Chapter 43. Dagaz rune and the pack of them

Chapter 43: 43. Dagaz rune and the pack of them

Looking further, there were still some trees that refused to let the void stop their height, growing well past their limit. Keeping us company.

Soon we reached a point I could confidently call the midpoint of the artificial habitat, where the large, elongated trees from above clashed with equally large, elongated trees growing from below, forming an asymmetrical Dagaz rune shape, with greenery around it.

Those large trees reaching up from below indicated there was another forest beneath us as well. And we were about to encounter it, or maybe not.

After a painfully long wait, the forest below came into view, similar to the one above the ceiling.

"Rhiannon, you can stop when we hit the forest below. We’ll rest there and take a look at our surroundings before anything else."

Seraphine said, never losing focus on the forest but still finding time to show some concern for Dr. Rhiannon.

"Yeah... I was thinking of taking a break anyway, whether you said it or not."

Good to know she wasn’t exhausting herself. Dr. Rhiannon had reached the point where carrying us while levitating had become annoying rather than tiring.

As Seraphine suggested and Dr. Rhiannon intended, she stopped once we rested our feet on a stable tree branch. Then she cut the levitation spell to rest, gently massaging her arms with a tired expression.

The light from the blue soul fires didn’t travel far, creating a small bubble of light around where we stood, and the trees fading into darkness below did a number on my nerves. My fear of heights never gave me a peaceful moment. I held onto another branch to steady myself.

"Wait, can you see it?"

"See what?"

Seraphine spotted something in the dark, fogged forest, pointing toward a far corner, or at least what I assumed was a corner. I looked in that direction and saw nothing, just pitch black.

Then my eyes caught it, a light flickering slowly.

"I can see it. What is that? Wait, that looks awfully similar to the semi-transparent slime around the juvenile Sylvbeetles!"

Dr. Rhiannon pointed out, confirming my fears. I’d reached the same conclusion before her but hadn’t wanted to believe it. Wendel, please hold on, buddy, we’re coming.

"Correct. It seems the beetle bitch managed to revive some of her kind. This changes–"

Seraphine was about to give us a renewed fighting spirit, I assumed, but then the view ahead of us left us speechless.

We didn’t see one, two, or three shining lights. We saw a pack of them, more than we could count. And the pack only grew larger as they shone again.

At that point, my mind raced through the possibilities of where we’d find Wendel, dead. And every single one of them was ugly.

"How did she manage to revive this many Sylvbeetles!?"

"Juvenile Sylvbeetles, to be precise. They need less life force, I should have predicted this. It was obvious, right in front of me."

Dr. Rhiannon punched a tree branch in self-directed anger after answering Seraphine’s question, and it pushed the odds more in favor of Wendel still being alive. Which was a good thing.

"How do we approach them, Seraphine? Because the Sylvbeetles will definitely jump on us and try to take control of our bodies."

I asked Seraphine. If it were just the beetle bitch, then sure, we could handle it like animals and brutes, but now there were more than one enemy.

"I can easily dodge, or even better, crush them. The best course of action here is for you to hang onto my back while I charge in."

"That covers my back that way. Rhiannon will levitate and warn us of attacks we overlook, of course, while dodging mid-flight. But it should be easy."

Seraphine explained, letting me picture how things could play out and what to watch for. Dr. Rhiannon seemed to have no trouble accepting her own tough role in this and nodded.

Seraphine knelt down, back toward me, hands behind her so I could climb on. Even I was surprised I wasn’t having any naughty thoughts right now, my dick being drained isn’t really the issue here.

Wrapping my arms around her shoulders, most of my body weight resting on them, my feet found a good place at her waist belt. She handled my remaining body weight without issue. I managed to get comfortable on Seraphine’s back, and she didn’t react at all.

Am I weightless to her? Ah man, this is embarrassing. Dominance shifting sometimes has that effect. It’s fine, because it’s Seraphine.

"Let’s go!"

