, hurtling downwards.

Remaining still, I tracked the descending creature. A heartbeat later, it struck the ground with a resounding thud—five yards in front of me.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you!

The beast had dived blindly, I realized. The ground shook, but I kept my feet easily and watched the blurry figure through the mists. The snake was tasting the air, its forked tongue slipping out intermittently while it rotated its head clockwise.

When it faced in my direction, the creature stilled abruptly.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you!

The knuckles of my hand whitened around the hilt of my blade, not at all comforted by the Game message. The creature had sniffed me out.

The snake slithered tentatively forward.

I grimaced. My stealth was affording me less protection than I’d anticipated. I can’t stay here, I thought and began moving. Keeping my actions slow and smooth, I crept sideways.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you!

The grounded beast’s forked tongue flickered out again, and its head shifted minutely to fix on me once more. The beast was tracking me. Not accurately or easily, but well enough to eventually locate me.

I kept moving, cutting a wide arc around the snake.

The air whistled again, and my head jerked up. I’d almost forgotten about my other two foes. Both were diving.

A heavy body thudded down and then another, the second snake landing on my right flank, and the third on my left.

Damn it! The creatures had me neatly trapped. That can’t be by chance.

Three hostile entities have failed to detect you!

I ignored the Game message. It meant little. All three snakes were slithering towards me now. In their soft hissing, I imagined I could almost sense predatory anticipation.

Slow and sure is not working. Time to speed this up. Picking up my pace, I charged the snake to my left.

Almost instantly, my stealth broke.

Three hostile entities have detected you! You are no longer hidden.

The snakes darted forward the moment I was revealed—just as I expected. I let them come. An instant before the closest could strike, I shadow blinked.

You have teleported four yards.

I emerged behind the first serpent, out of the trio’s trap, and with the way to the rift clear. The snake I’d used to teleport whirled around, jaws snapping. But I was already gone, sprinting for the rift.

The stygians chased after, the closest two slithering across the ground in pursuit, while the third creature winged aloft. I kept my attention fixed on that one—an attack from above would be harder to fend off.

After a few feet, the beast in question spread its wings to glide in my direction and begin an attacking run. I clenched my jaw in frustration. Despite my head start, the snake had caught up swiftly.

The beast swooped, and I zigzagged, barely evading its snapping jaws. The snake glided away, still airborne. It would only be a matter of time before it returned for a second attack, I realized.

The other two stygian snakes took to the air—no doubt to mirror their fellow’s tactics.

Urgh. This was not going well.

“Michael, where are you?” Simone’s voice barked out from the farspeaker bracelet.

“About a hundred yards from the rift. I have three flying snakes on my tail,” I replied in a clipped tone. “Can you help?”

“No,” she said heavily. “We have our hands full here.” A drawn-out moment of silence, then. “I’m sorry, Michael, but if you don’t get here soon, we will have to—”

I cut the link, not bothering to listen to the rest of what she had to say. It was obvious anyway. I was on my own.

The other two serpents, meanwhile, have begun their dives. I darted left, sidestepping the first, then rolled forward, dodging the second. But almost before I regained my feet, the third started its next attack.

I growled in frustration. Attempting to evade the swooping dives of the three snakes was another losing proposition. I’d barely made any headway towards the rift, and time was not on my side.

There was only one thing to do.

I skidded to a halt. The unexpected maneuver foiled the diving stygian’s attack, and it overshot my position. Winging aloft, the creature began circling back once more. The other two were doing the same too.

Working fast, I unhooked my backpack. At best, I had a few seconds before the next attack. Digging into the pack, I found what I searched for: my bag of holding. Reaching in, I withdrew the stygian seed and tossed it to my left.

Then I dashed away in the opposite direction.

After I had covered ten yards, I skidded to a stop and spun about. Panting slightly and with blade in hand, I waited.

As I’d suspected, no attack was forthcoming.

Paying me no heed, the three flying serpents landed near the seed and formed a defensive huddle about it. They hissed triumphantly, seeming to think they’d won the engagement and had chased me off.

But I was far from done. Melting into the mists again, I cast my buffs and padded silently towards the trio.

Three hostile entities have failed to detect you!

It was time to do what I should have attempted from the start. Drawing on my psi, I sent searching tendrils of will into the mind of the closest snake.

A level 136 flying serpent has passed a mental resistance check! You have failed to charm your target. Your mental intrusion has gone undetected!

Shrugging off the failure, I tried again and sent more psi rippling towards the snake.

A flying serpent has failed a mental resistance check! You have charmed your target for 10 seconds.

Much better.

The charmed snake stopped hissing. Its fellows didn’t notice. “Attack!” I bellowed through my mind-link to my minion.

