"Haven't seen vexflayers in fifty-seven years!" Zaxl exclaimed in shock.
"You mean you've killed these things before?" Jethro excitedly asked.
"Yeah, but it was a scorpling. Only about four feet tall."
"Only?!" I asked in horror.
The scorpion let out an ear-splitting shriek, and I felt terror flood my body. An adult vexflayer has enough venom in its stinger to kill five hundred men. Getting stung was out of the question.
That's when Zaxl and I had an idea. Not a particularly good one, but an idea nonetheless.
"Stay here. I have a terrible idea!" he called out to Jethro and grabbed his scythe, running straight towards towards the beast.
"Is he mad?" Jethro called out behind me in disbelief.
"You're insane, Zaxl!" I called out in pure terror.
Don't worry about me! Hey ugly!" he called out to the flayer. He wanted to get its attention off Jethro and me.
"Krghhhh," the scorpion responded in confusion. It didn't seem to understand what Zaxl was. Can you blame it, though? The Draulter species has been pretty much dead.
"Krghhhh," the scorpion responded in confusion.
"That's a nice tail you've got there; it would be a shame if someone cut it off..." he jested.
The vexflayer understood this and attempted to sting me. I jumped out of the way just as I heard a loud thud. I looked at where it stung the ground and noticed a half-buried stinger in the dirt. Before it could pull its tail out of the earth, Zaxl slashed at it and smote off the part just above the stinger.
The scorpion let out a howl and, before I could react, grabbed Zaxl by the tail with its pincers and lifted him up about ten feet into the air. Now that its stinger was removed, it would have to resort to crushing him.
The beast put its other pincer right below Zaxl's neck, and I knew he had to escape the situation in the manner of a split second or get every bone in his body crushed.
He amputated his tail from the rest of the body and crashed to the ground as the scorpion crushed thin air. The thrashing of the disconnected tail bought us some time, time that we couldn't afford to waste.
He sprinted towards a horrified Jethro and gestured towards the scorpion.
"Fighting it is out of the question. We need a different tactic," he spoke through gritted teeth.
"What do you suggest? You want me to drop a tail too?" Jethro asked, confused.
"You don't have a tail, Jethro... This is what I like to call running for your very lives."
YOU ARE READING
The Amethyst Flame
FantasyThe village of Colmer is devastated by a plague. Its only hope is two brothers divided by their beliefs in magic. When Jethro ventures into the depths of the forest to find a wizard who can heal the village, Arthur is forced to find his brother befo...
