Chương 26: Return the Favor

A tiny white light flew from the top of Saint's summit, streaking eastwards through the sky. Another crack of lightning, and the outline of Shasmara became visible again. Like a spider with far too many limbs, it loomed at least ten stories high, peeking over the outer wall to the east. Fish-like heads extended from its torso like feelers, every thing dead and decaying in the city no doubt crawling towards it's towering form. The sight burned his mind, clawing at the walls of its bounds.

Then the light vanished, and the grey of the storm swallowed it all.

"Ugh" Wretch let out, falling to his knees and clutching his eyes. Visions of crushing depths and desecrated flesh flashing before his eyes. Something urged him to rip them out. Astrid was mumbling, hands clasped by her chest. She was praying.

"Don't look at it!" Edmund shouted over the storm. Elenya pulled Wretch to his feet.

"Get yourself together!" Wretch bit his tongue and forced his focus to the sensation. With a few quick breaths, he opened his eyes. From the east came a loud, choking gurgle, like an old smoker trying to breathe through a blocked throat. A whistling sound grew louder.

"What's that noise?" Elenya asked. A dozen boulder sized blobs became visible through the haze, catapulting over the city.

"Brace!" Edmund shouted, as one projectile arced towards them. Astrid and Elenya ducked toward the pillar. Wretch looked up, still disoriented, until Elenya grabbed him by the collar and yanked him to cover. The projectile whizzed over their head. One chunk of mass slammed the top of the pedestal to pieces, continuing over through the air to crash down on the houses at the edge of the square. The earth quaked under their feet as the projectile decimated the house next to the telegram station.

Rubble rained as they took shelter under Edmunds raised shield. It became quiet once more. Wretch struggled to find his balance. He sniffed in the air. He shouldn't have, putrid and so thick he felt as if he'd swallowed something rotten. He was already shook from the sight of the horror, this proved too much. He gagged, vomiting on the ground.

"Is everyone good?" Edmund said through the wind.

"Bloody hell, that thing stinks." Wretch let out with a spit, pinching his nose.

"Don't look to the east. I almost lost it just seeing its silhouette."

"Thankfully! It's a worse shot than our scout." Elenya said, wiping water from her brow. Wretch coughed and turned to her, but paused. Something besides the stench brushed against his senses. Slowly, his head turned towards the hole left in the building. Beneath the rain, a faint, slithering noise.

"Wretchy are you okay?" Astrid asked. He didn't look away.

"It's moving." The other watched him in silence for just a moment.

"It wasn't just a projectile…" Astrid mumbled.

"Form up, we face it together!" Edmund said through gritted teeth, stepping in front while drawing his sword with a screech. Panicked screams came from the half standing building, and Edmund banged his sword and shield in answer. From the collapsing roof, something flew towards them. It splattered on the ground, rolling to a stop at their feet. It was the twitching lower half of a human. The bells chimed for curfew.

The loud chorus of tolling fighting against a furious barrage of thunder and a piercing shriek from the east that produced an unnatural shiver in each of them. Gurgling gasps came from the house as spidery legs grabbed hold on the roof. Something climbed into the storm. Another flash of lightning, and they saw it. The size of a cart, dozens of crustacean legs, some of which were broken, supported its thick, shelled body. From it, sprouted two giant eel-like necks. Slick and wet, each ended in a maw of sharp teeth.

A lone crab claw hoisted up a human arm. To the sound of bells and lightning, the rotten, crablike monster moved the human arm towards its shell. The limb spasmed to life, fusing into the horror.

"Grab its attention," Edmund ordered in a heavy tone. Wretch flicked his Blinking Dagger to Elenya. She caught it without breaking her gaze. Her eyes lit as she hurtled the blade through the rain. It whistled through the air, burying itself into one exposed eel-neck. The horror moved, a gurgling produced from its many maws. It crawled sideways down the roof, collapsing it in the process.

Legs covered in exoskeleton lifted it upwards and a lonely claw clicked impatiently as it stretched its length to at least three meters tall, towering over them in the rain with fiery eyes. A name entered Wretch's mind. Blavssish, Corpse Child. Somewhere in the east, lights flashed, followed by tremors, shrieks and crackles. The Saint and the beast had begun their battle, he wanted to look, to just catch a glimpse of what the summit of the Blessed looked like, how far he still had to climb.

"Surround it. Astrid behind me, you two flank it. Go!" Edmund shouted. Without hesitation, Elenya dashed to the right, Wretch to the left. The Blinking Blade burned back into his hand, and he tightened his clutch around it. Refilling it with a fraction of his flame. The Corpse Child skittered forward. Bursting towards Edmund on miss-matched legs that splashed water from the cobblestone. Its massive claw slammed downwards. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Edmund raised his shield without blinking. The moment before he'd be crushed to death, his eyes lit with flame. With a sudden crack, a shockwave exploded from his shield, shaking the falling water drops and sending the claw backwards. The creature staggered, but only for a moment. The eel heads merged with the crabs' shells coiled like ribbons in the wind, snapping towards him with razor filled maws. He had its attention.

"Now!" Edmund said as he struggled to guard against the onslaught. Elenya charged through the haze, clad in metal and with red shades dancing on her skin. She swung her halberd with fiery pupils and brutal grace, the shell cracked with a crunch. Wretch skulked from the other side, dagger in hand and the dark claw flexing. He grabbed on to one leg to swing himself onto its crab-like shell. Edmund threw himself backwards, avoiding the pincher while Elenya hacked at the creature's flank.

