Before he did anything else, Arheis took a private moment to review his Character panel while Zindar was otherwise occupied getting supplies. Menus in Apex weren’t especially abundant, and he’d chosen to hide a lot of system messages, but pulling everything to the forefront of his vision was still just a thought away.
As he concentrated on the panel, it appeared in his vision:
> Status:
Name: Arheis
Title: Queenslayer
Level: 4
Guild Rank: 6
Class: Guardian
Quests Completed: 9
Active Quests: 2
Deaths: 1
Currency: 12,400GC
The next page detailed his reputation, but Arheis moved straight to his Character sheet, just to make sure he hadn’t left any points unspent.
> Stat Sheet:
Health: 120
Stamina: 150
Mana: 110
Morale: 100
Strength: 8
Agility: 13
Constitution: 12
Endurance: 15
Charisma: 8
Intelligence: 11
Fortitude: 15
Bond: Amira Alvaro
The system hadn’t alerted him to any unspent skill or ability points. Upon reaching level 4, he’d dumped both of those points into Endurance to make it a solid 15. Strength and Charisma were lagging way behind now, but he hadn’t really found cause to need either beyond the human average.
Maybe later down the line, if Apex had a soft cap on skill gains. For now, he was happy with his choices. His build reflected his class and the stats he most needed to defend his companions. That was enough for him.
When it came to abilities, though, Arheis’ were wide and varied. He’d even unlocked a new one in the Guild Hall. Though he was certain he’d spent his ability points to rank up, he examined his spread anyway, taking stock of the tools he had at his disposal.
It’d been a while since he’d had a proper hunt, after all. He needed to be prepared.
> Unlocked Abilities:
Sneak
Precision Strike - Rank 1
Iron Guard
Strike
Tracking - Rank 1
Shield Bash - Rank 1
Cooking
Hunter’s Perception
Counter-Thrust
First Aid - Rank 1
Provoke - Rank 1
Preparation
Mediate
Rend
Javelin
Dauntless Guard - Rank 1
Supercharged Shield Bash
Leadership
Haggling
> Bond Abilities:
Guardian’s Sacrifice (Amira)
He’d tried to add a point to Guardian’s Sacrifice, but it was apparently tied to some other ranking system that would likely increase if and when his bond with Mira increased. In the end, he’d decided to put one point into Provoke—allowing him to hold a beast’s attention for longer after using the ability—and one point into Dauntless Guard, reducing the mana cost and cooldown on the ability that let him channel mana into his shield to fully block an otherwise unblockable attack.
At this point, the list of abilities was already unwieldy. In the old Apex games, he hadn’t thought much about it. Using abilities had become muscle memory; a series of button pushes and then motion-controlled actions. It was harder in this fully-immersive state, but the more he used them, the more they became second nature.
Which was exactly why he needed to get out there and hunt that Morditul.
Closing the Character panel, he waded into Lacerda’s bustling marketplace. This time of day, many of the villagers and even those passing through were shopping for food, supplies, and baubles. He scanned the colorful stalls until he saw the flash of silver fur, and moved to approach his friend.
“I don’t think that’s on the supply list,” he said, amusement playing on his features as Zindar exchanged some credits for a meat pie.
The Pruvari grinned sheepishly at him, displaying the hint of sharp teeth. “It should be. How can we be expected to fight a Morditul on an empty stomach?”
Zindar paid for two more pies, wrapping the steaming bundles in cloth to keep them warm. One he handed to Arheis, who tucked it away for now, despite the tantalizing smell of stewed meat and buttery crust. The other two he held onto, one of them presumably for Mira.
“Do you think Galen will come with us? Should I get one for him?”
That was a good question.
Arheis had seen neither hide nor hair of the elf in days. He’d considered asking the innkeeper at the Hackleback to check on him, but didn’t want to intrude. Galen’s research into the crystal they’d found—the one that had caused the Nepondus Queen to act strangely in the first place—was necessary. Arheis had the gut feeling it was the thread that bound all of this together.
