Why it was pleasing to see that he had gained an ally, there was still the problem of handling their current situation.
" So, what are we going to do about this gluey situation " Raer said as he moved himself around, struggling in vain to see if he's luck would be better this time.
" Well, I could try burning it. But I can't maintain it for long " Luthren said, he remained some very basic spells he could do with vice.
Particular ones with fire since they were the easiest amongst every other one to cast.
" Better than nothing " Raer replied, slumping back his body. He realised there was no use in wasting energy and decided to place his hopes on Luthren.
He did however go through scenarios in his head where if they did wake to eat, that could be the perfect time to escapee.
But the heavily depended on how exactly they eat, if they moved like a swarm then he had no hopes. If they moved ate him from head to toe...no hope either.
He could imagined it, the things suddenly breaking off the roof and falling upon him. Teeths bared to begin feasting on his juicy looking body.
Just then, Raer could smell the burning of...rubber. He turned to see Luthren burning through his constraints, he had a good amount of control seeing as he didn't burn himself.
It however did not last as within a brief minutes, he suddenly stopped and was breathing like he had been running for hours.
Raer wanted to comment on the painfully obvious problem that at his current rate, burning through their bonds will take hours.
But he stopped himself at the sudden sounds of chittering, instinctively glacing up to see more and more cracks appear above the 'ceiling '
" Do you hear that? " Luthren whispered.
Raer did not answer, he simply stared. The cracks were not becoming objects that looked like they had been inplaced into the ceilings stuck there.
1, 2, 5, 10 and soon more thank a dozen. Raer watched one, it brought out a pair of its legs. Shaking its body slightly to let dirt fall upon his face.
Next its head soon appeared, unbending from its position that saw it hidden behind its belly. Next was a second pair and then a third pair if legs revealed.
It's horizontally oval shaped head protected by a thick layer of hardened shell that was attached to the skin of it glanced around.
It seemed agitated as the forefront legs hit the shell ahead of it causing a similar awakening process.
Raer didn't have to say anything, Luthren knew even in the darkness that those things were being awoken. He had only seen them once when he lit up the room after awakening here.
Now he could hear their movements, the scittering and sounds of shells hitting against each other. He froze in place, struck by fear of death and those things.
He couldn't move, couldn't breathe...maybe they'll ignore him. Leave him be for last, all he had to do was stay still.
Suddenly, one of them shrieked loudly. The noise was eatpiercing. The hearts of both Luthren and Raer began to quicken in its pace.
Raer could see them moving, they climbed over each other and raced towards his left. Heading for somewhere he couldn't quite see anything special with.
Then it happened, like a dam had just broken. The 'ceiling' collapsed caused scored of those things to fall and light to finally illuminate the whole area.
Raer stared in disbelief watching two of those animals tear each other part, each going for the others legs.
They'd grab unto it with their teeth then bite down and drag unto they bite it off. Those who could no longer walk were quickly devoured by half a dozen others.
It looked horrifying, their walls were filled with them. The ground was crawling with them, surprisingly they didn't touch Raer or anything bound by the rubbery stuff that bound them.
It's a war, possibly territorial.
Raer reasoned as he looked all around him, suddenly one of the things walked up to his body. It stared at his faces, quickly moving to sniff his bonds.
Then it began tearing away at it furiously, he looked to his right and saw another doing the same.
Some of them suddenly turned and began attacking those who were freeing their 'food',
To Raer, it just looked like chaos. He couldn't tell the difference apart and he assumed Luthren wouldn't be able to either.
But he knew there was a difference, the species suddenly wouldn't just turn on itself. But Raer would soon realise just how wrong he was.
Not too far from him, he saw 4 of the animals devouring another that they had killed when suddenly one of them turned and rip the legs of irs brethren next to it.
Before it could even react, another jumped on it and ripped out its forward rightmost leg. The third however tried to helped the injured one and fight on the two 'bretrayers'.
It made no sense to him. Was maybe feeding so important that both attackers and defenders would temporarily truce to feed?
It was an absurd thought but far more reasonable that the thought of them just turning on each other for no reason.
Just then, he felt his hands become free. He looked down on the thing and had a sudden feeling to thank it.
It chittering, grabbing some of the torn pieces from his bonds to bring it to its face. It sniffed it, licked it and then ate it before moving to the next body to free.
I think I'll call them Scitters
Raer thought to himself. Just then 2 other Scitters suddenly began attacking the one that freed him, they attacked it by the legs.
Ripping out the right leg of the first pair, left leg of the second pair and then both legs of the last pair. Next they went for the neck of it and soon, it lay dead.
Raer looked in curiosity, wondering why they attacked in such a way. He turned, noticing a similar pattern with the way they all attacked.
Crippling the first two pairs and taking out the last two, at times they just crippled all three pairs or the last two but then they attacked the tail rather than the head.
" Ren, we need to go!! " Luthren screamed, bringing back Raer from his brief trance.
He looked at where the voice came from just to see Luthren holding a book in his hands. He was bleeding in his legs and hunched over his back.
He pointed to a tiny hole close to the wall, one where there was scarce fighting between the Scitters.
Raer screeched and ran for it, maneuvering his way around the groups of fights taking place. Sometimes having to take a snab or two at some Scitters that wanted to get close.
Luthren also began to run for the hole, behind them the chaos seemed to worsened with each passing second. More and more Scitters poured from newly broken holes and began to join either the fighting or feeding.
It just didn't make sense to Raer but for now, he needed to survive. Soon he reached the hole which looked awfully small.
I must fit in there
He said to himself before thrusting his head into it and using his legs to boost his whole body in. His hands were squished against his chest and he felt their blades digging into the dirt.
Still he pushing, moving his shoulders slowly to move everything deeper inside. His tail resisted entering but was forcibly bent to allow him to fit all the way inside.
He pushed and pushed until finally his head popped out of the hole. Without even waiting, he pushed his whole self out and soon fell on the floor.
Luthren following shortly after.
But just as they seemed out of danger, they heard the sound of a beast roaring with fury.
Before any of them could react, Raer felt his body get picked up by the jaws of an animal and then crushed.
It's bladed teeth piercing through his skin with bones cracking under the pressure. He screeched in pain at the sudden surprise, flaying his legs helplessly in the air as he was raised and then thrown aside.
He went tumbling against the floor, his body crashing against rocks and sharpened edges.
Up Raer, Up!!!
He screamed to himself knowing fully well that he couldn't stop yet. There was something else here with them.
The next feeling he got however was one he would never forget.
The sudden grab at his ankles followed by the feel of teeths piercing down past his skin, his flesh, reaching his bones.
Then the crack came as the mouth of the beast pulled with its strength, taking of part of his small arm.
Raer screeched in pain, his head reeling back in shock from the sudden attack. He couldn't scream loud enough to dull the pain that assaulted his mind.
He wanted it to stop, he needed it to stop.