Mythos: Last Stand

  Chapter 9 — It Should Be Me

  by Caide Fullerton

  Kuzumade were large and powerful monsters, boasting superior offense and defense both. What made them truly terrifying, however, was their intelligence.

  Intelligent hunters were not a rarity in the Heap—in fact, they were quite commonplace. Compared to most of its competitors, the Kuzumade were actually less intelligent by a significant margin. This, however, proved to be an advantage.

  Creatures such as Kumori, Mimics, Krimling, and the like possessed intelligence on par with Humans—they were sapient, and thus anchored to emotions, ideals, and morality, at least to some degree. On the other hand, Kuzumade were but beasts; their intelligence was focused solely on hunting down and eliminating their prey.

  It also helped that a Kuzumade’s mouth was a high-powered acid cannon.

  Jackie broke into a sprint down the path, followed by their companions. Behind them, rustling sounds signaled the monster’s pursuit, carving a path through the toxic brush.

  Jackie: “Lii! Don’t try to become anything to block its acid!” They barked out an order, hoping she would obey without any further explanation. The Kuzumade’s acid was the natural counter to her abilities; defending against it would only spell tragedy. “We need cover. Run straight for the ruin ahead!”

  Run they did, all five of them barreling down the path as fast as their legs could take them. The sounds of the Kuzumade’s footfalls kept pace, treading alongside the muddy road. Jackie caught only brief glimpses of black and yellow through the brush. Jackie knew it should be faster than them. Was it toying with them? Biding its time?

  The answer came as the footfalls finally overtook them. The snaking shadow of a great beast scurried ahead through the brush, and then the head emerged with a chilling rattle. The Kuzumade blocked the path forward, staring the group down.

  The beast was a massive centipede, its long, flat body over a meter wide. Thick, jet-black scales coated it like heavy plate armor, two jagged spikes protruding out in either direction from the top of each plate. Lining its sides, built into its armor, were colorless crystals, each like a window into its many gaping stomachs. Bright yellow legs emerged from beneath the armor, their sharpened ends puncturing the ground with each scuttling step.

  Beneath the black armor and bright legs, the tough skin of the creature itself bore a purplish hue. Much unlike the common insect it resembled, its mouth was large and squarish. Great mandibles flanked either side, and two yellow scythe-like arms were neatly folded beneath the monster’s chin.

  The group slid to a stop as the monster blocked their path, each placing their hands on their weapons. The Kuzumade stared back at them with four dark, beady eyes, its many legs rising and lowering in a wave pattern as it studied them.

  Then, the sound began. It came as a deep rumbling at first, but the low noise was quickly joined by a sharp hiss and a sickening gurgling, each spilling out of the monster’s wriggling jaw. As the sound grew in volume, the crystals lining each side of its body lit up one by one, each glowing an alternating purple or green.

  The creature’s jaw dropped open, bereft of teeth, revealing only the deep void of its innards. Then, deep within that void, a sickly color made itself known as liquid rushed forth at immense speed.

  Jackie shouted, but it was drowned out by the incessant hiss emanating from the Kuzumade’s maw. From the moment the rush of acid became visible, only a fraction of a second passed before it was jettisoned out of the monster’s mouth, a destructive beam of corrosion.

  The beam cut right through Jackie and their companions, reducing them to smoldering flesh—thankfully, such a thing did not come to pass.

  When the Kuzumade had first forced its way onto the path, Jackie and Lii exchanged a whisper, and Lii crouched down to place her hands on the muddy ground, digging them into the soil. As the Kuzumade’s body began to rumble, so too did the ground beneath Lii as her hands expanded into something large, forcefully displacing the soil.

  As the deadly sound of the Kuzumade reached its breaking point, the tension grew on Lii’s arms. With the help of Strade and Helena, she pulled them back up with a mighty swing, lifting a large chunk of earth out of place. The soil rose just as the monster unleashed its attack, and all five survivors nestled closely behind the block of soil as the Kuzumade’s jet roared, spraying dirt and acid to either side of them.

