Chapter 248: Ambushed at Night Part 2

Seeing the current situation Joshua decided to act right away before the incoming foe could get the upper hand while most of the group was still sleeping. The fact that everyone was still asleep in such an urgent situation proved just how good this beast was at hiding and using ambush tactics. Before it could go on the attack Joshua pulled out his scale blade and decided to take command of the situation. "Celia go get everyone up and ready to fight. I'll hold whatever it is off with Cinder and Imperia until you guys get here." Joshua said in a low whisper trying not to alert the beast that was heading their way.

Celia nodded in response before running back towards camp as quickly and quietly as possible even so it seemed to grab the attention of the approaching beast since Imperia was following it from above and it was moving in their direction at a much faster pace. 'It doesn't realize how big I am or that Imperia is following it from above since she's great at hiding her presence.' Cinder said as she lowered her body as ice started forming around it. She was prepared to leap in and attack the approaching beast at any moment and Joshua was going to help since they didn't know how powerful this beast was going to be.

It was then Joshua could hear the grass in front of them begin to move as something was pushing it aside. Cinder moved forward in front of Joshua preparing to take on the approaching beast. Both beast were shrunken down in size at the moment, but Joshua knew the moment the fight started they would shift into their largest forms to go on the attack. At the moment even Imperia was flying around in a smaller form so that the approaching predator would have a hard time trying to notice her. It seemed to have worked as she kept following the snake that was just in front of Joshua and Cinder at this point as Imperia flew overhead.

Imperia let out a shriek just as the creature decided to go on the attack and Cinder responded in kind as both figures grew to their full size. When Cinder reached her full size ice started to spread out all around the area freezing any nearby grass and hardening the mud from the marsh. The predator that was attacking them was clearly one of the viper creatures that had been hiding in the pools in the marsh. As the giant snake grew in size it became far bigger than Cinder in overall body size, but since it was currently striking out with its head Cinder was more than big enough to fend it off. Cinder struck out with her front legs covered in ice slamming into the viper's head knocking it off track and causing it to slam into the ground nearby.

With all the noise the two giant creatures were making with their first class Joshua had no doubt that the rest of the group would be up and on their way soon enough, especially with Celia there to give them fair warning. It would still take a little while for them to all get geared up and ready to fight, but even though the viper looked intimidating it wasn't something Joshua doubted he and Cinder could hold off for a while on their own. The biggest threat they had to deal with was the fact that there were still many unknowns about the snake that would make it hard to fight.

After being knocked aside in the first clash the snake shook its head before looking up towards Cinder who was currently making herself seem as big as possible with her front legs up in the air and her own fangs covered in a light frost of ice as a cold mist surrounded her body. It was clear that Cinder found this form more appropriate for dealing with the snake. It scales appeared to be too thick and powerful to try to get through with her fire spells or attacks, but with her ice she could slow the snake down and buy more time.

The snake annoyed by Cinder's interference rose up as its body started to coil up around the ground and its head went higher and higher into the air. It got to the point where it was just about twice as high up as Cinder could be and it still had plenty of body left on the ground showing just how massive the snake was. Cinder was large, but if the snake was able to trap and surround her then there would be no way for Cinder to break free of such a large powerful beast. The snake was big enough to where it could probably even coil around one of the large bison's and try to constrict it to death, but Joshua wasn't sure if it would be able to eat such a large creature.

After the snake finished trying to intimidate them it reared its head back and was preparing for another strike as it opened its mouth wide and bared its large fangs. The poison of the viper was strong enough to kill a toad that had a poison of its own in a matter of seconds and Joshua knew that it would be just as deadly to larger beast or small humans like him if they even got nicked by it. Keeping that in mind Joshua knew that the fangs of the viper were the most dangerous thing about it and the snake seemed pleased to show them off in a threatening manner. Just when the snake looked like it was going to strike down towards Cinder once more Imperia came swooping in at her full size as she scratched across one of the eyes of the snake. Her claws dug deep into its eyes catching the snake off guard and causing it to make an odd wailing sound as it shook Imperia off.

Imperia flew high into the air well away from the now injured snake that was thrashing around in pain. The constant slamming of its body against the ground caused the whole area to shake as Cinder and Joshua had to move out of the way so that the snake's body wouldn't hit them during the process. While this was going on Imperia created several copies of herself with her ability and blended in with the night sky as they all circled around in the air above the thrashing snake. Although Imperia had no chance of actually killing the snake on her own with the difference in strength and size it was possible for her to be a major hindrance and go after weak points.

When the snake stopped thrashing around and started searching for Imperia in the air Joshua was able to get a good look at it and wasn't surprised to see that it was missing an eye. What did surprised Joshua was that there wasn't any damage to the scales on the snake at all where Imperia had attacked and that didn't make the prospect of breaking through its defenses seem high. The snake they had faced earlier on in the prairie seemed to have thicker scales even if it was smaller in size, but for some reason this vipers defenses seemed much higher. The snake hissed while flicking its tongue in the air and seemed angered by the fact that it couldn't spot Imperia at all. Instead of waiting to be attacked again it shot out a cloud of purple mist into the air that hovered above the group for the time being, but Joshua knew that if it came down to ground level it would be dangerous for everyone.

"Cinder you're going to have to use flames to burn away all of the poison that the viper just shot out before it comes down to ground level, and Imperia make sure to get out of the way of the explosion." Joshua shouted so that both of the beast companions could hear him. Cinder understood right away as she released a huge wave of icy fog along the ground and froze the surroundings to make it harder for the snake to move around. She then shifted to her flame form creating a wave of heat around her that she kept constrained so that she wouldn't melt all of the ice that she had already formed. She shot off several balls of fire into the air that ignited the poison creating a wave of explosions that lit up the night sky.

The viper took this as an opportunity to try to attack Cinder as it tail came swinging around preparing to slam into Cinder from the side while she was busy dealing with the poison. Joshua wasn't going to stand aside and let this happen as he lunged forward and formed his aura cloak as he used as sword smash to slam into the giant tail. The force of the blow stopped the tail in its tracks but Joshua was also sent gliding across the ice backwards. When Joshua looked at the spot on the tail where his attack landed he noticed that there was what looked like a barrier of aura around the scales where his scale blade had landed and it was obvious from the way that it looked that the scales were able to project aura as a shield of sorts through the air.

Joshua sighed thinking of the ramifications of this discovery. If every single scale on the snake was able to do this then it would be extremely difficult to break through its defenses. While Joshua was thinking of this Imperia sent several of her clones to attack the viper's head once more grabbing its attention while Cinder slammed into its body sending it backwards and away from Joshua. While the two beast companions were working together to hold it off Joshua noticed the rest of the expedition group arrive and the snake seemed to have noticed as well.

The snake reared its head up once more and shot out another wave of poison in their direction that Cinder met with a torrent of fire to keep it from reaching the group. By the time the smoke had cleared from the collision of attacks there was no snake left to be seen and the powerful aura of the beast had disappeared, but Joshua could see a small hole broken through the ice that was directed away from the group.