"There!" Arctic Haze spun and pointed down to my left.

I charged my anti-Graven hand blaster and fired when the submerged worm burst from the ground.

"Two more swirling," the razkur kept my scorch-pike trained on the movement below the dirt.

The subterranean worms were no match for the razkur's uncanny ears.

RIIIIIPP!!

I cleaved the head off the plated legless beast with my battle axe and then whipped my weapon around to clear the blood and viscera in preparation for the next attack.

"The larger one rises!" Arctic Haze readied his grip on his weapon and pointed to the sound's source.

"Face me!" I roared and charged at the nasty fanged thing. I hooked my axe up under the large belly plate and flipped it upside down, then jabbed in my claws and ripped its lower jaw off.

The second smaller worm broke free from the rocky terrain and dove at the razkur's legs, but the little shit had quick reflexes.

There's hope for him yet!

He hopped backward and caught the monster by stabbing it firmly through the tail.

SWISH

I hacked the big, clunky fangs protruding from its mouth and cleared a path before firing a swift, controlled pulse down the monster's throat.

Its flesh sizzled, and the beast went limp.

"There are more up ahead but it's silent below us," Arctic Haze retracted his scorch-pike and led the way forward. "We shouldn't linger."

He looked sharp, now fully armed in acid-resistant armor and a military-grade helmet. Though, Arctic Haze's well-defined bare arms had no need for bulky embellishments.

I holstered my axe before sprinting to catch up.

Upon reassessment of his dossier, Arctic Haze had shown a distinctive ambitious rise throughout his career. Previously, I believed it to be a byproduct of his peers' peculiar affection but perhaps I had been too hasty in my judgment.

The little shit doesn't hold back when he wants something...

Come to think of it, I couldn't recall a single time that the razkur had ever backed down in my presence.

Arctic Haze crouched then pounced. In a fraction of a second, he had a medium-sized worm pierced mid-burst, then slammed the abomination head-first into a rocky wall.

I followed up and chopped its abdomen in half.

"The ones up ahead circling the shuttle sound about this size," Arctic Haze struggled to yank his scorch-pike free from our kill.

I reached around him and tapped the retract switch on the shaft causing the razkur to stumble back and bump into my chest.

He shook out his ears with a chuckle as he righted himself.

It was a sound I had never heard.

There was a small dust cloud in the near distance on the opposite side of the rocky plain. Through the zoom function in our helmet, we could see a small swarm of worms writhing through and devouring the rocks around the shuttle.

"At this point," Arctic Haze shrugged in exhaustion. "I'm inclined to press our luck and take them all at once."

"I am pleased you are finally coming around to the merit of Zhaguai tactics," I let him see my smirk through the viewscreen. "But we mustn't let impatience cloud our judgment. Especially when we are so close to our objective. Perhaps a more subtle strategy is in order?"

I brought his attention to a cluster of orange flowers blooming at the edge of a nearby bog.

...

We collected what flowers we could in airtight pouches, then crept in quietly toward our target.

The bovine-sized plated worms churned like bulbous brown sharks pocked with hard black thorns, providing tractions and allowing the terrestrial worms to grind through the earth.

I ran in first, luring them into a tight wave of ugly fanged maws. The moment they breached fresh air, Arctic Haze darted in to rip open the airtight baggies and fill the worm's mouths with handfuls of toxic flowers.

A few seconds later, all the worms started convulsing with some of them vomiting and the smaller ones twisting violently before dying.

"Your hunch was right," Arctic Haze commended me through the comm link. "It wasn't a coincidence the worms avoided the bogs and bright vegetation."

I stepped in while the worms were incapacitated and got busy chopping their segmented bodies into lumpy refuse.

"Lor! Watch out!" Arctic Haze plowed into me and tugged me away before I could finish up the last of them.

"What are you-?" I struggled in his arms, but he refused to let go.

The ground shook and broke apart as a worm nearly the size of the shuttle erupted from below.

Arctic Haze finally released me and caught his breath.

"Keep your distance," I commanded and readied my weapon. "Finish off the others and I will dispose of this one."

Arctic Haze didn't hesitate. He kept a wide perimeter and set to stabbing the remaining sickly worms.

I swung my axe at the creature's protruding black fangs and goaded the beast to face me.

The worm whipped its head, and I leaped out of the way. It was big and nimble, but I was quicker! I even managed to sever a chunk of its face off as I whirled to my feet.

The massive worm thumped its head in rage, then started rolling back and forth, smashing rocks and several worm carcasses around it.

"Move it away from the shuttle!" Arctic Haze called out. "To the right!"

My anti-Graven hand blazer was low on charge but the remaining pulses were plenty to bait the worm away from Arctic Haze and the shuttle.

"There's no brain," the razkur kept me appraised. "Just a bunch of nerves running along the top center."

I nodded and took my next opportunity to hop up onto the creature's back.

"It's going to roll to the right!"

I secured my footing and kept pace with the tumble.

"There's a loose barb by its head!" Arctic Haze shouted.

I jaunted to the weak spot and plucked out the calloused black barb.

The worm screeched and scrunched its body.

"Now! There's a gap in its armor just behind you!" Arctic Haze had returned to his acerbic tone, but this time his directives were welcomed.

Anything he said we both knew I had the power to make it real. His commands put my muscles in motion and drove my blade toward their target, as if cradling my limbs against the chaos.

