Chapter 25: A Glottal Stop

Chapter 25: A Glottal Stop

Nathan picked his way over the battlefield, Rage draining away as he vaulted over the fallen trunk of an Ashblood cobra that stood between him and his friends. He stepped around scattered pools of hissing blood and venom that flickered with dim flames. Somehow, his shoes were still mostly intact, and he wanted to keep them that way. They were the most expensive part of his clothes to keep replacing.

I feel shitty thinking that way after seeing Nornan get bitten by that last cobra. Fuck!

He watched as Khachi and the Dusteaters hustled into the ruined building that Nornan had been thrown into. Nathan sighed. Hed seen the snake strike. It had gotten the blonde-haired adventurer with both fangs, right into the chest cavity. He could hope - but he didnt expect Nornan was going to walk this one off, even with Khachis healing.

A few moments later Khachi emerged, shaking his head to the Heirs. The other Dusteaters came out a minute later, fury engraved across their features.

Yeah. Sucks. But were not done yet.

We kill the Matriarch. Ucrics eyes were red, and the catfolks voice was scratchy and ragged. Nathan wanted to tell him to calm down, that fighting furious wouldnt help anything. But that would be rather hypocritical, and now wasnt the time for the argument. So instead he nodded and turned to walk across the square.

Now that Stella and Khachis lights were farther into the square, Nathan could make out more of it. One side of the square had been dominated by a large palace that had been partially carved out of the back wall of the cavern. Now it was a ruined mess. Few of the walls stood, and it looked like large portions of it had been torched with flame hot enough to make the stone blocks run and bubble.

Bet thats where the wasp nest was.

The side opposite the Heirs was mostly blocked by a large semicircular fountain, with a tall plinth topped by three statues of naga-esque Sklian mage-lords standing above a broad basin.

Were looking for a water source. Fountain seems like a place to start.

Nathan motioned towards the fountain, and everybody acknowledged. The Dusteaters were stalking forward with bloodlust in their eyes. Nathan moved to keep in front of them, gesturing for the Heirs to spread out as he scooped his spear up off the ground where hed dropped it. They cleared the hazardous area of the former battle quickly enough, moving across the square towards the fountain.

The first sign of the Matriarch was a pair of faintly gleaming eyes in the shadow of the statues that stood in the center of the water feature. They were only barely visible, but clear to Nathans newly developed [Notice] skill. One eye was on either side of the central dias, nearly a dozen feet apart. Nathan yelled to grab its attention and direct his allies. They didnt want to be grouped up against something that big. Matriarch in the fountain! Take cover!

Nobody else dies. It comes after me.

Nathan summoned his Rage effortlessly and ran yelling towards the fountain. He was answered by a basso hiss rumbling across the square. He was ready to dodge at the first sign of the titanic snake coming around the statues to strike at him. He wasnt expecting it to crash through the sturdy stone plinth, showering him with stone fragments and coming directly at him with a mouth large enough to swallow a pickup truck. Sideways.

The mouth was so big there was no way to dodge. So Nathan dropped, using [Slow Fall] to slam himself gracelessly into the ground faster than gravity could have managed.

I swear, Im getting more use out of that skill in falling quickly than falling slowly.

He didnt avoid the snakes strike, but avoided getting scooped up by its onrushing jaws, which impacted his side with enough force to break bones if they hadnt been reinforced by two class skills and a Talent. The fangs punctured the stone just behind him, spraying flaming venom all around. Then they started dragging their way through the stone towards Nathan, primed to scoop him up into the snakes mouth.

Not a lot of options here.

Nathan pushed himself upwards with both legs and one hand, levering himself into the Ashblood cobra's mouth. He jammed the tip of the spear into the roof of the snakes maw and lay flat against the bottom of its mouth as the fangs broke free of the stone. The giant Matriarch made a displeased sound and the fangs hinged upwards, barely missing Nathan as the mouth closed.

