Tread Lightly

We haul ass together, running, no, racing away from the giant serpent behind us on the sandy dunes. I have to pull Virgil with me and keep him moving at my pace due to his Ether saturation slowing him down. The giant snakes are slowly gaining on us because of that, though. Pulling Virgil behind me slows me down, and Vernon keeps looking back to check on his brother.

For a single second, as we cross the dunes, the thought of abandoning him crosses my mind. But it's shot down without a moment of hesitation. He could have just pulled his brother up. But no, he yanked me up from that pit as well. Do to others as they do unto you. Some things you just gotta do. Even if they may not be the best way to survive.

I give Virgil a quick look, pick him up, and put him over my shoulders before he can resist. Then, I slam another foot into the ground as I command my dull and nauseating streams of Ether to move once more on this night, no this early morning. Sunrise must be soon. I focus on this while looking at Vernon. He's more powerful in daylight. Hopefully, enough to get us out of this.

My part will be done, though. A good man won't die today.

The recently used Strugglers Gasp burns a recognizable trail of fire through my veins as I try to force my Ether to move and enhance me. An Adrenaline Surge flows through me with blinding pain, but I don't let my boots stumble. Instead, I move even faster before the serpents behind me reach my ass.

I pump my legs as fast as I can; no greater motivation have I ever had to run than an entire horde of powerful Short Horned Serpents. I really hope this isn't an instance of "Resonant Attraction". If it is, we're done for. Hoping this isn't the case, I push myself beyond my limits with sweat streaming down my body and blood flooding down my nose.

A yell of panic enters my eyes from above me, breaking me out of my pure unadulterated adrenaline-fueled focus.

"Faster, Wyatt! Big one is right behind us! I'll try and keep it back!"

A need to glance behind me arises, and I foolishly oblige. Swiveling my head back as I run, I see the largest of the Short Horned Serpents only ten or so feet behind, just a single stumble away from devouring us. I look it in the eyes and see anger. Anger for being disturbed. Anger, in turn, rises in me while I continue to run over the sandy dunes.

This damn thing wants to eat us just because we disturbed its sleep! Fuck. I need to go faster. If any more Ether is pushed into me, I'm almost sure I'll push past the point of no return. I feel a small burst of speed as movement is felt on my shoulders from Virgil. He must be trying to hit the damned snake and slow it down.

Ahead of us both is Vernon. He's devilishly fast for not having any Sigil that leans toward speed. Mine helps me simply because it gives me more Ether to work with, which I don't have enough to break out of this situation with. Guess I'll need to use some more.

Just as I go to funnel more Ether into my body with determined resolve, I see and hear Vernon stop running and raise his hands toward us. At the tip of his hands, I see a single ray of sunlight that runs across the dunes, lighting up the world. Virgil and I, though, are still in the serpent's shadow.

"It'll keep chasing us! Wyatt, just turn and fight. I'll help!"

The words from Vernon make me hesitate. Fight this damned thing? What about the others? I don't stop running and continue towards him as I yell back.

"What about the others?!"

He points behind the snake and makes an X with his hands.

"We outran them! Only the biggest is fast enough to keep up!"

I come to a stop beside Vernon and toss Virgil to the ground. Then, in one smooth motion, I nod to Vernon, spin to face the oncoming Short Horned Serpent, and take off my coat with Dakota in it, passing it to Virgil.

"Take care of the kit for me."

Then, I roll up my sleeves and draw my daggers, stepping forward to meet the hungry serpent on level ground. In the corner of my right eye, I see Virgil stand shakily and hold Dakota. He sidesteps out of the snake's path as he pulls a lever action from his back. I can see he's also pushing himself past his limit because blood is pouring down his nose, and some even exit his ears.

Just before I charge at the oncoming giant snake among giant snakes, I see Vernon to my left with a ball of burning and radiant sunlight in his hands. I can just imagine the burning pain that comes from holding that. But all powers have downsides; we just have to make do with what we have.

And what do I have? I got another breath in me, at the very least. That's all that matters to the Struggler. What happens after doesn't matter as much. I have failed too many times to save people. Just once. Just one single time, I want to win.

So, with drawn daggers and a behemoth of a snake bearing down on me, I take a breath, one that sucks in the air all around me in a small tornado. My vision is blocked by the magnitude of sand flown into the air as an enormous amount of Ether fills me. Ether that will undoubtedly make me burst in just a few moments.

