Vir scanned their surroundings. He doubted the Matron would make a mistake like that… Then he found an opening. Two, in fact. It was possible they were a trap. Either that, or the Matron had simply lost too many hunters to encircle them completely. Whatever it was, the party had little choice. Their window shrunk with each passing moment as the Matron’s noose grew tighter and tighter.
“I think we have a chance! Follow me. Quickly!” Vir shouted, running for the weak point nearest them.
Running was a generous word. Vir half stumbled, half dove through dense foliage, using his katar to cut through vines, shrubs, and branches in his way. Of them all, Neel was the most dexterous, often running ahead, thinking it was some kind of game.
The noose continued to close. At this rate, they wouldn’t make it.
“I’m going ahead,” Vir announced. While it was trivial for him to escape an ambush so long as hard shadows were present, the same didn’t hold true for the rest of them. That also meant he could escape the encirclement and attack their enemies from behind, giving Spear’s Edge an advantage.
Vir sunk into the realm of shadows and analyzed his options. It was currently daytime, and while the dense forest let little light through, the shadows were just soft enough to make them useless for Dance.
As such, there were only a handful of exits available. Vir picked a location at the edge of his range. His feet had only just touched the ground when he activated Leap and charged at the back of the nearest hunter-gatherer.
Taken entirely by surprise, the beast struggled to defend itself against Vir’s Prana Blade katar. Even without Prana Blade, his blade was seric—sharp, and durable enough to hold that edge. On top of that, he had Haymi’s Enhance Speed orb.
Vir doubted there was anything he couldn’t cut through with this combination. With superhuman movements, Vir’s blade blurred, slicing into the Ash Beast’s carapace, and dicing it apart.
When Spear’s Edge arrived, the poor beast’s fate was sealed. Arc, Water Dart, and Ember shot out, gouging into the wound Vir had created. Without its armor to protect it, the spells dug deep, mortally wounding the beast.
It froze for a moment before collapsing in a sprawl of bladed limbs.
“Nice work, Apramor!” Tia said, slapping Vir’s shoulder. “Are we clear, now?”
Vir nodded. “Should be… Wait.”
“More enemies?”
“No… I don’t see the Matron anymore.”
“Think she retreated?” Vason asked.
“I…” Just when Vir was about to agree, some primal instinct urged him to look up. Whether it was Ekanai or Shardul, or just his own innate combat senses, it saved his life.
Because above them, distributing its immense weight across several boughs, was the Brood Matron herself. In the blink of an eye, she dropped upon them. Right on top of Tia.
Vir’s blood ran cold.
“Tia dodge! NOW!”
29BROOD MATRON
Tia looked up just in time to see the Brood Matron descending upon her, all eight of its bladed limbs poised to skewer her.
Reacting instinctively, Tia allowed herself to fall, turning her momentum into a roll.
It wasn’t enough. She narrowly avoided the Matron’s devastating limbs, but she hadn’t rolled far enough away to clear its enormous body.
“Gaaaaaaaaaah!” Tia screamed as the Matron’s weight crashed down upon her. It was all she could do to wrench her torso away… at the cost of her arm.
Her left arm lay crushed and maimed under the Matron. Tia gritted her teeth against the immense pain.
She’s not going to make it, Vir thought, observing from ten paces away. The Matron’s ambush happened so fast, none of the other party members had time to react. They’d been in fights before. Lots and lots of them. Whereas a lesser party might have frozen or fled, Spear’s Edge did nothing of the sort.
Neel weaved through the enemy hunters, confusing them, while Haymi fired Splash before lashing out with twin Arc orbs. Vason activated Bulwark and Leaped forth.
Both attacks would have ended a human. Both attacks failed. Haymi’s Lightning spells harmlessly cracked against the Matron’s tough carapace, failing to shock her target. Vason didn’t even make it to the Matron. For the mother who’d spawned so many beasts had not come alone. Over a dozen hunter-gatherers surrounded the Matron in a circular formation, guarding her against physical assault.
Vason’s tower shield smashed into the formation. While the hunters took some damage, their defense held, and the warrior’s momentum came screeching to a halt.
Worse—the Matron hadn’t paid them an ounce of her attention. Her bladed limb raised, ready to decapitate Tia, who lay crushed under her immense weight.
Despite the agonizing pain, Tia mustered her willpower and fired an Ember spell right into the Matron’s face, forcing the beast to abort its strike. It bought her a precious few seconds, but that was all. She remained stuck under the Matron with nowhere to escape to.
Left alone, she would die there.
Not if I can help it.
Vir hadn’t been idle, either. The moment he saw Tia fall, he’d started charging Dance of the Shadow Demon. With the current prana level of this area, it took only a handful of seconds to activate, but even that felt like an eternity.
The moment it did, he sunk into the shadows. Instead of looking for an exit he could escape to, he looked straight at the shadow cast by the Matron. From the shadow realm, he saw Tia, sandwiched between earth and beast.
Though he’d never tried emerging beneath something like that, all he had to do was create an opening large enough. That there wasn’t actually enough space for his body to fit shouldn’t matter.
After all, he’d done something similar before with Neel.
Vir attempted to take a deep breath, but of course, his body was completely unresponsive within this realm of darkness. Before his ten counts were up, he exited.
Right next to Tia. Right under the beast.
To say that the sensation was uncomfortable was an understatement. The Matron’s immense weight compressed his torso, and his armor strained to retain its shape under her weight.
Even ten seconds of this would no doubt crush his brigandine, causing his chest to implode. But Vir didn’t need ten seconds. He only needed four.
Tia’s face warped from pain to horrific shock as Vir emerged from the ground, right under the Matron’s torso. Her surprise was so great that her lips moved, but she was unable to form words. Then Vir grabbed her arm, and they disappeared.
Back into the shadow realm. The Matron’s crushing weight disappeared. Vir searched and found Tia’s prana signature right beside him, her body frozen just as his was.
Remembering his first experience in the shadow realm—and the panic attack that ensues—Vir did not linger long, instead choosing an exit near the group.
The long rays of dusk gave him several options, and in the next instant, they’d both resurfaced behind Haymi and Vason.
Tia gasped desperately for air, as though she’d been submerged underwater. The sensation was eerily similar, until one learned they couldn’t possibly drown in the shadow realm.
“Tia! You alright?” Vason shouted, falling back to her position. Haymi also scurried over, placing herself on the opposite side, while Neel barked and raced between the enemy’s legs, keeping them occupied. His efforts and Haymi’s magic bought the party a much-needed respite in the storm of battle.