by Dante King
“Eric, look!” Anna pointed, her finger more like a claw than the smooth digit I knew. I followed her gaze and saw a shadow over the last few switchbacks on the mining path. A platform hung over empty space, covered in rocks and tied to a crane sitting in the center of the mine complex. The whole thing must have been a counterweight for some mechanism inside the old mine—an elevator, perhaps, to carry the miners in and out of their shafts.
I pictured the box tipping over, and my mouth went dry. “It’s too far up,” I said, sharing a glance with my girlfriend. “A wood spell wouldn’t hit it from here.”
Anna gestured at the slope. “Hit that with another Hydro Blast, and I’ll ride it up,” she assured me, flashing a toothy grin.
More Beetles crowded around our narrow redoubt. Boldness began to infect them, and some of the ones up front aimed an errant limb in our direction. I cut one who got too close with the snake spear, frightening the creatures nearest to it into backing off. That wouldn’t last long, though—the rest were already beginning to change.
“How will you get out of the way in time?” I asked.
Anna shrugged. “I’ll manage. And if I don’t—fuck Lyra twice as hard for me, will you?”
Despite the danger of the situation, I grinned. “Yes, ma’am. Though I’ll do that when you make it back okay, just to prove the point!”
Anna giggled and kissed me on the cheek. “Get ready, tiger!”
Behind us both, Bao had begun to chant. The fireball swirled between his outstretched palms, glowing like a miniature sun. I left him to his last-ditch effort and stabbed forward with the snake spear, wading into the Rust Beetles. Dozens of vomited projectiles smacked into my robes as the creatures tried to corrode anything metal I had on my person. Their attacks did nothing to destroy the snake spear — and once they realized that, I was finished.
We only had one shot at this.
“Get ready to jump!” I shouted. Anna took a flying leap and put her hand between my shoulder blades, executing a gymnast-perfect twirl in mid-air. As she sailed over my head, her dress fluttering around her waist and showing off all her naughty bits, I shunted as much energy as I could into the snake spear and shoved it forward.
“Now!” I roared.
Eric Hyde Casts Hydro Blast!
A wall of water sprayed from the snake spear’s mouth. Anna jumped smoothly over my head, landing on a Rust Beetle’s back as the spray shot up the slope like a bullet from a gun. Anna delivered a devastating kick to the rear of the Rust Beetle, sending its front-end soaring into the air until the whole thing did a front flip. I didn’t realize she was a championship skater, I thought, watching her mid-air acrobatic move.
Anna landed on the Rust Beetle at the apex of the spray and threw her arms at the floating platform. I was too far away to see whatever words formed above her head—but the effects were unmistakable. The massive box tipped over, rocks spilling across the switchbacks in an avalanche. Rust Beetles flipped end over end, landing on top of each other and going splat as the wall of rocks rolled down the mountain.
As the whole thing, rocks and beetles both, landed at the bottom of the mountain, a fireball flew over my shoulder so closely it nearly singed my robes. Bao the Cultivator’s fire spell, which hit the side of a rock and winked out in a narrow plume of smoke.
I turned just in time to see Bao open his eyes. A pleased look spread across his face, animating his round, eager cheeks. “You see, young man? A most excellent spell!”
Anna landed in the dirt next to me, panting gently with exertion. She shot me a wink and jerked a thumb back at the crushed wall of Rust Beetles. “You did it, Bao! Way to go!”
The aged cultivator nodded modestly, accepting the praise. “Let us make haste to the mouth of the mine, young cultivators. I shall point out the correct tunnel to you, and then we shall close it together and stop this flood of vermin!”
He really thinks he’s the one who took out all those Rust Beetles, I thought, looking at the mess we’d made of the hillside. I can’t believe it! Well, if he wanted to think that, I wouldn’t be the one to rid him of the notion. Anna seemed to treat the whole thing like it was a big joke, and I swore I could even hear Lyra giggling in my head.
“Whatever,” I muttered, meeting Anna’s smirk with one of my own. “Let’s go before those Beetles get smart enough to regroup. It’s going to be enough of a hike without us having to fight them every ten feet up the mountain.”
