Beastborne

by James T Callum

  Hal hit the ground hard and shoulder-checked the creature to bleed off his forward momentum and send the off-balance, shrieking Thesp back a few feet.

  Rolling his blade around eagerly, Hal stalked forward to finish the kill but stopped suddenly, sensing something was amiss.

  109

  There was a sense of familiarity coming from the Thesp, where before he only felt alienness.

  “This one is more than it seems,” Besal said into his thoughts.

  Durvin stomped up alongside Hal, looked at him, then at his axe wedged into the creature’s side. The Thesp stood there as if in a trance. Its carapace was slowly shifting to a dark purple mottled with red.

  “Ye suddenly feeling generous to an old dwarf?” Durvin asked. “It ain’t fer giving ye an invitation, boy!”

  As Durvin began to stomp forward, Hal moved the flat of [Emissary] to bar his path. “There is more than meets the eye to that one,” he said.

  On cue, the creature let loose a blood-curdling screech that swept over them all. Durvin’s axe burst out of its side with another spray of blood, quickly followed by a purple-blood drenched limb that gripped the axe by the handle.

  Hal’s limbs locked up, if they hadn’t he would have fallen to the ground in a boneless heap. Pain lanced up and down his joints as every muscle contracted with excruciating force.

  It was like a charlie horse all over his body.

  The [Thesp Leader] uses Disorienting Wail.

  Stalwart Soul activation!

  You are afflicted with Paralysis (-50% Duration).

  The [Thesp Leader] uses Abominable Molt.

  Durvin’s teeth cracked together as the wave of paralyzing energy swept over them all. They were given front-row seats to the terrible transformation.

  The Thesps were tall but they were lean, almost stick-like. As the Thesp Leader’s carapace shifted to purple and red it grew to a towering ten feet, its bulk increased significantly. Another pair of legs sprouted beside its others and its enhanced size was supported on four legs.

  Another large arm burst out from the creature’s other side, bringing its total up to six arms and four legs. Its larger, newer arms terminated in barbed mantis claws the size of a forklift blade.

  Hal’s paralysis wore off first, before the monster charged. With all his strength, Hal shoved Durvin aside and met the creature’s charge with a rapid summoning of his Bone Armor.

  Bones shot out from his chest, forming a second ribcage of sorts to absorb the coming blow. It took off a quarter of his MP, but as the Thesp Leader crashed into him with a scything blade, he was glad for it.

  The bones shattered on impact but they managed to slow the strike enough that the attack only took off a tenth of Hal’s HP. He crashed to the ground and bounced, rolling painfully across an erupted root.

  Boco was on the thing’s head in a flash of blue feathers. The Karak Thief struck with talons and the knife clutched in its beak. The Thesp Leader seemed to ignore the bird for a while until Boco found a seam in its thick chitinous armor.

  Coated in steaming, pressurized blood, Boco shrieked in pain but held on long enough to follow through with another strike at the seam in its armor. Boco leaped off, a flurry of blue feathers surrounded him but the Thesp Leader was already swinging its wicked scythe-like limb.

  Hal pressed his hand into the dirt, as much to enact the spell as to brace himself. Spectral chains burst from the soft earth and wrapped around the swinging mantis claw.

  To Hal’s surprise, the creature’s strength easily bested his spell. The spectral chains of Enchainment shattered into bright motes of mana but they had stolen enough energy from the swing that it was no longer fatal.

  Boco felt the sting of the Thesp Leader’s mantis claw and went crashing into a nearby tree trunk, a full three-quarters of the poor thing’s HP vanished in an instant.

  Hal let loose a bestial roar of defiance, turning the creature’s attention from the wounded bird back to himself. As he reached deep in both anger and desire to crush his opponent he found something.

  A wellspring of power, familiar in its corrupting nature. He grabbed at it.

  “No complaint about from whence this power originates? My, how you have grown, my friend,” Besal said with a chuckle.

  You gain the effect of First Verse.

  Beast Magic Damage +35% | MP Cost -35%.

  A Bomb Toss preceded Hal’s rushing attack. The fiery conflagration consumed the mantis creature but it merely shrugged off the licking flames and bore down on Hal.

