Rescue Pursuit

chapter 3

Grant pants as he leans on the wall of the pit, the pit is lightened up slightly by the glow of the bioluminescent river. Ree, shaken but unharmed, looks at Grant with a mixture of relief, admiration and kinda mad.

"First of all, why did you stab that?"

"IT'S SLIPPERY! WHAT ELSE CAN I DO!?" Ree yells at Grant, causing the beast to hear and roar as it tries to find them. "It's slippery. What else can I do?" Ree said the same thing but this time he was whispering. Grant's glare get a bit angrier at Ree.

"You could just hold on!" Grant whispered back fiercely, his voice a mixture of frustration and concern. The sound of the turtle's roar echoed above them, the beast clearly agitated and searching for them.

Ree, still catching his breath, whispered back, "I was slipping, Grant. I panicked. I'm sorry."

Grant sighed, trying to calm his racing heart. "It's okay. We're both alive, that's what matters. But now we need to figure out how to get the gem out of that thing." Ree never ever had to his head so fast towards Grant.

"It's in that thing?" Ree asked and went to the mouth of the pit and peeked at it.

"Yeah, I can feel it... I can feel, Eddie." Grant whispered the last part so Ree didn't hear it. Both of them peek from the pit to see the turtle searching for them. "We're high enough to not get sniped by that."

"Yeah. That neck literally can reach over his own spikes." Grant nodded, his eyes narrowing as he watched the turtle's movements. "We'll have to be careful," he murmured, his mind already racing with plans. "We need to distract it somehow, then make our move."

Ree nodded in agreement, his mind whirling with possibilities. "What about using the stalactite? It's already stuck in its shell. Maybe we can use it to our advantage."

Grant considered Ree's suggestion, weighing the risks and benefits. "Actually, it's risky but," he conceded and then look up there were more like 9 stalactites left. "We'll need to time it just right to drop those things on it's shell or directly on the target." Grant planned as he pointed at the stalactite that was almost sticking in between the spikes.

Grant then turns to Ree and his dagger. "How good is your aim, Ree?" Grant asked.

"Um, took me two times to perfectly swing at a fast-moving snake," Ree replied, recalling the time he killed a snake on his first hunt with the alchemist. Grant to seem think a bit more, look between the stalactites, the shell, Ree, the turtle and then back to Ree.

"I'm gonna run around, make it chasing me and with my signal, you gonna hit one of those to hit it. Understood?" Grant asked and Ree felt extremely pressured but masked it quickly.

Grant flashed him a quick, reassuring smile before turning his attention back to the turtle. With a deep breath, he braced himself for what was to come. "Ready?" he asked, locking eyes with Ree.

Ree nodded again, his grip tightening on his dagger. "Ready."

Grant took off, darting out from the safety of the pit and sprinting towards the opposite end of the chamber. The turtle's attention immediately shifted to him, its roars growing louder as it gave chase.

Ree waited, poised and ready, his eyes fixed on the stalactites above. Ree posed his hand that extended forward into a V shape, while his other hand held the dagger, ready to swing and release a wind blade. As Grant led the turtle on a wild chase around the chamber, Ree kept his focus sharp, his senses heightened as he waited for the perfect moment to strike. With each step, each breath, he felt the adrenaline coursing through his veins, driving him forward with unwavering determination.