by Mills, H. C.
After one last unexpectedly sharp turn, I exit down into a cavern entirely filled with Hydrum.
The good news is that I can see again. A plethora of bioluminescent corals line the walls, with small fish flitting in between and jellyfish in a variety of colours float around, undulating lazily.
The bad news is that the light they provide also reveals us, as below me, Jacob faces off against three froggos.
A Croaker’s crude axe strikes against his shield. A Hoplite’s two-pronged spear is deftly brushed aside with a stroke of his shortsword, even as Jacob continues sinking. A blowdart from behind sinks into his neck, drawing a red mist of blood.
Of course, I don’t just sit still and gape at the pretty colours as this happens.
I charge down at top speed, picking the Hoplite as my priority target. The Dartblower croaks in warning, but it’s too little too late.
I barrel into the Hoplite at full speed even as he looks up. My spear pierces deep into his chest.
I forcibly kick him off my weapon, which causes my tail to fizzle out and a cloud of green goop to come swirling out of the gaping hole in his chest.
One down.
A flash of yellow sends Jacob surging towards the Dartblower. His sudden acceleration catches her off guard, and he delivers a vicious stab into her neck.
The Croaker backs off and bellows something. I vaguely pick up on its meaning, something close to ‘alarm.’
Shit.
Below, in the distance, there’s an under-Hydrum village. Decorated with beautifully arranged bioluminescent corals, it looks like something straight out of a fairy tale. Except for the swarm of froggos that are now piling out of their cute tiny houses.
One froggo stands out amongst the crowd. Her limbs are long and elegant, and her skin so pale it’s white. It’s not just her body that sets her apart, however, but also what she’s wielding.
A bloody crystal trident!
It looks quite similar to the last one. Actually, it looks suspiciously similar... Could it be the flow from the last Trial ends up here?!
While I stare fixedly at the oversized fork, the albino froggo—who is wearing some kind of white ceremonial cape, oddly enough—croaks loudly. “Kill the unbelievers!”
Her croak is high-pitched and clear, and her flock responds immediately, starting to swim towards us with zeal in their beady little eyes. I count nine, ten—at least a dozen of the suckers.
Frig, now what? I could probably swim fast enough to avoid them, at least for a while, but not if I have to drag along Jacob.
Making up my mind, I swim over to Jacob, who’s still slowly sinking, and take up position next to him. His face is pale—more so than usual—and his eyes are bloodshot, but he shoots me a grateful look.
I extend a tether towards him.
He nods determinedly at me. Good lad.
The froggos are closing in quickly now, trailed by their leader, who seems to prefer staying in the back.
I whip up another tail and kick in front of me to launch myself away from the approaching froggos. Jacob tenses up and his eyes follow my retreat for a split second. As the first wave approaches, however, he resolutely faces the front, taking cover behind his shield.
Meanwhile, I complete a loop behind him and pick up speed as I prepare to meet their charge head-on with my own.
I’m not gonna act like some sitting duck, my advantage is all in my mobility!
I head straight for a large froggo at the front who’s about to apply his club to Jacob’s defences. The froggo’s eyes go wide as he sees me coming, and he reflexively attempts to dodge.
Sucker.
I’m not going for the impale this time as I can’t come to a stop in the middle of a group of enemies. Instead, I use considerable force to swing my spear like a scythe as I pass by and my spear goes clean through one of his legs, cutting it off from the knee down.
The froggo croaks in pain as I barrel past.
I barely dodge a spear jab aimed at me after that and am struck by a glancing blow from a club, but then I’m through and behind the group.
I pass the albino priestess froggo, who glares angrily at me, and loop around for another go. This time, I’m coming in from behind the froggos facing Jacob.
My heart sinks when I see how many there are around him already, however. If the three closing in from the front and the Dartblowers lining up their shots weren’t bad enough, then the Hoplite who snuck around to his back certainly is.
Damn it, I’ll never make it back in time!
But as the bastard cocks back his spear, a bolt of lightning strikes down from above, hitting him full in the head and stunning him. A Greysteel arrow follows, accurately striking him in the shoulder, then the Hydrum is visibly disturbed as Vibration Energy streaks through and causes the froggos in front of Jacob to freeze up.
Jacob grimaces at the metallic sound but uses the opportunity to run a Croaker through with his shortsword.
My heart soars as I close the distance and practically behead a distracted Dartblower with a swing of my spear, then slam it in the back of a stunned Croaker.
Our friends swim down from above, and the battle swiftly turns into a confusing melee, with visibility degrading from a mix of red and green blood.
I abandon my tail and use Breath Control for short bursts of speed, or to push away froggos threatening to hit one of my friends.
Despite the confusion, one thing is hard to miss.
“WEAKLINGS!” the priestess croaks. “CHILDREN, COME TO LOLLIHOPS!”
Lollihops, really? Wait, you’re not telling me—
I reform my tail and swim out of the melee, to gain some perspective.
