Chapter Twenty Seven

The panicked screaming intensified as they ran down a path to the right. Still, despite rushing, they remained in formation, though Ione dashed ahead far faster than anyone else could run.

A few seconds later, rapid images of raptors surrounding a team of Chrotile. The largest of the team, presumably their tank, spun, trying to keep his shield between the raptors and his team, but going by one of their members, already bleeding on the ground unconscious, his attempts weren’t working against the five raptors.

One raptor leaped forward, leaving a deep gash on the scaly shield, causing the tank to stumble back a step. Before he could recover, another raptor dove in, biting into his leg. He gritted his teeth, putting all his will into holding his ground despite his bleeding and trembling leg barely capable of holding his own weight, let alone defend against another attack.

Unfortunately, the next attack came. As predators, they sensed weakness and moved in to exploit. The raptor directly in front of the tank bashed its head into the shield, forcing the tank to brace himself on his injured leg. Muscles under his scales trembled as they clenched to hold against the force, but the oozing wounds were too much. His leg buckled, dropping him to one knee, but he still kept his shield raised with his team behind him.

The raptor bashed its head into the shield again. This time it held. However, this was only a distraction as the now immobile tank failed to react in time as two more raptors circled around to attack the other two conscious Chrotile. The taller of the two raised their bow, but was far too slow and close to release an arrow before the raptor arrived. Their teammate dashed in wielding a dagger but inexperience showed as they missed the stab, earning themselves a deep gash in their chest.

The dagger wielding Chrotile glared at the raptor defiance in their pain dilated eyes, but willpower alone wouldn’t save them as the second raptor came in from behind. An arrow hit the second raptor, but all it did was bounce off its scales. With the force of a bull, the raptor rammed its head into the back of the dagger wielding Chrotile, sending them rocketing forward, air ejecting from their lungs and several cracks along their spine.

Like a hungry hippo, the first raptor opened its mouth to receive its prize, only for an arrow to pierce its tongue. With a growly whimper, the raptor jerked back and clamped its mouth shut, snapping the arrow, but the distraction worked as the dagger wielding Chrotile missed being bitten in half. Unfortunately, the injuries were severe already. A single whimper escaped the Chrotile laying in a heap on the torn up clearing before they stilled.

Both raptors turned their attention to the archer with two others circling in the last one, keeping the tank busy. They nocked another arrow, but with two targets and two more closing in, they knew it was pointless.

Resolve settled on their features as they glanced at the tank, who was valiantly defending against their raptor despite their injured leg. Just as the raptors collided with the archer, they released an arrow not for their raptors but for the raptor attacking the tank.

The arrow struck true, spearing through the left eye of the raptor, stilling it instantly, allowing the tank to spring upwards with his sword slicing deep into its throat. As the dead raptor collapsed to the ground, the tank spun toward the archer, ignoring the leg pulsing with blood and pain, but it was far too late.

As if in silent understanding, the raptors went high and low, one taking a deep chunk out of the archer’s hamstring while the other bit down on their torso. With dimming eyes, the archer’s gaze connected with the tank watching helplessly. “Run!”

Ione sent more Images asking her mother if it was worth saving the weak scaly treats. To her it was obvious they were wounded prey, so not worth saving. However, she knew her mother probably had a different opinion on them. Just in case, Ione readied herself to pounce as her mother and the scaly treat trio entered the clearing.

Elysia glanced to where her bond was hiding, but the moment she readied her lightning to strike, wind blades and lightning bolts struck the raptors with precise accuracy far beyond Elysia’s unruly lightning. Everyone looked to the left trail opposite Elysia’s team to find two massive Chrotile charging forward great swords raised.

Stunned by the lightning and deep cuts from the wind blades, the raptors failed to react as the great swords cleaved down, beheading two raptors before another volley. This time, water bullets and wind blades reached the remaining two raptors, decimating them upon impact. The two raptors let out a whimper as they collapsed to the ground, littered with wounds. A pair of great swords descended on them, ending their lives with a precise chop to each of their necks.

Two Prismatic Chrotile walked into the clearing now that the threat was eliminated. Light glinted off their ever shifting scales as they surveyed the clearing landing on Elysia’s team. Their slitted eyes lingering on Elysia for a moment longer than the rest of her team before focusing on the aftermath of their slaughter.

They remained at the edge of the gory ring of dead raptors as the two massive Chrotile materialized red potions out of nowhere. After surveying the grievous wounds on the three Chrotile they dipped their heads in the mourning. However, the severe wounds didn’t stop them from pulling out small bottles of red liquid and forcing them down their throats, hoping to give them a little more time in case they make it to a healer.

The slightly taller of the two massive Chrotile turned to the only standing member of the team. “Your Mezo journey ends here. Please activate your beacon. There’s still a chance your teammates might survive.”

Distraught, the tank could only nod dumbly as they tapped their wristband, causing it to shine.

