Book 3: Chapter 41: Training

Book 3: Chapter 41: Training

It had been almost two weeks since George, Geraldine, and the Church of Carcinization had joined our ranks.

After my repeated reassurance that I didn’t mind if they continued worshiping crabs as the Church of Carcinization—as long as it did not run in opposition to our goals, of course—Joel had taken to running their daily crab meditations on my shore.

As for George and Geraldine, they had spent most of the last fortnight fishing, and they’d caught a surprising amount of species. Just as quick as the seasonal fish had arrived, their numbers started to dwindle. You could still catch one here and there, but the variety of fish caught from the rockwall had drastically increased, the other species returning after most of the blue fish had left.

There was still no sign of Rocky, but that was probably for the best. The cantankerous little bugger had a fair bit of self reflection to do, and his absence was mostly unnoticed. Snips had her claws full; most of her days were spent being praised by the Church of Carcinization. As I watched her showing them her wonderful form, I smiled.

“This will never not be funny,” Maria said, smiling at the five humans scuttling sideways into the ocean after Snips, ‘clacking’ their hands together all the way.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“We can hear you!” Joel called, scowling but still retaining his crab-like posture.

“Do you speak crab?” Maria asked, turning to me.

“I’m ninety-nine percent sure he called me handsome.”

Jess giggled, blowing bubbles from her submerged mouth.

A loud crack like far-off thunder tore through the air. I turned southward, gazing at the distant mountains. “Should we go check up on them?”

“Oh, I’d love to! It’s always entertaining!”

“Especially when Claws is involved.”

Maria leaped to her feet. “That boom was probably her! Let’s go!”

“Coming, Snips?” I asked as I stretched.

Soon, she replied with a quiet hiss before submerging back beneath the ocean’s water, only her eye visible.

I smiled and blew her a kiss. Though I knew she didn’t care for their praise, she had been more than accommodating for Joel and the rest of his followers, always willing to join their meditations.

With Maria’s hand in mine, we ran across the sand and leaped right over the rivermouth. I stole a glance at her midair, only to find she was staring back. She poked her tongue out at me, only turning away to spot her landing. No sooner than we hit the sand, we were off again, heading for the southern mountains. We reached the forest in record time, not slowing as we dashed between trunks and over grass. Another boom came, this time close enough for me to feel who it was.

Light streamed through the forest ahead of us, and as we emerged into the sunlight, we skidded to a stop.

Roger had cleared a section of forest. Even the stumps were nowhere to be seen, completely uprooted and replaced by a section of tamped ground as large as a football field. Twenty or so people were scattered around the edges, intently watching the match taking place. In the center of the field, Borks hunched down and launched forward.

Roger stood firm, and as the maw of Borks’s hellhound form opened to clamp down on his torso, he cut diagonally through the air with one arm. A sharp blade of chi flew from him, and Borks bit down on it.

Boom!

Air shot outward, reverberating in my core when it struck me.

The attack blew Borks back. He skidded to a stop on the sand.

“See how he neutralized my attack?” Roger instructed the surrounding cultivators. “Though I didn’t use my full strength, that would have cut most of you in two. Brigadier Borks nullified it by channeling chi into his jaws and biting down on it. With enough control, you can do that with your bodies.”

As it sailed far upward and slightly north west, all I could do was stare, my jaw slack and expectations exceeded. When the world’s essence flowed in toward us, I had to cut my amazement short. Faster than ever before, it billowed up and slammed into Claws. Knowing what to expect, I slung chi from my core, surrounding Claws in a protective bubble.

The world rushed into her abdomen, filling it to the brim.

I tried to yell for everyone to get back, but my mouth couldn’t move fast enough. Her core detonated, the breakthrough’s excess chi rushing out and slamming into my protective bubble. Where Roger’s chi was bladelike and Peter’s radiated heat like a blazing hearth, Corporal Claws’s was electric. It arced over the inside of my shielding, seeking a way out. When it succeeded, my panic surged through me. Barbs of it zapped through my protective shielding. I only had a fraction of a second to react before it shot out, and not knowing what effect it would have if it struck any of the weaker cultivators, I made an executive decision.

I turned my shielding into a funnel, aiming it for something it could travel through into the ground. Uncountable fingers of electricity formed a single bolt, and with a crack that made my ears ring, it shot into the makeshift lightning rod.

There was only one problem with the whole plan: I was the lightning rod.

It sent me flying backward and I tried to curl my limbs into a protective ball, but Claws’s power still lingered, my muscles nonresponsive. Suddenly, my flight came to an abrupt end, and I blinked, my vision blurry as I turned to look at my saviors.

“Are you okay?” Maria asked, not at all amused. “Are you hurt?”

“Frack me,” Barry laughed, entirely too amused. “What did I just stumble upon?”

I groaned as I cracked my neck and tested my limbs. “I think I’m okay...” I rubbed my eyes. “Claws. Are you—”

A loud chirp was the only warning I had. She landed on my chest a moment later.

“Are you okay, girl?” I asked, reaching up to support her.

She had tears in her eyes, her lower lip quivering as she stared up at me.

“I’m fine,” I said, smoothing the fur atop her head. “Barry, are there any villages to the north west?”

“You mean in the direction that Claws just launched a lightning-covered meteor?”

“Yeah.” I opened my jaw, loosening the muscles there and causing my ears to pop. “That’s exactly what I mean.”

“Nope,” he replied, still sounding all too entertained. “It’s only forest and wilderness.”

“Good. I was worried someone would have to race off and try to catch it.” I returned my attention to Claws. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Yes, she chirped, still giving me a guilty look that broke my heart.

“I’m totally fine. I promise.” I scratched behind her ear, reassuring her.

“Okay,” Maria said. “Now that we know everyone is safe...” She picked up Claws, holding her by the underarms and lifting her high. “What the frack was that, Claws? That was so cool!”

Claws shimmied her shoulders, unable to suppress her joy at being praised. Maria pulled her back into a hug, my otter pal melting in her arms.

I smiled at them. “Agreed. Did you know it would do that, Claws?”

She shrugged coyly, letting out a mysterious trill and wiggling her fuzzy little eyebrows at me from atop Maria’s arms.

“Regardless of your intent, that was a crazy breakthrough, Claws.” I wrapped my arms around Maria’s waist, pulling them both into a hug. “Well done.”

Cinnamon leaped up to my shoulder, joining in the cuddle puddle. Claws revealing her needle-like teeth with a grin as she shimmied again, jubilation radiating from her core.