Ambush

Chapter 3 : Ambush

"Toma-kun! Toma-kun wait! I can't run anymore!" Elise shouted, yet Toma barely had the presence of mind to heed her words. He gripped her hand within his own and ran as fast as his legs would carry him. He could vaguely register the sound of Elise's voice, the sound of her breaths as she desperately struggled to keep up. The two had been running for quite some time now in no particular direction. The last few minutes were a complete blur to him, the only thing he could think of was to bolt away.

"Agk! What the hell is this--" Yashin shouted as a long, coiling torso wrapped itself around his upper body. It was a centipede, one of the largest that Toma had ever seen. It seemed to drop from above, no doubt attached to a tree, and quickly wrapped itself around the first person it came into contact with. In this case, Yashin.

The shelled creature tightened as quickly as it coiled, restricting Yashin's hands , pinning them to his chest. The creature's head quickly came into view, it's large glossy eyes seemed ominous as its mandibles widened.

Several more of the large creatures fell from the branches , hoping to land on someone -- anyone, but no such luck for them. Marco quickly unsheathed his shortsword and drove the tip into one of the centipedes' bodies. A shrill squeal pierced the air and mingled with the sound of flapping wings.

"Shit!" Next was Marco, Toma glanced over to realize the red-headed adventure was now being swarmed by dozens of insects, which upon closer inspection appeared to be gnats on steroids. Each was easily as large as the size of a golf ball and swirling about vigorously. They moved so quickly, so deftly that Marco was left flailing his free hand in order to avoid accidentally cutting a party member.

The sound of their wings was distinct, which is why Toma could immediately pick up on another sound, one that reminded him of something else entirely. Elise lifted her staff to fire off a stream of flames towards Marco, only to be stopped by Chaddus.

"You'll catch them in the crossfire!" He remarked as he drew a blade from his scabbard and readied himself for battle. Chaddus sliced at the squirming centipedes which were quickly advancing towards him, one having coiled around his ankle. He then turned his attention towards Marco and noticed a horrid sight. The centipede's pinching mandibles were sunk deep into Marco's neck, a thick stream of blood had begun to trickle despite his best efforts to get away.

"What the hell is that noise?" Toma mumbled as he turned around. He was entirely too distracted to worry about the fate of Marco or Yashin. The noise which drew his attention was faintly familiar yet he couldn't place it. It clearly sounded like the flapping of wings, but it was not from a bird or bee.

"Holy shit!" Toma shouted as he instinctively grabbed Elise's hand. He took off just in time to avoid being pierced as several giant mosquitoes whizzed by. The piercer was so sharp that one of the bugs embedded itself several centimeters into a nearby tree, just centimeters away from where Toma once stood. The others missed their targets, (Elise and Toma) but one of them managed to stab Chaddus in the chest.

Toma lingered for one second longer until the sight of the mosquito's abdomen began to plump from the blood it had begun to instantly drain from Chaddus' body.

"Tsk! Dammit!" Chaddus shouted as he gripped the creature's blade, needle-like beak and wrenched it from his chest. The under armor offered little protection, the creature had done enough to miss the plating on Chaddus' armor entirely.

And that was it!

Toma didn't remember running away, only that he made sure to bring his childhood friend along with him. The two made a mad dash through the forest, ignoring the sounds of their shouting party mates. It was fight or flight and Toma chose immediately. He dashed forward without a care in the world, using his arm to shield against bugs which attacked from any and every direction. He swatted and slapped at anything that touched his skin, tree branch, leaf, it didn't matter.

And eventually, when he felt his lungs burn Toma saw the light. He burst into a clearing, presumably not far from the initial site of the insect ambush and finally took a moment to catch his breath.

"T-Toma-kun! You left them--behind!" Elise struggled to catch her breath even as she spoke. Both adventurers were doubled over with their hands on their knees. Orbs of sweat, mostly due to panic glossed over Toma's features.

"I'm level zero, remember. Those monsters would have easily eaten me alive." Toma finally responded as he stood straight and called forth his weapon from dimensional storage. He noticed just how much his hand shook as he did so, but tried to dismiss it as nerves.

"But we shouldn't have just left them there!" Elise shouted back, the anger and displeasure in her voice was apparent. Still, Toma ignored it completely. He'd already made up his mind, if it came down to Elise's safety and that of the group he would always prioritize her. In his mind, there was no question.

"They can fend for themselves or run, just like we did!" Toma finally retorted. This answer, though unsatisfactory , was enough to end the argument. That and the fact that Elise noticed something moving out of the corner of her eye.

"Where are we?" She asked suddenly as she too stood straight and took a look around for the first time. Unlike the dense canopy of the woods they'd just escaped there was actually a fair bit of sunlight. The clearing was more of a grove with large leafy branches which extended inwards from every direction. The ground was filled with leaves of all colors, some brown and others green -- most of them larger than the size of their head.

