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Huge trees stretch towards the sky with wide-spread branches that create a canopy around a jungle. Vines in an array of colors, green, black, brown, and red, weave through the trees. The underbrush is thick, with hardly any visibility into the depths of the jungle. The island is loud, with roars, chittering, and squawks coming from all directions. The air is thick with anticipation and danger and smells rich and earthy, like the bottom of a log covered in toadstools.
If I didn't know the horrors that awaited us within its depths, I would want to spend more time admiring the wild beauty of this place. There is something so serene about its untouched nature, like we are the first to be here, and it is a blank slate awaiting us to write our story upon its face.
A screech splits the air, and we catch sight of a large creature flying up into the air and then diving back into the depths of the jungle with a loud squawk. It's enough to stop me from romanticizing this place.
We stare at the vegetation, Viola rubbing her head. "Well, good thing we have an axe and a sword with us, I guess. We're going to have to chop our way through."
"Why not burn a path?" I ask, turning towards her.
"What if we light up the journal?"
Zeph rubs his beard in thought. "But if your magic lets us know it's not in the area, we could do a controlled burn?" She looksat my brother, and he places a hand gently on her chest. A small flare of jealousy roils in my stomach, but I tamp it down. "Tap not into your magic, but your Godly essence. Focus on that, and seek out similar frequencies across the island."
Viola closes her eyes, following his instructions, and it is only seconds before they fly open again. "It's here, that's for sure," she says, opening her eyes. "All I can tell you is it's not close to us right now."
"So fire it is," Morrow says, rubbing his hands together. Viola gives him a tight nod, and he sends his Fire magic directly into the jungle, creating the beginnings of a path. The vines seem to come alive and move away from the fire.
A cacophony of shrieks and a flurry of wings are the only warnings we get before a group of monstrosities swarms us. They have green, webbed wings and vaguely reptilian bodies, but their heads and feet are strangely reminiscent of chickens. They're not giant, but they're bigger than Hilda, Viola's chicken, and seem much more dangerous.
"Fuck!" Viola shouts, ducking as one dives towards her, attempting to bite her arm. Zeph immediately throws a shield over all of us, letting us get our bearings. None of us were prepared for an attack so quickly.
With a deep breath, Viola nods to herself, tapping her thigh. Shadows explode from the jungle, whipping around the weird bat chickens, taking hold of them and immobilizing them in the air. I push Decay into them and watch as they wither and die within the grasp of Viola's magic.
The creatures drop to the ground heavily as Viola releases her magic. They are nothing more than empty husks now, and we all stare down at them. "What are they?" Tulip asks, nudging one with her foot.
"Cockatrice," Plume says. She looks at our confused glances and sighs. "I'm a Spring. You don't think I studied as many texts as I could get my hands on? I don't expect to know everything that we're going to find here, but these pests have been used in Races in the past."
Viola's brow furrows. "These?" she says, guesting at the cockatrice corpses. "They went down so fast."
"For you," Plume chuckles. "But a bite will petrify you, giving them enough time to consume you." She shudders. "They're small, dangerous, and easy to control. Or, were easy to control."
Viola exhales sharply, shaking out her hands. "We got lucky there, team. We were caught off guard. Thanks to Zeph, who got that shield up quickly, we took those out easily." My brother nods quietly, crossing his arms behind his back. "So, from this moment on, there will be no unnecessary conversation. We're in fight mode all the time."
A shadow comes slinking out of the jungle and climbs up Viola's body, wrapping around her neck. "Shadow," she says, stroking up the snake's head. I didn't even notice he wasn't with her. She pats her pocket as if looking for something and then motions for us to get into position: Viola on the left, me on the right, Plume and Tulip in the middle, Zeph on the left behind Viola, with Morrowbehind me.
Viola lights up the forest as we move, burning through vegetation and creatures with every step. Frequently, I catch her checking in with her essence and adjusting our path with whatever she feels. Creatures abound, but most are small and easily displaced with a careful attack from any one of us.
After several hours of toppling smaller beasts, a massive creature bursts from the ground in front of us. It looks like an overgrown insect, but it looms over us, clicking the pincers that surround its mouth. Thick, green liquid oozes from them, and as it falls on a log below it, a hole burns right through the log. Its body is armored, with a thick black exoskeleton. Four legs anchor it to the ground as it appears to stand in front of us, two more legs reaching towards us in a cursed replica of arms.
It makes a hissing noise and swipes at us. Zeph and Morrow immediately throw up their shields, and Viola begins wrapping the creature in shadows she pulls from the forest around her. Decay seeps through the shadows into the creature but does not seem to have much effect. Like the Charybdis, Decay seems to be a part of this creature.
"Fuck," I say softly, running my hand through my hair. I focus on the image of a small bolt of Lightning piercing the beast's head, setting my intentions and setting them free. The Lightning strikes true, the beast screeching and spitting. The green liquid goes flying towards us, and Viola easily erects a shield around the two of us. The caustic liquid splatters harmlessly against the shield. Viola does not appear to extend any energy holding the shield as well as keeping the creature's quickly fading body wrapped inshadows. Not even a bead of sweat drips down her head.
The creature's six legs twitch as the life leaves it, and all the shields get dropped. A collective sigh of relief blankets us.
"Any idea what that one was, Plume?" Zeph asks, wiping sweat off his forehead with the hem of his gray shirt.
Plume picks some leaves out of her long, blonde braid. "Not a one," she replies.
"I've got to stop the fire," Viola says, spinning in a slow circle with her hands on her hips. "I'm starting to feel something." Zeph steps forward, placing his hand between her shoulder blades. Viola immediately stills, and Shadow sticks his head up and flits his tongue towards Zeph. It takes me a moment to realize a power transfer is happening. Zeph, true to his title, has become a conduit from whatever devotion Viola has gained during our travels.
Viola's eyes flit closed as the exchange happens. "Soon, I'll figure out how to do this without touching you," he whispers. "It wouldn't do to have to keep me attached to you during battle." He pulls his hand from her, and her eyes snap open. The storm cloud color shines bright, like a beacon, before settling back to its normal color.
The boost was what she needed because Viola changes direction, moving backward so Zeph and Morrow can take the front position and cut through the growth. "Are you all good to keep going?" she asks from the southernmost position. "I don't trust sleeping here and would prefer just to run my bodyinto the ground rather than attempt."
That sentiment is unanimous, so we keep going through the dangers of Riosia Island.
Chapter 22
