Mag fired another shot from the depths of his cover. Bark flew off the tree and scattered sharp shards of wood across the swamp. Janus and Itzel both covered their heads with their hands after hearing the explosive sound. The blast also caught the Jagmaw's attention. It turned its head in the direction of the attack, looking past the blasted part of the tree and focusing in on the pair of exterminators instead.

"Let's get moving, Janus!" Itzel shot up from her prone position and dashed forward so that the tree remained between her and Mag's position. Janus got up too and followed right behind her. The Jagmaw turned its head in the direction of the two exterminators. It submerged its entire body underneath the surface of the mud and swam towards the fleeing pair. Itzel took a glance over shoulder as she tried to wade through the mud. A ripple trailed them as the tail of the Essencima jutted a foot above the water.

"We can't outrun it!" Janus shouted. He turned around put his hands up in a defensive stance.

"Looks like flight didn't work," Itzel said as she turned her body around. "Fight is the only option!" She readied her arm to throw another Serrated Gale. Both stared at the rapidly approaching tail as it bobbed and weave through the mud. Both began backing away as their limbs began to tremble.

"Might be the time to try Gravity Well, Janus!" Itzel called out. He stopped retreating and spread his legs to steady his stance. He kept his arms apart, ready to use the Special Technique.

"Just one try..." the physicist said under his breath. The Jagmaw was now close enough the Janus could see the dark scales of its head as it rose from the water. Soon, its bright yellow eyes pierced the surface. It propelled itself with an open jaw, soaring several yards through air at Janus.

A purple portal emerged from Janus' hands. The lower half of the Essencima's mouth pierced through the transparent barrier. The flying froze in place, suspended motionless in mid-air. Janus staggered backwards, almost falling into the mud until Itzel caught him.

"Flying Cutter!"

A familiar flying sword soared through the air, spinning like a bright yellow buzzsaw. It crashed into the side of the Jagmaw's head, slashing away at the creature's skin as it twirled in place. After a second of cutting, the weapon flew back in the opposite direction. The paralytic effect of Janus' Technique wore off, sending the Essencima crashing straight down into the mud. It wailed in anguish as Janus and Itzel headed in the direction of the Ion Blade's trajectory.

"Enidri!" Itzel shouted as she ran as fast as she could through the thick mud. The swordswoman held her sword in both hands as she watched the Jagmaw scramble.

"Hurry up out of there!" Enidri shouted back. "There's somebody here that wants to meet you!"

Itzel gasped. "Are you saying..." She looked behind her and saw that the Jagmaw submerged itself once more, snaking its way under the mud even faster.

"You're not going to meet him if you're busy being Jagmaw chow!" Enidri stuck one hand. Itzel placed her palm in it and was swiftly pulled up to firm ground. Janus followed right behind, keeping his back to the rapidly approaching beast.

"Get low!" Enidri shouted.

Janus ducked down immediately. Enidri through her word with all her might and let it spin a few feet behind Janus. Quick movement from the Jagmaw allowed it to roll to the side and narrowly avoid getting slashed by the Flying Cutter. With the Essencima distracted, Janus was able to close in the remaining distance from the other two.

“I need to start charging you guys,” Enidri said as she snatched her Ion Blade out of the air. “You know how much I could be making right now if I decided to stay back in Labrisson?”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Itzel pointed off in the distance. “Mag is over there!” she said with the little breath she still had in her lungs. “He almost blew Janus’ hand off!”

“Perfect,” Enidri replied. She twirled her weapon and stared into the vast darkness of the swamp. “That means we can put this madness to an end.”

“Where’s Gurk?” Janus asked. “You said he was with you.”

The swordswoman looked over shoulder. “Hey, big guy! Where’d you go?”

After a bit of rustling among the leaves, Gurk emerged with the young duckling sitting on top his head. “Hey guys,” he said with a wave of his hand.

Itzel dash forward with arms wide open. She leapt up and grabbed by Gurk around the neck and buried her face into his chest. “Gurk!” she shouted. “You’re alive!”

