The mistress of the lair went skidding across the sands, just as the other beasts converged on the fiend from both sides. They desperately tried to abort their attack, unwilling to close the final few feet without the support of their elite member.
But it was already too late. In a black flash, the bonefiend pounced, eviscerating one beast with a lightning quick swipe of its claws. The moment that its back was turned, the other two renders leapt, draping their bodies across the fiend’s back while clamping down with their bladed legs.
For a gut-wrenching second, Nick thought the incredible summon was done for, as hundreds of chitin barbs struck it as one. But then it burst into motion, sending both centipedes flying as it reared back and roared. Nick could see countless scratches scored along its armored flesh, dripping a viscous black ooze, but they hadn’t dug deep enough to hit any vital points.
By this point, the matriarch had righted itself. The furious beast came charging back, ready to end the battle now that its opponent was impaired.
Nick knew that he needed to help even the odds. All that he could do was take out the weakest centipede that was still in the fight, the one whose legs he had shattered with his wand.
With his sword raised before him, he ran to engage the beast before it could join the brawl. As he closed the last few feet, he summoned his final mana dart.
Nick didn’t get to watch the next part of the bonefiend’s fight. With only one spell and no charges left in his wand, it took every scrap of his concentration to face the wounded beast head-on and remain unbloodied.
Dodge. Strike. Parry. Leap. Nick fought like a wild animal, as sweat poured down every surface of his body. His mind was muddled from lack of mana, his body exhausted from reaching the dregs of his stamina. Bruised and battered, harried and hounded, he summoned his will and fought on.
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He couldn’t afford to let the battle drag on for much longer. The moment that one of them made a mistake, the other would land a critical blow.
Fortunately for Nick, the beast faltered first. He managed to drive it back with a ferocious combination attack, ending with a kick that sent it skittering back. Without the support of the legs on that side, the render failed to find purchase on the stone and went rolling in an uncontrolled tumble.
Before the bug could right itself, Nick was there. While it was unbalanced and unable to dodge, he took aim and fired his last dart. The silvery missile sank into the beast’s exoskeleton, evoking an agonized hiss. Finish it now, Nick. While it’s still paralyzed.
Burning through the last of his energy, carrying on through sheer will alone, Nick sprinted over to where his enemy lay convulsing on the ground. Lacking the strength to swing his sword at full power, he slid the tip between two thick chitin plates, then thrust with everything he had left.
His aim was true, and the sword slid deep into the beast’s body, rupturing organs and severing nerves along the way. He yanked out the blade in a great spray of ichor, leaving the critically injured creature to expire on its own terms. He started limping toward the sandpit, scrambling to find some way to back up the fiend even though he was totally spent.
When he surveyed the battlefield to see what had transpired while he was busy, Nick realized that the other juveniles were dead. One centipede was still twitching even though its torso was crushed, its guts spread out along the luminescent stone. The other had been cut completely in half. The bonefiend and the matriarch were facing off near the border of the sandpit, each powerful combatant sporting significant wounds.
Nick was just in time to witness their battle’s climax. Half a heartbeat later, the immense beast reared back, poised to thrust with its mandibles with the full strength of its body behind it. The fiend looked barely able to remain upright, rocking from side-to-side like a prize fighter one punch away from kissing the mat.
In a flash of bladed chitin, the matriarch struck, moving so fast that his eyes could only follow the afterimage of the blow. In the heart of that dark moment, he was certain that he was about to witness the defeat of his strange and unsettling ally, leaving Nick to face the beast’s wrath unaided.