33: The Slythwyrm Encounter

Lyra leveraged on that opportunity to take out one of her vials and took a sip before keeping it back. From her exchange with the beast she already knows that Emelda's cage might not be enough to take it down.

'I was correct with my guess… it is a Slythwyrm. It would not go down easily else we find its weak spot on time. If not it will keep self-healing any injury accumulated.'

After taking the sip… she seemed reenergized, "At least I can go for another round with it."

The oversize worm shrieked again as its eyes seemed to have flashed with a glint of red. For a long time hidden in this cavern, this seemed to be its first time of being injured. Perhaps!

Before it can go after Lyra who was on the other side of another tunnel entrance. It was suddenly surrounded by thick roots, half the size of a human hand, sprouting out of the ground and the walls around it, ensnaring it.

There, beside it was Emelda, the source of the sprouting cage, making strange hand gestures… manipulating the twirling of the roots around the beast.

Then from those roots, smaller but sturdier tendrils began to branch-off shaped like the whip Emelda had used earlier. They all went for the beast's body.

However, the beast's vines wrapped around the ones it could… while the rest were slashing on its tough scale like spears. They were just hitting it as they could not penetrate its scales.

As if in berserk mode, the beast started hitting its tail against the cage of thick roots, erratically.

"I know how to finish it off…" said Lyra.

She wasn't with her wand this time. Instead her two hands were raised, directed towards the cage as visible ethereal energy began to leak out and coat the whips.

As if enhanced, the whips began to pierce the beast's body with a faster speed.

But it was speedily healing and continued its hit with its tail on the cage. As time went on, the cage began to weaken, even though they were coated with Lyra's energy.

Emelda was surprised at the rate of the beast's healing. "If this goes on… soon, the cage won't be able to hold out"

"Can you concentrate those tendril whips on its head. That is where it is most vulnerable to energy attacks I guess. If the whips can pierce its brain, it should be enough to finish it off."

Emelda did as instructed. Even making the whips thicker and more pointy.

Surprisingly, just as the cage cracked due to the constant hitting it was getting. The five whips connected with the head of the Slythwyrm, piercing and perforating right through its brown brain.

It was a fatal blow that took all atoms of life off the beast.

The carcass of the beast fell down lifelessly as the cage dissipated into tiny particles.

Emelda slumped to the ground due to exhaustion in using her plant-related powers.

"Phew! We did it!" She said, smiling widely as tears pricked out of her eyes.

She looked up to Lyra who was approaching the beast's carcass. "You seemed to know about the beast?"

"Yes… I have read about it in one of the books at the academy. It is called the Slythwyrm. It is fast, has an impervious scaly body and heals speedily too.

"Earlier, I discovered that it was wounded by energy attacks while I was buying you time."

"I think it has more abilities. I can't remember all of them anymore as I read about it to kill time then. I only remember that its weakest point is its head." Lyra replied as she bent over to access the beast.

"Umm, Emelda, thank you," muttered Lyra while scrutinizing the beast.

"For what?"

"Earlier… When we were up against the Slythwyrm, I was scared… seriously. Not only did you help me to feel courageous again after my encounter with the Tendrilwort, you ignited something in me. It felt entirely different from every other thing I have felt in my life… I was able to perfect my teleportation spell." Lyra said in a voice above a whisper.

"I mean it… using my enchantment has always been my greatest weakness, even after my session with the High Priest. I always fear that I will lose control like I did five years ago, which…" She started sobbing.

Then she rose up and went for a hug. Emelda embraced her and wiped Lyra tears with her thumb. "It's okay now, nothing like that will happen again… And no need to thank me. We wouldn't have defeated that thing if you hadn't stalled for the necessary time and also if not for your prompt intervention too when the cage was weakened."

They untangled the hug. Lyra took out her vial once again and threw it at Emelda.

"Woah!" Emelda exclaimed as she caught the vial thrown to her by Lyra.

She took a sip, however she picked up more smooshing sounds approaching from the middle of the tunnel they had run out from.

"Can you hear that?"

"Yeah… seems like more are coming. Look, I just discovered some smoky stuff escaping from its pores. It might have attracted the others. Maybe, a kind of pheromone… We should hurry and hide."

"Hide? Don't you think that they are coming from somewhere closer to the exit of this creepy place?" Emelda stood up on her feet, revitalized from the nectar she had taken.

Lyra approached her, "That makes sense though. But we had it tough dealing with just one. Do you think we can handle more than one?" Lyra was being reasonable, especially since they had exhausted most of their energy fighting that one. But Emelda had a different perspective.

"If that will help me to meet up with Alvan soonest, then it's worth trying. After all, we can easily finish them off now, plus we have the element of surprise attack on our side."

Lyra was perplexed looking at Emelda saying these things. She herself knows that Emelda was right. They had to meet up with the others and get out of this hellish abyss. There was also Etheloria waiting for them. There is no time to waste hiding around the labyrinthine tunnels…

'I am worried about Thorne too. Who knows if he is even with anyone now…' Lyra mumbled inaudible, but a certain thought still lingered in her mind. She still couldn't shake off the incident of five years ago when she lost control of her enchantment powers.

Lyra would never forget that traumatizing incident that was etched in her mind as fresh as the day it happened. The incident that always blackmails her with guilt and self-blame which always squeezed all air out of her lungs. A choking feeling that had been her limitation in tapping fully into the potentials of her enchantment abilities.

It was in that kind of situation that people would advise one to let go of their past and move on. But, it was not all that simple for her. She has tried severally to forgive herself for what she did to her mother… just that her inner demons refused to let it all slide like that.

However, moments ago, she felt whole within. That roadblock seems to have been maneuvered somehow by her when they were going up against the beast. That was the refreshing feeling of courage she had lost for a long time, which helped her to finally utilize her abilities in the fight.

Lyra turned towards Emelda who was done setting up her tendril traps around the entrances of tunnels surrounding them. It was a way to easily ambush the other Slythwyrms coming after them.

With a more renewed confidence and conviction than ever before, she took out her wand… ready for her next spell-casting and squashing of some beasts' brains.

••••

However, the male trio were also on their own side trying to figure out what had happened to them and how to find their comrades and the way out as well…