by E. J. Krause
She sped down towards the lobster monster and unleashed a blast of acid. Instead of melting away, the thing's plate armor repelled the stream as if it were nothing more than water. "No fair," she muttered, and then said, "I guess it's up to you to show the thing how we roll."
One of his more powerful dark energy bombs came to mind. He concentrated, clapped his hands together, and pushed his palms out towards the monster. The spell zoomed out and struck home, but when the blast subsided, the monster was none the worse for wear.
"That didn't seem to do much," she said.
"No. Maybe it needs something simpler." Like the demons when Felix sent him to help harvest organs for his alchemy. He shot out a few bolts of dark energy, but they bounced harmlessly off.
"My acid's almost built back up. What if we attacked at the same time?"
Ben shook his head. "I'm being stupid. Let me scan it to find its weakness."
"Wait, what? You could have done that from the beginning?"
"I got caught up in the moment."
She rolled her eyes at him again. Ah, yeah, now it felt like old times. As they'd hoped, the thing couldn't fly, so the scan proved easy. It had originally been the size of a small lizard he was used to seeing back home, but powerful magic had transformed it into this hulking guardian before them. It still didn't have much going for it other than size and its claws, so the armor plates had been added. The plates both protected it from physical harm and made it impervious to any magical attack, as they'd found out. If they could somehow manage to pry off the clear plate covering its face, they could blast it to oblivion. Unfortunately, to make that happen, they needed to throw a frontal assault at the thing. Sure, they could sneak up on it, but those claws would be able to snap at them if they were anywhere close to its face.
"Alright, here's the deal," he said, and relayed what he learned, and the plan he'd come up with. She wasn't happy about it, but at least they had a goal.
"I still say we should try to fly past it into the pit," she said. "Not for nothing, but I'm pretty fast. Not to mention you could put a shield spell on us. That wouldn't hurt the thing, so it should protect us."
He shook his head. "I have a feeling its magic armor-plated claws would pierce through any shielding spell I could put up. Plus we don't know how fast it is. The scan didn't tell me that. It would be better to use that as option two if we can't get its faceplate off. At least we'll better know how it moves then."
"Fine. Makes sense. How do you want to do this?"
Good question. "Best thing would be to have you fly around, get it focused on you, while I sneak up and pry the faceplate off. The problem is…"
"Why would it be distracted by me at a distance and ignore you up close? Especially since I can't hurt it."
"Yeah." Ben stared down at the monster. It had stayed still since crawling up out of the ground, so he couldn't even get a bead on how it moved. He'd been too mesmerized when it first appeared to take notice then.
"Maybe we could both go for it from different directions," she said. "We'll better see how it thinks and reacts."
"That could work."
"But you have another plan."
"We have to get the clear faceplate off and blast it, but what about the other plates? I wonder if we could pry one off its back and attack the flesh underneath? It wouldn't kill the thing, but maybe it'd be the distraction we need."
"Why wouldn't your scan tell you that? It was specific about the faceplate."
"I think it only gives the ultimate answers, not the minutia of how to get there."
"You think? Why don't you know? Didn't you spend three months learning this stuff?"
He bent and kissed the scales on her neck, which brought out a tiny purr from her. "Yeah, and I'm sure you were the perfect dragon after three months of training. Or whatever the equivalent of three months was."
"Point taken. But I still don't understand how getting past those mega-claws can be considered minutia."
Ben shrugged. "How about, first things first, we buzz past it to see how it moves?"
Andi dipped down and flew past. She kept a fast pace, but didn't get close to top speed, all the better to test out the monster's capabilities. She zipped right at it, and the thing scuttled backwards and brought both claws up at an avoidable speed. She circled around, and they buzzed it again with similar results. She then rose, and they hovered high above again. The monster went inert.
"Unless it's toying with us, it's pretty slow," Ben said.
"To guard its faceplate, it doesn't need to be fast," she pointed out. "I'm guessing it's not going to pop off with a flick of the wrist."