Chapter 10
As we made our way up the mountain path, my stomach gave a disturbing rumble. A wave of dizziness washed over me as the world blurred, the snake spear nearly falling from my fingers.
“Eric?” Anna’s voice sounded like it came from the bottom of a well. “Are you alright? What’s wrong, baby?”
I knew. Damn it, I should have taken precautions! “I’ve been burning too much energy,” I thought, bringing the pain in my midsection to a halt with an effort of will. “I’m fucking starving. I’m starting to run out of juice.”
Anna gave me a worried look. “We had supplies,” she said, glancing down the mountain path. We were about halfway up now, suspended between the ground and the sky as we cut our way back and forth up the switchbacks. “They’re back at the cart, though.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, shaking my head. The rockslide Anna and I had caused wiped out most of the Rust Beetles outside of town—but more than a few remained around the outskirts of the village. Not to mention getting back to the cart would require fighting our way through those streets a second time. “We should have brought something with us.”
“I can give you something to eat,” Anna purred, a naughty look dancing in her eyes. “But I don’t think that’s the kind of nourishment you’re looking for.”
She might have something there. Sex definitely gave our group energy through Dual Cultivation, and might even be able to stave off starvation for a while. While its energy flowed through us, we felt neither hunger nor pain. But I wasn’t really feeling up to performing on the side of a mountain—and Bao was with us, besides. What if he wanted to watch? The thought made my skin crawl.
No. My girls were for me and me alone. Other men didn’t even get to see them naked if I had anything to say about it.
“Let’s just get to the mine,” I said, looking wearily toward the path ahead. “Maybe there’s some plants we can eat near the mountain top, or something…”
Just then, the snake spear shuddered and slipped out of my fingers. By the time it hit the ground, it had resolved back into the form of Lyra. The redhead looked as tired as I felt, her fine robes stained with soot. Normally my women came out of their weapon forms fresh as a daisy, so this development was surprising to say the least.
“You were saying something about being tired?” Lyra asked, brushing her hair out of her face. “Maybe it’s these old bones, Eric, but I’m exhausted. I’ve been blowing up Rust Beetles for a little too long, I think.”
“Bah!” That was Bao the Cultivator, who strode along the path a short distance ahead. “Young people—all you do is complain! You must seek inner peace, young cultivators! Only then will you truly understand the Eternal Dao!”
“That’s easy for him to say,” I muttered low enough that only the three of us could hear. “All he’s cast so far is a single fireball. And it didn’t even do anything…”
Lyra chuckled. “What I’m trying to say is, I need a break.” the redhead informed me. She glanced over at Anna who already seemed to know the deal. “Maybe you could carry the scythe for a while, and I could just walk beside you?”
It wasn’t the best plan. Metal-based monsters like the Rust Beetles were weakest against the element of Water—meaning Lyra’s snake spear was the most potent weapon I had to use against them. Some of mine and Anna’s spells—namely, the ones that used Wood and Earth—were strong against the Beetles, but none of them hit their weak spot with the same force as Lyra’s cultivation.
At the same time, if I didn’t give her a break befo
re we reached the top, she’d be completely tapped out by the time we made it to the mine. It felt like a good idea to keep something back in storage, just in case.
“Alright,” I agreed, reaching out an arm toward my girlfriend. “Actually, why don’t you both stay human for just now? If we run into anything that requires more than our basic cultivation, Anna can jump into the fray.”
“Sounds good,” my girlfriend agreed. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear me babbling in your head about how wet spilling blood makes me for the rest of this hike, anyway…”
“Nope,” I agreed, giving her a pat on the ass as we followed Bao. “I’d love to hear how wet other things make you, though.”
Anna met my lewd comment with a toothy grin. She and Lyra both made several suggestions as we wound our way up the remainder of the mountain path—keeping quiet to avoid Bao overhearing, of course. Their sweet words of devotion and their naughty fantasies were for me, and me alone.
