Chapter 13 – Dice Heroes

  Djanara

  Djanara heard rushing water ahead, but it was the smell that concerned her – acrid, medicinal, ominous; not quite death or disease; but evil.

  She turned the corner just down the hall from the blue room, revealing the source of the rushing water. It was another root hallway angled sharply down, leading into unknown blackness. On either side of the entrance, founts of water gushed onto the smoothed bottom of the hallway, churning white on their way down. There’d be no walking down this, they’d have to slide.

  That evil scent intensified.

  “If I’m smelling Kingoma,” Djanara said, “it’s down there.”

  “Do you have any idea how you might fight it?” Jezza asked, peering down the slide.

  Djanara scratched her head and said: “well, I was gonna hit it until it stopped moving.”

  Jezza blinked a few times. Then, tapped her chin thoughtfully.

  “That’s really all there is to it, thinking about it,” the gnome said agreeably. “If it’s got a big ugly eye like its spawn, I can still do this to it!”

  Jezza conjured a palm-sized ember in her hand and threw it at the far wall, where it burned surprisingly bright for a moment and disappeared, leaving behind a scorch mark.

  “Gotta aim it though,” Jezza noted. “That’s uh – that’s my only cantrip that’s good in a fight.”

  “Better than nothing,” Djanara grunted, stepping to the precipice.

  “Ready when you are,” Jezza said, from right behind.

  Ah, man, what are we doing here, Leila? Fuck it, what would Jenkins do?

  Djanara tossed herself forward and kicked her legs up.

  She landed on the smooth root, the current immediately whisking her down into the dark. She gained speed down the hall; felt it curve and bend inward in a grand loop. Then, the darkness gave way to an eerie teal glow – between the twisted roots, Djanara caught sight of the chamber they circled.

  A cavernous hollow within the roots, aglow with that uncanny color, lay at the heart of all this. And in the small glimpses between the gaps, Djanara caught sight of a nest of webs piled against the largest root, their strands snaking all along its length. At the base of the webs, it looked like something small lay cocooned in silk, positioned like an offering.

  That had to be Clover.

  Djanara silently begged the goblin to stay alive for a few more minutes, now laying back and forming a needle with her body to gain speed. Behind her, the gnome was exclaiming something, but she couldn’t hear over the water. They rounded the chamber several times before the slide suddenly dipped down and straightened – then, curved up into a ramp.

  Djanara went airborne, over a tangle of roots, landing just inside the perimeter of the chamber. She took a few steps forward, looked around to see the gnome flailing through the air behind her before landing with a squeak.

  “Nice landing,” Djanara chuckled, but Jezza ignored it and was up and running toward the webs on the far side in an instant. The wolf-folk had to reach out and grab her robes to keep her from moving out of position.

  “Clover!” Jezza screamed, “we’re here, Clover, don’t be scared!”

  Djanara let herself growl as forcefully as she could given her size.

  “Calm the fuck down!” Djanara hissed. Jezza froze, closed her eyes. Opened them again, focused. Better.

  Remembering how often these things came from above, Djanara’s eyes were up and around as they took careful steps toward the chamber’s center. Their feet made tiny splashes in the pooled ankle-deep water. That teal glow came from all around the perimeter, shining between the towering roots of whatever impossible chasm they’d arrived in. She was thankful it lit the place, made it easier to see if anything started moving.

  The webs strewn along the roots, stemming from the nest, all seemed to be suggesting a circle above the center of the arena, where there was a curiously dark recess.

  Was that a recess, or just a shadow?

  Djanara about settled on shadow when it opened its eye.

  Yellow-orange eye, green iris, that strange dotted slit pupil. Huge. Staring at her.

  “Ceiling!” Djanara called.

  The eye dropped. The whole shadow did, actually.

  They leapt back as the dark morass of ooze with its evil eye crashed into the center of the arena between them and Clover. It was already quivering, gaining shape, forming into something. Two sides of the mass extruded into massive tentacles, which split at the ends into pincer shapes – then, further tendrils jetted from them, curling into jagged ridges. The bottom tapered itself into a base, which extended to give the creature more height. The giant eye sat atop the hulking mass, surrounded by limbs that could not decide between being a spider’s or a scorpion’s. A crusty, crackling noise emanated from it the entire time, layers of ichor hardening and toughing to form a thickened exoskeleton around the massive insectoid monster looming before them.

