MIDBOSS FIGHT COMMENCING IN THIRTY SECONDS
The clouds absorbed the sound of Ayn landing. Not that it mattered. The boss, and its minions, wouldn’t activate until the timer hit zero. The mobs were also invulnerable until then, which was unfortunate, but meant everyone had time to get into position.
Whether by luck or a small bit of mercy from The System, the pier was higher than the boss arena, and the space between them was connected by cloud. Showing more life than he’d had the entire floor, Bren jumped from the pier and wedged himself against the bit of cloud wall. Sheyric did the same. It put them thirty or so feet from the nearest clam cluster.
Ayn noted the distance as she moved to her spot in front of the green clams. She didn’t have any taunting moves, and the clams were sure to aggro on whoever was nearest.
FIFTEEN SECONDS
Options skittered through Ayn’s mind. Without knowing what the fight would bring, all of them were equally viable and wholly distracting. Ayn dropped into a fighting stance. Pre-planning never worked well for her, anyway. Better to let the action dictate the reaction.
The bubble around the arena shimmered into existence. For a single breath, all was quiet. In perfect synchronization, every clam opened up, then snapped shut. Ayn barely registered the sound before the loud ringing in her ears swallowed it up. With their opening attack, the clams had shut down their opponent’s ability to communicate. Smart. Divide, isolate, and conquer.
Ayn dove in, the edge of one saber angled to slip between the lips of a clam. The clam seemed to sense it coming. Its shell opened up and slammed shut on the blade. All of Ayn’s momentum came to a halt, sending shivers up her arm. She reversed direction. The clam hung on like a dog on a chew toy. Being a few feet across and made of solid muscle and shell, it had significant weight, but she hadn’t dumped so many points into strength for nothing. Ayn pivoted, aiming for the ground with the hope the impact would shake it loose, or drive her blade deeper. Another green clam, its shell wide open as it closed in on her, came into view as she spun. The two clams collided in mid-air. Both fell to the ground, shells agape and unmoving.
Something hit Ayn’s side.
AEGIS OF AGILITY ACTIVATED
84 POINTS OF ABSORBTION REMAINING
Ayn stumbled forward, head whipping around to get a bead on her opponent. The third green clam, like the second, had lunged at her when her back was turned. With the incessant ringing in her ears, she had no way of telling what they were doing while they were out of sight. The clam had not only taken advantage of her situation but also interrupted her best chance at killing the first two. She needed to clear these nuisances quickly, and this bastard was in the way. She regained her balance, took aim at the offending clam, and kicked.
Her boot met the bottom of the clam’s shell. It went flying off in an arc, dropping to the cloud and assuming the gaping pose of its brethren. Ayn growled at the stunned crustacean. Served it right. Two quick stabs finished the other two.
The boss clam shuddered. It seemed their grace period was up. It had been longer than Ayn expected, considering the other bosses they had fought.
Ayn dismissed the rumbling of the crustacean mountain and darted towards Bren and Sheyric. The yellow clams had noticed the mage and healer, as had the red group, and six clams were currently closing in on the mages. Sheyric had wedged himself between Bren and the pier wall, while Bren muttered a fire spell, all pretense of showmanship discarded. An anemic fireball popped out of his hand in response. It hit the lead clam with a sad sizzle and dissipated. The clam didn’t even slow down. Bren’s eyes widened as three clams launched at his face.
A brown and rainbow streak imposed itself between Bren and his attackers. Kayara had arrived. Her daggers went up, blocking a clam from clamping down on her nose. “Going for the face, huh? Dirty bastards. Not that I’d expect more from water bugs.”
Kayara didn’t move as two clams bit down onto her torso and leg, nor did she strike back. She was waiting for a sign that Ayn had killed her targets, and there was no reason to keep her waiting.
“Kill them!” Ayn shouted.
Kayara elbowed a yellow clam right as Ayn kicked a blue one. Both dropped, stunned, to the ground.
Their buddies responded with impressive speed, but when faced with two annoyed damage dealers, they had no chance. All were dead before the giant clam shuffled around to face them. It opened its mouth and found two pairs of blades stabbing the tender flesh within. Saltwater sprayed from hundreds of little holes in the clam’s muscle. Kayara teleported away. It hit Ayn full force.
HEALTH AT 372
AEGIS OF AGILITY ON COOLDOWN
TWO MINUTES THIRTY-FOUR SECONDS REMAINING
Ayn hit the cloud flat on her back. She sunk a good foot down before the springy floor rebound, throwing her off to the side. She moved with the momentum, came back up on her feet with the help of her pinwheeling arms, and tried to ignore the lurching in her stomach.
That had hurt. She’d had over a hundred points of shield left, and they’d all vanished in a single blast.
The giant clam snapped its mouth shut. The resulting shockwave knocked Ayn on her back again, but not before she saw the entire mountain of clam sink into the cloud. Instead of wrapping around the mob, the cloud sank down, creating a decline from Ayn to the monster’s waiting jaws.
Kayara darted in from the side, wrapped one arm around Ayn’s waist, and carried them both into the air. “Hey, look alive, yeah?” She grinned, an impish look that made alarm bells go off in Ayn’s head.
