Its massive tail came sweeping out of the forest and across the beach. The tail was lifted a slight distance above the ground to move more quickly. The air itself seemed to be slightly distorting from the immense pressure being generated by the tail swing. I could only go up or under, both maneuvers had a lot of risks, and I only had a few seconds to decide.

Neither option appealed to me. They were both obvious choices and one this elder snake would easily exploit to take me out. I turned and sprinted away from the tail, trying to get as much speed as possible. As I felt the air pressure of the tail behind me, I jumped and turned.

The impact was not as much as if I had been running at the elder snake's tail. By running in the direction it was swung, I lessened the impact and wasn't immediately turned to paste by the change in momentum.

My claws dug into the thick scales, but no blood was drawn. The tail swing began to slow down, but I knew what the elder snake would do next. A full body spin to crush me, in a counter clockwise direction, to send me into the ground as quickly as possible. I began climbing with everything I had as the elder snake spun its body.

While the elder snake was powerful and incredibly fast, that was only in relation to its massive size. It wasn't much faster than me, it was just much bigger and had scales. But I had claws, that dug into those scales, even if I didn't puncture through them, keeping up with the rotation. The elder snake stopped and spun in the other direction in a single moment.

I wasn't ready for this, but quickly adjusted and kicked off its massive body as I reached the top and went flying across the beach. I landed into a roll and quickly stood up on paws, turning to face the elder snake. Its head was already darting down towards me. Fear tried to grip my heart, but it wasn't enough to freeze me in place.

The only option was rushing forward and leaping into a dive. The massive snake head slammed into the sand behind my rear paws hitting my backside with a wave of sand. I went into a roll making sure to kick off sideways as the massive above me began to rapidly descend in an effort to crush me. Another wave of sand washed over me as I barely avoided being crushed into paste.

I turned my entire body back around and raced for the elder snake's body. My claws cut deep furrows into its thick scales, but no blood was drawn. Before I could do a follow up attack, the elder snake twisted away from me and rose back up into the air. I noticed its tail rising up to the side. The elder snake wasn't targeting me, but the beach.

The massive tail slammed into the sand, as I raced forward. I needed to engage in close range combat to force the elder snake to exhaust itself. These large moves were tiring for the elder snake. While it had more endurance than me, that was only if it didn't use large moves like it had been doing. The biggest challenge was staying alive long enough. One mistake and I was dead, while the elder snake could last for a very long time, since my claws couldn't penetrate its scales.

Its massive head darted in once again, it was larger than a truck and faster as well. Each fang bigger than me. I made to dive forward again but went into a backflip instead. The elder snake was skilled enough to realize how I had dodged the previous time. But I was still one step ahead. As another wave of sanded washed over me.

The snake had closed its mouth to avoid drawing in all that sand. While it wouldn't hurt the elder snake, the sand would make it feel very uncomfortable. I then leapt forward onto its snout and drove my claws into its scales as I quickly scrambled forward to try and reach its eyes. I had barely made two paw motions to climb, when the elder snake whipped its head straight upwards and then flicked its entire head.

My claws were dug in deep, into the elder snake's scales, but it wasn't enough. My claws remained lodged into the scale, but by entire body tried to fly upwards into the air. I had twisted my paws slightly to maintain my grip and ensure my claws wouldn't be easily freed. None of that mattered when the entire scale was ripped right off the elder snake's snout.

My ascent into the air was incredibly dangerous. The elder snake knew what it was doing. It was putting me in a position I wouldn't be able to easily dodge or adjust my position. I was quick enough on the ground and with my paws, that I had avoided being crushed, but clearly the elder snake had been waiting for me to go for its head. While I had been thinking I was a step ahead, the elder snake had actually thought one step further.

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In the distance I glimpsed a large battleship, but it was too far away to help me at the moment. I had to worry about the next couple of seconds. My ascent was quickly coming to an end as gravity kept pulling me back down. The elder snake was positioning its body in a loop where I would fall while keeping its head back. It wasn't going to try and snatch me out of the air, which was smart.

