Between A Rock And A Death Mite

Takao sat crouched behind a rocky outcropping. Close enough to a carcinus sized tunnel to activate their trap, but not close enough to be seen. At the opposite end of the spacious chamber, Kenta pressed himself into a crevice near a second carcinus sized tunnel. In one hand he held a long curved sword and in the other magical scrolls. Takao held several scrolls, too, and was waiting anxiously for the signal to use the powerful items.

Takao knew little of scrolls since they were so rare, but Sumire’s reaction when Kenta had produced them told him all he needed to know.

“You made these yourself? Even I have trouble making scrolls. I guess you're not all talk after all.” She’d complimented, but looked like she regretted it after Kenta started acting high and mighty.

Of the three adventurers, Sumire was the only one with no scrolls. She didn’t need any, since she wouldn’t be activating the trap; she was the bait. It had been Takao’s idea, but he still didn’t like it. Standing in the center of the chamber, she’d already stopped suppressing her aura, which meant every still living monster in the dungeon would be drawn straight to them, including the death mite.

Plenty of monsters had already been drawn in by Sumire— lots of spider fiends, a few furnace cats, and even a stone colossus. Takao was sure they were doomed when the stone colossus appeared, and they probably would have been if the carcinus had shown up at the same time. They were lucky, Kenta and Sumire were both exceptional at earth magic. As the stone colossus had charged at Sumire, they’d worked together to create a huge, deep pit at the last second. Despite its huge size and momentum, it nearly evaded, but with a final stab in the back from Takao, the colossus fell into the pit and shattered under its own weight.

Just as Takao was starting to think they would be too tired to face the undead carcinus, Kenta signalled that he picked up its vibrations. It was coming toward them.

The closer it got, the more Takao’s anticipation mounted. It soon got close enough that he could feel the vibrations himself. He was sure it would crawl through Kenta’s tunnel any moment, but then it stopped.

Takao looked to Kenta for an explanation, but Kenta looked perplexed. He pressed an ear to the stone wall. Without warning, he jumped away from the wall, and started to shout something, but it was lost in a sudden explosion of rock and stone.

The massive claw of the carcinus punched through the stone wall right at Kenta. He caught the claw with his curved sword, but was still sent tumbling and sliding across the cave floor.

A second claw burst through the wall, followed by the carcinus itself. A storm of stone and boulders showered the cave.

Takao slammed a scroll onto the cave wall. It activated with a hiss, then erupted into flames. Takao burst into a sprint without waiting to make sure it worked. But as he dodged boulders, he heard the scroll's magic erecting a wall of stone behind him to seal the tunnel.

Takao made a beeline for the carcinus. He could already see undead monsters following it into the chamber. Sumire was ahead of him also sprinting for the carcinus, but at this rate neither of them would make it in time. Their plan to separate the carcinus from its undead army and trap it, so the death mite couldn’t escape, was quickly falling apart.

As Takao readied himself to go down fighting, a rumbling from behind caught his attention. He glanced back, half expecting to see another stone colossus, but instead saw Kenta.

A stone pillar rocketed skyward with Kenta on top. It stopped abruptly, launching him across the cavern, over Takao and Sumire, and straight at the carcinus.

The carcinus beady eyes followed Kenta through the air. Its maw opened to reveal a blazing furnace ready to spit fire at Kenta, but he only whooped a defiant battle cry. His curved sword flew from his hand and stuck into the ceiling, where a rocky spike erupted and barreled toward the carcinus, ramming into it. The spike failed to pierce its shell, but successfully knocked the carcinus off balance, deflecting its flames away from Kenta.

Kenta landed gracelessly on the carcinus back, but recovered instantly and ran across it. He leapt from the carcinus and slammed into the wall. Two flames appeared on the wall as he slid toward the floor. Stone walls built themselves into place, filling the last exits and trapping the carcinus and death mite.