  When finally the roar dissipated, the clamor of footsteps took its place as everyone leapt into action.

  Sam struck out of cover with his bow already drawn and loosed an arrow at one of the monster’s beady eyes; the projectile bounced right off its eye, revealing the hardened protective film that enveloped it. He clicked his tongue at the failed attack, but it provided a much-needed instant of distraction.

  Next was Lii, still flanked by Helena and Strade on either side. Her arms had thickened, becoming more muscular than usual, and in them she held a sort of large trowel, embedded deep into the half-melted block of soil before her. With a pained grunt, and some help from the two beside her, she wrenched her arms upwards, flinging a large chunk of soil right at the Kuzumade’s face.

  The beast staggered back slightly, shaking its head to toss the acidic soil aside, but as it did, Jackie reared an arm back, javelin in hand. They shouted “Its underbelly!” before tossing the javelin, sending it streaking into the soft, yellowish scales that lined the Kuzumade’s lower body.

  As the javelin sank into its skin, the Kuzumade hissed. It charged forward unperturbed, unfolding one of the scythes from its lower jaw. The scythe swung forward and to the side, moving in an almost perfect circular motion as it cleanly bisected what remained of the group’s cover before neatly folding itself back into place.

  The many segments of the Kuzumade’s body squeezed together as it hurriedly scurried forward, and then all at once several segments released the built-up tension, sending the frontmost segment lurching forward like a spring. It smashed its head into the ground, gnashing its mandibles together; the attack was aimed at Jackie, who just barely managed to leap back in time, though the sheer force of the impact still sent them tumbling through the mud.

  Jackie: “We need real cover before it spits again..! Lii! Start moving people to the other side—Sam first!” They shouted, gritting their teeth as they watched the monster raise its head, its mandibles clicking together.

  Jackie had seen Kuzumade before. Several times they’d watched Alistair fell the beasts, but those had been much smaller—juveniles. They’d been able to avoid its lunge thanks to having seen it in the past, but they doubted they’d be able to outpace the beast like Al had.

  He’d made slaying them look so easy, but that was something only Al could do. Instead, Jackie would use everything at their disposal to keep everyone alive.

  Strade and Helena backed away from the beast alongside Jackie as Lii rushed over to Sam. Flesh stretched out from her back and sprouted into a pair of great white wings. She mumbled a quick “H-hold on..!” as she wrapped her arms around him; with a great flap of her wings, the two launched into the air.

  The Kuzumade’s beady eyes followed them as they rose into the sky. Once again its middle sections bunched together, but this time they curled upward like the body of a caterpillar. That curve ran down its body like a wave and it flung its head up into the sky to meet them, unfolding both of its scythe-like arms.

  Lii cut her forward momentum to a halt with another flap of her wings, letting the Kuzumade’s scythes whiz by just inches ahead of her and Sam. With another person in her arms, Lii’s wings lacked the firepower to gain further height, so they drifted back down to the ground instead.

  Though their escape had been prevented, the Kuzumade had created another opening, a large stretch of its underbelly now exposed. It crossed its needle-like legs across its body as a precaution, but that was a flimsy defense.

  Jackie struggled to think of why the beast would expose itself so willingly. Did it simply not care about their attacks? It was a massive creature—its body stretched far behind the group along the path it’d taken through the brush—so a little blood loss wasn’t likely to do much to it.

  Either way, they weren’t going to just let such an opportunity slip by. Jackie threw their second—and final—javelin, and with the Kuzumade standing upright it sank cleanly into its flesh. At the same time, clutched in Lii’s arms, Sam loosed an arrow as he fell, also landing a clean hit.

  Of course, the monster barely reacted to the attacks, its gaze fixed on Lii. She stretched out her wings and launched into the sky again, this time carrying Sam over the right edge of the path. The Kuzumade’s gaze followed them, but it seemed to recognize it couldn’t stop their retreat; instead, it returned its attention to the three Humans on the ground ahead of it.

  Helena: “It’s looking at us.” She pointed out the obvious, holding up her bent metal pipe even knowing the improvised weapon was useless against such a large monster.