  Goblin Rush was followed by Divebomb, one after the other. The combined weight of the spells cracked the Thesp Leader’s carapace but less than Hal would have liked.

  They must have some sort of resistance to magic.

  With the buff from First Verse, Goblin Rush should have done well over 500 damage. Instead, it did less than half that. Divebomb hardly fared any better, least of all because it was a weaker spell than Goblin Rush.

  Strain Affliction Lv.1 (Taxed).

  You have taxed your body beyond normal limitations. Channeling Beast Magic has its costs and each use of the magic warps your body in new and unforeseen ways. Using Beast Magic beyond this point risks more than your health.

  Beast Magic Efficacy +20% | Beast Magic Damage +20%

  MP Cost +10% | Strain Accumulation +15%

  Hal embraced the pain that lanced through his body. He was expecting it. And while he should have feared it, he welcomed the strength it would grant him.

  Hal narrowly dodged the sweeping silver glint of Durvin’s stolen axe. Out lashed Hal’s [Chain of Binding] as it connected with a branch near the creature. Hal tugged on it with all his might to send himself swinging at the monster.

  Pulling back on [Emissary] he fell into a focused state. The Thesp Leader had traded speed for colossal strength and size. It no longer needed its speed to dodge aside, its defenses were more than an adequate replacement.

  And while its strikes were still alarmingly swift, it took time to wind up for another attack. That was when they could strike. Its added limbs only increased its ungainliness.

  New limbs were harder to control, the monster was unfamiliar with their use, and rather than working them in concert with each other as a seasoned warrior might, the Thesp Leader’s strikes were awkward. Singular.

  It was using its newfound strength to overwhelm them with sheer power rather than the lithe finesse the creatures showed before.

  Rushing into the backswing of the Thesp’s attack, Hal struck out with [Emissary] just as he neared the towering behemoth’s chest. He didn’t release the binding point of the chain on the branch, instead, he swung to its full extension, bringing him right up to the Thesp.

  He unleashed a blinding attack routine that dipped and dived at the thick leathery seams between the Thesp’s chitinous armor. As his sword bit through the softer flesh, Hal formed his essence-limbs into a makeshift shield.

  The expected spray of scalding purple blood erupted over him as if he stood in front of a boiling geyser. Unfortunately, his essence-limbs were not up to the task of defense and they quickly melted under the stream.

  Though the damage done to him was minor, he was momentarily blinded by the sudden spray as it overcame his essence-limbs.

  Hal had the presence of mind to finish the routine. He kicked with as much strength as he could muster and swung back away from the creature, practically blind from the spray of poisonous, scorching blood.

  You use Goring Blade.

  The [Thesp Leader] suffers the effect of Gored.

  You are hit by Boiling Blood.

  Stalwart Soul activation!

  You resist the effect of Poison.

  Releasing the binding enchantment, Hal was flung away from the creature’s answering strike.

  He was down a quarter of HP from that endeavor. And still, the Thesp Leader hardly seemed fazed. Its wound was already closed, reduced to a dribble of purple blood.

  “Me axe!” Durvin cried, final
ly shaking off the paralysis. “The durned troll-kisser took me axe! Nobody takes a dwarf’s axe! ‘Specially not mine!”

  As if in answer, the Thesp Leader turned to regard the much smaller creature and lifted its borrowed weapon to cleave Durvin in two.

  The dwarf simply stood there, one hand on his hip, the other wagging a chastising finger at the creature. “Ye wouldn’t dare!” he bellowed in challenge.

  “Durvin, what- are you florking mad? Move!” Hal shouted.

  The dwarf’s stubby legs twitched at the power of Hal’s command but otherwise stayed firm. “A dwarf’s axe is a precious thing,” he said, staring at the swinging axe. “It knows its master, don’t ye doubt.”

  Noth cried out, but there was no way she could get to the stubborn, foolish dwarf in time. None of them could get there before the silver-edged axe came down to cut the already short dwarf down to size.

