Soren’s right, Rylan thought reluctantly as they ran, turning the corner around a towering, tree-like, bright-red coral, with the dull thumps of the chasing armadon behind them. This won’t end until either it’s dead... or we are.
Tamina seemed to have come to the same conclusion, as she suddenly dug her heels in the sand and spun around to face it. “If we’re going on the offensive we better do it now, before it builds up more of that flammable spit! Soren, I’ll get its attention, you harry it from behind!”
“Say no more!” Soren replied, jumping up and kicking off an old-pink coral to reverse his momentum before proceeding to run straight at the approaching armadon.
Rylan hesitantly slowed down. “What about me?”
Tamina already had her shield out, and waved her right hand at him dismissively before using it to draw her sword. “Stay back. We’ll handle this.”
Rylan frowned. Surely he could help somehow. He’d been practising with overcharging his Skill all morning, and while he had no idea how strong that actually made his Knife-Throwing, he felt like it should pack a decent punch.
On the other hand, he’d only recovered about a third of his mana, and he still felt the occasional twinge in his chest from the strain he’d put on his Skill.
He’d have to make each knife count.
While he came to a decision, Soren leapt onto the armadon in an admittedly graceful move, and actually ran a few steps over its backplates, rapier in hand.
The creature looked confused and angry about this, but before it could turn around, it was met by Tamina, who slashed at its head with her blade.
In response, the armadon opened its maw and lunged forward, but its teeth ended up only scratching noisily over her steel shield. It rose up slightly, and lashed out with one of its meaty paws. Despite the sheen of light that covered her shield, it still landed with a mighty clang, and Rylan expected her to be pushed back quite a bit. However, light flashed under her feet and she took only a single step back before coming to a halt again.
What Skill was that?
The armadon seemed surprised at her fortitude as well, but before it could lash out again, Soren slashed at one of its rear legs. Hissing angrily, it glanced back and swiped with its hefty tail, but the young noble sprang out of the way just in time.
The area they were fighting in was relatively wide, so Rylan drew one of his longer blades—a ten-inch single-bevelled filleting knife—and made use of the armadon’s distraction to move to its flank.
As soon as he was in position, he flipped the knife to grab it by the blade, activated his Skill and started manually pushing in mana until he had half a point in total humming in his weapon.
Interestingly, holding his knife by the blade actually seemed to help Rylan keep the mana stable as the glow around his weapon brightened and started to flutter. While his Skill protested a little at the sudden rough treatment, he was still able to complete the overcharge. The moment his blade’s glow reached the highest intensity he’d previously achieved, Rylan took a quick step forward and whipped it at the creature’s flank.
Unfortunately, the knife was heavier and longer than what he was used to throwing, and ended up spinning through the air slower as a result. It couldn’t quite complete the half-spin Rylan needed in the short ten feet to his target before it smacked into the creature’s side with a meaty thud.
He was pleasantly surprised to see the knife still manage to cut through the armadon’s armoured plates. However, due to the poor angle it landed under, it didn’t seem to have actually penetrated the hide underneath deep enough to draw blood.
In fact, the creature didn’t even respond, keeping its eyes on Tamina as she stepped back to avoid its attempt to grasp the side of her shield in its maw.
Swearing under his breath, Rylan drew a straight-edged boning knife with a six-inch blade—more the length he was used to—and moved closer to the armadon’s face.
He’d have to hit a softer target if he wanted to make a difference. Once more, he grasped his knife by the blade and fed it lots of mana, despite the discomfort in his chest.
This time, he aimed for a beady black eye. Waving his blade around, he tried to wait for an opportune moment, when the armadon would hold still for a second, but it kept moving. Finally, he could tell he was starting to lose grip on the mana invested in his Skill, so he just flung his knife, hoping to score a lucky hit.
The medium-sized knife soared through the air, spinning the exact right amount to land tip forward. However, the armadon had moved, and instead of its eye, the blade hit the scales on its cheek right below. The sharp knife left a bloody scratch before it sailed off, ending up boring itself into a pale-yellow coral.
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This time, the armadon did respond, hissing and turning its head towards Rylan. He quickly stepped back, but Tamina immediately punished the creature’s lack of attention by lashing out with her sword and drawing another angry red stripe on its face.
Rylan couldn’t help but notice that her sword never glowed when she did. It seemed she didn’t have Sword-Fighting yet.
Tamina kept her eyes on the creature, her brows furrowed, but still addressed him. “Fine, you can help; just don’t hit me!”
Rylan nodded grimly, even though she wasn’t looking. He honestly wasn’t too worried about friendly fire; his aim wasn’t bad, its beady black eyes were just too small. And moreover, they were constantly on the move.
Hitting an eye would take not just a great throw, but moreover, incredible luck. But what else could he aim for?
He fingered the handles of his knives as he hesitated, waiting for some kind of opening to present itself.
Its hide is too thick on the sides and top. Its belly would be better, but it hasn’t really reared up or anything yet. And even if I managed to hit that, it probably wouldn’t do much. There’s gotta be somewhere soft and painful I can target...
