CHPT 352: Hansel and Gretel....but Worse.

It didn't take too long to get ready to leave, and with their muscles already primed and pumped, it took even less time for them to settle into a swift jogging pace that had them cutting through the forests surrounding them in a flash.

They continued moving, racing against time the second their booted feet began crunching through the snowy sand of the desert, following a vague set of directions given to them by Rollan. Nothing exact, but helpful enough for his senses to fill in the blanks where they appeared.

After about an hour of high speed jogging, they cleared around fifteen miles. The breaks they needed to take for Ursula didn't hold them back much, the sun still hung high in the sky dancing in and out of the pockets of sporadically placed clouds.

Luckily, they wouldn't need to run in search of their target much more. The first remnants of a trail to follow had made themselves aware to Claude.

The beginnings of any trail that would lead to violence and death. Two things that surrounded all high risk Monsters.

Claude came to a stop in the sand, seemingly in the middle of nowhere based on the sparce hills, one spiraling collection of twin wooden growths and dips in the sand that ran for miles with faint images of canyons and cliffs in the distance. The familiar coppery sweet scent of blood filled his nose strongly. Like a thick afterscent accompanying the earthy smell of wet dirty sand.

"You smell that?" Ursula said in between sniffs.

"Yep." Claude replied before dropping down to one knee and unsheathing his newest spear. A weapon much longer than his broken basic silver short-spear that sat sheathed at his hip. The new spear's black metallic surface gleamed under the mid-day sunlight with the white stone-like blade's edge glowing even further with the presence of what could be a sort of magical material he'd utilized a few times before. Only time would tell. For now he didn't need to know.

SHNK!

In a flash he slammed the spear into the dirty sands with an overhanded grip. Gold glowing particles of sand rose in response to the impact that sounded increasingly more wet as the blade drove deeper into the sand.

When he pulled the spear out, a scaled head was stuck on the blade. A head stuck somewhere between human and lizard with prominent jaws, rows of serrated teeth, slitted eyes and dull brown thick scales. It's blue tongue hung out of it's mouth, dry and shriveled to the point of nonexistence.

"Well. Looks like we're on the right track." Ursula said.

"Let's keep going."

And so they did. Travelling with the scent of blood growing with every few steps. At first they were all Lizard-Folk, but then it slowly turned to the discarded legs of Gnolls, Goblin arms, DireRat tails, until they found their first problem.

A human corpse. A young man. Based on the markings on his face and the furs he wore, he was nomadic. Prime game for predators not looking to get the attention of Heroes. Smart. Smarter than usual.

"[You noticed it didn't you.]" Arne cut in as they stared at the body.

"The corpses....their trail is too linear. These aren't the discarded remains of animals and Monster's meals...they don't leave remains like this..neither do Vultures and Griffons. This is a trail of breadcrumbs that the other Monsters and scavengers are too afraid to interrupt...."

"It's like whatever's leading the Monster is trying to learn what it likes best." Ursula cut in, responding to his thoughts.

"What?" Claude said.

"Well look. At first it was Lizard-Folk. Big chunks and body parts were left....like whatever was eating them found them....I don't know, nasty? And then we got to Goblins, not much was left of them. Now, we're looking down at a human....who smells horribly fresh by the way."

Claude's senses sharpened with the tension in the air that nipped at his skin. He dropped down beside the body, noting that it was shockingly fresh and smelling of charred flesh. The scent grew stronger near the hide blanket that laid covering his left arm.

He pulled away the covering in response, stunning himself as the loud rattle of teeth and bones connected to the other side of the blanket rang out into the silence.

Everything went deathly silent following the loud rattle. Claude exploded to his feet and pulled out his spears. His body-- which was still experiencing Pre-Shift Breakthrough Fluidity (PSBF) suddenly worked in his favor, causing his muscles to steam as they grew and morphed with raw Lupine power. Only this time there was no pain.

His mind raced, following the speeds of his eyes that scanned the lands around them. He hadn't realized it before because it wasn't there before. But, they were in claimed lands. The trap seemed to set it all in motion.

He felt the weight of Ursula's bulk against his back as they watched for the perceived oncoming threat while the rest of the pack circled them.

Only, nothing came. Despite this, Claude didn't let himself relax, resulting in nobody else doing so either. He knew what he felt, and the breadcrumb trail of bodies only solidified his thinking. There was something being lead by Monsters crafty enough to know how to do so with the utmost efficiency.

Claude's spine tingled as the cold winds ruffled the sands beneath his feet. It was so quiet he could hear his heart beating. He could even feel Ursula's against his back.

Since they'd readied up, they spun one hundred and eighty degrees. Leaving Claude to look down the way they came. The trail of dug up corpses lead to them in a line just messy and spaced out enough to mistake for pure happenstance to the untrained eye.

