88 The Amalgamation

"Eira! Look!" Eden yells, and I look up to see the gray blob shambling toward me.

The blob looks to be an Amalgamation of various body parts being glued together by the gray substance. The only thing that has remained consistent is the four arms that still contain the embedded eyeballs. I look behind me where the manilla envelope and its papers still sit splayed across the floor before turning my attention back toward the blobby Amalgamation.

'If that thing runs over those papers they'll be indecipherable, and all I've read at this point is a few log entries.'

"Pick up the papers, and don't try to help until you've got them all!" I shout to the two behind me.

"R-Right!" Eden replies with a slight stammer.

The Amalgamation tries to say something, but nothing except bubbles come up from its depths. With a crack, the shell of the scythe breaks, and I swing it sending a blood slice toward one of the arms in hopes of removing it. When the blood slice comes into contact with the arm a ripple runs through the goo, and nothing occurs.

'Not good! I might have to get closer.'

The Amalgamation lurches forward faster than I thought possible as it tries to smother me within its sticky goo. With Eden and Aponi still behind me trying to recover the papers, I stand my ground and brace the scythe similar to how one might brace a spear in order to keep it at a distance. The Amalgamation reaches toward the scythe blade as if it plans to rip it from my grasp.

'Change!'

The end of the scythe cracks, and it changes from a war scythe to a more traditional variation. With the unexpected change in the scythe shape, the arms of the Amalgamation just miss. Seeing an opportunity, I raise the scythe high at an angle just above my head and swipe at one of the Amalgamation's hands, and to my surprise, it intentionally faces one of its eyes toward the scythe blade.

**Ding…**

My eyes go wide, "What!?"

The scythe dings against the eyeball like it just hit a wall of iron. Something resembling a laugh bubbles from the depths of the Amalgamation as its hand shuts upon the blade of the scythe.

"No! You can't have it!" I shout.

However, despite my protest, four hands grasp the scythe, and it is torn from my grasp.

The Amalgamation finally manages stutters, "F-F-False G-God."

'This is going to be hard to explain. This thing just needs to shut up!'

The Amalgamation turns the scythe around as it grips it with a laugh. The sentient scythe protests wildly by sending out spikes of blood, impaling the hands of the Amalgamation. It grunts angrily at the scythe's actions and slings it across the room and into the mud where the Crawlers were eating soil a while ago.

The scythe sinks deep into the mud as I prepare my claws.

"Eira!"

"Ehh! Heavy!" I drop to my knee under the strength of the four fists combined. Leaving two fists to hold me down against the concrete, the Amalgamation raises it's other two, preparing to strike me directly while I'm pinned.

'Please let this work.'

Releasing one hand from the tomahawk and with some fear that the bone in my arm might snap, I hold my hand toward the location of the scythe. I stimulate the blood dried around its shaft and pull it toward me like a missile. I can hear the blade crack as it shifts back into its previous war scythe form. As the Amalgamation's fist is about to smash into me the scythe crashes into one of the arms that is locking me to the floor. With half of the weight off, I roll to the side as the fist comes down onto the concrete.

The scythe tumbles to the ground, and I let out a long breath of relief, 'I'm so glad that worked. I need to summon something, but my mind is still groggy so I'd really rather not.'

"Eira, are you okay!?" Eden asks as she runs up next to me.

"Yeah, did you finish? I really want to kill this thing."

Before Eden can answer, the Amalgamation abruptly lurches forward, and in the center of its body, a mouth full of fangs is exposed. I jump to the side, thinking it will surely follow me, but to my shock, it completely ignores me and instead tries to scoop Eden into its maw.

Eden's eyes go wide as she raises her saber and swipes at its arms.

I hold my breath, seeing Eden about to be enveloped, "Eden, t-that won't… Eh?"

Positive that the saber, like the scythe, would have minimal effectiveness I'm shocked when the saber slices through one of the Amalgamation arms. The Amalgamation snaps back in shock, and Eden takes the opportunity to roll away.

'Did Eden level or something why I was incapacitated!? No, no, I don't think I was in there that long. That means it must be the saber, but why did Eden's saber do so much damage?' I look toward the floor noticing the spasming arm, 'Wait! The hand! The eye!'

I drop the tomahawk and kick it back to Aponi then wave my hand and yell, "Eden throw me the saber!"

Without asking questions, Eden immediately tosses the saber toward me, and to my dismay, it flips edge side first.

