PHANTASIA by R. Atlas Read Free Book Online Page B

absolute necessity. For someone like Raven, turning an arrow into a paralyzing shot was an effortless task.
    The other team seemed to be getting more and more nervous as Raven continued aiming at the Ignot Gilas. They seemed to be unsure if this was a good idea, and exchanged anxious glances with each other. Red understood why; Raven was relying on her ability to shoot all of the Gilas down before they made it to them. The reptilian critters had a soft spot near the bottom of their bellies, a vulnerable patch of skin that covered access to several vital organs, and a place they adamantly guarded if they sensed danger. But if she missed even one or two, especially one of the larger stage 3s, she would be putting all of them in danger.  
    Finally a boy on the other team sitting at the edge of the trench spoke up. He seemed to be equipped like the girl who had flagged them down, with a long rod strapped to his back that Red recognized as a beam rifle. He was also a stalker, Red guessed.
    “If I were you, I wouldn’t do that,” the boy commented.  
    “And if I were you, I wouldn’t do it either,” Raven replied politely.  
    Her fingers eased as she released the first arrow. It pierced through the air with surgical precision, looking like it was going to miss, but then curving masterfully through the air, flowing with the gradient of the wind, just as its owner had calculated, to finally find its mark on the soft tissue that composed the underbelly of an unsuspecting Gila. A reptilian screech split open the quiet of the desert, as thirteen of its comrades tried to make sense of what was happening. Their instinct, like that of any other desert creature, was to assess the situation and decide as quickly as possible whether to defend themselves or to run. While they weren’t the sharpest of creatures, they were still close to being apex predators within the desert. Still, they were well aware that the dark sands hid beasts that far eclipsed them in both size and hunger.  
    With rapid succession, she let out thirteen more shots, reaching over to her quiver and reloading her bow with a blurring speed every time. The rest of her body remained perfectly still as her arms did all the moving; her near perfect form did not go unnoticed by the other team, who weren’t as accustomed to seeing her perform. The arrows all found a Gila as a target, but not all of them hit the correct area.She continued to fire past the necessary fourteen shots, but her accuracy diminished as the pressure mounted and the pack ran towards her in full tilt. Red got up and flexed his fingers, planting them into the ground softly. He heard the whistle of Magnus’s mallet swinging through the air as he charged its momentum. Here it comes he thought excitedly.
    Raven continued to remain perfectly still, not flinching despite the dwindling space between herself and the Gilas. Eleven dropped, twelve dropped, thirteen dropped, but Red knew she wasn’t going to get the last one. It was one of the stage 3s; it had already taken one shot to the bottom but failed to slow down. Raven dropped her bow and arrow next to her and silently placed her hand on the hilt of the sword strapped behind her. The boy that had spoken earlier choked back a scream, imagining that Raven was either suicidal or too paralyzed to move like he was. The enormous creature in front of them, now in position to strike, launched forward with an open mouth, ready to grip its prey with the force of its hunger.
    An instant before the jaws closed around her in an atomizing bite, Butz and Red both rushed in front, bridging their arms out to hold the mouth open with their hands. The force of the impact was so charged, it pushed them a foot deeper into the sand and sent out waves of energy that visibly rippled across the air and sand around them. Screaming with effort as they wrestled to stretch the mouth open, they swung their head to the side to make space for Magnus’s mallet, which came down a