Rebirth: Crawler

“What?” Ayn asked.

“Goats!” the farmer repeated. “Can you believe it?”

“Goats?” Ayn’s voice dropped along with her hands. The hilt of her sabers felt awfully nice. “Goats are worse than Warks?”

“They are. Do you know how much damage they can do? Wolves have nothing on those beasts. That’s why I never had any. I only raise good-natured animals. Every one of my darlings wouldn’t hurt a—”

“So those Shrickens weren’t yours?”

“Oh.” The farmer’s face fell. “Well, they wouldn’t have hurt fly. Now, well, that’s what I need ya’ll’s help for.”

Ayn nearly cried in relief.

“The mer left one thing behind. It started so small, I didn’t think much of it. Then, it got bigger, and as it grew more than I’d ever seen, my critters just started going crazy.”

Ayn rubbed her forehead. Or tried to. The motion made her shoulders cramp under Kayara’s grip. She sighed. The farmer really couldn’t get to the point.

“All except my sweet moon-sheep, of course. They don’t have anger in them.”

“Yes. Adorable.”

Kayara’s grip tightened at the mention of the sheep. Ayn hissed and twisted away, only to have the ranger stick to her like a barnacle.

“The others went mad,” the farmer said. “Snapping at me, at each other. They ran off to opposite ends of the waters, and with all the Warks, I had no chance of getting them back, even if they would let me near.”

Ayn growled. That was it. If the farmer wouldn’t tell them what to do, they’d figure it out on their own, before Kayara detached her arms. “Let go, Kayara. I’ll get rid of—”

“Good farmer,” Bren said with a bow. “You surely have had to deal with far too much misfortune. If you could tell us how best we could help you, exactly, we shall be on our way to do just that.”

“Oh…uh….” The farmer paused, his programming no doubt shifting from more history and context to get to the proper reply. “The egg. It lies to the south of here. If ya’ll can destroy it, I think all my critters will remember who they are.”

“Then we shall destroy this egg for you, good farmer.”

PRIMARY QUEST RECIEVED: DESTROY UNKNOWN EGG

Bren gave another curt bow and turned toward the exit tunnel with impressive stoicism. Kayara noticed and darted ahead, squeezing through the crack before Bren got to it, and leaving Ayn to wonder why she hadn’t left earlier. She supposed there was the possibility the farmer wouldn’t have told them the quest without the entire party present, but it certainly would have saved her shoulders. Ayn shrugged the abused joints and winced.

Sheyric floated closer. “Got hurt?”

“No. Kayara just has a good grip.”

Miit popped back into existence between them. Sheyric’s hand came up, and Ayn followed. They pet the purring familiar for a moment, Ayn relishing the bit of calm, before Miit broke away and floated toward the back of the little area. He extended his legs, claws out, and descended.

A pirate’s chest materialized under him, complete with skull and bones painted across the top of metal-bound wood.

“Ah!” Ayn’s soured mood reversed at the sight of treasure. She was on it in an instant, but she didn’t touch. She knew better than to do so before Miit gave her the okay.

The familiar got closer to the lock, glanced at it, then moved away with a dismissive meow. No traps. The lid opened easily at Ayn’s touch.

ONE-HUNDRED GOLD FOUND

TWENTY-FIVE GOLD RECIEVED

ONE HEALTH POTION RECIEVED

A blue-bordered weapon screen appeared in front of Ayn.

Shortbow of Accuracy

Minimum Lv. 3

2-9 piercing damage + (agility/100)

+50% accuracy

She stared at the screen, momentarily annoyed that the first rare weapon she found wasn’t sabers, then despite the continued ache in her shoulders, a sliver of happiness worked its way through her chest. Kayara was having a rough time. Perhaps a gift would help.

The bow vanished into her inventory. While all the party got the gold announcement, a weapon went to only one person, so none of the others would know about it. Kayara would even be at the right level to use it once they finished the floor.

Ayn grinned, her previous irritation forgotten. “Thanks, Miit.”

Miit stretched languidly, leathery wings arching back. A clear it was nothing.

Ayn turned to see Sheyric right where she’d left him. She faltered for a second, her plan of keeping the bow secret already digging under her skin. “Uh…at least we got some gold, right?”

Sheyric cocked his head. Ayn was sure his eyes were boring into her, but he merely nodded and left.

“Ya’ll be careful around that egg, ya hear?” The farmer said as Ayn passed by. “I don’t know what’s cooking in that thing, but I know it’s not going to be a nice omelette.”

*****

They took the farmer’s advice, first circling up from the path that led them to the farmer, then south into more open ocean expanse, sticking close to the right wall as they went.

Despite a wayward howl that caused Bren to blanch, and odd staccato bleating in the distance which made Kayara attach to the wall with the coral, they floated unaccosted for a while. As soon as the ocean floor angled up to meet them with the same carpet of bright-green seagrass the moon-sheep had grazed on, Ayn knew their luck was about to run out.

A black and white cow emerged from the water’s haze. It was round enough to feed a village, with a plump fish tail to back it up. Two more cows floated lazily up behind the first. All had their noses to the ground and were busy sucking up seagrass like wet noodles.

Kayara went stiff.

“Don’t worry,” Ayn said. “I’m pretty sure you can stab these.”

Kayara relaxed and freed her daggers, which was just as well. The cows had heard Ayn and now stared at the party with blank eyes. The lead cow bellowed and charged. Ayn and Kayara jumped clear with ease, Bren and Sheyric lunging out of the way with far less grace. The cow ran well past them all. The water offered little resistance as it continued off into the distance.

