Moonlight Banishes Shadows

by J. T. Wright

  So why did the passive effects of Identify scream at Trent that he was standing before a Beast? Why did he feel he was trapped at the bottom of a cliff while the rock teetered above him, capable of falling at any moment?

  Trent sidestepped around the edges of the room. He didn’t activate Identify to confirm the boulder’s state. As comforting as it would have been to confirm that the rock was just a rock, Trent felt any Skill usage on his part would bring a result he wasn’t ready for. It was a lesson he had learned in the Moonlit Forest. Beasts could sense the intangible as much as Adventurers could.

  “You found something? Dreq is going nuts, trying to get Felicia on her feet. I hope whatever comes next is more interesting than watching you pound rock.”

  Of course, Beasts could also hear. Kerry squeezed his way into the chamber, his pauldrons scraping on the edges of the hole. He held a ball of spell-light in his hand and waved it about to get a look at what he was stepping into.

  “Big rock! Think the exit’s underneath it? I’m not much good at mining, but I can probably bust it up if you'll lend me your pickaxe,” Kerry announced cheerfully as he saw the room’s only occupant. He really did hope the boulder was regular stone. The long rest had instilled a need to move in the young Warrior, and he was ready to demonstrate that his heavy investments in Strength had a purpose.

  The boulder moved before Trent could wave at Kerry to shut up. A head unfolded, and a long horn dug a furrow in the hard ground. Kerry gulped as the Beast, that was certainly not a boulder, regarded him with eyes that would have been beady in a smaller creature. Above the eyes, the Beast's head curved up and forward, adding to its already formidable height. Thick legs and a ponderous body gave Trent the impression that the oddly shaped Beetle's movements would be cumbersome.

  The glow of a Skill being employed dashed Trent’s hopes, and he screamed for Kerry to move as the Beast lowered its horn and charged. Kerry didn’t need to be prodded; he was running to the side before the Beast took a step forward. Had he been a second slower, it would have been too late.

  Kerry felt the breeze of the Beast on the back of his neck as it brushed by inches away. The crash of stone shattering as the Beast slammed into the wall behind him had gruesome images of the smudge he would have become had he stayed still racing through Kerry’s mind. He pumped his legs faster, his fingers scrabbling for his flail.

  Hearing a chink behind him, Kerry looked back. The Beast’s feet had pounded the ground when it charged; the clinking noise was unlikely to be caused by such heavy feet. The sight of Trent’s legs confirmed Kerry’s assumption. On the other side of the Beast, whose horn was lodged in the tunnel Kerry had come through, Trent was visible from the waist down as he slashed at the creature for all he was worth.

  Thinking the Beetle was stuck, Kerry spun around. With flail in hand, Kerry channeled Mana and created a chain for his weapon before rushing back to aid Trent. The iron ball of his flail came down hard on the Beast’s side. Stepping back and thinking of how Trent had fought the Ant Queen, Kerry directed the next blow at the creature’s legs.

  Splinters of the Beast’s shell broke off under Kerry’s hits, but the results were less than outstanding.

  “It's tough, but we can whittle it down as long as its stuck!” Kerry called confidently. “How’s it going over there?”

  Trent licked his lips and backed away, staring at the unmarked shell of the giant creature. He had used his best Skills, putting every ounce of strength he could muster into his strikes. There wasn’t so much as a chip to show for his efforts. The two feet of steel on his hands was the most suitable weapon for him, but obviously, it wasn’t what was required to fight this creature.

  “Not good,” he called back to Kerry in a raspy voice. “And it’s not stuck! Stay clear until we know how fast it moves.”

  Kerry thought Trent was joking, and he nearly guffawed as he continued to flail away. Sure, that Charge Skill had him sweating, and the Beetle’s horn wasn’t lodged as deeply into the tunnel as he thought, but there was no need for Trent to sound so concerned. The Beetle was heaving itself backward with clumsy legs ill-suited to fast movement, slowly backing away from the wall.

