Not that it mattered, though if it were a prize for victory, that would slightly sweeten the deal.
At the very front of the mural was a small pedestal stretching up to her waist with the top shaped into a shallow cup. The perfect size for a marble.
Of course, dropping her marble in the slot did nothing. If it was that simple, the vampire would have won already. The marble didn’t even stay in the slot, it rolled out despite the depression where the marble should have stayed.
From afar, she had only been able to see the sun. Which was truly massive. Up close, Eva had to crane her neck just to see the top of it. Down closer to the pedestal yet still high above it were two circular moldings protruding from the wall.
Eva shuddered as she looked at them.
One was a set of concentric rings. The other had less rings, but also had lines in the shape of a hexagon.
The serpent’s eyes.
Eva turned back to the forest with grit teeth. Were they supposed to kill the serpent and take its eyes? Put them somewhere around the platform. That seemed a bit violent for live television.
Besides, there wasn’t anywhere to put them even if she did have them. Maybe if the protrusions were deep carvings instead.
Turning back to the arena, Eva quickly surveyed the area. If the trees were gone, everything would be much easier. She could clearly see the trail that Basila was carving through the forest. Even more devastating than a hallway-sized snake plowing through everything were black orbs eating and consuming all the plant life around the area.
Which, if they were made up of magic, made sense.
Eva couldn’t see the dryad anywhere around. Given how well she blended in with the trees—both visually and through her nearly impossible to see blood—Eva doubted she would be able to spot her without her being obvious about it.
The vampire still had the serpent after him. He dashed between the trees, using them as cover and platforms to spring from.
Which had Eva narrowing her eyes.
She was up at the gold shrine. Why hadn’t it switched to her?
Had he stolen something from up here? Had he provoked it?
Despite the white lightning that occasionally fired off in the vampire’s direction and missed, none of her teammates had hit, or even attacked, the serpent. Though maybe someone had while her back had been turned, but she doubted it.
Flying through the air, the vampire reached out. His hand dug into one of the thick branches as if he had Eva’s claws. Doing so stopped him short of a bolt of lightning, but allowed the serpent to close distance.
Something he had apparently planned on.
The tree swung its branch backwards, flinging the vampire on a collision course with the serpent. Both of his hands spread out, intent on gripping onto the serpent.
Or maybe clawing into it.
Not willing to let itself be attacked, the serpent spun around. Its tail whipped into him, sending him flying across the room straight towards the golden shrine.
And, consequently, straight towards Eva.
He twisted in the middle of the air, angling to properly attack her.
Eva ignited every part of her body that wasn’t covered in clothes. Flames dripped from her hands like globs of burning tar, spreading across the platform. They wouldn’t last long, but she only needed them to last long enough to ward off the vampire.
His eyes went wide as Eva’s smile widened.
Even if he could hop around without getting hurt, he couldn’t fly. Physics still carried him straight to her waiting arms.
Her burning arms.
Eva’s fist connected with his stomach. Flames from her arm launched forwards when her arm found itself unable to continue, coating the vampire’s shirt in the sticky flames.
He jumped away before Eva could follow up. His shirt flew off his body as he grasped one of the pillars, keeping high and out of Eva’s immediate range.
“Will you desist,” he snapped at her, not really asking a question.
Eva didn’t bother answering. The vampire was already leaping towards her.
More, the serpent was on a collision course with the mural. The mural she just happened to be standing in front of.
Eva jumped, letting the vampire take the blow. She landed just between its horns, grabbing onto one as she extinguished her flames.
Amazingly enough, she didn’t go flying into the wall when the serpent hit it.
In fact, the serpent didn’t hit it at all.
The vampire
But Eva’s eyes were glued to the mural.
Before, it had been a solid sheet of gold. Slight lines formed the pattern of the sun, but they were engravings rather than any other sort of material.
As the vampire held the serpent, the mural lit up. The lines that had previously been mere indentations in the gold began radiating light. The two eye shaped constructs lit up purple and green, identical to the serpent’s eyes.
Everything clicked.