  The axe streaked through the air at Durvin’s head but still, the dwarf stayed firm, wagging his finger in that ridiculous pose. Less than a foot before the leading curved edge of Durvin’s greataxe split its previous master’s head wide open, the axe… simply disappeared.

  A great clanging racket filled the swampy forest and Hal saw the air warp and bend around Durvin, his shaggy head ruffled by a burst of wind that radiated out from his body.

  110

  Durvin’s axe hadn’t disappeared. It had rebounded so powerfully off whatever enchantment Durvin had placed upon himself that the weapon was ripped from the colossal grasp of the Thesp Leader.

  The creature, too, seemed surprised by this turn of events. It took a full second before it began to screech in rage and pain. Durvin’s axe was lodged firmly in its chest.

  Calmly as could be, Durvin reached out one hand toward the flailing creature. The axe wiggled and the creature’s hideous screeched ratcheted to new heights.

  Out popped the dwarf’s axe, flipping end-over-end toward Durvin’s waiting grasp. He caught it without fanfare and then rested it upside down against the ground, placing both hands atop the weapon’s pommel. “Told ye,” he said to the creature, even though his voice was lost on it. “Ye don’t take a dwarf’s axe.”

  Noth, already running for Durvin, shifted her trajectory and rushed instead at the flailing creature.

  <“Watch out for its blood!”> Hal called out. <“It’ll spray out as soon as you puncture its defense.”>

  The Dark Knight gave a nod, letting him know she heard but otherwise didn’t slow in the least.

  She ran with all speed while the monster was distracted, and Hal realized he should likewise take advantage of the scenario.

  As one, each member of the party rushed the thrashing Thesp Leader. The sole member excluded was the unconscious Boco. Unsurprisingly, as they neared the monster, Ashera broke off toward the Karak Thief.

  Hal felt sure that Ashera would take care of the karak and fully dismissed the pair from his mind as he focused on the massive Thesp in front of him.

  Noth reached it first, she thrust out one black-gauntleted hand and out flew an orb of blood-red color. It paused a foot away from the creature and grew long oily black spikes that pulsed and stretched out from its crimson core. It reminded Hal of a sea urchin.

  The attack dealt no damage that Hal could see, and was so unthreatening that even the Thesp Leader didn’t pay attention to it.

  “You could learn a thing or two from her,” Besal said.

  “What do you mean?” Hal thought back at him.

  “The way she has embraced the darker side of her nature, she wields it as a weapon. She does not quail at its source, but recognizes it for its power and responds accordingly. You do not see her shrink from her greatest source of power as you do.”

  So caught up in the mental conversation that Hal missed whatever it was Noth had done. She was up in front of the creature, her scythe spinning this way and that as the Thesp Leader lashed out at her with its shorter - but swifter - arms.

  One was swept aside with the side of her scythe blade, the other was sliced off at the elbow and then the next suffered the same fate. The wounds sprayed out their toxic payload but Noth remained unharmed.

  The blood parted around her like they were being funneled through an invisible tube. Hal understood at least part of the purpose of Noth’s earlier spell as the blood was siphoned into the black spiked sphere.

  The spiked sphere swelled with new blood and from it, pulsing waves of bloodied mist spread out of it. As Hal passed through one wave of the mist, it clung to him and seeped into his clothing, healing him.

  Noth uses Blooddrinker.

  You recover 25 HP.

  Noth recovers 22 HP.

  Durvin recovers 38 HP.

  Ashera recovers 25 HP.

  Boco recovers 18 HP.

  Each strike that drew blood from the creature added to the healing pulses of Noth’s spell. Buoyed by the fact that each wound on the Thesp Leader would heal his friends - and most importantly the downed karak - Hal conjured Divebomb as he dashed around to the side of the creature.

  While Noth cut out its smaller arms with deft turns of her scythe and quick twists, Hal distracted its massive sweeping claws to keep them away from her.

  Durvin, catching on to Hal’s design, threw his “dwarven arrows” at the creature’s head, forcing it to divide its attention among the three of them.

  Hal dove to the side as the air warped with the sweeping, enraged strike of the Thesp Leader. He came up, twisted, and as the claw dug a five-foot deep ditch in the soft earth, he cast Goblin Rush at it.

