Greatius Maximus. Dromaeosaur Suprema. Or, more simply, Great-Raptors. Huge, intelligent, and vicious creatures that had the tendency to wipe out small cities in a matter of moments if not driven off or killed, both of which were extremely difficult to pull off. Their massive appetites made them a bane on any ecosystem, as they would consume just about everything in their paths. Livestock, people, wild beasts, and even a small carriage or building if it fancied to do so. Its massive size gave it the authority to get away with just about anything that it cared to devour.

So why was one of the most dangerous predators known in the entirety of the adventuring world pacing towards this not-so-human princess? Mostly because of extremely bad luck. Aylia believed that such a beast wandered into here from somewhere else when it was much younger. This also seemed to support her theory that the only way out was to climb, since such a beast of this size had yet to escape from this area. Or maybe, it just liked being here.

Either way, the fact that there had not been any particular report about the ‘terror on legs’ meant that this great lizard had yet to be discovered by anyone who lived. Until that week, that was. Rikia had been exploring for a way out while avoiding any predator that posed a threat, which was unsurprisingly all of them, when she stumbled across a particular feeding ground. Littered across the forest floor were around a dozen two-tailed dire wolf corpses, with this catastrophe standing over them. It had just finished eating what must have been the alpha of that unfortunate pack when she had stumbled out of some of the brush and splashed into a puddle, making a lot more noise than what either she or the spirit had hoped for.

The raptor had, of course, noticed the small girl who had 'disrupted' its meal. She, after a moment's hesitation, fled as fast as she could. While there was probably no good choice to make in this situation, fleeing was certainly not one of the better ones. The predator abandoned its non-moving meal and gave chase.

Rikia found herself at an impasse. Either she could continue to flee until it caught up and ate her, or hide and hope it didn't find her. Or, she could try to find an opening for her to make her escape. Although, maybe there was one more option… this one was foolhardy and quite possibly suicidal, but held the highest chance for survival if it succeeded.

"I'm going to try to make an opening to get away!" She hoped that the spirit would not berate her for the insanity that facing this creature was. Especially by alone and at her level.

"Are you insane?!" And there it was.

"Maybe, but it's our only chance of survival! And I only have one shot!" The spirit continued to try convincing her to run, hide, and hope that they would be safe. The slime priestess ignored the distraction and turned, focusing on what needed to be done. The energy began to shift within her. It had been a while since she had created a spell, but she hoped that the frailty that had impaired her before would not hinder her now.The great lizard approached in an almost casual way, one step covering several meters each. It did not seem rushed or concerned that the bite-sized snack in front of it would get away. This worried the not-human, but she tried to push that fear away, adding it to the fuel to assist with the new spell.

As it reached only ten meters away, the beast stopped, seemingly confused at the actions of this morsel. The towering form before her granted her additional fuel that she pushed from her mind as soon as it had arrived. She reached her safety margin and prayed that the spell was ready. At the moment that the beast rushed forward in the killing blow, she let the spell go.

"FLASHPOINT!!" She called out and at her words a blinding white light shot forth into the eyes of the apex predator.

--- Congratulations! You have learned the spell Flashpoint.

The Great-Raptor reeled back as if smacked by a boulder, crying out in alarm. The sound shook the ground, whipping up the air, dust, and small rocks. Rikia, despite her exhaustion, used this opportunity to flee for the nearest hiding spot she could see.

She dove into an entry at the base of a tree, tumbling down and down until she came to a stop at the bottom. Luckily for her, it had been abandoned, and therefore provided a suitable hideout. Based on the angry roars outside, the great lizard was none the wiser…

Rikia was certain that this creature was the same one that she had run into almost five days prior. The beast’s burning hatred exuding towards her supported her claim. The jaws snapped closed and the head lowered slightly, but its slow approach did not stop. The semi-slime girl was certain that if she did not get to the top before the predator reached her, she would be dead.

