by James Hunter
It made me smile. “Well, good news there, Sabra. We have a ton of swamp to get through, so you’ll have lots of opportunity to thrive.” I reached over and squeezed her shoulder. Good job, that gesture said.
My Beastiamancers and Phoebe crossed the vine bridge first—the quilt of vegetation holding their bulk—and the rest of us followed. True to Sophia’s word, the muddy trail continued on the other side, leading us deeper into the heart of the swamplands. We trudged on for another uneventful twenty minutes, the going painfully slow. I was just starting to relax when we headed out onto a narrow spit of land, eight feet wide, covered in waving grasses, and flanked on either side by deep water.
Asteria’s reptilian voice hit my head hard. Warning! Fear! Walkabout things! Danger! Claws! Teeth! Strong! Many! Strange!
In my combat display, Asteria’s HP dropped precariously. She was under attack, though from what I couldn’t be certain.
Sophia bounced through the air above the grasses, falling, teleporting higher, falling again. I see Asteria. Something has her. Hurry forward. She is in peril from all sides!
Myrina, in a burst of raw speed, raced ahead.
The rest of us slammed down the path through the grasses, drawing weapons as we ran. Except the grasses weren’t really grasses at all … The ground shook, shifted, and jetted upward as dozens of huge bodies rose to their feet. For a moment, I just stood there, my brain working double time, trying to figure out what in the hell I was seeing.
They were hulking things, seven feet tall, with hunched backs, moss-green chitinous armor, beady bug eyes, wicked tearing mandibles, and formidable scythe-like blade arms. Patches of lichen dotted their armored limbs, while vines dangled from their shoulders and grass sprouted from their backs. Camouflage. Lying on their bellies, they’d blended in perfectly. At a guess, I’d say they were praying mantises. If praying mantises were crossbred with grizzly bears and swamp stank.
I grimaced as they slipped forward, mandibles clacking hungrily. Gross—they smelled like a day of plucking rotten crayfish out of a muddy ditch.
“For the god of war,” Myrina cried, surging forward with her short sword raised high.
The nightmare mantises responded in kind, letting out a shriek of fury as they charged, propelled by a pair of translucent wings which emerged from their backs.
Myrina and the lead mantis came together in a furious dance of thrusts, parries, and slashes. The other insects took to the air with a droning buzz, fanning out in a loose arc and skimming over the surface of the water as they tried to encircle us. In my combat interface, Asteria’s HP continued to drop, the water off to my right roiling and bubbling, but there was nothing I could do for her until I handled the wave of incoming nasties.
Sabra raised her hands, arcane words falling from her lips in a steady chant; a wall of thorny vines exploded upward in front of us. The vines, covered in wicked barbs, seemed to strike with a will of their own, flashing out with preternatural speed, snagging insectile feet or arms, pulling the mantis terrors from the air. Loxo appeared among them in a burst of inky smoke, expertly weaving her way through the quivering vine forest as she struck with her blade.
Euryleia, astride Buttercup, fired an arrow into an insectile face, removing it from the equation. Phoebe planted her feet and unleashed a rapid-fire flurry of bolts, peppering the few mantises still airborne with the automatic crossbows on the ends of her wooden arms.
Thunderfoot waited to attack while his mistress bolted forward and split one of buggy-eyed freaks down the middle with her formidable battle-ax. Golden blood splattered her from head to knees, but she didn’t seem to care in the least—just the opposite, actually. She threw her head back and bellowed in victory, raising her war ax again, laying into another of the bugs still mired in the writhing vines.
An especially bulky mantis barreled into the vine wall, slashing madly at the foliage with its scythe-like arms, parting the conjured plants and freeing its hideous kin. I Lightning Lanced it right in the face on principle—the creature exploded into pieces of fried meat and smoking chitin, but the damage had already been done. Our vine wall had been compromised, and a handful of formerly ensnared mantises broke free.
I sped forward, closing the gap. The War Blade crackled with power, eager to cleave limbs, split skulls, and drink deeply from the blood of my enemies.
I was going full-melee, and for that, I needed to tap into my Path of War abilities.
