novelraw Chapter 85: One Tailed Skavvern
Chapter 85: One Tailed Skavvern
The Skavverns were humanoid creatures. That much was true. They had two arms and two legs. A head shaped close enough to a human’s that, from far away, someone might mistake one for a person.
Up close, that illusion died fast.
Their bodies were built in a wrong way.Their skin clung to muscle like it was worn instead of grown. From the center of their chest, right where a human heart would be, a thick tail extended backward, running down their spine and dropping past their lower back. It moved when they breathed. Sometimes it twitched on its own, like it had a will separate from the rest of them.
Their hands had claws, not nails. Long, curved, and black. They didn’t trim it like humans or dull it with time. They stayed sharp enough that even the smallest swipe could peel flesh open.
Their mouths were worse.
Skavverns had too many teeth. Too many razor-sharp teeth. When they smiled, it wasn’t really seen as a smile. It was a threat. Their jaws could stretch wider than a human’s ever could.
For years, humans believed Skavverns were Mythic creatures, probable Sovereign or Apex-tier but they were wrong because Skavverns didn’t have Mythic shards. They didn’t have shards at all.
A Skavverrn’s skin wasn’t permanent. It was something they shed. When it grew damaged or worn, when it absorbed too much energy or took too many wounds, they peeled it off and underneath was fresh skin.
Each shedding made them harder to kill.
That blue fluid Axel had seen on the lab floor wasn’t blood. It was residue. What leaked out when a Skavverrn discarded a layer of itself. The skin left behind wasn’t useless either. It still held traces of what it once protected.
Whatever this lab was, it was obvious that a Skavvern was in there and in that cave. Now... Kora just let out a terrifying scream.
Hearing that scream caused Axel’s heart to thump loudly in his chest. Nile was no longer crouching, looking at the blue fluid. She was now standing upright, looking at the lab entrance.
"What was that?" She asked, her fingers tightening around her fist. "Was that Kora?"
"Shit!" Axel snapped in realization. He turned to Ares with haste "There’s a bloody Skavvern in this cave and you left Rick, Kora, Jayden and Kinsey unprotected!"
Ares, who had no idea what Axel and Nile had found on the ground, asked. "What in heaven’s name are you talking about?"
"We don’t have time, there’s a Skavvern in this cave," Axel told Ares calmly, regardless of the storm brewing in his chest.
Ares froze, then he glanced behind Axel and on the floor. That’s when he saw the blue fluid and the skin underneath it. His face turned dark instantly.
"Shit!"
He bolted toward the door without looking back.
"Ares wait—!" Axel tried to call out but Ares was already long gone. He turned to Nile. "We have to go now. The others are in trouble."
Nile stood frozen over the blue goo. She looked like she was stuck in a trance and Axel saw something in her face that he had never seen before. Terror.
Nile Reed was terrified.
"We never should have stepped inside this cave." She muttered under her breath.
"Come on!" Axel called out, snapping her out of her daze. "We need to leave now!"
***
Together, Axel and Nile ran. Their footsteps echoed through the tunnel as they burst out of the lab, breath ragged, hearts pounding. Axel’s mind was loud with one thought only.
"Rick. Kinsey. Please be alive. Please..."
They came out into the wider part of the cave and froze.
On the ground bleeding out was Rick.
Sharp black claws were buried deep in his stomach, punching clean through him. His body jerked as he coughed and blood spilled from his mouth in wet bursts. His eyes were open, wide, unfocused, shaking with pain.
"Rick..." Axel whispered, his voice was barely there.
Jayden and Kora were down too. Both of them. Their bodies lay still, twisted at wrong angles. They weren’t moving at all.
On the other side of the cave, Ares and Kinsey stood with their arms out, teeth clenched. Ice crawled across the ground, thick and heavy. The walls were coated in frost and the air was burning cold.
Pinned to the cave wall was an actual Skavvern.
Ice wrapped around its limbs and chest, locking it in place. It thrashed around, bulging its muscles, using its claws to scrape against the frozen stone.
Cracks spread through the ice as it struggled. A low sound rumbled from its throat. It sounded like a laugh held back.
"Ahhhh!" Ares screamed as he pushed harder. The ice thickened. Kinsey’s face was pale, the blue glow in her eyes was already fading as she had used too much of her ability
"Axel!" Ares shouted. "Snap out of it!"
Axel’s body felt heavy. His feet wouldn’t move. His mind refused to catch up to what his eyes were seeing.
"Help them!" Ares yelled.
Axel finally moved but the moment he took one step toward Rick.