“I doubt he’ll join us, but maybe just in case? You can always save it for later if he doesn’t.”
Zindar’s face lit up at the promise of more pies. The Pruvari hurriedly paid the credits and wrapped the fourth pie just as carefully as he’d wrapped the other three.
“Need me to get the other supplies?” Arheis asked diplomatically.
“Oh, I got them.” Zindar carefully tucked the pies away in his satchel, then pulled out two vials Arheis recognized as healing potions, a third vial with a viscous yellow liquid inside, a net, and a spiky thing that almost looked like a petrified sea anemone.
“What is that?” Arheis asked, uncertain about putting out his hand to receive it.
“It’s a shock-rock.” The Pruvari grinned at him like a kid on Christmas morning. At Arheis’ eyebrow-raise, he explained. “Actually, it’s a fossilized Petralsa, but everyone calls it a shock-rock. There’s still enough electrical charge that you can use it for a quick burst. You just have to strike it.”
Interesting. Arheis held out his gloved hand and took the thing, finding it to be much lighter than he expected. The vials and net were tucked into his belt, but the “shock-rock” he decided to wrap and place in his pack.
Better safe than writhing on the ground as electrical current arced through his body.
“Just for general use, or…?”
Zindar shook his head. “Morditul hunt in the water. My spirit can keep it on land by electrifying the surface of the lake, but I’d rather have a backup plan. They can be tough.”
Sound reasoning. Arheis nodded, then fished out 200GC, offering it to the Pruvari.
“This is way more than everything costs,” Zindar said.
But Arheis was firm, and didn’t relent until his companion took the offered credits. He’d gone through the trouble of braving the market. The least Arheis could do was pay a little extra.
“What’s the yellow liquid, anyway?” he asked as they headed away from the market and toward the healers’ encampment.
“Oh, it’s supposed to give you more energy.” He got that faraway look in his eyes that Arheis recognized was Zindar communing with his ‘spirit’—the Fulcorn tied to his device. “My spirit says it’s made from Morditul scrotum.”
Arheis made a face, his stomach instantly souring. Drinking liquefied scrotum really wasn’t his idea of a good time. And just thinking about the process to make it? He shuddered violently.
Zindar practically cackled, his tail swishing happily behind him. It took Arheis a moment to realize he’d been played.
“Ass,” he said, giving his friend a shove.
“What?” Zindar’s eyes practically glimmered with amusement. “That is exactly what he said.”
Before they could get into a discussion of whether it was Zindar or his fulcorn spirit in possession of a dodgy sense of humor, they arrived at the encampment. Mira—who’d had a hard time looking him in the eye earlier—focused her attention on the Pruvari.
“You look pleased with yourself. Find something to do?”
“And someone to torment with images of pureed Morditul scrotum,” Arheis muttered.
She wisely chose not to ask, and Zindar filled her in on the bounty. Arheis saw the trepidation that flickered across her brown eyes. The Guild wasn’t exactly her favorite organization, and in the past she’d rejected their credits just on principle.
This time she said, “well I suppose someone has to make sure you two come back alive.”
Arheis felt a fluttering sensation low in his belly when her gaze fell very pointedly on him. Strange, as he was the only one here who couldn’t die. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. The fact that she knew that and was worried about him anyway was touching.
Pushing that emotion down as something he could unpack later, Arheis jerked his chin toward the gates, and the three of them set off.
***
Zindar led, having mentioned the creature they were looking for would probably be found in a lake. While it was nice to have a walking map, Arheis would be glad for the day he could actually contribute to the navigation. That would probably also be the day all three of them were completely lost in the middle of a beast-infested wasteland, but still.
“What are we looking for?” he prompted as they trudged through the undergrowth. “In terms of tracks, I mean.”
“Long, parallel lines,” Mira said, motioning with her hands. “Like the kind a cart would make.”
“Spare teeth stuck in the mud, too,” Zindar added.
“Spare” teeth…? Arheis couldn’t help but think of the x-ray he’d seen once in some creepy article about how human adult teeth were always there, growing in the skull, waiting for the baby teeth to get out of the way.