I triggered my brand-new Defender skill with a thought and a small ebb of Essence. The godstone flashed with brilliant blue light. Instead of warmth filling my chest, an icy cold flared up around my heart and spread down my arms and legs in fits and starts. After the heat and humidity, it felt refreshing—like stepping into an industrial-sized freezer. But the cold grew and grew and grew until it was just shy of painful, infusing every inch of my skin with arctic power. Frozen vitality. I faltered, raising my hand in wonder.
My cold skin had literally become steel. Gleaming and bright.
So. Completely. Badass. Badass squared, even. With a vicious grin, I dropped my shield. I didn’t need it.
A swamp mantis darted in with a screeching hiss; deadly mandibles lunged for my throat. I thrust my left arm into its maw. The spike-studded jaws clamped down like a vice, grinding into my forearm … but the fangs broke loose and scattered across the ground. Denied. The creature’s buggy black eyes bulged even wider in shock. The creature released me and backpedaled, a razor-edged arm snaking out, but even with steel skin I moved like the wind. I caught the incoming strike in my free hand, then drove my War Blade into its belly and yanked up.
The creature mewled as its torso split, entrails spilling to the ground in a gush of golden blood. I jerked my sword free, raised one foot, and front kicked that sucker square in the chest, hurling the dead insect back into one of its encroaching buddies. Down they went in a tangle of limbs. Whirling, I chopped off the head of a second swamp mantis desperately trying to flank me from the right. Down that creature went too, head summersaulting through the air, neck spurting inhuman blood. I leapt over the toppling corpse and shot forward into the breach.
Swamp mantises were all around me now, converging.
I let them come.
I plunged the thirsty War Blade into the heart of another dead-eyed monster with my right hand and thrust out my left, unleashing a Lightning Lance. A blue-white arc of death burst through the chest cavity of a swamp mantis closing in. A gaping hole the size of my fist sizzled and snapped as the monster fell to its knees, char-blackened blood leaking down its front.
Behind me, a mantis slammed a scythe-bladed arm into my shoulder, the ring of steel on steel reverberating in the air. I spun and lopped off one arm before stabbing him through a lung. The lightning buzzing along my blade cauterized the wound.
Off to my left, Thunderfoot charged forward and speared the last of the swamp bugs through the groin while Ariadne took off its head with her battle-ax.
As we all ran across the mud and blood toward the water where Asteria was fighting for her life, I took stock of my troops.
Antiope was nowhere to be seen.
SIXTEEN
Dive-bomb
With a thought, I checked Antiope’s vitals. She was injured but alive. Good enough. I’d have to worry about where she was later.
With the swarm of ambushing swamp mantises down for the count, my Amazons and I pressed toward the far side of the grassy land bridge. And there was Asteria, still in the form of a blue-skinned croc. She wasn’t alone, though. Nope. A pair of armored plesiosaurs had her firmly between a rock and a hard place—one latched onto her neck with powerful jaws, the other gnawing on a scaly leg.
The plesiosaurs were massive beasts, each the size of a school bus. All chomping teeth, swaying necks, bronze-plated armor, and thrashing flippers. The bastard offspring of a fish, a dino, and a bronze Buick.
But that wasn’t all. Long, strange lobster-like creatures—also decked out in bronze armor—scuttled ac
ross the plesiosaurs on spindly legs. Mandibles clicked, claws clacked, and antennae twirled around their heads as they moved. The arthropods leapt from the water-dwelling dinosaurs and slashed at Asteria with their claws. A few left deep gashes in her thick hide, while others missed completely, only to tumble back into the murky depths. But a handful clung to my Beastiamancer’s tortured skin, wriggling their claws deeper into her flesh.
It was a horror show.
Asteria transformed into various creatures in an attempt to get away—eagle to bear, bear to whale, whale back to crocodile. She couldn’t change into anything smaller, however, or she risked being eaten whole. And the long teeth of the plesiosaurs refused to let her go as they bit down deeper into her muscle. The whole while, the monstrous arthropods kept up their assault, scuttling, cutting, biting.
Myrina hurled her lightning javelin, trying to clear the arthropods from Asteria. The weapon landed with a crack and a flash of brilliant white light, steamed lobsters tumbling away, only to be replaced by other eager crustaceans. A losing battle if ever there was one. The javelin reappeared in her quiver, and she threw it again—this time trying to dislodge the plesiosaurs.
