“What?” I found myself saying aloud in response to Gareth commanding us scout supports to essentially hide and watch the others have all the fun fighting against the landwalker. I still couldn’t believe they wouldn’t want our help at all.
Gareth glared at me, his mustache twitching comically as his upper lip curled in frustration.
“Come on,” Rory insisted, pulling me and his bags with him as he retreated back behind a thick line of trees.
Sighing, I allowed Rory to drag me toward where the other scout supports had already hidden, then I tucked my bag into a nook between a trio of twisting tree roots before ducking behind a tree trunk myself.
The clicking coming from what I could only guess was the approaching landwalker grew so loud that I had to plug my ears. The six main scouts whispered with one another and adjusted their positioning, preparing for battle.
The piles of sand that crested just a few feet in front of the scouts continued to spill around their feet, and then I saw it….
The landwalker was massive, at least six times the size of Gareth, and it was also the strangest creature I had ever seen. Its large, beady eyes were black all around and rested within the sockets of long, stick-like protrusions coming from what I could only guess was the top of its head. A red shell covered the entire length of the landwalker’s body, except for its underbelly, which, from where I stood, looked softer and more vulnerable.
Giant claws swung on either side of the monster’s oblong body. They pinched toward the scouts who poised their weapons at it as the landwalker crept down the sand dunes on its six–no, 10 spindly legs. I noticed quickly that the snapping of the landwalker’s claws was the source of that loud, headache-inducing clicking sound.
And then the claws came down.
One gigantic shell-covered pincer slammed dangerously close to Marley (or Morgan, still didn’t know which twin was which), who expertly threw himself far away from the menacing claw attempting to snap right around his neck. Sand flew everywhere in a torrent of golden grains as the pincer impacted the ground, missing the twin completely. The creature’s other claw swung over in Harold’s direction, trying to lop off his head, but Harold was so short that he barely had to duck to avoid the strike.
The scouts charged, concurrently loosing a barrage of battle cries that seemed to shake the landwalker to its core. It shrunk back two steps, which provided the scouts ample opportunity to lay a few hits on the monster.
Gareth barrelled underneath the landwalker, right at its underbelly, and slashed through its white flesh with the broad blade of his sword. The landwalker howled an ear-splitting, inhuman scream and staggered underneath its own weight. It howled again as Leandra and the twins stuck spears and daggers through weak spots underneath its shell.
Harold and Killian sidled in next to one another and at a safe distance from the fight. They both began moving their hands in various patterns to cast spells. A plume of essence appeared above their heads. Knowing that their spells would need the streams in order to create maximum potency, I fought the instinct to draw the essence in for myself. It was difficult, though. The essence hoarded above and around the spellcasters in hundreds–maybe thousands. I didn’t know the main scouts’ Tiers, but they had to be much higher than my Tier 3. I couldn’t read the essence they used to cast their spells, either, meaning I couldn’t steal their spells and use them for myself. That only confirmed that they were higher than Tier 3 since I could only steal from those Tier 3 or below.
Wavy lines of gold shot from Harold’s palms and fell over the other scouts continuing to strike at the landwalker, his spell creating a golden outline around each of their bodies. I noticed that as soon as the yellow light from Harold attached to Leandra, the tip of her spear sunk deeper into the monster’s shell armor, creating a resounding crack.
The landwalker’s misshapen mouth peeled open for another scream. It flung a claw at Leandra’s legs, but she released her spear for a split second and jumped over the claw before it impacted. She regained hold of the shaft of her spear that still stuck out from the landwalker’s side as soon as she landed.
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A white glow, less noticeable than the thick, yellow threads Harold had cast, flowed out of Killian’s hands and swirled toward Gareth, who had a bleeding cut slashed across his forehead. But when Killian’s spell reached him, the cut seemed to sew itself closed and stop the bleeding.
The scouts and their teamwork were all amazing to watch. They knew what they were doing, and they worked excellently together. The other scout supports seemed just as awe-stricken as I did, especially Patricia, who crouched behind her tree with mouth agape and eyes glued to the scene before us.
