The Sand Murk Queen hissed once more and all the Sand Murks started chittering. I didn’t know when they had stopped, but as they started, I could feel the pressure on my head increase. Although, it wasn’t as strong as before and I wondered if it was because of the fear from the Crocolator, or if the Sand Murks could direct their attack. It could have been both because the croc dipped its head and took a step back as if in pain. As it took a step back, I realized what a dangerous position I was in and probably how close I had been to getting my head crushed when it was underwater.

The queen attacked the croc and I used the distraction to get out of the way as fast as I could. I half scrambled and half swam to the side so I wasn’t inadvertently struck by the croc. I quickly realized I didn’t get far enough away though. The queen landed a couple good scratches and bites to the croc, but the croc just spun around and flung the queen away, towards the shore and the other Sand Murks. I had to drop flat, submerging myself underwater as it spun and the croc’s tale came at me like a flying tree trunk.

With frightening speed, the Crocolator leaped forward at the queen while she was scrambling to right herself. At the last moment, the queen dodged underneath the croc’s closing jaws. She darted forward, slashing at one of the croc’s exposed legs and not even waiting to see if she did any damage, she did a jumping pivot up to the croc’s head and neck. The queen was perched on the Crocolator perpendicular and she started to frantically bite and scratch.

The croc made another clicking growl while trying to shake the queen loose, but the queen’s claws dug in deeper while the croc thrashed. Suddenly, the swarm of Sand Murks rushed to the water. This didn’t go unnoticed by the croc and he simultaneously threw his head back and flung his body up in an imitation of standing. The croc’s first action flung the queen off his head, sending her sailing into the air. His second action forced the Sand Murks deeper into the water and into range as its massive body came crashing back down. Since all this transpired in just a few seconds, I had barely picked myself up from my tail dodge and I was watching in stunned silence.

In another series of events, just as the Crocolator came crashing down with the force of a house killing a witch, the Sand Murk Queen crashed down next to me. The force of the croc landing in the muddy lake floor and shallow water caused the ground to vibrate enough that I had trouble standing, and a small wave of muddy water and Sand Murks hit me in the chest. The combination of these two actions caused me to lose my footing and I was forced to take a knee. There must have been enough water to break the fall of the queen, because she immediately jumped up, first on all fours, then to just her hind legs. I could tell she was hurt and stunned though, her left arm hung limp and she didn’t seem to notice anything as her head was down and she stood there swaying.

I knew and opening when I saw one though and I moved forward to attack. I used all my strength in a massive swing with the intention of cutting the queen’s head from her shoulders. After seeing her fight the croc, there was no way I could handle her, especially not with an army of Sand Murks on her side. So, while the croc handled her minions - he was currently swiping at them with his massive tail - I was swiping at the queen with my machete. My movement and attack must have alerted her to the danger and she was slightly able to shake off her stun. My attack was full of power and purpose but was lacking in precision and coupled with the queen’s attempt to dodge, I was unable to cleave her head off her body.

I did however, cut her arm off. She squealed like a pig as her arm fell to the water and blood poured from the wound. Now, it would only be a matter of time before she was dead, but apparently, she was going to take that time to try to kill me. She raked the claws of her good hand toward my face. Normally, I wouldn’t have been able to dodge it, the speed she possessed was from her wiry muscles and honed from being an untamed beast was too great. But, as she lifted her head with killing intent in her eyes and her body shifted to attack, a loud [Ding] sounded in my head and I suddenly knew that she was going to attack, and where. I dodged my head to the left and brought up my machete to counter the blow. Her severed hand fell on my shoulder and more blood poured onto me.

Missing an arm and a hand, the queen had nothing to catch her fall as she splashed down in the water. I raised my machete and stabbed down into the monster. I felt the machete pierce its hide and stop at the bone, but I leaned into it, forced it to slide deeper into the creature, eventually impaling it. After a moment, it stopped trying to move and I knew it was dead.