Oh, hell.
More of the bastards come swarming, pouring forth from huts and caves all around us.
Now what?
CHAPTER 21
The seaweed is always greener...
FROGGOS POP OUT FROM all around us in response to Lollihops’ bellow. They’re not upon us yet, but they will be soon.
Shit, what do we do?
I wince as Dave’s voice explodes into my head. His gaze meets mine from where he’s currently slowly sinking, slightly outside of the melee like me.
Right, Dave’s got Tremorsense now. He points down, and my eye follows. About a hundred feet below where we are now, the mouth of a tunnel gapes at us.
Its rim is littered with crude signs, displaying... dismembered froggos?
Are those warning signs for the froggos? That’s it!
I know what I need to do.
I extend my tether to Dave and quickly send,
He nods. I break the tether, reform my tail, and focus my attention on Lollihops.
So far I’ve avoided any direct confrontations with the albino bitch, and was happy enough that she stayed out of the fight. Now that I need to kick the hornet’s nest, however, she’s shit out of luck.
I kick with as much force as my tail can handle and loop around, pretending to ready myself to head back into the fray, while ‘accidentally’ ending up behind the priestess. She eyes me warily as I speed along a trajectory that would send me reasonably close by her.
I change directions towards her at the last moment and swing my spear through the Hydrum’s drag at full force.
Her eyes go wide. She croaks in surprise as she brings the trident to bear to block.
She’s just a little too slow. The momentum of my swing combined with that of my barrelling body is enough to force her trident back and allow the blade of my spear to bite deeply into her shoulder.
I’m not about t
o let this chance to finish her off go to waste either. In a flash, the glowing blue Qi I had readied inside of my Focus Crystal turns a deep shade of purple and pours into my spear. Halfway along the shaft, however, it meets resistance; Electric Energy from the trident is filling up my spear from the other side.
My Toxic Energy pushes past the Electric Energy, not forcing it to retreat or destroying it, but awkwardly coexisting, like freshly minted step-siblings outside of porn scenarios. When it reaches the point where spear meets flesh, however, it’s like my Toxic Energy hits a barrier. For a split second, there is a stalemate. Then I manage to break through and cause a torrent of hungry purple tendrils to eagerly spread out beneath her pale skin.
That’s not to say it all goes in. As the amount of Toxic Energy in my spear lessens, so does the pressure with which I can push it forth, and the interfering Electric Energy from the trident is still only increasing. Still, I filled my Focus Crystal with a cool 8 Onkh of Qi which just converted to 40 Onkh of Toxic Energy. If even half of that makes it into her flesh—and I believe I’m about to hit that mark—she’s unlikely to live for much longer.
“How dare you—dirty ape!” she croaks, pushing me away enough to get the spear out of her flesh. As soon as I withdraw my weapon, she releases her trident with one hand and claws at me.
Her nails—which are surprisingly sharp for a frog—rake over the side of my face. They barely miss my eye-crystal, settling for biting deep into my cheek, leaving burning trails of pain.
Blood wells up from my face in an instant, clouding the Hydrum in front of my eye-crystal.
Oh, it’s on now.
I also release one hand from my weapon and sock her in the face. Something cracks under my fist, and she shrieks.
I flick a tether towards her, and send,
I grab the trident with my free hand—my skin prickles where I touch it—and bring both of my feet to bear to push her away from it.
Unfortunately, she catches on to what I’m doing, quickly grasps onto it with both hands, and holds on with a still surprising amount of Strength.
“That’s mine!” she croaks. “Get your filthy paws—”
I expel a powerful jet of Hydrum into her face, timing it to hit in perfect concurrence with another two-legged kick. The combination proves enough, as with an angry squeak, she’s forced to let go.
Seeing it this up-close leaves no doubt in my mind. At long last, I got my hands on Hoppy’s bloody trident.
Lollihops’ face glows purple with anger. Or Toxic Energy, come to think of it. Either way, it’s definitely time to bail.
“DIRTY APE STOLE THE HOLY ARTEFACT! AFTER HER!” Lollihops bellows as I cut the tether and take off like a rocket.
The froggos which were previously headed for the fight, and even some who were in the fight, start chasing me like I’m about to score a touchdown.
Hey, I think I actually nailed that sports analogy! Go me.
This is, of course, exactly what I was gunning for. I sneak a peek at my friends as I dodge the wannabee linebackers-or-whatever. As I glance, Dave executes a straggler with a well-placed arrow, and starts swimming down after the rest.
Nice! This might actually work.
A barrage of darts comes in from the side, several of which hit, penetrating my armour. I reflexively divert one headed for my legs with the Hydrum I control around them.
I leave the darts where they are, even though they might slow me down a little. Blood loss from the wounds is currently a bigger problem than the Toxic Energy slowly trickling into me. I’m already bleeding lightly in a few places, causing my net Lavi to be negative with Boost Physical on.
