The Execution

Once the gate opened fully, revealing the monstrosity within, everyone paused and felt sweat dripping down their faces.

Their heartbeats racing, thumping loudly in their chest. Their hands lost grip on their weapon. Their eyes couldn't believe the sight that laid right in front of them?

They..were supposed to fight that? Was it even possible to win? With one swipe of the snake body, it'd send them crashing right into the deepest depths of earth.

But no one took a step back and ran. They stared ahead, trembling but determined.

"Don't wake it up." Anne said, switching out her arrow. She took the initiative to walk in first. Each step she was cautious, making sure she made no sound whatsoever.

"Anne!" Ophelia whispered in an urgent tone. She couldn't believe they were actually going to fight that thing!

Zane grabbed onto Ophelia's hand and raised it, putting her hands to his mouth. "We'll get back safe and sound. So let's put faith in each other." He said, looking at her. 

The only one who stood still was Kai. He didn't want to admit it but he was scared. The monster was huge. It could occupy the size of a large village. He summoned a sword in his hand. 

Kai pieced himself back together and looked ahead. "I'll..attack from a close range." He said to Zane who was watching Ophelia walking away from his grasp.

"We both have to work together then. If you see danger, run and dodge. Attacking it doesn't matter, what does is that we all return in one piece. And I hope you're fast enough." Zane said, not keeping his eyes off the snake.

"Okay." Kai answered, watching Zane held onto his own necklace tightly. 

"You can quit now. It isn't too late. And your uncle..is probably dead if he came in here without high ranked adventurers." Zane felt like he shouldn't continue lying and dragging a kid around. It wasn't what he wanted in the first place.

Killing the snake was an adventurer's job as they had to eradicate threats. Not a kid who was just looking around for his uncle. 

"So go home." Zane continued, looking behind pitifully at Kai. 

"I appreciate the concern. But I don't need it." Kai answered, walking in first. The more he hesitated, the more he would want to run away just like Zane had said. And..he would also get too attached. He couldn't.

Kai felt the crunch of the bones beneath him cracking under the pressure. This scene horrifically reminded him of the past. He winced and trudged on, stopping only a few metres away from the snake tail. 

He watched as Zane positioned himself at the face of the snake. It seemed like his plan was just to go in headfirst and make a hit at an critical spot.

Zane looked around and raised his hand, pointing three fingers as it made the count down to one. It was an undecided signal but effective and easily understood.

His hands were shaking as he made the countdown, one of his legs was dug deep into the bone field. Once his hand reached his index finger. He rushed ahead and with both of his swords, he stabbed it deep into the nose of the snake.

The snake woke up with a hiss, shaking its body violently. The whole ground began to shake to the snake's will. It's eyes opened as it made eye contact with Zane. This sparked an even more violent reaction. 

It swung it's head violently as it shook Zane off. With every move it made, the ground beneath trembled in fear. It opened its mouth, revealing the sharpest set of teeth. It shone and glimmered.

Zane landed on both feet while he attempted to stop himself from skidding backwards with his sword.

Ophelia had conjured a large fireball in the time Zane had approached the snake. She released her magic and the biggest blast she had ever made hit right at the snake's head.

The snake hissed as it blindly swung its tail around, hoping to hit something. Once the smoke cleared up, it slithered towards Zane. It lifted it's head and swung it downwards.

Zane used wind magic beneath his feet as he jumped up high and latched himself with the help of his swords into the snake scales. He maneuvered himself over to the other side of the snake. 

Anne shot; she watched the arrow fly towards the snake eyes and hoped it wouldn't miss or get reflected off. 

The snake wasn't staying still. It could feel something sharp attempting to penetrate deeper into its scales. The arrow that was shot did no damage to the hard scales.

Ophelia could feel herself and Anne panicking. She closed her eyes and chanted a barrier spell. Then she created a boulder of a large size in the sky and released it down upon the snake's body.

It crashed onto the scales. The boulder broke into little fragments as it exploded into dust.

Zane felt the dust hit his face while the snake was moving too fast for him to hold on to. He made the blades of his sword faster as he attempted to melt the scales. He didn't notice where he was but it hit him before he knew it.

The snake's body crashed into the tree. Swinging back and forth turbulently. It finally could feel the object that was hanging onto it's scales gone.

Ophelia stared at the tree walls in shock. She watched as the snake moved away and slithered towards them. But in that split second her vision wasn't blocked by the white scales, she saw Zane moulded into the wood.

He sat there as he slid down, almost knocked out. His head was bleeding while one of his bones poked his abdomen. He could tell that a bone or two in his ribcage had cracked. 

Anne reloaded arrows and shot down faster than she could breathe. One or two managed to stay in the snake's body but it soon fell off. She didn't know what to do against such a hard shell.

Not daring to look any further, Ophelia prayed that Zane was fine and only needed a few minutes to recuperate. And that was a few minutes she could grant. 

Her eyes glowed red as a large ray of fire shot out from her wand, blinding the snake and burning it's scales. She toned up the heat even more as she stood her ground. Her barrier was cracking, she could tell.

The snake was restless, hammering away at the shield as if it was nothing. It ignored the burning sensation that was upon it and made its way to the humans. It had been a while since it had its last full meal.

Kai stood still and watched the whole event unfold in front of him. Zane most likely immobile for at least a few minutes. And in that few minutes if he didn't wake up, Ophelia would exhaust her mana at that rate. 

He could feel a crackle through his arms, rushing through his whole body. Electricity coursed through his veins as the hair on his body rose.

He felt an endless string of pain striking his body. It hurt, but it worked according to what he had configured in his mind. He was about to charge ahead as he looked at the intense fire roaring up ahead.

It was going to hurt. He gritted his teeth and erased all his thoughts, two hands on the sword. He dashed and vanished as fast as lightning.