  Jackie: “Get ready to run back. When it bunches up like before, it’s going to lunge. Just focus on surviving until Lii can carry us all over.” Their voice came raspy as they rushed to get all the words out.

  Strade and Helena each exchanged a glance with Jackie and nodded solemnly. A glint in his eye, Strade’s gaze lingered on Helena’s metal rod.

  Emitting an ear-shattering hiss, the Kuzumade threw its body forward, allowing its raised segments to crash back down to the ground one-by-one. The force of its sheer weight striking the ground was enough to shake the earth, and the brush and trees to either side of the path were blanketed in mud as each crash sent plumes of soil in all directions.

  Jackie and Helena turned to run, quickly putting as much distance between them and the Kuzumade as possible. As they sprang into action, Strade stood his ground. His hand shot to the side to wrench the metal pipe from Helena’s grip. He struck the rod into the mud to steady himself as the Kuzumade’s head crashed into the dirt ahead of him with the force of a meteor, the shockwave threatening to blow him away.

  Helena: “Strade!?” She called out, bewildered, but received no response.

  The Kuzumade locked its beady eyes with Strade’s. To him, its squarish mouth almost seemed to be locked into a sadistic smile. He forced a similar expression to spread across his face, as he often did when things got dangerous.

  Jackie: “Strade! Move!”

  He held the pipe at the ready as the monster’s segments once again began to bunch up, the frontmost segments practically shaking with built-up tension. As the monster stared him down, all he did was carefully sidestep to the leftmost edge of the path.

  Then, with a sound like the snapping of flesh, the Kuzumade lurched forward. Its legs smashed against the ground more than they scurried, carrying the monster’s heavy body forward in a coordinated gallop.

  With all his might, Strade leapt to the right.

  As Strade dove away, the Kuzumade’s entire body began to tilt, its right legs all lifting off the ground as it turned as sharply as it could towards him, now ignoring Jackie and Helena. One of its legs clotheslined Strade’s, sending his body spinning out across the mud.

  His body flung across the ground, Strade let out a violent cough, pounding the mud to forcefully right himself. His vision spun as the Kuzumade, now having slowed, coiled its body in a single large circle around him, its mandibles gnashing as the head once again locked onto him.

  Through the pain, he once again forced a dumb smile onto his face. The monster probably couldn’t comprehend that the expression was a taunt, but that didn’t matter to him; it was more for himself, anyway.

  The Kuzumade’s head squeezed back against the second segment of its body. With it curled up around him, that was the best it could achieve for its spring-lunge technique.

  All according to plan.

  Though he likely wasn’t as knowledgeable as Jackie, Strade had encountered quite a number of monsters throughout his life, and he’d had the benefit of being able to learn from a large group of older warriors. The fools had flagrantly violated the taboo, gathering in a group far too large, but one of the few advantages of that choice was they’d had plenty of information and wisdom to pass around.

  All that was to say, Strade was keenly aware of the Kuzumade’s intelligent hunting style. He knew that, given the opportunity, it would try to cut him off from the others so that it could pick him off alone. With comrades on both sides of the beast, the only way for it to do so would be to coil in a circle like it just had.

  Naturally, contorting its body into a curve would limit its ability to move. That single fact was the linchpin of Strade’s strategy. This exact situation was manufactured to give him the greatest possible chance of success.

  Even so, it was risky. He fully understood that he would probably die, even after rigging the odds in his favor. That wasn’t a problem.

  If they tried to fight a monster like this without taking risks, everyone might die.

  If someone had to die today, it should be him.

  The Kuzumade’s head shook with the tension of collected force, and it opened its mandibles wide in preparation for its lunge. Strade entered a low crouch, one hand on the ground in front of him as he prepared to lunge as well.

  Man and beast shot into action at once. The huge mass of the Kuzumade eclipsed him, but he wasn’t deterred. He dashed forward, time seeming to slow as he entered the range of the beast’s already-closing mandibles, and—

  CLANG!

