Chapter 217: Stranded between rivers.

When the plane carrying the fleeing Soul maidens landed, it crashed hard, and most of them lost consciousness. Etania was the last one to open her eyes again, out of all the girls. She winced, pressing a palm to her temples. Her head was pounding so hard that it made her want to rip off her own neck.

"Senior Etania is awake!" Little Mai shouted, her high-pitched voice piercing through the silence. Her eyes were red from hours of crying.

"Shh! Keep it down, Mai! Do you want to invite every beast in the forest to our funeral?" Claudia hissed. She shooed the little girl frantically, then quickly shuffled over to Etania. Her eyes were wide with worry as she knelt down beside the strongest Soul maiden of their small group. "How are you feeling, Senior?"

"I feel like absolute shit," Etania groaned, rubbing her eyes.

Her senses returned slowly, and the foggy haze in her mind cleared. She looked around, and her heart sank right into her stomach.

The situation was dire. Their plane had crashed, obviously. The dense canopy of large trees had softened their fall, and their desperate efforts to land the plane using their ability had saved them, the flood had quelled the engine, preventing the plane from exploding into tiny pieces. But their luck ended there. The sudden, catastrophic earthquake had caused giant rifts, and the resulting flash flood had created two roaring, violent rivers right on either side of them. They were completely trapped on a tiny, muddy island of land.

A terrifying guttural beast sound shook the air, vibrating through the metal floor of the cabin. Etania’s eyes darted around instantly, all headache instantly replaced by pure adrenaline. "What_ was that?" She whispered.

Claudia leaned in close, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to sound calm. "Sea beasts. They’re roaming around the floodwaters. Senior_ I saw at least two King Beasts fighting each other."

"King Beasts?" Etania’s breath hitched."Are you sure?"

"Yes," Claudia swallowed hard. "They look like a nightmare child of a giant frog and a predatory deep-sea fish. Ugly as hell, and ten times as deadly. They had resonance stones, many of them. To think that our sisters have been sent beyond the veil to find such stones when all we had to do was search the sea all along!"

As if called upon by the mere mention of its existence, a gigantic shadow emerged from the murky water. A beast walked through the flooded waters. It was big, covered in slimy, blue scales, with a mouth full of needle-sharp teeth and bulging, milky eyes. Every single step sent a ripple through the water and a warning straight to their bones: Do not attract my attention.

"It’s like a four legged fish on steroids." Someone whispered.

The King Beast turned its hideous head toward the direction of plane. It sniffed the air, its long, slimy tongue slithering out of its mouth, twitching persistently. Slowly, deliberately, it began walking directly toward them. The back half of the plane was completely torn open, offering zero protection. If that thing poked its head inside, they were as good as swallowed whole.

"Oh heavens, oh heavens, it’s looking at us." Little Mai whimpered, burying her face into Claudia’s robes.

"Don’t move. Don’t even breathe," Claudia whispered, her face pale as a sheet. Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold her dagger.

The girls held their breath, completely paralyzed by fear. Sure, they were all decent fighters with special abilities against maybe high-ranking beasts, but a King Beast? That was an entity on par with a high-ranking Soul maiden like Trinity or Sabrina! Fighting it was basically committing polite suicide.

The beast reached the jagged back opening of the plane. Its giant, wet snout twitched just inches from the broken metal frame. Little Mai let out a tiny, stifled squeak.

Suddenly, a second monstrous growl erupted from the opposite river!

The first King Beast snapped its head around, its yellow eyes flaring with territorial rage. Forgetting all about the tiny metal box full of snacks, it let out a deafening roar and charged back into the deep water to confront the rival beast, leaping to the other side in one move. Water exploded everywhere, splashing against the windows, as if to remind them of the strength of the beast.

"Phew_" A collective, shuddering sigh of relief washed over the cabin. The girls slumped against the seats, clutching their chests like they had just barely escaped the clutches of the king of hell himself.

"That was too close," Claudia breathed, wiping a cold sweat from her forehead. She took a deep breath to steady herself before continuing. "Senior Etania_ while you were out, I tried to send a soul transmission message to Senior Tessi. But I couldn’t reach her. The energy around here is completely warped."

Etania sighed and turned her head toward the cockpit. The sight made her stomach turn. The pilot was slumped over the controls, stone dead. A tree branch had impaled him right through the chest. "Let me try," She said grimly.

She sat up straight, crossed her legs, and closed her eyes. Etania focused her mind, channeling her spiritual energy, trying to burn a path through the air to summon Tessi’s consciousness.

Nothing. Just a cold, dead silence in the spiritual realm.

Etania opened her eyes and let out a long breath. "I can’t make the connection either. The energy around us is too unstable."

Disappointment hit the room like a heavy weight. The young maidens looked at each other with downcast eyes, their last tiny spark of hope snuffed out. Etania was the strongest among them, their golden thigh to cling to! If even Senior Etania couldn’t contact Tessi to come save them, were they just meant to be beast food?

Seeing the sheer terror and despair on their young faces, Etania softened her expression. She couldn’t afford to let them fall apart now.

"Hey, don’t give up yet," Etania said, putting on her best confident smile. "Listen to me. The storm, the floods, and the earthquakes are at their peak right now. Once the natural forces calm down a bit, the noise will clear up, and I’ll try again. For now, the plane gives us shelter, and those beasts are too busy fighting each other over territory to care about us. We are safe here as long as we stay quiet and stay put." At worst, they would swim their way to the coordinates Tessi had given her.

The only problem was that if they chose to swim, half would not make it, and she was determined to deliver all these girls to paradise alive.

"Let’s barricade the opening first and register how much food and water we have." She suggested. Then, they could start planning.