Themo was standing on another boulder, etching something else onto the top of the pillar as Malik approached. The stone wasn’t smooth by any means, but it was all held together.

“How did you do this, Themo?”

Sweat beading off his bald head, even on this pleasantly cool evening, he turned to me, “Ah, I just have to carve a ‘merge’ rune on all four sides of each rock. Then, when I place them where I want them to merge, I activate the runes. They basically thread together. It’s a good way to repair our homes or build surface structures. However, this is still new territory for me, so there may be some trial and error.”

“Excellent. What other —” Malik was going to question him on what else Themo could make when he saw shapes crawling along the mountain ridge. He activated his Nightvision to get a better look. Themo followed his gaze and squinted his eyes.

Race: Beetle

Class: Scout

Level: 8

Vitality: 8

Strength: 4

Dexterity: 15

Energy: 1

“Warn the others,” was all Malik said, then activated Camouflage and headed to grab the Beetle Stinger. The little scouts were hard to spot for anyone without Nightvision, but Malik kept close watch as they tried to skirt his valley. A quick count showed that there were six of them. They all had Dexterity just above his, but he outmatched them in Strength.

With that knowledge, he changed his mind about the Beetle Stinger and angled his flightpath toward the Scouts. His hands and Rake would likely be more effective in overpowering them.

Although they were higher level, these beetles were much smaller and narrower than even the Level 3 Soldiers. Their mandibles were proportionately shorter as well, like daggers rather than scythes. Malik angled himself to flank them and lower his altitude a bit.

The Beetle Scouts scuttled along, but Malik closed in on them, tucked his wings, and activated Gargoyle’s Descent. He plummeted about fifteen feet, swung his legs forward, and crushed the unassuming Beetle Scout that brought up the rear. The impact was jarring on Malik’s legs and caused a jolt of pain, but the 30% reduction was enough to keep any bones from breaking.

The remaining five scattered in what appeared to be a practiced formation. Malik’s breath caught as the shells on their backs flared out and began to hum. The Scouts lifted into the air, moving in ways that Malik could only dream of. The one in front of him buzzed in, luring Malik into swiping at it. The Scout deftly dodged, moving backward flawlessly with its strange wings.

Another had managed to buzz behind Malik and darted in to bite his wing. With a lucky step backward, he knocked it off course. Feeling the light impact, he whirled around activating Rake. The damage boost he received from Gargoyle’s Descent shredded a beetle in his hand’s path into ribbons, and chunks of its innards glooped to the ground.

The first beetle took its chance to zip in and slice the back of Malik’s head, causing him to whirl around once more. Its short mandibles proved to be too small to grip onto his skull. Malik swiped at them, but they were too quick. Each time, one of the scouts would snip its mandibles at him from another angle. Malik realized he would need to anticipate their feints and preemptively lash out in a dizzying dance.

His first attempt was a success as he caught one in his claws, closing his fist with a crunch. His bloodlust had taken over by this point. Bringing the Scout to his mouth, he bit down and gulped a chunk of it. If the three surviving Scouts felt fear at the display, they didn’t show it. Instead, they attacked simultaneously from three different angles.

Dropping the dead Scout, he grabbed the one he was facing as it flew in at him. Catching it with both hands before it reached him, he ripped it in half. Malik felt the surge from a Level Up. Unfortunately, there was no time to celebrate as the last two Scouts sank their mandibles in his arms, one at each side, and latched on. The pain shocked his body. Rather than trying to rip them out, he dropped to the ground and rolled, trying to crush them. It was somewhat effective as he felt them release their grips. Before he could get ahold of either of them, they took flight once more and hummed away out of reach.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The last two scouts, slightly wounded, left Malik on the mountain top bleeding and flew off to their nest.

During Malik’s bloodlust, he hadn’t heard the commotion below. A large group of Beetle Soldiers had rushed his settlement. Had the beetles set a trap? It seemed unlikely, but not impossible.

However, he saw the dwarves clustered together wielding makeshift tools, rallying behind Naveck and his pickaxe. Malik noted that the dwarves had managed to already kill two of them. Suddenly his heart began to race. Where was Aisha? Focusing on the door of the Incubation Chamber, he noticed that it was cracked open. It was hard to tell, but he thought he could make out a hand, pointing at Naveck. He smirked as he saw a little blue ball of magic streak through the air and smack into Naveck.

Malik was still bleeding, growing weaker. He had lost too much blood in the last 24 hours. There was only one thing he knew that may help, so he dumped all five points into Vitality. He noticed that he also upgraded Rake and Stone Skin to Level 2, giving another 5% boost to each.

Putting so many points in Vitality made his chest beat like a war drum. His heart felt like it was injected with all of the blood he had lost for the day and shoved it through his veins. Coupled with his Stone Skin, the wounds were clogging shut, slowing the flow of blood to a trickle.

This time, he chose to get the Beetle Stinger and hoped that the dwarves could hold out. It took less than a minute to grab his weapon but he could already see a dwarf lying still on the ground. The beetles had formed a semicircle around the clustered dwarves.

Malik pumped his wings and leaned forward, hoping that they wouldn’t give out on him. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before he was close enough to begin his dive. Choosing one of the beetles in the middle of their formation, he fell from the sky headfirst, flaring his wings out before impact. He was just close enough to stab the Stinger through the beetle’s back. It pierced the shell with no resistance. The strike was rapid, as he had to quickly poke it in and remove it so he didn’t get pulled down from the momentum.

Hopefully, with a few more strikes like this, the beetle formation would be broken, giving the dwarves some breathing room.

After several more passes, he noticed that Naveck had become a dwarf possessed. He buried his pickaxe into the backs and heads of the Soldiers with renewed vigor, shattering their formation. Malik bared his teeth in a smile at seeing the non-combatant become a warrior before his very eyes.

The last two Soldiers knew they were defeated and attempted to flee like their Scout brethren. Malik was about to hunt them down, but the dwarves chased after them, yelling in a fury. All of their frustration over the last few days had bubbled over to this moment, so Malik let them have it.

Instead, he descended into a walking stride on the ground, making his way to the Incubation Chamber to check on Aisha. On his way, he checked his stats to take his mind off of the pain.

Name

Malik

Race

Gargoyle

Class

Founder

Level:

6

Vitality:

12

Strength:

7

Dexterity:

14

Energy:

3

Skills:

Camouflage II (Active):

15% chance to remain undetected.

Traits:

First Child - As the first of your kind, you have been granted building plans for a Level 1 Incubation Chamber

Racial Skills:

Stone Skin II:

55% faster skin regeneration

10% piercing damage resistance

Rake II:

10% piercing damage with claws

Nightvision:

75% increased visibility in low light

Gargoyle's Descent

Absorb 30% impact damage from aerial dive. Release damage on target with next attack

Class Skills:

Founder's Bloodline

Transfer knowledge and strength to hatchlings through blood sacrifice of self. Effects determined by amount and freshness of blood.