Chapter 10: Pincer

The Acolyte of the Maw opened her black cloak. Darkness seemed to spread, and a wicked horn emerged from that darkness. The creature used her body as a doorway, pulling itself along the ground. Once free, it swelled up to twice its size and past, stopping once it was ten feet tall.

It was a horrible hybrid of man and crustacean. Its, his, body was a good twenty feet wide, with four massive claws that snapped at the air around him. His enlarged head looked grafted to the crab’s body and his face twisted in rage.

A scream escaped him and it turned, charging them sideways on large, armored legs that stamped holes in the sand as it scuttled their way.

Adriana and Davos exchanged a brief look before they broke apart. The crabman came charging by where they’d stood. Tortured eyes met hers, and for a second that stretched for what felt like minutes, she felt for the man and creatures it had once been before the Maw’s Acolyte twisted them to her will. Then the abomination swung a claw as big as her.

She threw herself to the side and rolled back to her feet. The creature didn’t pause for a moment and whirled around on both her and Davos at the same time. It couldn’t catch the fleet-footed man, but the next claw came down on Adriana like a hammer. She had barely enough time to shield her face before it crushed her against the sand.

It was one of many rough hits she’d taken that day, and her body was battered and bruised, no matter how strong she was now. The crab tried to open its claw up around her, but Adriana wrapped her arms around them and held them shut. It lifted her off the ground and shook her.

She held on desperately, using all of her strength to hold on and keep from being pinched in half. Her legs swung around while it flailed and tried to get her off. It didn’t notice when Davos came from its blind spot. He slid between a gap in his legs and swung his sword into the vulnerable back of one.

The crabman swung around, this time flinging Adriana. She flew through the air and twisted. A second later she landed on the soft sand and bound right back for the action. Davos stayed on the move underneath the monster, taking occasional swings at joints when he could.

Eventually the crab had enough and bunched up his legs. With one massive heave, he launched himself into the air as Davos slid along the ground. Adriana’s eyes widened as the monster hung in the air. Davos scrambled on unsteady feet to get back up. When it sank back down he blasted a gust of wind and propelled himself backwards. The crab crashed hard onto the ground.

With how hard the crab landed, he recovered too fast for Adriana’s liking. She hurled two globs of smoldersap at the monster. They landed on his shell, where they stuck and burned. The crab didn’t seem to notice, nor after the next two handfuls of the molten, sticky substance. If it hurt at all, the Acolyte’s creature didn’t let it on.

“Aaaaaahhhh!” He screamed again, much the same as before she lit him on fire. Another scuttling of his legs and he turned on Davos, who only just now recovered. He jumped straight up in the air and missed the claw swinging for him. He landed on the claw and sprung off of it until he landed on the massive crab’s back.

“What is this stuff?” Davos demanded as he neared a patch of Smoldersap.

“My new power,” said Adriana. “Want to see another?” She cupped her hands in the ability her new senses told her was the flamespitter move. Fire burst from her hands in a cone, engulfing three of the crab’s legs.

The flames washed over the hardened carapace with no effect. It figured that the first real monster she fought after getting powers would be borderline immune to them. The crab swung around again and Adriana danced outside of his reach. She considered using her Flashfire on it when she was attacked from behind.

Teeth sank into her leg and dragged her to the ground. She looked to see something like a two headed wolf pulling her towards its master. It hurt bad enough for her to reflexively kick viciously. She got the head biting her and slammed her heel into it until it released her with a sharp yelp.

Davos let out a scream from behind her, but Adriana didn’t have time to look. She rolled out of the way as the wolf pounced where she was. From her spot on the floor she summoned another Flamespitter and burned the beast. It howled and twitched as she climbed to her feet.

The acolyte was close now, and already summoning another creature. This one came from her open mouth, and she retched out a writhing mass of tentacles. It hit the sand in a wet mess and grew. It didn’t grow as big as the crab currently giving Davos a hard time, but it was still seven feet tall when it raised up.

It too had once been human, among other creatures, before being twisted into the horror it was now. It had no eyes she could see. Instead, it waved around its many tentacles to seek her presence. Each tentacle was covered in suckers topped with a curved tooth. Two human-like hands clasped each other in its front as the tentacles flailed and it walked towards her.

“What’s the matter, too afraid to fight us on your own?” Adriana demanded as she backed away from the squid monster. “How many monsters do you think you can send after us?”

“Enough,” said the acolyte in an infuriatingly serene voice. “And then we’ll use your Divinity and form to create more. You will aid me in ridding the world of this unnatural power.”

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The acolyte pointed and whistled sharply. Faster than Adriana thought possible, the mass of tentacles charged her down. She drew her sword and stood her ground. The moment the first grasping appendage came close, she cut it down. Another wrapped around her left arm and buried its teeth in her flesh.

She grit her teeth and yanked the creature forward. It hissed in anticipation and five more tentacles assaulted her. They wrapped around her arms and legs and pulled them apart. The sword fell to the sand.

“You could’ve surrendered your Divinity,” the acolyte said, almost sadly. “It didn’t have to be this way.”

