A Chapter 19 Separation(4)

  Deep within the Endless forest

  19th Blue, 2043. 10:42AM

  David Lutalo(POV)

  The terrain was difficult. The mud clung to the boots, and the vegetation with the tough vine-like stems was always trying to trip me up. Of course, someone, that guy named Maxwell had already succumbed once, his face eating the dirt, bringing some joy to the monotonous trek. Then there was also the damp moist air, the bugs, and the rot that constantly tickled my olfactory sense. I had fought in diverse terrains, so the above combined things didn't bother me as much as one severely important detail, the lack of beasts. We were deep within the endless forest, having concluded that it sat on a massive plain since we hadn't yet found any valleys, or spotted any hills in the distance upon climbing the trees to scout out the surroundings. This place was supposed to be teeming with cunning and relatively large predators, like the various types of cats, apes, and the Serpents, yet all we had seen so far, were small critters that vanished into the undergrowth upon seeing us!

  We had started off strong and fast, but now, each step was a crawl. I was the front tip of our impromptu formation, acting as the buffer, the person who would intercept any frontal attack, giving the others time to react. It was a good position I had chosen myself, expecting far more action than this lull. My finger itched to press the trigger. I wanted to end something! Beasts? Where were they so that I could end them?!

  I licked my lips even as my hands tightly held onto the gun. My eyes were roaming around within my sockets, trying to pinpoint any anomaly before we fell into any trap.

  Upon passing by the moss covered stem of a massive tree, my eyes snapped to the side, where I spotted a ray of sunlight radiating onto a lush emerald bush, one which had small circular dark fruits peeking through its foliage. Their surface was an unnatural dark that sucked in all the light. And for a moment, I had paused, thinking that it was some bizarre creature disguised as a bush until I caught the dark green stalks that connected them to the plant.

  "Another spiritual plant..." whispered a voice behind me, that of the little girl, Ril. The poor maiden had been traumatized by the monsters in the water, making her subdued, yet the scenario could have used a bit of work, like, she could have been devoured and I would have been happier for it. Some might think it cruel for me to possess such a thought, but, it wasn't a big deal! Everyone occasionally had such thoughts. Besides, if she had been devoured, it still wouldn't have been my fault! A win situation!

  At first, we had been curious about the spiritual plants, but harvesting them had required dealing with the beasts that guarded them, an endeavor that made a lot of unnecessary noise. I would have preferred slaughtering the damn things as so far, we hadn't met any prowling bastards, but it was always better to follow the wishes of the majority... For now. Besides, we only had so much empty space to carry whatever we harvested. Now, the others could only look on with desire, while I felt a certain distaste in my mouth at leaving the ones guarding said plants alive.

  I sniffed the air, wanting to see whether I could pick up the stench of a beast nearby, only to come up empty. The decay was too prevalent on the forest floor, not to mention other odours released by the plants.

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  Since I didn't catch anything, I became even more cautious, slowing down my steps and setting the tone for the rest of the group.

  How I wish I could convince these people to invade the continent. Though, alternatively, I could orchestrate their deaths, summon the plane, go back and take over all the territories, thereby having more military power, and then invade Kisol! But that would be pointless! Why? Luthor Dugavu was important to our five states. No, not him as a person, but the ideas and technology his brain cooked up. There were others of course, but they were far inferior in my eyes. Leaving only him alive wouldn't work as I knew that he would kill himself, or attack me with death in mind. It was a conundrum.

  Lost in my thoughts, yet still not having relaxed my vigilance, my body picked on the danger in the air, with a chill raising the hairs on the back of my nape. I instantly halted, raised my fist and unclenched all five fingers, straining my ears, and scanning with my gaze. The forest was the same, the moss, the decay, the damp air, the bioluminescence... But there was something missing now that I was paying full attention, the sound made by critters. Not the insects, but the palm-sized and above animals. Previously, there would have been a twitch of a bush here, a squeaky sound somewhere, or something clambering up the moss-covered bark, yet now, nothing!

  I gripped my semi-automatic tightly, my finger just a hairbreadth away from squeezing the trigger. My heart pounded into my ribcage even as adrenaline slipped into my bloodstream. Fear?! No! I wasn't even close to feeling such a thing! Instead, I was excited! Something was here! Something that would meet it's end permanently, losing the chance of terrorizing another human!

  "Shield!" I shrieked, even as my peripheral vision picked up on something dark that tried to be barge into the right of our formation, only for a neutral spiritual pulse to instantly flare with power, releasing a force that paused it in the air. Thought vanished as my body moved on reflex, spinning in place, and training the muzzle of my semi-automatic upon the dark beast.

  My finger squeezed the trigger and flame bloomed upon the surface of the beast, yet a blue shimmer materialized to block the flaming projectile, though, small wounds accumulated as the others fired, straining its spiritual shielding, before it finally reacted, retreating into the undergrowth.

  "For a moment, I had thought we wouldn't have to face one for a while..." commented Dan, his eyes scanning the canopies above. The metallic rods were gripped in his hands as he gazed at the direction the black-furred beast had vanished.

  I licked my lips in anticipation even as my gun was turned towards the same direction, my body poised with tension, every sense heightened by adrenaline, simply waiting for any twitch to squeeze the trigger.

  "We should have created a device for detecting beasts." commented the man with the bird nest hair. I had bothered to learn his name only that it had now left my mind. He was some sort of scientist in Dugavu state.

  "Is it hiding? Or has it left?" wondered Ravena. Even though we were a little bit under friction at certain times, I was impressed by her steady voice. That was the mark of a war veteran!

  "I doubt it. You should use your brain more, Ravena." my father drawled on my left, behind.

  "Are you picking a fight at this point in time, Lutalo?" the words came out laced with a chill.

  Before anything could continue though, the foliage above shook as a serpentine head poked itself out of the canopy above, gazing at us while flicking out it's tongue. It seemed to be a grown up variant of the little snake we had encountered at the beginning. It's yellow eyes with a dark vertical slit running down between each pupil were cold, with it merely staring us for now.

  I frowned at it and pressed the trigger, with my face scrunching up in annoyance upon registering the flicker of blue that deflected the yellow flash into the stem of another tree.

  "Another beast at the first threshold? Are they working together?" wondered Raiden.

  The massive snake didn't retreat back into its hiding place even with my fired shot, instead, it stayed like that, as if waiting for something.

  "Do you hear that?" asked Ril, her voice trembling.

  My gaze pierced far into the distance, where the foliage had started to rustle alot as if a powerful wind was heading towards us, yet the cacophony of other sounds had already made it clear that it wasn't something so mundane.

  When I caught sight of the many figures leaping among the trees with ease, I didn't hesitate to pat down into my jacket, confirming the other two spare cartridges of my semi-automatic. Then, I opened fire at the snake, this time spewing multiple bullets that forced it back into the canopy with a painful and wrathful hiss. Even though the thin blue membrane on its skin could block the attacks, the force transmitted still caused pain.

  Without even a pause, I aimed my gun towards the troop of monkeys and opened fire, making sure to eliminate with each shot. When the cartridge ran out, I removed and replaced it. The discharged one would absorb ambient energy to restore the ten bullets it was supposed to store in a minute. If I was lucky, then that would come to pass before I completely depleted the third cartridge.