"Stay calm and focus on climbing out," the ever helpful Aylia tried to keep the girl from panicking like last time. "If you can make it to the twenty meter mark then it shouldn't be able to reach-"

"Can't they jump?" Rikia interrupted.

"Ummm…"

"Then, I need to reach the top! Alacrity!"

--- You are now under the effects of Alacrity. Your Finesse and Agility have increased by 30%.

She began scrambling up the wall with all the haste she could muster, not caring about the amount of noise she made. While her grace and speed while climbing had increased, she still found it difficult to climb, knowing that there was certain death somewhere behind her.

*GRROOOAAWRRR*

The roots and wall shook beneath the dromaeosaur’s cry. With the cry came the quickened paces of its footsteps, further shaking everything around her. Rikia’s pace slowed as she strived to not lose her footing or grip. The raptor had closed the distance to the wall in a matter of seconds, and for the last few meters all fell silent. The Great-Raptor leapt into the air, maw opened wide to end the priestess’ life for the second time this week.

Summoning all her strength, the slime-girl launched herself as far up as she could, reaching for any of the larger roots sticking out above her. For a split second, she feared that she would not make it. But as her hand closed around a firm root, she felt a small amount of pride and accomplishment… a feeling that lasted for a whole half-second before the wall buckled under her, from the impact of the monster.

She had been spared for the moment, being missed by only a few hairs. As she fell, however, Rikia prayed once more that her life, and subsequently the lives of Newb and Aylia, would be spared.

--- You have suffered 25 Life from falling.

--- You have suffered 10 Life from falling.

--- You have been buffeted for 5 Life.

A short fall as both the predator and prey were subject to gravity for a moment. Then another short fall as the girl bounced off the creature’s head and down its back, tumbling down to the thing’s tail. She managed to grab on and hold still as the world slowly stopped spinning around her.

That only lasted until the dire dinosaur recovered. The beast began to shake its tail around, spinning for additional momentum, its yellow eyes watching her. The former hunter held on for dear life.

"Don't let go!" Aylia shouted, probably trying to sound encouraging, but mostly sounding very concerned. The words did not have a calming effect, but the not-human still did her best. The rodeo lasted for just a few more moments, until-

--- The effects of Strengthen have ended.

- her spell ended.

"No! Creator's p-" Rikia managed a partial curse before she was launched off away from the Ridge, in the general direction from whence she came…

*************

Under a small grouping of bushes in a clearing, a shadowy form slowly sat up. This creature appeared to be a small child in stature, not yet into their developmental years. It started to crawl out from under the bush, messy, mid length, fiery hair, decorated with sticks here and there, and wearing a series of dried leaves in the shape of a bra, rotting vines that could be considered a skirt, if one was being generous, and wilted flowers that were for decoration. Any self-respecting druid would say that this garment would be the equivalent of a wild ‘potato sack’.

This human-like child rubbed at their eyes, clearing any remnants of sleep from them. Their face still had that child-like roundness to it, complete with rosey cheeks. The eyes, now open, were grey with specks of red and black.

“Noise… too… much,” they commented in a small voice while turning their head in the direction of the Barrier. There was a fight nearby, that much was certain. While there were many fights in this area, there had never been anything that screamed so much. Or at least, not since this creature had been in the area. “Big… Hungry… and…?”

Their head cocked to one side in confusion, pondering what the ‘Big Hungry’ could have been contending with. They shrugged, yawned, and stretched, losing interest just about as quickly as it had arrived. As the creature turned back towards their ‘bed’, something fell suddenly right on their bush, crushing it to the ground.

Blinking once, then twice, a small frown graced their face, cocking their head to the side once more. Their eyebrows soon joined the rest of their reaction, knitting together in mild frustration. What thing dared to destroy their temporary sleeping spot?

Their lips pulled away to reveal mostly normal looking teeth, except for the sharp canines. Their body turned abruptly towards where this thing had been thrown from to spot the Big Hungry charging in this direction. “Oh… you.” Usually, this small child would hide away, allowing the beast to pass by without

Big Hungry stopped upon entering this area, cautiously assessing the little child in front of it. The child, for their part, did not seem to be the slightest bit concerned about the appearance of this apex predator. They raised their hands toward the great beast, and… waited?