He watched as Soren darted in with a series of rapid steps and carved another line in the armadon’s hindleg. His companions seemed to be holding themselves well enough, but the creature didn’t appear very hurt either. If this was going to come down to a battle of endurance, he wasn’t sure who’d end up holding the longer piece of bamboo.
How big were their Mana Pools? And how long until the creature could use its fiery breath again?
His attention was drawn to the armadon’s teeth as it once more twisted its head to the side and tried to latch onto the edge of Tamina’s shield, probably in an attempt to wrench it loose. He hadn’t noticed last time—perhaps because the beast had been on fire—but its teeth were glowing, and not with the white of regular mana, but a bright, angry red that lit up its whole mouth.
Rylan’s eyes widened, and as Tamina deftly evaded the attempt before punishing it by bashing her glowing shield into its snout, he decisively took out Zelim’s paring knife.
It was his shortest blade, so he’d have to move a bit closer to compensate for its faster spin, but that was exactly what he was planning to do anyway.
He’d probably get only one chance at this regardless.
Waving his blade around as he charged it, he cautiously crept closer, keeping an eye out for an opportunity.
The armadon got distracted by Soren again, and glanced back to lash out with its tail at the young noble harrying its hindlegs and flanks, so Rylan had to grit his teeth and wait for Tamina to draw its attention again.
The mana surrounding his blade flickered and trembled as his Skill protested, but Rylan held on, waiting for the right moment.
Finally, the creature turned back to the front, twisted its head to the side, and opened its mouth.
Fast as a mist-eel, Rylan whipped his hand forward and hurled the glowing blade. It flew through the air, completing its half-spin just before it disappeared into the armadon’s gullet. With a solid thwack, it buried itself into the creature’s soft palate.
This time, the armadon’s reaction was immediate. It aborted its attack, drawing back its head like a fogturtle trying to hide in its buoyant shell.
It kept working its jaw, as if trying to dislodge the blade, blood hissing as it dripped onto its glowing teeth. However, the knife was embedded firmly into its flesh and it quickly grew agitated, then panicked when Tamina landed a clean stab into its shoulder, drawing blood.
“Don’t let it get away!” Tamina yelled as it started clumsily backing up.
Soren was way ahead of her, however, and made use of the opportunity to sink his rapier deep into the hollow of the armadon’s right knee.
It roared angrily, a sound that halfway turned into a choking cough as more blood sprayed from its half-open mouth, then it turned and started to flee, limping slightly with its right hindleg.
Tamina immediately dashed after it, and Soren, after ducking and rolling out of the way, followed suit. Rylan scrambled to scoop up his filleting knife and free his boning knife from the yellow coral, not willing to risk losing the precious tools, then ran after them as fast as he could.
Trying to catch up was good practice for the Running Skill, he reckoned.
Up ahead, Soren and Tamina were harrying it from both sides as it scrambled through the maze-like reef. The creature didn’t make it easy, however. In what appeared to be a growing panic, it started smacking into corals left and right, the sharp structures chipping off pieces of its protective plates before they collapsed in its wake, hindering Rylan’s companions.
Finally, it ran into a piece of coral that was just a bit too sturdy for its shoulder. It shook, but didn’t budge, and the creature was skid sideways across the sand as it was brought to a halt.
Soren closed the distance with a series of series of fast, rhythmic steps, and went for a stab in the neck. However, the armadon twisted its head to face him at the same time. Rylan—who’d managed to get pretty close—spotted a yellow mist welling up in its bleeding mouth, illuminated by its glowing teeth.
His heart jolted, and without time to think, he did the only thing he could think of: he accelerated his steps and dove.
Soren let out an ‘oomph’ as Rylan speared into his side. Thanks to the floaty fog, Soren was easily lifted off his feet and pushed aside, his strike interrupted.
Their combined momentum carried the two of them into a tangle to the side, right as bright blue fire blasted through the space Soren had just occupied.
Unfortunately, while Rylan’s tackle had delayed the inevitable, they were not out of harm’s way.
As the armadon started to turn its head towards them, however, Rylan looked up just in time to see Tamina to literally come bursting through the flames, the white glow of her Mana Shell wreathed in blue tongues of fire as she bashed the armadon’s head back to the other side with her shield.
Then, before it could recover, she jammed her sword into its open mouth, straight through the soft palate, into its brain.
It was well known that while the spirit was the seat of consciousness, it was the brain that controlled one’s body. Thus, it came as no surprise when the armadon’s eyes rolled back into its head and it started to twitch, the blue flames that were still streaming from its mouth quickly petering out before they died down completely.
A moment later, Rylan felt a by-now-familiar sense of presence descend. Except it wasn’t focused on him but on the armadon. Faint wisps of blue light seemed to stream from the creature’s chest, before coalescing in front of them into a collection of glowing Cubes that hovered for a moment, then fell down and landed gently on the sand.
They’d done it. They’d killed a Malequint.
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: Unnatural Laws
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: Undivided Worlds
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