1

As they toiled through the thick weeds and bushes, Zack could see a valley ahead of them. The land ended abruptly and fell off into a large, bowl-shaped opening. “Looks like a mudslide occurred here at some point,” he shouted to the members. Trees had tilted in around the cliff, which covered most of the valley with shade.

Pushing forward, Zack’s boot caught on a solid form hidden under the brush. He fell heavily to the ground. As his head crashed below the cover of the brush, he saw a flurry of insects skitter away from the area, revealing a decomposed human head. Zack yelled and crab-legged backward away from the rotting human body. He planted his right hand into the disintegrating stomach of a dead horse. Pain surged in his hand as he cried out in disgust. He raised his hand to his face, and saw purple liquid bubbling and dripping between his fingers. His skin was liquefying and his flesh was disintegrating.

Zack screamed.

He rubbed his hand on a large fern leaf, removing some of the acidic slime then looked at the horse. A pool of the purple slime had collected in the middle of its body. The rest of the horse wasn’t decomposed, suggesting it was a fresh kill, but Zack could see that it was the slime that had killed the animal. It continued to boil and eat away at its flesh, dismembering the body into two separate sections. Fresh blood and dissolved bone surrounded the cavity where the slime had pooled.

Janna rushed in and cast Auntie Dote and Basic Heal onto Zack. The healing spell seemed to help, but the antidote had no effect. His hand still throbbed. More team members crowded around him, witnessing the carnage in the area. As their cries of revulsion echoed through the quiet basin below, large reptilian eyes opened in the cover of darkness under a heap of fallen trees.

Jordan located the dead human Zack had stumbled over and soon discovered more bodies around the perimeter of the valley. Many ptero birds, squirrels, and rabbits had disintegrated in the same manner as the horse, eaten away by the purple acid.

He heard a low growl rumble from the valley and spun in the direction of the sound. Slithering across the barren landscape below them was the biggest snake Jordan had ever seen. Three hundred feet long, with a body that was ten feet in diameter, the serpent’s forked tongue licked at the air in front of it. A brood of dozens of regular-sized snakes followed the giant snake out of its lair. “We’re being attacked,” Jordan yelled.

The members turned toward the valley and Creature Description appeared in their vision.

GIANT SPITTER (Level 15)

HP: 245

MP: 60

STRENGTH: 21

CONSTITUTION: 24

DEXTERITY: 27

INTELLIGENCE: 6

WISDOM: 6

XP: 198

DESCRIPTION: Giant snake that spits acid.

The Spitter was halfway across the valley now. It rose like a cobra, with the rear of its body coiling on the ground. In its coiled position, the snake towered one hundred feet over the valley. It hissed at the team standing at the top rim of the valley, but the sound was more like a dog’s growl.

Harper gave the team their orders. “Orcs, that is where you tank,” she said, pointing at the valley. “Defend with your shields and armor first and attack the snake’s base with your battle axes.” She looked for the hunters in the group. “Angie, Emma, Jordan, you go in the valley, but stay near the perimeter. Use your ranged weapons and swords. Healers, you stay up here and equip your lances. Focus on healing spells.”

She stared at Miguel. “You and I know what to do. We stay up here.” The giant serpent was almost on top of them now. “Any questions?” she asked hastily.

The group glanced at Damon, unsure of themselves. “You heard the lady,” he roared. “If there're no questions, let’s go!” Then Damon leaped from the cliff into the valley of snakes.

2

Ethan sprinted toward the snake’s base with his shield covering his head. Damon was just ahead of him and was about to reach the monster. The growling sound continued above them.

Suddenly, the giant snake’s head crashed into his shield and drove him into the ground. The shield was knocked from his arm. He watched it roll away lazily. Perched on his knees, he looked up.

The snake loomed over him. Purple slime dripped from its two-foot-long fangs. Its head reared back for another strike.

Ethan cringed.

A stream of fire shot through the air between him and the snake, scorching its coiled-up base. The monster hissed and slithered away from the fire blast, but the spell stayed on target. Then the snake swiveled. Its green eyes searched for the fire source and found Harper at the edge of the cliff. It flicked its head back. Two projectiles of the purple acid shot from its fangs.

Harper yelped a startled, “Oh!”

Miguel jumped and tackled her into the bushes. The acid missed her, but one shot splashed onto Miguel’s left ankle. He screamed. Janna dashed in and rubbed some of the liquid off with a fern. As Miguel attempted to stand up, Harper wielded Fire Scorch again at the snake, searing its hide.

Ethan ran for the snake, swinging his battle axe over his head. The blade sliced through its large scales and carved a deep groove into the monster’s coiled-up base.

Damon ran and drove his axe into the serpent’s injury. The blade chopped through two thirds of its flesh. The giant viper slammed to the ground, sending up plumes of dirt.

Ethan turned to search for his shield and saw the brood of smaller snakes speeding toward them. Another torrent of fire rained down onto those snakes. It slowed their progress but didn’t kill them. He watched as flames flickered on their scales. He turned back to the giant snake. Damon and Zack were chopping at the snake’s hide. Two arrows plunged into the scales below the giant snake’s head, prompting it to curl into an N shape. Ethan charged at the Spitter.

Someone to his right yelled, “Watch out!”

He felt sharp fangs sink into his leg. He looked down to see a snake’s mouth wrapped around his thigh, its yellow eyes glaring up at him defiantly. An urgent-level notification appeared in his vision, along with the Creature Description details.