  A terrible metallic sound rang out as an anvil fell from the sky, crashing down onto the Kuzumade’s head. The beast slammed down into the ground with a gargled hiss, the momentum of its lunge carrying it forward, scraping across the mud.

  This… was not an element Strade’s plan accounted for, but he gladly took advantage of it.

  He rushed between the Kuzumade’s mandibles, the monstrous centipede too stunned to snap at him, and stomped a leg down on the beast’s lower jaw, prying its mouth open. That was another tidbit his previous companions had left him—its jaw strength wasn’t very high despite its huge size, as it relied on its mandibles and scythes when eating its prey.

  Quick to recover, the beast began to stir; not even that skull-shattering anvil attack could keep it down for long. Strade was safe for now—he was past the mandibles already, and with its head against the ground, it couldn’t unfold its scythes. He quickly got to work, raising the metal rod he’d pilfered from Helena and violently jamming it down into the inside of the Kuzumade’s mouth.

  Strade: “Hit it again!” He shouted up at the anvil—at Lii, though his voice was practically drowned out by the roar of pain the Kuzumade unleashed. He had no idea if Lii heard him; he didn’t have time to check.

  The Kuzumade tried to bite down on him. Though it lacked jaw strength, it did actually possess a modest row of teeth hidden behind its gummy lips. It would soon realize that biting down was a mistake, however.

  Strade wrenched the metal rod forward, its bent top puncturing the Kuzumade’s soft internal flesh as it tried in vain to close its teeth. Another gargled roar rang out, and the monster rose, beginning to thrash its head around wildly. Strade held fast to its face and to the metal rod, keeping it fixed firmly in place.

  Eventually the thrashing slowed. The beast calmed and took a more measured approach to dealing with Strade—namely, it unfolded both of its scythes, preparing to slash them inward at him.

  Of course, he was prepared for that as well.

  Firmly gripping the metal rod, Strade squished his body as small as he could and swung around, scraping through the Kuzumade’s half-closed lips to take refuge inside its body. Its scythes swung several times, but they could not reach him inside its mouth.

  Keeping one hand firmly on the metal rod, Strade proceeded to snatch a knife from his belt. Naturally, entering the monster’s mouth wasn’t only to protect himself from its scythes; it also granted him the perfect opportunity to deal some damage. He plunged the knife into one of the beast’s inner walls, hastily tearing through the soft flesh.

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  The Kuzumade screamed. Strade’s companions watched on in a mix of awe and horror as the beast began rabidly writhing and thrashing, its shrieks and hisses stabbing at their ears. It uncoiled its body, raised its head, and swung it sideways at one edge of the path, slamming itself against a crimson willow. A series of cracks rang out as the tree’s pustules popped, spraying the Kuzumade with its acidic sap. Unsatisfied, the centipede reared back its head and slammed it into the tree again, this time felling it.

  Strade held tight despite the monster’s wild thrashing, continuing to slash through its flesh, opening as many wounds as possible. The creature’s movements paused briefly as it rammed through the tree, and he took the opportunity to release the iron rod and draw another knife from his belt, sinking this one into the roof of the monster’s mouth.

  The Kuzumade let out an even more intense roar of pain, its body bunching up. It whipped its head high into the air, then slammed it down into the mud. This repeated several times, but still Strade held fast, carving open its insides even as he was drenched in the monster’s blood and saliva.

  After slamming into the ground a third time, the Kuzumade scuttled backwards, retreating off the path and into the brush, where it began smashing its head back and forth between two nearby trees. Just like that, the path was clear.

  Without a word, Jackie broke into a sprint, seizing the opportunity to pass the Kuzumade. Helena followed shortly after, the two racing down the path to join Sam and Lii.

  Jackie: “Go, keep going! It’ll focus back on us soon! Just get to cover!”

  Sam gave the thrashing monster a nervous glance before he and Lii joined the retreat.

  Indeed, it did not take very long at all for the Kuzumade to give up on extricating Strade. Even as its insides were violently carved out, the monster put its priorities in order, realizing with a start that it’d let the others escape its blockade. It lurched back onto the path, scurrying after them.

