Rebirth: Crawler

The hills surged upward, covering Bren from view. The cloud pulled back from the hills’ peaks. Blue, green, brown, and white appeared at each spot, their fluffy camouflage receding to reveal eight mobs within colorful spiral shells.

Their crab-like bodies protruded from the front of their shells, their bright red carapaces in contrast to their giant purple claws. The tops of their shells didn’t quite reach Ayn’s chest, yet the sight of their bulbous black eyes swaying on stalks still sent chills down Ayn’s spine. Lucky for her, or perhaps not so lucky, the hermit crab mobs all turned to focus on the booby who had stumbled right into their trap.

Ayn vaguely remembered having hermit crabs in her original life, but there was something quite off about the mobs. Maybe it was their oversized eyestalks twisting every which way, or the sharp spikes dotting their otherwise pretty shells. Or maybe it was the loud clacking that ensued as soon as they realized they had prey. Good thing they weren’t the only ones with a target.

She unsheathed her sabers and entered the fray, Kayara darting to her side to do the same. They leaped over the nearest crab and landed in time to catch five claws snapping in their direction. Ayn parried two. Kayara knocked one aside and severed a fourth for good measure, spraying all of them with fish-smelling ichor. The fifth continued toward Bren. With no time to change the direction of her strikes, Ayn fell in Bren’s direction, blocking him from the incoming attack. A rainbow bubble appeared on impact.

AEGIS OF AGILITY ACTIVATED

59 POINTS OF ABSORBTION REMAINING

Ayn wasn’t going to pretend she’d jumped in harm’s way because she remembered her new ability, but she was certainly glad for it. Better yet, the bubble stretched a couple of feet out from her, which meant, now that she was laying at his feet, it covered him, too.

She scrambled up and tucked close to the mage. The hermit crabs had reeled back. All eight of them had stopped, antennae wiggling, as they considered the new arrivals. Kayara didn’t wait. The ranger lashed out, catching one with an aquamarine shell across the tip of a claw. Her daggers passed through. The crab reacted quicker than Ayn expected as it swiveled in place, positioning its shell between it and its assailant. Three others did the same, scuttling backwards to pin Kayara between them. Kayara flipped out of the circle easier than she’d done in the water.

Four crabs still huddled around Ayn and Bren. Ayn feinted toward one. It sucked into its shell. The entire thing rolled onto its side, nothing but a bit of claw visible from the shell’s opening. Its defense left them an opening.

“Bren, get back to Sheyric!” Ayn said.

Bren didn’t budge. Instead, the sound of a hand drum echoed out, and after a couple of shaky beats, the mage burst into song.

Sticks and stones may break my bones

But only if they touch me

Skin so soft is now like rock

So come on and try me

“What?” Ayn spun around in time to see Bren’s body sprout a thick, pebbly carapace. The hand drum in his grip vanished as the spell covered his fingers and ran down his legs, hiding everything underneath until he looked more like a poorly carved golem than a person.

Bren rolled his shoulders, a sluggish motion that sounded like a small landslide. “Oh,” he said in a muffled voice. “It seems Stoneskin makes it hard to move. I’d hoped to cast fireballs while protected, but it seems to be one or the other. That’s fine. I’m still protected. Go help Kayara clear these things. I’m fine.”

Ayn wanted to protest further. A mage standing in the middle of danger was dumb, no matter what, but the sound of clattering claws stole her attention. The crab she’d scared was finally coming out of its shell. The other three were closing in. Claws struck out. They were quick, but far slower than what she’d dealt with on floor two. Ayn easily parried and struck. Her target flipped around. Ayn’s blow ricocheted off its shell. She stumbled back into the waiting claws of another crab.

ONE POINT OF ABSORBTION REMAINING

Ayn whirled. One saber sunk into the attacker’s arm and stuck in the chitinous exoskeleton. Her other saber followed as she guided it to the weakest spot she could see. The crab’s claw, and half its arm, came off at the joint. More salty ichor poured out. Ayn resisted the urge to gag and pressed the attack. When the armless crab sucked into its shell, Ayn simply shifted to the nearest vulnerable prey. It took a while, but it seemed the crabs only had two tricks, and Ayn killed all four surrounding her without getting hit a third time.

Kayara, of course, had cleared hers, likely long before, and stood a distance off staring at a lump of blue-green material. One of Ayn’s targets had also dropped a lump upon death, although she had yet to inspect it.

She walked over to Kayara. “What’s that, you think?”

Kayara looked up, frowned, then reached out and flicked Ayn between the eyes.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“I was seeing if your Aegis reacted to friendly fire.”

“There isn’t any friendly fire in the Dungeon!”

“Ah, right. Kind of dumb that there is outside, though, isn’t it?”

Ayn froze as a memory of a scream echoed through her mind.

“Well, whatever,” Kayara said. She returned her attention to the lump. “I think this might be an ore of some kind. I can’t pick it up, and it’s real solid.”

“Really?”

