The Sacrificial Maw

The thunderstorm raged with a ferocity that seemed almost sentient, its wrathful cracks and booms resounding across the sky like the drums of a vengeful god. Lightning splintered the darkness, its erratic strikes targeting the four jagged peaks of the mountain with a malevolent precision. Each bolt illuminated the craggy teeth in stark relief, casting long shadows that danced like specters in the tempest. The air thrummed with an oppressive energy, the storm's fury a harbinger of the dark shapes emerging below from the narrow passage.

*******

A dozen rodents, standing watch at the narrow corridor, fell swiftly and silently. Mesui's arrows flew with pinpoint accuracy, each one finding its mark as the monsters tried to navigate the corridor to get to them. Simultaneously, Arsec's spear swept through the air, incapacitating the ones that escaped the arrows by slamming them with the spear or throwing them against the wall. The sounds of their brief struggle were drowned out by the tremor and roar of the cheering above. The rodent closest to the opening into the sacrificial area and the stairway tried to sound the alarm, but one last arrow turned its roar into a decaying squeal. The fallen rodents were carried away by the rainwater flowing down the sides of the mountain, their presence quietly erased amidst the chaos.

The trio peeked inside and saw the whole scene in awe as malice filled the air and the sound of dozens of savage creatures sent a chill down their spine. 

"There must be a hundred of them," Stoat said, clenching her fist, "That scum... he must've rallied them from nearby dens like the one we left, he will not escape me this time..."

She looked at her two new friends—or as she put it, strictly allies, "...Let's do this!"

Arsec nodded confidently, but as soon as Stoat turned to inspect the sacrificial area, he closed his eyes, exhaled, and took one last look at his spear.

"Blessed Flame, help me..." he prayed, "There are more rodents than I can count," he looked at Voidmaw's towering figure atop the mound, "Y-you chose me... I still can't figure out this lineage you spoke of... but please... right now, grant me your power..."

Stoat gnarled at the sound of those prayers, "Disgusting... disgusting, disgusting...!" she uttered as she kept her eyes on the scene ahead.

However, Mesui watched as her human friend devotedly prayed and entrusted himself to whomever he was praying to and wondered. Her mind raced, as the goblin princess wondered of the winds that had pushed her to this point, and of how she had survived thus far.

"Twin winds, hear my plea..." she prayed, yet the following words did not get uttered, as tears of fear flowed and knotted her throat. She cleaned her face and sighed, "All right, all right, let's say it worked... but please..."

"Can we go now?" Stoat said, impatiently, closing and opening her hands in anticipation.

"Arsec," said Mesui as she geared up.

"Princess," answered the boy, still gripping his spear.

"I don't think the rhino strategy will work this time."

Arsec looked at his friend's eyes, shaking with fear yet willing to do what was necessary, and realized they mirrored his own. There was nothing triumphant about this, they were just kids trapped in this whole mess. So he relaxed as Mesui prepared to say something.

"Arsec, If we d—"

"Nuh-uh" Arsec interrupted her, "don't."

"Huh? But..."

Arsec sighed, smiling, "Too late for us to escape to Makeb and start a new life."

Mesui blushed in a wave of rage, confusion, and amusement, smiling in the end and shaking her head, "Idiot."

Arsec placed his hand on her shoulder, "What I mean is... our new lives are here, this is it."

Mesui saw his friend's eyes filled with newfound determination, a dauntless fire that had been ignited that other day, one that refused to die out.

"Can. We. Go. Now?" Stoat begged, almost regretting having joined the pair.

"We got this far, let's see it finished." He said, resolutely.  In reality, he wanted to thrust his head onto the ground with all the embarrassing stuff he had just said. He brushed it off and looked at the gleaming masked girl.

"Stoat," Arsec said strongly.

"What?" she replied bluntly as she irritatingly stared at the crowd.

"Think you can distract the angry mob of rodents?"

Stoat's blue eyes frowned, "Distract?"

"You deal with them and we face Voidmaw, I'm sure a few hundred rodents are a piece of cake for you..."

"What the hell is a cake?"

Arsec's eyes opened in surprise. He smirked a bit before he went back to his usual stoic face, "It means that it will be too easy for you."

