Operation Honey Trap vs The Emperor of the Apocalypse

The girls had made good time, reaching the outskirts of the old capital. Delphi knew the guards wouldn't take long to catch up to them again.

She was very proud of Loveday's work on Baer, which had brought them the couple of hours lead they so desperately needed. She chuckled to herself again, just thinking about that man waking up…

As they approached an old catholic church in a clearing just off the road, the sounds of branches cracking with something very heavy stopped them in their tracks.

"Hissssss."

Delphi held up her hand, motioning the team to stay still and silent.

A large black reptilian head emerged from the dense bush. It floated seven feet above the ground, the tubiàn creature's body hidden from sight in the thick scrub. A forked tongue flickered in and out as it sensed the air, smelling them.

"There's another one behind us Delph," said Feifei quietly, "seven o'clock".

"One at nine o'clock too Delphi," said Loveday.

"And three o'clock," chimed Lili.

The hissing sound got louder as the other heads appeared.

"One latecomer joined at four o'clock," Winter whispered.

"They've surrounded us," said Delphi. "I don't think they plan to let us leave without a fight. Dismount slowly and put the horses in the middle. We can't have them startling. Raise your weapons. Loveday, Indy, Feif, we'll take swords. Arrie, Winter, Ruby, Lili, you're shooting. Circle the horses. Alternate archers and swords."

They quietly and slowly moved into position, trying not to provoke the tubiàn creatures.

One of the reptiles moved closer towards them, coming out of hiding and slithering into the clearing.

"Red bellied black snakes," said Ruby with a shudder.

"What do we know about them?" asked Delphi.

"Poisonous bite. Can use their tails to fight," said Feifei shortly.

The other four snakes now emerged from their bushy hideout. The fattest parts of their bodies were three feet thick.

"These guys must eat a lot to get that big," said Ruby in awe.

"That's why I said there weren't any tubiàn predators on Phillip Island," said Delphi. "There's no way those cows and horses would still be around if there were."

The largest of the snakes opened its hideous mouth, letting out a sibilant hiss.

"Oooh, those fangs are scary big," said Winter nervously.

As they watched in horrified fascination, it ejected a large drip of yellow venom from one of its hollow fangs. The venom dropped to the ground with an audible 'plop', and it slithered forwards.

"Let's do this!" yelled Delphi.

The snakes reared up at her shout, baring their fangs. The big one that had come forward first struck at Delphi, it was lightning fast. She jumped aside, pulling her butt in to narrowly avoid it's fangs. It was too quick for her to get a blade into it.

"Shoot now!" she shouted.

Arrie and Winter on each side of her, loosed their arrows. They hit the creature, but the arrows dropped off the hard scales, failing to penetrate them.

"Arrows are not going through," cried Arrie to the others.

"Get out the crossbows," Delphi ordered.

While the archers scrambled for their weapons, Loveday was dodging a strike. She jumped backwards, knocking into one of the brumbies. The horses were huddled together in a tight knot in the centre, utterly terrified by the snakes. The horse reared up as Loveday collided with it, whinnying in fear, and all of the horses started to scream and buck.

"Settle them, Ruby!" called her captain.

"On it!"

Three of the snakes all struck in quick succession.

Feifei managed to get a sword strike in, dodging the head and then bringing her broadsword down on top of it. The weight of the sword pushed its head into the ground briefly, stunning it, and a red welt appeared as she cut through the scales into the flesh.

"Nice one Feif!" called Delphi as the snake slithered backwards.

Indy was panting heavily as she danced a dangerous dance with the head of a snake. It was darting backwards and forwards, and she was fending it off with her sword, using it like a shield. The snake managed to knock her down with the tip of its nose. It raised its head for a strike while she edged away on her butt, kicking her heels rapidly into the dirt.

She rolled as the snake struck, slicing out blindly with her sword. The sword sliced through the tip of the snake's fang and a sharp hollow piece of tooth dropped into the dirt.

Lili shot the snake's head with her crossbow. The arrow pierced the scales on the side of its head and hung there. The snake dropped and turned, slithering back a few metres, injured, but not out of the fight.

Lili sent two more arrows into its long body. It flung the tip of its tail back towards them at speed and used it to flick Lili off her feet. She was flipped into the air, turning 360 degrees in a wild cartwheel, but she managed to land in a crouch, her crossbow skittering away.

"Aerial cartwheel," she laughed wildly.

The warrior scrambled across the dirt to retrieve her crossbow, but the creature used its tail to flick it away before she could grab it.

"Shit," complained Lili. "You big bastard. You're smart."

She scrambled out of her position in the circle, doing a commando roll forwards towards the crossbow. Two snakes both struck at her at once, but she skidded on her side through the dirt and collected the bow, sprinting back to the relative safety of their defensive position.

"Lili," called Delphi. "Nice work but leave the bow next time."

"I need it to take this bastard down," the girl said as she shot an arrow through the tip of its tail, pinning it to the ground. "Gottcha!"

The snake writhed and pulled but it seemed to be trapped by the solid bolt.

Delphi and Feifei had the hang of the strike timing now. As the next head strike came at her she shouted to Feifei.

"Now!"

Both girls dodged at once and then turned back and plunged their blades through the snake's head. This time it didn't move, although its body continued to writhe.

"Got one," breathed Delphi with satisfaction. "One down, four to go girls!"

"Unfortunately not Delph," called Lili. "Incoming two o'clock… three o'clock… four o'clock. Okay, shitloads of snakes incoming!"

A whole fresh group of snakes emerged from the surrounding bush; at least another seven tubiàn.

"Hold your cool girls," said Delphi. "Don't panic. We just need to cut ourselves an exit."

 The girls on the crossbows continued to fire, but it was starting to feel like they would be overwhelmed by the snakes' uninjured brethren.

"Let's cut a path backwards towards the church," called Delphi. "We can hole up inside."

They shifted their combined efforts to the two snakes that lay between them and the church.

Delphi and Feifei worked together to stab another beast through the head as it struck at Feifei.

Lili was peppering the second snake with arrows, but although one hung from the underside of it's mouth, it didn't stop striking at them.

The other girls took a defensive position on their rear, protecting their flank and shifting the horses with them, as they inched closer to the church. Indy scooped up the piece of fang she had sliced off and tucked it into her waistband.

Before they could finish off the final snake that was obstructing their escape, the sound of galloping riders rang out across the clearing and Commander Meyer and his men wheeled into sight.