Perhaps they shouldn't have set as much bait as they had.
Because apparently, the food set out was fragrant enough for the entire nest of threshers to pursue it!
'Why are they all here?!'
They hadn't spotted the pack at first, since their bait trailed behind a sharp turn formed by the edge of a steep, stone hill. Originally, this strategy was meant to hide the cohort from the pack of threshers so that they could isolate a single one. However, they hadn't really expected this strategy to backfire, hiding the pack of threshers instead!
It was also the meat of their own kind…
It was extremely difficult to take an exact count due to the chaos, but Elis spotted nearly half a dozen threshers—most likely five—waiting for them.
'We… we can't do this!'
Not even a moment later, one of the threshers from the pack burrowed beneath the sand—dissapearing into its endless depth with its sharp claws. The only way you could tell its location was through a displaced mound of sand moving swiftly towards… towards her!
'It can do that?!'
Elis hadn't studied threshers very much. She only knew the important bits of information—which she learned from her time as a guild member through some strategic eavesdropping—such as its basic structure and regions it inhabited.
She also learned that threshers were blind, which actually made a lot of sense considering the situation she was in. Threshers were known for their key sense of smell—having traded their vision in order to enhance their other senses.
But , it seemed like the rest of her knowledge would come from experience. Experience she would gain right about now-
Bwoosh!
The thresher erupted from beneath Elis—sending grains and clumps of sand all around. She dodged backwards at the very last second, avoiding being launched a great distance in the air.
She had a moment to look around before the thresher would be upon her again—a moment to observe her surroundings and cohort.
It was not looking good for them.
The first one she noticed was Silque. He was already a distance away from Elis to her right.
She saw sparks of energy dance around his fingers—travelling through the hilt of his sword and into its blade. In front of him a swift mound of sand was getting dangerously close to his position.
She looked a little to her left, off to the side, and saw Red, the dark-haired member of the cohort.
His mantle billowed as he dodged a tail swipe of one of the threshers. His rapier flashed for a moment—appearing in the depths of the thresher's skin the next second.
His weapon was not cut out for fighting creatures of this size, but it seemed like he could fend for himself. In fact, he looked… almost natural while fighting the thresher, as if he had done this a thousand times before.
He's probably just well versed in swordsmanship.
And then, there was Abel. His situation was by far the worst of them all.
He was already fighting the initial thresher—the one they had thought was alone—but Elis noticed another mound of sand was moving in his direction… from behind!
There were two threshers upon him, each one attacking from different directions!
Swipe!
Claws sharpened by the deadliness of hell flashed in front of her face—mere inches away. She dodged backwards and readied her sword. Sand flew in the air once more as the thresher's claws landed on the dunes beneath.
Her foot slipped—nearly—but she was able to regain her balance. Not wasting any time, she flourished her broadsword and drove it forward.
Drops of crimson blood tainted its end as it pierced deep into the thresher's forelegs—its shoulder. It wasn't easy to pierce the thresher's skin, especially with a slightly blunt blade.
But with considerable effort on Elis' part, she slid her blade out of the fresh puncture—stepping back and creating distance once more.
It bought her a few more moments. Less than a second, but more than none.
The cohort…
'What happened to Abel…'
She glanced at where she last saw him. He was the one who fared the worst, after all.
She couldn't see him—not behind the bodies of the two threshers that had attacked him. The only way she could tell he was still alive and fighting was due to the aggressiveness of the two threshers and the myriad of wounds that had appeared on their bodies.
But when she look-
Slam!
Elis was hit full force by the sweeping tail of a thresher—sending her flying to the left. Her ribs—while they didn't fracture—sustained grave damage from its immense blunt force.
It wasn't as devastating as a head-on kick from a megalodaunt, for one.
'Gah!'
Still, it was brutal.
She rolled on the sand, which slightly cushioned her impact. Her broadsword almost slipped from her fingers as she barely held onto its hilt.
She tried to take a breath in, but struggled. It felt like a thousand layers of air had collapsed into one thick, suffocating slab. Her lungs refused to expand.
Her heart raced with adrenaline as she drove her broadsword into the sand—regaining her posture.
The thresher had burrowed beneath the dunes once more, swiftly burrowing in her direction once more.
Breathe.
Just breathe.
She took a breath in. A warm breath escaped.
Elis' slit-eyes of radiant saffron watched the thresher burrow closer. She waited unti-
Bwoosh!
Pillars of sand erupted from beneath as Elis dashed backwards—earlier than last time. Spurts of crimson red flew through the air, reminding her of the injury she had inflicted on the thresher just moments ago.
Her blade went to her side as her arms readied a thrust. Her muscles burned with the promise of exhaustion.
This was the thrill she seeked, after all.
Her cohort could fend for themselves… probably.
Definitely.
What she had to worry about right now was herself. She had trained, steeled herself, pushed herself in anticipation for battles like these.
The thresher drew in closer as her chilling breath pushed the sword forward—the air parting before its pointed end.
And as the thresher lunged forward, Its skull met the edge of Elis' blade, piercing deep within.