It made the rest of the hike pass swiftly. I was still outlining a scenario involving handcuffs, two blindfolds and a shaving strop when we suddenly crested the hill and found ourselves looking at the mine proper for the first time. The three of us hesitated on the ridge, shielding our eyes from the sun as we scanned our objective.
“It looks like there hasn’t been anyone up here for a long time,” Lyra said, frowning.
“I’ll say,” Anna agreed. “This place is a dump!”
I wouldn’t have put it that crudely—but the mine had definitely seen better days. Part of that came from general neglect and disuse, but I was willing to bet the much larger part of it the Rust Beetles were responsible for. The mine was roughly bowl-shaped, as if this mountain had once been an active volcano but centuries of geological movement had quieted and cooled it. Among the mining platforms and cranes a carpet of Rust Beetles shimmied back and forth, surrounding a deep pit in the center leading to the interior of the mine. I could only imagine how many of the things were inside there.
So of course that’s exactly where Bao pointed.
“That’s our objective,” the old cultivator laughed, gesturing with a gnarled finger right where the Beetles were thickest. “The Rust Beetles broke out through the Central Shaft. Close that off, and the townspeople can clear the rest away.”
“Will they still be able to mine?” Anna asked, leaning over the side. “That’s a big hole.”
“There are other shafts leading to the veins of metal,” Bao said, gesturing vaguely toward the corners of the complex. “This is merely the largest, and most profitable. The good citizens of Jinshu will be saddened to hear they will not be able to plumb its depths any longer — but they will be most appreciative to no longer be barricaded in their homes, screaming in fear as they are attacked by hundreds of Rust Beetles.”
“Fair enough,” I said with a laugh. “Hopefully they won’t take the loss of their largest mine shaft too hard.”
The sound of our voices caught the attention of a few Rust Beetles, who spit up toward the ridge. The clumps of corrosive material didn’t reach us, but that didn’t stop the overgrown insects from trying.
I clapped my hands together and got looking for a way to make things happen. “Shouldn’t be too hard to cause a cave in at the Central Shaft,” I said, scanning the outbuildings the way a kid playing ‘The Floor is Lava’ scopes out the furniture in his living room. “Enough water ought to do it, if we pumped it directly into the pit. A Hydro Blast channeled through two weapons at once…”
At the suggestion, Lyra’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t think I can do it,” the redhead admitted, a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. “I’m sorry, Eric. I’m too drained.”
Ironic, since what we were standing over was essentially the lip of a giant drain. I wanted to flush these Rust Beetles out, but Lyra didn’t seem up to the challenge. “Are you sure?”
Lyra lifted her hands, screwing up her face in concentration. Droplets of water trickles from her palms, spilling on the ground as plants emerged from the soil to drink it. Despite the miraculous nature of her magic, she could only hold it for a few minutes before her hands dried.
“It’s not happening,” Lyra said, her eyes filling with tears. “Shit, Eric, I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” I told her. We’d just have to find another way to close that hole.
Bao the Cultivator straightened up. “I will burn the creatures out,” the man said, smoothing down his robes as he prepared to descend the ridge. “A few fire spells should be more than sufficient to clear this rabble—”
“Hold up!” I said sharply, panic filling me as I grabbed Bao’s shoulder. The man had almost walked right into a clutch of Rust Beetles. “No no no, don’t go down there!”
Bao’s eyes narrowed. “You presume to order me around?”
I sighed. Damn it, Bao had gotten high off his ‘victory’ on the slope, and now he thought he could take an entire army of Rust Beetles down single-handed. The poor man would only learn the error of his ways when the creatures tore him to shreds—and that was the kind of lesson you could only learn once.
“We need to be smart about this,” I told him, looking around for anything else that could cause a cave-in. “If you use up your cultivation, Bao, how will you get us back down to Jinshu safely?”
For the second time since we’d set out together, flattery appeased the man. It seemed compliments were Bao’s Achilles heel—the man simply couldn’t resist being buttered up. He’d have made a terrible politician. Good thing he was a cultivator, or he could have caused some serious damage.