“What are you—Ah!”
Kayara let go. Ayn twisted in the air, seeking the ground, and hit the surface of a hard, tan shell. The midboss didn’t seem to notice. It finished its descent into the cloud right as Ayn noticed the hole in the center of its shell. Too small to see from any other angle, yet big enough for her to slip in to. She did so without another thought.
The giant clam reversed direction and shot up. Gravity slammed into Ayn, driving her into the wet and sticky mass of the clam’s insides. Nausea roiled up. She distracted herself from the urge to puke by angling her sabers into the offending guts. Ayn regretted it immediately.
Hot, fishy smelling liquid burst from the wounds. In seconds, she was drowning in the fluid. Something screeched. At first, Ayn wondered if it was her, but as the sickening cage of flesh and fluid rattled around her, she realized it was the clam.
Gravity changed once more. The clam was falling. The sudden reversal pulled Ayn and the liquid back toward the opening in the clam’s shell. Her sabers dragged all the way.
Ayn’s face cleared the stinking hole. She gasped in a mouthful of air, not caring that it tasted as bad as it smelled. The clam collided with the ground. Bouncy or not, the cloud could only absorb so much force. The rest rattled up and pulled Ayn back down.
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Eyes and mouth clamped shut, Ayn used her weapons as handholds, driving them deep and climbing back to fresh air. At last, she broke the surface. Kayara awaited her at the top.
“Did you find its vital point yet?” the ranger asked.
Ayn opened her mouth to reply, only to have a glob of mucus slip across her tongue.
Kayara tutted as Ayn gagged and spit. “You should at least wipe your mouth before you speak. You’re filthy.”
Ayn glared at Kayara, judging how much effort it would take to get out of the hole and smack the ranger before she got away. Probably too much. Ayn spit and tried again. “Is that why you tossed me up here?”
“A conspicuous hole in an otherwise annoyingly impervious boss?” Kayara shrugged. “I hardly see what else could be down there.”
“Then why don’t you come in and see?”
“And get my new equipment slimy? No thanks. Besides, I think we can both agree you’re better at reckless stabbing, and I’m better at dodging. So, get down there and stab while I keep the overgrown seafood from eating the guys. Okay?”
Ayn growled, her arms scrabbling to find enough purchase on the shell to pull free of the stinking hole and strangle Kayara.
Kayara grimaced. “Sorry.”
The giant clam lurched, and she slipped once more into its pulsating insides. The slime and fluid coated every inch and seeped into every crack as she sliced with abandon. If there was a vital spot, which she had to admit sounded likely, she had no way of knowing where it was. She couldn’t see, couldn’t feel beyond the stickiness, couldn’t hear beyond the dull thudding that could have been a heart, or the movement of the clam, could have been next to her, or who knew how many feet away. So, she cut. Out, down, twisting in the confines until her lungs burned, and she was sure she’d ever be clean again. At last, a saber hit something, and unlike the rest of the clam’s innards, it resisted.
Ayn brought both her swords to bear on the object. Her target gave way with infuriating slowness. Then, with a pop, a fresh wave of fluids rushed out, smelling of salty copper. Like blood.
A deep shudder started within the clam, gaining force until Ayn was sure she’d not only drown in slime, but be pulverized to boot. Her lungs screamed for air, and not for the first time, she cursed The System’s arbitrary rules as her need for air overrode her conscious control. Her mouth opened just in time for the clam to disintegrate into a massive cloud of glitter.
Ayn felt it more than saw—the sudden decrease in pressure against her, the sudden rush of air as she fell, the sudden feeling of arms catching her before she hit the ground.
KING CLAM DEFEATED
“Hold on.”
Kayara’s voice came from right next to her ear. Ayn tilted, her feet touching cloud. Something wiped across her face. She opened her eyes in time to see Kayara pull back a slime-slicked arm.
“Guess I couldn’t keep it clean forever.” Kayara flashed a grin, there and gone. “Well done stabbing that clam where it hurt, yeah?”
“Uh…thanks.”
Ayn stared at Kayara. She had been ready to punch the ranger for not only throwing her into a slimy hole, but also letting her get sucked back in. Yet, the longer she watched the complicated expression on Kayara’s face shift, the less angry and more curious she got.
Kayara refused to meet her gaze, instead twisting away and stabbing the air with a finger. “Looks like the clams dropped stuff. Cooking stuff, maybe. I better go get it.”
Ayn tracked Kayara as she walked off but was de-railed when Sheyric and Bren came into view. Ayn hurried over. Both guys were still up against the edge of the pier, and without so much as a scratch.
Ayn ran up to Sheyric and petted Miit. “How is he?”
“Untouched,” Sheyric said.
That hadn’t been what she meant, yet Sheyric’s answer was the best she could think of. Of course Miit wasn’t okay. Of course he’d get worse the longer he went without proper treatment and rest. But in this fight, at least he hadn’t been hurt more. “Good. Let’s keep that up.”
Sheyric nodded. Miit offered a short purr, not bothering to lift his head where it draped across Sheyric’s shoulder.