Satisfied, they nodded toward Elysia’s team before turning to walk back to the Prismatic Chrotile, who looked on to the scene with an impassive expression. Just as efficiently as they came, they left, leaving the downed team in the hands of Elysia’s team.

Elysia looked at the gory mess with indifference, despite knowing she should care. Her team, however, rushed forward to check on them, leaving Elysia and the newly reappeared Ione standing alone near the entrance to the clearing.

Was Ione rubbing off on her? No, even back in Port Alberni she didn’t react normally to finding the dead bodies. She tried her best to let Port Alberni know about their deaths, but quickly moved on. Now she felt like it was a waste of time to guard them. The other team probably felt the same. They saved them and gave them a chance, then left. She didn’t know them, and she was an outsider to begin with. Something that was becoming more obvious the longer she stayed with her team.

After checking the unconscious members of the team were stable, her team moved into guarding formation with each member taking a side joined by the tank, who now had a determined expression, refusing to let down his team again.

Were they planning to guard them until help arrived? What if it took days? Was it smart to sit out in the open like this? She didn’t want to babysit an injured team and from the looks of things, none of them besides the tank would be walking anytime soon, let alone fighting.

Images of them leaving flashed through her mind from Ione, who looked up at her with big, hopeful, kitten eyes.

Unsure, Elysia looked toward her team only to find them all sending judgement glances at her trying to tell her she should help.

Instead of answering either side, Elysia directed her attention down to Ione. “Please scout the area. Let me know if anything is nearby.”

Ione’s tail drooped, but she turned and stalked into the jungle, leaving Elysia alone against the judgement.

She released a sigh before determination welled up in her. Her back straightened as she strode toward the team. However, a few meters away, she stopped. Just close enough to speak without yelling, though when she opened her mouth, she received several sharp looks as if to tell her to stay quiet in case she drew attention. This only added fuel to her decision. “I think we need to talk. All this silent judgement won’t do any of us any good.”

Thauzo, who stood to her right, nodded his head after a few seconds of thought. He first glanced at Thaux, receiving an all-clear hand signal before turning his attention to Elysia. “I understand, but can it wait until we ensure team 26’s safety?”

A scowl flashed despite her attempts. “How long will it take? I get wanting to help them, but we shouldn’t stay out in the open like this for too long. What if another ambush hits us?”

Thres and Thaux sent a glare at her, but Thauzo kept calm as the spokesperson and leader of the team. “We don’t know how far we are from the nearest rescue team, but probably at least a couple of hours.”

Annoyance built, but she released a sigh and turned to walk away. “Fine, I need to spend some attribute points anyway.”

Thauzo lifted his hand to stop anyone from following her. “Just leave her be. She doesn’t understand our customs.”

With her sensitive ears, Elysia heard him causing her to clench her fists. They were making it hard for her to want to stay. Once she spent her attribute points, she would be far stronger than them, too. If she could spend them all. It was going to take a while to use nearly three hundred attribute points without killing herself. What did Thrazk say? No more than 10 in three attributes at once or thirty in one? Actually, she could dump twenty in each of her primary attributes to hit 100 with short breaks between the dumps. How long was long enough of a break, though? She guessed she would have to risk it. If they were willing to wait here until they rescued the injured team, they had to wait for her to recover if she overdid it. Thrazk said she would unlock some bonus. That could help her a ton if she struck out on her own with Ione.

She unstrapped her backpack and laid down on an undisturbed section of grass, wiggling a bit to get comfortable. Before she started, she prodded her bond with Ione to check up on her. A moment later she received a rapid sequence of images showing aside from the team that left them there wasn’t anything within a kilometer of them, though two dungeons were to the east and south.

Worried she might be incapacitated and unsure if she could trust her team, she asked Ione to return. Having something fluffy to lie on didn’t hurt either. It was just to have a guard cat, for sure.

A minute later, Ione appeared out of the jungle and sat next to her mother with questioning eyes, hoping they would leave the useless scaly treats soon.

As to not alert the nearby Chrotile to her thoughts, Elysia sent her current plans through their bond with images, though it was a struggle. After some thought, she sent what she wanted to do with words like a text message hoping her bond could read, only to receive confusion back.

With a sigh Elysia tried again this time with images of her using attribute points then possibly hurting herself and her desire for Ione to protect her deciding to leave out her thought of leaving just yet as to not get her kitten’s hopes up as she wasn’t sure she would yet.

Even if she got a huge boost, it was dangerous out there. One look at the defeated team told her that. She would have struggled against five raptors at once, though with Ione she probably wouldn’t get ambushed in the first place. She wasn’t an indestructible monster like Thrazk, but if she played things smart, she should be able to limit risk. Especially since Ione and her could communicate silently even from a distance. No need for some stupid sign language she didn’t know half the signs for.

The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of adventuring with just Ione. Plus, with how her team worked with each other, they should be fine without her as long as they don’t run into another bird dungeon.