Records of Rebirth

The air was filled with the screeching cries of angry creatures as more emerged from the water to swarm the banks. 

The first to arrive spotted them fairly quickly and took after them in a brisk run. The others who emerged later, immediately followed after it.

Typhon knew they couldn't outrun the creatures with Ophelia in her injured state, so they dove into the nearest thicket and dug into the wet sands in hopes of losing their scent. 

The three snakes also activated [Silence] and [Stealth] as they waited for them to pass but the creatures lurked around stubbornly.

One came very close to their hiding place, furiously sniffing the ground and the leaves like a bloodhound.

[Find a better place to hide and get as close to the ground as you can.] Typhon instructed the spaded snake and Ophelia who was breathing hard. [I'll find a way to distract it.]

Then he slipped out to face the creature alone.

He easily spotted it from the glimmer of its pale skin under a thick coat of mud and quickly blended into the camouflage of the thicket, intending to strike the creature from below. 

But the creature's stinger stabbed at the bushes, narrowly missing him and it moved with speed, its sightless face appearing through the leaves with gnashing rows of needle-like teeth in a low growl. 

It leapt at him with ferocity, forcing him to jump back as its sharp teeth grazed his scales. Typhon twisted to the side but its stinger struck once more and there was a loud 'thunk' as it embedded into the trunk behind him.

Typhon dashed forward, sinking his fangs into the creature's pallid flesh. His poison, unlike that of the spaded snake was more potent and with his poison in its system, the creature began to spasm, its movements becoming clumsy.

It managed to pull its tail free and its stinger lunged at him again, but Typhon snatched it from the air, biting with enough force to sever its tail. Blood spattered everywhere and the creature screeched loudly in pain before he leapt on it and coiled around his neck, smothering its voice and the creature struggled weakly until it went still.

However the damage was done. The creatures already heard its cry and all began to sprint towards his location.

When Typhon returned to their initial spot, he saw the two snakes had gone.

He was considering leaving them to lure the creatures to him, when a voice called out to him.

[Here!] The spaded snake's head appeared out of a crevice in the ground.

Inside, he saw Ophelia had recovered enough to move. But the creatures outside were gathering, they'd found their dead and their enraged screeches filled the air.

In the distance Typhon counted thirty creatures where he left the corpse, and then his eyes traversed the length of the river searching for an exit. The last of the log bridge had already washed away, which left only way to leave the island - jumping into the river against creatures that could swim. 

Compared to their movements on land, they were even faster in the water like it was their true habitat. Going further inland seemed to be the only hope they had. 

The creatures each sniffed the air for a trace of their scent and Typhon was painfully aware of the acid blood that had spilled on him. They had to be tracking them, no, him, seeking revenge for their dead.

And that gave him a third option.

Ophelia's scales were still recovering from where the creatures had struck her, and she was trying her hardest not to show the fatigue. The spaded snake on the other hand was trembling with fear, as she counted the number of creatures appearing.

If he moved without Ophelia and the spaded snake, the creatures would most likely follow him and that would give them the chance to escape.

However as he tried to leave, Ophelia fixed him with a dangerous stare. [Don't even think about sacrificing yourself for us.]

The spaded snake's eyes went wide. [S-sacrifice? No, if you leave, they'll kill us. You can't.]

Typhon remained adamant. [It's the only way. I will lead them away while you both escape.]

[You think they'll be satisfied with killing just you?] Ophelia shot back. [Splitting up here won't end well for any of us.]

[But they're tracking the blood on me.] he replied indignantly.

The spaded snake fidgeted nervously. [You can't do that!]

[That doesn't matter. I'm injured.] Ophelia chuckled darkly. [Even if I run, they'll catch up to us sooner. You're better off leaving me while you two escape.]

[Never!] Typhon replied instantly.

[No way!] The spaded snake stubbornly shook her head for emphasis. As much as she disliked Ophelia, she wouldn't leave her to die while she escaped.

[I spotted a dead tree on the way here.] Ophelia suggested with a sigh. [It's high enough to get out of reach and it's not that far away either.]

Typhon looked out into the distance and saw the tree she mentioned. It was indeed tall, spaced out all around from the other trees, with knotty branches that served as a vantage point from the top of its trunk. And unlike its neighbours, it wasn't covered in thick vines that would allow the creatures to climb. 

It was perfect.

The longer they waited, the quicker the creatures discovered them. So, the three snakes activated stealth and made a break for it. On reaching the tree, they each scrambled up with ease.