"Which is why we need to pry off one of those back plates. I'm guessing it won't like its flesh being roasted by dark energy, and you should be able to get that faceplate off to give it a heavy dose of acid."
"You make it sound so easy, babe. Let's do it."
She was kidding, but why couldn't it be easy? The scan said to peel off the faceplate, so it had to be possible, right? He readied a levitation spell and leapt off Andi's back. She shrieked and moved to catch him, but he said. "Distract it. I'm fine."
"Warn me next time," she barked into his mind.
He floated down to its back, his sword and shield poised to try and parry away any blow from the oversized claws. It reached back, but before he found out how much mobility it had in those claw arms, Andi launched herself at its faceplate. Both claws moved towards her to protect itself. He wanted to watch to make sure she stayed safe, but had to trust her and do his own job.
As he'd seen from above, the plates were sectionalized. He dug his sword into the nearest crevice and put as much pressure as he could to pop it off. The claws circled back to him, but, again, before they got too close, Andi bee-lined towards its face, and the creature went after her. Good. He'd hoped its brain was so simple that it could only focus on one thing, and it looked like he was right. It was smart enough, however, to protect its more vulnerable spot. Hopefully that would change when he started blasting its flesh. If he could get the plate off, anyway, which wasn't a given.
"The way it's guarding its face, I can probably get this thing off if I have more than a few seconds," Andi said. "How's it going on your end?"
"Getting there, I think. This doesn't want to come loose."
"Imagine that. The defensive device wants to protect the thing."
He gave her an eye roll of his own with a little extra mustard on it, causing her to snicker. "Keep distracting the thing," he said. "I'll get this off."
"I know you will. I have faith in you."
It took a few more attempts – Andi distracting the thing while Ben pried, her flying away when it got too dangerous, and then starting the process again – but Ben finally got a good hold on the plate. He pulled up, and after a few magic-assisted tugs, got it almost free. He sheathed his sword, gripped the side of the plate with both hands, and jerked up with all his might. The remaining flesh that held it down ripped, and he tossed the heavy black plate to the side. His plan was to ignite a dark energy bomb into the exposed flesh, but before he could manage, the monster went nuts.
"Watch out!" Andi yelled, but too late. The thing bucked up and down, side to side, like one of those mechanical bulls that he'd seen in movies and on TV. He always had a great time laughing at people who got bucked off in no time flat, and if he'd been watching himself, he'd have laughed his head off. He flew from the monster and landed hard on his right arm. Pain erupted through him, centered on that forearm. When he looked down, it was bent like he had a second elbow. Ugh, that wasn't good.
"Ben! Ben, are you okay?" He could feel the worry burning in her gut since she could sense he was in pain. It wouldn't take long for it to patch itself up thanks to his healing ability, but that didn't mean he wasn't about to pass out.
"Keep it off me," he said, thrilled that they could communicate with their minds since he didn't think he would have been able to get anything substantial out of his mouth. Except
maybe puke if he wasn't quick about setting it.
As she buzzed the monster's face, distracting it for the moment, he spun a mystical binding onto his forearm and made it as tight as he could stand, straightening the bones out. As soon as he did, the itching sensation of rapid healing tickled his arm, but it wasn't anything that made him want to laugh. At least he didn't think he was going to pass out anymore. Throwing up all over the ground was still a distinct possibility, but at least he'd stay awake, which was a good thing since despite Andi's best efforts, the thing scuttled right at him.
He silenced his mind and let it come. Andi yelled something, but he couldn't focus on her words. The pain in his arm shrunk to a dull throb he hardly noticed. As the monster got on top of him, everything slowed down. One claw shot down, open and ready to snap him in half. He waited until the last instant, and then leaped through the rapidly closing claw. He wasn't sure how close it came to snipping him off at the ankles, but he heard the crunch of it coming up empty and felt the air displace behind him. The other claw moved down towards him, but before he had to dodge, Andi shot a stream of acid onto the thing's exposed flesh. It lunged backwards at her, and though he was clear of the humongous claws, he had to dance around the lobster legs. Once he was safe, everything sped up to normal, and he said, "Nice job with the acid."