There was still some distance to cover before we’d be in range of the Sylvbeetles.

Our collective instincts decided we weren’t going at ground level, instead opting for angled descent, making use of basic geometry, and moving toward the Sylvbeetles while descending. Seraphine with me on her back, jumping branch to branch, while Dr. Rhiannon levitated above us.

After a few minutes, the pack came into view, and we came into theirs. They were clinging to the branches, and some trees were fully covered by them, shattering our earlier estimate of their numbers once again.

My eyes moved between many of them, the living Sylvbeetles, surrounded by semi-transparent slime with an unpleasant new sheen, the kind that came from feeding on Wendel’s life force. I noticed another detail, small veins extending from their middle bodies, presumably to control the slime around them.

It didn’t take long for the Sylvbeetles to turn aggressive toward us. They communicated in their own language, sliding along the branches with speed, forming groups, some leaving us a path as bait so others could ambush us in bunches.

"Get ready!! Don’t lose focus on the beetles."

As Seraphine warned us, a group of three Sylvbeetles jumped at us from the front, which wasn’t a big deal for her. Instead of dodging, she pierced them one by one with her polearm, sticking with speed and accuracy, hitting right at the main body.

"Above you!!"

Dr. Rhiannon shouted from above. Seraphine reacted faster than I ever could, and by the time I looked up, she’d already pierced two of them. Before I’d even registered it, she’d taken care of the other two as well.

Her polearm looked more like a barbecue skewer now, with a disgusting excuse for food. With one swing, the dead Sylvbeetles fell off her polearm, and it was ready for another round.

I don’t have Seraphine’s reaction time or a view like Dr. Rhiannon. Just as I started feeling useless, my gamer instincts kicked in, and I looked down, there they were, another pack approaching with insane speed.

"Seraphine! Below you, below us."

I nearly shouted too loud, but Seraphine didn’t need the warning and took them down with ease anyway. Then she pushed forward without a word, there wasn’t time for words.

With me and Dr. Rhiannon beside Seraphine, we charged deeper and deeper into the pack of Sylvbeetles, killing any that got close.

The number of Sylvbeetles kept increasing by the minute. At some point we thought it would just get tedious to deal with them all, but then something unexpected happened. They stopped jumping at us.

Me, Seraphine, and Dr. Rhiannon exchanged tense glances for a second. I watched them carefully, they just stayed in place, not moving, letting us pass through with no resistance. But I could feel their eyes locked on us.

Sure, they’re intelligent, not approaching an enemy who’d just killed a bunch of them in seconds, but they were in such numbers, was there something else they were planning?

"The beetle bitch is just ahead now. I’m heading right for her. Rhiannon, follow me."

Seraphine picked up speed without loosening her grip one bit, powering through the forest and landing on the ground. It was a big change, from jumping on untrustworthy branches to running on solid ground, it stabilized my vision and canceled the dizziness.

A moment later, we saw her. The same body, shells covering every part, the elytra, giant claws on her head, claws on her limbs digging into the soil beneath her. She was on top of Wendel, her mouth at his neck, biting and sucking. Blue veins pulsed around his body, and he seemed unconscious. His glasses were broken, his mouth open, gasping for air. The beetle bitch really looked like her insect self in that moment, draining every last bit of nectar from a flower.

"Wendel..."

Seraphine stopped, taking a fighting stance, polearm ready to be thrown at the beetle bitch. Dr. Rhiannon stopped levitating, landed on the ground, and pulled out her ghostly book, flipping through the pages, ready to cast another spell.

I was about to climb down off Seraphine’s back, but she gave me a look to stay put. Right, I could use her speed, it would just take time for me to adjust.

Our eyes locked on the beetle bitch, we were ready to fight. I knew I shouldn’t lose my temper, but that bitch didn’t have the decency to even acknowledge us as enemies. She was still focused only on Wendel.

"Get the fuck away from him!! You hear me!!"