I knelt at the armor opening and pried the gap wider, then plunged my axe blade deep into the fleshy underside.

The worm wrenched backward as I slashed through the sinewy membrane within.

"It's losing function in its tail," Arctic Haze cheered.

I ripped in further and tore at everything in my path.

The worm shuddered and then slumped. It was finally dead.

"Hurry," Arctic Haze waved for me to join him, then he took my hand and ran.

WHIP

The rocks shattered before us.

"Bold Step!" Arctic Haze heard the squirming tentacles before they emerged around us.

"Keep going," I shoved the beacon booster into his hands. "I'll keep him busy."

"Lor!" The razkur's ears were steeped in worry.

"Complete the mission!"

Arctic Haze squeezed the booster in his lithe gloved hands and nodded hard in the affirmative.

Bold Step rose from the largest shadow. The Slayer had no expression and my scales tingled that the abomination was up to something.

Was the shuttle a trap...?

Then why stop us?

I roared and showed him my axe, "Your pathetic games end today!"

A slender smirk curled at the edge of the corrupted razkur's mouth, but he was looking at me and not Arctic Haze sprinting across the rugged prairie.

Run, you little shit! I know you can do it!

A dozen wispy tendrils tried to fold around my bare-clawed feet.

"Coward!" I leaped at the Corrupted Slayer.

A larger tentacle grabbed my ankle and tugged me backward. I chopped it off and remained fixated on my target.

Bold Step sidestepped my first swing and followed up with a solid punch to my gut. Then he cackled and oozed back into the shadows, then summoned up three gigantic tentacles.

One after another, they slammed down and compelled me to give up ground.

I was nearly overwhelmed when all three gigantic limbs grouped together for one massive coordinated smackdown.

BOOOOOOM!!!

A massive explosion from the cave we abandoned rattled the ground, but I didn't let it shake me. I knew the source and who was lost. Our comrade's sacrifice would not be in vain.

The oversized tentacles quivered from the startle just long enough for me to cleave the closest one in half.

The black appendages withdrew as I caught my breath and briefly retracted my helmet's mouth guard, long enough to spit a wad of my blue blood across the dirt.

Bold Step returned, standing tall within the safety of his own crooked shadow.

I charged again, cleaving my way through in the onslaught of tentacles blocking the quickest path.

Bold Step stomped and unleashed a thick cloud of black smoke.

My vision was instantly nullified. Heat, light, the artificial echolocation sensors built into my helmet. All gone.

I closed my eyes and breathed, letting my other senses take precedence.

Everything was silent, but a blush of air caressed my shoulder.

I moved and slashed. My axe bit flesh and I followed up with bare my claws.

The cloud lifted, and all I found was the Slayer's hand flopped near my toes. Black slime seeped into the soil.

If I were a dishonorable lowlife, from which way would I strike?

I twirled my axe and aimed straight down between my legs.

My axe struck Bold Step square in the center of his forehead as he sprang up to tackle me over.

The Slayer hollered in agony, with the crescent end of my axe stuck in his skull.

He flung me back with his tentacles, but it was simple to right myself.

"Putrid piece of shit!" Bold Step thrashed and crawled along the ground like the mangled monstrosity we all knew he truly was.

Another tentacle latched around my arm. I hacked it away but more were swarming from all over.

"I'll split you in two," Bold Step snapped at me as he pulled the axe free. His soulless black eyes locked onto me and hundreds of razor-edged tentacles shot up around me. "Stupid stinking lizard!"

Bold Step lumbered toward me, but a hot bright light burned through his wiggling wall of tendrils.

"Fuck!" Bold Step darted away.

It was the anti-Graven weapon built into the military transport shuttle.

Arctic Haze had made it to our destination and was providing me with cover fire!

"Hurry!" Arctic Haze's face popped up on my helmet's viewscreen. "Get inside!"

Bold Step howled, but he was forced to keep his distance. The Slayer wasn't a full Graven, and he knew his corrupted body was vulnerable to the weapon.

I took off and made it to the hatchway.

"Did the booster work?" I scrambled to the main control panel. "Were you able to get a signal out?"

"It's loading now," Arctic Haze sealed the door behind me and pointed to a steadily expanding yellow bar loading across the monitor. It was nearly full.

"Let's get out of here!" I took the helm and initiated the engines.

The shuttle started to rise, then Arctic Haze jumped on top of me and shoved me out of my chair.

"Lor!"

A long pulsing tentacle slashed through the nose of our ship and we hit the surface with a mild thud.

"Are you hurt?" Arctic Haze was flat across me with his hips between my legs.

"I don't believe so," I glanced down at the razkur's hand clamped firmly to my right breastplate.

Arctic Haze lifted off of me with a wince and let go of my chest.

"Were you injured?" I sat up.

The razkur shook his head, and we both turned around to the shuttle's main monitor. It blinked a few times and went scribbly, but the signal bar was completely full before the power cut out.

The front end of the hull was split open, but Bold Step only stood there, looking back at us in silence while a herd of mutated creatures gathered around him.

"Did the signal get through?" Arctic Haze starred out at the Corrupted Slayer laying in wait a few yards away.

"I think so..."

All of a sudden, Bold Step slithered away.

The minions remained but that's not what made my innards nauseous.

Bold Step wasn't done with us. We were just the bait he was toying with us to lure in a bigger catch.

.

.

.

...

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