You have been poisoned (level 2)! You will lose one hit point every 3 seconds. You better hope you have the antidote!

KING COBRA (Level 2)

HP: 55

MP: 0

STRENGTH: 3

CONSTITUTION: 5

DEXTERITY: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 1

WISDOM: 2

XP: 20

DESC: Venomous killer snake.

The pain was excruciating. Ethan dropped his axe and equipped his sword. He grabbed the snake, stretched it, and sliced the body from the head. Its two fangs slowly withdrew from his flesh and the severed head tumbled into the dirt. He could see green venom oozing from his puncture wounds. He wobbled as his leg went numb. Even worse, his mind already felt drugged and his reactions were slowing. His vision blurred.

Feeling dazed, he slumped to the ground. Distantly, he felt hands grab his armpits and pull him from the battle. The brood of cobras followed him in close pursuit. He gazed up and saw Angie holding him and shuffling them backward. Her eyes stared at the approaching onslaught of snakes. She dropped him against a sand embankment and stood in front of him, warding off the predators. She yelled up to the healers on the cliff, but it sounded warbled to Ethan. “Eeethwuuunneeeeddsssaaanntttidddoooeeee.”

With the rest of the team focused on the giant serpent, Angie was Ethan’s only defense against an army of king cobras that had targeted him. As the predators raced for them, Ethan’s mind faded to black.

3

When Damon charged into the valley, Angie didn’t hesitate one second. She ran right behind him, jumping from the twenty-foot ledge and hoping she wouldn’t break a leg. Being an orc, Damon landed with no problem, but Angie’s human legs buckled when she hit the ground. Her ligaments stretched as both knees hyperextended.

But nothing broke.

Lying at the foot of the cliff, she watched the other members race past her. The two brothers were among the first to hit the valley. She saw Ethan run just behind Damon while Jordan took a wide arc on the south side. Angie tried to get up, but her knees folded under her. God damn it, this fight is just starting and I’m incapacitated, she grumbled to herself.

She tried once more, but her legs would not cooperate. Ahead of her, she saw the giant serpent strike Ethan’s shield. “I need a heal down here,” Angie yelled up to the ledge.

Harper went to the edge of the cliff. Okay, here we go, she thought, but the mage cast the fire spell at the snake instead.

Where the hell is Brett? Angie raged. She struggled to get up again and stood precariously. Okay. That’s a start. She saw two globs of purple acid fire through the air above her, then heard Miguel scream. Off to her far right, Brett walked to the edge of the cliff. He stood there for a moment, smiling down at her. Then he pointed his arm and sent Basic Heal to her. Angie felt stronger. She planted both legs, then looked up to thank Brett, but he was no longer at the cliff’s edge.

She raced for the battlefield just as Damon buried his axe into the giant serpent’s open wound. The creature fell toward her. Angie shielded her face. The Spitter crashed down ten feet away from her. It pulled back up.

Angie backed away from the serpent and shot two arrows in quick succession, piercing the serpent’s neck. Damon and Zack charged at the monster while Emma and Jordan climbed on the snake, digging their claws into its reptilian hide. They drove their swords through the creature’s neck. The giant snake crashed down again.

As Angie turned away from the dust spray, she noticed the army of cobras headed for Ethan. “Watch out!” she cried. As Ethan turned toward her call, the snake at the front of the pack shot forward, sinking its fangs into his leg. While the two remaining orcs and hunters battled the grounded giant, Angie ran for Ethan. He’d killed the snake clinging to his leg but was collapsing from the effects of the neurotoxin. Meanwhile, the horde of cobras continued their advance.

Angie grabbed Ethan and hauled him to an embankment at the base of the cliff. She called for an antidote spell, but no one heard her. Willing away the Creature Description window that appeared in her vision, she faced the army of snakes. Grabbing a handful of arrows from her quiver, she started shooting. Her first shot missed—the predators were moving too fast. She squatted to improve her angle.

She nailed one cobra.

Then another.

She killed more snakes and breathed a sigh of relief. At her lowered shooting angle, the arrows impaled the snakes through their slithering bodies. She glanced quickly over her shoulder at Ethan. He had fallen over and passed out. Angie shot more arrows, killing some, missing some. There were still too many cobras advancing on them, and she was down to her last few arrows. She grabbed them and cast Weapon Refresh as she aimed at the closest snake. As the arrow balanced against her bracer, a throwing knife penetrated the head of the snake she was targeting. She looked up and saw Emma throw more knives in quick succession, killing four cobras. “Am I ever glad to see you!” Angie shouted.

The cobras turned their attention toward Emma now. They were eight feet away from her. But it wasn’t a fair fight. Emma fired more knives, killing five snakes, then cast Weapon Refresh to replenish her ammo.

Angie switched to the knives. They finished the remaining dozen attackers before turning their attention back to the main attraction. Damon, Zack, and Jordan had the giant serpent pinned down with their swords and axes. The Spitter twisted from side to side, spewing acid, but with its head fastened to the ground, the slime landed a few feet in front of the monster’s mouth.

Looking to finish the beast off, Damon picked up Ethan’s battle axe from the dirt. He strode in front of the creature and raised the axe.

But before he could swing, Harper’s called down from the cliff. Don’t kill it!” she pleaded. “Don’t kill it!”