Shadow7777

Chapter 81: Nightmare

Chapter 81: Nightmare


‎Talia paused in her narration, throwing a furtive glance at Amanda.


‎Cassius frowned slightly, staring into the fire.


‎" So you can only use part of your abilities? "


‎Amanda shook her head, speaking for the first time since Cassius had woken up.


‎" I can only use the abilities I discovered first. My ability to fly came much later than lightning, so I guess that’s why. "


‎" That’s certainly interesting. "


‎Lucian threw a bone into the fire, stirring it up.


‎" But I’d say your ability is quite handy, for instance, we don’t have to struggle with making a fire whenever we have to cook."


‎A pleased grin appeared on his face.


‎" You’re somewhat of a, and I mean no offense, portable stove. Our very own portable stove. "


‎Amanda shot to her feet with a snarl.


‎" I dare you to say that again."


‎Her hands crackled with small bolts of electricity running down them.


‎Lucian grinned haplessly, raising his hands in a placating gesture.


‎A wolfish smile spread across Cassius’ face.


‎Just then, Samantha choked, then coughed violently until she was wheezing in a futile attempt to stifle her laughter.


‎" There’s no need to get worked up," Lucian shrugged," if anything, it was a compliment. "


‎Lucian leaned back in the ground.


‎" Besides, from what Talia’s saying, you’re strong enough to end me in an instant, that wouldn’t even be a fair fight, right? "


‎Amanda stared at him for a while, noting the easy-going smile on his face.


‎Talia felt a chill run down her spine.


‎" This guy..."


‎Lucian’s gaze turned to Talia.


" So Bruce is dead?"


Talia hesitantly nodded.


Lucian scrutinized her for a second, then sighed.


‎" Care to finish your story? "


‎Talia silently nodded.


‎" Sure. "


‎****


‎" You can’t what?!" Talia looked at the redhead in disbelief.


‎" She can also fly?! That’s just ridiculous. How are we even meant to combat such overpowered...I wish I could fly."


‎Amanda glanced back at the blonde girl.


‎" I’m classified as Class A-3. For the time being, it means I have access to several abilities, but since I’m still young, there’s a high chance I’ll be able to use more in the future. "


‎Amanda snarled in a very unladylike manner.


‎" The key point is I can’t use my ability."


‎Talia raised an eyebrow in amusement.


‎" Are you actually throwing a tantrum right now? Seriously ?"


‎Amanda threw her a heated glare, then closed her eyes.


‎At that point, her stomach grumbled audibly. Her face turned beet red, and she shut her eyes tighter.


‎ Talia chuckled in amusement, turning to the corpses of the large serpents.


‎" Sounds like you’re also famished."


‎In one fluid motion, Talia unsheathed her saber.


The pale blade glimmered faintly in the light, drawing attention to its razor-sharp edge.


She swung it a few times, the grey blade whistling through the air.


‎"What are you doing?" Amanda asked, eyeing her warily.


‎Talia scoffed.


‎" What do you think? I’m going to eat this. Food delivered itself on a platter, how can I refuse? I’m quite hungry myself after all."


‎Amanda’s face turned considerably paler.


‎" I think I’m going to be sick."


‎Talia laughed in amusement, then violently stabbed her sword into one of the large snakes.


‎She skilfully cut off large chunks of its meat, laying them out nearly on a large leaf Amanda had procured.


‎" Care to help me out?"


‎Amanda stared at her in confusion.


‎" You use electricity..."


‎" Lightning," Amanda corrected.


‎" I use lightning."


‎" Electricity, lightning, it’s all the same, just use it to start a fire. Much as I’d love to see you try out some raw meat, I’m not willing to get sick myself, so try and start a fire."


‎Amanda promptly disintegrated the first few pieces of wood they managed to obtain.


Talia glared at her in shock and something akin to disbelief.


‎" I swear if you ruin this again, I’ll have to kill you as well," she muttered furiously under her breath.


‎Amanda sighed, then tried to set the wood alight again.


‎" Control, exercise control... Just a few sparks..."


‎A few tiny sparks erupted from her hands and set the wood ablaze.


‎The two girls jumped up in celebration, then paused awkwardly.


‎" I almost screamed! What a fine mess that would have been." Talia thought.


‎Their screams would have undoubtedly become a beacon for all the predators with a keen sense of hearing within the vicinity.


‎Minutes later, with a blazing fire going, Talia slowly roasted the chunks of meat over the fire.


She was almost drooling at the sight of the succulent cuts slowly turning over the flames.


‎The mouth-watering aroma of barbecue wafted through the air, sifting tantalizingly through the surrounding trees.


‎ Unknown to the girls, their dinner also roused the appetite of uninvited guests.


Amanda quickly decommissioned the few creatures that dared to interrupt their meal.


