Chương 25: Chapter 26: Tortoise II

Evel and Diana regrouped, and Diana immediately tossed Evel another bolt.

"Which one?"

"Extra sharp, I wanna preserve some Energy."

"Okay." Extra sharp bolt loaded, Evel once again rerouted to a nearby pitfall, and aimed. The tortoise took large, heavy steps swinging its head side to side trying to find Evel and Diana. Its long head was exposed. PEW! The bolt dug deep into its neck once again. As it turned its head to find Evel, an arrow shot out at its neck again. The aura of the behemoth expanded. But all it caught in its mouth were wildlife and bushes. Diana and Evel could comfortably rely on their pitfalls to avoid any traps.

In his hole, Evel waited. The sounds had stopped, and the aura had diminished. Cautiously, he slowly raised his head above the hole, peeking out to observe the tortoise.

"Oh?" The giant pillar appendages had retracted along with its head back into the shell. It was fully covered, leaving only a small gap. From the gap, the tortoise's nose could be seen, but otherwise it was fully covered. Evel quickly regrouped with Diana and waited for Bremin.

"So?" Diana questioned, but Evel remained focused on the ground as he did some math.

"I've got 12 bolts left," He muttered, "How many arrows?"

"Sixteen."

"What do you think?" Evel valued Diana's experience, he wasn't sure if they had enough firepower.

"If we unload all 28 at once with some explosives, we can probably take it out from within its shell, but my Energy reserves will never be able to accommodate such a plan." Evel hummed in acknowledgement. He had figured that might be the case. The beast had already taken substantial damage, but most of it had been due to Diana's shots in its eye. His own shots, although piercing its chin and neck seemed like it only caused some light bleeding.

He had no doubts that if they allowed the tortoise to rest for an hour, those small injuries would be all but healed.

"If we waited for you to regain your Energy? We could shoot explosives till you're out, then repeat it every time you you have enough to shoot again." Diana shook her head.

"It's a potent monster, it probably heals pretty quickly. We already heavily injured it so it's not impossible. Hm…" She pondered.

"It's really hard to say, but I think the most likely scenario would be that it can out-heal our damage. Maybe eventually we'd be able to take it out but how long until another group hears the noise and investigates? Or the compass resets? We may need to weaken it as much as possible then try and get close." Evel was not a fan of that option. With its size and mass, a simple graze would instantly destroy all the bones in his body.

"Bremin?"

"Difficult." He shook his head.

"Not impossible?"

"No."

"Still, let's leave this option as a last resort. I have an idea that I thought of earlier that may work, but all the materials I had collected were sucked into its mouth and chewed out." After a few more seconds of consideration, Evel gave out his directions.

"We'll have to collect them again. Bremin, collect some materials and separate them into two groups based on how much moisture they have."

"Diana, the two of us will have to make a giant net that you can shoot into the hole it's hiding into."

"A giant net with a big load will be hard, let's just make a bunch of smaller ones."

"Good idea, that'll work better anyways." Evel paused, then turned to Bremin.

"We'll also need one more pitfall that can fit all of us, you'll have to do most of the heavy lifting for that, I'll help a bit with the materials." After stamping out the specifics a bit more, the three dispersed. They didn't have much time, each second wasted was the tortoise healing back up to better form, wasting all their previous efforts. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. A brief 20 minutes later, everything was prepared.

A pile of leaves, pinecones and wet branches. A much larger pile of drywood, dead leaves, and bark. Bremin made a quick fireplace with some nearby logs, and Evel and Diana loaded up the multiple nets with the different material.

"Can you get it into the hole?" Diana smirked at his statement. She briefly opened her mouth, then closed it again.

"What?" Evel inquired. Diana didn't reply, as she flared her aura. She aimed the arrow, which had a small net of flammable materials stuck to the end. The weight clearly disrupted her as she strained to get the proper angle. Despite all that, she reached her target. The net landed in front of the tortoise's nose, inside the hole, but it didn't react. It was just some debris, after all. Then, they shot up the next batch. Then the next.

With Bremin's fireplace ready, Evel tied a piece of timber to his bolt and lit it on fire. At the same time, Diana pulled back her bow, ready to shoot the materials from the second pile. She watched Evel carefully as she waited. The hole wasn't too small, but it was still out of Evel's throwing distance. Not that it mattered. Evel's aura activated, then after waiting a few seconds, he threw. He had considered using his crossbow, but missing in this case could have jeopardized the entire plan.

That wasn't a risk he was willing to take. Yet he still didn't want to reveal too much about his ability, so he came up with a compromise to only partially use his ability. He had come to somewhat trust Diana and Bremin, but he still needed to keep it hidden. If he had learned anything as a magician, it was to always keep a hidden trick up your sleeve. Eth's spectral weight nudged the bolt mid-flight, an invisible hand guiding the arc until it hovered over the opening. Then, he severed the connection.