Ayn shifted her attention to the other two cows, who, perhaps after seeing their buddy blast off, decided to close in on them slowly. She was on them in an instant, her blades dancing between the two bulky bodies.

Kayara took the upper path and angled down toward their spines. The cows bellowed. They drew back for a second before slamming their bodies toward each other. Ayn saw it coming and tried to scramble out of the way. She knew she wasn’t going to make it.

Kayara’s blades sunk into the spine of one incoming ton of muscle. The cow reeled. Its partner continued its motion, catching Ayn broadside. Her lungs collapsed as she bounced off it and into the second cow.

HEALTH AT 301

Damn.

Ayn’s chest quivered as it forgot how to breathe. Her limbs went numb. If the cows had successfully squashed her between them, she’d probably be dead. Fortunately, Kayara was busy carving the other cow to pieces. Ayn let her stunned body sink, drifting free of the fight.

Bren yelled out some lyrics, and Ayn heard the telltale sizzle of fire hitting water. A loud moo answered it.

It seemed the lead cow had returned. The stun wore off in time for Ayn to twist and charge toward the mage and healer. The cow who had bull-rushed its way out of sight now had the two spellcasters on the run, the three of them circling in a dance of attrition.

Having just recovered from one of the beasts’ hip checks, Ayn knew full well a single, head-on attack from the cow could take out either of her weaker party members. While she hated to leave Kayara to deal with the remaining walls of beef, she had to get to Bren and Sheyric.

A living pincushion blocked her path. Beady, hate-filled eyes glared at her from the thick-snouted face of a black boar. Twin curved tusks stuck out from the creature’s mouth. While its body seemed no bigger around than Ayn’s, and its length half of her’s, it made up its lack of size with an impenetrable coat of foot-long barbs. Each barb’s tip glistened with wet silver. Fitting with the floor’s theme, stubby fins and a fish's tail replaced its front legs and hindquarters.

She needed to deal with it, but first, she needed to help the mages. Ayn dodged up and to the side, spinning in a way that not only carried her quicker through the water, but also created a trail of obscuring bubbles in her wake. The prickly boar snorted and stayed bobbing in place. Good, she thought. Maybe this mob was as slow as it looked.

Ayn took her chances and closed the rest of the distance between her and the trio, who still danced a tight circle. The cow struck out with its tail. The bulk covered Bren from view.

“Hey idiot!” Ayn called out. “You’re attacking the wrong person.”

She cringed at her complete lack of insulting ability, but it had the effect she wanted. The cow turned and charged. The attack was just as easy to dodge the second time. Ayn slipped her sabers across the animal’s thick hide as it rushed past. A cloud of blood obscured the water. Ayn almost didn’t see the dark, prickly blob coming at her. Emboldened by the direct hit on the cow, she faced the spiny mob with a grin. Her sabers flashed and connected with its snout.

The prickly-boar squealed. Its body puffed up to twice its original size, the spines narrowly missing Ayn’s hand. She pulled back, and the spines followed, a barrage of quills that tracked her through the water like torpedoes. Her momentum slowed before the quills did. With a flash, her sabers arced up, clearing a swath of them. The rest buried into her body. Sharp pinpricks, followed by a rush of burning pain.

PRICKLE-BOAR VENOM x 12 APPLIED

HEALTH DEPLETING AT 24 POINTS PER SECOND

STACK DECAYING AT ONE PER FIVE SECONDS

Ayn didn’t bother doing the calculations. With a Prickle-Boar and three cows to contend with, it sounded like death any way she looked at it. She needed healing.

Luckily, Sheyric had recovered from his dance with the cow. Ayn’s health started to yo-yo as he healed her in time for the venom to drag it back down. Aisha rattled off the changes with a constant stream in her head. Ayn silenced her announcements with a thought, a headache already blooming from the venom and the racket.

The blood from the charging cow had mostly dispersed, leaving a clear view of the prickly boar. It bobbled toward her, its dark, rotund body now smooth without its coat of quills. Good try, Ayn thought with a grin. But you didn’t kill me. Now it’s my turn.

With the near-constant healing at her back, Ayn darted without fear around the prickly boar’s attacks. Although it rolled to gore her, it was far too slow. Its soft, unprotected hide gave way to her blades, and it puffed away in the time it took for half her venom stacks to decay.

Ayn saluted Sheyric, then returned to Kayara’s side. One of the two cows she’d been holding off was nowhere to be seen, no doubt felled by the ranger. The other one had backed off. Kayara didn’t let it rest.

“Kayara, wait!”

Ayn’s warning came too late. Kayara’s target rolled sideways, a maneuver too slow to save it from Kayara, yet fast enough to let the lead cow have a clear shot. It was mere feet away when Kayara saw it. Her eyes went wide. Ayn blinked, and Kayara was above the massive creature, pinwheeling away with impossible speed.

She froze, her mind scrambling to figure out how Kayara had avoided the charge at such close range. Their innate dodge could have prevented her from getting hit straight on, but Kayara had cleared the attack by a large margin.

In a motion just as hard to comprehend, Kayara reversed direction and came down on the charging cow’s neck. The mob shimmered away.

Ayn shook her head and went back on the offensive. She’d never partied with a ranger before, so she couldn’t say she knew what their skills and abilities were. Maybe she’d ask Kayara later, if she remembered. Right now, she wanted a piece of the last mob.