"Actually, Chief, we have already checked the second border. However, her trail didn't end around it either; it kept going straight forward," the man said, his expression looking defeated as he recounted the current situation to the Village Chief.
"And so, at the end of it all, we decided to wait for more teams to arrive so that we could form a group and keep heading forward," the man added, shaking his head dejectedly, "However, if she had truly gone towards the third border, considering the amount of time that she has been gone, Chief, I don't think that..."
The Village Chief immediately raised his hand to stop the man from speaking more, quickly turning his head towards me. "Orion, let's go," he said, as he shapeshifted back into his giant horned owl form and took off into the sky, his talons firmly holding onto me as we pierced forward at breakneck speed, his resounding, piercing "SSSCCCRRREEECCCCHHHH!!!" filling the air.
We soared back and began to fly around the dead forest that surrounded our village, gradually moving deeper into the Vylkr vines-infested forest. With each passing minute, I could feel my body growing cold, and my worries increased as I realized we had been flying for close to an hour, yet there were still no signs of Fiona...
"THEEERRREEE.... CHEIFFF..... RIGHT THEREEE...." I screamed at the top of my lungs, my heart pounding as I spotted the movements of an ongoing battle. I had witnessed numerous fights between the warriors and several formidable three-star Vylkr-vines as we soared through the sky, each one revealing the amount of effort and work they had put into protecting the village and its people.
But this time was different, entirely different.
The shattered landscape was scattered with the remnants of two-star Vylkr vines, and a behemoth three-star Vylkr vine was wreaking havoc in a specific area. This was highly unusual, as they typically mindlessly slithered towards the village. However, the fact that they had deviated from their usual path and considering the distance we had flown from the village left no doubt in my mind as to who was at the centre of this chaos. 'FIIOOONNAAA!!!' I shouted at the top of my lungs.
The Village Chief swooped down with incredible speed, and a powerful, ear-piercing 'SCCRRREEECCCHHH!' emerged from his beak, echoing through the air. I prepared myself for a rough landing as I felt his talons loosening their grip around my waist. However, to my surprise, the talons abruptly released me a few meters above the ground. Thanks to my enhanced strength, I quickly directed my feet downward, rolling as I hit the ground before coming to a stop.
When I regained my balance and stood up, another piercing screech assaulted my ears, causing me to collapse back onto the ground, clutching my ears in pain. The very earth trembled beneath me, and I turned my head in the direction of the sound. There, I beheld the Village Chief facing off against the three-star Vylkr vine, directing its attacks towards him.
"SCCCRREEEECHHHH!" The piercing sound echoed once more, but this time, I gritted my teeth and rose to my feet, pushing through the irritation in my ears. With my sharp reflexes, I leapt backwards, narrowly evading an attack from a two-star Vylkr vine. In a split second, I activated my gift, feeling the surge of electricity coursing through my arms. Deciding to tap into the Vylkr energy flowing within my body, I blended it with my ow.....
What the hell?
My eyes widened in surprise as I realized that I couldn't sense the usual abundance of the Vylkr energy within me. There were only faint traces of it, barely..... noticeable!
"Damn it!" I cursed under my breath, my instincts kicking into high gear. I leapt once again, making full use of my enhanced physical prowess as I quickly dodged yet another attack from a two-star Vylkr vine. Manoeuvring sideways, I landed on a section of the two-star Vylkr vine, my feet crushing it with a satisfying crunch before somersaulting through the air and landing in a different spot.
Surveying my surroundings, my eyes locked onto a tall, muscular figure wielding a battle axe with reckless abandon. She was a sight to behold, drenched in the blood of numerous cuts and wounds that covered her arms and legs. Her once-intact tulga was now in tatters, exposing the sheer power of her thunderous thighs as she relentlessly struck down another two-star Vylkr vine. "SHIT!" I couldn't help but let out an irritated curse as I finally spotted who I had been searching for and the state she was in.
In a frenzy, I spotted a swarm of dead one-star Vylkr vines in a nearby area and charged towards it, agilely jumping and dodging through the debris until I reached the heap of tangled vines. Without hesitation, I knelt beside the pile and grabbed two pieces of the one-star Vylkr vine, shoving them into my mouth and chewing voraciously, as if my very life depended on it... because it did.
Driven by the situation, I quickly gathered more pieces, not stopping until I felt I had consumed enough. As the rush of Vylkr energy surged through me, I could feel its power intertwining with the strange energy. Calming down my body with newfound resolve, I activated my gift once more, seamlessly blending the chaotic Vylkr energy. The force of my lightning erupted from my hands with a deafening "CRACKLE!!," scorching the ashen ground beneath me.
Taking a deep breath, I focused my mind and tried to recall the feeling that I had experienced when my lightning had shaped into two colossal hands. Because now, I needed something simpler, more precise. I needed two blades... Blades that could slice through the Vylkr vines blocking my path. As I delved into my memory, that familiar sensation resurfaced, and the knowledge of wielding this aspect of my gift flowed through me instinctively, like a lesson ingrained during the awakening ceremony.
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