The creatures were a grotesque fusion of lizard and octopus, their forms a blasphemy against nature. Glossy, skinless bodies shimmered with a thin, translucent layer of epidermis stretched taut over bunched muscle. Each of their eight tentacles dripped a clear, sizzling fluid that ate tiny pits into the stone floor. They seemed to be pack creatures, sticking together in groups of seven or eight from what I had already seen previously, and had frightenedly vicious coordination skills. At the very least, they were more dangerous than the Bone Dogs in the Labyrinth.
Kora didn't hesitate, her voice a low, sharp command. "Flank left, avoid the acid! Roric, you're with me!" Her own skin took on a rough, granular texture, becoming the color of granite as she advanced. Roric let out a grunt, his muscles visibly swelling as he hefted a heavy, crude maul, his Brawler Aspect empowering his charge.
Lyra remained on a chunk of rubble, her eyes narrowed. "Two more circling from the right alley! Finn, intercept!" she called out, her Farsight providing a crucial overview of the battlefield. Finn acknowledged with a wave, nocking an arrow to his bow. He moved with a fluid grace, his Aspect likely enhancing his agility and aim.
Sasrir melted into the shadows of a collapsed doorway, his form disappearing from sight entirely. I stayed close to Lyra, playing my part as the non-combatant. She didn't even glance at me, wholly focused on observing the battlefield...or so it seemed. I detected the slight tensing in her shoulders as I approached, no doubt prepared in case I quite literally stabbed her in the back. Not that I intended to do so, of course.
Kora took the lunge head-on, the creature's tentacles whipping against her stone-hardened arms. The acid sizzled but failed to penetrate, though the force of the blows still drove her back a step. Roric used the opening, his maul swinging in a devastating arc that crushed one of the beast's limbs into pulp. A horrific screech echoed through the ruins.
From the right, the two other monsters emerged, skittering on a combination of claws and tentacles. Finn's bowstring thrummed, and an arrow sank deep into the eye of the lead creature. It recoiled, thrashing wildly, its corrosive blood spraying the walls. The second one ignored its companion and charged straight for Lyra and me.
Before I could even feign panic, a tentacle lashed out from the shadows of the doorway. It was Sasrir's work, a tendril of pure darkness that wrapped around the charging monster's leg, yanking it off balance. The creature stumbled, giving Finn the moment he needed to loose another arrow, this one punching through its gaping mouth.
The first monster, wounded and enraged, focused entirely on Roric. It ignored Kora's stone-skinned punches, instead wrapping its remaining tentacles around the Brawler's legs. Roric roared in pain as the acid immediately began eating through his leather greaves, the sizzling sound sickeningly loud. He struggled, but the creature's grip was like iron.
A shadow detached itself from the wall behind the beast. Sasrir materialized, his own dagger gleaming with a cold, non-reflective light. He didn't stab or slash. Instead, he simply reached out and touched the creature's slick, muscular back. The area under his palm instantly turned a necrotic black, the flesh withering and dying in a silent, rapid wave.
The creature convulsed, its grip on Roric loosening as its nervous system shut down. It collapsed, the unnatural darkness spreading from the point of contact until the entire monstrosity was a lifeless, withered husk with blood leaking from all orifices. While it looked bizarre, I knew it was just Sasrir playing up the theatrics. Looking down, his shadow had extended into the beast's and the blackness was just more shadow covering the body. However, it certainly had an effect on the others.
Kora looked at him with undisguised weariness, while Finn seemed moderately disturbed by the way the monster died. Roric and Lyra remained unperturbed however, though I sensed a strange anticipation from the big guy. A stereotypical battle fanatic? Meanwhile Lyra just seems unfazed by cruelty. Either way, he had successfully planted a first impression in the minds of our teammates, who would hopefully pass on his skill level to Gemma. As for me?
I walked over to the closest and most intact corpse and summoned my Steel Memento, the sword I got from the Sword Glade when fighting the Golem. I began making cuts where the most meat was, my hands steady and eyes precise. Finn came over to me with a raised eyebrow upon seeing this, his mouth open. "You know how to cut meat?"
"I worked in a butchery when I was younger" I revealed, hands and mouth moving at the same time. From behind, Roric spoke up. "How old even are you kid?"
I paused at that, wondering what answer to give. Fifteen-almost-sixteen years in this body, plus the twenty three in my previous life..."I'm eighteen" I decided, shrugging my shoulders casually.
"What, didn't hit your growth spurt?" Kora snorted, but it didn't sound like she was calling me out, merely being prickly. After that, everyone else took their own corpse to butcher and dismember, packing the meat and usable bones into sacks seemingly made from monster hide. By the time we were done, almost everything besides the acidic tentacle had been used. "Kido likes to use them for regents, but most Hunters don't find bringing the back worth it" Finn explained when he saw me looking at them. "Ah right, you probably don't know who Kido is, she's the leader of the Artisans, a lieutenant like Gemma and Seishan."
"Do things usually go this smoothly?" I asked as everyone prepared to leave. The food gathered here was only enough to feed a little over a dozen people, so I presumed we would be heading back out after dropping our current load off at the Castle. Kora shrugged and began to walk back. "We pick our targets careful-a Pathfinder found that these things moved in here only two or three weeks ago, and we're experienced with hunting them. So long as nothing happens, we usually don't suffer anything other than minor wounds-"
My eyes widened at the sudden death flag that the woman had just dropped, but before I could say anything, a shriek loud enough to nearly burst my eardrums reverberated through the ruins. Looking up, everyone froze at the sight of a colossal and disturbing beast circling above us. Seeing it, I couldn't help but have the description from the novel flit through my head.
"A massive, winged creature with a pale body and black feathers stained by blood. When its terrifying beak was open, it reveals rows of sharp, needle-like fangs and a long red tongue. This monstrous creature that resembled a cross between a lion and a raven stretched its numerous limbs. Its body was pale as a corpse, while its head and chest were covered with dark feathers. It was massive in size, with muscles rolling like steel cables under the skin. It had two powerful hind legs and six more protruding messily from its wide chest, each ending with a set of deadly claws. It also possessed a long, jagged black beak."
"Shit" beside me, Sasrir cursed out loud, perfectly reflecting what everyone else was feeling. As we stood frozen in terror, the monster crashed down in front of us, beady eyes staring hungrily-straight at me. Swallowing audibly, I immediately summoned the Unshadowed Crucifix as Sasrir stepped in front of me and shielded my body with his own. The terse standoff continued for several seconds, before the Spire Messenger let out another shriek and pounced straight at us.