The big monster rumbled in the direction of this small thing, then took a step forward, taking this callous action of the snack in front of it as an act of hostility. That’s when everything seemed to move at once. Nearby branches from the trees moved towards the beast, grabbing at its legs. Immediately after that, a swarm of mosquitos flew in towards the great beast's eyes. The Big Hungry attemped to back up, stumbling over the many branches beneath it.

The raptor snapped at the branches, throwing its arms up towards its eyes, but this was all to no avail. Every mosquito that was squashed was replaced by more of those pests. And the branches seemed to fix themselves. But this only happened when the lizard tried to enter the area. As soon as it backed up far enough, everything seemed to stop.

Seemingly puzzled at the abrupt relief, the beast turned its head from side to side, an eye always keeping the small thing in sight. It stepped forward once more, being assaulted with yet more branches and pesky insects. This once again caused the dinosaur to back off. This time, it lowered its head, roaring in challenge. It then attempted to rush forward, this time being met with the trees smacking its big head, really close to its eyes. A small yelp of surprise and maybe a little pain, followed by another large step backwards. The beast appeared to glare in the direction of the small humanoid, and then towards the crushed bush next to them.

The roar of frustration signaled its retreat, the beast turning around to leave the area where all the annoying things were. A few of the nearby trees were smacked by both its head and its tail as the Big Hungry took its leave of this place.

--- Congratulations! The following Skills have improved:

- Plant Manipulation has improved from Novice to Advanced. Soul +2, Willpower +6.

- Direct Swarm has improved from Amatuer to Novice. Voice +2, Willpower +4.

Obtaining an improvement to two of their Skills seemed to interest the child-like monster little. They turned back to its bed, intent on making it ‘bush’ shaped again when something drew their attention. A figure similar to themself was crawling out of what was left of the bush/bed. They were taller than this creature, with reddish hair, gem-like blue eyes, a fair complexion, and very wounded. One leg was bent at a very bad angle, and she was only crawling with one arm, the other held tightly across her stomach.

She was also trailing a good amount of blood, and still attempted to crawl away from the small child in her condition. However, this child’s eyes gleamed with curiosity at the still living thing attempting to get away. They almost skipped over to where the wounded ‘similar thing’ was and crouched down in front of them, a small smile on their lips. The she-monster froze, her eyes wide with fear. The child held up their hand, and inched closer to the similar thing.

*BOOP*

The child poked the not-child’s pointed face thing. This brought great pleasure to the plant child, so much that they stood back up and danced around. In a small sing-song voice, they said, “Poked it~~ Me poked it~~!”

There was a long exhale from the gem-eyed thing. The child stopped dancing, and looked back at their new favorite thing. Said thing was no longer crawling away... or moving. The child stared at the thing for a moment, the elation from earlier now gone. “Me… broke it?”

The child sat down on the ground next to the now not-moving not-child. They placed a finger to their temple and another on their chin. “What do, what do, what do?” They repeated over and over for some time. They then jumped to their feet, “Aha! Need fixed. Take… to friend.” The child was pleased with their idea, skipping around the new semi-broken thing. Waving their hand in the direction of their former sleeping spot, the bush immediately started to respond.

The branches shot down to the ground beneath it, lifting the rest into the air for a moment. The roots retreated up out of the ground, wrapping around and splitting the trunk into several supports for the top. The leaves on the bush spread out of their own accord atop the roots and trunk, making a fairly nice bed. The branches twisted and wrapped around themselves to create about six ‘legs’.

The now mobile bush walked over on its ‘legs’ to the not-moving thing, laying down next to her. The child rolled their new thing onto the ‘bed’, which then rose up and started lumbering off deeper into the very dangerous woods. All the while, the plant-child sat with their new thing’s head in their lap, running their fingers through her soft hair…