That would have given me the chance to recover. Instead it was waiting for the moment I would land and then kill me with overwhelming force. The elder snake was far more experience in combat than I had given it credit for.

Surviving the landing would be rough, but I would have to cushion my fall with a role. There was nothing I could do. During that role I would be completely vulnerable to being eaten. Just as I past the height of the elder snake's head, a black furred cat landed on its head.

It was my father, Tom Cat!

I landed on the sand and rolled, dissipating my momentum and leaping back up to my paws. I had to immediately dive into the sand as a massive tail flew right over my body, pushing a wave of sand on top me and pushing me into the beach. I burst free and immediately began moving.

Looking at the elder snake, I didn't what had happened to my father, but the elder snake was clearly distracted as its massive head loomed over the battlefield. I leapt up and landed on its body, quickly climbing upwards. It didn't try to roll as I reached the top of its body and then began racing upwards along its length towards the elder snake's head. That was its only real weak point with how thick its scales were.

Its head whipped around, and it began to swing its massive head towards me along its body. The odd motion made the snake slower compared to previous attacks. I noticed it was bleeding slightly from its snout, where I had ripped off the scale from before. Leaping upwards I landed back on the same spot, my claws digging into the elder snake's fleshy snout.

"AHHHH!" It let out a painful roar. It jerked its head upwards as blood poured out around my arms that had dug into its flesh. I twisted my body slightly to burn off the momentum the snake had imparted to me with its head flick. I noticed my father was clinging to one of the snake's eyelids that had snapped closed.

His claws were struggling to penetrate its scales deeply enough to do any damage. I had a moment to act while the elder snake tried to figure out what to do with two cats clinging to its head. I freed my arms and rushed across its snout and leapt at its other eye. The elder snake quickly snapped its eyelid shut.

If my father was going for its eye, then I would go for one as well. He didn't say anything, since anything he said would be heard by the elder snake. But I knew what he was aiming for. The only way to kill an elder snake was with heavy weaponry. Bringing down one with just our claws was a fool's errand. We could poke at the elder snake over and over for days on end and it would only do minor damage.

Even the wound on its snout from the missing scale was annoying and painful, not life threatening. That was the power of an elder snake. Its scales were so thick and it was so large, that it couldn't be killed easily. Even with a sword, it would just be a flesh wound. Unless one struck the perfect spot on its head, a stick was nothing more than a needle against a creature of this size, and not a very big needle.

The elder snake twisted its head and began to send it towards the ground. I noted that it rotated its head to put me at the bottom and crush me. I let go as it twisted its head, getting hit with a wave of sand as I landed on the beach. The snake began to roll towards, and I lunged forward, clearing its snout as it twisted over the ground.

My father leapt off as well and landed a short distance away from me breathing heavily. That level exhaustion couldn't have just come from the fight. "Thanks," I said.

"Heard you got left behind. Got the fastest ship over here," he replied. I had more questions, but now wasn't the time to ask them. We had a fight to win. A very hard fight. The elder snake rolled away and took its time to recover while we both caught our breath. "If I didn't you would have been snake food."

"Ran into it unexpectedly." I knew my father wasn't criticizing me. He was just worried. An elder snake was no joke. It was rearing up in the distance from us on the beach. I noticed the battleship coming into view on the horizon.

"Well, our main goal is to survive and exhaust it," my father said. The snake was clearly focused on both of us and not looking at the ocean at all. We just had to hang on for several more minutes until the battleship got into range to bombard the shoreline.

"The best defense is offense," I joked, before racing forward. My father ran forward as well. We had to keep the elder snake focused on us while the battleship moved into position. This was an opportunity we couldn't afford to lose. Even though it was now two on one it wasn't going to be any easier. An elder snake was the hardest opponent I could face.

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