Chapter 79

"Daryl?" Karen asked me, sounding uncertain and a bit scared as she looked around the darkened store.

"We might have to give up on this place for now." I replied reluctantly. The opportunity to have the store to ourselves was tempting, but since we didn't really have the place to ourselves there wasn't much we could do.

"You sure?" Micheal asked me. Obviously unwilling.

Before I could reply I felt all of the mana around us rapidly flow away. I had no idea what was going on with the mana, but with all the mana having disappeared from around us I felt a lot more comfortable than I had since the storm started. An anxiety that I hadn't even realized I had, disappeared leaving me feeling more relaxed and confident.

Ariel and Enya appeared a second later. "Master! The scaled wolves were just outside. They ran off as soon as the mana settled down." Enya reported excitedly.

I frowned, did they know that was going to happen? Even if they did, why did they leave?

Before I could consider that thought even further there were loud agonized shrieks coming from the snake's direction. We all looked over to see the snake glowing red as flames enveloped its body burning away the webbing and spiders alike.

"Master, the mana storm has receded, you can use your abilities." Delilah reminded me.

I smiled upon hearing that.

"You have to hurry though, there is no telling how long you will have before the storm picks up again, and it will be worse when it returns." Delilah told me.

"Great." I said then frowned as I noticed that the flames from the snake were starting to spread. I quickly activated my water magic ability and sent a large stream of water at the snake to douse the flames so it didn't burn down the whole building.

Feeling the water on it, the snake turned to face me while hissing angrily. As soon as it did I realized there was an issue. The snake now had three eyes, and four enormous fangs that dripped with venom. Unless the rattlesnake went through some major mutations, it wasn't one from this world.

"Cut it out." I yelled at the snake bravely. I felt a wave of fear wash over me but my mind guard was able to deal with it. "If you want to kill spiders, kill spiders, but don't burn the place down!" I yelled at the snake as I conjured a large ball of dark flame over my right hand.

The snake shifted the gaze of its third eye which was located in the middle of its head, to my shadow flame. As soon as it focused on the shadow flame it closed its mouth. I could guess that the snake was considering whether a fight between the pair of us would be a wise idea.

Just as it was considering the idea the tarantula appeared on the wall beside the door leading into the back. Upon noticing the tarantula the snake gave up on me. It hissed angrily at the tarantula and began to move through the metal rafters towards the spider.

Along the way I spotted several spiders appear around the snake, but it didn't seem to notice them. Apparently the spiders also had a hiding technique, which explained how they snuck up on the snaken the first time. Over thirty spiders appeared to attack the snake, but they all burned just as quickly as the last ones. Seeing the other spiders burn the tarantula quickly retreated into the back. Did the tarantula not see the first set of spiders burn?

"Master, the people who were hiding in the back left the store." Delilah reported to me.

I nodded. If they had left I wasn't going to concern myself with them. Instead I looked towards where the last human survivors were. "Let's go save the last group, then we can try and finish off the victor." I told them.

Micheal smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me." he said happily.

"Delilah, keep an eye on the battle in the back, I am worried the spider is setting a trap for the snake." I told her.

"It didn't." Delilah replied to me. "I don't sense any other spiders in the building, and the tarantula is trying to escape using the same door the humans used. I don't think it is going to make it."

I frowned, something still didn't feel right. Was I overestimating the intelligence of the spider?

"It did leave eggs all over the store." Delilah added as an afterthought.

There it was.

"Alright, Delilah keep an eye on the fight. Aura lead the way to the other group. Ariel, Enya, and Elmera I want you to gather all of the eggs into one place. Preferably somewhere open and away from the portal. Sil I want you to stay here and watch the portal." I ordered.

The girls all nodded.

I turned my attention to the humans and Chewy. "So who is going?" I asked.

"Me." Micheal spoke up quickly.

"I'll stay." Chewy replied.

I nodded at that, Chewy could frighten the survivors.

"Stay." Caly answered.

"I'll go with you." Karen and Megan both said at nearly the same time.

"Alright." I said then gave Caly a quick hug and kiss before heading off towards the automotive section. Micheal matched my pace while the girls followed behind us. A moment later Aura appeared in the front to lead the way. As she did she provided extra light for us to see by. Which was a definite plus as my mana sight could aid my normal sight, but it wasn't night vision.

"Slow down." I called out to Aura as we neared the farthest corner. If this store was like the others of its kind I had been in, this was close to where they kept spare ammo. While there weren't any guns for sale in the store, plenty of people in Arizona carried guns.

"What is it?" Aura asked.

"I don't want to get shot at." I replied.

"Probably should just call out to them. Let them come to us." Micheal said.

"Go ahead, but we have to make this quick. We still have to figure out how to handle the snake before the storm comes back. That and we should shore this place up so nothing else sneaks in until we are done." I told him.

Micheal nodded. "Anyone there? The monsters are busy, so if you want to get out of here now is time!" he called out loudly.

Only silence answered him.

"Master. The snake has caught the spider and is ripping its legs off one by one." Delilah reported.

"Got it. Keep an eye on it. I don't want it sneaking up on us." I said. I had kept my darkfire out but I wasn't sure it would be enough. With that in mind I decided to use the opportunity to prepare a contingency plan while we waited. It only took a moment with the storm calmed down, but that little bit was enough to make me feel better.

"What did you do?" Karen asked having sensed that I was doing something.

I gave her a wink. "Surprise." I told her.

Both Karen and Megan rolled their eyes but didn't say anything.

Micheal called out again but there still wasn't a response.

"Delilah, can you check on them, without losing track of the snake?" I asked.

"Yes master." Delilah replied.

"I could have done it." Aura commented.

"I need your light to see." I told her.

That seemed to appease her a bit.

"Master, they aren't moving. They are alive, but…" she said then stopped. "Something about them seems off." she added.

"Let's go. Keep your eyes open." I said with a frown. "Aura light the area up. Delilah you can focus on the snake again."

Aura rose up into the air lighting up the aisles in the back corner. Once she had we moved quickly towards the group. We had to move some shelving that had moved to barricade their hiding spot, but it was easy to move with my current strength. Once it was out of the way I could see them, and their problem. There were eight people sitting on the ground with their backs to the shelves all lined up next to each other. Huddling as close together as they could.

"Are they sleeping?" Megan asked once she saw them.

I shook my head. With my mana sight I could see that none of them had awakened their cores. There was something going on in their minds. An energy encompassed their brains. From time to time they would twitch or shift, and one, a pretty woman in her early twenties whimpered. My best guess these people had been hit by the snake's fear before it went off to hunt something else. The fear seemed potent enough to keep them there. A perfect way to keep them as a snack for later.

"Aura, can you clear mental attacks with your light?" I asked.

"Yes." Aura replied proudly then shone a brilliant light down on the group. A moment later they all stilled. Then they began to look around.

"Master. The snake has stopped tormenting the spider." Delilah reported.

I groaned. "Is it heading this way?" I asked, guessing it had noticed that we cleared the fear from the human it was keeping for later.

"No master." she said. "It only pulled four of the legs off, then it suddenly killed it before it laid down. It seems to be having trouble breathing."

I was shocked and unsure what the hell was going on.

"Sounds like the tarantula poisoned itself before the snake caught it." Karen said. "That way even if it died the snake would be here as food to feed the baby spiders in the eggs."