'You're gonna owe me for that throw!'

Reaching out, I grab the saber by its blade, slicing the palm of my right hand. I grab the saber's hilt with my left and charge toward the hand as the Amalgamation starts to spread a puddle of goo toward the hand. The two of us arrive at the same time, as it begins to attempt to reabsorb the palm I stab down. I grimace, seemingly thinking myself too late, but something suddenly chops into the Amalgamation's goo.

"Go, Eira, stab the eye!" I hear Aponi shout.

Continuing my stab, the saber skewers the hand and the eye within pops like a balloon. The Amalgamation lets out a shriek that could rival Eden's banshee wail.

Aponi and I take several steps back as the Amalgamation also retreats toward one side of the room, 'Why is the saber so effective… Is it… Is it because it's partially made of my blood?'

I turn to Aponi. "Aponi, hold out your tomahawk."

"Huh? Uh, yeah, okay," she replies.

Aponi holds her tomahawk out, and I put a shell of my own blood around the head of the tomahawk.

"I think that might help you fight… probably." I shrug.

Aponi looks at me a bit frustrated, "Again, with the probably!? Are you sure or not!?"

"If I were sure I wouldn't have added the probably.... Also, we've had this conversation before! Just let me add 'probably' if I want!"

"Save it, you two!" Eden shouts uncharacteristically while stepping in between us, "Eira, I need a weapon."

"Here use the saber; you're far better with it than I am. Cut the arms off, and Aponi and I will go for the eyes." Eden nods nervously as I hold my hand toward the scythe and attempt to pull it. The scythe reacts and immediately begins to cartwheel toward me forcing me to dodge out of the way as it hits the ground next to me. "I should probably get better about controlling its trajectory."

Now with only three arms, the Amalgamation starts slamming its fists into the ground, breaking the concrete below.

I pick up the scythe and point, "Go!" I yell.

The three of us begin sprinting toward the Amalgamation as it rends the concrete from the floor. The rubble sinks into its gooey body and suddenly bullets of stone begin firing from its goo with staggering velocity. One stone smashes into my head as the shield activates, sending a red shimmer rippling over my body. Still, the force of the impact was great enough to make it through and cause a trickle of blood to drip from my forehead. This stone is followed by dozens that smash into the mana shield as I take a quick glance at Aponi and Eden who have no mana shield.

"You two just stop and crouch low!"

Aponi stops immediately and catches Eden's arm who seemingly has tunnel-vision. Eden suddenly seems to have a realization and the two crouch covering their faces with their arms. I leap in the pair's path to intercept the stones, 'I'm gonna need a few drinks after this.'

I hold the scythe vertical as blood begins to pour from my wound and the scythe's body, "Stay behind me and don't get up until I say so!" I yell.

A thin layer of blood begins to form into a rectangle or, more specifically, a half-cylinder with the scythe as it's center.

'Glad I practiced with that cage.'

The stones blast away pieces of the thin layer of blood as I continue trying to focus and form it until it is a shape that vaguely resembles something akin to a tower shield.

With the stones beating against the makeshift shield, I glance at the two bloody girls, "Alright, stay below the top of the shield and get ready to charge forward."

Someone hits my shoulder, "Eira, look!" Eden yells.

"Huh?" I look over to see the last person I expected, ��Is that Sam?"

I glance back to see Aponi shaking her head vigorously, "No! That thing doesn't have any eyes; it's just another one of those things, but more importantly, look behind him!"

Behind the impostor Sam runs just over a half dozen others of what I assume are also Sam's clones except at various ages. The smallest looks as if they're a chubby five-year-old, while the teenage Sams are all overweight, and then the older ones are all decently muscular.

"So many!? Was he not taken by the Brutes!?" As debris continues to crash against the hastily assembled shield, I swing my head, "Change of plan, we are going to run around the big Amalgamation and take out the Sams before going for the big guy. We can't let them join with the Amalgamation."

"Eira…" Aponi stops mid-sentence, and nods, "Fine, but can't you make the shield a little taller?!"

I look at her and scowl, "Do you know how much blood I'm already using here!? Not to mention how awkward carrying and using a shield that is over a foot taller than myself would be! Anyway, none of you can use blood magic well enough for this, so who's fault is it in the end? Now go!"

