Riftside 3 - Chapter 15

“Slow it!” I called, watching the Steel Scrambler loom behind Wade, the bottom of its carapace was higher than the top of his head. It raised a claw to crush or snap the man in two, its six legs punching into the ground and shaking it with each step. “Death comes hungry,” Lan muttered.

“I’m always hungry,” Roq said.

“Forge Anchor.”

Roq glowed and I slammed him into the ground as Eryn used her ‘Snipe’ and I heard Predator’s Patience charging up.

Barabbas’ loosed the first shot, narrowly missing an eyestalk, the arrow exploding against the top of the monster’s shell instead. 

Steelhusk roots rose from the ground to trap a leg, but the giant crab simply freed itself as if it was nothing, ripping the roots and the piece of earth they were in out of the ground.

“Crap,” I said. 

The Scrambler struck, and right as it did, an Earth Wall rose behind Wade. 

The claw cracked into it and held just barely. For a second, before the monster crashed through with its entire body.

A Flame Trap burst upward, but if it did anything more than warm its belly, I couldn’t tell. The flames were read, so it had to be Jessica.

“Fly!” Arclight said.

Eryn’s all-metal arrow trailed blue sparks, showing she’d activated Prism Arrow. Halfway to the monster, the arrow split into three. One struck the left eye-stalk, destroying it. The other two hit the front of its ‘face’, piercing it above its mandibles, but must have missed its brain. 

With a horrifying roar, the monster scrambled sideways, lifting its right claw to cover the remaining eye, blocking a Fireball.

That bought Wade time to pull ahead, but the smaller and numerous Steel Scuttlers were spreading out across the entire field.

“Garret, Felix, take the left side. Shay, Ahsan, the right!” I ordered. “Knut, get the crab!” 

If we allowed the swarm of Scuttlers to surround us and get to the backline, they’d tear through them like they were nothing. 

“Hammer to the Face!” Roq roared as Knut charged with a battle cry. “Let’s end the fight here and now, ensuring I get the killing blow.”

“No. We need to test how powerful it is on other monsters first.”

I followed Knut as the mages let loose. The air crackled and roared as Lightning, Fire, yellow and red, Wind, Water, and Earth spells washed, crashed, slammed, and burst against the Scrambler, but did nothing more than pit its armor, even at the joints.

“Its resistances are too high!” Nabeeh said.

“We need something to crack its shell,” Jeff replied. 

“Nabeeh. Remind them my name is Roq,” Roq said. “Not something.”

Wade was still screaming at the top of his lungs as he sprinted past Knut.

“Good job,” I called with a grin.

“Damn youuuu!” he replied, swiping out a smaller crossbow as he passed me.

Then Knut jumped, using his ability to leap into the air, soaring up to bypass the Scramblers defensive claw. But with a speed worthy of a horse’s kick, it snapped its claw out, back-clawing Knut on his shield and knocking him away.

He flew through the air towards me. Instead of trying to catch him, I stepped away and he fell into a roll, but then was already running in a heartbeat. 

“Good hit!” he called, as if he’d gotten punched in a sparring match.

“Crazy northerner,” I muttered and activated Smash. Roq started glowing a bright golden, illuminating me as if I was the second coming of…well, someone.

“Armor Break.”

A red glow joined in.

“Let’s get a crab leg for dinner.”

As I got close, the Scrambler spotted me, holding its defensive claw further out to protect it from our back line, and it raised its left claw, preparing to smash me into the ground.

I stopped, and let it wind up, ready to evade, my heart hammering in my chest like Pa on a stubborn piece of steelhusk.

From nowhere, the wind picked up as Jeff cast Wind Wall to my left, scattering Steel Scuttlers across the field.

A yellow Firewall appeared on my right, and I flinched as it spread across the grass, but knew Nabeeh had done so to protect me from the smaller Scuttlers, buying time and space to fight the Scrambler.

The monster struck. 

Instead of moving backwards, I went right, dodging the strike. The claw slammed into the ground, making me stumble as the ground shook. 

“By the bells!”

“Stop teasing and let me have a taste!” Roq said.

I ran for its foremost leg. Its carapace was barely within reach, but the plan was similar to what I’d done with the Woodweaver back in the Twisted Titan. Take its legs, reduce its movement, and then crack it open like a crusted pie. 

“Drop!” Roq said.

I threw myself flat and felt the air shift as its claw whistled above me. It only glanced at the tip of my helmet, but that was enough to slam my face into the ground.

Ouch.

It had recovered much faster than I’d expected.

Before I could rise, it lifted the leg I’d aimed for. 

With arrows pinging off its shell, and fire roaring to my side, I rolled right, the tip of its leg piercing into the earth right next to where I lay. The damn thing was nearly as thick as a beer barrel!

I’d planned to go for a joint, but beggars couldn’t be choosers and all that. Laying on my side, I struck with my warhammer, spike out, a perfect two handed hit. 

