Poison

Poison part 4

THIRTY THREE

Daymen let out a cry as the stem of the plant began to grow like a giant snake coming out of its hole. Coiling and rolling on the ground. Slade watched in terror, unsure of what to do. Attack?

“Daymen!” Avrie yelled, and scurried to her feet to help.

“No, Avrie!” Slade cried, grabbing her shoulder. “Stay back!”

“But-”

“Stay behind the line!” he ordered. He also didn’t want her anywhere near the danger, but that was a good enough excuse.

She swallowed and nodded, taking a step backwards. Slade unsheathed his blade and ran forward to help Daymen, water pack and all, who was desperately trying to undo his scarf with his free hand.

As Slade crossed the Matsu line, it was like everything changed in a gust of wind. Cold wind. Everything was cold and dark in shadow. The range was all around him now instead of just in front of him. It was like he was in a deep basin. If Avrie wasn’t standing there, he would have no idea where to go.

“Help me, you moron!” Daymen cried. Slade quit gawking and turned back to the fight.

Six more vines had burst from the ground and were now waving through the air, Avoiding Daymen’s sword which had somehow finally come to work. He tried to slice through the vine that had him by the wrist but it seemed impossible to cut. The other vines however, were not as difficult to destroy. Slade swing his blade with full strength and sliced one right in half. It shrieked in surprise and retreaded back into the dirt.

Slade was feeling pretty proud of himself until three more took its place. These ones had thorns growing out of them like a rose bush now and we whipping around frantically. Slade charged, trying to get to Daymen but the evil plant wasn’t going to let him. Stems and roots kept grabbing at him, trying to wrap around his limbs. He continued hacking at them off but he couldn’t do this forever and he was tiring quickly. He kept looking for an opportunity to throw off the pack which was still attached securely around him, but there wasn’t enough time.

Slade dodged a vine shooting for his head, and Dashed for Daymen who had four vines knotting around his legs trying to lift him off the ground but they just kept getting sliced off.

Suddenly, he felt something grab his ankle and he was stopped short; tripping and face planting the dirt.

It began to drag him towards the center of the plant where all the vines were still continuously bursting from the ground. He heard Avrie yell out his name and he twisted onto his back. He could feel his lip bleeding and his chin hurt, but he managed to slice the stem in half. It wriggled and slithered away. Slade hurried to his feet only to have another vine slam into his chest, knocking him flat on his back. Stars flashed in front of his eyes as he tried to get up. This thing just didn’t appear to have any sort of limit on its energy.

He managed to butcher another vine and dodge a second one, turning to Daymen he saw him bear hugging one of the stems trying to get his boot back.

Slade was about to laugh, when he felt one of the vines wrap around his neck. In less than a second, he thought his life was over as the vine began to squeeze. His eyes lost focus, and his lungs were begging for air. Then there was a bang and the stem flew off of his throat in a wriggling frenzy. He dropped to his knees gasping for breath and coughing. The ringing in his ears was so loud he could hardly hear anything and he was seeing spots everywhere.

However, turning, he could see it had been Avrie who had saved him, using her heart. But now the vines were turning on her too. She pulled out Venom, backing away as the plant dove towards its new opponent.