by Sam Ryder
There wasn’t time to nurse our injuries, however, because the other three bludgeons arrived. “C’mon,” Beat said, shoving to her feet. One of the bludgeons was already upon us, swinging a huge fist made of stone. Beat ducked the attempted haymaker and slammed the butt of her shield into its gut, the clang resounding through the Black like a struck gong. If the bludgeon felt the blow at all, it didn’t show it, merely dropping to all fours and charging headfirst into her midsection, rocking her backwards.
I was in the direct path and only managed to avoid getting trampled by rolling to the side.
I came out of the roll with my head up, taking stock of the situation. Shit. We were in trouble. Though bludgeons were extremely dumb, the equivalent of a sample of Middle Earth orcs with the lowest IQs possible, they were also unbelievably powerful. Unfortunately, we were short on power in our squad right now. Beat and I might be able to go toe to toe with the heavyweight monsters, but Lace and Millania were less effective in this particular situation.
I watched as Millania shoved her trident into one of the bludgeons, aiming for its eyes but catching the side of its face. Two of the three prongs bent to the side. Her eyes widened and she barely had time to duck as the monster swiped at her. Even still, she was too slow, the punch catching her on the shoulder. She flew…literally…her feet leaving the ground as the force of the impact picked her up and tossed her aside like she was made of air. She landed hard, groaning, clutching her shattered shoulder.
Lace was in an equally dire situation. Though she was extraordinarily quick, when she’d dodged the exploding bludgeon she’d gotten too close to the edge of the Black and another bludgeon had emerged from the gloom just behind her. She’d been knocked over, losing her bow in the process.
This was the bludgeons’ strategy. Get their opponents on the ground and then squash them like a Mediterranean winemaker stomping grapes in a barrel. What they lacked in brains they more than made up for in brawn.
Two of my three remaining Warriors were about to be flattened. And Beat had her hands full with the third bludgeon, which meant I had an impossible choice to make and less than a second to make it.
It turned out the impossible decision was the easiest choice of my life.
I fought to my feet and bolted directly into the path of one of the rampaging bludgeons, turning sharply, squaring my shoulders with my feet set the same distance apart, my massive hammer gripped in two hands.
I waited for the pitch and swung. The bad thing about bludgeons was how freaking huge they were. In this case, however, it was a good thing. I couldn’t possibly miss its head, which was the size of a Costco watermelon.
I didn’t miss.
There were only two ways to kill a bludgeon: through the eyes or the mouth.
But I was Level 3 now, my strength sufficient to win any number of Olympic weightlifting competitions back on Earth. I created a third way to kill a bludgeon, turning their own name back on them.
My hammer shattered the monster’s face, twisting it around as it crumbled under the weight of the impact, which rattled my bones and sent shockwaves up my arm.
I heard the clatter of stones as the dead bludgeon fell, but didn’t see its demise because I was already turning in the direction of where Lace had been about to be trampled, hoping against hope that my calculated choice had been the right one.
The jury was still out.
The good thing was that Lace wasn’t dead. She’d managed to squirm far enough out of the danger zone to avoid having her chest or head caved in. The bad news was that the bludgeon had stomped on one of her arms, pinning it to the ground. Now it was trying to use its other leg to squash the rest of her as she dodged each time it slammed its huge stone foot into the unforgiving terrain.
At the same time, she reached over her shoulder and grabbed an arrow from the satchel strapped to her back.
The dumb beast tried to headbutt her and she struck, jamming the arrow into its eye.
The monster’s body went limp and it sprawled overtop of her, its weight dead now.
She screamed and then the bludgeon’s body exploded as the arrow ignited.
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