Escape The Carcinus

Takao stepped in light circles, eyes scanning every corner of the cave, trying to find the giant crab monster that should have been there, but there was nothing. Had he misunderstood Kenta’s explanation? The crab was supposed to be hibernating, so it shouldn’t be moving around. Which meant it should be here. Something felt off, and Takao had the unpleasant feeling they’d walked into a trap.

“Takao!” Sumire whispered urgently.

He turned around. Sumire, Kenta, and Mikami had gathered together and were beckoning him over. He quickly joined the other adventurers, hoping they had some explanation.

“Shouldn’t the crab be here? What's going on?” Takao asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

“We don’t know.” Kenta answered, sounding much more serious than usual. “Truth be told, me and Mikami have been doing this job for the past few years, so we know this is the right place. The carcinus is always fast asleep right here. The fact that it’s not here is a big problem, and we don’t want to be here when it comes back. So here’s the new plan. Find the discarded shells, grab them, and go.”

“Didn’t you just say, we don’t want to be here when the giant crab comes back?” Sumire said skeptically.

“Yes, but you forget I use earth magic. If the carcinus comes back, I’ll feel the vibrations well before it gets here. Besides, we’ve still got a job to do.” Kenta said, reverting to his normal unenthusiastic tone.

No one objected further, so the four adventurers split up to search the cavern. Takao and Kenta took the back of the cave, while Sumire and Mikami searched the front end. They scoured the chamber meticulously, but Takao was sure the discarded shell of a giant crab would be easy to find, which meant it was just as missing as the crab itself.

“There’s nothing here.” Takao said quietly to Kenta.

“I see that. Something's not right.” Kenta said, sounding anxious. “It’s time to go.”

Takao nodded his approval and they both set off quietly to inform their partners. Before Takao could reach Sumire though, he heard a shout from the front of the cave.

“It has to be here somewhere!” Mikami yelled aggressively. “I can’t leave without it!”

“Calm down Mikami!” Kenta half yelled, half whispered, alarm evident in his voice. “It’s not here! We’ll figure something else out! We always do.”

“No! I—” Mikami began, but never finished.

A massive armored claw suddenly flew from the front tunnel, narrowly avoiding Kenta, and smashing into Mikami. Takao watched in horror as Mikami’s limb tattered form flew into the air, and across the chamber. Takao was frozen in place, unable to help Mikami as he sailed toward the rocky cave wall and his certain death if he wasn’t already, but in the blink of an eye, Sumire was there. She caught Mikami midair and dropped to the ground with his body in her arms. Behind her, the carcinus entered the chamber.

The monster shook the ground as it crawled into the chamber. Four long legs pointed up, gripping the cave ceiling, while four more legs pointed down, cracking the stone floor with each step. A colossal, monstrous crab with a jagged, spiked shell came into view. Giant claws fractured the rock as they dragged with the carcinus. Its mouth oozed slime as mandibles opened and closed with a terrifying clicking sound. Beady eyes surveyed the adventurers, then its mandibles spread wide, and a green cloud billowed toward them.

Takao didn’t need to be told the gas was toxic. He saw Kenta running full force away from the carcinus and the gas cloud. But the gas was moving fast. Takao could tell it would catch them. He looked at Sumire. She was standing resolutely before the carcinus with Mikami slung over one shoulder and her sword pointed toward the gas. Purple lightning arced from her sword tip, piercing a hole through the gas and striking the crab in the mouth. The carcinus screeched horribly as the cloud ignited in a fiery explosion that echoed painfully off the chamber walls.

Takao watched as if fixed in place, not knowing how to fight such an enormous creature. Then his eyes grew wide when he saw a massive claw emerge from the smoke and fire, swinging down toward Sumire. In a heartbeat, he was at Sumire’s side. Spear gripped in both hands and swinging with all his might, he crashed into the claw. As the force of the blow threatened to crush him, his mind went to Sumire, standing just feet away. Strength surged through him and with a defiant roar, he deflected the giant claw. It smashed into the cave floor beside them, spraying bits of rock in every direction.

“RUN!” He yelled to Sumire, and without a second to lose, they were both sprinting through the cavern.

“THIS WAY!” Takao heard Kenta shout.

Takao located him at the back of the chamber, at the huge tunnel leading deeper into the dungeon. He didn’t have time to think, so he just ran toward Kenta with Sumire at his side. After they passed Kenta, a wall of stone rose from the floor, sealing the tunnel behind them.

The three ran through the dark cave, deeper and deeper into the dungeon's depths. Takao couldn’t keep track of their route, he just followed Kenta, and made sure Sumire was still at his side. They plunged on until they couldn’t continue. Exhaustion forced them to stop and rest.

Takao and Kenta panted hard, trying desperately to catch their breath, and was surprised to see Sumire breathing hard too. She laid Mikami on the floor, and Kenta started checking him. He looked bad; broken, battered, and flatter than before.

“He’s still alive— Can— either of you— use healing magic?” Kenta panted.

“No.” Takao and Sumire both said.

“You can’t either?” Takao asked desperately, though he could guess the answer.

“Nope. That was his job.” He said, gesturing to Mikami.

They all looked at Mikami, but no one spoke for a long moment.

“Ugh! Shoot!” Sumire said angrily.

Takao and Kenta both looked at her bewildered until she reached her hand into her magical storage, then Takao understood. She pulled out a gold locket and placed it around Mikami’s neck.

He glowed softly for a few seconds, then the light faded. Sumire returned the necklace to her storage. Without questioning what she’d done, Kenta examined Mikami again.

“Still injured, but much better.” He said relieved. “You don’t happen to have more of those?”

“No, and this one takes several days to recharge.” She said sourly.

“What now?” Takao asked.

Without responding, Kenta pulled a necklace with a small crystal on the end from inside his shirt. He pressed his thumb to it. It shone purple, then cycled through blue, green, yellow, orange, and red before it shattered into dust.

“Okay. I’ve alerted the guild we need help urgently, but even if they send people right away, it’s going to take them time to get here. Hours at the least, but probably days. They probably won’t be any help anyway.” He said with a note of resignation in his voice.

“What do you mean?” Takao asked. He knew their situation was bad, but he hadn’t given up yet.

“Did you see what was behind the carcinus?” Kenta asked.

Takao and Sumire both shook their heads.

“Monsters.” He said darkly. “A horde of them. All different kinds. All mutilated, missing limbs, decaying— undead. The carcinus we could’ve maybe maybe dealt with, but that thing we saw wasn’t the carcinus. That was the corpse of the carcinus being controlled by a death mite.”

Sumire’s Exposé!
Sealing magic is a very rare kind of magic that binds things in place both in space and time. The magic is attached to an object so that as long as the object is intact, so is the magic.