The Lands of Ralosia & Ranuulo- Short Story Collection

~Fight or Flight Chapter 5- Pale Scorpion~

~Chapter 5- The Pale Scorpion ~

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure..."

Gweneva and Mills took to the trees as an imminent threat approached. Valr saw a mass far larger than any of them. A pale creature with numerous legs, a stinger- tipped tail and pincered arms. A scorpion. The adults had mentioned a nest of theirs to the west, but Valr had never seen one before.

As the scorpion scuttled across the ground, it veered towards him. Valr turned and ran. Gweneva circled a tree and swung low with her hand outstretched, ready to grab her friend.

But before she could save him, the scorpion jumped through the air at her, and she narrowly swerved out of its way. The scorpion landed just ahead of Valr.

The brown-haired boy pivoted and ran into a denser part of the forest. In the moment that he dared to look back, he saw the scorpion using its pincers to snip through the bases of trees, its beady eyes on him.

Valr went as fast as he could. As he ran, he saw a shadow behind him. He stepped to the side, and a tree fell where he was, nearly knocking him out of his run.

Valr glanced back and saw the Scorpion's tail poised high in the air. It lunged forward, but before hitting him, strands of webs came from above and latched onto tail, holding it back. Mills and Gweneva were doing their best to slow the scorpion down.

"Fly! You have to fly!" Mills shouted shrilly.

Valr ran and jumped, hoping to somehow take off into the air. But he fell back to the ground and kept running, "I can't!"

The scorpion flicked its tail, snapping the strands of webs that had attached to it. The creature lunged its tail at the two Arachna children, who swung out of the way.

Valr continued to run, only to see the scorpion was after him again. He saw an overturned, hollowed-out tree and sprinted into it. As he ran in, he could hear the scorpion's pincers snapping close behind him. It couldn't quite reach him inside his shelter.

The scorpion snapped its pincers frantically before withdrawing them. It then used its tail to stab the overturned log from the outside, causing it to splinter and crack. It wouldn't protect Valr for long.

All the while, the scorpion's beady eye was fixated on Valr. The young boy flourished his hand and pointed his finger, and a purple beam of light rocketed from it, striking the creature directly in its eye. The scorpion reeled back, snapping its pincers and bumping into trees from the pain.

Valr scrambled out of the log and started climbing the first tree he saw. He didn't get far when he regained the Scorpion's attention. The creature scuttled forward with its tail ready to strike.

The boy shut his eyes as the stinger came at him. But just when he expected the end to come, he felt himself being pulled off the tree and moving through the air. When he opened his eyes, he saw the Arachna boy holding him as they swung through the forest.

"I got you!" Mills shouted.

Mills was struggling to swing while still holding Valr. As they moved, the scorpion followed, its tail snapping at them several times. Mills jumped to a thick tree while holding Valr and tossed him further up to a high branch.

Valr looked down from his perch as Mills clambered up the tree. Just when he was sure he would be safe, the scorpion's tail lunged forward, striking the tree, and Mills with it, piercing his body.

For just a moment, the two boys looked each other in the eyes, both terrified of what came next. Mills was scraped off the tree while impaled on the scorpions stinger, and the creature pinned him to the ground. Valr looked away.

There was a shriek from the first strike. All Valr could hear after that were the repeated lunges of the scorpion's tail against his friend. His body was trembling at the thought of what was happening.

Then he heard snapping at the base of the tree. The scorpion was after him again. But Valr didn't move. He couldn't. Not after that.

Gweneva swung from the trees to Valr's position, "Valr... we-we have to go." She muttered, her voice weak.

With another snap from the scorpion's pincers, the tree began to topple over. Valr forced himself to stand and leaped to the nearest safe tree with Gweneva. But the scorpion didn't give up, simply moving onto their new tree.

Valr glanced where he thought Mills would've been... he didn't recognize the tattered remains of what he saw.

A flash of purple light came from another portion of the forest, one closer to the settlement. The pale scorpion stopped its relentless pursuit, looked to the light, then scurried in the opposite direction through the forest, away from the kids.

"Valr!" The unmistakable voice of a mother echoed from the direction of the light. Valr's mother. He saw her levitating through the woods.

Gweneva stood tall in the tree and waved, "We're here! We're here!"

Diva turned and flew at a surprising speed, gliding to the same branch as Valr to hug him. He held his mother back.

"I'm glad you're okay! All of you!" His mother said while holding him.

All of you.

Valr began to cry in his mother's arms as the last terrified image of the friend who had saved him became cemented in his mind.

Someone so weak has no place among us. He'll only hold us back.

Valr's mother understood what had happened without having to be told. It could've been Valr's endless tears or Gweneva's sullen silence. Perhaps, she simply saw Mills' body lying in the forest.

She held her son even tighter and whispered, "It's going to be okay, honey... it's going to be okay..."