He shuddered again. This was just going to be a day of grossing himself out, apparently.
As the jungle surrounding Lacerda gave way to what Arheis would have almost described as wetlands, though, he began to see the things his companions had mentioned.
“Are these Morditul tracks?”
He crouched near a series of deep gashes in the ground that were almost perfectly parallel. They’d left divets in the mud that still hadn’t filled in, despite the recent rain.
> Discovered: Morditul Tracks
Morditul do not move like normal quadrupeds when on land. Instead, they use their forelimbs to drag themselves forward, the razor edge of their under-plates often leaving deep gashes in the earth as they do so.
“Good eye,” Zindar said. “The marks from the feet have almost filled in.”
He’d barely noticed the faint impression, but made a sketch of it—and the gashes—in his journal. He could already see the difference in the quality of his drawings. Putting an ability point into Tracking had paid off in that regard, but the greater boon was in the information he’d been given. If Mordituls dragged themselves along the land, it was a fair bet that a.) they moved slower on land than in water, and b.) they had insanely powerful forelimbs.
The closer they came to the lake, the wetter the ground beneath their feet. Mud squelched as Arheis moved through it, and he began to doubt his guess about the Morditul’s movement speed. Mud was an absolute slog for him to get through, but the beast in question would probably have an easier time of it.
“Do either of you know anything else about this creature, other than the fact that they’re semi-aquatic and can apparently shed their teeth?” he asked his companions, suppressing another shudder. “I’ve never seen one before.”
Zindar’s ear twitched in a fidgety way, and Arheis was unsure if the Pruvari was just listening for sounds, or if he was actually nervous. “They like to drown their prey. Their jaws, legs, even tail are all designed for that.”
Arheis suddenly imagined a massive alligator using its death roll to bring a cow under the water. He’d seen one once. A live one, not just one of the dead, stuffed ones they had at museums or creepy roadside stands along the Florida interstate. The one he’d seen had only been about three feet from snout to tail, but it’d been enough to convince him to stay far away from that particular lake.
Now he was apparently going to hunt a creature that was bigger, stronger, and probably much more deadly. Joy.
“You’re letting him hunt a Morditul without knowing what it is?” Mira asked, stopping in a way that made the rest of their party halt, as well.
“I assumed he would!” Zindar said defensively. “They’re common enough in this area. Or the stories of them are, anyway.”
“I’m… not from this area,” Arheis said carefully. “It’s fine. Nothing we can’t handle, right?”
His optimism faded somewhat as he saw the look Zindar and Mira exchanged. It wasn’t quite pity—not on Mira’s end, at least—but it was close enough that Arheis began to wonder what exactly he was dealing with.
“Morditul are extremely aggressive,” Mira said, starting through the boggy brush again. “They fight their clutchmates hours after birth. The strongest one lives, while the others are torn apart.”
“Lovely.”
Not for the first time, Arheis found himself glad he didn’t have any siblings. Maybe he’d just torn them apart and didn’t remember it. That was probably what happened.
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They walked on, the ground beneath Arheis’ feet growing murkier and murkier. The vegetation changed, and instead of the large, glossy plants he’d come to associate with this area he was accosted by long, vine-like tangles that grew in and out of the muck.
Mud suctioned around his boot, very nearly pulling it off when he went to take a step. Even the trees seemed to sink down, the trunks becoming off-kilter as they rose up from the bog.
He might not have faced a Morditul before, but he already knew this was a terrible place to fight one.
“Not much further,” Zindar assured them—right as Arheis smacked another one of those massive mosquitoes.
The more they trudged, though, the more rank the air became. He thought it was the bog itself, but a generally awful smell slowly revealed itself as the oppressive stench of death when he glimpsed a mostly-eaten corpse half absorbed by the muck.
“Looks like a Nepondus,” Mira reasoned.
Arheis found slightly higher ground and examined the body as closely as he dared. The chest cavity was just gone, as though whatever had killed it had scooped out the insides the way one might scoop out a pumpkin.