However his scent carried in the winds, bringing the creatures to them, and Typhon heard the loud screeching of large numbers of the creatures as they raced towards the trees.

As the snakes reached the top, they formed defensive formations around the easiest points of access.

Below them, Typhon spotted three of the creatures sprinting through the leaves to arrive at the base of their tree. One dug its claws into the tree's bark, attempting to climb up, but it only managed a few steps before slipping to the ground. With only two legs and a bare trunk, it was impossible to get a stable footing.

Another jumped up on its powerful legs, ramming the tree with force, hoping to pull them down.

Typhon felt the tremor of the hit, but the tree stood firm, and both creatures fell to the ground without success, in screeching masses. More creatures followed their attempts to climb the tree, some jumping, others slicing madly at the trunk with their claws to destroy.

They were persistent and after a few tries, one creature slipped but it stabbed the tree with its pronged stinger for added grip and succeeded in stopping its descent and then began to climb up slowly by digging its claws firmly into the tree bark.

Typhon saw that and allowed them to continue, until the first reached the top, and on queue each of the snakes struck out against them with poison. With their stingers and claws embedded in the trees to climb, they made for easy targets. 

His creature spasmed immediately and fell, knocking down those below it and Ophelia's wasn't much different.

The spaded snake's poison wasn't potent enough and her creature freed its stinger from the tree to attack her. However, the moment it did, its claws slipped, and it quickly fell below, much to her relief. 

Seeing this, Typhon switched sides with her and had her watch the back of the tree which had the least number of creatures.

He turned to Ophelia who had since recovered and was surprised to see she was attacking with poison.

[Why aren't you using your compulsion on them?] Typhon shouted over the loud screeching.

[There's too many to focus on. If I attacked a wide area, it would affect you both as well.]

[Don't worry about us and do it. We can't keep them back for long.]

Typhon was confident he'd built up some resistance to her skill, but when she used it, the result was unexpected. 

He felt a shrill piercing sound in his skull, like a howling scream shattering through his senses that made him want to curl up in discomfort. But he forced himself to move and resumed his attacks. The spaded snake on the other hand, couldn't resist and coiled around herself to reduce the noise.

But the effect on them seemed mild compared to the creatures. When her scream echoed out, the screeching rabble descended into madness, attacking each other with their weapons. 

The scene below dissolved into one of chaos with many creatures dead and more bleeding out.

But unfortunately, her scream could not last forever. And after killing so many, their bodies lay dead in the mud, forming bloody piles for their kin to step on and resume their attacks.

Yet their numbers remained endless, even as many died, more arrived from the river to replace them. And unfazed by death and defeat, their rage was even stronger than before. 

The creatures continued climbing, their tenacity unchanged, but at the top the result was always the same and the snakes swiftly dispatched them as they came. 

Until one of the creatures took a different approach and climbed a nearby tree with vines, and  launched itself at their tree in a surprise attack that propelled it onto the top from behind them in an attack and caught the spaded snake unaware. 

She was stung and knocked off her defensive position as the creature gripped on to the tree by its claws to climb up fully.

Typhon rushed over to shield her, preventing the creature's stinger from stabbing her further but the wayward stinger hit him and recoiled from his hardened scales. Typhon immediately swung at it, knocking the creature back before sinking his fangs into its neck. The creature spasmed as poison flowed through its veins and soon fell to the ground below.

He rushed over with Ophelia to check on the spaded snake.

Seeing their anxious faces, she tried to get up and gave a shaky laugh. [I'm okay. Don't look at me like that.]

Typhon could see her body trembling with fever, so he instructed her to stay down.

Below, more of the creatures swarmed, and the corpse pile even higher than before as more continued to climb over the corpses on their kin. If their numbers didn't reduce soon, it wouldn't be long before the base of the tree was buried.

Ophelia looked out over the swarm with an anxious look on her face. [I don't think we should stay here any longer.] 

Typhon looked over the river and saw the muddy water was frothing with bubbles where a large obstacle was blocking it. The flood water washed over what he thought was a boulder, until it revealed pale flesh with raw claw marks across its back.

A massive tail emerged from the water; its three pronged stinger hissing and poised to strike. The creature's face was a hideous mess of teeth the same as the other aggressive creatures, only much larger and its claws were damaged, like it had just been through a fierce battle.

The creature rose out from the water, its clawed limbs breaking into a sprint, headed directly for their tree.

[Grab onto something!] Typhon screamed, as the tremendous force of impact knocked him off the tree branch.

The tree was uprooted from the base and pushed to one side and the snakes were left dangling dangerously over the ravenous horde below.