The Ether that enters me is crammed down into each and every one of my restraints. Speed, flexibility, and strength fill me, but alongside the three is an incredible amount of pressure in my lungs. A force that demands me to immediately release Struggers Gasp. I refuse. Instead, I pull out Law's Light that hangs always facing forward from my belt and force it to bathe the dust before me in its binding light.

Liquid magma floods my veins, and I airlessly grunt in pain from all I am making happen using my unwilling Ether and breaking body. Keeping multiple streams of Ether active is brutal, both mentally to articulate and with the extra pain it delivers forcing the ministrations of Ether to shake, but I push through. The mouth of the head that is a lantern opens and sheds its light into the sand that blocks my vision. The second the light appears, I see what lies behind the sand.

A giant Short Horned Snake that is within a single foot from me. The light from Law's Light touches it, and I don't notice a difference as I am given a split second to react before it slams into me with the force of a barreling train. With eyes full of defiance, I stab the serpent with both daggers in my hands as I drop Law's Light to bind whatever is in front of me.

The duration of our confrontation, the snake and I is so short that I don't even have time to soundlessly yell in effort because I can't breathe as my blades sink deep into the front of the snake, the sensation of every bone in my body breaking. After the futile clash, I am sent flying out of the cloud of dust and tumbling over the dunes for dozens of feet as my vision goes blurry.

When I stop rolling, I try to stand but am physically unable to. The tendons and bones in my body are not just unwilling but unable to stand the force required to stand. Even with loosened chains, some things hold still. In my blurry sight, I see a figure cloaked in radiant light dodging and jumping away from the serpent while another shoots at it with a gun. The impact shakes my brain and my entire body, but I can still recognize the situation and realize what must be done.

The Bloody Palm must be unbound by my Daydream and, if possible, enhanced by it.

My body is damaged. Not the most impaired it's ever been, I don't think, but far too much to stand. Previously I could stand despite a broken spine, but that was after several moments of healing and a fresh Strugglers Gasp. Neither of which I have to spare.

So, I take a risk and release the Daydream blocking the whispers from the Bloody Palm as a wave of murmurs instantly crests and inundates me. I do all I can to ignore them and my rapidly malfunctioning vision.

I funnel Ether into the Bloody Palm to heal me rapidly and feel a surge of warmth fill me as my body lightens, the artifact taking its due. The heat continues to suffuse me as small bits of motion return to me, but it's not enough. I need a full range of motion and speed to kill this serpent. I need more than that, actually. I need an undying body.

I don't know if my Daydreams can affect anything more than just myself, but I figure that the Bloody Palm is basically just an extension of myself now. And so, I Daydream. I Daydream an image of healing flesh and bones followed by a vision of speed and resilience. Resistance is felt at first, as if I shouldn't be allowed to do what I'm about to do.

But I don't let this feeling stop me; I push more against the palm with my dream. As The Cabin said, I force my will to dream of a better world on the palm. A few seconds of this resistance lasts until a sense of agreement enters my mind from the Bloody Palm. I feel satisfaction rise as I watch my two companions fight for their lives and mine.

That satisfaction is quickly tossed aside as the normal murmurs from the Bloody Palm return, this time twice, no three or more times as loud and piercing. But I can't complain, as with those murmurs, an equivalent effect is born. An enormous wave of warmth enters me and makes my body crack and pop in healing, then stretch and shift in malfeasance.

My vision trembles even more as the darkness that used to encompass just the corners of my eyes now bleeds closer toward the center. The eyes are the window to the soul, but this time, the window feels like it's about to crack. I can feel the Bloody Palm growing closer to me and more powerful, but I disregard it. There are more important things at stake than my likely unstoppable madness.

My body rises once more, covered in blood and bones that poke out from my body that has been stretched and thinned like the other times the Bloody Palm has done as it willed. I feel almost an entire foot taller and significantly slimmer as I get on all fours and burst forward while my lungs barely hold onto the air.

The ground disappears beneath my feet faster than at any other time in my entire life. The speed at which I move right now approaches Edmund's speed when he was fighting Alexos, or at least I think so as I barrel toward the serpent about to devour Vernon. As I get near, I see that Vernon has damaged the snake badly. Its entire face and mouth are burnt or charred and even, in some places, just turned to charcoal.