He almost gagged, but something in him was forced to look. Whether it was that old car crash fixation humans seemed to have or some other instinct, Arheis’ gaze moved over the poor gutted creature… and found something odd.
Buried halfway in a rib bone were two large teeth.
> Discovered: Morditul Tooth
An excess of keratin allows Morditul to grow and lose hundreds of teeth in their lifetime. While the crushing power of their jaws is incredibly strong, each tooth is not socketed especially well. Tissue never rebuilds properly, and excessive force often causes new teeth to dislodge. The socket never stays empty for long, however, and the new tooth that grows in is sharper than the last.
Fantastic.
And judging from the size of each tooth—roughly half his pointer finger—the creature that shed it was huge.
This wasn’t going to end well. Arheis could feel it in his bones. Bones that were probably going to look a lot like that Nepondus’.
“It has to be in the lake,” Zindar said as he got a look at the mostly-eaten corpse.
And so they continued on, Arheis pulling his spear from his back and holding it in both hands, preparing to take the more offensive route if they were ambushed. Hunkering down behind his shield didn’t seem like an effective option given everything Zindar and Mira had told him.
The lake became visible through the hazy, almost mist-like atmosphere of the jungle, and his fingers curled even tighter around the haft. He used his Hunter’s Perception ability to search for any sign of the beast and found only another set of tracks leading directly into the lake.
“How do we—”
Zindar held up a hand to quiet him, using the other to reach into his pack. He pulled out one of the meat pies, then gave Mira a sheepish smile. “I have one of these for you, too. Just not this one. It was Galen’s, but since he’s not here…”
The Pruvari scooped out a handful, then hurled the pie like a Frisbee. It flew a good fifteen feet, losing some crust and filling along the way before it landed with a smack, dipping beneath the water, then buoying to the top thanks to the container it was in.
Arheis held his breath and gripped his spear as he waited. He expected a ripple. A few bubbles. Some indication that the creature was coming. But the water was still and silent… until it wasn’t.
Something burst through the surface of the lake, sending a spray of water flying to either side. Hundreds of teeth flashed in the midday sun, a long, wide jaw opening and then snapping shut to completely surround the pie.
The creature and the pie disappeared underwater, and aside from the initial ripples, the lake was eerily still again.
“I think I’ll pass,” Mira said, sounding a little ill.
“Oh, good. I can use yours as bait, too.”
Zindar pulled out the other pie, dumping what he’d scooped out onto the top of it. Arheis just watched as the creature once again burst through the water, grabbed the bits of food that had fallen from the throw, and disappeared.
“Get ready,” Mira said, stepping a good distance away from the water’s edge.
The Pruvari moved right to it, placing the pie down. Arheis was sure he was about to see his friend lose a hand. Or half his body. But Zindar’s bracer glowed with yellow energy and he jumped backwards with unmatched speed and agility—just a few scant seconds before the Morditul burst from the water a third time.
“Get its attention before it goes back underwater!” Zindar called, and already Arheis could smell the distinct odor of ozone as the Pruvari connected with his Fulcorn spirit.
Arheis didn’t have time to process what he was seeing. He had to act, and quickly.
“Why don’t you stop going for easy meals, you lazy asshole!”
Well. That was one way to use his Provoke ability.
He could feel the moment the creature’s attention turned toward him. It was a prickling sensation that had the hairs on his arms and neck standing on end, his stomach tying into knots.
If given the choice, he wasn’t sure he would have tangled with this beast. The Nepondus Queen had been massive and imposing, but this thing was just gluttonously large. Its body was bloated to the point where its rough, scaly hide looked like it was about to burst open. The forelimbs were as meaty and powerful as he’d thought, the feet built almost like shovels with a ridge of hard chitin that extended beneath the claws. The tail was thick, too, and proportionate to the huge body, the ridges that ran down the beast’s back continuing all the way down the tail, too.
But by far the most revolting part of the Morditul was its face. It was some strange cross between an alligator and a frog. The snout was long, but the underside of it ballooned out, the skin almost appearing like rubbery jowls. Its eyes were large and positioned near the top of its head rather than the sides, both eyeballs looking particularly wet and sunken into their sockets.