Ayn touched the lump. Although its surface was lumpy, the material itself was slick and cool. It was also, as Kayara had said, hard as rock. Like other items and equipment, The System wouldn’t give a hint, and Aisha wouldn’t say a word on what an object was until it was properly interacted with. Ayn supposed it helped keep the world from being littered with pop-ups. It also meant the only way to find out if the lump was an ore was to hit it.

Ayn freed the pickaxe from her inventory and stuck the lump with all her might. A piece the size of Ayn’s fist flew off. Kayara caught it in mid-air. “Huh,” she said, then tossed it to Ayn. A screen popped up as soon as it touched her hands.

Chunk of Calcite

[aquamarine]

A large chunk of a seashell’s remains. The material is soft and pliable.

The System was also notorious for not telling Rebirths what they could do with an item. Some speculated it was because discovery was half the fun. Others, Ayn included, believed it was because The System constantly changed and adapted. Just because it, or Rebirths, hadn’t thought of a use one day, didn’t mean they wouldn’t the next.

“Sounds good for jewelry, at least,” Ayn said. “I’ll give it to Tav.”

Kayara nodded. “Good idea. What about this?”

A long, spindly crab leg appeared in Kayara’s hand. Ayn jerked back, narrowly avoiding the pointed tip as it swung her way.

“Oh, sorry!” Kayara dropped it lower. “I’d forgotten how long the thing is. Anyway, this dropped, too. All it says is it’s a ‘hermit crab leg’. Duh. Not sure if I’m supposed to stab someone with it, or cook it.”

Having nearly been stabbed, Ayn was inclined to think of it as a weapon, but she’d also run her saber through too many hermit crab joints to find it that useful. On the other hand, the leg, and them, all stunk like salty old fish. She wasn’t sure she wanted to eat it, either. “Uh…not sure.”

“Eh. I’ll try cooking it tonight. Maybe I can add it to the Shricken meat.”

“No!”

“Hmm? Have an idea?”

“Cook them separately…like…surf and turf.”

“Great idea.” Kayara grinned.

Ayn sighed and hit the calcite lump again. That was close. If Kayara could ruin something as simple and delicious as an egg, she hated to know what would happen with the stinking crab leg. At least if Kayara cooked the meat individually, she could eat the lesser of the two evils then claim to be full.

Ayn retrieved a total of twelve pieces of calcite from the two lumps. With one cloud cleared, it was time to move on. She and Kayara coaxed a scared Bren, whose Stoneskin had worn off, yet still moved as stiff as a rock, across another cloud bridge.

The next cloud was smaller than the first two and led to two even smaller ones. Ayn frowned. There was no way she was getting Bren on either. The one to her left was maybe five feet wide, yet three times as long, and completely flat on top. The cloud on her right looked more natural, except for the tree at its center. A purple palm tree jutted from the fluff with four spherical and quite blue coconuts snuggled twenty feet up in the tree’s massive fronds.

Kayara shot across the bridge and up the tree before Ayn registered what happened. The ranger acted part spider, skittering up the tree trunk as if she’d done it a thousand times. Four blue coconuts disappeared into her inventory at her touch, and she returned. Ayn was about to ask what precisely she’d been thinking, that she was supposed to be the reckless one, when she caught sight of movement out of the corner of her eye.

Across the blinding blue and white expanse, floated…a turtle. Ayn had tried to make it into something else—a storm cloud, an airship, even a flying boulder seemed less absurd than the truth. The turtle was still the size of a ship, though. Its four light-green flippers paddled at the open air, slowly dragging it closer to the party as it stared ahead with a vacant expression.

Kayara tucked close to Ayn. “That’s a big turtle.”

Ayn nodded and searched Kayara’s face. The ranger’s grin had vanished, but there was no fear, only the seriousness of a Crawler getting ready for a fight. Good.

“Do you see its back?” Ayn asked. She’d noticed it almost immediately. Small spikes jutted from the top of the turtle’s flat-topped red shell. As it came closer, Ayn realized they weren’t spikes. The tops were flat, almost like—

“Seats,” Kayara said after a few seconds of squinting. “That turtle has wooden seats stuck to its back.”

Sheyric pushed forward, leaving Bren to stand alone in the center of the cloud. He got close to the edge and leaned out as if he was about to leap off and fly.

“Sheyric.” Ayn said. “What are you doing?”

He pointed to the approaching behemoth. “Turtle ship.” He spun from the edge, nearly making Ayn’s heart stop in the process, then rushed over to the left side cloud.

“Oh!” Kayara said right when realization hit Ayn.

The long, flat cloud, if Ayn imagined it to be wood above water, could easily be a dock. Sure enough, the giant turtle eased to a stop in front of it, lining its shell up with the cloud like a boat.

“Get back from there,” Kayara said.

Sheyric had bolted to the dock and had resumed leaning over the edge in an attempt to touch the turtle’s head. At the sound of Kayara’s voice, he jerked back, his head flicking in Kayara’s direction before he scurried up the side of the turtle’s shell, kneeled down, and began petting the top of the turtle.