  It was only quick when it charged, and a Skill like that couldn’t be used often. The energy needed to propel the Beast’s weight had to be staggering. Now that they knew what to watch for, Kerry felt his fear dwindling. Unless the Beetle had other Skills…

  Kerry lifted his arm to swing and paused as that thought hit him. There were two scenarios that occurred to him, and neither made him feel like laughing. One, the Beetle had a variety of Skills and didn’t depend on the charge for attacking. That would be bad.

  The second scenario made his mouth pucker and his ass clench. If Charge was the Beetle’s only Skill, it could be used freely as soon as it was in position without worrying about Stamina. With time to rest between each attack, any energy spent would be recovered while it readied itself.

  This should have been the preferable option, but Kerry had hit the creature fifteen times and, other than a minuscule crack, had little to show for it. His own Stamina would run out before he could breach the Beetle’s shell. A concave shaped head swung in his direction, and Kerry backpedaled to create space.

  “I don’t suppose you've opened a devastating wound on your side, have you?” Kerry croaked. The Beetle began wobbling on stiff legs, quicker than Kerry liked to see, bringing its horn in line with the Warrior’s body.

  “Haven’t scratched it,” Trent called back. “We need to find a weak point.”

  “And if there isn’t one?” Kerry wanted to close his eyes while he waited for the answer. The Beetle’s presence and hateful black eyes kept his own open.

  “We run,” Trent replied. “Try to stay close to the exit if you can.”

  Kerry was glad to hear the word run was in Trent’s vocabulary. The fact that the command to retreat immediately wasn’t forthcoming was a little disappointing, but he could stomach that for now. The light from the orb in his left hand reflected off the brown horn of the Beetle, and the thought that he wouldn’t stomach anything once that dull hunk of shell pierced him had Kerry eyeing the exit tunnel wistfully.

  Kerry stepped to the left and then the right. The Beetle’s horn stayed locked on him as its legs began to glow again. When it came, it was just as fast as the first time, and Kerry had less room to dodge. He swore he felt a vibration in the backplate of his armor as the Beast rushed by, and he reached into his satchel as he ran. He grasped the Return Scroll there and pulled it out to comfort himself.

  “That won’t do you any good.” Felicia sent several spell-lights to cling to the wall as she stepped out with Dreq at her heels. Letting loose with a Firebolt, the Mage clicked her tongue as the Spell left a charred spot on the Beetle’s shell without penetrating the creature’s defenses.

  “Return Scrolls won’t work in a Guardian chamber as long as the Guardian is alive.” She cast Grace on Kerry to bolster his Agility. The tip of her wand flickered, and an answering light covered Kerry as the Spell settled over him.

  “Can’t be a boss. It’s only the second room.” The Beetle was turning to face him again, and Kerry’s flail knocked against its legs. He tried to stay in its blind spot, shifting with the Beetle’s sway, and received a crack to his chest from a rocking leg. It didn’t hurt much but pushed him back far enough for the Beetle to find him with its narrow vision. Rather than closing again, Kerry ran back to prepare for the charge he knew was coming.

  Felicia didn’t argue with Kerry’s assertion that the Beatle wasn’t a Guardian. She could see it, and so could Kerry, even if he did not want to admit it. Creatures this durable, not to mention huge, didn’t show up except at the end of a floor. It might be early, but there was no doubt what they were facing.

  She started to prepare another Firebolt. The Spell was half cast when she let it fizzle. Her hands were trembling again. They did that, shaking when she cast an Attack Spell. She tried to ignore it, told he
rself she could get past it. The shaking came less from a fear of destructive magic and more from the fate of a competent Mage in a place like the Al’verren Kingdom.

  “I am competent!” She told herself. “With or without Firebolt!”

  Trent had influenced her, breaking her from the pattern she had set for herself. Did that mean she had to think like the Swordsman? She knew more Spells than any other student in the Academy. Why wasn’t she using them?