‎The two dug into the meal with gusto, remaining at the spot for several days.


‎Talia smoked some of the mea, then the two moved deeper into the mysterious forest.


‎After a few more days of travelling, an unsettling feeling settled in Talia’s gut.


‎" This forest... there’s something wrong with it. "


‎Dark trees loomed around them, and only the faintest splotches of sunlight managed to fight their way through the dense forest canopy, making it to the ground.


‎By nightfall, a thick, eerie mist covered the forest, making it much more difficult to move.


‎"Crap!".


‎Talia snarled furiously after stumbling over a large tree root for the umpteenth time.


‎" Hey, Talia."


‎Talia violently spun around, her eyes gleaming with fury.


‎" What?!"


‎Amanda let out a quiet, exasperated sigh.


‎" I think we should stop here for the night. We can’t see where we’re going; the mist is obscuring the moon. We’ll walk into a monster’s mouth at this rate. "


‎Talia paused, then tiredly nodded.


‎" Fine, we’ll do that. I’m just tired of this, all of this."


‎Amanda nodded sympathetically.


‎" Me too, but it’s either this or death. "


‎Just before Talia fully succumbed to sleep, a startling thought surfaced in her subconscious.


‎" What if the forest is alive? And all this time, we’ve been moving around in circles? "


‎Surely no forest could be large enough to encompass the magnitude this one forest had."


They’d walked for several kilometers without even catching sight of the forest’s edge. In a way, it made sense.


‎She almost scoffed at the thought.


‎" It’s impossible, that can’t be right. "


‎But what if..?


‎Talia fell into sleep’s embrace at that point, slowly drifting away into the darkness.


‎Talia dreamt of a forest, an endless forest. No matter how much she ran, the forest continued expanding infinitely in every direction.


‎" No, no, no! It’s all in my head," she whispered.


‎" It’s just a dream. Any moment now, I’m going to wake up."


‎Just then, in the periphery of her vision, a dark figure moved, silently skulking in the shadows.


‎A cold feeling of dread sank in her gut, settling in the pit of her stomach.


‎Her breathing became faster, erratic.


‎"I can’t breathe, I’m scared. It’s just a dream."


‎Her mouth felt dry. She warily licked her lips.


‎The dry leaves crunched underneath the monster’s advance.


‎The telltale clacking of its jagged mandibles echoed through the trees.


‎Talia’s eyes widened in horror


‎"It’s here!"


‎She swiftly turned and ran, but it was too late.


‎Her body came to a stop, refusing to obey her commands.


‎" Move, damn it! Move!"


‎The monster stood in front of her, its mandibles clicking together in anticipation.


‎Bruce’s mutilated corpse stood behind the monster, with an eerie grin on its face.


‎It pointed at her in silent accusation.


‎" No! You’re dead, dead!"


‎Bruce’s grin grew impossibly wider, stretching from ear to ear.


‎" Oh, but I’ve never felt so alive, Talia. And it’s because of you, you did this. And now you’re like me," the thing said, pointing at her.


‎In the next moment, Talia felt movement, tiny irritating movement across her skin. The burning itch spread beneath her skin, but she couldn’t move her hand to scratch it.


‎She strained, peering down at her body.


‎Then she screamed until she couldn’t recognize her voice.


‎Tiny small spiders burrowed in and out of viscous bulbs of pus in her skin, crawling up into her mouth, her nose, her eyes...


‎"Kill me, kill me please!"


‎In the next moment, the giant spider obliged.


‎Talia’s eyes flew open.


‎The first sound that greeted her was the ragged sound of her own breathing.


‎" I’m alive, it was all a dream?!"


‎She slowly let out a sigh of relief, then inhaled, savouring the fresh morning air.


‎A short distance away, the dry leaves crunched, triggering a familiar memory.


‎The crunching sound was approaching fast.


‎Adrenaline surged through her, her heart pounding frantically in her chest.


‎In the next moment, Talia sprang to her feet.


‎"Amanda! Amanda!"


‎She violently grabbed the red head, shaking her out of her dreams.


‎"Hm, what time is it?" Amanda asked groggily, rubbing her eyes.


‎"We’ve got to get out of here! Now!"


‎Talia roughly pulled the disoriented Talented to her feet.


‎"The spider, it knows we’re here, it’s coming!"


‎***


" So wait, why didn’t you use Amanda’s lightning? Why run again?" Cassius asked in puzzlement.


Lucian turned to the two girls.


" The man makes a good point."


" I tried," Amanda said quietly.


" But it kept moving, like it didn’t even feel it."


A shocked silence filled the underground burrow.


" Well, you know what this means?" Cassius asked quietly.


" What?"


A large grin spread across his face. Lucian silently shook his head.


" Since I killed it, it met a bigger monster than itself."