90 Survival in the Great Boneyard

The sheer size and speed of the Immortal Wyrm was terrifying on its own, but add to it the fact that its jaws could demolish a section of cliff face in an instant without slowing down and it was beyond terrifying. Yun lacked the confidence of their ability to survive this predicament, but she knew that their only chance was to keep moving, keep risking their lives, and get to the ground below them.

There was still a few kilometers of vertical cliff left to traverse before reaching the ground. Yun kept frantically scuttling sideways along the small ledge, creating more distance from the nest of the giant Wyrm above her. To the other side it looked like Wuying was doing the same, but he was going the other way. Soon they would be unable to see each other, but they knew that that was the least of their concerns.

Suddenly the cliff beside her thinned even further, barely having room for her small paws to fit on it, as she continued trying to flee. This tiny, thin cliff couldn't even sustain the vibration from the impacts of the Wyrm's attacks, and the next time it struck out the ledge she was on began to crumble.

Yun plummeted!

Falling rapidly, Yun kept trying to find something to grab onto on the cliff side. Her only chance was to stop her fall and begin safely traversing the cliff again! As thoughts ran through her head she thought about how her Argent Spears could directly fly through the air and brought them out to catch hold of, but as she grabbed hold of them she found that they couldn't support her weight. They themselves were weightless, and their power was in the speed of their collisions, so they had very little ability to actually fly.

Having tried something that changed her balance, she began twisting and rotating in midair. She was no longer worried about the Wyrm, but solely about her own survival.

Ten meters passed in a flash, 15 meters, 20 meters!

Yun finally had a thought that might save her.

Spears!

She had a number of spears that, while not incredibly flexible, were made of very strong materials that should be able to go through the stones beside her. She pulled two out of her storage and attempted to stab the stone face, only to be rebounded from the impact, forced back by her lack of stability.

She was now frustrated, thinking that if only she had something that could cut the rock more easily she might be able to get it in the wall. Finally, in a desperate moment, she decided to risk her own primary weapon, the spear that was now growing more spiritual with her.

Stabilizing her body with the help of her Argent Spears yet again, she leaned forwards and flew back towards the rock face as she retrieved her spear. Aiming it at the stone face, she lifted the blade above her head in a stabbing position, hands nearly all the way to the blade, and stabbed it strongly into the rock face.

Schick! The blade cut cleanly into the stone face with the force of her blow. As her weight pulled down hard on it she struggled to keep the blade in the wall instead of sliding out as the spear became the fulcrum for her body to swing down and smash into the wall. Yun nearly lost her grip in the dazed moment when her entire body smashed against the uneven stones, but managed to struggle through the pain and hold on as she began sliding down the rough wall rapidly, sparks flying from her spear as it cut the stone apart.

Slowly—much too slowly—Yun's rate of descent began to reduce. The gouge she was cleaving into the rock was extending bit by bit until she was finally slow enough to grasp onto a ledge she was nearly passing! First she gripped the ledge with her back paws, digging in her claws to try and grip the narrow ledge, while she used her arms and the spear to try and stick close to the rock face. Clearly struggling, she managed to stop nearly in a crouch. She hugged the rock wall tightly, standing up to regain her balance, as she removed her spear from the stone face and stored it.

Phew!

Yun let out a sigh of relief. She had fallen nearly two hundred meters! Thinking that maybe this was far enough, she looked up to see the status of the Immortal Wyrm whose territory they had obviously invaded on accident.

Her heart sank.

She wasn't sure where it came from, but above her appeared to be a bright scarlet stain on the wall. With the angle she was looking up at it was very difficult to determine distance, but she imagined it was likely close to two hundred meters.

Long Wuying!

She worried that this was the blood of Wuying, and that his body had been taken by the Immortal Wyrm as she was free-falling out of reach. She frantically looked around, but couldn't see him anywhere. Unsurprising considering he was previously shimmying on a ledge nearly two hundred meters above her head.

With a deep sigh of regret, Yun kept working on clambering down the wall safely when she had a tingling sensation and her hackles raised all down her back.

Leap!

Yun leapt to the side again, feeling it was likely the Immortal Wyrm coming for her again!

Above her she saw the legs of the massive Wyrm gripping the sheer rock face as it began turning and rushing back up the cliff face.

A deep sigh yet again, this time of relief, escaped Yun's mouth, but she now knew that she was far from safe yet. She accelerated, trying to make it to the bottom of the cliff that was still over a thousand meters beneath her!

Yun heard the Immortal Wyrm coming again, this time she could tell it was coming because of how far it had to travel to reach her. She was three hundred meters below it's nest, nearly twice it's body length!

Looking up she thought she had time to dodge, but she realized she was too late. The gigantic pincers on it's head came crashing towards her!