Chapter 74 74 Sneak Attack

Chapter 74 Chapter 74 Sneak Attack

It looked sturdy enough. So, he lifted his feet, placed in the hollow of the trunk, and hoisted himself upwards in one pull. Hot pain shot through the atrophied muscles in his legs.

He had forgotten he had been traveling for two days straight. Forcing himself, Nexus repeated the motions again, and again, until he came within reach of a low hanging branch. After eying it carefully, his calf tensed, and he lurched himself at it.

From there on, it was a breeze. He pulled himself upwards, steadied himself at the base of the thick branch, and swatted off the leaves blocking his view. He was all set.

And so was Monica.

Some twelve feet up in the tree, camouflaged behind the rustling green leaves, the span of Nexus' black eyes followed Monica's movements closely. From that vantage point, unblinking and unmoving, Nexus saw it all.

Crouching in the grass below, with her red hood pulled over her head, and her face tightened in a mask of concentration, she slowly lifted her velvet-leather boots, and began to move forward in light strides. In a straight line, she headed straight for the line of scattered jagged rocks.

She slithered through the grass like a red serpent, carefully covering more and more ground in fluid strides. Her explosive series arms remained clenched, angled perfectly, moving in tandem with her stealthy movements. Thankfully, the reddish-orange light in the western sky remained behind her, so she had the added advantage sneaking forward without the glare in her eyes.

Less than fifteen feet away from the pack, Monica suddenly stopped. Her knees bent slightly, and she dropped to an even lower crouch. She sank down to a full squat, and began to do something on the ground. Her back was turned him, so Nexus strained his neck trying to catch a glimpse of what she was up to.

In an instant, she shot up to her feet.

Nexus tensed; what was that?

While his mind was running circles, Monica suddenly took a detour. In a seemingly illogical move, she surprised him by darting to her right. In an encircling maneuver, she began to work her way around the den, instead of heading directly for it.

Confused, Nexus leaned forward- very nearly slipping off the tree branch.

He regained his composure a moment later, and looked up. She was gone. Monica had completely disappeared.

Swish!!!

A piercing whistling sound suddenly rippling through the silent vacuum, distorting the stillness- violently arresting the attention of every single wildlife within a twenty foot radius. At the spot where Monica had bent, came a rising pillar of rich white smoke. About two feet wide, and three times as tall, it budded like a lotus at the base, and rose up through the grass, towering towards the heavens in an unnaturally coordinated state.

Needless to say, the wolves weren't too pleased about the disruption.

In a fraction of a moment, they all stirred. Their powerful hind legs kicked forcefully, jerking the rest of their heavy bodies. Their shoulder muscles tightened, raising their front legs, rousing their beefy necks, and ultimately, elevating their massive heads.

Below their menacing black eyes, their triangular shaped snouts rose up, and their jaws dropped, revealing a very commanding set of sharp white teeth. Wickedness gleamed in their pearly eyes. Like rumbling thunder, their deep, low, growls rumbled in the background as they snarled.

It was on.

From behind the thick pillar of smoke, blurs of shaggy, jet-black fur, Nexus watched with astonishment as they all rose like one- in one powerful swift choreographed motion. Immediately, like a loud declaration of war, their heads all arched towards the sky, and their vocal chords let loose- filling the air with a terrifying cacophony of howls.

Nexus swallowed. He didn't speak wolf. But he sure as hell got the message.

Just as the massive wind wolves howled at the smoke, just as the evening sky was slipping towards dusk, and the gentle winds picked up faster, Monica's crimson form suddenly appeared in the air.

No one saw Monica coming.

Not even Nexus- and his eyes were wide open.

In that brief moment, suspended between the heaven in the earth, with her hooded face, her cloak flapping in the wind, and her slender arms stretched out behind her- she looked like an avenging angel descending from above.

The stupid wind wolves were so wrapped up in the frenzy of their collective howls, that they completely missed the ominous being that had suddenly appeared in the sky behind them.

Monica didn't give them a chance.

As she rode on the wings of gravity back to the ground, she touched down on the ground with a superhero landing, striking the earth with a powerful blow.

It was finesse in its purest form. It was art. And so was what came next.

The ground broke immediately where Monica's landing fist had struck the earth. Before the wolves could even register her presence, sparks ignited upon impact, and flashes of those sparks encircled the broken loose soil. A deafening explosion followed immediately.

With a thundering boom, it struck the earth squarely- like a blast of lightning from a thunderstorm. The ground shook violently. Chunks of dirt, grass, and debris shot up to alarming heights and shredded the open air.

From the point of explosion, the seismic pressure waves rippled forward in consecutive patterns- each one on the heels of the former, charging through chronologically, and disrupting the terrain completely.

Nexus continued to watch with unadulterated awe. There was no denying her sound strategy. The redhead was fucking good.

But the wind wolves did not currently share that sentiment. They snarled violently as the ground trembled underneath their feet. Their stamina could not withstand the mini earthquakes, so they swayed from side to side, snarling, growling and barring their vicious teeth as the earth revolted.

Fear did not seem to be encoded in their DNA. Apparently, the same could be said of Monica's.

Nexus watched her move- feeling like he was viewing a live action movie in slow motion.

Still in that superhero landing position, she jerked her head backwards, and her hood flew backwards, revealing her thick, dense red curls. Her intense eyes shot forward, taking in the scene, noting the positions of every single wind wolf, their stance, and their sizes- all in one glance.

With a burst of fresh energy, the redhead sprinted forward- towards the nearest wind wolf. A crazed look seized her face as her slender androgynous figure traveled on the wings of the commotion. Effortlessly threading on the broken soil in gliding motions, she rushed forward, and closed in on the unsuspecting wind wolf.

Time slowed.

Nexus gawked.

Her hand touched the black wolf's butt, and it immediately exploded with a muffled bang- like a bursting tomato. Bits of flesh, bones and blood spluttered in the air, and came down in bone chilling showers.

Monica did not waste a second.

Before the others could realize what had happened, her tendons turned at an unnatural angle, as she spun towards the next wolf. Her heels dug into the earth and she sprang forth again as though she had nitrous boosts under her feet. Her fingers came in contact with the next one, and the black furry beasts exploded like firecrackers on new year's.