Pulling as One

The scorpion loomed over them, glistening to the morning light. There was nothing but the sound of the flutter of their garments, occasionally drowned out by the wind.

"Stay behind me," Kai said without needing to raise his voice.

Rose nodded, even though he wasn’t looking. "Always."

Kai stepped forward with unwavering focus, keeping himself between Rose and the creature. His eyes narrowed against the wind as he raised his arms. Each slow step angled him away from her, trying to draw the scorpion’s focus. As usual, he’d have to take the vanguard.

The scorpion shifted with Kai—its legs stretched evenly in a single spot as it hissed. Its stinger twitched above its head, glowing faintly with corrupted orange light. A carpet of footprints trailed  in a perfect arc as Kai rounded it with each step heavy in the sand.

Kai's arms traced gold with pulsing mana as Rose used the distraction to retreat backwards.

The scorpion moved first.

It rushed toward Kai. A pincer swiftly extended as he closed in kicking up sand behind it.

Kai pushed himself in the air, landing a few feet to its side.

It turned, ignoring the lowered Rose.

Kai didn’t need to look back to know exactly where Rose was. He kept her position mapped in the corner of his awareness—distance, angle, breathing, movement. His stabilizer instincts made it second nature.

A pincer drew up sand as the scorpion dragged it through the sand in a sweeping rise.

Kai dodged backward cleanly, the motion low and fluid. The second pincer slammed where he landed, but he spun past it before it could catch him. It crashed into the ground, carving a deep gouge.

Kai gripped the embedded pincer with both arms, squeezing it in place.

The scorpion reacted instantly.

Its stinger shot toward his back, an orange liquid dripping from the tip. Just before it pierced him, it halted inches from his spine.

Kai smiled.

Rose had watched from behind, noting what it was going to do instantly.
It’s ignoring me… again.

Her hand raised toward the pair. A faint barrier shimmered around Kai. 

The stinger had crumbled on the barrier's surface, now hanging limp. It screeched as the other pincer homed in on Kai. When it collided with the barrier, the pincer didn't bend. Cracks started to appear on the barrier's surface. Kai turned his head toward Rose, her face straining from the force.

She's still not used to this spell.

Kai released the claw just as the barrier shattered. He leaped again, narrowly avoiding the crushing strike. The scorpion followed with another sweep, relying entirely on its claws.

Kai exhaled through his nose. "Yeah… compared to the Spider Queen, this guy’s still just a scorpion after all."

Rose blinked. "You’re comparing them mid-fight?"

"Well—" Kai rolled under a pincer and popped back to his feet. "—its whole strategy is just ‘grab first, sting later.’ Except now it can't even sting."

The scorpion hissed louder, enraged at the continuous misses. It lunged again, using its pincers this time in a sweeping cross meant to trap him.

Kai vaulted over, stretching his hand out toward the pincer he had lightly crushed earlier. His mana formed an orange arm that extended, grabbing on to it in a tight lock. 

His feet landed on the sand, in a controlled stop.

Rose raised her other hand, holding the other pincer in place with her magic. 

"This is the most I can hold right now," she said. "Let's end this."

Kai nodded. He held onto his stretched arm with his free one, stabilizing it. He began to pull backward, holding onto the pincer with the mana limb. 

Rose didn't faulter. She motioned her hands behind him, forcing the other pincer the other direction.

They pulled in harmony. 

The scorpion fought back, trying to free itself as its legs retreated backward. 

A moment passed.

A series of cracks snapped through the wind. The pincers dropped flat on the sand bed. 

The scorpion began to turn.

"I wont let you escape." Rose lifted herself in the air, stretching her hands toward its main body. The scorpion stopped moving, each leg held by her power.

"Finish it!" she cried.

Kai was already sprinting at it, leaping in the air with his extended hand of mana curled into a fist. Rose ripped its legs from under it before Kai's blow connected with its head, crushing it into the sand. 

Kai removed himself from the twitching body, stepping back. The form of his ethereal arm shattered into orange mist. Rose floated to his side, landing with a soft grace.

"That was shockingly easy," she said. "The Spider Queen was way deadlier."

"I guess even with all that mana, it couldn't surpass biology," Kai murmured. He walked away from the main body, approaching one of the severed pincers resting in the sand. He broke a chunk off, showing it to Rose behind him.

"Look, food!" he said, smiling as he walked back to her.

Rose tilted her head, returning a gentle smile toward him. They had come such a long way since the academy. Now, ever since they've been alone, together, their individual and team growth had reached greater heights.

Rose's stomach growled as he approached.

She blushed.

Kai laughed.

"It's not fair that you can hear that with your ears," Rose muttered, putting up a thin barrier around them again.

The wind bounced harmlessly off its surface.

Kai lowered himself down on the sand, lifting his bag strap over his head his free hand. 

He paused. "Let's be honest here Rose," he lifted the bag's cover. "Anyone could hear that beast without enhanced ears."

Rose's brows lifted.

Kai reached into the bag and pulled a small pan out.

Rose's eyes widened. "That's a cast-iron pan." She stepped closer. "Where did you even get this?"

Kai handed it to her. "I found it back in Reiner. Around the time I helped you use the..." 

He stopped himself, turning away with flushed cheeks.

Rose blinked at him in confusion. "Helped with...?" 

She tried to recall what he meant. Her eyes squinting upward. Then it came. She sharply turned away from him.

Her cheeks chilled as she gripped the iron.

She paused, then took a breath. 

She raised the pan and studied it. It was rusted but sturdy. She motioned her free hand outward, conjuring a sphere of water in the air. She placed the pan in its core, and with another gesture, the water began to violently scour the surface, scrubbing away flakes of orange and grime until the water turned cloudy.

With a flick, she let the water fall away in a splash. The pan hung alone in the air, dripping for only a heartbeat before she lifted her other hand and summoned a thin, hungry flame. 

It washed over the iron in a searing tide, hissing as it devoured the moisture and burned off the last specks of rust. The metal darkened, hot and clean, ready for use.

She turned, floating it back toward Kai who had been waiting patiently.

He placed the scorpion meat onto the hot pan. The fatty oils melted and spread, sizzling as they coated the surface.

Rose waited until the first side was a dark brown before gesturing it onto its next side.

The smell carried a familiar fancy she was used to back home, but she knew; there was nothing to flavor it with.

Regardless, this was a blessing.

Kai returned to his feet and glanced back to the scorpion’s body.

"Now," he smirked. "I think we overdid it."