And the entirety of the beast was covered in a thick, translucent mucus—head to toe, with more of it seeming to flow as the creature opened its giant maw and showed off two rows of newly-grown teeth.
Because it had worked on the Nepondus Queen—and because why not—Arheis thrust the tip of his spear into the Morditul’s mouth.
“Don’t—”
Zindar’s warning came too late. The beast’s jaws closed with a sudden snap, forced down with such power that Arheis was sure the haft was snapped in two. It wasn’t, but the alternative didn’t seem much better. The Morditul thrashed its massive head to the side, yanking the spear out of Arheis’ hand.
> You have been disarmed!
No kidding.
The disgusting frog-gator spat his spear out in a shower of thick, sticky mucus—and a few teeth for good measure.
It swung its head to face him again, a deep, guttural growl vibrating its… throat? Chin? Arheis didn’t know, but he did know he only had seconds to get his shield back into position to block the blow.
Instead of fending off the snapping jaw, though, he was broadsided by the creature when it suddenly used its shovel-feet to pull its body around, bludgeoning him with its bulk.
> Morditul slams you for 10 points of damage. (29 deflected)
> You are afflicted with Sluggishness. Reaction speed slowed by 25%.
25%?! That was a massive penalty! And how had he even—
Arheis felt a thick, goopy substance coating his shield arm. The mucus. Of course. It was seeping through his armor and covering his skin almost like a quick-drying plaster.
How did something that powerful also have access to such a debilitating status effect?
“I can clear the sludge, but it’s going to take a moment,” Mira called, and out of the corner of his eye he saw her tamping a crossbow bolt into a mixture of herbs.
“I’ll distract it in the meantime. Get your spear back!”
Zindar pushed off of the swampy ground, gaining just enough height to leap over the Morditul. He landed with a squelch on the other side of it, lightning arcing from his bracer into the edge of one of his hand-blades. He lashed out in a flurry, the blade without the glow seeming to barely faze the beast while the lightning-infused metal caused it to whirl on him, its meaty tail swinging like a club.
Arheis put his shield on his back and moved to fetch his spear, every motion feeling like he was dragging his entire body through neck-deep sludge. Considering his spear was covered in the stuff, he didn’t know how good of an idea it was to pick it up, but what choice did he have?
Closing his fingers around it, he waited for another system message. It never came.
At least status effects don’t stack…
Right after the thought crossed his mind, he felt something smack against his arm, sending a bruising shock of pain through him. It was the same sensation as getting hit by a paintball, from what he remembered, and he glanced down to see a bright yellow substance spreading rapidly over his arm, eating through the mucus. Putting the spear in its path, he was rewarded by whatever it was clearing away the gobs of goo on his weapon, too.
> You are no longer afflicted with Sluggishness. Reaction speed returned to normal.
“I only have a limited amount of this one,” Mira said, “so try to avoid getting slimed.”
Easier said than done, though Zindar was managing it like a pro. He vaulted over the tail swipe and dodged away from the body slam, making Arheis wish he’d put more of his points into Agility. The Morditul barely lost any ground. It slid through the muck with a strange sort of grace, twisting and rolling and aiming jaws, body, and tail at the Pruvari as he leapt about.
That was until Zindar lost his footing. His large, lynx-like feet kept him on the surface of the mud for the most part, but he must have hesitated a second too long. He started to sink, and when he went to leap away from the beast, the momentum just wasn’t there. He fell backward, the bracer he wore held in front of him like his own personal shield.
Arheis couldn’t rely on the fulcorn to save his friend. That was his role, and he needed to stop screwing around and do it.
Pulling a rock from the bog, Arheis flung it right at the creature’s face, aiming for one of its eyes. It didn’t hit exactly where he’d wanted, but the blow of the rock to the beast’s temple was enough for it to swing its massive head his way.
“Remember me?” Arheis taunted, using his Provoke ability again.
