Chapter 28: A New Foe

Chapter 28: A New Foe

“I’m not keen on trying to swim,” Yanily said from beside Hiral.

“And I don’t think it’ll drain anytime soon,” Hiral said, watching the rain pitter-pattering into the surface of the newly formed lake. “Is there a way around it?”

“Probably?” Vix said. “But it’s always only been a path before. Maybe through the woods somewhere?”

“Without the sun to act as a reference point, we risk getting completely lost,” Wule said. “No guarantees we’ll find our way back to the path, or to the dungeon.”

“Can’t we follow the edge of the lake around until we find the path on the other side?” Left offered.

“Assuming it’s actually a lake,” Lonil said.

“It is,” Hiral said, crouching down by the waterline. “Look, the water isn’t moving, like a river would. For now, it’s all just right here.”

“You know, I don’t think we’re that far from the dungeon, if this is the part of the path I think it is,” Nivian said. “Maybe another mile past where the path rises on the other side.”

“And how far is that from here?” Hiral asked, trying to remember this part from earlier.

“Not that far, on a dry, sunny day,” Nivian said. “Five hundred feet, maybe.”

“Still don’t want to swim it,” Yanily said.

“We’re going around, like Left suggested,” Seeyela finally stated. “And since he’s the one who came up with the idea, we’ll go left in his honor.”

The others chuckled slightly, then started around the edge of the lake, the water on their right.

“Hiral, keep an eye on the woods,” Seeyela said. “I’m sure Troblins would love to find us with our backs against the water and nowhere to go.”

“Sure,” Hiral said, though he motioned to Left for the double to join him for a moment while they walked.

“Yes?” Left asked.

“I’ll watch the woods, you keep an eye on the water,” Hiral suggested.

“You think there might be something in the newly formed lake,” Left said, and it wasn’t a question.

“I have no idea,” Hiral answered. “Better safe than sorry.”This chapter's initial release occurred on the n0vell--Bjjn site.

“Understood,” Left said, making his way back to the front of the line as the group moved.

As they walked, they found it wasn’t just trees on one side of them, with many of the mammoth trunks extending up from within the lake itself. The water rippled as the rain fell, but so far, nothing stirred on land or from within the dark depths. The Light Darts wound their way above the group and through the trees, tossing shadows as they passed behind branches and trunks, but didn’t reveal anything looking to make lunch out of the group.

Around thirty minutes later, Left called out from the front, “I see the path.”

“That wasn’t so bad,” Yanily said as everybody moved out from the woods and back onto the path, which continued to the left before vanishing into the water a few feet away on the right. “There wasn’t even a...”

SPLASH. Something hit the water directly out from them. Something big, as large ripples washed up on the shore.

“You had to say something,” Balyo said, lifting her spear and pointing it toward the water.

“We’re not staying to find out what that was,” Seeyela said, another SPLASH sounding off to their right. “Let’s go. Dungeon, come on, come on.”

The group all gave one last look over their shoulders, then continued up the path away from the lake, the mud squelching and slipping with every step. While the rain wasn’t as heavy as it had been at the storm-wall, it was constant and never-ending, turning the ground into a quagmire of sucking sludge.

“What do you think that was, back there at the lake?” Yanily asked Hiral a few minutes later, the water long gone from their small pool of light.

“Why are you asking me?” Hiral asked just as a branch high above them and off to their left snapped.

Hiral didn’t even get a chance to look in response to the sound before more branches started snapping, faster and faster, closer and closer to the ground, as if something was falling. Then a muffled thump hit the ground somewhere off to their side.

“She always gets the easy jobs,” Yanily grunted, back on his feet. “C’mon, Hiral. We’ve gotta distract it again.”

“I’ve got... another idea. Just let me test something out,” Hiral said as he remembered how Balyo had hit the crystal monster before. If that kind of blow was enough to put the lizard down, they’d be fine. But, on the other hand, if it wasn’t enough to finish it off, they needed to already be thinking about the next move—the spines and scales simply looked to be that tough. “Just make sure you aren’t between me and the lizard.”

“Uh... sure... whatever,” Yanily said, no time to spare as the others launched themselves at the lizard to keep its attention while Balyo swung around to the opposite side and began to gather solar energy in her spear.