One head coiled around, its murky eyes locked on to Wretch standing on the creature's back. Its jaw opened wide in a gasp, an outstretched and twitching human arm melded into the neck. It shot forward. He leapt, flipping over the head, the world slowed for an instant. He contorted around, sinking both his sharp claws and dagger into the slippery flesh. Letting the momentum of his fall continue the cut. He expected a reaction, but the Corpse child didn't flinch, nor scream.

"Ratty!" A call came. In the corner of his eye, something shot towards him. Damn it, was all he had time to think. Wham. The claw struck him like a falling elevator. The world spun, and he felt the impact of the ground. Everything became dark. A moment later, he realized his eyes were closed. He groaned and opened them to find that he lay on his back. The rain peppering his face from the thundering sky above. A sharp pain came from his human arm and he sat up, fighting against a growing nausea.

His arm was twisted at an unnatural angle. If it hadn't been for the strength of his stolen bones, he'd been reduced to a puddle. Ahead, a blurry Corpse Child fought with Edmund and Elenya. Astrid was running towards him. Her mouth moved, but he only heard a high pitched ringing. Elenya told you to not jump around, fool. He thought with a sluggish mind. The sounds grew clearer, rain, shouts and steel against shell.

"Stay still! I will heal you," Astrid said, coming to a stop by his side.

"Save it," he slurred, letting all of his focus and flame go towards the broken arm, contused organs and spinning head. For a few breaths, the pain became worse. Snap. His strengthened bones hadn't more than cracked, likely saved his life, but his tendons had been reduced to ribbons. The fog in his head cleared. He exhaled a trembling breath and struggled to his feet with Astrid's help. The Blinking blade, nowhere to be found.

"Let the captain and Elenya handle it," Astrid said. He looked at the two Hunters and the beast. It was an even fight at best.

"No," he said with a forced smile.

"I am going to gut the bastard." He broke into a sprint towards the fray. Edmund still held the creature's attention while Elenya unleashed a flurry of strikes at a twisting eel-head. Wretch held out his hand as the Blinking blade burned into his palm. He ran towards the nearest leg. If he couldn't sever the heads, he'd stop its movement. Pushing his speed to the maximum, he skid over the square. He slammed into the creature. Sinking the blade's full length into a slit between two carapace plates.

The claw whipped towards him. No time to retrieve the blade. He dove under the creature, willing the blade back as he rolled under its belly. Slashing at another exposed joint with the Blessed weapon not even fully materialized in his hand. The Corpse Child staggered. Wretch dashed away from the creature but he wasn't fast enough. An eel's head snapped towards him. He dodged low, plunging the blade upwards into flesh. From the side, the claw swiped towards him.

Edmund's shield came into view, a shockwave rippling from its surface. The claw shot of course and Elenya's halberd cleaved deep, severing the eel's neck and sending the gasping head spiraling through the air. They didn't have time to speak, yet the hunters fought in unison. Edmund blocked, Elenya struck hard while Wretch darted through openings, cutting shallow and fast. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Astrid running through the rain towards their back-line.

She sloshed through the water, closing in on the severed head. His eyes grew wide. The head, leaking gore, twitched. He roared at the top of his lungs.

"Astrid! STAY AWAY!" The slippery maw jolted to life. It was too late. It flopped towards her like a fish out of water, launching itself towards her. She looked up in shock, raising her weapon with a grip not fit for a hunter. The toothy maw crunched down on her chest and stomach, her eyes shooting wide. Her scream cut through the rain. Wretch dodged a pointed leg and broke into a sprint. He slid over the wet cobblestone, running towards her as rain blurred his vision.

The jaw had deformed her breastplate, and blood was pooling under her. He was closing in, but the maw thrashed. Her scream turned into a gurgle. It sent a chill through his bones. With a cry, he slammed the Blinking Blade into the head without coming to a stop. All three figures tumbling to the ground. The maw struggled back and forth as Wretch grappled with its slippery form, forcing the blade deeper into its jaw. Pulling all the strength his changed body could offer.

Footsteps pounded behind him, but he didn't turn to look. With a snap, the blade severed the tendons of the jaw, and Astrid gasped for air. A shadow appeared above. Edmund stood with both hands holding the shield, the dark hue of his pupils turning into fire. He raised the shield higher, its weight increasing as he fed flame to his Blessed power. Then, he brought it down like a guillotine. The thick skull split like a rotten egg, spraying blood and fragments of bone.

Wretch pulled Astrid away from the massacred head. Leaving a trail of red behind them as the color spread in the trickling rain.

"Astrid!" He said with trembling hands stained by blood. Edmund removed his coat and unclipped his breastplate, a soaked, white shirt underneath.

"Stay calm, kid. Hold her still," the captain said. His voice was clear, but his jaw clenched.

"I'll take her wounds." Together, they ripped off her ruined armor. Her chest was a mess of cuts and punctures, exposing lungs and organs of the stomach. She was deathly pale, and becoming more so by the second. She struggled in his grasp, clutching at him with shaking, bloodied fingers. Her breath wheezed and gurgled.

"She is losing consciousness." Wretch said with a dry throat.

"Just make sure she returns the favor," Edmunds said, as his eyes took on a fiery hue.