All the same.

"[Claude.]"

"Hm."

"[The spikes of wood in the ground. Those dead portions of tree's. Where did they go?]"

Maybe it wasn't all the same.

Claude's eyes moved as a blur, swiveling from left to right where he found the same twin spiraling wooden spikes jutting from the ground. Now less than a hundred feet away. They weren't there before.

Without even speaking, the entire pack turned to face the spiraling wooden spikes. Somehow the world went quieter, as if the mere echoes of life beyond could no longer penetrate the metaphysical home of the predator lying in wait.

Claude still didn't understand what he was looking at. Then Rollan's words hit his mind, reminding him that his eyes don't see everything.

Slowly, he pulled on his blindfold that once hung around his neck and used his (Natural Vision). The lack of Nature in the desert cast his world in true darkness with feint fissures of green in the ground where dying vines twisted through the earth and bushes sat like dried out puffballs of energy.

It was all normal, until he looked to the wooden spikes, which caused his heart to skip a beat.

Beneath the sand, connecting to the seemingly wooden twisting spikes, a massive sleek body sat as still as stone. It was thick, lacking arms and legs, only raw length, muscle and spikes. He couldn't make out it's eyes due to the hazy green glowing inaccuracy of his vision, but he could feel it watching him, slowly beginning to vibrate as it's muscles warmed in preparation for what it thought would be a hunt.

They'd found the snake.

BWOOOSHH!

In a flash, the wooden spikes rose, revealing more of themselves until it was impossible to see them as anything other than antlers. When the beasts natural crown fully emerged, all that was left was it's head. It's massive head covered in dark brown scales with black and red ring-like designs running along and around the dozens of holes in it's surface that let out massive scoops of sand that must've worked in hiding it's scent.

As it continued to rise, it was like watching an ancient statue come to life as the golden sanded dust fell from it's porous scaled flesh. Giving way to it's horrifying slitted yellow eyes and riged spiked backside.

It stood still for a moment before shaking it's horned head free of more sand. Then it aimed it's yellow reptilian eyes at them and roared, baring it's unnaturally thin fangs soaked in a brownish red fluid that made his stomach lurch.

"SHAAAAAAA!!!" The sound came from all the holes in it's scaled flesh including it's mouth, causing them to shake and flare as they spit out more remnants of sand with the rippling base in it's voice. He couldn't help but notice the smashing crackle in it's tone that reminded him of thunder.

"What the hell is that?" Ursula asked as steam rose from her arms and face.

"It's a Uktena.....a Horned Serpent. I don't know exactly what kind but it's built for speed and stealth...ambush predator. Look at how thin it is compared to it's length."

"Ok. Even so, it's been eating good...and it looks fairly hungry."

"Mhm. We need to kill it before whatever's been feeding it comes back." Claude dropped into his fighting stance and prepared to boost the packs physical might when Gil interrupted him with a bark.

Claude turned and found Gil beside them facing away from the Serpent that was now only a little more than fifty feet away.

When he turned to find what Gil was watching, he could've laughed.....until he felt the presence of Demons.

"Found who's been leading the Serpent." Claude said in a dead tone.

Ursula hesitantly threw a glance behind her at what they were all looking at.

"[Oh well isn't this just the greatest trip down memory lane? What a fucking bloody mess!]" Arne snapped as the distant dots in the sky drew closer until their appearance was unmistakable.

Two HellBred Urd's soared through the skies like twin humanoid dragons as they cackled and roared tufts of HellFire. When they weren't psychotically snickering and roaring, they were barking orders at the lesser Kobolds that ran like raptors on the hunt beneath them carrying rusted swords and maces.

Ursula cursed and huffed a bear-like sound of anger, "You just had to say it could be worse...fuck!"

Claude's adrenaline was in full swing, heating his insides in a flash. "Ok split up. You take the HellBred with the Phantom Wolves. I'll take the Serpent with Gil and Ashe."

"Save some of the Snake for me. And be careful." Ursula said as cold icy air billowed from her mouth like clouds before she headed off towards the oncoming crafty Demons.

Blackbeak screeched above him.

"You. Give the Urds some trouble."

Blackbeak cawwed a dark sound and began twisting and zipping through the air towards them like a fairy on steroids.

Claude looked down and faced the Serpent as Gil and Ashe came to a stop beside him. A growl escaped his throat as he raised his spears and tensed his legs.

The Serpent hissed again, opening it's maw for Claude to see the bright yellow sparks of lightning that coated it's fangs for a fraction of a second, causing the poison that dripped from them to steam and fall into the sand below with a loud sizzle like molten lava.

"[When we get back. I want you to shove those fangs into that drunk's nonexistent eyes!]"

"Deal." Claude replied with a growl before he entered the battle with his highspeed companions.