“Very well,” Bao said regally. “I will leave the closing of the shaft to you then, Eric. Will your personal cultivation be sufficient?”
It wouldn’t—but I’d just seen something that might work. “These cranes,” I said, gesturing at an identical piece of machinery to the one carrying rocks along the ridge we’d just climbed. “What do the miners use them for, exactly? Doesn’t all the mining go on under the ground?”
Bao clearly relished the opportunity to play the wise tutor. “They serve a variety of uses,” the man said, beaming at the devices. “The one at the front of the mining complex served as counterweight and guidance for the Central Shaft’s elevator. That must have collapsed when my cultivation spell cleared the path to the mines for us, but fortunately that shaft will be closed in any case, so the villagers won’t lose out on much.”
“Your cultivation spell,” I said, rolling my eyes with Anna behind the man’s back. “Of course.”
“They also carry materials to loading docks along the fringes of the mine,” Bao explained. “That’s why you see no warehouses or other storage facilities here—nothing is kept atop the mine that could potentially cause a sinkhole. The metal mined from here is brought directly to the village, to either be transported or refined into ingots for sale.”
“Which means there’s nothing heavy in the mine complex. Damn it!” This was getting worse and worse by the moment. “What about the crane itself?”
Bao stared at me blankly. “What about it?”
“Say we tipped it over. Would that be enough to cause the Central Shaft to collapse?”
Bao scratched the underside of his chin, his lips pursed in thought. “It very well might… yes. Yes, I believe it would!”
Relief filled me. “Good. Then all we’ve got to do is jump there, there and there.” I gestured at several platforms and pieces of mining equipment sticking from the sea of insects. “Then we fight our way through the handful of Rust Beetles between that last platform and the base of the crane, and cut through the supports until the whole thing topples into the pit.”
“Should be doable.” Anna joined me on the crest, mentally going over the steps in her mind. “Hell, it’s almost easy.”
I let out a happy sigh. “We had to fight like hell to get up here. Maybe we deserve the break?”
Anna shrugged, then turned back to the rest of our group. “Eric and I will make our way across. Y
ou two stay back here and keep watch.”
Bao let out a harrumph. “I’m not sitting on the sidelines like some feeble old man,” the cultivator protested. “I am not so drained from clearing the mountain of Rust Beetles that I can’t fight may way to a crane—”
There was no need for me to think fast this time. I’d already come up with an excuse well in advance.
“Lyra needs you to keep her safe,” I told the aged cultivator. “She’s too tired to defend herself. Isn’t that right, Lyra?”
The redhead understood what I was going for instantly. “Oh, of course! Don’t leave me, please!” She grabbed hold of Bao’s robes, her girlish manner suddenly making her appear half her age. “If one of those Beetles made it up onto the slope, I’d be totally helpless!”
Bao glanced back at me, then at Lyra. “I… well…”
“Please,” Lyra repeated.
The cultivator let out a rueful sigh, fluttering his mustache. “Of course, my lady,” Bao said with a gentlemanly bow. “I would sooner sever my hand from my body than refuse the request of a beautiful woman.”
“Thank you,” Lyra said, flashing a wink at me when Bao wasn’t looking. “Anna, you should become the scythe. It’ll be easier for one person to make their way across those platforms than a duo.”
Anna nodded. “Say no more.” A wash of colors rolled over my girlfriend, transforming her into a sleek, curved blade. I took her in my hands, judged the distance to the first platform, and jumped.
Rust Beetles turned their necks as I soared over the carpet of beetles. The first platform shuddered with the impact as I landed, forcing me into a roll across the boards. This had once been part of an observation deck, but time and Rust Beetle attacks had left the rivets holding it up rotting away. As soon as I stood up, the floor lurched sickeningly beneath me.
Shit! I looked toward the nearest piece of dry land—a craggy finger of roofing covered in cafeteria markings for the mine’s dining hall. The building itself was almost unrecognizable, covered in hundreds of shuffling Rust Beetles looking for any sign of metal to corrode. I’d been worried about it holding me, and it looked far less stable than the platform I was on.
