Jace was not tired. He had never really had a reason to stay up so long before but it appeared that his increased abilities helped him stay awake for a longer amount of time. During the night he had completed his impromptu bow. He had learned how to make one from Ulin during their time at the academy.

    The version he made was closer to a longbow with greater distance than a normal bow. Especially with such elasticity at his disposal. It was nothing compared to a professionally manufactured bow, but he was sure it was better than a normal stick and string. Although it was still a long way from a pistol or rifle.

    Which would help him so much more in the current situation he was in. After descending from his hammock where he had remained unbothered throughout the entire night from those flying creatures he had started working on making long lines of rope using these thick vines. But as he was going though curing them he had encountered a problem.

    In one area of the mountain where the vines were far more abundant there was a creature or plant that had several vines branching out through an area. Jace did not realize it at first so he started cutting into one of them.

    Then once he was part of the way through almost all of the vines in the area began moving. Jace was only stunned for a moment before deciding to run but as he started running a vine grabbed him by the leg and dragged him away.

    Which is how he found himself in a cave somewhere inside of the mountain. Jace was hanging upside down while restrained by vines. Nearby hanging similar vine cocoons were some other creatures that were likely locals. All of them were struggling or making movements, but Jace could see the cocoons tightening as they did.

    Which was why Jace had become so relaxed in the low light of the cave. Instead choosing to observe his surroundings. The vine cocoons were hanging from cracks in the roof of the cave. Littering the floor of the cave were a number of skeletons from an array of creatures. Running under, over, and through the skeletons were a number of vines some of which were slithering and moving. sea??h thё N?velFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    In the center of the bones where all the vines led to was a giant gray bulb like the bulb of a flower. It sat in the center and was likely what was controlling all of these vines. It seemed like this plant had hunting grounds set up throughout the island. He might have wandered into one by accident, but how did it draw creatures in? Smell?

    He started assessing his own gear. Jace had a Scythe arm turned into a spear on his back. Then there was the bow, but no arrows. A collection of vines that he had already turned into rope. Then there is the reinforced data tablet that he had stored on his hip. The last thing he had on him was the knife.

    He was restrained upside down but he could still slightly move his arms. He just had to be careful to not move the vines too much. As he moved the hand with his knife slightly shifted so he could cut the vine that was attached to the roof of the cave. He would have to figure out his course of action first.

    There was a single hole or entrance to the cave that he was pulled in from. There are vines around the edges but nothing actually blocking it. But even if he got out he had to be careful of the vines.

    Jace had to make an assumption here, but he believed this creature ''saw'' by touch. So once he was out of the cave he would have scaled the side of the mountain without touching any of the vines. Then he would have to find a way to distinguish the cannibal plant vines from the normal vines.

    After spending a moment figuring out his specific route and reviewing it for a few minutes he was ready. But as he was preparing to commit to his plan one of the lizard-mantis creatures broke free and fell to the ground.

    It ran towards the cave hole shredding through vines as it ran. While other vines whipped out trying to grab the creature. But as it neared the entrance the bulb in the center of the room slightly moved and a glob of fluid flew through the air. As the creature jumped out of the hole the ball of glob made contact.

    Jace watched as the skin of the creature quickly melted off while it shrieked in horror before falling out of sight.

    So maybe just running was not a good option. But he definitely just confirmed that he was nowhere near the main body. The bulb was smoking and shriveling up while a vine dragged up the remains of the creature and brought it deeper into the cave. Then he could hear crunching and cracking for a moment.

    Then a few of the other creatures began pulling themselves loose and running for the hole in the cave. Jace watched for an additional moment until the first one was out. Then He leaned up and cut the vine. Falling from the roof he landed on his feet with a groan of pain. Then he took off to the bright hole in the cave wall.

    The other creatures ignored him as they ran. Seems they were more scared then hungry or curious about him. As he got to the hole in the cave it seemed the vine plant creature had started reacting to the stampede of creatures.

    There was a whoosh, crack, and a thud as a vine smacked one of the creatures in the side. Sending it sailing into the wall of the cave. Jace was climbing outside of the cave in the next step. Using the vine appendages of the creature to exit and then scale the side of the mountain.

    He was not the only one as the local creatures were all scrambling up the mountain side in an odd sort of race. Jace was sure that it looked comical to anyone that saw it but he could almost feel the fear in the air as he focused on going horizontal rather than vertical.

    Jace reached the edge of the vines while many of the other creatures were still dodging the whip-like vines. He switched from using the vines as handholds to using jagged rocks and cracks in the stone. He began climbing to the top again, occasionally glancing over to see how these local creatures were faring.

    Not well from the looks of things. Some that could easily climb were able to easily escape but those large feline-like and wolf-like creatures were struggling. But he was amused by the site of what looked like a giant alligator jumping straight down.

    By the time he reached the top of the mountain''s large plateau he was out of breath. It has been awhile since he exerted himself enough to lose his breath. Now that he was thinking of it he felt tired, not sleepy tired but rather he felt exhausted.

    As he got his bearings he started making his way back to his tree. This time he was much more careful about the vines he collected along the way. Eventually he figured out the difference between the normal vines and those death vines. The death vines had a purple vein running through it that would be visible.

    If he was not so caught up in his own stuff he might have noticed it last time. But as it was he needed to remind himself to be aware of his surroundings. As he arrived back at his tree with pounds of vines he stopped dead in his tracks.

    Sitting at the bottom of his tree was a giant tiger-like creature with white fur and green stripes. It was bleeding from one of its hind legs. As he approached he flinched in surprise as he realized he had not been using his enhanced senses to listen for danger.

    The tiger thing growled in response to his presence while Jace looked to the descending sun, it would be a few hours until night time. This creature would likely die if it could not make it back to whatever hole it hides inside of.

    After a few moments of deliberation he nodded his head and made his decision. He set down most of the things he had on him. While he did he looked over the tiger creature''s injury.

    The tiger creature''s leg was a mix between its fur that covered the rest of its body while its leg is white scales. It had claws that looked less useful for shredding and more useful in digging into trees with their rounded shape.

    After looking at it for a moment he realized the cut ran between where it switched from fur to scales. The injury itself appeared to have started to heal but stopped when the wound opened up more. Likely from an abundance of movement or running away.

    The creature growled as he approached and tried to move but howled in pain when it did so. Giving Jace a chance to get closer with a vine and branch. He quickly straightened the creature''s leg and tied a branch to it in order to keep it straight while he tied the vine tight. If he just kept the wound mostly closed there was a chance it could just naturally heal quickly on its own.