It must have worked, because the Morditul used its big forelimbs to pull itself around and its shovel-guarded feet to propel it through the mud. The gluttonous creature sped toward him, and for a second Arheis wondered just how fast it must be underwater if this was its speed on land. Best not to find out. Instead he concentrated on what he was doing, convincing himself he’d had some kind of plan all along.
He held his ground, spear clutched in both hands, and waited until the last second to dodge. The beast stopped in front of him and planted its front feet in the ground, swinging its body to ram into him again. But Arheis was ready this time. He leapt into the air, avoiding the slam, and drove downward with his spear leading him. The tip of his weapon scraped against the beast’s protective plates, and for a second Arheis thought he was just going to lose his grip on his spear yet again.
But finally the tip slid between the plates and he pushed as hard as he could with the few remaining seconds he had, driving it in deep, then yanking it back out in a spray of blood as he finally landed on his feet.
> You have learned Plunging Strike. Gain a height advantage over your enemies to use this ability. The greater the height, the more damage done.
> Your Plunging Strike pierces Morditul for 56 points of damage.
“Nice moves!” Zindar said, using the brief window of opportunity Arheis had created to get in a few slices, his blades forced to saw through the thick, rubbery hide of the beast’s jowls. “Damn, I can’t get through. We’ll have to let it go back underwater.”
The Morditul roared, murder in its wet, black eyes as it looked at Zindar. For a second Arheis was sure he’d lost aggro, but the creature fixated on him again, this time bracing its forearms in the ground and swinging its tail over its head like a loosed catapult. Another new move. Or an alteration of a previous move. Weren’t enemies in Apex supposed to have patterns you could learn to predict…?
Arheis wasn’t able to get far enough out of the way before the club-like tail smashed into the left side of his body, with only his shoulder there to “soften” the blow. The blunt force of it slammed through him, and he instantly felt something shatter in his arm—along with his shoulder popping out of its socket. The sharp plates that covered the Morditul’s tail made the hit doubly punishing, raking gashes through his arm that his armor barely seemed to slow.
> Morditul smashes you for 45 points of damage.
> You are disoriented!
“Arheis!” Mira called as he staggered backward.
His ears were ringing, his stomach churned, and he couldn’t keep his footing in the muck. The only good thing about his current stupor was that he couldn’t feel that pain anymore. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, a more effective painkiller than any drugs on the market.
Until it wears off.
For now it gave him just enough mobility to dodge the follow-up slam as the Morditul threw its body toward him, and just enough strength that he somehow managed to hold onto his spear despite the fact that his left arm was practically useless now.
Adrenaline couldn’t fend the beast off forever, though it might just buy enough time for—
Arheis felt a thunk against his left arm that cut through the blissful, pain-free haze his body had put him under. Agony splintered along his shoulder, radiating outward through every cell in his body. A warmth spread through him from the site of what he eventually realized was one of Mira’s sachets. It grew hotter and hotter until it was almost unbearable, and then a sudden cooling sensation washed over his body, and with it a sense of ease.
> You have been healed for 37 points of damage.
> You are no longer disoriented.
It was a good thing, too. The Morditul was relentless, charging toward him with a single-minded fury. Arheis had no choice but to leap out of the way this time, landing with his spear in the muck only a few feet away from the beast as it wheeled around to come at him again.
Arheis grabbed for his shield to at least protect some part of his body, but the pain in his left shoulder persisted. Mira’s healing could apparently take care of standard wounds, but it hadn’t helped the dislocation. And since he barely had a moment to breathe, let alone try and get the shoulder back in its socket, Arheis had to come to terms with the fact that his shield arm was all but useless.
Which was probably the worst possible thing to realize when he was moments away from having his insides torn out like that Nepondus.
“Don’t move!” he heard Zindar yell over the sudden clap of thunder.
Lightning struck the ground alarmingly close to Arheis, and with the amount of mud readily available to transmit the current, he was sure he was done for. But every bolt that hit coalesced into a solid form he could just barely make out beneath the muck. The Fulcorn. It burst through the ground, meeting the Morditul head-on just before it could reach Arheis, its shining horn drawing bolt after bolt to its barely corporeal form.