But it seems like his ability to defend himself has run out; the giant Short Horned Serpent is powerful and unwilling to be defeated by a single man with Ether and another with a gun. Confidence and power flood me as I charge at the snake to prevent it from eating Vernon.

I may not be as threatening or as massive as the serpent, but unfaltering confidence comes with the whispers of the Bloody Palm in my mind. One that tells me I am more than a mere human. That I am an apex predator that can hunt anything. This feeling makes me slam into the side of the snake's jaw at full speed, just like it did to me.

Once more, I feel every bone in my body crack and break, but not for nothing. The snake's jaw also shatters with a loud crack that almost bursts my eardrums as it is pushed to the side and goes past Vernon touching him. My body falls with the damage, and I can literally hear it reassemble itself with the help of the Bloody Palm.

There is little I can focus on besides my mind and the snake, though. I even ignore Vernon's yell of triumph in not being eaten and surprise at me still being alive. The whispers eat into me more than ever before. The window in my soul buckles under the pressure while, at the same time, the Ether in my chest feels as though it's about to make me explode into a million pieces.

With limbs still reassembling and lengthening, I return to my stance on all fours. My Bloodhound's Step gives me the perfect way to take advantage of these longer arms. They are weird, uncomfortable, and unsettling, but I have grown used to them over the past few times they've appeared. Under the pressure of the Bloody Palm, I can only think of a solution to a single problem. The bursting lungs.

I place the decapitated head on the ground and fill it with an immense amount of Ether, enough to work for a while at full strength without any more input. Then, I have it face the serpent as it slithers and turns around to meet us. I can sense the chains that grow on it and weaken it. Alongside the chains on the snake, though, develop a set on my heart as tightness fills my chest, slightly alleviating the about-to-burst feeling by adding a counterweight.

But it's not enough. I need to both kill the snake and keep myself from exploding while doing so. I can only think of one way as my body and mind crumble. I wait as the serpent nears, slowing down the whole while now that it is in the binding light of Law's Light.

The serpent heads straight for me, and I make it regret that as I step into the binding light as well. I hear yells behind me telling me not to, but I'm too sure of this solution, even with the darkness in my mind. If there's one thing I'm sure of my instincts being right of, it's survival.

Just a single second after I enter the light and the serpent nears me much slower than usual, the feeling of an eruption from within my chest is completely countered by chains that wrap around my whole being. The light of Law's Light competing against my very self. But it's not just competing against me this time, for the Bloody Palm has joined in despite being an unwelcome aspirant for my soul.

And so, under these counterbalancing effects like dancing on a razor's edge, I run at the snake as it slithers toward me, both of us more in line with the normal speeds for our respective species. The snake opens its mouth as it nears me, and I change the focus of my Daydream despite the healing that is used to keep me alive. Right now, all I need is speed.

I Daydream of myself stepping on clouds through pure speed alone, the world itself shifting to aid my movement. Pain returns to my body as the warmth healing me lowers, but what replaces it is a furious wind flowing over my bleeding ears and eyes. I rush at the serpent as a beam of burning light sears straight into its right eye and makes it flinch to the side with a wide-open maw.

This is an opportunity, one given my Vernon and his sizzling light. I burst forward as fast as I can with my broken body and jump onto the Short Horned Serpent's bottom lip. Then, after leaping again by using the lip as leverage, like using ice picks to climb, I stab my way up the snake toward its eye with my daggers as it tries and fails to swing me off.

Now that I am on the snake, I make my Daydream return to the warmth of the Bloody Palm's self-consuming healing. Then, I make my way to its eyes and become a dervish of blades on top of the snake just below its horn, trying to make it to its brain. A horn that, now that I'm near it, appears to be hollow with a hole at the top.

I feel heat wash over me from Vernon's Ether several times as I gradually slow alongside the snake, Law's Light earning a grasp over the both of us. But even as we slow to a crawl, I continue to stab into it while Vernon and Virgil blast it with guns, bombs of light, and an occasional blade of light.

Eventually, the snake stops moving, its head absolutely destroyed and bloodied. Its hollow horn is the only undamaged part of the giant Short Horned Serpent. At this point, I release my breath of defiance onto the dead snake and collapse. Then as I see Vernon pick up Law's Light and turn it to face another way, I tumble off the top of the snake and fall into the sandy dunes.

With a vision where only the center of my eye is pure and untainted by darkness, I feel a bone-chilling cold enter me alongside a blistering heat.