The Mother of Monsters

Teyva still hadn’t caught sight of the coming danger when she and her companions ran to the caravan. The horses had already been affixed to the front of the wagons and were pulling them back into a hurried straight line. A single voice at the center of the now unraveling ring of covered wagons kept the flight organized, men quickly moving here and there to get the procession back on the road. Teyva spotted him only briefly, a man with long hair and a dark beard wearing a dark-blue shawl over his shoulders. She didn’t have time to get a good look as Azrael grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward one of the wagons in particular.

“What about The Marble?” Teyva asked, looking back at the monolith as it scampered along with them. Its powerful legs loping across the ground. “He can’t fit in that thing.”

“He’ll have to run alongside,” Azrael said, “I’m sorry but we can’t stay here.”

Teyva glanced back again at her mimic companion, “You hear that? I need you to keep up with us dearie, okay? Run as fast as your legs can carry you. If we lose you, keep following our trail and don’t stop for anything, got it?”

A gurgling rumble of confirmation came from the block of stone as Azrael pulled a hesitant Teyva up and into the rear of the four-wheeled wagon. It jerked once and Teyva was sent sprawling into a pile of crates. Azrael helped her to a sitting position and Teyva looked around. They were in some sort of supply wagon, not a soul besides themselves in sight. Teyva looked back through the opening in the rear and her breath caught in her chest as she saw what was approaching. Azrael went still and Elat, who had affixed himself to one of the wagon’s small seats, made an uncharacteristically frightened noise.

The Lydan was enormous, without a doubt the biggest creature Teyva had ever seen. She couldn’t even guess at its approximate size, though it did dwarf the nearby foliage by a considerable degree. As it loped toward them it passed a tree that rose only to its waist. It had white skin, as advertised, and was vaguely humanoid with two powerful arms that it used to pull itself forward almost like a gorilla. Each arm ended in a hand with thick black claws. It barely had a head, it was more just an extension of its thick neck that ended in a pair of horrific jaws lined with jet black teeth. It had six eyes, each of them a smoldering red. Just above its eyes a pair of straight horns jutted back and ended at wicked points.

The carriage jerked again and began to move, picking up speed at a rapid pace. The sound of the horses, rattling wagon, and the roar of the creature was almost deafening. Teyva leaned out far enough to try to get a look at The Marble and spotted her mimic companion loping alongside, doing its absolute best to keep up. She looked back at the waking nightmare behind them and grit her teeth; “It’s gaining on us.”

She used her journal.

“This isn’t real,” Teyva murmured, staring wide-eyed at the pursuing titan. Azrael glanced at her and then looked back at the creature.

Her eyes went unfocused and she made a face; “I’m honestly not surprised,” She grunted, “That thing is unstoppable.”

Teyva looked back at Azrael; “And we’re going to lead it straight to Osan?” She asked.

“The guards or one of the four can drive it off,” Azrael said, “I’m certain.”

“What about the horses? Can we keep going that long?” Elat demanded. His thought was cut off as something huge crashed into the ground to the left of the wagon. A moment later they spotted the splintered remains of a tree trunk impaled in the ground.

Teyva glanced back at the Lydan and checked its stats, it’s stamina hadn’t dropped a single point. There was no way that the horses were going to keep going as long as this thing could. They needed to slow it down somehow. Teyva rolled her jaw and shifted her arms into the [Grasp of the Tomb Guardian]. Azrael spotted the change and looked up at Teyva with wide eyes. Teyva shrugged and held out her hands; “Nephral I’m going to need you to hold on as tight as you can, darling.”

“I’m with you mother,” The sphinx murmured, clinging to her shoulders as Teyva moved to the center of the wagon and crouched just at the exit, she held out her palms and began to cast. At first, she had considered using [Grasp of Frost] but with how fast the creature was moving and how far away it was, she didn’t trust herself to get it in one go. It was better to lay on as much damage as she could.

“What are you doing?” Elat shouted.

“It’s already angry,” Azrael pointed out and moved into a spot at Teyva’s side, “All we can do is try to drive it off!”

Elat groaned and got into position as well, drawing his bow and standing behind the other two. At once a flurry of arrows, pale bolts, and blades of wind hurtled out toward the approaching beast and for the most part splashed harmlessly across its thick hide. Teyva fired over and over and over, hurling her death magic as fast as she could cast it. She had one goal in mind, to get [Chilling Weakness] to trigger. She kept her eyes on her own status bar, waiting for an instance of [Hungering Cold] to appear.

“Come on,” She urged, launching another shot and watching it splash against the Lydan’s skin, “Come on!”

Her mana began to dip, the space between her shots so tight it was hard for even the reduced cost and Nephral’s mana regeneration to keep up. As she hit twenty percent she saw the first instance of [Hungering Cold] appear on her status bar and she let out a woop. The thing could be affected. She checked its stats again and felt her heart sink.