“Eat shit,” Adriana barked, then focused. She gathered her fire along her hands and legs, igniting them for real. The creature shrieked in pain, but it didn’t let go of her, no matter how much the flames burned the tentacles. More and more wrapped around Adriana.

Gathering all of her strength, she pulled and wrenched the two tentacles holding her arms off the creature entirely. They remained embedded in her flesh through the fangs in its suckers, but they now hung limply off her as it continued to try to tie her down.

Adriana didn’t risk a Flamespitter this close. Not when she was attached to the thing. Instead she dug deep and pointed her hands towards the center of its mass. She pushed out the potent but small Flashfire. The blue flame flashed and burned a hole clean through. It faltered, but didn’t let her go. A second Flashfire did the trick, and it fell over, dragging her with it.

Fatigue hit her like a charging bull. Even the sun above only helped so much. It kept her going, but she tired as the fight went on. Adriana ripped free of the tentacles, one by one. Her heart skipped a beat each time she pulled one away from her skin and the small wounds bled. There were over a dozen of the punctures. It was a pity, she mused, that she wasn’t of the fourth ascension, when simple wounds healed themselves in minutes.

“You fight well, but I can sense how powerful you are. It isn’t enough, girl.” The acolyte withdrew an orb of Bestia and consumed it. Rather than gaining its power, her body twisted in place and she doubled over, about to wretch out another creature. Adriana dashed her way and drove a smoldering fist into her mouth.

The acolyte hurtled backward, crashing into the boat. Adriana followed up with a flying kick she sank into the woman’s stomach. The creature she’d been creating tumbled out of her mouth, malformed and small. She coughed and choked and finally had real fear in her eyes.

Adriana wanted to savor it, but there was no time. She grabbed the acolyte by the leg and threw her at the squid creature. The cloaked woman landed on her creation with a wet plop, and looked up to see Adriana’s cupped hands. It was the last thing she saw before the Flamespitter engulfed her.

She didn’t scream as she died, instead gasping and twitching as if she could get away. It only took a few seconds before her body turned to ash, leaving only a black and purple orb of Divinity on the beach. Maw Divinity. Adriana wrinkled her nose and left it there. She retrieved her sword and ran back to where Davos still kept the crab busy.

He wasn’t winning the fight, nor would he be capable of it on his own, but he was no longer alone. Mykos and Synto had caught up and joined the fight, their cart of loot abandoned twenty feet away from the action.

Davos huffed and puffed, and it was clear he was losing speed and energy as he dodged yet another crab claw. Mykos wasn’t capable of much with his twin daggers, but he still darted around and tried to jam them where he could. Synto had his club in hand and he watched the action from afar.

“You just going to stand there?” Adriana shouted when she rejoined them. The Smoldersap she’d left had burned out, leaving only a few scant amounts of a tar-like substance. She threw another glob of the black fire on the same spot, and it reignited. It didn’t hurt the crab, but it drew his attention again.

“I’m studying it,” said Synto, unbothered. He flashed a grin at her and pointed his club at the crab. “No sense wasting energy doing nothing to it.”

“I’d appreciate a solution,” Davos muttered as he landed. His leg buckled and he fell to his knee. “As fast as possible!”

The crab managed to catch Mykos’ arm between two spindly but strong legs. He squished the human’s arm until the teenager screamed in pain. Synto reacted immediately. He dashed forward, ducked under a swinging claw, and brought his club sideways against the joint of the leg. Something snapped, and it released Mykos.

“Aim for the underside,” Synto barked out. “Or the face.”

“You try hitting something that high up and small,” Adriana said, but she tried to get under the monster. It swung around and caught Davos in a massive claw. The fleet-footed man looked more resigned than scared. He was all but tapped out, and there was nothing to do to stop the monster from cutting him in half.

Nothing but Adriana’s best effort. She slid on her knees between two legs and pushed with everything she had. Blue flashfire flew from her hands to the underside of the crab. The flash of light forced her eyes shut. The crab screamed again. Davos fell to the ground, none the worse for wear, but the crab fell as well.

Adriana managed to scramble to all fours when he collapsed on her. She wasn’t crushed, but she was pinned to the sand and knocked silly. Still, it seemed dead. Now her reservoir was almost entirely empty.

“Well, that was exciting,” said Synto while he checked Mykos over. “And very opportune, I must say. Think of the good eating before we take off.” He laughed, but no one else did.

Davos staggered over to Adriana and offered her a hand up. She took it, and he tried to pull her out from under the crab. “Thanks,” he said. “And good job taking out the Acolyte.”

“Teamwork, right? We got each others’ backs,” said Adriana with a smile. She was tired, everything hurt, and she needed food and sleep, but they were alive.

“It took you long enough to understand it,” Davos said with a smile of his own. For a second, it was like it was before they joined this crew, back when it was just a tired coward and the hellion of a girl against the world.

Synto moved behind Davos. Adriana looked past him in confusion, when their leader brought his club down on the back of Davos’ head.

Davos twitched, and his eyes went dull before he fell sideways to the ground.

“Synto, what the hell,” she started, but then she saw the predatory look in his eyes, and she understood.

“My Mystery tells me that this is the best chance to take that Divinity off of you.” Synto shook his head and chuckled. “I’d say it’s nothing personal, but we both know that would be a lie.”