"Let's go"
The chief's voice echoed in the cave. The grim march began as the echoes of the snake's now successful attempts at widening the entrance reached their ears.
'Not even this ancient tree can stop that thing…'
Gwin's mind was spinning with different ideas and plans but realistically it would all come down to luck
'It's gaze is fixed...I think, so as long as it slithers on the ground it can't see what is above it. Its blades also don't reach.'
He knew though that their chances would be slim. If the serpent caught on to what they were doing then it could easily twist its body to reach them with its profane gaze. The only guiding hope Gwin had was that nightmare creatures with powerful ranged attacks like that were usually physically weaker. They could still easily tear him limb from limb however. The difference in strength was relative after all.
He would only have one chance.
Time crawled by. The echoes of splintering wood and roaring hisses reached their ears periodically causing the group to stay tense.The air was thick with dread but they trudged forward nonetheless.
They marched for what seemed like hours. The tunnel eventually inclined and turned into a steep slope. It wasn't steep enough to be forced to climb but the fall was something to avoid if you wanted to make it to the end. Gwin clung to the wood as best he could.
'We must be getting close'
Indeed they were. Up ahead the tunnel turned into a circle of warm orange light. As they approached they could see a path along the side of the tree's enormous trunk. The tree's diameter looked to be roughly 100 meters. The path itself was wide enough for three people to stand shoulder to shoulder. The setting sun painted everything in an orange glow. The path was carved into the side of the tree and curled upward around it.
'More walking..'
Gwin didn't expect his first nightmare to include so much cardio. He thanked [Rugged] again for why he hadn't dropped dead yet and for how easy it made running. Except things weren't easy in any way. He still had to face an actual devil after all.
'Why are we so desperate to reach the nursery?'
Gwin couldn't help but wonder what their plan was. Nurseries were places for babies to grow and be safe weren't they? What did they plan to find there to help them defeat that snake? Gwin's thoughts turned dark at the thought that all that walking was for nothing. It wouldn't change the fact that the snake had to die but he would have preferred to fight it before hiking for several hours, even if his attribute had been fighting against his mounting exhaustion.
He was starting to feel sluggish. A drawn out fight with a nightmare creature is never a good option, in fact most battles ended in mere moments. Either the awakened dealt a fatal blow or they were eviscerated by its deadly claws…or fangs ...or tentacles…really any part of a nightmare creature was deadly to an awakened.
Gwin flinched as he looked at the drop to his left. He wobbled and almost lost his balance. From here he could see both sides of the island as well as a smoldering village full of primitive buildings.
'That explains why there are only us few. Something doesn't add up though…'
Why do their weapons seem way more advanced than their..everything else? Gwin traced his path best he could and managed to find the temple as well. They had moved a considerable distance from it. It looked tiny from up here. Its center had completely collapsed from the snake's attack. Speaking of which.
'How close is it?'
"KKKKKRRRRRSSSSSSSAAAAKKKKK"
Gwin started running as the entrance to the tunnel exploded in a rain of splinters
The hiss had erupted behind them about 20 meters away if Gwin had to guess. His legs started moving before he even processed that the serpent was right behind them. The others were a little later to react. Behind him he heard pale scales slam onto the path and the blades as they scraped against the wood only to be sucked in a moment later. Luckily it seemed this path was meant for humans and not humongous snakes which was certainly a good thing.
'I mean what business does a snake have taking a path..don't they like climbing and stuff?'
The curve of the path added a new level of deadliness to the sprint. Well it was already deadly but now they had to be aware of their steps which was hard to do while running from such a horrifying creature. If Gwin made it out of here he vowed to never let a snake live should he meet another. On their right was smooth wood from the carved path and to the left was a colossal drop to the green jungle below. He could tell they were nearing the base of a mighty branch that nearly reached the edge of the island. Above them was an area of the tree where the trunk turned into a myriad of branches. The trunk stopped entirely instead of continuing in split limbs giving it a strange artificial look.
Despite the chase Gwin remained calm. His raw feet could only handle so much pain and instead decided to go numb which saved Gwin the effort of grimacing with each step. His legs screamed from the strain though so he didn't get to stop wincing unfortunately. Gwin was utterly exhausted by now. He hadn't had a moment's rest since he had gotten here and now here he was running for his life again. To go from not even being able to run a mile to what he could do now with his attribute would have been cool and something worth bragging about if it wasn't currently the only thing stopping him from becoming snake crap.
It was a little embarrassing…
He was in the middle of the group. The awakened and the girl were in front of him while the two men with the weapons were behind him. He could hear them falling behind though.
'No! Keep up…please!'
He couldn't have them die here. He needed them for the fight against the serpent! Well, their weapons at least.Gwin assumed their weapons had to be strong enough to injure the serpent otherwise they wouldn't still be carrying them, that was what he hoped at least.
'I ne-'
Gwin heard three things in rapid succession. A hiss, a scream, and a crunch. Hot blood splattered his back as the slowest man met a cruel fate in the jaws of the serpent