The ice holding the Skav down shattered.
The sound was violent. Loud. The frozen wall exploded outward, shards flying everywhere. The Skavvern tore free and swung its body hard.
Ares and Kinsey were thrown back like dolls, crashing into stone and skidding across the ground.
The Skavvern landed smoothly on its feet. It straightened and looked at Axel. Then it smirked.
Its mouth opened wide, showing rows of thin, razor-sharp teeth, packed too close together. Its chest rose and fell slowly. A tail moved along its body, thick and dark, running from the center of its chest down its back.
Axel’s breath caught. "That’s a one tailed Skav..."
***
Throughout history, humans learned a few things the hard way. One of them being that the Skavvern had different powers and strengths of their own.
Their strength was measured by the number of tails that ran from their chest down their spine. It decided everything.
One tail meant danger. Two meant death for most squads.
The highest ever recorded tailed Skavvern was five. History said it took ten Nova-ranked pyrokinetics fighting together to bring that one down.
And now, standing in front of Axel, was a two-tailed Skavvern.
It tilted its head slightly and locked its eyes onto him. Then the smile widened.
"Looks like you’re late," it said, its voice low and rough. "Want to join your friends?"
In that moment, the system’s holographic screen glitched in Axel’s vision and a mission was generated.
< [Warning! Hostile race detected!] >
< [ ID: One-tailed Skavvern] >
< [Chances of survival: 10%] >
< [Emergency Mission Generated: Survive the encounter with the One-tailee Skavvern] >
< [Reward: 100 EXP] >
***
"WHIPPP"
The Skavvern whipped its tail like a whip, cutting through the air with a sharp crack aimed straight at Axel’s chest.
Axel reacted on instinct. He threw himself sideways, the tail missed him by inches as it smashed into the ground behind him. Stone exploded where it struck.
While still in the air, Axel reached for his sword at his side.Godrend slid into his hand as he twisted his body and landed hard on both feet, boots scraping against the cave floor.
"Haha!" The Skavvern laughed.
It was a harsh, ugly sound.
"That little thing?" it said, eyes dropping to the blade. "You think that can hurt me?"
Axel straightened, gripping the hilt tighter. "Well, this sword isn’t normal," he said. "It’s one of a kind. Can’t say the same for that tail..."
Even in a dire situation, Axel’s mouth still managed to run wild.
The Skavvern tilted its head, amused.
Axel lifted the sword over his head. At that moment, he activated every skill he could think of. Infernal energy surged through his body, hot and heavy, rushing out from his core.
< [Infernal Core Active] >
The blade began to glow red
Axel decided to push more power into it and activated another core.
< [Energy Burst Core Active] >
Then he brought the blade down hard..
Two attacks tore out at once. A blue energy wave shot forward, sharp and fast. Right behind it came a red, molten slash, burning and heavy, ripping through the air like liquid fire.
They both slammed into the Skavvern together. The impact shook the cave. Dust and smoke filled the space as the Skavvern was pushed back several steps.
When the smoke cleared, the Skavvern was still standing.
Its skin was scorched in places, but there were no deep wounds. No real damage.
The Skavvern looked down at its chest, then back at Axel.
"That tickled," it said, smiling wider.
Skavverns were built different. Their skin was thick, dense, almost like armor. Humans compared it to Mythic beasts, but Skavverns were worse. Even the weakest Skavverns with zero tails were as strong as advanced-tier beasts.
Axel hadn’t expected that attack to end it. It was only the beginning.
He charged forward. His focus locked on the Skavvern’s tail. He watched its movement, waiting for the next whip, ready to dodge again.
That was the mistake. The Skavvern didn’t use its tail. Its fist came out of nowhere and slammed into Axel’s face with crushing force.
Axel flew backward, his body spinning as he hit the ground hard and skidded across stone. His head rang, his vision blurred and the world tilted.
< [–10 HP] >
< [HP: 15/25] >
"Arg!"
Axel groaned, trying to push himself up, but his limbs felt heavy. That single hit had left him reeling.
The Skavvern growled low and walked toward him, claws scraping against the floor.
Then—
A sharp crack of thunder filled the cave.
A massive bolt of electricity slammed into the Skavvern’s back. It roared in pain and staggered forward.
For the first time, it flinched.
When Axel looked up, he could see Nile on her feet. Electricity crawled up her arms and wrapped around her body, lighting her eyes with a fierce glow. Her expression was cold.
The Skavvern turned slowly to face her, growling, anger burning in its eyes.
"Get away from him," she said.
***