There was more of the same discussion. People spoke of leaving, others were asking for more people to stay and help out. Anika and Pallia were trying to herd people into tasks, trying to build a second shack, one for sleeping in this time.
Then, it appeared again.
Four arms, huge, swinging.
A large white blur rushing.
A strike hit Anika, blasting her into the pile of wood. A swarm of the smaller creatures was running in from the woods, wind catching on their mouths. Isolated, the sound was unnoticeable, but together, there was a haunting melody of wind blowing over the pits in their faces.
The kids grabbed their weapons, some slow or far from their things.
Mayhe was already striking at the largest one, his sword glowing, each swing extending further than it should as the light itself cut at the large being. Olivia and Hari joined him, the former jabbing at the thing from behind while the latter shot at it from a decent distance. Hitch ran towards the group of things, kicking and slicing at them as best as he could. One of the four armed menaces grabbed onto his waist, holding him tight. It tried digging its nails into the boy, but couldn’t get past the armor before getting a smack from a handle on the head, causing the lights in its eyes to go out. Tar extended one of his hands towards the mass, then spoke, his words not sounding like they were his own.
“THAPE!”
A ball of white flame sprouted from his hand, then launched itself into the mass of things and exploded, scattering them and breaking a fair number of them completely. The small boy nearly collapsed after the single word, but drew a knife and stood behind Hitch, who pulled a few of the cores from his bag and tossed them at the things.
Smoke covered them, their noises changing from ones of menace to disorder.
The large one managed to toss Olivia aside, her feet sliding along the ground before she stopped. As his attention was turned, Mayhe cut into its side, cracking the porcelain and revealing a pulsing white mass within. The crack started to slowly mend itself, one of the hands covering it as others reached for the boy who had already darted away.
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An arrow hit the large one’s back, not sinking in, a few of the smaller ones trying to circle to where Hari was shooting from. Luce intercepted, leaving the part he was at before open for them to stream in through, a group running over to the big one and doing their best to encircle and restrain Mayhe and Olivia.
Pallia cleaved three of them straight through, the large thing facing her fully.
“Clean up the little one’s, I can handle this one for a bit.”
The two focused on dealing with the swarm, jabs and sweeps clearing out the things while Pallia struck at the creature, claw meeting sword. One of its nails broke, but another hand went for the girl, cutting her side. She stepped back, hand against the cut, not deep enough to force her down but painful and make each movement more costly. It came at her again, arms raised, all striking at her, impossible to block or deflect.
A spear pierced through the crack in its side before it could bring those arms down.
It smashed the spears shaft, Olivia letting go of it, the weapon too deep inside the thing to be pulled out easily. Pallia went on the offensive again, the tip of her sword against the white shell it had on, hands on hilt and pommel, driving the point into it. Another crack appeared, then the blade dug in proper, the thing grabbing her and throwing her away.
She managed to find her balance and not fall, her back scratched and muscles tense. The thing was bleeding, or close to it. Each pulse of its insides caused some of them to fall out, frothing once they hit the grass. It let out a shrill sound as it pulled the spear out and tossed it aside, the still intact smaller creatures starting to flee, the large one running past Olivia and into the woods after them.
Mayhe swung his sword, the light launched off the sword as a wave, cutting the creature’s leg, causing it to stumble.
Anika was on it moments later, bringing an axe down on the cut, severing foot from body.
It twisted and tried to claw at her, Luce blocking the blow, claws bouncing off his shield. She swung again, this time the blow sliding off the thing’s leg, cracking it slightly. It started to rise, letting out another noise, using a hand to steady itself against the tree. Luce tackled it, the porcelain beast crossing its arms to defend. Hitch crept in beside it from behind the tree, jumped, then stabbed a knife at one of the gem eyes, cutting and cracking it but failing to drive it deep.
The sounds it made were many, loud, all high and clear. It tried swiping at the people surrounding it, barely keeping itself upright. It was oozing from both holes, movements slowing. It swung out at Anika again, who stepped back, a little spooked. As its guard lowered, Olivia dove in to attack again, spear piercing the beast. It swung its head to look at her, then collapsed, never to move again.