  As Lii had reported before, there lay a clearing down the path; they’d covered most of the distance to it before the Kuzumade got in their way. Within it was a huge, smoldering pile of rocks and debris, clearly once an impressive ruin. Some parts still stood in shapes that vaguely resembled rooms or walls, but most of the structure had completely toppled, due in no small part to the multiple Kuzumade-sized holes that bore through it in several directions.

  As far as ruins went, it was perhaps the single shittiest one Jackie had ever laid their eyes on, but it could at least give them some cover against the Kuzumade’s acid jet.

  The acid jet—as it crossed their thoughts, the concept suddenly lit up like a flame. Why hadn’t the Kuzumade used it a second time? Strade was in its mouth, after all; Jackie could hardly think of a better way to get rid of him. The Kuzumade was a monster feared for its intelligence; even if it was panicking, it surely would’ve thought to use its distinctive attack.

  That left only one conclusion: the Kuzumade couldn’t use the jet again. It was limited. Most likely, a cooldown of sorts. It made sense—the sheer amount of acid it spat at once was immense, and if the glowing crystals lining its body were anything to go by, not only did the attack run through its entire body while building up speed, it also seemed to be at least partially magical in nature. Such a technique would certainly put heavy strain on the user’s body; thus, it couldn’t use the jet in succession.

  Jackie cursed themself for not keeping an internal count of the time. Their best guess was that it’d been over two minutes since the first jet—no, maybe closer to three. That estimate was all they had to run off of, but even that gave them a fighting chance. After it used the jet again, they’d have a window of relative safety with which to attack the beast. Not that it wasn’t fully capable of slaughtering them without the jet.

  A thunderous rumbling overtook them as the Kuzumade approached, its legs carrying it in a gallop as they rose and fell like waves. Its body stretched across the full length of their retreat down the path, and even still it extended further into the brush beyond.

  Now standing behind a partially-melted pillar of stone, their other companions each taking cover across the ruin nearby, Jackie watched the Kuzumade’s approach carefully, listening to thrumming of its pounding feet.

  Their body shook with a startling realization. The rumbling they heard was, in fact, two sounds intermingling. In the distance, they could barely make out the glow of crystals near the backend of the Kuzumade’s body.

  It was using the acid jet again.

  Had it been three minutes yet? Better to go with a safer estimate. Their window of opportunity after this would be two and a half minutes.

  That was the least of their worries, for they made another safe estimate—Strade was about to die.

  * ? *

  Strade heard the rumbling long before he saw the acid—not that he was looking that way. The sound echoed through the Kuzumade’s body like wind howling through a tunnel.

  It didn’t come as a surprise. From the start, he’d known it would end this way. If anything, he was surprised it took the beast this long to try spitting acid again.

  He had no intention of attempting to escape. He seriously doubted he’d be lucky enough to get past its scythes again. Even if he managed that, the beast could easily lunge at him again, or it could simply obliterate him with the acid it was already preparing.

  Besides, he was completely drenched in a variety of centipede fluids. Surviving this would be a total pain—no, if he were to somehow survive, he’d probably puke himself to death anyways.

  He simply hastened the rate of his slashing, tearing through as much of the Kuzumade’s inner lining as he could. Its skin and shell seemed to be acid-resistant. Obviously its innards followed suit, but he wondered if they would maintain that resistance after being sliced open. It’d be oddly appropriate if the beast melted itself to death trying to kill him.

  The thrum grew louder.

  Strade cut deeper.

  ???: “That one looks dangerous. Strade, you’re up.”

  ???: “Strade! Hold its attention, damn it!”

  ???: “You think we’re sneaking in there? Like hell we could risk something that dangerous. Hurry up and do your job.”

  This had always been his job—his purpose.

  He took care of dangerous tasks so nobody else had to.

  He got hurt so nobody else had to.

  And, if it came to it,

  He died so nobody else had to.

  That he’d even survived this long was a miracle. No, not a miracle; a direct result of his own personal failings.