The Morditul was struck, electricity arcing through its body as it writhed in agony. Not about to waste his moment to get the hell out of there, Arheis used his good arm to push himself up, discarding his shield in the muck and holding his spear close against his body, almost like a lance. He charged the Morditul and ran his spear straight through the thin membrane that protected the inside of the creature’s mouth, managing to avoid most of its rubbery hide.
> You pierce Morditul for 39 points of damage.
Still not a critical hit? Seriously?
“We’re barely touching this thing,” Arheis called to his companions, wracking his brain to come up with something before the Morditul recovered from the Fulcorn’s attack.
“It’s the mud,” Mira said, taking up a defensive stance beside him, her crossbow leveled at the beast’s face. “It hardens on the body, like a second coat of armor. We’ll have to find a way to break through it.”
Easier said than done. There were only a couple of places on the creature’s hide that now seemed vulnerable to attack. But he supposed that was what happened when you took a quest five levels higher than you. It became a war of attrition until a weakness was exposed. They’d just have to somehow stay alive until enough mud was knocked off to make a dent in the creature’s health.
Spear still tucked at his side, Arheis wrapped his hand around the haft, closer to the tip. As the Morditul broke out of its near-stasis, Mira loosed the bolt she’d readied, then followed it up with another. Both hit their mark, slicing into the corner of the beast’s mouth that Arheis had already opened up. She leapt backward, disengaging from the front lines of the fight, and Arheis could finally feel a rhythm. He was there when the beast tried to pursue her, thrusting his spear just beneath the Morditul’s jaw, yanking it out quickly, and dodging out of the way just before the beast’s jaws tried to close down on his arm. Zindar was ready to punish the miss, a flurry of slashes sending mud, scales, mucus, and blood flying in every direction.
It felt good to fight like this. To work alongside his companions and anticipate their every move, filling in the gaps in their formation so they gained a tactical advantage over their foe. And if this were like any other battle he’d fought alongside them, it would’ve been a turning point where they came back from certain defeat to win against all odds.
But that wasn’t what was happening.
The Morditul was still moving way too fast, its speed barely hindered by what they’d done. All three of them were forced to stay dangerously close just to pinpoint their strikes, and they all paid for it. The Morditul’s tail slammed into Zindar, catching his back as he tried to leap out of the way. Arheis lunged, putting himself between the beast and his friend, but without a shield he only had his spear to protect them both. Gritting his teeth, he held onto it with both arms and stayed steady, letting the Morditul all but impale itself until Arheis could see the tip of his spear poking out behind the beast’s shoulder.
And still it kept coming. It roared in fury, steam billowing from beneath the mud that just covered up whatever progress they’d made as soon as the Morditul moved. Arheis barely had time—or strength—to get his spear back, having to gamble with his legs by dodging and then planting both boots against the creature’s side so he had enough leverage to yank the weapon free.
It was Zindar who pulled him backwards this time before the Morditul could whip around and snap the bones in his legs like twigs.
“Thanks,” he panted, getting a pained smile in return.
Mira hit him with one of the healing bolts, too, but it was obvious the Pruvari wasn’t moving at 100%. Maybe not even 70%.
“We can’t win this,” Mira said, firing off another bolt that practically bounced off the Morditul’s hide. “We need to retreat.”
There was no way they could get through this swamp safely. Arheis was certain of that. As relentlessly as the beast pursued them, it would follow until the mud eventually slowed them all down.
Zindar’s Fulcorn bought him another few precious seconds to think, the stag-like creature manifesting lightning in its wake and charging into the Morditul’s side. One glance at Zindar told him that wasn’t a long-term solution. Every collision seemed to be taking more out of the Pruvari, as if the spirit’s corporeal form was somehow linked to his. His gaze flew to Mira next as she readied another bolt. When he focused, he could feel… fear. Her fear, he thought, though maybe some of his own. She caught his gaze and held it, her countenance almost pleading.