“Delicious!” Roq screamed as he punched through the metal, and dug into the soft flesh behind. Then he came out the other side, ripping a huge piece from the leg. 

The monster shrieked and I stood while it raised its wounded limb. 

“Immolation!” I shouted, glancing up, hoping that Nabeeh or Jessica would hear me, and that their spells would work better now that there was an open wound.

The giant crab still used its right claw as a shield, but I knew it’d be trying to squash me with its left. 

And I was right. The massive claw swiped towards me. Seventy-five mana remained after using Smash.

I cast Ironburst, betting on my power as a Hammerlord.

Ten steelhusk spears burst forth in a wall, tips angled to protect me from the claw, just Knut screamed “Eat axe!” from over on his side.

The remaining five steelhusk spears stabbed up in a circle, reaching for the belly of the beast.

“Brave,” Roq said, though his tone made it sound as if I’d done something stupid.

I hoped he was wrong. 

The Steel Scrambler’s claw met my wall of steelhusk spears with a shriek of metal on metal. The force of the impact was enough to drive the spears a finger’s width into its pincer. They didn’t pierce through, but still held. 

I’d take that any day over getting squashed.

My other attack did better, with the tips punching straight through the soft underside and into its flesh. With a hiss, it lifted its entire body, legs extending to the max, and pulling away from the spears before they could do more damage. Unfortunately, they’d only gone in a few inches, but blood dripped from the five thumb-sized holes. 

I’d weakened its armor, and that was enough for now.

“That was but a taste,” Roq exclaimed, his voice wild. “Now give me another!”

“Patience,” I grumbled, keeping my eyes on the pattern of its legs. “We break it down, then crack it open!”

For a split second I considered dashing in and striking up, but all it’d have to do to end me was plop down, twice. Once for my cloak, and once for me. 

So I backed up instead, fast, resetting and glancing around me.

Knut had gone opposite me, chopping at one of the legs on its right side, head raised to keep an eye on the right claw.

Ahsan had taunted the remaining Scuttlers on the right, those not cooked by Nabeeh’s splashing fire, and was in the process of pulling them towards the forest to buy us time. Shay ran among them, cracking open one at a time with his axe.

On our left, Felix and Garret fared worse. Felix was calmly falling back towards our backline, swiping his two-handed mace in great swings, knocking the beasts flying, clearly trying to give the mages time, but not able to focus on killing them because Garret had been separated and was fighting a desperate battle, reminding me of my first time fighting Scuttlers in the forest with Knut. He was simply not strong enough to get through their shells with ease, and was forced to retreat. But unlike Felix, there was panic in his movements, and he was moments away from being surrounded.

“Aim at its face!” Wade called, and I turned to look. He’d stopped halfway to the others and stood with his giant crossbow out. It was glowing. 

Lan was walking up behind him.

“Ready!” Eryn and Barabbas called.

“Fire in the hole!” Wade whooped, and with a manic grin, squeezed his trigger. 

I whipped my head around just in time to see the bolt explode against the defensive claw, knocking it up. 

Two arrows, one a Glowcap blue, disappeared into the smoke where the claw had been. 

An explosion followed and the Scrambler stumbled back, legs moving erratically. 

Knut, still chopping at a leg, was hit on his shield, but deflected it and remained standing.

When the smoke cleared, I saw what damage the archers had done. Half its face was an open mess with blood gushing out freely. Unfortunately it was the already blinded side. 

“Help!” Garret shouted.

Blasted.

“Nabeeh!” I called. “Coordinate the mages!”

I didn’t wait for her to answer, fully trusting her to get the job done of splitting their attacks between the Scrambler and the Scuttlers.

But just as I was about to charge in again, Lan called out, drawing me up short. 

“Ash!” she yelled.

“What?” I snapped, glancing back at her. She passed Wade, her dark wooden staff with the glowing purple orb on top clutched tightly to her chest. “Get back to the mages!” 

“I need to be closer to the danger,” she said as Nabeeh barked out commands, and before I could ask Lan what in the warped steelhusk she was talking about, she was already past me. “My abilities are shorter range!”

And you just couldn’t tell me this beforehand? Damned little brat!

I clamped my jaw shut. This was not the place to reprimand her. That would have to wait. 

“You got something that can help take this thing down?” I asked, flinching as a piece of blackened Scuttler shell flashed by me, thrown by a Flame Trap.

It made me want to shake her brains out.

“What do you need!” I yelled, biting out the words and glancing at Knut who had backed away from the Scrambler. 

“Taunt and hold it!” Lan called to Knut instead, who, bless his big heart, just called back an affirmative. Then she cocked her head and looked at me, face expressionless. “Go hit it. You’ll do better now.”

“Strike me!” Knut called out, activating his taunt, before adding for our benefit, “Stonefoot!”

He was going all out to buy us time to crack this thing, just as Garret screamed in pain and I heard the crackle of electricity as Nabeeh used Eye of the Storm, her new staff’s ability.

