NOVEL NEXT Chapter 734 – A Rude Interruption
“Wild beasts don’t care whether you are talking about important things or not. If you come within their territory and they happen to be hungry, they will pounce.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.
“I can’t help but notice that we’re going through the denser part of the jungle,” noted Áine while the group made their way through the undergrowth. Wiro was leading at the front with Celia and Aideen behind him. The three siblings were in the middle with Jort, while Kino took up the rear. “Is there any particular purpose in doing so, Shaman Jort?”
“There is indeed, Miss Áine,” replied Jort with a smile as he heard her question. “You see, in this region, the larger predators, especially the flying ones, tend to be concentrated more around the open areas. They cannot move freely in the dense jungles, so while the trek through the jungle is more troublesome, they are also a lot safer in exchange.”
“Flying ones? Many wyverns around here I take it?” asked Eilonwy in turn.
“I am not sure what a wyvern is, but if it is some sort of flying lizard with wingspans as wide as ten orcs are tall, then we are probably talking about similar creatures,” replied Jort. “Those are hard to deal with even under the best circumstances, so our goblin brethren usually build their homes in smaller clearings that are still covered by the canopy for the most part, just to avoid these creatures. If you see one around here, expect a flock of them at the least.”
“Got it. Plenty of the flying buggers then,” noted Eilonwy with a nod.
“There are predators in the denser regions too, but by nature they have to be smaller to be able to hunt effectively in these places. We can handle them easier, so we make use of the denser areas to go around the place instead of risking getting too close with the bigger or flying beasts,” explained Jort once more. “It works out, even if it’s a bit of a hassle to deal with the undergrowth along the way.”
“Around here, the main thing to look out for are the Stalkers. Big lizards around the size of me, very good at hiding in the foliage and branches,” added Wiro from the front as he was clearing the path ahead of the group with a machete. The young warrior had carried a hatchet and a couple machetes on top of his blowpipe for the trip. “They will often pounce when you least expect th- watch out!”
Wiro slashed at a dark figure that lunged at him as he shouted the warning, the blade of his machete breaking scales and wounding the lizard that had lunged his way from atop some branches on his right side. At the same time, a second lizard lunged from the left towards Aideen, its maw wide open, displaying rows of sharp dagger-like teeth.
Only to receive an uppercut strike from Aideen’s elbow to the bottom of its jaw that forcefully shut its maw. In the same motion, Aideen grasped at a bony protrusion on the bottom of the lizard’s jaw with her hand before she pulled the lizard towards her as she stepped aside and made a half-turn. She went through the motion fluidly and slammed her other shoulder with all her weight behind it against the baffled lizard’s chest.
With the force of its own lunge combined with Aideen’s pull and the half-revolution she did to throw her weight behind the strike, the lizard’s rib cage and breastbone never stood a chance and shattered upon impact. Most of the broken bones went inwards and pierced through the organs in the creature’s chest cavity, killing it before it even hit the ground.
The lizard then fell, dead, by her feet, earning her a brief look of astonishment from Wiro who was fighting off the other lizard with a hatchet and machete in hand. Aideen had been walking around unarmed, so he was quite surprised at how seamlessly she had both avoided the creature’s attack and finished it off all in a single, fluid motion.
He himself took a while more before he managed to drive away the second lizard, which had also lost its courage when it saw the other lizard dead. It scurried away into the undergrowth before long, but Wiro remained on alert for a while more before he relaxed his stance.
“They usually hunt in pairs, but you can never tell how many pairs there are to a pack, at times,” he said after he was certain that no other ravenous predator was going to leap from the trees towards him. He then walked over and inspected the lizard Aideen killed earlier before giving an appreciative whistle. “Impressive move, by the way. Never seen anyone take out one of these things in that manner before.”
“They’re not too different from certain large felines in hunting method, and I’ve dealt with those before,” said Aideen nonchalantly. “If I have to think of a difference, I’d say that these lizards are even more fragile than the felines. Probably because they have scales for protection but their underbellies remain vulnerable. Wasn’t expecting to kill it on the spot like that, to be honest.”
“It is true that these creatures are somewhat fragile. Larger, stronger warriors could often catch one that pounced on them and then just squeezed them until their bones shattered and they died like that,” admitted Wiro with a shake of his head. “Still impressive work to crush the chest so thoroughly in a single strike like that, though. I don’t think many amongst even our best could do it so easily.”
“Experience helps a lot with it,” replied Aideen with a shrug. “If you practice until your moves become second nature to you, it will be far easier to execute a strike when you need it most. Of course, it takes time to reach such a point.”
“Naturally. I will keep that in mind and practice more when we return,” noted the young warrior with a contemplative look on his face.