The froggos chasing me have lumped together in an angry mob, which I’m leading in a big circle. They’re good swimmers, but with how fast I’m going now, they simply can’t catch up.
Heh, I could keep this up for minutes!
“STUPIDHEADS! DON’T JUST FOLLOW HER: CUT HER OFF!”
After a moment of confusion, the froggos follow Lollihops’ order surprisingly well, spreading out instead of chasing after me in a single group.
Oh well, it’s been fun, but I think this is my cue to leave.
Unwilling to wait for the net to close on me, I dive down.
I nimbly evade two final froggos and catch up to my friends almost exactly at the entrance of the tunnel.
I look back over my shoulder. The froggos chasing me have paused, looks of fear on their faces.
Boom, a perfect play!
Lollihops gurgles painfully. “Children...” she croaks as if she were weakened, but somehow still loud enough for the whole cavern to hear. “Lollihops is... not going to make it.”
I mean, I’m pretty sure she actually is dying, so what’s with the second-rate acting?
“Whatever you do... avenge Lollihops!”
Come again? What kind of mother are you?!
The four dozen or so froggos remaining stiffen as one. Their stricken gazes turn to Lollihops, then, murderously, to me.
You’ve gotta be friggin’ kidding me.
I turn tail and speed into the tunnel.
The good news is that the twists and turns of the tunnel help keep the froggos from overtaking us too quickly. The bad news is that they’re still gaining on us.
Glancing back and forth between my friends and the froggos, I find myself forced to make a very hard decision.
Gritting my teeth, I toss the trident towards Alec.
He catches it reflexively, before looking at me in surprise.
He blinks, before letting go of his two-pronged spear and unleashing a thick arc of lightning via the trident at a Dartblower who was getting too close for comfort.
It strikes the froggo full in the chest, making it spasm, and leaving a nasty mark on its chest.
Alec stares at the trident in surprised appreciation for a second, before I grab the nape of his armour and start dragging him along to catch up with the rest.
Darts fly after us regardless, but a few turns later we exit into another large cave system. There’s less bioluminescence here, but still enough to make out that it’s a big cylindrical cave that goes down more or less straight, with man-sized holes in the walls all around us.
Is it just me, or is the Hydrum getting thicker? I feel like kicking is getting harder, and both my friends and the froggos seem to have gotten a tad slower as well.
Before I have time to think about this for more than a split second, Dave’s voice rings in my head,
Just as he finishes speaking, the something in question appears from a tunnel beside us. It looks like a bright white axolotl roughly the size of a saltwater crocodile, and by bright I mean actually glowing, specifically with what seem like arcs of lightning travelling through its body, which seems semi-transparent when lit up from the inside.
For a moment, it freezes. Then, with a sweep of its tail, it shoots towards the nearest froggo. The unlucky froggo tries to dodge with a panicked squeak, but lightning arcs shoot forth from the axolotl’s external gills and cause the froggo to seize up. The axolotl then proceeds to headbutt him with a smack I can actually feel from my position twenty feet away.
Ouch.
Of course, that’s easier said than done.
The axolotl above us tries to flee when it discovers that
there’s a whole lot more enraged froggos coming, but it’s not fast enough and quickly gets swarmed. Despite the flashes of lightning coming from the battle, it perishes far too soon.
Like Dave warned, three more axolotls appear in quick succession. Two of them start hissing angrily at the froggos, while one heads for Kaitlynn.
Not on my watch, buddy.
I swim towards it at full speed, but it’s just as fast as I am—if not faster—and reaches her before I can reach it.
Its external gills extend forward, lighting up as arcs of lightning gather on them, when Kaitlynn launches her own counterattack. Her crystal flashes red, and visible waves of Vibrational Energy are fired simultaneously with arcs of bluish-white lightning.
The attacks clash in the middle, and to my surprise, enter a kind of stalemate. They do travel through each other a bit, but quickly weaken and slow as they interact, to the point they end up annihilating each other.
Of course, Electric and Vibration Energy are a pair of Yin-Yang opposites!
The axolotl has only a very short moment to look surprised before I slam into its side and jam my spear into its neck. The action is just enough to direct it away from smacking into Kaitlynn.
Unfortunately, my spear acts as a lightning rod. Electric Energy courses through it into my body, and I almost black out from the pain.
When it ends, I shakily pull my spear out of the no longer luminescent axolotl and start swimming down again.
I glance at my Status Bar.
Oof, that discharge of Electric Energy burned like 20 Onkh of Lavi away in a single go! And I only recovered 1 Onkh of Qi since my last use of it... I better use it a little more sparingly.
Reluctantly, I turn off the second mode of Boost Physical. I don’t need it that badly right now—even if the Hydrum is getting thicker—because I have to stay with the rest anyway.
At least a lot of the froggos are still tied up fighting the axolotls, though some are swimming around them to try and catch up to us.
Dave shoots an arrow up and hits a Dartblower in the arm, then swims on.