your ___ never leaves you

Zane jumped ahead first—as the queen brought a leg down on them, he swung, parrying her hit. He dug his heels in the ground and hit back every attempt she made to sweep again, up until she screeched again and bore her mandibles.

“Stop! Don’t hurt her!” Lucian brought his staff close. “You’re only making it worse!”

Zane grit his teeth. He didn’t have patience for that ‘make love’ stuff right now—if the monster killed them, would that be any better? It wasn’t like he wanted to hurt her. This was self defense. “If you want me to stop, then it’s your job to make it happen! Hey, Shay, if you really know anything about these things, then help him!”

“I think—”

Shay got half a thought out before screaming, as the mandibles came down—aimed at his head. Lucian shoved him out of the way and formed a blue-tinted barrier which cracked from the blow’s force. As the creature lunged again, Zane jumped, delivering a punch which pushed the creature back.

“Okay, idea,” Zane said, digging his heels in for a counter-attack if need be. “You two brainstorm, I’ll keep it busy. And I won’t hurt it too badly, so don’t complain or freak out and just do your jobs!”

“Ah—okay, okay!” Lucian yelled. Good enough. The queen screamed and charged Zane, and he infused his legs with Rage before taking off, running circles around the massive Spark Queen. Going against a large monster wasn’t ideal, but fighting to kill and fighting to distract were two different things. Being an annoying pest came easier than being equally threatening.

And Zane knew just how to stir its Rage.

He threw his arms up, kicking himself to run faster even if it set his legs on fire. “I’m over here! C’mon, a big queen like you can’t reach me? Are you even trying?”

The monster didn’t understand him one bit, but it added to the fun of taunting the creature. Zane could’ve been complimenting it, and it’d still be screaming at him, the tiny human running circles around it while it tried its damnedest to squish him.

Circling, circling—sometimes he’d duck closer, weaving to touch its side before pulling back. Little gestures that dug under its skin. But soon his legs burned a touch too much, and he tripped over a stone, rolling out of the way before he became crushed under its legs. Forcing himself to stand, the Queen barreled towards him as his gut churned with ideas.

That might work, right?

Risky, maybe. Capital R, but he wouldn’t have agreed to do this if he wanted to avoiding any and all risks.

“C’mon, one more time,” Zane grumbled, hitting his legs as he concentrated one last burst of energy and jumped. He couldn’t get too high without Happiness, but the boost gave him enough momentum to touch the Spark’s side. With the bumpy, rock-like exterior, he managed to get a decent foothold and climbed.

He couldn’t rely on his legs anymore—they’d been spent. The queen screamed and flailed with tremendous force, but he braced himself each time until his (now also incredibly sore) arms brought him to the top.

Hitting its head, he laughed. “Hey, you’re missing something! Can’t reach me? Guess you’re not trying hard enough.”

It screeched, legs flailing backwards in a vain attempt to knock him off. He easily whacked the ones that got close, without magic even. His hands would hate it if he tried too hard, given his current condition. “Come on, it’s like you’re not even—”

Another screech—blood-curling, reaching to the bone and carving out Zane’s confidence.

The Spark Queen tore through the dirt, sprinting to the south. Nothing but wall laid ahead.

Ah. Smart move.

Zane braced himself. Not enough time to get off, barely seconds to dig his fingers into hard grooves and hope for the best; the queen scaled the wall and went up the ceiling, leaving him dangling. With each second, another finger lost its grip.

And, when he lost the last vestiges of his strength, he plummeted to the ground. His back exploded in pain as a loud crack snapped through the air, gravel digging into skin and cutting him all over.

Zane groaned, turning over.

The queen leapt off the ceiling, and now loomed over the hero, mandibles primed and ready to tear the haughty human to pieces.

“Shit… guys, the plan?” Zane called out. He must’ve bought them some minutes, but was that enough?

Was there anyone to save him?

It’d be his own fault if he died here. Zane thought he would’ve bought them more time, but it’d been a while since he harnessed so much magic. Zane’s body reacted like a newbie’s, unable to handle the power, hurting itself with each burst. Whatever endurance God’s Rage had before evaporated, and he had to build it again piece by piece.

But he didn’t have time for that shit, because the Spark Queen wanted him dead now. Sparks didn’t eat flesh, only ore, so she wanted him dead because she saw him as a threat to her life.

The pincers hovered inches from Zane’s eyes. He stopped looking.

“Wait! Please, don’t!”

Following the cry, a song began—a hymn, like before, to harness Calm. A literal use of it, to calm a raging beast, and judging by the fact Zane didn’t die it seemed to work all right. He opened his eyes to the subdued hiss of the queen.

A song wouldn’t be enough to quell its rage. But it looked like they had a bit more than that—a chunk of ore, unrefined cooper. Lucian pushed Shay forward, who placed the ore before the queen as though he were parting with a family heirloom. Though his eyes glittered with greed, he left it be (albeit with thinly veiled reluctance).

Once Lucian finished his song, a short but breezy melody reminiscent of a nursery song, he smiled. “We’re very sorry for disturbing your home. And I’m sure you don’t understand me, but—we just want to… talk? If we can talk…

Lucian put a hand over his heart. “Please?”

The queen chirped back, as if trying to replay the song. After a couple attempts, it left the exhausted Zane behind, going to munch on the ore as if nothing happened.

With a groan, Zane closed his eyes.

Stood up to a Spark Queen a day after escaping death, he thought. Could’ve gone worse.