  Kingoma.

  You’re the good guy, that’s the bad guy, any questions? No, Leila, let’s do this.

  Djanara gripped her sword-stick with both hands. Charged.

  Kingoma’s eye locked to her movement, tracked her approach. She watched it carefully, and noticed it shift its weight upon its tapered base. It raised its left pincer in menace, but that’s not what its core was about to use. Djanara let it appear like her attention was on the left pincer as the distance closed.

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  The monster twisted its core. Its entire jagged right arm swung around from a low angle. She’d been ready – kicked off the ground and leapt straight into the air, high enough to sail over the sweeping arm. Mid-air, she could see Kingoma continue its spin, swinging its left arm around to follow up. Faster than she’d thought, from its size. She hit the floor and leapt to the side just in time for the left arm to crash down where she’d landed.

  Djanara defined Kingoma’s wrist as the section of its armored arm just before it split into a pincered claw. It presented a decent target.

  The wolf-folk swung her stick-sword more like a warhammer, using the faux cross-guard to bludgeon.

  CHRCK!

  Perfect. Bounced, didn’t glance. Big ol’ fuckin’ crack opened up. Ichor flowed from between the fissures. Kingoma screeched bubbling tones, its yellow eye betrayed momentary surprise. Then, fury. It coiled down and sprung backward, putting it at the distance to stab its right hand at her.

  Hop right. Hop left.

  It was a flurry. Kingoma stabbed its pincer at her six times in rapid succession. She moved around the blows. Kingoma was fast, but it wasn’t Leila-fast.

  Kingoma paused after its assault, screeched again.

  One of those fire bolts of Jezza’s flew overhead. It looked a little off-target.

  It impacted on Kingoma’s shoulder, fizzled ineffectively against the armor. Got the thing’s attention though – shit. Its eye looked past Djanara toward Jezza now.

  Djanara shouted a challenge and closed the distance, Kingoma refocused on her and whirled around with both its pincers this time, forcing her to hop back out of range. She ran to its side, making it track her and turn away from Jezza, then danced back into range to bait an attack – dodged it. After another miss, Kingoma slammed the ground in frustration, before turning its full attention to Jezza far on the opposite side. It presented its armored back while doing so.

  Leila wouldn’t have liked this. She was fighting like a cat. She needed to get the thing’s attention.

  The wolf-folk made sure to stomp into the water loud as she could while she ran at the creature from behind. Saw it twist. Realized this thing telegraphed every movement like it was trying to be seen from sea.

  It was gonna wheel its shit around in a circle again, looked like.

  Kingoma twisted the other way, stretched its pincered arms out together for a sweeping attack. Its left pincer, with its oozing crack, churned white waves along the ground in its arc – coming her way.

  Mm. Can I parry that shit, Leila?

  Parry that shit. Really?

  You won’t! Oh yeah?

  Djanara planted her feet, tensed all over. She raised her sword behind her head, and locked eyes on the approaching crack.

  Here it came. Big claw. If she got the timing wrong, she’d be flat.

  She didn’t.

  CHRCKCH-KLL!

  The momentum of their attacks met. Djanara transferred all the force of her mighty swing directly into the creature’s wrist mid-sweep. It splintered, showered ichor into the waters, stopped dead like it’d hit a wall. Kingoma lurched off balance from having its movement so suddenly redirected.

  It was worth the shoulder strain to see Kingoma’s eye flash in wild panic. The monster reeled, lifting its fractured left arm away and lowering its right claw.

  Djanara thought about how to get at its eye and came up with an idea.

  She leapt at the creature’s right arm, sinking her center to land partway up its jagged length. She grabbed onto a ridge in its armor with her free hand, taking a brief second to get a good grip and figure out her next move.

  The Kingoma had recovered its balance, but its eye was on its mangled left wrist. Damn, didn’t quite get it off – but it was heavily damaged. It bled teal-black ooze in huge chunks from the armor’s gaps, and the pincer claws dangled without life.

  Jezza found the angle. Djanara spotted the gnome along the perimeter, mid-throw of another fire bolt. It flew in a line, this time on target – damnit! Too slow, Kingoma put its mangled left pincer up to block it.

  Alright, that’s gotta come off.