She was right. If they didn’t do something, they were all going to die here. Or… Mira and Zindar would die. Arheis would eventually reawaken, probably right beside the mutilated corpses of his two friends.
And he sure as hell wasn’t going to let that happen.
“I have an idea,” he called to them, even as that idea formed in his mind, shaky as a newborn fawn. “I’m going to draw it back into the lake.”
“What?!” Mira exclaimed, her voice breaking on the word. “Are you insane? We can’t fight it there!”
“It’s the quickest way to get the mud off.”
He was already running toward the lake, his spear tucked against his side once more, hand reaching into his pack as the plan solidified. There wasn’t any time to hesitate. He needed to get the Morditul into the water, and then he needed to keep it there long enough for their attacks to matter.
Which meant he was going to have to go in himself.
“Arheis!” he could hear Mira’s panic, could feel it through the bond they shared.
It was almost enough to make him reconsider. But the Morditul was coming out of its stasis again, and they didn’t have a Plan B.
“Just trust me.” He looked for the Pruvari, finding Zindar running only a few steps behind him. “Get ready.”
Zindar nodded, his expression grave. Arheis wished there was time to better communicate the plan, but the Morditul was already charging through the muck, heading for him with all the speed and power of a freight train. He just had to hope his companions would fall in sync with him like they had in the past.
Drawing in a big gulp of air, Arheis flung himself off the bank, going for as much distance as he could get before he hit the surface of the water and dove under. His arms and legs worked as he fought against the dislocated shoulder, pain practically blinding him as tears sprang to his eyes beneath the murky lake. He struggled through, diving down until he reached the bottom, then pushing off against it with his feet to turn himself around.
The Morditul was already in the water, a current that hadn’t existed before being pulled around the creature as it shot straight toward him.
Arheis’ fingers closed around the object he’d pulled out of his pack. He had one shot to do this. One very long shot that had a snowball’s chance in hell of actually working the way he wanted it to.
But it was the only chance he had, and when the Morditul was close enough, he thrust the item forward, pulling his hand back seconds before the Morditul’s jaws snapped closed.
It was enough. The pressure of the beast’s teeth did what he’d hoped they would do. The shock-rock was activated, and a burst of electrical current lit up the creature from the inside out, shining through skin membranes that were no longer protected by mud. Gripping his spear with both hands, Arheis thrust it as hard as he could through the bulbous sack below the beast’s jaw, pushing the haft until he felt the tip shatter bone, then using his whole body to wrench it further.
> You critically pierce Morditul for 106 points of damage.
> Morditul is stunned!
There wasn’t any time to celebrate that actually working. Pushing off the bottom of the lake again, Arheis made a mad dash for the water’s surface. His lungs burned as he finally broke it, gasping and then choking as he bobbed back under for a few seconds. His gaze scanned the bank, finding Zindar and Mira both there.
“Be ready!”
His spear was still lodged inside the creature. He couldn’t do anything until he got that back, and trying for it now was a death sentence. Arheis swam for the shore in frantic bursts of energy, adrenaline keeping him going despite the pain. Mira crouched down, fury and terror in her eyes as she waited to pull him out.
But the shock-rock didn’t last as long as the Fulcorn’s attack, and he began to feel a sudden current swirling around him, pulling him in. The shore was further and further away, his paddling more and more useless as he tried to fight against it. Hundreds of teeth clamped down on his leg, piercing the flesh and wrenching free from their sockets. Arheis tried to use that to kick out and get some distance, but it was no use.
He was pulled under, wrapped up in that swirling current. Fatigue clawed bone-deep at his insides, making the Morditul’s role in all of this that much easier. Arheis felt his bones breaking, being crushed into near dust. Pain lanced through every inch of his body. And then there was nothing. Only blackness and a strange sense of serenity.
> Morditul bites you for 45 points of damage.
> Morditul bites you for 45 points of damage.
> Morditul bites you for 45 points of damage.
> You are bleeding!
> You are drowning!
> You have been slain by Morditul!