“Yeah. You too.” The crocodile patted Itzel on the back.

“You don’t know how happy we are to see you!” Itzel dropped back to the ground and stepped back a few feet. Her eyes instantly darted to the child that he carried. “And who is this?” she asked softly.

“Eva.”

Janus caught up with the others and waved his hand. “Hello, Eva.”

The bird chirped.

“You three want to postpone your reunion?” Enidri shouted as she took a firm stance on the ground. Bubbles formed in the mud of the swamp, slowly approaching them. “We’ve got other things to worry about right now!”

“All four of us should be able to handle that Jagmaw, no problem,” Itzel said.

“But with Mag trying to take potshots at us?” Enidri said without taking her eye on the submerged creature. “And we don’t know where his daughter is, either.”

“You’re right!” Itzel said with shock. Her head turned from side to side, scanning the environment. “She could be anywhere.”

“Best bet is to keep moving where there’s more cover,” Enidri replied. All eyes looked towards the mud. The Jagmaw emerged, slowly poking its head out from the much before placing one foot on the ground. Enidri pointed the tip of her blade towards it, but the creature remained undeterred by the weapon’s glow.

“You three start moving. I’ll catch up with you.” Enidri thrusted her sword at the Jagmaw’s face. The tip of the blade grazed against the Essencima’s snout, making a small scratch on its scales.

“You’re not doing much damage to it!” Janus said.

“I know. Even that solid hit from Flying Cutter only managed to cut into the scales.”

The Jagmaw took a step back and feigned another bite, snapping at the air while flashing its jagged teeth.

“Go on! You heard me!” Enidri swung her sword horizontally, forcing the Jagmaw to retreat so that the rear half of its body went underneath the mud. “You know my history with this breed of Essencima!”

“And you know how crazy Mag and the rest of the hunters are!” Itzel said as she stood behind the swordsman. She grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. “Mag’s a good shot and the others are—”

“Dead,” Enidri said coldly.

“Huh?”

“Talking about that wolf Neo-Sapia?”

“Yeah!”

“I killed him. And Donva took out another one. And the last hunter is supposedly on our side now.”

“Donva’s all right?” Itzel asked.

“Yeah. He’s with the guy that’s supposedly on our side.” Itzel swiped her sword at the mud, sending scorching bits of liquid into the air.

Itzel shook her leg and flung off the excess mud that coated her pants. “That means the Granis are all alone. If we can split them up, we could probably get out of here!”

“That’s a lot of ifs. Let’s just focus on one thing at a time, shall we?”

Gurk followed Enidri’s request and began moving away from the swamp. As he pushed his way through some low branches, a shaking figure stared back at him.

“Hey,” Gurk called out. He stuck one hand defensively as his other reached for the child perched on his head.

“I-I’ll shoot!” the other figure muttered. After a few steps forward, Sheila revealed herself from the entanglement. She held her gun with shaky hands and pointed it at Gurk.

“Don’t,” Gurk said lowly. He slowly lowered Eva down with one hand. Sheila moved the barrel so it pointed at the child. “Please.”

Sheila’s gun shook some more. Her outfit was tattered, and her skin was covered in small cuts and caked with mud. Her eyes were wide open and a crimson red with tears swelling at the bottom of her eyelids. “I-I have to!”

“No,” Gurk said quietly. Despite the gun facing him, he lowered Eva all the way to the ground. He gave the duckling a gentle pat on the back and pointed in the direction of the others. She looked up at the crocodile before waddling towards Itzel. “You don’t.”

“Be quiet!” Sheila commanded. “My father is on the other side of this swamp. Y-you’re surrounded!”

“The others?” Gurk asked.

“Y-you mean the other hunters?”

Gurk nodded. “Yeah.”

“You know what happened to them!”

“I know.”

“Then stop playing dumb! It’s either us… or you.” She steadied the hand that held her gun and lifted it to eye level. She looked down the sight with her soggy eye. “I have to do this!”