Crack. Flash. The javelin returned once more, but the plesiosaurs were still hanging on tight. Clearly, those suckers were built like tanks.
I reached out a hand and healed Asteria from a distance, my Essence dipping by twenty-two points. But after a full night’s sleep, I had Essence to spare. The healing energy poured out of me while fire and ice twisted inside me like ying and yang, pushing and pulling around my heart, each one battling for supremacy. Asteria’s wounds closed, and she fought with renewed strength. She didn’t have much time, however.
I knew exactly what to do.
First, I slapped my hands together and unleashed Burning Aura, slashing through another fifteen points of Essence. A translucent golden sheen covered my steely skin, the aura light as air, gently caressing my body with tongues of heat. That same golden aura erupted around my Amazons, painting them from head to toe and extending to their weapons, giving blades, spears, and arrows a dazzling, deadly shine. True, those plesiosaurs were tough, but with the Burning Aura my Amazons would slice through ’em like a hot knife through butter.
I glanced at the countdown timer in my combat interface—only thirty-five seconds left before my Defender ability lapsed, and then I’d have a five-minute cooldown before I could activate it again. Still, I had enough time, so long as I acted fast. I thrust my War Blade forward and activated Plague Locust, summoning the insectile menace from thin air. My Essence plunged, leaving me momentarily woozy, while a roiling green cloud of power took shape above Asteria. The sheer number of lobster freaks was a serious problem, but hopefully the Plague Locust would keep them busy long enough for my Beastiamancer to break free.
The locusts buzzed into terrible action, descending on the arthropods, but I didn’t stop to watch the chaos—only thirty seconds left and I had one last big play …
Sophia, I need a lift. Take me high up, and then fucking drop me. Like a stone, baby.
My teleporter appeared in a hazy cloud of sulfuric smoke and latched onto me without question; we vanished just as quickly. When I said, “high up,” I was thinking a hundred feet. Sophia had other ideas. We appeared at least a football field above the monsters thrashing and battling below.
Ever obedient, Sophia dropped me and disappeared again.
I plummeted, wind screaming around me, my Mammoth Cloak fluttering madly. I crossed my ankles, clutched my sword tight against my chest, and said a silent prayer that this would work and … well, not turn me into a splatter of Divine meat. I mean, in theory, with the Defender ability active—not to mention my god-like amount of hit points—I should be okay. Doubt and worry gnawed in the pit of my stomach, but I pushed them away. I was already in too deep to change anything now.
I adjusted my flight by angling my body, aiming for the plesiosaurs latched onto Asteria’s neck, but kept an eye on my countdown timer. Eight seconds left and falling. Holy shit this would be close. Tears leaked from my eyes and on instinct I let out a guttural roar as I slammed through a bronze-plated dino back with my feet. Terrible pressure surged up through my heels and into my legs—white-hot pain taking root in my bones. But then the resistance parted and I was shooting down through slimy golden guts and out the other side.
The sheer force of the impact was incredible, but thanks to Defender, not every bone in my body shattered. Cracked maybe. But not shattered. Still, my HP took a nasty hit and blinding pain filled my chest and head. I gritted my teeth against the hurt and kept my mouth firmly closed, refusing to scream—the last thing I wanted was plesiosaur entrails in my mouth.
The reassuring cold of my steel skin vanished, the spell dissipating. Thankfully, the water, plesiosaur organs, and mud slowed me to a herky-jerk stop. I drove my legs into the muck lining the bottom of the swampy pool, then hurled myself upward. While I’d been bitching about the War Mammoth Cloak, I was grateful for the strength boost.
I came rocketing into the air, water spraying out in a geyser all around me. I landed on the long neck of the now-dead plesiosaur. It’s ass end drooled yellow gore into the water, and its head lay on the bank, jaws slack. Holy shit. I’d split the thing in two with my dive-bomb maneuver. Not too shabby. For a moment, I knelt on the bronze-plated skin of the beast, trying to shake the pain rampaging through my body like wildfire. Seriously, it felt like someone had put me in a hydraulic vise and tried to crush my bones into jelly.
Asteria let out a crocodilian shriek of pure torture. That pulled me to my feet despite the pain. I stared wildly around as I hefted my War Blade and mopped stagnant water from my face with my free hand.