“Two percent?” She shouted, firing off another bolt hopelessly, “This is insane!”

“Just keep going! Did your weakness power take?” Azrael shouted back.

“Yeah, once!” Teyva shouted, “If we were closer I’d try [Grasp of Frost]!”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t get that close!” Elat countered.

“Right!” The two women shouted in unison and threw themselves back into their casting.

As the Lydan drew closer, it snatched up another tree, tearing it from the ground root and all. The creature barely lost its pace in the motion and hurled it at the rear of the Caravan. Teyva watched its trajectory and felt a pit form in her stomach. Her companions saw the same and dove left and right in the carriage, covering their heads as the tree crashed into the ground just feet behind them. It exploded with the force of the impact, splinters flying and digging into flesh. Teyva felt fresh pain lance up her legs and side and she rolled over to see a thick piece of wooden shrapnel sticking out of her thigh.

“Shit!” She gasped, “You guys okay?”

“I’m fine!” Elat called, “Azrael? Azrael!”

Teyva looked to her friend when she didn’t respond. A thick piece of wood lay next to her and blood was dripping from Azrael’s head. Teyva’s lips formed a line and she swallowed. Elat staggered in the wobbling wagon and dropped to Azrael’s side. He placed a finger to her neck and let out a breath; “She’s just out cold! What about your leg?”

“I’ll pull it out in a second!” She shouted. It was better where it was for the moment until she could find a way to wrap it. With all the bumping and shaking there was no way she could treat her own injury. Teyva turned back to the Lydan and scowled, if only there was a way she could take this bastard down. Anger gave way to clarity and clarity gave way to an idea. She licked her lips and reached up to scratch Nephral’s chin; “Nephral can you keep up with the wagon?”

“Certainly, mother. What do you need?”

“Find me a Rilk nest, the biggest one you can find!” She called. Elat whipped his head toward her, wide-eyed as Nephral flapped his wings and took off without a second’s thought.

“Are you crazy?” Elat said as another tree exploded nearby. Teyva poked her head out to see The Marble stumble and fall flat. Her darling mimic was quick to get back up but with how fast the wagon was moving he was already growing further and further behind. She pressed her lips together and forced down the growing scream of rage that was beginning to bubble up in her throat. Moments later, the Lydan simply trampled The Marble, not so much as stopping in its relentless pursuit of the caravan. Teyva shot Elat a teary-eyed scowl.

“No, I’m pissed.”

Elat opened his mouth to argue but went silent, watching the still form of the mimic fall further and further away. He looked down at Azrael and swallowed, “What about the caravaneers?”

“They’ll have no choice,” Teyva snapped, clenching her fists and looking back at the Lydan. The titanic beast was still gaining little by little but the weakening effects of her attacks had at the very least given them time. Nephral returned a few moments later, landing in her lap and looking pleased with himself.

“There is a large mound not far from here, the creatures seem to be excited by something. Mother, what is your plan?”

Another exploding tree rocked the wagon, shrapnel shredding the covering. A piece of wood whizzed past Teyva’s head, cutting one of her ears. She barely felt it; “Go to the front and tell the leader to ride straight past it. Tell him it’s the only way to get this thing off our tail. He either takes the risk or we all die.”

Nephral stiffened and then nodded, flaring his wings one more time before taking off. Teyva swallowed and watched him go, hoping that the leader had at least enough sense to hear Nephral out as well as see where she was going with this. She reached into her satchel and ran her fingers over the mockeries while her other hand moved down to her injured thigh. She glanced down at it and scowled, snatching a piece of fabric from over her head and grabbing the piece of wood in her free hand.

Just touching the wood hurt so badly it practically blinded her but she grit her teeth anyway and set her feet flat on the floor of the wagon. She shut her eyes and with one grunt yanked the thing out of her flesh. She felt warmth spread over her thigh as blood spilled out and she crumpled up the cloth, shoving it into the hole to stem the bleeding.

“Shit that hurt!” She swore, resting her head against what was left of the fabric covering the wagon and taking a few deep breaths. That was when the wagon abruptly changed directions, shifting a little to the north. Teyva let out a sigh and covered her face while the Lydan roared and bellowed behind them. She wiped the sweat from her brow, leaving a trail of red blood instead. She cast her gaze over to Azrael who was still unconscious and Elat who was holding her steady. She took another breath and tried to stand, feeling her left leg buckle a little. “How is she?”

“Breathing, we need to get her somewhere to rest,” Elat ground out, “You really think this plan will work?”

“It’s all we’ve got,” Teyva said, “Let’s just hope mommy’s home.”

“Mommy?” Elat asked, “The queen?”

Teyva nodded, “If these things are anything like the insects I know, with a hierarchy, there’s gotta be a queen.”

Elat stared at her, his face grim, “I knew it, you are insane.”