  The Chant for Firebolt fell away from her lips and was replaced with Reveal Weakness. It was her second-best Spell. She hadn’t cast it during this delve before because it wasn’t necessary. Trent had a way of creating weakness in the Beasts he fought. Throwing the Spell for the first time, her face lit up at the chance to show Trent there was more to magic than killing.

  The results of Reveal Weakness froze her face in a mockery of a grin. Her upper lip lifted as the Beetle’s bane, ice, was transmitted to her. Any tier-one Ice Spell would make the Guardian’s shell brittle. A Mage with the right repertoire could reduce this Beetle to frozen bug chunks with a few waves of her wand.

  “Soft spot at its rear,” Felicia relayed the other findings of her Spell, keeping the curses she directed at herself internal. “Ice is the best way to hurt it.”

  “I think everyone has a soft spot on their rear.” With Grace to increase his Agility. Kerry was finding it easier to stay on the Beast’s side. His flail still refused to do more than tap the creature’s shell, but his breathing was easy, and he had put the Return Scroll away. “Sadly, I left my ice in my other pants. What about you, Trent?”

  Where Trent had left his ice would remain a mystery. While the Beetle stomped towards Kerry, Trent slipped up behind it and used Triple Slash to attack its bulbous hindquarters. The three strokes from his green blade left white scars behind, which was promising, but only a small section of shell, no more than a hands width, oozed what Trent hoped was blood.

  Any creature would react badly if you cut its soft bits. The Beetle’s reaction demonstrated that even enlarged insects were capable of speed. Kerry’s eyes opened wide as the Guardian reared up on its hind legs, hissing. His eyes went wider as it pirouetted around as nimbly as a dancer to face Trent, who had been preparing to thrust into the unarmored section he had found.

  The Beast came crashing down to squash Trent with indignant rage. Trent’s legs locked in surprise as several tons of insect carapace collapsed towards him. If he had moved immediately, Trent might have had time to dart to the side. His hesitation left him with only one option.

  Throwing himself flat, Trent sucked in his stomach in a useless attempt to make himself smaller. A useless and unnecessary attempt. The belly of the Beast was several feet away from him when its legs touched the ground. Trent thrust upwards with his sword, and the blade’s flat tip skittered along the Beetle’s exoskeleton.

  Then Trent was too busy rolling and dodging, while the Beetle pranced from side to side in another stunning display of speed, attempting to do with its feet what its body had failed to accomplish.

  “Hold on!” Kerry whirled his flail and charged towards the Beetle’s unguarded back. “I'll get its attention.”

  Kerry swung for the Guardian’s leg, thinking that his hit, combined with the Beast’s erratic motion, might do more damage. Unfortunately, Kerry had just learned Basic Flail and could hardly be considered a master of blunt weapons. His stroke missed, and the ball of his weapon plunged home in the wound Trent had opened.

  The half slurping, half plopping sound of Kerry’s weapon inserting itself into the insect’s body was covered by the Beast’s screaming hiss. Kerry tugged his weapon free. Before he could swing the flail again, the Beast was already standing upright. Knowing what to expect, Kerry wasted no time in getting clear.

  With the Beetle’s attention back on Kerry, Trent pushed himself to his feet. The fight with the Dire Bear came back to him as he observed Kerry tangling with the Guardian. This Beast was hardly comparable, but the fight was the same. Trent and Kerry could batter the armored insect for days without bringing it down.

  The Beast’s weakness was ice, which they did not have. Poison might work, but his supply of Terah’s Mercy had been used up. A fresh batch was growing. It would be ready in a week, which might be a viable solution given how the battle seemed to be going. What did that leave?

  Blood dripped from the wound Trent had opened and Kerry had enlarged. Ice was the creature’s weakness. Could fire still be a viable weapon? Its outer shell might shrug off Felicia’s Spell but what about its interior? Trent dismissed his sword, and as the blade became a ring on his finger again, he cast Spiritual Flame.