“Seeyela, can you give me a couple of those Gravity Wells right above it?” Hiral shouted at the woman.

“Why? It didn’t work before,” she said.

“I know, but I need it to be lighter,” Hiral said. “Trust me on this, okay? Right, I want you to hit in the chin at same time Balyo attacks. Got it? As hard as you can.”

“I don’t think it has a glass jaw, but sure,” Right said, also focusing his solar energy in the Meridian Lines of his right fist.

“Left, I need you to get Lonil out of there,” Hiral said.

“Already on it,” the tattooed double shouted, darting in and narrowly avoiding a swinging claw, then grabbing Lonil’s hand and dragging him out of harm’s way.

So far, so good.

As soon as the red Gravity Wells began to appear above the lizard’s back, Hiral ducked around behind the tree he’d pulled himself toward before.

“I hope this works,” he muttered, bracing himself against the trunk as best he could with his right arm and leg, then extending his left hand toward the lizard. Now he just needed to wait for the right moment.

Light Darts zipped in and struck the lizard like stinging insects, their energy flaring with each impact but doing little more than heating the tough scales. A wild slash of the front claw managed to catch Fitch in the thigh, and the man staggered back with blood running down his leg from the three gashes.

“Balyo? How long?” Nivian shouted, legs spread as he fought against the lizard trying to thrash its head around like it had with Lonil. His shield gave another desperate creak at the same time Vix ducked back in for another barrage.

SNAP. The shield cracked in two, Nivian barely getting his arm out before he lost it to the lizard’s teeth, while the monster whipped its head to the side. The sudden jerking movement caught Vix completely unprepared, and the batting blow hurled him off to the side to crash into the bushes.

“Ready!” Balyo finally said, her solar energy peaking and her spear glowing like an earth-bound sun.

“Right!” Hiral shouted at the same time.

“On it!” Right shouted back, dashing in, grabbing Nivian’s shoulder with one hand, and hauling him back while sweeping his right hand down, under, and up.

Glowing energy trailed the Meridian Lines of Right’s punch, the force of it carving a divot in the mud at his feet, while Balyo set herself and lunged forward, her spearhead suddenly bigger than she was.

Now! Hiral shouted in his own head, flooding his Rune of Attractionwith as much solar energy as he could.

The two titanic blows hit the lizard at almost exactly the same time, Right’s uppercut catching it square in the jaw as the lizard’s head swung back from hitting Vix and lifting its front half from the ground with the aid of the Gravity Wells. Balyo’s spear strike simultaneously slammed into it from the side, crunching scales and spines with a horrific grinding sound, but still not quite punching right through.

But, there, hanging in the air, Hiral’s Rune of Attraction latched on to the lizard. If the monster had been on the ground, or if Hiral hadn’t had himself braced against the tree, he probably would’ve shot straight toward a spiny end. Instead, however, the lizard lurched through the air, twisting from the impacts of the two blows, to collide heavily with the tree right in front of Hiral.

The entire five-foot-wide trunk shook from the crash, something snapping as the lizard’s tail and back legs bent awkwardly, and Hiral toppled backwards.

Still, thanks to his 29 modified Dex, he was back on his feet a second later. He rounded the tree opposite the twitching tail to find the beast pinned to the trunk by its own spines. The front legs still lashed out and clawed for purchase, but hanging the way it was, it wouldn’t be able to pull itself free.

“Wow,” Seena said as most of the others rushed over, though Cal and Wule were moving to look after the wounded.

“The belly scales don’t look as strong as the others,” Seeyela pointed out. “Balyo, you got enough for one more?”

“You bet I do,” the woman said, setting her feet and gathering her solar energy again.

Six seconds later, her energy peaked, and she drove her powerful spear straight into the lizard’s exposed stomach. Unlike the scales and spines lining the top of it, these softer scales put up almost no resistance, and Balyo’s spear nearly cut the lizard in two.

“Good job, everybody,” Seeyela said. “Let’s make sure...” She trailed off as another lizard’s bellowing croaks echoed from somewhere deeper in the woods.

Then a second. A third. A fourth. A fifth.

From all around them.