Chapter 4: The Throne Room
Mana smirked with cheerful glee as she proudly stood beside Koji, content at having proved him wrong about how he could catch up to a G-Wolf. Now there was just one last thing to do.
"Say it."
"Say what?" Koji asked, despite knowing exactly what she was talking about.
"You know. How G-Wolves are faster than jeeps."
Koji sighed. "Fine. G-Wolves are-"
He mumbled the last words.
"What was that?" Mana asked, cupping her hand over her ear, "I think I missed that last part."
"G-Wolves are faster than-" He mumbled off again.
"Can't hear you~."
Kimiko groaned at her sister's antics, "Mana, knock it off. You won, he lost. We get it."
Mana sighed but acknowledged her sister's point as they all stood at the mouth of the Throne Room. Even at only a good meter or three away, they could feel a gripping chill on their spines. Even Mana, as experienced a huntress she was, couldn't help but feel a touch of fear creep upon her. It was a feeling she had every time she came upon the forest's threshold. It was as though she was venturing into the open maw of a beast which, in a way, she was. In fact, two beasts. The sight of the twisted, gnarled branches and the ambience of its fauna gave the Throne Room an otherworldly appearance, especially this up close.
"Okay," Mana finally spoke up, "since Koji's staying behind, who's coming with me and who's staying here?"
Kimiko sighed and took her place next to her boyfriend. "If it's all the same for you, Mana, I'll stay here with Koji. He could use the company." Seeing this, Tril'Qua strode up next to Mana while Kagura took her master's side. Mana, however, was far from impressed. "Really, sis? You're skipping out hunting in the Throne Room for this?"
Kimiko cast her sister a disapproving glance. "Well, maybe, if you didn't challenge him, I would join you. But you made your decision, Mana and you have to live with it." Mana pouted before letting out a groan.
"Ugh, fine," she said exasperatedly, "Tril, Kagura, come on." At her call, the Devonian female and the G-Wolf followed the young huntress into the mouth of the Throne Room, leaving the jeep, Kimiko and Koji behind.
Amuro sat on the benches within the dropship's holding bay, his helmet pulled back as he sat in between a human and Liyari soldier while Takashi's holographic transmission played over the majority of the squadron who were flanked by Devonian Skywing fighter ships.
"Alright," Takashi relayed the plan of operation using holograms to emphasize the rundown of the assault, "just to make sure everyone's on the same page. This is how the attack is going to go down; we lure Godzilla and Rin out into the open using thermobaric bombs. Companies A, B, and C, will converge in the center of the Throne Room where both Kaiju have been known to frequent. Once either one or both the targets are in range, we fire the Hammer, and hit them with everything we've got until they fall down."
What if the plan fails? Amuro mentally asked himself. He had also made sure to close his mind off to other Liyari to ensure they didn't hear his mental question. He looked outside the window as his eyes were focused on the expanse of the Pacific Ocean beneath the drop-ships. It had only been two hours since their deployment and already a sense of dread began to take root inside his heart. He was about to have a second encounter with the beast who took his father away. The fact they were launching an attack on his home turf did not make things any better. Chances were, if the plan failed (which there was a high chance of that happening), Godzilla and Rin would stage a counterattack. To say this was a risky move would be an understatement. Amuro just slumped back in his seat and continued to watch the nearly endless sea pass him by.
Deep within the Throne Room, Mana, Tril'Qua, and Kagura were met with the sound of otherworldly ambience as they strode through the gnarled, almost alien terrain of the forest. This deep within, there was a high degree of foreboding as if anything would pop out of the bizarre foliage and attack them if they so much as let their guard down for even a millisecond. Therefore, the human and Devonian females were lucky to at least have a G-Wolf with a keen sense of smell to warn them of any impending danger moments before it attacked them.
"So," Tril'Qua asked, her voice breaking the silence, "what exactly are we hunting for anyway?"
"Whatever we can carry back to Nara without making two trips." answered Mana.
"Well, I know that, but that doesn't exactly answer my question."
