Balance had been restored

Each thunderous crash of the snake's movements seemed closer, and the tremors beneath Kaden's feet made it harder to maintain his footing. The cavern was turning into a deathtrap, and the beast was relentless.

The narrow crevice was his only hope, but the gap still felt so far away. Kaden cursed under his breath, his mind racing for options. There was no other way. It was time to activate that shady skill again.

Kaden did not want to do it. He had planned not to touch that dangerous skill before he fully understood it but he had to risk it here. Something told him it was death otherwise coming for him.

And he refused to die.

"Fuck it all!" Kaden's mind briefly flitted to his sister and his parents before he gave the mental nudge for the skill to activate. One with nature.

The next second, he felt an electric surge ripple through his body, as though the very essence of the earth had latched onto him. 

His vision shifted, blurring for a moment before sharpening to an almost painful clarity. Colors became richer, details more pronounced, and he could hear everything—the hiss of the snake, the crumbling rocks, even the faint hum of energy coursing through the cavern walls.

His body moved without conscious thought, guided by an instinct that wasn't entirely his own. The ground beneath his feet seemed to respond to him, softening to absorb his steps, muffling the sound as he darted forward. 

He wasn't running any more—he was flowing, like a leaf caught in a river's current, his movements unnaturally fluid and precise. The crevice that had seemed impossibly far now felt within reach.

He wasn't all that much faster. Sure his speed felt higher but it was his state of mind. He no longer cared if he lived or died. Both birth and death were part of nature. There was no need to fight it. He needed to embrace it.

The snake lunged, its enormous jaws snapping shut where Kaden had been a split second earlier. He felt the wind from its strike brush his back, but he didn't stumble. He simply continued going forward, his movements in balance with the land underneath him.

Calm healing energy poured into him from the rocky earth around him, the air he was breathing, and the small moss covering the tunnel walls. He was also one of them and he did not mind receiving help from his fellow brethren.

The energy wasn't just healing his body; it was soothing his mind, wrapping him in a tranquil certainty. The fear that had gripped him moments ago melted away, replaced by a serene focus. 

Every fiber of his being moved in harmony with the world around him. He was no longer just Kaden, the man fleeing a monstrous snake. He was part of something much larger, a living thread in the vast tapestry of nature.

The snake lunged again, its massive body slithering with impossible speed, but Kaden's connection with the earth guided him. A subtle shift in the ground beneath his feet told him when to sidestep, a whisper of wind warned him when to duck. 

The beast's venomous fangs snapped at empty air, its frustration evident in its guttural hisses. It was a predator unmatched in its realm, yet it seemed unable to grasp the prey that flowed like water before it.

Every element of the environment worked in unison to aid him, as if nature itself had claimed him as its champion.

The crevice loomed ahead, dark and narrow, but it no longer felt like an obstacle. Kaden reached it just as the snake coiled itself for another strike. Without breaking stride, he dove into the gap, his body twisting with a grace he didn't recognize as his own. 

The snake's massive head slammed into the crevice opening behind him, shaking the tunnel and sending rocks tumbling from above. Kaden felt a faint ripple of the beast's enraged roar echoing through the walls.

For a moment, he expected the beast to tear open everything and emerge from the hole completely, but there was only a loud whooshing sound, followed by silence. The beast was no longer chasing behind him.

It looked like it still couldn't appear openly on the ground above.

Kaden smiled. The balance had been restored. He closed his eyes, feeling the gentle hum of the earth beneath him and the nurturing whispers of the trees around him. They were pulling him in. No, he was falling into them.

He needed them. They were sheltering him. He was a part of them now. There was no need to struggle anymore.