A flurry of bolts shot past me as I signaled for the fight to begin. While Linnea had a much faster rate of fire in rifle mode, her accuracy and power suffered. Only half of the shots hit the Lake Beast at this range and they were spread out across its massive bulk.

The Beast released a loud grunt and began slowly rotating on its writhing tentacles. Unfortunately for us, it looked more annoyed than hurt, the plasma only burning light holes in its thick hide.

This is going to be a hard fight, I sighed as I readied myself to stall its movements. Quite how I was going to achieve that, I wasn’t sure. I would just have to figure it out as I went.

Another burst of plasma hit the creature as it finished turning toward me, peppering its face and front with fire. It grunted again before slowly dragging itself forward.

I was pleased to see how slow the Beast was, at least on land. I imagined it would be a different matter if we were fighting in its original habitat. As it was, I had a little time to prepare before it reached me.

I spent that time watching how it moved, how it had to practically force its bulk along the sand via its tentacles. It was so ungainly I doubted it was a natural creature, it seemed more likely that it had gained the tentacles and ability to breathe on land through some kind of mutation.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t quite the edge I’d been looking for and I was out of time. The Beast was only a few feet away from me. It was on a course to wander straight past me toward Linnea and for a moment I had a strong desire to just leave.

That wasn’t going to happen, however, I’d made my choice and I would stick to it. That meant I had to get its attention somehow. I certainly wouldn’t be able to physically block its path, so the only way I could stall it would be to make it angrier at me than at Linnea.

I waited till the bulk of its body had passed, all the while Linnea peppered it with shots. She was slowly growing more accurate as it got closer to her, allowing her to shift fire to its tentacle supports.

It was a dangerous balancing act. The closer I let the Beast get, the better her aim would be, but also the more danger she would be in. We didn’t know what the beast might be capable of, we couldn’t just assume that it would keep up the same slow pace.

With that in mind, I lunged just as it passed me, slicing into its back with my dagger. To my shock, I barely drew blood as my weapon skated off its hide. I doubted the Beast had even noticed compared to Linnea’s plasma fire.

Fuck, I thought in dismay. The entire plan hinged on me keeping its attention, we would be in serious trouble if I couldn’t. While Linnea had some room to retreat, it was unlikely to be enough even at the Beast’s slow speed.

While she might be able to circle it, her injuries slowed her to where she was barely faster than the Beast was. All it would take was one thing going wrong and it would catch her. The only sane course of action would be to figure out a way to stick to the plan.

Thinking fast, I crouched down and swung at the trailing ends of its tentacles. My knife sliced down and took the end off one of them.

The Beast shrieked and began turning, it seemed I had got its attention after all. I circled with it, trying to stay at its back. This continued for a solid minute as it slowly completed a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn.

Unable to catch me, it began making its way toward Linnea once more. I couldn’t have that, so I repeated the maneuver. Once again, I crouched down and sliced the end of another tentacle.

I’d planned to complete the same circle maneuver again, however this time it all went wrong. As I moved to the right, I felt something wrap around my ankle and tug hard.

I fell backward with a yelp, landing hard on the compacted sand in the Beast’s wake. I scrabbled furiously at the ground, trying to find some kind of hold as I felt the Beast sweep my body to the side.

It was pulling me round to the front, to where that terrifyingly enormous mouth was. If it got me there I was dead, It would swallow me in a single bite.

Unable to find a grip on the wet sand, I changed tactics. Instead of trying to stop myself from moving, I rolled forward, bringing my upper body over my legs. It was a tough stretch, but I just managed to reach the tentacle with my dagger.

Without the momentum of a full swing, I wasn’t able to sever the tentacle in a single strike. Instead, I sawed at it, back and forth, until I was finally through. As the length of flesh snapped, I flung myself backward to roll in the opposite direction.

Coming to my feet, I turned to see just how close to death I’d come. The gaping maw of the beast was right behind me, a few more seconds and I’d have been just another meal.

Shuddering, I jogged a few feet further away, only now noticing the blood running down my chest. I’d torn at least one of my wounds open with those acrobatics, I’d have to be more careful If I wanted to last the fight.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I’d already lost a lot of blood tonight and even the incredible medicine we had access to could only help with that so much. Still, I’d achieved my goal and got its attention once again.

By now, the edges of its tentacle mass were looking pretty burnt from Linnea’s efforts. While the odd, slimy things seemed rather resistant to plasma, she was working her way through by sheer volume of fire.

I hoped she could keep it up without running out of ammo, it was a good thing she'd been mostly using sniper mode so far. Without saving ammo like that, she’d probably already be out.

I was dragged from my thoughts by the sight of two long tentacles shooting forward toward me. While they emerged from the mass at its base, they extended far further than the others I’d seen.

They must be how it shoves food into its mouth, I realized in horror. They were bracketing me on both sides, and I didn’t know if I could dodge both of them.

Deciding that even dodging one would be better than nothing, I dived to the right. One tentacle whooshed past to my left, while the other curled around my entire torso and pulled.