Mana sighed, but before she could speak, Tril'Qua stuck her arm out, causing the three to stop in their tracks.
"Did you hear that?" she asked.
"Hear what?"
"Just stop and listen."
Mana did so, and sure enough, she did hear something. It was a low moaning sound, almost like a mix between an elephant and a beached whale. By how loud it was, the source wasn't too far, at least a mile from their current location. Mana narrowed her eyes and went ahead, leaving Kagura and Tril'Qua in the dust.
"Hey!" Tril'Qua cried out, "Wait up!"
Kagura let out a distressed bark as her owner disappeared from sight with the Devonian girl close behind. As the three tranversed through the forest, the moaning grew louder and louder. Tril'Qua and Kagura broke through the twisted foliage to discover Mana had stopped in her tracks and was looking at something.
"Mana... Haramashi," Tril'Qua scolded her friend as best she could as she tried to regain her breath, "haven't... you... heard... of... the... buddy... sy-"
Tril'Qua was unable to finish as Mana grabbed her head and turned it to the direction she was staring and it immediately shut her up. In front of them was the source of the noise; a fallen Gardenback.
The giant beast before them was a relatively young one, no bigger than a small house; still big but paltry compared to the nearly thirty-story-tall titans it would grow up to be. The scarcity of plant-life on its turtle-like shell was another sign this Gardenback was barely past its days as a toddler as was its dull-brown hide which hadn't even gained a single tone of green hues of adulthood. Currently, the sauropod/terrapin-like reptile was on its side, one of its tree trunk-like forelegs having folded in while its hindlegs were entangled by Dagger Vines with each desparate pull making the blade-like thorns dig deeper and deeper into its still thin hide. The young Gardenback let out another mournful cry for help even if its herd had more than likely abandoned it. However, it was not completely alone, but its company was not exactly the kind one would want to have. Circling around it were a pack of six to eight vulture-like birds. Each of the birds were roughly the size of a human pre-teen and had mottled feathers on their wings which resembled the leaves of the forest's trees. Their beaks were long and jagged, giving the illusion of teeth. These avians, which were currently screeching and seemingly taunting the entangled Gardenback, were called Floral Wings. Normally, these avians tended to be scavengers, feeding on the carcasses of dead animals, but time to time they were not above opportunistic predation. The Floral Wings were each taking turns advancing on the helpless young flora-reptilian to screech at it before retreating each time the Gardenback let out a cry for help. They would do this every three minutes or so.
The sight of a helpless, young Gardenback being tormented by the birds caused Mana to grit her teeth and tighten the grip on her spear. A huntress she may have been, but even she had a heart for any living thing that had not even lived to adulthood. Without a moment of hesitation, she stood up and dashed down to the Gardenback.
"Mana, what are you doing!?" Tril'Qua cried after her friend as she ran towards the Gardenback, spear in hand. The Devonian girl just groaned and ran her hand down her face in exasperation. She turned her attention to Kagura before picking up her bow and arrows. "Come on, Kagura," she told the G-Wolf, "let's go make sure she doesn't get killed." The G-Wolf seemed to agree as the pair ran after the young huntress.
Upon arriving at the fallen Gardenback, Mana let out a wild yell and swung her spear, causing the Floral Wings to scatter as they let out a series of startled squawks. Eventually, they settled down and let out angered, defensive shrieks as they moved into attack. Mana saw one of the birds swooping down at her, talons extended. She spun her spear around and, using the lower end, smacked the bird away. The Floral-Wing rolled in the air, trying to recover and attempt another attack. Mana kept her eyes on the circling bird of prey, her fingers tightening around the pole of her spear and her eyes narrowing behind her mask. Just as the Floral-Wing dove in for another kill, Mana stuck her spear outwards and dug her heels into the soil. There was a sharp, distinct sound of something penetrating flesh and a slight recoil which made her flinch and grit her teeth. She opened her eyes and noticed the Floral-Wing was impaled on her spear-tip.