"What happened? You spaced out and scared the crud out of me."
"I don't know. Did time slow down for you, too?"
"What? No. You can slow down time now?"
"I'll tell you later." Yeah, how did he explain that? It was the power flowing through him, but he'd never slowed time down like that before, and Felix never hinted at it. Maybe Andi, if she tried real hard, could do it, too. They'd have to experiment.
She swooped down, and he vaulted onto her back. Once they were up at a safe altitude, the monster calmed, though he could see its exposed flesh fidgeting. It would be on higher alert now.
"Your arm seems better."
"Yeah, all fixed up." He flicked his wrist, and the mystical bandage disappeared. He pulled out his sword and swung it around a few times. "Stronger than ever."
"Good. What next?"
"Hold steady. Let's see if we can end this right now. Be ready to pelt it in the face with your acid."
"With pleasure." She dove down for a better angle.
Ben gathered up his power and muttered a few magical phrases. He could do it all in his head, but he sometimes found saying the words aloud helped him focus. Once complete, he thrust his arms forward – also unnecessary, but, honestly, fun – and spun the deadly spell towards the lobster monster. A ball of dark energy formed around it. If all went well, he could focus that entire ball of energy right onto both the exposed flesh on its back and on the faceplate. The energy concentrated on its back should stun it, while that on the faceplate should pull it loose. That was his theory, anyway.
"Be ready," he said.
"Do it." Her determination made him smile.
He triggered the spell. It looked for a split-second like he'd been right, and this would work like a charm. At the last instant, right before the power scorched its flesh and slammed into the faceplate, the surrounding anti-magic plates sucked it all up and nullified the spell. "Damn," he whispered aloud.
"Now what?" Andi asked.
He stared down at the monster for a second. It stood still, guarding the chasm and mocking him. Okay, so maybe he was guessing on the mocking bit, but he bet it was true. Then it hit him.
"I can't hit that spot from a distance, but what if I jammed a spell right into it?"
"What, you're going to jump on its back and stick your fist into its flesh?"
"Not my fist, but my sword. I can cast a sleep spell on it, and we'll have all the time we need."
"How are you going to get on its back without it going all bucking bronco again?"
"Throw me at it."
"What? No! Remember when I hurled you at that yucky demon-infused necromancer? It knocked you out for like nine hours."
"That time I told you to throw me as hard as you could. This time you have to do little more than drop me. I'm more worried about accuracy than speed."
"Fine. But make sure you have a shield spell or something handy in case I miss. And anyway, don't you have something you can use to fly down there? You levitated earlier."
"If there is a flight spell, Felix hasn't taught it yet, and levitation is too slow. It should come in handy at the bottom, but not for this initial drop."
She sighed. "Fine. Are you ready?"
"Yeah, do it. Remember, like darts. Accuracy, not velocity."
"I stink at darts," she said, but tossed him down.
He chuckled. "Yeah, you do. Bad analogy." But despite that, she gave him the perfect toss. He headed right for the monster's exposed flesh, and at a speed that, while fast, was easy enough to break with levitation. Assuming, of course, the anti-magic plates allowed it to be cast. His theory was that he'd cast the spell, break his fall, and then have it be drained away. By that time, his momentum will have stopped.
It worked exactly like that. He stopped falling a few feet from the creature, put his sword tip on its flesh, and fell down, driving the blade deep. The monster started bucking again, but before it got a full head of steam, Ben ran a powerful sleep spell up his arm, through his sword, and down into the beast. It stopped bucking almost at once, fell to the ground, and lay motionless.