Once again, it dragged me screaming across the sand, even faster this time. Luckily, my arms were free, and I immediately began sawing away at the hunk of flesh around my chest.

It was thicker than the others I’d cut, though it wasn’t any tougher. Caught in my desperation, I barely noticed as I cut myself almost as much as I did it. A few more cuts wouldn’t matter if I failed to escape in time.

Even looking down at my chest, I could see the form of the creature rapidly approaching out of the corner of my eye. My desperation grew, and I hacked at the tentacle even harder, losing most of my rhythm in desperation.

Then my feet hit the base of its tentacle mass and my heart fell. I was only a little over halfway through the one holding me captive. Still, I continued my escape attempts, determined to keep trying until the very end.

Its maw loomed above me and it whipped the tentacle into the air, pulling me from the ground as it did so. For a long, terrifying moment, I was airborne and sailing toward my death.

Then there was a wet snapping sound, and I plunged back to the sand. Weakened by my cuts, the tentacle hadn’t been able to support my weight.

Desperate and hopeful in equal measures, I clawed myself to my feet and sprinted away from the Beast. Expecting to be grabbed again at any moment, I didn’t stop until I reached the water.

Gasping, I turned to see what had happened. The Beast was listing to one side, the mass supporting it burnt away. Linnea’s efforts had finally taken out its locomotion.

I sighed in relief, creeping over to her while giving the Beast a very wide birth. While it was far from dead, we were hopefully safe if it couldn’t reach us.

I found her looking tired and surrounded by empty ammo packs. “Great timing there,“ I said with a smile and a wave. “It would probably have caught me if you hadn’t crippled it when you did.”

“No worries,“ she smiled back while rummaging through her diminished pack. “Are we going to go for the kill? I’m nearly out of ammo, so I'll have to use yours if we do.”

I blinked in surprise before replying,“ You're welcome to it. It's pistol ammo, though, so I’m not sure it will be compatible.”

She shook her head in response. “They're rechargeable. Just plug yours into the base of one of my empties.”

Huh, neat, I thought with a grin. Letting her know I’d be a second, I moved back over to where I’d left my pack. Dragging it back, I pulled out one of my ammo packs and slotted it into the base of one of her larger versions.

Sure enough, the glowing indicator on the side of mine fell as hers rose. By the time mine was empty, I’d recharged half of a larger pack. That’ll work, I mused as I pulled the rest of mine out.

I wasn’t going to be stingy at a time like this, particularly when they were useless to me without my gun. By the time I was done, all of my ammo packs were empty and I’d recharged four of hers.

Just in time too, as she emptied her gun into the beast. Nodding to me, she said, “It’s tough, but I’m pretty sure I’m injuring it. I just hope this is going to be enough.”

I hoped the same thing as I turned to face the Beast. The once terrifying sight was now a little pitiful as it lay there covered in burns. A look at its eyes dispelled that illusion, however, as all they showed was a focused rage.

It almost looked like it was concentrating on us as its thrashing stilled. I’ve got a bad feeling about this, I thought. Then I felt it, my Psi Sense skill was picking something up. A growing feeling that was emanating from the Beast.

“Look out,“ I shouted even as I started lunging toward Linnea. Something exploded from the Beast just as I reached her, striking me as I pushed her away. A dark ball of energy struck me, plunging straight through my flesh as if it wasn’t there.

I barely noticed as I hit the ground, instead, my attention was drawn inward. The energy was straining my body, doing its best to tear my insides to pieces. My Toughness seemed to be of no help against this threat.

Instead, I focused on it, trying to visualize the energy being pushed from my body. I hoped that this is where my Will stat would be useful and, sure enough, I was able to slowly fight against the energy.

I could hear the crack of plasma fire in the distance, but I ignored it to focus on my fight. Inch by inch, I drove the energy from my body, even as it caused damage. And finally, after what felt like hours, my body was clear.

Groaning, I pulled myself into a sitting position to see what had happened. Linnea was standing directly in front of the Beast, firing into its face while screaming. A moment later, her gun clicked empty, and she slumped to the ground.

A System message drew my attention.

Combat Report

Outcome

Your companion killed Grand Lake Beast level 1

Rewards

You gain 250XP

Bloody hell, I thought as I read the report. It was only level one? Shared XPs only worth half, how could it be worth 500 at level 1?

I couldn’t help but think the Beast had been beyond what we should have been able to take down at our level. If it hadn’t been out of its element on the land, I doubted we would have had any chance.

Dragging myself up, I stumbled over to make sure Linnea was OK. “You alright?“ I asked as I reached the spot where she was slumped.

“Jared,“ she shouted as she looked up. “I thought the Beast had killed you. You were shaking horribly when the energy hit and then you went still.”

“Nope,“ I responded with a grin, “still alive somehow.” I was touched as I realized she’d probably charged the Beast out of anger at my death. In a way, it was lucky, it looked like she’d only been able to finish it off at point-blank range.

I could barely believe that it was finally over. We just had to stay here for the night and then we could finally return to the city in the morning.