His spear snapped like a twig, embedding the enchanted spearhead in the roof of the snakes mouth and flooding Nathan with flaming magical acid. The snakes saliva was also corrosive, but not as much so as the blood. He honestly wasnt sure if it was venomous, but it probably wasnt part of a great skincare routine. His shoes slipped off, enough of the bindings dissolved that the soles werent held to his feet.

Dammit.

The Ashblood Matriarch tried to swallow him, constricting muscles to draw him towards its gullet. Nathan focused down a surge of panic at the claustrophobia of being crushed, his Rage flaring in its place. He was squashed from all directions but forced his limbs to push against the constricting flesh around him. He couldnt breathe, and focused his attention on pushing his hands and legs out to search for a brace point, a way to avoid being pulled towards the back of the snakes mouth. He found some kind of lip of flesh at the bottom of the snakes mouth and kicked against it with his now-bare feet.

Then there was an impact, and the snake flinched in pain, opening its mouth. The fangs snicked past Nathan once more, and he got a look at what hed been kicking off of. It was an opening a few feet across on the bottom of the snakes mouth, and it vibrated as the snake hissed once more, the sound deafening as it emerged from the fleshy tube.

Nathan looked out of the snakes mouth. It was rearing back again, readying itself to strike at the other adventurers.

I could jump out of the snakes mouth. But my role here is to make myself a problem. And not get swallowed. Time to be a choking hazard?

Nathan realigned his feet and pushed himself into the tube. The snakes hiss cut off as Nathans knees slipped past the opening and his body damped the vibrations. The snake made a sort of choking sound, then tried to hack him up. He slipped inside the tube to his waist and braced his knees to stay in place.

You know, this feels like apt revenge for trying to swallow me. Im not sure I could survive being suffocated and crushed. Maybe I should see if I can use [Perfected Body] to replace oxygen with Stamina when not inside a giant snake.

The snakes next choking motion was interrupted by a fireball exploding in its mouth before arrows impacted in the flesh around Nathan. It tried to hiss and reorient on the Adventurers, but Nathan slid himself up to the shoulders in the tube, bracing his armpits against the edges so he didnt slide all the way in. There was another impact and the snake lurched drunkenly, but didnt fall. More blood streamed over Nathan, and he drained it of magic.

I wonder what joke Nornan would have made about me riding out the fight in the snakes mouth. I bet it would have been a banger.

Nathan glanced around, checking that all of the Heirs were ok. Stella was taking down layers of force constructs that surrounded the crater where she and Sarah had taken cover. Aarl had clambered atop the snakes head and was yanking out the lightning-saber, which had been embedded into its skull.

Ah, they used that trick again. Use the lightning-saber as a lightning rod. Makes sense, and it worked pretty well on the Siegeboar.

Nathan wiped some leftover poison from his face. The magic was gone from the liquid, but it remained a sticky mess that did not smell very good. Then he gave the Dusteaters a serious look, meeting the eyes of Ucric, the male catfolk.

Ucric gave Nathan a deep nod, his face solemn. Glad you live, Nathan Lark. Id call a man a fool who leapt into the jaws of an Ashblood cobra. But you killed the problem, just like Nornan said ya would.

Nathan returned the nod. I am sorry about Nornan. Remember till Ending.

Everybody echoed him, a statement that was part prayer, part vow and part grieving. Remember until Ending.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Magic Absorption 8

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 3

Talent 3: High-tier Slow Fall 6

Class: Spellbreaker Juggernaut level 77

Stamina: 833/870

Juggernaut's Wrath

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Juggernaut's Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Utility skills:

Battle Meditation 2

High-tier Earnestness 7

Mid-tier Sprinting 9

High-tier Spellsense 5

High-tier Notice 1

Mid-tier Identify 8

Mid-tier Dodging Footwork 8

High-tier Enhanced Memory 6

Mid-tier Lecturing 7

Mid-tier Tumbling 6