Andi zipped down and transformed to human as she reached him, plowing into his arms. Luckily he knew his beautiful mate's tendencies well enough to throw up a quick cushioning spell, keeping them from tumbling head over heals off the back of the sleeping monster.
"Okay," she said, "let's lift the faceplate so I can blast it with acid. That should kill it."
Ben looked at the now-unguarded chasm, their goal, at least in this room. "Do we need to do that? I mean, the way's clear now."
She shook her head. "Who knows how long that thing'll sleep? Do you want it coming up behind us in there? What if we find another monster when it shows up? I don't want to fight two big baddies at once."
Yeah, that made sense. He sighed. "Dragon up." She did, and without the thing able to guard it with those mega-claws, the faceplate came off with ease. Ben jumped on her back, and seconds later, it was done.
"Next stop, the unknown."
Chapter 21
The chasm sloped down to a level passage that reminded him of the labyrinth tunnels they traversed through on their way to the lobster monster, except there were no choices here, nor did it go on for long. After a hundred yards or so, it opened up to another cavernous room that looked an awful lot like the last one. Unlike that one, though, the exit was clearly on the other side. Andi felt it, too.
"I'll fly us across before any other big uglies crash out of the ground."
"Yeah, but should we deal with whatever comes at us for the same reason we killed the lobster monster?"
"Probably, but let's play it by ear. Do you sense anything?"
"Just a general unease. Nothing ready to pounce on us at the moment."
"Yeah, I feel the same." She let out a breath. "How did you get used to this? It's so strange to have this Spidey-sense."
"Took me longer to get used to your every emotion in my head. Of course, we weren't bound as tightly then. Besides, this Spidey-sense is probably our most helpful power."
"I guess it's weird because it was always your thing. I never imagined I'd get any of it. If Mom and Dad could see me now, right?"
He smiled at her, glad that although sadness filled her with that remark, it didn't consume her.
She went full dragon, and he vaulted onto her back. They hurtled forward, but before they'd gone a hundred feet, the gravity of the room shifted to the ceiling, and they fell up. Andi flapped her wings, but nothing happened.
"It's like there's no atmosphere in here for me to get traction on. But we can breathe, so I should be able to fly."
"Magic doesn't always make sense." H
e readied the levitation spell, concentrating to let it engulf them both. Before it was necessary, though, Andi found a draft and leveled them out.
She aimed towards the exit, now high above them, and took off. Again, before they'd gone far, the room's orientation shifted, this time making the gravitational center the wall where they'd come in. They fell, and before Andi could get her wings working, Ben cast the levitation spell. They came to a stop almost in the center of the huge space.
"Now what?" she asked, but before he could answer, the room spun around them. Not physically spinning, but shifting its gravitational core to each wall in seemingly random patterns. It gave the illusion of being on one of those spinny rides at a fair or an amusement park. He loved those when the Orange County Fair came each summer, but right now he wasn't sure if he ever wanted to go on again.
"I'm going to be sick," Andi said.
"Close your eyes. I've never seen you puke as a dragon, and I don't want this to be the first. Especially since gravity would probably shift so we get the perfect barf shower."
"Not helping."
He chuckled and closed his own eyes. Answers didn't often pop up on silver platters anymore since he'd started learning to control his power, and this time proved no exception. Ah well, worth a shot. He tried moving towards the exit, but the rapidly shifting gravity put too much strain on the levitation spell. He could keep it up as long as they stayed in place, but that was it. Unless…
"What?" Andi said. "You have something."
"Maybe, but I don't know if I can do it."
"You can. What is it?"
"If I can cast an anti-gravity bubble around the whole room, I can levitate us to the exit. I did it with the training room, and Felix and I floated around for a few minutes. The levitation spell created its own gravity and let me control where to go."
"That does seem like a lot, but I have faith in you."
He kissed her scaly neck. "Maybe you should turn human so you're smaller. I don't know if it'll make a difference, but it'll ease my mind."
She did, and then said, "What if we need my wings?"