Soon, the landwalker released a final pained cry and crumbled to the sandy floor, beady eyes staring blankly at the sky. A whoosh of essence flew over the carcass and slowly began spilling into each of the scouts as they passed. I hurriedly took in as much as I could–I wouldn’t waste the opportunity to harvest the essence. But stealing essence from the scouts’ spells as they had fought for their lives… Now, that was something I couldn’t justify doing. I’d done similar things in the past, but I hadn’t even been involved in this current fight like I had at other times. The main scouts needed the essence in that moment more than I had.
But the essence released from the monstrous landwalker after its death that I did take coursed through my veins and Soul, making me feel that pleasant warmth I’d grown very fond of. I definitely needed to try cultivating as soon as possible. After my most recent cultivation, I’d learned I was only one level away from Tier 4–surely I’d break through with all of this essence now.
After many congratulations and clapping of one another on their backs, the main scouts marched over to where we supports had set up to watch. Without so much as a word to any of us, they procured their respective bags we’d carried for them and began pulling out waterskins and bits of dried meat and fruit.
“Scout supports, begin harvesting parts from the landwalker,” Gareth said through a mouthful of jerky. “After that, we can head back home.”
Following Will and Rory’s lead, I took the bag I’d been assigned (after Leandra took out her snacks and water) and headed over to the towering carcass that we somehow had to cut into, through its shell and everything, to harvest whatever parts we could find. I didn’t even know where to begin. Where was its heart? Guts? Core? Were pieces of it edible–could we sell its meat for food?
Will and Rory wasted no time. They both pulled out short daggers and began hacking away at the top of the landwalker’s white stomach. Patricia and I shared a look and shrugged, sliding down to our rears and wiggling underneath the carcass to start doing the same, but I only had my spear with me, which would make the cutting and maneuvering much harder due to its length. A dagger or any sort of knife was yet another thing to add to my “I must buy this” list.
Will and Rory began piling chunks of flesh and meat to the side, and Patricia and I continued to copy them. I would wait to see if either went for the heart or the core. I wondered how big the core would be within such an enormous beast. I knew I shouldn’t take it for myself, though, no matter how much essence the core might have within. This wasn’t my kill, and I didn’t know how things worked here. Would the scouts try to sell the monster parts to merchants for credits? And would I get a cut of the profits? I really wanted to know how I’d get paid.
A glob of sticky monster juice fell over my eyes as I continued to peel at the landwalker’s stomach with the tip of my spear.
I groaned, dropping my weapon and wiping away at the thick substance. It was difficult with my gauntlets on. Just as I moved to take them off to better remove the landwalker juice from my eyes, a familiar clicking sound reached my ears.
I froze. And so did everyone else. The other scout supports held their breaths, and we all glanced at one another nervously.
Click, click, click….
I heard Gareth shush the main scouts, and we all listened in paralyzed silence.
With my breath still held and eyes still goopy from the smelly slime on my face, I slowly inched myself out from under the carcass to try to see where the sound was coming from.
Click, click, click….
The sound was loud–louder than when the now-dead landwalker had first presented itself, and something about this current clicking was… more. Like a chorus of clicking overlapping the others.
I poked my head around the dead landwalker and scanned everything in sight toward the sandy dunes to the north. My eyes widened, and a gasp escaped from my lips, along with a gasp that everyone else in our entire party released simultaneously.
Three landwalkers, all bigger than the first, towered above us on the short sandy mountain ahead, black eyes staring at their fallen comrade. They must have heard the now-dead landwalker’s cries and come to investigate.
I cursed, Patricia cursed, everyone cursed.
“What do we do now?” Patricia said quietly through gritted teeth.
Will and Rory remained motionless, and I didn’t dare turn my head to see what the scouts were doing in fear of the three landwalkers above catching my movement and deciding to attack me.
“The only thing to do is to fight,” I said decidedly. “All of us.”