Ayn shook her head. One party member was afraid of animals, one was afraid of heights, and one, apparently, liked animals a bit too much. Still, it was nice to see one of her party enjoying what The System was throwing at them.

As for the party member definitely not enjoying himself, he remained frozen in the center of the cloud, eyes bulging as he ogled the turtle. Ayn could imagine some of what went through his head, and she wasn’t looking forward to forcing him into it. She looked at Kayara, who gave her a curt nod. They both knew what had to be done.

Bren at least resisted quietly. He stayed rigid, and seeing no other way around it, Ayn abandoned her prior cajoling and simply grabbed one of his arms and pulled. With Kayara on the other side, they half-dragged, half-carried the mage sideways across the bridge and up to the turtle. Ayn’s assumption, and possibly Bren’s worst fear, was confirmed. The side of the shell facing them had stairs carved into it, leading up to the seats. Much like a ship, the turtle bobbed even at rest, its flipper paddling lazily.

Kayara went first, hopping onto the lower steps and pulling Bren along with her. Ayn scrambled to keep up. The last thing she needed was to let go of the stiff mage by accident and have him tumble to his death. She was certain if that happened, he’d Rebirth and hunt her down just to toss her off a cliff in return.

The real problem showed itself once they boarded. Bren had somehow grown even stiffer, and no amount of tugging would make him sit down. So, the three of them stood while Sheyric petted and scratched across the shell as if seeking a hidden switch. Perhaps he found one, because after a moment, the turtle let out a rumble and eased away from the pier.

Thus, they floated across the empty blue with the sun beating down on them. Heat reflected off the turtle’s dark shell, casting it back into their faces until sweat trickled into Ayn’s eyes. The distance between their start and their destination was maybe five or six lengths of the turtle, yet the slow pace made it seem far longer. By the time they reached another dock, Ayn was ready to throw Bren off just to get moving again.

Kayara didn’t seem to have much more patience. She dragged Bren off the turtle’s back without waiting for Ayn and yelled over her shoulder. “Sheyric, if you don’t stop rubbing that thing’s back, you’re going to wear a hole in it.”

Sheyric stopped and was standing on the dock in seconds, hand clutched tightly in front of him. Ayn followed with a sigh. She’d have to think of another gift for Kayara for helping her deal with the guys.

The new dock butted against a larger cloud with more rolling, fluffy hills and a few scattered, purple palm trees.

“Looks awfully serene,” Kayara said.

“Think those hills hide more crabs?” Ayn asked.

“Absolutely. Or something, at least. I mean, look how open everything is, yet it’s so quiet. Gives me the creeps.”

“What can we do about it, though? Poke the hills?”

Kayara shrugged. “Not a bad idea.”

Ayn took that as agreement and jabbed the nearest hill. Her blade sunk in a couple of feet. Nothing happened, and Ayn realized she had no idea how deep the crabs, or whatever, were buried. Maybe there wasn’t anything at all, and these were just bumps on the cloud. Still, she had to agree with Kayara. The quiet made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

“Hey!” Kayara shouted.

Bren slipped free of her grasp, much to Ayn’s amazement, and took off toward the center of the cloud. The center was oddly flat compared to the hills surrounding it, and Ayn had assumed it to be a killzone. Bren either hadn’t thought the same or was too afraid to care.

Kayara lunged for him. He juked out of the way and continued his flight. Miit appeared in his face a few steps later, right before he reached his destination. Kayara recoiled, Miit hissed, and the little hills burst open.

AEGIS OF AGILITY ACTIVATED

99 POINTS OF ABSORBTION REMAINING

90 POINTS OF ABSORBTION REMAINING

73 POINTS OF ABSORBTION REMAINING

Ayn reeled back, her sabers blocking her face as little, hard objects flew out of the hills and plinked off her shield.

“Get down, idiot!” Kayara grabbed Bren by the back of his robe and yanked. Both of them hit the ground as dozens of objects whirled around them. Sheyric already lay flat close by the turtle, who promptly sucked into its shell.

Miit floated, unprotected and still hissing, where he’d appeared a second ago. Ayn darted to him, blades flashing, objects bouncing off of them with teeth-aching screeches.

61 POINTS OF ABSORBTION REMAINING

54 POINTS OF ABSORBTION REMAINING

For each object Ayn deflected, another slipped by, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting to Miit’s side before—

Miit yowled as one of the objects collided with his shoulder. He crumpled and fell. Ayn lunged, her arms around him before he hit the ground. She landed on her side with Miit tucked close to her chest and her sabers discarded.

Her path had taken her past Sheyric, and to the center of the killzone, and as she hit the spongy floor, it gave way. The world tilted as Ayn slipped downward, revealing a deep pit full of shell fragments sharpened to a point and embedded in the depths. Someone grabbed the back of Ayn’s belt and pulled. The view of the pit receded, replaced with alternating sky and cloud as Ayn tucked and rolled across the floor. It took a second of stillness to realize all was quiet.

Ayn sat up and checked Miit over. He looked up at her, eyes pools of dark blue filled with pain and stubbornness. One purple-black wing hung limp over a bloody dent in his shoulder.