  ???: “Lure them away! Hurry, go! Before they get any closer!”

  He’d done as he was told, but the pack of monsters did not follow him. They all but ignored him, instead chasing after the larger group. He totally and utterly failed to fulfill his purpose.

  And yet, despite such a cataclysmic failure, he didn’t feel bad. If anything, he derived a twisted joy from having been the one to survive. And yet, what was he to do alone?

  How was he supposed to fulfill his purpose?

  Fate granted him a swift answer when he happened upon a brother and sister barely surviving in the wasteland. The sister threatened him, but he followed anyways. He dealt with threats before they reached the duo. He snuck food into their supplies.

  Eventually they caught on, and the brother convinced his sister to let him join them. He did, and he dedicated himself to protecting them. He awaited the opportunity to once more fulfill his purpose—to do it right this time.

  A fourth appeared, eventually. He was wary of him from the start, as was the sister. He hardly remained with them a full month before exacting his betrayal. Strade made sure that didn’t go beyond stealing supplies; the bastard was lucky he didn’t kill him.

  The very next day, he’d thought his opportunity finally arrived. In a twist of irony, it was a similar situation to his original failure. He was tasked with luring the Kumori away.

  Of course, the irony didn’t end there, for he failed once again. Why did he cover his own tracks? Did he truly think his own life was worth risking the siblings’? He should have ensured the Kumori would follow him all the way.

  He was reunited with the siblings, and he found that the fourth had already been replaced. He took charge of luring the Kumori into their trap. It escaped. Their party suddenly gained a fifth, and they learned of the existence of an outside world.

  With that, Strade’s goal shifted, if but slightly. It was no longer something as vague as “ensure everyone survives”. He had something concrete to work towards.

  No matter what, he would ensure everyone else made it to the outside world.

  They tracked down and slew the Kumori. They began their trek southward, towards freedom.

  And then, the Kuzumade appeared.

  He’d known immediately that this was the ultimate roadblock. They’d somehow managed to beat the Kumori, but they had no hope of tipping the scales against something so massive and powerful. Somebody was going to die during this encounter, if not everyone.

  That was why he leapt into action. This was it—the moment he would fulfill his purpose. The others were strong; with the damage he managed to dish out, they’d find a way to whittle down the Kuzumade without further casualties. They’d make it out of the Forgotten Heap, to the outside world.

  To make that future possible, somebody had to die. Strade was more than happy to be that sacrifice. Rather, he would be upset if it went any other way. This, this moment, was his purpose.

  There was a soft sound, drowned out by the growing hum of the rushing acid and the rabid slashing of flesh. It repeated, shaky and raspy. After a moment of puzzlement, he realized he was sobbing.

  Why?

  Shouldn’t he be ecstatic, now that he was finally fulfilling his purpose—finally doing things right?

  Was he really selfish enough to believe that he deserved to live?

  A clamor rang out in front of him. Sparks flew as something smashed against the metal rod, denting it further. The object ricocheted off the bar and landed haphazardly beside him in the Kuzumade’s mouth. It was a harpoon; a metal cord tied to its end stretched outside of the mouth.

  Something—likely the Kuzumade’s scythe—tugged at the cord, nearly pulling the harpoon out, but Strade swiftly holstered a knife and grabbed it, his knuckles going white as he gripped the cool metal with all the strength he could muster. He pulled the harpoon back to him, resisting the external force until he felt it release the cord.

  Then, the source began to pull.

  He squeezed his body down as small as he could. His arm hit the iron bar and his head scraped against the Kuzumade’s teeth—quite dull, thankfully—and then he was out in the open air, being yanked backwards. The Kuzumade snapped at him with its mandibles and hacked its scythes at him, but he was dragged away faster than it could strike him.

  He hit the mud, wind slapping his face as he continued to be dragged. The roar of the Kuzumade’s acid reached its apex, the first glimpse becoming visible in the bleeding void of its mouth. Strade was whipped around a corner, nearly hitting a rock face-first as the harpoon yanked him behind cover.