With the Amalgamation in the center, we begin rotating awkwardly. I make a small slit in the shield where I can see the Amalgamation body as extended, ripping more and more concrete from the floor.

"V-v-v-vampires!" the young Sams yell with a high excited voice in unison.

"V-v-vampire girls!" the teenage Sams yelp with a prepubescent crack to their voice.

"V-vampire woman!" the adult Sams giggle with a deep voice and a smug smile.

Eden shakes her head, "Goddess, please forgive Sam." she murmurs.

Reaching the gaggle of Sams, Aponi immediately begins to chop into them furiously. As the pieces of Sams begin to fall to the floor, Eden comes up behind and begins impaling the palms of each of them. I raise the tower shield as high as I can exposing my feet to the projectiles, but guarding the two behind me so they can fight off the impostors.

"P-playing h-h-hard to get I-I seeeee." some of the Sams chuckle as they try to embrace Aponi, Eden, and I.

Abruptly someone embraces me from the back, and I look over to see an eyeless teenage Sam move to whisper in my ear, "Will you do me the honor, future Mrs.Trixie Bloodsong Abramson…"

With my free hand, I reach into the teenage Sam's throat and slam him to the ground. With my heel, I stomp his hand popping the eyeball within his palm. "Sam! Just wait!" I scream.

Abruptly, a section of the shield collapses and allows me to catch a glimpse of the five-year-old Sam stumbling toward the Amalgamation, "I d-d-don't really l-l-like vampires." he stutters.

'No!'

Rubble again starts to pound half of my body, but instead of repairing the shield, I glance at the broken piece laying upon the floor and then the two bloody girls fighting the Sam's behind me. I pull the blood on the surface of Aponi and Eden's skin and add it to the broken section of the shield. In the midst of battle, the two don't seem to notice and I then change the mixture into something resembling a small chain with a makeshift harpoon on one end. Wrapping the end of the chain around my wrist, I grab the harpoon with my free hand and launch it toward the little Sam.

'Go! Go! Please!'

The young Sam leaps toward the Amalgamation, but the harpoon pierces his calf just before he makes it.

"Yes! Yes! A miracle!" I laugh loudly, "Now get over here!"

With a harsh yank of the chain, the young Sam is pulled across the room. He slides in the gray goo that now covers much of the room, and I don't stop him, but instead allow him to fall between Aponi and Eden where they finish him off.

"We did it, Eira! I think that's all of them… They're pretty easy since they basically just ran at us."

I sigh loudly while using the chain and harpoon to reform the shield, "Yeah, well, I guess there's a bright side to everything. Now get ready!"

"Okay!" the two say before taking a crouching position behind me.

**Bang! Bang! Bang!**

As we move closer, the force and frequency of the stones increase, causing me to struggle to keep the shield from crumbling.

"Y-y-you are the i-i-impostor!" the Amalgamation roars.

I roll my eyes, "Get ready!"

The two nod rapidly.

When we are close enough to hear the gurgle of the creature, I redistribute the blood of the shield, shooting blood spikes through the Amalgamation's body. It shrieks, causing my eardrums to feel as if they might burst.

"Go!" I shout.

Aponi and Eden dart from behind what little is left of the shield as I maneuver the blood to form around the scythe making something reminiscent of a giant stake. I stab it forward through the maw of the Amalgamation. Despite everything, the thing keeps firing stones as my mana shield begins to show signs of shattering. However, the big difference now is it seems to have a focus on me alone and no longer pays any attention to Aponi and Eden.

The Amalgamation shrieks as one of its arms falls to the floor, and Aponi brings her tomahawk down on it with a pop as the eye buried within bursts.

"Aponi, another!" Eden yells as a second arm falls to the ground with a plop.

However, suddenly my shield shatters as particles of red glisten and sparkle before drifting away. With no mana shield, I raise one of my arms to protect my eyes as the stones begin to embed themselves into my exposed skin.

'This really hurts!' As I'm about to raise the scythe to attempt to reconstruct the shield, the world goes quiet.

"Eh?" I look to the side where Aponi's tomahawk sit's embedded into a gray palm.

Turning my attention to the Amalgamation, it spits out one last stutter of words, "K-k-kill G-God."

**Boom!**

The Amalgamation explodes like a water balloon, sending the three of us sliding across the room. With all the gray goo, our momentum doesn't break until we crash into the wall.

['Union of Palms' Slain - 40% Contribution - 96 Essence Acquired]