CHAPTER 69: SERPENT

Suddenly, Gara’s mind began to race, spurred on by the horrifying thought of dying here, starting over, and reliving his first night with Langga.

His right hand shot up in a fraction of a second, slashing through the air. From his palm, a thin, razor-sharp arc of water whipped toward the massive serpent.

Bang!

A single water slash sent the serpent, with a crimson crystal crowning its head, hurtling backward. It crashed against a tree.

From the gash left behind, blood seeped slowly, like water trickling from a hidden spring.

The serpent, Fian, Rea... even Gara himself, stared in disbelief.

Was I always this strong?

Confidence surged through him. Gara launched another water slash, but the serpent had learned its lesson. Between the two bipeds before it, the smaller one was clearly more dangerous. It had chosen the wrong target.

Before Gara’s second strike could land, the snake twisted away, then spun around and glided off with unnatural speed, leaving the two intruders behind.

A small smile tugged at Gara’s lips. He had driven off a terrifying beast!

But his victory was cut short when Fian suddenly dashed after the retreating snake. His swift and silent Ghost Walk carried him forward.

Gara blinked in confusion and rising panic. "We’ve already won! Why is he chasing it?"

As long as the snake feared them, it wouldn’t dare come back. For Gara, ending the battle now was far better than cornering it and forcing a desperate fight.

They might still win, but not without injuries—and injuries were the last thing he wanted.

In the span of a few seconds, Fian’s figure vanished into the dense forest.

"Rea, do you know where Fian went?" Gara glanced at the small white-furred creature on his shoulder. Rea shook his head, looking gloomy.

"Ghost Walk must be messing with your sense of him... What about the snake?"

This time Rea nodded eagerly.

"Alright! Lead the way."

With the white squirrel as his guide, they slipped between trees where green dominated every shade. Their path led them away from Rea’s nest.

From a distance, the sound of a river whispered through the air, but they didn’t head toward it.

Not long after, through the trees ahead, Gara caught sight of several jagged ice spikes thrusting up from the forest floor. An unnatural sight in the woods.

At the center of those frozen spears, the blood-slick serpent was still thrashing, struggling against the elf before it.

More ice spikes erupted, knocking the snake off balance, but whenever it tried to strike back, Fian dodged with fluid grace. Their movements were so fast, and Fian clearly gaining the upper hand.

Thus, Gara chose to hold his position, ready to step in only if needed.

In a final desperate act, the serpent spewed a thick, dark green fluid. Whatever it was, Gara knew Fian mustn’t come into contact with it.

He thrust his hand forward—water surged ahead, forming a curved wall between Fian and the oncoming spray. A heartbeat later, the venom splashed against it.

The liquid fell to the ground, but a few droplets scattered onto Fian’s unprotected leg. His skin blistered instantly. Yet the elf didn’t seem to care about the pain.

When Gara had faced the serpent earlier, if not for his reflexes and strength, that pretty boy would have been swallowed whole.

But at that, Fian had only stood frozen in shock. The anger at his own helplessness now drove him to think of nothing but killing the snake.

He had almost lost his home—again.

Somewhere in the haze of his memory, he recalled a home in the trees, shared with an elf man and woman he called mother and father. But after that... the memories seemed cut off.

The clearest memory he had began with pain of being tortured by humans for refusing to do what they ordered.

Boom.

The serpent’s massive body crashed to the ground.

Gara finally approached, closing the distance to the young elf. Rea had already leapt from his shoulder, bounding and hopping toward the fallen snake.

As his eyes traced the green venom pooling on the ground, Gara noticed something else—Fian’s leg was injured. Without a word, he crouched down and wrapped the wound in his water.

"Ack!"

Pulled from his haze, Fian looked down to see the black-haired man tending to him with careful precision. The pain in his leg ebbed away, fading with every passing moment.

Gara straightened up. "It’s healed," he said with quiet confidence.

When Fian glanced down, the blistered skin was gone. The healing power in Gara’s water was astonishing—just as sharp and strong as his attacks.

Admiration and urgency stirred in Fian’s chest. He needed to become stronger.

Meanwhile, Gara turned his head toward the serpent and froze in horror.

No, the snake hadn’t risen again.

Rea was standing on its head, his once-white fur now stained crimson with its blood. His mouth was busy chewing.

The red crystal that had adorned the snake’s crown was gone, and there was no doubt who had taken it.

"Rea! Don’t eat random things!"

Cautiously—afraid that the snake might actually reawaken—Gara stepped closer and scooped the squirrel into his arms, just in time to see him swallow the last shard of crystal.

He heaved a sigh, "I’ll clean you with wa—"

His words cut short when Fian hefted the massive serpent into his arms. The elf’s entire body was slick with its blood.

A shiver crawled down Gara’s spine at the sight of the snake’s length. Even after Fian disappeared into the trees, its tail still hadn’t emerged from view.

Not eager to have nightmares later, Gara jogged after him, all while rinsing Rea clean with his water.

With every step, the sound of the river grew louder.

When Gara caught up, he found the elf at the water’s edge, deftly cleaning and skinning the serpent with the sharp edge of his glacial spike.

"He must’ve dealt with wild beasts often when he was still with his elf group," Gara murmured.

...