Mana tossed it aside, only to notice another Floral-Wing swooping down right at her. Caught off-guard, she tried to move back into position... only for an arrow to bury itself deep in the bird's chest. With nary a gurgle, the bird was dead long before it hit the ground. She turned and noticed Tril'Qua, her bow in one hand and currently drawing another arrow from her quiver. The Devonian girl let another arrow fly, striking another of the birds in its wing, causing it to let out a screech of pain as it limped away as best it could.
However, the Floral-Wings must have realized they were not getting anywhere with attacking one at a time as four of the birds had split off and attacked the girls, two for each. Two of them dove at Tril'Qua who dodged them and fired off two arrows at once, missing one of them while striking the other in the chest. Mana noticed one Floral-Wing swooping at her. She pulled back her right arm, spear in hand, and flung it as hard as she could. The spear pierced the bird in the chest as it hit the ground. However, with her weapon discarded, Mana had left herself open for an attack. Suddenly, Mana felt a sharp pain in her left arm and let out a scream. She immediately felt a wetness on her forearm and touched where she felt the pain. Mana looked at her hand and noticed her palm was covered in blood. The wound wasn't too serious, but it was enough to leave her vulnerable. It also caught the concern of Tril'Qua.
"Mana!" she cried out, rushing to help her friend.
"Help the Gardenback!" Mana shouted back, clutching her wound.
Tril'Qua seemed to hesitate before rushing off to free the struggling flora-reptile from the Dagger Vines. As soon as she did, the Gardenback's bellows were becoming louder and more frantic as it continued to squirm, its eyes rolling into the back of its head.
"It's okay," the Devonian tried to comfort the beast as she pulled out her dagger, "I'm going to get you ou- MANA, BEHIND YOU!"
Mana heard her friend, but couldn't react in time as she saw a Floral-Wing swooping towards her; the same one who scratched her judging from the blood on its talons. However, just before it could make another blow, Kagura leapt out of the foliage and pinned the bird down with her paw, her lips curled back into a fanged snarl, her fur sticking up in points, and her dorsal spikes already starting to flash. The Floral-Wing managed to squirm itself from under her paw and fly up... only for the G-Wolf to loose her Atomic Breath and singe it. She then spread her breath while it was still at moderate strength at another Floral-Wing, causing it to fly away.
With her owner safe, Kagura padded over to Mana's arm and sniffed it, whimpering out of concern. Mana smiled assuringly and patted her pet's head.
"I'm fine, Kagura," she told the wolf, "it's just a scratch."
Just then, there was the sound of vines snapping and the sound of heavy footsteps. Mana turned to see that the young Gardenback had been freed from the Dagger Vines and was just now regaining its footing. The beast let out a grateful hoot before bounding off into the forest, Tril'Qua sheathing her dagger as she walked towards her friend.
"And that's why we have the buddy system." she told the huntress.
Mana let out a sheepish laugh, "Yeah, sorry for leaving you behind, Tril."
Tril'Qua shrugged, "Show me where you got scratched."
Mana lifted her bleeding arm to her friend. The Devonian looked at the wound. It wasn't too deep, but considering Floral-Wings were usually carrion eaters, this wound could get infected if not treated in an hour. Tril'Qua removed a jar of ointment her father, a former military medic, had made for her in case they got wounded as well as a piece of cloth. She opened the ointment jar, its strong scent causing Mana to flinch, and smeared it on the bottom of the cloth.
"This is going to sting for a while." Tril'Qua told Mana as she prepared to apply the bandage.
True enough, as soon as the Devonian wrapped the cloth on the wound, a sharp, stinging pain shot up her arm, causing Mana to grit her teeth and hiss. Thankfully, it was only for thirty seconds. Just then, the two heard a raspy squawk from atop the trees. They looked up and noticed the last Floral-Wing glaring down on them. It let out one more squawk as it spread its wings to take flight. However, before it could even get a foot off its perch, a pair of fanged jaws connected to a serpentine neck lunged out of the foliage and, in one single bite, ended its life. The girls and G-Wolf watched as a adolescent, dragon-like Servum, the Floral-Wing in its jaws, flew off into the sky, reminding them of the dangers that lurked in the Throne Room.