The Plague Locusts were still kicking ass and taking names—swarming the nightmare crustaceans like Black Friday shoppers in a Wal-Mart—but Asteria wasn’t in the clear. Not yet. I lurched into motion, my legs treacherous and uncertain beneath me, and hurled myself at the remaining plesiosaur. I brought the War Blade around in a wicked arc, slashing through dino jaw. Skin parted, teeth flew, golden gore splattered, and Asteria wriggled free at last.
Unfortunately, the thrashing dino, near dead, swatted me and Asteria into the swampy quagmire with its serpentine tail. As we kicked and splashed, even more of the awful arthropods—who’d retreated in the face of the locust plague—swarmed us en masse. Their bronze bodies were covered in slimy muck and they chittered in excitement, thinking they’d be able to chop Asteria and me into small enough pieces to stuff into their clicking maws.
My Beastiamancer erupted in a mass of tentacles and suction cups. A giant, blue-skinned squid. She encircled me in a coil and tossed me back onto the grasslands. I so wanted to do the superhero landing: on my feet, knees slightly bent, totally badass. Didn’t happen. Instead, I face-planted, rolled, and bounced my happy ass across the grass as gracefully as a one-legged swamp skunk.
Antiope appeared a moment later, offering me a hand. “Where the hell were you?” I asked my Battle Warden, letting her pull me to my feet.
Antiope answered without a pause. “More of the mantis creatures. They rose up from the waters and tried to attack our flank.” She paused and grinned, a twinkle in her eye. “There were six. Now there are none. They were no match for my speed and strength. Your blessings save me, War God.”
“Good enough for me. We’ll celebrate later. Come on.” I turned and sprinted back toward the fight, Antiope dogging my heels. The last plesiosaur had met its fate by a combination of Sophia’s burning katana blows and Loxo’s deadly arrows. Hitting Sophia with a Burning Aura miracle and partnering her up with Loxo sure made them a lethal duo. One minute, Sophia was hacking away with a magically imbued katana … the next, she was gone and Loxo was unloading a firestorm of burning arrows.
The long-necked plesiosaur lay on the bank, clearly dead.
Unfortunately, the Plague Locust cloud had finally vanished—leaving the air clear—and the slimy bronze arthropods were scra
mbling out of the murky swamp water in renewed retaliation.
But without the plesiosaurs to contend against, it was easy pickings.
Holding the high ground, thanks be to Obi-Wan Kenobi, we slaughtered the critters as they squirmed up the banks, mandibles clacking, claws yearning for flesh. Asteria had gone from squid to Kodiak and fought next to Myrina and Phoebe. I grinned at my three generals, who were bringing the thunder and fury like nobody’s business. They didn’t even need my help, which was good since I felt like shit: my HP fucked, my arms like lead weights, my legs like blocks of cracked concrete.
Finally, the last of the bronze lobsters lay dead, and I couldn’t have been happier.
Hephaestus and Zeus hadn’t been screwing around when they’d created the dinomythics inhabiting this backwards realm. This was the second battle we’d barely survived, and I hoped there wouldn’t be a third.
Asteria, as a bear, made a meal of several of the arthropods, cracking through their bronze exoskeletons and slurping up the golden meat inside. She crooned and grunted as she ate, gore dribbling down her muzzle.
I left her to it and took care of everyone’s wounds, especially Antiope’s.
She’d repelled a Mantis ambush but had paid dearly for it. Deep gashes and angry slashes covered her arms and legs, courtesy of scythe-like blade arms. While I tended to her, I searched her face to see if she really was on the level with me. Was it possible she was a traitor? A dark Amazon? She only smiled warmly at me. Probably, I was just being paranoid, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something just a touch off about her.
She was my warrior, though, so until she proved me wrong, I would trust her.
I smiled, patted the Warden on the shoulder, and moved on.
After patching up the rest of the troops, I plopped down on the far side of the land bridge, propped my back against a tree, and looked over our character sheets. I was damned pleased by the progress we’d made, Asteria in particular. She was just a hairsbreadth shy of leveling up, and I was hoping that once she did, the added Exousía would allow her to shape-shift into … well, some new and interesting forms. I mean, if I could get ahold of an Asteria-Rex, it would increase our arsenal tenfold.