The Soul Keeper

Chapter 59: The Serpent of the Lake

It screeched as I just barely avoided getting eaten. I heard shouting from below. It was probably Erik and the others, though I wasn't entirely sure which one of them shouted. I couldn't afford to look, as one mistake could spell death. And I most certainly didn't want to return to Asher so soon after I left.

My scythe appeared in my hands as I flew towards the back of the serpent's head. It twisted its very long body to turn with me, but a well timed lightning strike by Rina distracted it. I landed on the creature's head and grabbed on to one of its large horns. They were nearly twice my own size.

I swung my scythe. The pale crystalline blade cut through the creature's scales effortlessly as black blood spurted from the cut.

The creature flinched, then shook its head like a dog trying to get rid of some annoying pest. I found myself flying as I lost my grip on the horn. It took me a second to regain my balance in the air.

An arrow flew past me to hit the creature's wound. I couldn't help but be impressed, that wound was so tiny compared to the creature's body. Another lightning struck the creature as its teeth once again snapped not too far away from me.

"Hey, Kai." I heard Asher's voice in my head as I desperately beat my wings to avoid its next attack.

"Not now!" I replied with a mental shout. It was difficult enough to focus on flying and fighting at the same time, I couldn't deal with the sorcerer right now.

"What are you doing?" He insisted as I dove down and flew under the creature's head. I fired another volley of dark bolts as I flew past the scaly body and circled behind it.

"What the hell do you think?" I responded as the creature's tail finally showed itself from beneath the jade waters. With a terrifying roar, the creature flung it's tail at me.

"Wait," Asher's voice sounded in my head as I dove further down to avoid getting hit, then flew up again to avoid the dangerous water below. "Kai, what are you fighting?" He almost sounded upset. I ignored him as Rina missed her next lighting strike and electrified the lake.

Though it didn't do much to the creature physically, it did seem to annoy it a lot more than I could so far. With a roar, it struck the water with its tail and splashed nearly a quarter of the water in the lake towards Rina.

There was nothing I could do to help her. Thankfully, Alex grabbed all three backliners just in time and they didn't lose their footing. Though all three were wet and probably cold, at least they were still alive and well.

Feeling grateful to Alex, I approached the creature and struck the scales on its neck. To my surprise, it wailed in pain. "Don't ignore me." Asher's annoying voice sounded in my head again.

"Will you please just shut up let me deal with this?" I screamed as the creature roared at me. I think he was offended as silence was all that followed my words. I was somewhat glad, since it meant I could focus on the fight more.

As I circled around the creature again, I felt more magic gather around us. Rina's spell once again struck the creature, causing it to flail its tail around. I folded my wings and flew under its head again and left a long, somewhat deep cut as I flew past its neck.

It wailed in pain and tried to bite me. I narrowly avoided the teeth snapping less than an arm's length away. If it weren't blind, I'd probably be dead. Despite its wounds, the creature was incredibly fast.

I knew we couldn't possibly kill it with one strike, its scales were too thick, and I had no clue as to where its heart was. I glanced at its head as I brushed past the flailing tail. There was no way I could pierce its skull. We either had to tire it out and then somehow kill it, or just escape.

Actually, that did make a lot of sense. We could just walk away. Since this thing was water bound, it couldn't follow us into land, right?

My thoughts got interrupted by a loud screech. I heard a loud bang as the creature snapped at Erik's tower shield. Fear gripped my heart as I stopped mid air. I watched as the creature's tail struck his shield. Just the tail itself probably weighed several tonnes. There was no way Erik could survive that!

The loud bang echoed as the golden shine disappeared and the tail slithered back into the jade waters. I waited for the dust to settle with my mouth agape. The shock of what just happened froze me in place. Was Erik really...?

The dust settled to reveal Erik standing there, unharmed. His body once again let out a golden shine as he shouted something. I sighed out in relief. I had thought we'd lost him. My thoughts were interrupted with screams. I looked towards them, to see them pointing their fingers towards me. Did they not recognise me?

"Kai!" Asher's voice echoed in my mind again. I thought I had gotten rid of him for now. Annoyed I ignored him and turned my attention to the creature.

Before I could even comprehend what was going on, I felt something wrap around my legs and waist. Moments later, I was underwater.

"Kai, that thing you're fighting, is it a water serpent?" Asher's alarmed voice sounded in my mind as the surface of the lake moved farther away. I clenched the shaft of my scythe, but the water pressure made it impossible to swing it with any meaningful speed. "Kai!" His shout echoed in my mind.

I felt my breath slowly deplete as I heard muffled roaring. My grip on the shaft of the scythe weakened as my consciousness began to fade.

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