Contorting itself to what seemed an impossible degree, the bespelled snake dug its fangs through the neck of one of its companions. The victim hissed in surprise but wasted no time in counterattacking in the same manner, and a heartbeat later, both serpents were writhing across the ground, their bodies coiled tight about each other.

The third serpent remained by the seed. Ignoring its fellows’ antics, the creature flared its wings in warning and hovered protectively over its charge. Fixing my attention on the beast, I cast again.

You have teleported yourself into a level 138 flying serpent’s shadow. You are still hidden.

I’d chosen my re-entry point well and emerged unseen beneath the shadow of the snake’s left wing. Taking my shortsword in a two-handed grip, I cast whirlwind and piercing strike.

Your attack speed has increased by 100% for 3 seconds.

You will deal double damage on your next attack.

Spelled energy rushed into my arms, redoubling their speed and power. Finally ready, I lunged upwards.

You have backstabbed a stygian serpent for 4x more damage! You have critically injured your target.

At the bite of the blade, the stygian hissed in pain. Flaring its wings higher, it whipped its tail around.

Ignoring the incoming attack—completing my objective was more important—I one-stepped upwards and kept slashing at the wing, striking thrice more in quick succession.

You have injured a flying serpent.

You have injured a flying serpent.

You have injured a flying serpent.

A flying serpent’s left wing has been permanently damaged. You have crippled your target!

I smiled tightly as the Game message I’d been waiting for finally arrived. I’d done it. I’d crippled the snake. Stopping my attacks, I fell back to the ground—and straight into the onrushing tail.

A level 138 flying serpent has critically injured you!

You are bleeding internally. Ongoing damage sustained. Your health is at 40% and dropping.

I’d known the blow was coming but had accepted it as the price I had to pay to cripple my foe. Yet what I’d not anticipated was the strength of the attack.

The serpent’s tail crashed into my torso, compressing my ribcage and expelling the air out of me in a rush. But the damage did not stop there.

Bones splintered under the force of the blow, puncturing organs. Blood rushed out of my arteries rendering me weak and lightheaded. I wasn’t allowed to regain my feet and recollect myself either. The striking tail flung me upwards, propelling me through the air at a dizzying velocity.

Confused, disorientated, and with the edges of my vision blackening, I struggled to think. One thought shone clear through my battered thoughts, though. The damage from the attack was mounting, and I needed to halt it. As if in confirmation, a Game message unfurled in my mind.

Warning! Your health is dangerously low at 15%.

Marshaling the tattered shreds of my will, I concentrated on the bracelet on my arm and acted. In a heartbeat, soothing waves of energy rushed through my body, mending flesh and bone.

You have restored yourself with a full healing potion. Your health is now at 100%.

The fog around my mind cleared, and my thoughts snapped back into focus. Taking stock of my situation, I saw I still tumbled through the air, on a downward arc. But despite this, my situation had improved dramatically.

My charmed minion and the other snake remained locked in combat. Better yet, the crippled serpent stayed near the dropped seed, seemingly disinclined to pursue me.

A smile flickered across my face. It was time to regain my prize.

My gaze turned to the onrushing ground, and an instant before I crashed, I cast one-step, halting my rapid descent to land gracefully. Immediately, I took off running—towards my injured foe and the seed it protected.

The creature saw me coming but, cradling its injured wing, stayed where it was. As I drew nearer, its head darted forward to nip at me. I ducked under the attack and thrust my sword upward into its lower jaw.

You have injured a flying serpent.

Feeling the touch of my blade, the beast hissed in anger and brought around its tail in a blistering arc, attempting to repeat its devastating attack of earlier.

I wasn’t about to make the same mistake again, though. Giving the attack my full attention, I leaped over the blow.

You have evaded a flying serpent’s attack.

My eyes glinted in anticipation. I had the creature now. Time to finish this.

Rolling back onto my feet, I cast whirlwind and threw myself at the serpent again. Its head darted forward, but I sidestepped the blow as easily as I had the first and launched my own attack. Matching the snake for speed, I slashed out with my stygian sword and tore open the skin of its neck as it passed me by.

My foe shrieked in pain and brought around its uninjured wing to batter at me. But in the next instant, I was gone, shadow blinking to its opposite flank, where I scored another line of red along the beast’s torso.

Critically injured and bleeding profusely, the creature was slowing in reacting to my rapid repositioning, leaving me free to follow up with another devastating blow.

Casting piercing strike, I struck it twice more.

You have critically injured your target.

You have killed a flying serpent.

The dead beast sagged to the ground, and I leaped over it to retrieve the seed sitting unprotected at its rear. I spared a glance for the other two serpents. They were still engrossed in their own conflict.

Leaving them to it, I took off running towards the rift.