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Power burst from my chest and I almost thought I was having a heart attack. Warmth flowed through my body and I felt like I just downed twenty Pixie-stix’ and needed to run in circles to burn off excess energy. I looked up at the fight still raging around me. It was still a bloody and fierce battle, but it was clear something had changed. With the numbers of Sand Murks still in the area and their coordinated attack, I didn’t think that even the Crocolator was strong enough to prevail, and even though it still appeared to be a losing battle, the demeanor of the Sand Murks changed. Many of the creatures that had been on the edge of the battlespace seemed to be drifting away, then coming back, confused on what to do. I even saw many of them actually running back toward the forest. This must have been from me defeating the Sand Murk Queen. Since the queen controlled them, they were now without purpose other than survival, although many were still fighting for that survival.

Based off their current numbers, which was still too many to count, I felt they still had a good chance of that. The croc was still fighting them with all its energy, but it was clearly slower, and its numerous wounds from the horde were visible all over its body. As I watched the giant croc fight the swarm of Sand Murks, suddenly the croc’s movements became clear to me and I could tell what it was going to do, just like with the queen. I took a deep breath and made up my mind. This is really going to suck ass.

I rushed to the scene of the battle, which in reality was only about twenty meters away, and that was the epicenter. I encountered the edge of the Sand Murk swarm much sooner than that. The creatures were still thick in number and the Crocolator was constantly throwing them off as it spun and rolled around on the ground. It also flung a large number of them with its powerful jaws, and most of the Sand Murks came out of that experience a mangled mass of flesh and bones. Note to self – Don’t get bit.

The outer Sand Murks didn’t even notice me as I started to cut a swath of death through them. This was because of the giant reptilian beast they were fighting, but also because I was mostly attacking them from behind. These bastards deserved it too; they did it to me. I don’t know how many I killed as I hacked through them like an adventurer in a jungle, but they did start to notice I was there. I made it a good ten meters into the swarm and I was surprisingly unfatigued from the constant swinging. Wading into the mass of Sand Murks was more work than fighting them earlier had been, but I had much more energy. Whatever happened to me after I killed the Sand Murk Queen really helped and I was guessing that it was some type of level up.

I had been worried about getting involved in the fight, but once the Sand Murks noticed my presence and started to attack, I found that I could easily read their movements and instinctively knew where they were going to attack. In addition, I could still read the Crocolator’s movements and I knew where it was going to attack. All this information made my task seem almost easy. Still though, I was taking some damage, there were just so many damn Sand Murks, there was no way not to. I would probably have an easier time just killing the croc by itself than trying to take on the Sand Murks alone. But, for the time being, I decided to work with the croc and kill as many Sand Murks as possible, then finish off the croc when it was at its weakest. Now that I had a plan, I had to find out when and how it would fail.

The lake looked like cherry cola as gallons of blood mixed with the muddy water. As the bloody water continued to slosh around from all the movement, bubbles formed and washed onshore. I noticed this second handedly as I became a reaper of Sand Murk souls. The more I fought; dodging, blocking and attacking, the more their movements became clear to me. I was getting scratched and bit less with each passing kill. My strikes and movements became cleaner and I used less energy as I learned the best methods for countering their attack. Just as I was getting tired and fatigue started to slow me down, I felt another surge of warmth and energy. I continued my massacre, but the numbers were dwindling, and my movements and the Crocolator’s were slowly bringing us to a confrontation. I decided to strike first and try to maim it as I did the queen so it would die quicker. After a minute, I noticed my moment to strike. There was a clear path to the Crocolator and it was turned away from me trying to dislodge a handful of Sand Murks lodged onto its head and viciously attacking its face.

I struck down vertically as the Sand Murk I was facing leaped at me. My machete cleaved its skull in two and it crashed into the shallow water. Without pause, I turned and ran to the croc as it was still turned away from me, then a thought struck me and I smiled, unable to resist.

“Secret Ninja Technique,” I yelled. “Thousand years of pain!”