  Warping dark blades rushed out from Hal and cracked against the mantis claw slowed by its passage through the dirt. He felt the familiar twisting of his guts as his Strain rose ever higher.

  Strain Affliction Lv.2 (Savage).

  Most mortals would have fallen at this point. Few Chimera Knights even reach this pinnacle of savagery. But a Beastborne thrives on the knife’s edge of destruction. It is there that they find both greatness and despair.

  Beast Magic Efficacy +60% | Beast Magic Damage +60%

  Essence Tier +1

  Max HP +10% | Max MP +10%

  MP Cost +15% | Strain Accumulation +25%

  The carapace on the Thesp’s right arm splintered and sprayed out blood from dozens of hand-sized cracks like the failing bulwark in some sinking ship.

  Hal was already moving, trusting that Noth’s spell had disabled the worst of the creature’s defenses. Consequently, the Gored effect Hal placed upon it also made it bleed more profusely.

  He was already up to 90% HP by the time he saw Durvin across the way, motioning to the creature’s rear legs. A savage grin crossed Hal’s face and he nodded.

  As it skittered back and forth trying to crush them with its bulk, it also was forced to contend with the erstwhile Reaper and her magnificent black scythe. The creature was overwhelmed, unable to fully respond to any of the threats and slowly they were whittling down its considerable strength.

  With his newest level of Strain, Hal resummoned his essence-limbs. At the end of each, he grew a hooked and barbed bone that crackled with black lightning.

  Hal launched a Goblin Rush at the creature’s rear leg at the same time as Durvin attacked the opposite leg. Durvin cut clean through his while Hal’s was cracked and bleeding profusely.

  A heavy sidewise cut of [Emissary] at its joint severed the twitching leg. Hal leaped back and then jumped on the creature. His hooked and barbed essence-limbs dug into the seams between the Thesp’s armor.

  Each hook tore a fist-sized hole in its flesh and out poured a wash of blood. Like the other Thesps, this creature seemed to sense its impending doom. And like them, it made the choice to flee in the most dramatic way possible.

  Oh, shirt.

  Its massive translucent wings buzzed and whipped the air so fast they seemed to be standing still. Hal felt his stomach drop out as the Thesp Leader leaped with its remaining two legs and beat at the air with its insectile wings.

  Diggin
g his hooked appendages into the creature even deeper, Hal hung on for dear life. The creature either didn’t notice him there - unlikely considering the many bleeding holes he was tearing in it - or otherwise wasn’t capable of doing anything to him at the present.

  They rose through the thick limbed trees and Hal realized why the creature didn’t seem terribly concerned with him. The canopy of the Shiverglades was thick with wide limbs and branches.

  He would be scraped off before he ever had the chance to be a greater threat.

  Three of Hal’s essence-limbs shifted from hooked and barbed tipped things to long scything blades of razor-sharp bone. As he focused on his essence-limbs, he dropped down to 100 MP by flooding his Bone Armor with mana to form a shell of armor above him.

  He didn’t form a facsimile of a rib cage this time. Thick plates of bone appeared across all of Hal’s most vulnerable spots. On the back of his neck, across his shoulders, and anywhere that the fast-approaching branches might rip and tear.

  Smooth bone would shrug off the blows and the jagged, broken branches would skitter off the armor instead of ripping him off of the Thesp Leader. Or so he hoped.

  With only 100 MP to his name, Hal wasn’t sure what his plan was beside holding on and surviving the ascent.

  Branches, thin and whip-like at first, began to beat at his head, neck, and shoulders. The thicker branches came next, and despite his armor, Hal winced as his HP dropped to half from the battering assault.

  The Thesp broke the thickest branches but in the creature’s wake, it left jagged spikes that scraped hard against Hal’s back, shredding his armor and skin alike. Areas he couldn’t have hoped to defend in time.

  Burning lines of pain covered his arms, his back, and the backs of his legs where his defenses were meager. He didn’t need to glance at his equipment to know that he was doing a number on the durability of his armor.