  A click sounded as the harpoon slotted back into place. At the very same moment, the Kuzumade unleashed a torrent of acid, blasting their cover. Steam rose as the stone took the full brunt of the attack.

  Strade felt stings across his body. Stray drops of acid leapt over the rampart, burning through his clothes and singing his skin. He scrambled to press himself back against the cover, but the stings continued.

  He was now flanked by Helena and Lii, the latter’s right arm in the form of a harpoon gun. As acid continued to rain down, she grit her teeth and raised her left arm. Flesh expanded and hardened, becoming a large metal pavis. She held it over her head, shielding herself and the two humans from the spray.

  Despite the shield, Lii dug her nails into a nearby stone, crying out with pained, shaky breaths. No, he realized it was because of the shield. She’d explained before that the objects she created were part of her body. Her arm may have become a shield, but the acid was still eating away at her skin just the same.

  The roar of the acid jet lasted mere seconds, but they felt like entire minutes. When finally it subsided, Lii practically collapsed, heaving heavy breaths as her shield became an arm again. One side of it was completely discolored, scarred and burned. Tears and sweat dripped down her face.

  Strade realized her other arm was wounded as well—a large cut adorned one side. That arm had been the harpoon; the cut was from the Kuzumade’s scythe tugging at the cord.

  Why?

  The question struck him again. Why had she hurt herself just to save him? Why had she hurt herself just to protect him?

  He opened his mouth to voice the question, but no words came out. The answer hit him on its own. It made him feel stupid.

  She was just like him.

  * ? *

  Helena looked to the side, ascertaining the status of her allies. She’d sustained some acid burns herself, but thanks to Lii they were relatively minor; she could handle it.

  Strade was an utter mess. His entire body was coated in monster blood. The only parts that weren’t dyed purple were the burns; the acid ate through blood as easily as skin. He had far more burns than Helena, likely from residual acid within the monster’s maw; his boots had certainly paid the price. He was understandably out of breath; she doubted he could continue fighting in his current state.

  As for Lii… she had a large, but shallow, cut on one arm, and an array of burns on the other. She’d taken the brunt of the damage for them, and while her metal shield certainly fared better against the acid than skin, it still wasn’t pretty. She was failing to hold back tears; Helena couldn’t blame her.

  She glanced out of cover. The Kuzumade had charged them almost immediately after the acid jet subsided, but before reaching them it turned its attention elsewhere. It seemed Jackie was feigning a retreat. Despite the damage Strade had managed to do, the Kuzumade still didn’t view any of them as a real threat; it cared more about keeping them all confined than about killing them efficiently.

  Helena clenched her fist. Jackie was risking their life to give her an opportunity to regroup, but she felt utterly useless. Strade had taken her improvised weapon, and that second jet had reduced it to sludge. Not that it was a particularly great weapon before; Strade had gotten far more mileage out of it than she ever would have.

  All she had to her name was a shattered sword. Between her, Jackie, and Sam, it was hard to think of any way they could take down the Kuzumade. Jackie’d already used both their javelins, as well…

  Her gaze drifted to the crying girl to her side. Their only option to win this was to get Lii back into the fight. The thought made her stomach twist, especially after the pain she’d just endured for their sake, but it was undeniable that she made up the majority of their firepower.

  Even then, Lii’s wounds were concentrated on her arms. It would be difficult for her to fight effectively in that state. If the Kuzumade managed to inflict a more substantial injury thanks to that, they’d all be doomed.

  Helena pressed a finger to her temple, her other handing scratching at her neck as she racked her brain. How could they possibly win under these conditions? How could they—

  All at once, several ideas clicked into place. She paused, blinking as she ran the idea through her mind a second time.

  She shook her head. This wasn’t the time to hesitate. Either this worked, or they were all dead. With that in mind, she reached over Strade to place a firm hand on Lii’s shoulder, causing the girl to jump, her head turning on a swivel to face her.

  Helena: “I have an idea,” she said, as softly as she could manage. Her grip tightened, “Are you willing to place your life in my hands?”