QUEST “COLLECT EIGHT PIECES OF SKY CLAM MEAT” COMPLETED
Ayn jumped at the sudden announcement. She’d forgotten they were supposed to gather the stuff. She turned to thank Kayara for her thorough looting and saw the ranger grab a chunk of something gold and wet from where the King Clam had died.
SUCCULENT MEAT OBTAINED
PRIMARY QUEST RECIEVED: KILL KING CRAB
All four of them went silent. Ayn waited for a countdown, or a shriek, or another giant sea creature to burst from the cloud they stood on. Seconds ticked by, yet nothing appeared.
“What was that?” Kayara asked in a harsh whisper.
“It sounded like a boss warning,” Ayn said.
“But I don’t see a boss.”
“Me neither.”
They all stood around a minute more, weapons out like threatened hedgehogs, eyes darting across the clouds and blue expanse. When the turtle behind them let out a low, rumbling moan, Ayn nearly fainted.
“We should go,” Sheyric said.
He turned on his heel, pulled himself up onto the turtle ferry’s shell. That’s when Ayn realized there weren’t any other exits off the cloud. It wasn’t unusual for a mid-boss area to be isolated, but as far as she could remember, there weren’t any paths they hadn’t taken. The floor had been linear. She walked up onto the turtle and sat down, scooting over so Kayara could drag Bren to the central spot. Ayn continued to mentally map the area they’d traversed as the turtle pulled away from the pier. She was so deep in thought, it took her a minute to realize they weren’t going back the way they came. The turtle headed straight out of the pier, and if Ayn wasn’t mistaken, sped up.
Kayara squinted into the distance, one hand gripping Bren’s collar, a frown deepening on her face.
“What is it?” Ayn asked.
“Doesn’t that cloud look a little small?”
Sure enough, the turtle ferry was paddling with all its might toward a tiny strip of cloud devoid of any features. On its far side floated something something slightly larger, oval, and bright blue.
“What is that blue thing?” Ayn asked, although she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.
“Something Bren isn’t going to like,” Kayara said.
Bren’s eyes snapped up. His dusky skin grew paler. By the time they reached the cloud, he was ashen and slumped over as if his legs couldn’t support him anymore. Ayn took her place under one of his arms, and with Kayara on the other side, they carried him across the pier to their new ride.
The little blue turtle popped its head and flippers out of its shell at their approach. Its big eyes scanned the horizon. Ayn tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut as the party all piled on to the little ferry. Its shell had no seats, and barely stretched wide enough to accommodate them. As it was, Sheyric had to huddle up against Bren’s back, which was just as well, since the mage had gone completely limp. Ayn wanted all the support she could get lest the mage ragdoll off into the empty sky.
They shot off. Kayara crouched, shifting her center of gravity before she fell off, and Ayn followed suit. Bren’s limp body knocked into Sheyric, who didn’t have near the agility to counter the sudden change in momentum. Ayn grabbed his robe as he tilted back and yanked. He toppled forward onto his knees, crumpling Bren further and eliciting a sharp cry from Miit.
Miit’s cry tore at Ayn’s chest. She channeled her distress back into anger. “Why the hell’s this thing in such a hurry?”
A loud clack answered her.
A red crab as large as the red and green turtles, and a lot angrier looking, bounced from tiny cloud to tiny cloud a little more than twenty feet away. It raced parallel with the little turtle, scuttling sideways and leaping into the air. It landed and clacked its claws.
A ripple in the air rolled toward the party. It dissipated into a breeze before it reached them. Ayn had seen enough sonic attacks to know exactly what was going on. For now, they were far enough away to avoid the concussive blast, but that wouldn’t stay true for long. The clouds the crab hopped along curved inward like steppingstones in the ocean of the sky. They were getting closer.
“Everyone stay down,” Ayn said.
Kayara looked around as best she could with Bren hanging off one side. “Sounds good for now but get ready to hightail it.” She jerked her head in the direction they were heading. “We’ve got a ride swap coming up.”
Ayn had just enough time to register what Kayara was talking about before they hit another short pier with a little green turtle lined up on the other side like a racehorse in the gates. The party leaped off one turtle, the guys held tightly and dragged along by the girls, and dropped into a crouch on the second. The turtle launched from the pier.
Even though it had only taken a couple of breaths to move between rides, the giant crab had raced on. If Ayn hadn’t been paying attention, she’d have thought it a good thing to see if farther ahead. But she’d bet money those steppingstones crossed paths with the turtles, maybe even with a pier. Wherever the giant crab had come from, its goal was clear—to cut them off.
The party’s new turtle was faster than the last. It quickly caught up to the crab. As expected, the crab had got a lot closer. Its eye stalks swiveled toward them as they came into range, its claws came up, and a clack rang out.
The sound wave crashed into them. The turtle tilted. Ayn grabbed at the edge of its shell on reflex. Sheyric wasn’t so quick and slid toward the open sky. Kayara lashed out with her free arm and wrapped it around his waist, her other arm still around an unconscious Bren. In an instant, Ayn was holding up all three of her party members as they dangled off of a speeding sky-turtle.