Once more, Samael found himself flying above the trees. He kept away from striking distance in case there was a Golden Charger lurking in the trees instead of on the ground.

His gaze scanned the ground and the nearby trees. Was this the right area, or should he move on? His gaze was as sharp as any predator, despite his small size. If there was something to be found, he should find it.

So long as he didn't completely fumble and miss his prey.

Samael could not see a thing in this area. Assuming it a dead end, he moved on to the next part of the forest that had a habitat seeming suitable for a Golden Charger.

He still did not use his magic. While his magic could detect life, it could not tell him if a lesser held a stone. Instead, he had to rely on vision for that.

It was a difficult task he had set for himself, but he was determined. Golden Chargers could be rare creatures, and they were extraordinarily dangerous.

Yet, he continued his hunt regardless, gaze scanning and scanning this new area.

He almost missed it, slithering on the ground as it was. It moved beneath some foliage, body peeking out from time to time. He had only managed to see it by the glimpses of golden. On the top of its head, it had a visible stone. He was not quite sure what the stone was, only that it was pink. It did look like topaz, actually, but he was not aware it had a pink variant.

But that was not the point. The point was that he had now found his prey. He lowered his position, far from being in striking range still, but low enough, he thought.

Then his wings shook, the paralyzing powder intended to fall on the Golden Charger. It would not be enough to paralyze completely at first, that would take more powder and some time, but it would be enough to start to slow his prey's reaction time. If it hit.

He must have managed to shake even more powder than he had hoped, because on contact it began to work well, better than he had even dared dream of.

The Golden Charger had been slowed very much so. It tried to look around, movements foggy and slow, but it did not look up.

It barely could look around, but it was still too dangerous to get close to at the moment. His wings shook again, even more of the powder trying to fall onto the already weakened lesser.

The Golden Charger moved just enough that his next aim of the paralytic powder from up high missed. It did look up this time, but the motion was delayed and getting more delayed by the moment. Samael knew his toxin was very effective.

It gave a valiant attempt to strike up at him, but he was too high, and its muscles barely permitted the action. It fell weakly back to the ground.

He shook his wings, though he was getting low on his paralysis powder that was stored on them. If this continued, he would need to get close, use his teeth or claws.

It missed, this time due to the wind shifting the powder off course. Some even hit Samael, but he was immune to his own toxins, thankfully. But he was not immune to Charger venom, so he eyed the weak charger warily.

The Charger had accidentally flopped onto its side while trying to use its weakened muscles. But snakes were mostly muscle, and so it been affected rather strongly by the first hit of powder.

Did Samael dare to try dart down briefly and scratch at its soft stomach? He had no choice, he decided. He had started this and so he would work towards the ending, whatever the tale turned out to be.

He dived down and got its stomach with his sharp claws, and then he darted away. His own gemstone heart was beating fast. Adrenaline, no doubt.

All to do now was wait. The Golden Charger had been very affected by the first hit of toxins, and now it had been scratched with his ruthlessly sharp claws on a soft spot. The effect had been amplified.

So wait he did. Hesitantly he began to float closer and closer, watching to see its response. Surely, if it could strike now it would.

If it did not strike, greatly weakened as he was, he would go for the kill, this time with his teeth. Though his teeth contained his toxin as well, it was his goal to kill the lesser with mercy rather than draw out its suffering.

His fierce, dangerous teeth were lethal despite his small size.

Samael stared in awe at the dead charger for a moment. But wary of larger predators approaching while he was on the ground, Samael clawed out the pink topaz from the formerly quite dangerous snake's body.

For now, he had succeeded. Only magic would tell if the giving of life would succeed. If not, he might find himself once again hunting Golden Chargers. He hoped it took.

It was time to leave.

[Exit]