Clover raised an eyebrow. “Is it better than trying to get yourself blown up to test the explosion radius?”

Heat flushed my cheeks. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

A cheery smile curled her lips. “Nope!”

I shook my head, refocusing on the scorpion that was almost fully recovered. “Its stinger got stuck in the wall earlier. If we lure it into striking the stone hard enough to get wedged again, we can slice off its tail with minimal risk.”

Clover smiled approvingly. “See? Much better plan. I like it, let’s do that.”

I snorted and faced the scorpion, setting aside thoughts of Clover's teasing. The beast lunged forward, its stinger glowing anew, though not as brightly as before. It didn’t wait this time, its massive frame bearing down on me.

The stinger tensed and sprung, aimed directly at me. I dodged sideways just as it struck, the heat slicing through my armor like butter. The tip embedded into the wall where my head had been, and the scorpion jerked, unable to move.

Triumph surged through me. I raised my sword, Clover mirroring me from the corner of my gaze. Before the scorpion could react, we brought our weapons down. Its pained shriek echoed off the walls as its tail fell to the floor, green blood pouring out in waves.

It staggered back, the veins along its body pulsing ominously with the crystals following suit. Alarm ripped through me. We didn’t have enough time to get out of range!

In a desperate attempt to save us, I kicked the scorpion with all my strength. It flew across the room, colliding with the wall. The explosion went off the second it hit, fire billowing out in a wide dome.

Clover heaved a shaky sigh. “That was too close.”

I nodded, already moving towards the scorpion. “It was, but it’s not over yet. Once the fire dies down, it’ll be temporarily stunned. I’ll strike then…” I paused, considering for a moment before shooting her a smile. “If it explodes after I kill it and I get injured, does that fall under your ‘won’t heal stupid’ rule?”

She barked a laugh and shook her head. “Considering we have no damaging ranged options, you get a pass this time. One of us has to be close to deal the final blow, and I can heal you afterward.” She flourished a hand toward the scorpion as the last of the fire disappeared around it. “After you, good sir.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

I didn’t need to be told twice. Not giving the scorpion a chance to react, I plunged my sword into its head, cleaving through the shell until it was split all the way back to where the tail used to be. It writhed, more green blood coating the floor and my sword. I waited for the telling glow, but after a tense moment of silence, the scorpion slumped and the orange glow to its veins disappeared.

When no explosion followed, I finally relaxed. “Well, that was…bracing.” Turning back to Clover, I gave her a thumbs up and a smile. “While my back would say that could have gone better, I’m just glad we both made it out relatively unscathed.”

She raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Your back was probably a mess of burns and blisters before I healed it. Considering my healing isn’t as effective through armor, it probably still is. And you call that unscathed?”

I shrugged and immediately regretted it as pain shot through me. “I said ‘relatively’ unscathed. Besides, some blisters are a cheap price to pay, all things considered. If it had hit me with that stinger, they would have looked like scrapes in comparison.”

She tipped her head in agreement. “True. Now that we’re not fighting an entirely too fucking big scorpion that explodes though, I’m free to heal you properly.” She pointed a finger at my chest and ordered, “Strip.”

Despite the lingering pain in my back, interest stirred southward. I smothered it with practiced ease and raised a brow. “Demanding, aren’t you?” I started undoing the clasps on my armor, letting the plate slide to the floor with a soft thump.

Clover pressed a hand lightly to my back, careful of the tender skin as she muttered a healing spell. When the last of the pain faded, she nodded and responded to my previous tease, her usual grin in place.

“You haven’t seen anything yet, Darling.”

She patted my back and turned to the barricaded door, the light atmosphere evaporating in a heartbeat. “We should check for survivors. I don’t think that wall is new, but we can’t risk leaving someone behind.”

I nodded, eyeing the stone barricade with a frown. “I agree, but how do we break this? It held up against the scorpion, so it won’t be easy.” Glancing back to the now-dead scorpion, realization dawned and confusion followed. “Wait, that thing was too big to get through the door. The scorch marks on the stone wall were definitely from one of those though…”

Clover hummed, examining the wall. “It could have been another scorpion, but if my guess is right, the big one ate it…and potentially anything else on this level. It was starving, remember?”

I hadn’t paid much attention to its status at the time, still reeling from its resistance to magic, but that made sense. Giving the scorpion one last look, I faced the wall and grimaced.

“I hope it ate all the others of its kind because I never want to deal with this again.”

An exploding scorpion that could stockpile power into its stinger wasn’t what I expected when leaving Dawncrest. If the spirits were at all kind, I wouldn’t have to deal with one ever again.