"I don't know. You have a map right?" Toma asked as he inspected a nearby rock before sitting down.

"No… Chaddus has the map.." Elise remarked as she walked towards Toma, hoping to take a seat next to him. And that's when she heard a crunching sound, followed by a chittering noise.

"What was that?" Elise whispered as she lifted her mage's staff. The flame magic focused within the gem centered at the tip of her staff as she prepared to strike at a moment's notice.

Toma heard the noise as well. It was so loud, yet he couldn't accurately determine the direction from which it came. He gripped the pole of his spear tightly with both hands as he silently stepped towards Elise. Both of them sharpened their senses as they struggled to perceive the faintest hint of danger. Toma particularly looked into the distance at the tree line while Elise focused her attention above head. It was clear that the sight of falling centipedes traumatized her the most.

Then, came the pain.

Toma felt a head pressure against his kidney. The blow was so hard, so powerful that he was forced out of balance, stepping forth before he could center himself. His eyes widened as the breath left his lungs temporarily. He managed to recover almost instantly, spinning around and thrusting with his spear -- but nothing.

"Hi-hiyahhh!" Elise screamed as the sound of flames echoed through the air. She seemed to be waving her staff wildly, which in turn caused the flames to flare in the same manner.

"What? What is it?" Toma shouted, his spear at the ready -- and that's when he was struck again. This time from the front.

A brown, round shaped ball propelled itself off of the ground and struck him squarely in the solar plexus. Once again the breath left him, only this time he was completely winded. The pain was enough to cause Toma's knees to buckle and his mouth to contort from the pain. A soundless howl escaped his body, partially because he had no air to grunt or scream.

As he sank downward and crumpled to one knee, Toma could only take note of the damage done. A single hit and over a tenth of his health was completely gone. The culprit was a pill bug, and it was not alone. The ground seemed alive for the briefest of moments as the creatures began to move en masse. The leaves which concealed them rattled as dozens upon dozens of the creatures reared their heads.

Elise's stream of fire did very little to keep the creatures at bay. This was due to the panic which had fallen upon her. It was abundantly clear to Toma that they needed to flee once more, but before he could catch his breath--

Two more pill bugs rolled into tiny, armored balls and launched themselves in his direction. He did all he could to defend, using his pointed spear to pierce one of the incoming creatures. To his surprise it worked, but it left the other creature free to land a jarring blow. Toma was smashed right in the face, his nose, mouth and chin were all impacted -- causing his head to blow back. He went down like a rock and landed on his back.

He could only groan at his misfortune, nearly a third of his health gone from just two strikes. There would be no way he could maintain consciousness if his health dipped to zero. Once again, the thought to flee flashed through his mind.

He gathered what willpower he could, amidst a bloody nose and lip, and grabbed up his spear. He then got to his feet and dashed towards Elise, grabbing her by the waist this time as he made his escape.

"Firebolt!"

"Firebolt!!"

"Firebolt!!" Elise shouted as she fired spell after spell at the creatures. The Firebolt spell was a combination of flames and explosives, thus each blast caused several of the creatures to fly in various directions upon impact.

Toma focused intently on escape, which was why he couldn't see the absolutely deranged look on Elise's face as she rained down relentless magical terror upon her foes.

Toma had no map and no idea which direction was correct. He only knew that he couldn't stop moving and he had to be extra careful. The pill bugs were more persistent than the other insects, and many of them launched themselves towards the fleeing pair as they ran. Toma could only estimate a rough direction, but he assumed that if he kept running he would meet the path and eventually escape the road less traveled.

This was the plan. After a minute or two of running Elise finally managed to calm down.

"Toma-kun...you can put me down now.." But Toma ignored it altogether.

"I'll carry you first then you can carry me." He replied.

"Huh? You can joke at a time like this?" She remarked.

"No seriously, I just want you to pay attention to the rear. If you see anything blast it." Toma said as he continued through the dense woods. He assumed he was headed in the right direction, largely because the environments grew darker by the second.

It wasn't until they'd traveled a sufficient distance that Toma felt he'd made a mistake. He slowed down, coming to a stop as he looked around.

"What's wrong?" Elise asked as she got steady on her feet and began to look around.

"I think...I messed up." Toma replied as he glanced upwards. They were now in a place where light was so scarce that it could barely be called day time. What little light that did reach the woodland floor only served to cast shadows. The area was strangely quiet, at least compared to the other parts of the forest. But, perhaps the most alarming discovery for Toma were the myriad of web strands which hung several meters above their heads.

"Fuck me." Toma whispered. As he shot an apprehensive glance towards Elise. It was apparent that she shared his sentiment.