I ignored him. He was not my priority. If I had to have a death on my conscience, I would rather have one than fourteen.

“No! Leave the weakling to his fate,” Arclight said. “Let me consume the big one!”

“Go, Ash!” Roq said. “We’ve got to… save Knut! Yes, go save Knut by stuffing me into the monster’s guts and rooting around!”

For all his talk of kingly behaviour, Roq still fell prey to his own bloodlust.

“Riftrot!” I cursed, running for the monster as it turned about to face Knut, lifting both claws. It’s right one now sported a blackened hole from Wade’s bolt. 

“Osmosis. Torment. Parasite,” Lan mumbled from beside me, and the Scrambler’s movements seemed to slow. Not by much, but definitely enough to be noticeable. 

Knut roared a challenge as it slammed its claws down on him, but with Stonefoot making him immovable by attacks, there was only one place for all that momentum to go. Down and expertly deflected by my crazy brother in arms, and massively helped by whatever slow Lan had cast on the monster. 

Without missing a beat, Knut activated an ability, likely Mountain’s Wrath, as he chopped his axe, Shard of the Fallen King, in an overhead blow straight at the right claw, his weapon looking tiny compared to its target. 

But we hadn’t forged an epic weapon for nothing, nor was it powered by a weakling.

It still surprised me when the axe passed straight through the claw as if it was made from wet clay, and Knut didn’t seem to have expected the lack of resistance. He was thrown off balance and took a step to the side. 

If the axe’s blade had been larger, it could have destroyed most of the claw in one strike. 

I ran for the Scramblers side, intending to take out its legs while it focused on Knut. 

It struck my brother once more, just before I reached it, but again he held. 

One of Wade’s bolts disappeared into the monster’s side, right where the rearmost leg joined its body, and the leg trembled. 

I activated Pulse Strike, leaving me with thirty mana. Ten short of Hammer to the Face, but Smash would soon be up again. 

With Roq glowing light green, I moved right up to the leg I’d previously wounded, getting dangerously close to the body, and struck above my head. 

This time I aimed higher up, trusting in my magic, and Roq moaned with enjoyment as he passed straight through the leg, spike hitting just below the top joint. The limb crashed to the ground, severed. 

“Salty, sweet, and juicy!” Roq said. “Quick, run and shove me up into its belly!”

“Not yet.”

Despite the damage I’d done, the Steel Scrambler remained focused on Knut, and I moved for the second leg. 

But just before I reached it, Knut shouted, “Free!” to let us know his taunt had run out. 

The monster pushed its left claw into the ground for balance, and lifted the second leg on my side. Thanks to Lan’s slowing spell, I was able to pivot away, though my adrenaline spiked as the crab’s leg slammed down just behind me, spraying dirt.

Thunder filled the air as a lightning bolt struck the top of its shell and the giant monster shook.

With our striking abilities still on cooldown, I just swung Roq at the leg with all my power. He crushed through the armor plating and the flesh, going so far as to dent the armor on the other side. 

The leg buckled as the big crab tilted, trapping Roq. I swiftly swiped him into my storage, freeing him, jumping to the side and taking him back out. 

Yellow Flames shot from its wounds as Immolation ravaged it, and I ducked instinctively as a crescent blade of compressed wind passed not far overhead, lopping off the last leg on this side. 

The crab fell onto its side, the spiky edge of its shell digging into the dirt, its top facing towards our mages. 

This was our chance.

One claw snapped out, trying to catch Knut, but he just hid behind his shield, still having a few seconds left on his Stonefoot. 

As I ran for the shell, intending to crack it open like a walnut, I heard Lan laugh, and then the sound of a swelling ocean resounded all around me. 

I glanced back just in time to catch the rise of the wave flat on, and was lifted with it, unable to breathe. The water spun me around and my lungs started to burn, and then it was already gone again, dropping me onto muddy ground. 

I coughed inside my helmet, before ripping it off to get some air in my lungs. 

“What in the rotten rift are you doing, Lan? Over!”

Roq relayed, adding, “I was just about to feast!”

Neither Arclight nor Roq relayed her reply, but Roq said, “I don’t need an easier opening! You little witch!”

I looked up to see the monster on its back, face away from us, its three remaining legs flailing harmlessly. It attempted to right itself with its remaining claw, but without success, and the claw Knut had wounded now hung useless.

It was still a dangerous monster, but we had it right where we wanted it. 

Quite a ways beyond and to the left, Knut was picking himself up, his rooting stance having run out before the wave hit.

“Hold off, brother,” I called, jogging towards the Scrambler, and Knut raised his axe in acknowledgement. If we could end the monster without further danger to us, I wanted to do so. 

Hearing footsteps behind me, I turned to see Lan running flat out, heading for the crab. For a second I wondered what she was doing, but then I saw something in her eyes. 

Bloodlust.

It was something I recognised. Her weapon was at breakthrough, which meant any kill she made would bring experience to her.

A grin spread across my face. 

Not on my watch.