The burning arrow dropped down as the small flame found its fuel. If he tried to use Eth to directly send it into the hole, it would reject him. Despite it being an indirect form of harm, Eth would refuse regardless. Thankfully, Evel had thought of this little workaround. The small ember from the bolt quickly expanded, swallowing the other materials in its growth. The fire was still small, but it had all the fuel it would need. Diana released her next shot. This time, with the materials with more moisture.

Dry materials are great for burning and starting fires, but Evel didn't want a fire. If the fire got too strong the tortoise would react quickly and immediately shake it off. Evel needed something that the tortoise would be too late to react to. That's why a different material was necessary. Materials which when burning produced smoke. A lot of smoke. The damp materials along with pinecones began smoldering by the tortoise's nose, a small stream of smoke pouring out the shell. Thick, and suffocating.

The pinecones and dry leaves were only the beginning. Evel had insisted on adding damp peat along with thick, oily moss gathered from the river's edge. When they met the fire, they belched a thick yellow-black fog that clung to the air. Inside the restrictive shell, the air could only exit or enter directly into the beast's lungs. The tortoise must have realized the danger as its head slithered out of its own shell, extinguishing most of the flames. Most.

In the thick unbreathable smoke, the tortoise had taken deeper breaths in a desperate attempt to get the much needed oxygen. Its massive nostrils continuously breathed in in the heavy smoke, as well as the occasional moss and peat. Now, part of the smoke's source came from its own nose. It released a desperate wheeze as it struggled to breathe. But they wouldn't allow it to just recover. Two more projectiles sharpened by Diana's ability flew at its extended neck causing two deep holes that continuously bled out.

Inside its shell it would get smoked out. Outside its shell it would get relentlessly barraged. It was desperate, and it activated its ability once more, sucking in everything nearby into its mouth. Yet even this wouldn't work. Evel quickly lit the materials they had gathered on fire as the three of them each jumped down a prepared pitfall to avoid the suction. Like a vacuum it inhaled the burning debris biting down hard into the flames.

For a second, its throat glowed orange before the coughing began, a wet rattling sound that shook the very trees. It bellowed once more in desperation. Its giant head thrashed side to side but it was useless. Before long, the giant head crashed down on the earth with a heavy thud, forming a massive crack and sending rumbles across the forest. Evel was the first to climb out of the pitfall, coughing as he brushed ash from his shoulders.

His lungs burned from the stray wisps of smoke, but it was difficult to care about such little things when he saw the state of the tortoise. Before him, the titan lay sprawled with its massive pillar-like legs splayed out. A thick black sludge of soot and blood leaked from its nostrils as its once dominating eyes were hidden behind its thick eyelids. It let out soft noises as its internal organs fought to keep it alive. Before Evel could make a comment, Bremin walked forward past Evel.

He climbed onto its head with a fluid, surgical movement and jabbed his sword down, digging it deep into the turtle's brains. A soft final whimper exited the turtle's mouth; the second beast had fallen. Evel and Diana moved among the wreckage, salvaging whatever was left of their ammunition. Diana had lost five arrows due to her own explosions and flames, and two of Evel's bolts had become unusable due to the fire as well. She turned to Evel.

"What if it had reacted immediately after the first pouch of materials?" She asked, ripping an arrow out of its face. Evel shrugged.

"We come up with something else. If it runs, we chase."

"Hm," she murmured, "So basically you hoped for the best?" Evel looked up as he took a moment to think.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Well it looks like your prayers were answered. This time, not a single one of us has a gaping hole in the shoulder, nor any other injuries either! Not to mention I got some nice inspiration, heh heh." Diana rubbed her hands with a chuckle as she walked to her next arrow. Unlike the Skydart, the tortoise had been extremely slow, which gave them the agency to plan and adjust as necessary.

In the end, their strongest member had barely been forced to fight, he hardly had to use Eth, and Diana's reserves were still faring well. Had all three of them been shorter ranged, this fight may have been impossible, but Diana's abilities were perfect. For the Skydart we relied on her weighted shots, and here we relied on her insane aim. In his mind, she had always been a threat first, ally second.

Now, he realized her image in his mind had shifted, as he started to feel a sense of gratitude, akin to what he had towards Bremin. And with her shooting tips she drops here and there, I've also become a lot more capable at longer distances… Diana noticed his staring, and shifted uncomfortably.

"What?" Evel blinked, returning back to the present. He considered his words for a moment, before deciding to give an honest reply, "Thank you." Diana looked closely at Evel, her discomfort turning into confusion. Then, the confusion transformed once more and a cheeky smile slowly crept onto her face.

"Finally realized how cool I am?" Evel didn't reply, and instead turned to Bremin.

"Hungry?"