Some undead monsters had already made it in before the walls sealed, and were closing in on Kenta. Takao was about to rush to his aid when he heard Kenta shout.

“GO!”

Takao and Sumire exchanged the briefest of looks, then charged together toward the carcinus. Sumire launched bolts of purple lightning at the monster, while Takao used his remaining scrolls to hurl boulders at it. Their attacks didn’t seem to faze it, but they did draw its attention.

The legs on the carcinus back released their grip on the ceiling and turned toward them with a horrible snapping sound. Like grotesque bolts of lightning, they rained down on Takao and Sumire, with crushing force. They smashed into the ground, spraying rock shrapnel in every direction, but Takao and Sumire only ran faster. They jumped and dodged, evading every attack.

The carcinus pulled back its four legs and sent them toward Takao and Sumire as one. Side by side, and with coordinated swings, they slashed the carcinus legs, severing them at the joint and sending them tumbling to the dirt, useless and dead.

The carcinus wailed in fury and smashed its claws into the ground. They scraped against the floor, coming together like two enormous walls intent on crushing Takao and Sumire between them. They waited till the last moment, then jumped in unison, sailing over the claws as they crashed together.

Takao and Sumire landed deftly on the claws, then split up as a jet of flames scorched the carcinus claws. Takao ran up the right arm, while Sumire ran up its left. Its beady eyes shifted between them, looking momentarily confused, before it flailed wildly, sending Takao and Sumire flying. Its frantic flailing sent one claw smashing into the wall, collapsing the magically built seal and allowing undead monsters to flood the cave.

Takao landed feet first against the cave wall, and he saw Sumire land on the opposite wall. Their eyes met across the cavern, and they leapt toward each other, just before claws smashed into both walls.

Takao and Sumire soared through the air and locked hands, arresting their momentum as the carcinus claws cut through the air where they would have been. The claws smashed into the ceiling, fracturing stone and raining debris across the cavern.

Suspended in midair, Takao found Sumire’s eyes for a moment frozen in time, and he smiled despite their present situation.

Takao and Sumire each let go of the other's hand and turned to face the carcinus claws. In unison, they slashed, severing them from the body and dropping them toward the floor. Takao and Sumire fell along with them and were followed by much of the ceiling, turned to rubble.

Without notice, Takao felt Sumire grab his hand and throw him back toward the ceiling as heat washed past him. He landed in a crouch against the ceiling, and time slowed as he took in the scene below him.

Kenta was fighting back the horde of monsters with a sword made of stone, but would soon be overwhelmed. Sumire had saved him and herself from being torched by the carcinus, but she was now falling toward the cave floor with nowhere to land and undead monsters waiting to tear her apart.

Even as she fell, Sumire’s eyes were unyielding, and she fired her signature purple lightning at the carcinus. It arced into the flaming maw and out the top of its head, exactly where Kenta’s stone spike had hit it. The carcinus shell shattered, exposing its innards and something else.

Just inside the broken shell was another creature. Small but distinct from the carcinus, no bigger than a hectarabbit, was unmistakably the death mite.

If Takao threw his spear, he could kill it before Sumire hit the ground. But what if he missed? He didn’t have magic, so he only had one chance. If only he could use lightning magic like Sumire, he could kill it in an instant, but all he had was his body and spear.

That was it! A simple solution. If all he had was his body and spear, then he would become lightning!

Resolve engulfed Takao, filling him with strength.

He exploded from the ceiling, shattering the stone beneath his feet. He shot at the carcinus like a missile, pierced straight through its broken shell, and into its body.

The carcinus screeched a horrifying death wail, then collapsed to the ground with a mighty crash.

As the cave settled into silence, Sumire shoved aside a monster corpse and stood from the ground, smiling triumphantly at the huge, motionless carcinus. As more seconds passed in silence, her smile faded.

“Takao?”

Sumire’s Exposé!
Adventurers make a small deposit when they join the guild, which later pays for their tombstone if they die while on a job.