  Djanara pulled her way onto Kingoma’s hulking shoulder, keeping her grip tight along the ridges to stop its shuddering from flinging her free. Feeling the angle beneath her flatten, she brought her feet forward to stand on top of the creature’s right shoulder.

  Two smaller pincer-arms extruded from Kingoma’s back, over its eye. They clattered at her, interposed themselves to stop her advance.

  Djanara’s advance did not stop.

  She ran across the top of Kingoma’s body, right into striking range of the first smaller arm. It went high. She went low. Dove underneath.

  Here came number two. She was on her back, but had her sword readied. She swung up from her prone position in a horizontal arc, knocking the second arm’s attack away. Once again, she leapt the opposite way, right past the damaged claw covering Kingoma’s eye.

  Djanara thrust out.

  KRCHNK!

  Her sword found purchase in an armor gap, sunk into soft flesh and stopped her momentum again.

  Kingoma screeched. Djanara grasped a ridge above its wrist for leverage and swung one last time at the thin mush of ichor attaching the claw.

  SHLNK!

  The creature’s left claw came free and fell below, leaving Djanara clung to a destroyed stump pumping globs of teal-black goo into the water.

  That wild panic returned to Kingoma’s eye – for just a split second.

  A fire bolt sailed through the opened angle and collided directly with Kingoma’s eye with a sizzling pop. It wrenched its eye shut and spasmed, then flailed so wildly that Djanara lost her grip and flew high in the air. Directly above Kingoma.

  And here it was. Another one of those moments. She’d had plenty. Learned to reckon with how these moments worked.

  Things really were slow, huh. She had time. She should take it in.

  Down below, the chamber’s water, once clear, now dark teal.

  The Kingoma, her foe, slumped back, a daze. Centered in the circle of the arena.

  Its core had opened. In its chest. Its real eye. Its teal eye. Gazing in the sky. Slitted of course.

  Just like those scalefolk bastards in the fighting times.

  I hate how they don’t blink their eyes while they’re trying to stick you, Leila.

  Abed together, in the war tents.

  Honey, have you tried poking them?

  She always had the best plans.

  Djanara plunged down with her sword braced.

  CRACK!

  When her blade met Kingoma’s core, she heard the shattering of glass. Then, the impact of her shoulder against the armor wracked through her body, knocked the wind out of her.

  Ouch, fuck!

  She was on the ground, no sword. Hurting a lot. Not broken. She’d lost a few seconds there, needed to move.

  When she made some distance and whirled around, however, it was clear the fight was over. Her sword lay plunged into the broken teal eye at the Kingoma’s center. The Kingoma itself was coming apart. The extrusions cracked free, fell to the ground with great splashes one by one. Its armor plates sloughed off its form, the black-teal ichor beneath bubbling and boiling off. Reducing. Disappearing. Making pathetic noises like last night’s flame being quenched with mud.

  Even the shed armor plates cracked apart, liquefied.

  It lasted only a few seconds, but soon, all of the black-teal goo in the chamber’s water had boiled off, leaving only the clear water behind.

  Kingoma was no more.

  “Holy fuck, Dee-jay,” Jezza shouted. She was far away, on her way to the webs, but had paused to check on her. “Are you okay?”

  “Fuckin’ hurts, had worse,” Djanara snorted, wondering which body part to nurse on the way over. The gnome looked concerned, but Djanara waved dismissively.

  They approached the bundle of webs, and Djanara helped Jezza pull them free, small hints of Clover coming into view. Before they could fully free her, the goblin opened her eyes, breathing deep and heavy. Then, calm, when they saw Jezza.

  “I heard you,” Clover whispered like a dream.

  Djanara decided to let them have that moment, took a few steps back to look around. They’d taken a hell of a route down here. She wondered if the wizard would do something clever to get them back up.

  While she looked, she noticed the glow in the chamber had changed subtly. Healthier – a livelier kind of aquamarine. All the wood too. It wasn’t as ashen, regaining its evergreen tone.

  The tree felt nice again.

  Then, movement. In the roots. No – the roots themselves. Beyond the perimeter of the chamber, they shuddered with great creaks, bent, formed an opening. The ones blocking them in similarly slid down and out of their way, making a path that traveled upward to the exit.

  Back up. Back out. Into that healthy green glow.

  Another bad guy down, hero.

  Love you, Leila.

  You drive me crazy though.