  The Charm was a strange one. Too strong for lighting campfires and too weak to serve as a weapon unless you were facing the Undead. Too weak under normal circumstances. Fire Manipulation changed the Charm from a shapeless plume into a three-foot pole. Not long enough. Trent forced more Mana into the Spell, increasing its length, bolstering its heat.

  Trent was running dangerously low on Mana before he was satisfied. The pole had become a six-foot-long spear. Trent chugged a vial of Mana restorative as he moved in closer to the Beetle. Tossing the empty bottle aside, he took hold of his spear with both hands and matched his movements to the Beast’s swaying. His eyes locked on his target, and Trent made a move.

  Three feet of flaming spear sunk into the backside of the insect. It was a foot deeper than Trent could manage with his sword, which still was not enough. Trent yanked his spear loose. The Guardian’s hiss took on a shrieking tone. It stamped and rocked as heat filled and then exited its body, leaving charred tissue in its wake.

  Trent did not wait for the creature to turn on him. He had learned the Thrust Skill with a sword, but there was no restriction saying it had to be used with a blade. Any weapon with a point would do.

  Under increased force supplied by the Skill, Trent’s charmed weapon sank until only inches were left protruding from the Beetle. Trent let go of the shaft after locking the Spell with a burst of Mana so that it would continue to burn. His legs tensed as he prepared himself to react to the creature’s counter-attack.

  “Dreq! When it rears, hit it with howl!” Trent shouted, hoping that Dreq was in a position to follow his command.

  Dreq had been slinking around the edge of the room, staying in Trent’s shadow, waiting for his chance to get involved. His ears perked and he readied his Skill at Trent’s instruction. However, the Dog’s chance never came.

  The creature didn’t rear in response to Trent’s assault. It scuttled, quicker than before, attempting to spin and crush Trent, all the while sending out ear-stinging wails. Trent’s knees bent, and he threw himself upwards with Enhanced Jump. He soared over the Guardian, avoiding its trampling feet. He didn’t celebrate his successful dodge for long.

  The once ponderous but now quick-stepping Beetle tracked the flying Swordsman, and when he began his descent, Trent found the Beetle’s horn directly below him. From this angle ,the horn looked sharper. Sharp enough to split steel, and more than sharp enough to skewer a falling Al’rashian.

  Later, Kerry would claim the wild swing that brought the ball of his flail in contact with the butt of Trent’s spear was intentional. He would say it was a perfectly calculated and timed strike. He wasn’t believed, but that was what he insisted happened.

  Whatever the truth was, the spear was driven home another inch, and the Guardian lurched forward. Trent slid along the curve of its horn and came to a stop on its flat face, the heel of his boots pressing into the Beetle’s eyes.

  The Guardian had no neck to speak of, though that didn’t stop it from trying to buck its head to dislodge the pest that had nested on its face. Trent grabbed hold of its shell and hung on, his feet kicking, further enraging the aggravated insect. There wasn’t much else he could do. Being flung off would mean a hard introduction to the ground, and his hands were full, leaving him nothing to hold his sword with.

  The Beetle rampaged. Felicia retreated to
the tunnel, and Dreq joined her after a close call when he discovered the Beetle’s shell reflected his howl. Kerry chased after the Guardian, swinging for its weak spot and hitting it with one blow out of every six.

  Trent’s hands were starting to lose their grip when the Guardian finally collapsed. It would take another minute before he realized the motion he felt was all in his head, and his unwilling mount had given up. He tumbled off the Beetle’s head and staggered towards the wall as the room swirled around him.

  With a hand on the stone to steady himself, Trent settled to the ground. He held his head in his hands as the others joined him.

  “What did we learn from this?” Kerry asked when he found the breath to speak normally.

  “I need a spear.” Trent’s voice was muffled by his hands as he answered in all seriousness. “A long, heavy spear. Big Beasts are…. troublesome.”

  “I should learn a larger variety of spells,” Felicia chipped in ruefully. “I wasn’t much help… again.”