Chronicles of Clorin: Chapter 20

Chronicles of Clorin: Chapter 20 - Wall of Fangs


The wall of orbs glared down at them as a sudden rustle of hisses began to stir. Estar bit his lip so hard that a dribble of blood began to run down to the side of his cheek. Gnarlers; a whole nest of them, and they were right in front of it. The Satelite beside him didn’t seem to show any sort of shock, but the brunette knew that they would have to move out of the way. Either that or become crushed between glass-sharpened teeth. Uttering a low soft growl in frustration the swordsman veered to the left and whipped out the cutthroat. Using it as a climbing device he smashed it into one of the many legs that connected to the Terralias.

“Come on, they’re coming!” His shout ripped from his throat as his arm lounged back to grab the boy by the collar of his cloak. Seeming to snap out of it, the black-haired boy hurried and pulled him up along the slender appendage. His bindings were now snapped which allowed his arms to move freely in order to climb. The Gnarlers began to move now; scaly bodies rolled and scraped against one another as they shot forward with their mouths opened wide. The glaring teeth part with a flash as they scrambled and wrapped around the Terralias’ leg. The arachnid soon froze in position. Its brilliant red eyes gleamed in the dark as it merely gazed at the rampage before it.

Screeches and roars filled the air with a heavy echo that drummed against Estar’s head. He winced and allowed himself to release a snort before grabbing onto one of the cracks along the leg and hauling themselves upward. Both he and Dusk were hardly halfway when a loud snapping sound barely missed the Mailoin’s arm. “Shit!” Swears flew from his teeth unexpectedly as he recoiled where his arm was. The serpents were faster and more cunning in the dark; unlucky for them. Pain screamed throughout his body as the muscles in his arms began to stress from grabbing on for so long.

Another shriek rivaled the ones that tore from the Gnarlers’ mouths. Shooting his gaze up at the odd castle above them, Estar saw several Karaphixeons gathering along the sides and empty crannies. Their eyes stared widely at the squirming Clorin beasts below them; slowly opening their jagged beaks and releasing a screech along with a stretch of their wings. Grasping another small rift on the Terralias, the brunette watched in awe as a hundreds of the creatures swarmed down like a wall of bats. Their tails fought the wind behind them like a violent flag as they dove with open jaws.

The Gnarlers soon turned their attention towards the flying terrors and immediately lost interest in the two boys. Their flashing eyes narrowed as they shot their heads up and snapped at the flock. Screams and squeals battered their eardrums as bloodshed soon followed; Karaphixeons were snatched out of the dark sky and hideous jaws snapped necks. Growls and shrills crooned from the Gnarlers as their armor and eyes were punctured and cracked open by very toothy pecks.

While the two beasts kept each other busy, Estar began working on hauling himself up along the connection between the stilled leg and the giant mid-section of the spider. Turning and leaning down, he snagged the sleeve of the Satelite member and focused all of his strength to pull him up. The black-haired male huffed as he was pulled up onto safety. His dark orbs flew up as his pale finger pointed up towards a thin path of spiked shell. “We can use those to climb up to the headquarters.” He stated plainly before gaining a head start by wrapping his fingers around the thick spikes. The swordsman studied him as he worked his way upward, keeping a mental note of which ones to grab and which ones to avoid.

When Dusk was finally up on the top of the shell he motioned for the burnette to climb up. Nodding and gulping down a throat filled with nervousness he began to push himself up and dig his feet into any spike or crevice he felt. The ascend wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be, but the noises that came from below made his stomach turn in an unpleasant way. Scrambling up and pulling his body with his upper arms the swordsman finally slid his stomach against the smooth back of the Terralias. Taking a full minute to regain his breath from climbing a huge creature, Estar made himself stand up and run his fingers through his sweat-drenched hair.

As soon as his heart was settled, the Mailoian gave Dusk a firm nod. His eyes hardened as they settled upon the tall structure looming over them. His hand gripping around the handle of his cutthroat, the brunette began to run towards the towering doors. Taking the edge of the blade, he slammed the weapon between the space and shoved it forward. The doors bulked against the steel; the groaning noise it gave off intensified before it finally cracked open. Taking the sword and ripping it away, the twin doors heavily shook open just enough for him to squeeze through.

His knuckles growing white from the cold darkness an the freezing air, he peered behind himself to make sure that Dusk was following. The black-haired merely slid his eyes closed in annoyance, but quietly followed the patroller inside of the building. Their boots echoed against the tiled ground as they made their way forward. “Wow…” The deep red eyes widened at the size of the palace on the inside. The room was magnificent, but he shouldn’t be admiring the enemy’s fortress. He was here to get some answers and to retrieve back Dunsar’s patroller.

A deep whooshing sound suddenly whirled around the two as a razor wind lashed about. Estar’s blue coat snapped behind him as an ear-shattering screech made his hands fly up to his ears. Scratching sounds ran across the hallways before a giant mass of blackness zipped out from one of the many corridors. It sped around like a bat out of hell, until steadily perching itself amongst one of the bars that connected the high ceiling together. Both of the boys had their attention on the form; which happened to be a stray Karaphixeon.

It stretched its head and crooned before lowering its skull to continue grinning at the two below it. On the back of the sinister bird however was a female with long blonde hair and flaring purple eyes. Her lips curled to a smirk as her fingers gently caressed the condor’s head delicately. “Welcome,” The woman chimed while resting her chin on her hand. Her eyes lowered in amusement at Estar and then at Dusk. “And thank you, Duskie boy, for leading him here~” Her sentence ended with a dangerous glint in her eyes.