That would have been the end of the brave trio had Sophia not arrived on scene half a heartbeat later. She came darting in from the creatures’ blind spots, stabbing with her dagger in concert with her wasp.

Before the beasts knew what hit them, two black barbs pricked one of the weasel’s hides. Nick was relieved to see the stingers sink into flesh, instead of being rebounded by rock.

The afflicted tissue turned to stone a fraction of a second later, but it was already too late. The frost venom was already inside the weasel’s body and flowing into its veins. It looked like her attack was effective, judging by the twin patches of creeping rime spreading along the beast’s hide.

The stricken creature hissed in pain and spun to face its assailants. Instead of engaging the weasel directly, Sophia leapt back, content to let her venom do the work while her wasp kept the beast from closing on her location. While this was a promising development, the trapped party was still in peril.

While its companion was busy, the other beast had knocked the sword out of the warrior’s grasp and stood poised to land a lethal blow. Nick thought that he was about to watch the weasel strike a lethal blow, but before its jaws could close around her throat, the spear-tongue frog struck in a flash.

Instead of the attack with its tongue spike that he had been expecting, the amphibian’s elastic appendage came lashing around to wrap tight around the weasel’s torso, pulling its head away from the woman’s neck at the last possible moment, and initiating a contest of raw strength.

He was confused by the choice of attack. Sophia might have been able to land a heavy hit if the blow had been a surprise. Now the weasel would harden the flesh below the frog’s tongue, preventing it from tightening its crushing embrace. Which was exactly what happened.

The half-stone beast turned and started lashing at the frog with its wicked talons, talons that appeared to be covered in a layer of razored rock. In that moment, it looked like Sophia had misjudged her opponent. But both Nick and the weasel had underestimated the extent of her tactical mastery.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Instead of engaging in a losing battle with the bigger beast, the frog turned and leapt into the bog, rubbery tongue trailing behind it like the string of a kite. In that moment, the creature’s eyes widened in dawning realization, and his face broke into a broad grin, having realized what her plan was. Then the frog’s tongue retracted, dragging the rock weasel’s body away from the battlefield and down toward the water’s edge.

For a desperate minute, it scrambled for purchase, thick spews of mud flying into the air. Holding out against the force dragging it down into the marsh through sheer effort of will. Unfortunately for the substance-shifting predator, it had pursued its quarry onto terrain that was not well-suited for its power. A decision that would soon seal its fate.

After a panicked scream, the riverbank gave way, and the weasel went sliding into the mire, disappearing below the surface of the bog, a landscape where the spear-tongue had homefield advantage. Nick could feel the reverberations from the battle taking place below the waterline, bubbles streaming back up to the surface before they abruptly cut off.

Simply brilliant. The full understanding of what had happened came to Nick as he closed the final stretch of ground.

The frog’s opening move had forced most of the air from the beast’s lungs, leaving it little leeway to escape the amphibian’s grasp. It had only grown worse for the weasel during the ensuing struggle, further depriving it of oxygen before pulling it underwater. He would have stopped to admire the sheer badassery of Sophia’s tactic had the fight been over.

But there was still an injured weasel to deal with and now it was Nick’s time to shine.

He crossed the battlefield and arrived by his partner’s side, just as the wounded beast darted past her wasp and lunged for her. It was hindered by the pain and numbness of the creeping venom, but that only seemed to enrage the stricken rock weasel.

The beast feinted to draw their attention, then swatted the frostfury wasp out of the air, shredding the summon’s wings in the process. It turned on a dime and came charging straight for Sophia, eager to settle the score. She had a hard time getting out of the way, thanks to the narrow confines formed by the finger of earth.

The weasel darted in low and then reared up before her, preparing to rend her with its claws.