"Why don't I deal with Voidmaw while you... 'distract' the others?" Stoat remarked.

"Well Stoats hunt rodents in the steppes so I thought you were perfect for the job... unless you're scared of so many, then it's all right," Arsec shrugged.

Stoat's hair began to flow with a wind surging from below as her hair began to blow with unseen wind, her resolve now intensified.

"So you want me to 'distract' them, eh? I'll tear them to shreds, just wait and see... You'll eat your words before the day's over."

Arsec bowed his head, "Don't worry, we'll leave a bit for you to chew off."

*******

"Not. now. Ganga," Bongo said, unable to calm his shaking legs.

"L-look, Bongo! It's—they're... she's...!"

"Ganga... stop..." Bongo urged, turning around to shut his friend. But then his eyes locked on the trio below, and he went on his own stuttering spree, "Twin Sisters... blessed winds... it can't be..."

A rodent guard readied his claw to snatch a good chunk of skin from the distracted goblins, but then curiosity struck him. He turned, his feral eyes widening as he caught sight of the approaching intruders. With a swift and defiant roar, he sounded the alarm, his voice echoing through the storm and the cavern, alerting all to the arrival of Arsec, Mesui, and Stoat. The air grew tense as the guards and prisoners alike turned their attention to the newcomers, the sense of impending confrontation hanging heavy in the storm-laden sky.

Mesui looked at her father and her face lit up, "Father!"

"Mesui! Get out of—!"

Voidmaw reached the edge of the mound, pushing Tulag and the rest aside and roaring to make them stand at the center of the pit. The rodentmen grabbed their faces and made them stare into the cloud and the shadow.

Voidmaw then faced the three intruders and blinked, shocked. He saw the red cape, standing bright in the face of darkness, and growled with endless hate.

"That's..." Voidmaw said, remembering the beastly figure in the mist the day before.

Voidmaw froze momentarily, his mind overwhelmed by the haunting legends and myths of the ancient gods' avengers, the Ancient Ones he once worshipped. The realization of the power embodied by the towering figure before him sent a chill down his spine. Yet, despite the encroaching terror and the overwhelming sense that everything was turning against him, Voidmaw steeled himself. The giant shape of his new god loomed closer, and he braced himself for the final confrontation, determined not to be stopped—no matter the cost. He roared, so to meet the giant stoat's warcry—so to face these pesky interlopers and end it all today.

As Stoat climbed higher up across the grandstand, her fiery wake carved a path of devastation through the rodents, her every movement igniting chaos. The vast majority of the mutated rodentmen, now focusing their frenzied attacks on her, were drawn like moths to the searing inferno she wrought.

He swung his spear with as much power as he could, each arc of the weapon sending rodents flying through the air like broken dolls. The force of his blows cleaved through their ranks, scattering the attackers with bone-shattering impacts as he shouted with each blow. At his side, Mesui was a blur of precision, her arrows slicing through each enemy that Arsec missed. Each shaft struck true, as she could feel the winds helping her aim as she sought to shoot at closer foes to recover her stock of arrows.

Arsec stopped a rodent's bite with his spear before sending him away. His eyes observed the battle intermittently as he fought, seeking to push and advance as he eliminated his opponents. Yet the rodents were hellbent on stopping him, as they scratched his clothes and bit his limbs. All of this felt like slight pinches to him, and only his cape remained unscathed from all the pulling and tearing as he put himself between the rodentmen attacks and his dear friend.

His eyes briefly met with Voidmaw as he stood there with a smug smile on his face. Arsec gritted his teeth as he looked at the goblins behind them, shooting and killing any rodentmen that came to them. 

"Princess," said Arsec, "meet up with the warriors, they'll need your help to rescue your father, and you'll need theirs."

"But..."

"Mesui!" Arsec yelled, pushing an entire column of rodents away from the steps and turning to her, "Get to your people, now!"

Arsec sought to force the situation, so he immediately tensed his legs and feet, aiming straight at Voidmaw, who had just turned to inspect the clouds above. He pressed against the ground and jumped, cracking the steps in the process and blasting away some charging rodents. 

Voidmaw turned back to see how the battle was unfolding and saw a pitch-black spear being thrust into his shoulder, sending him and his attacker down the slopes of the mound. They both fell to the ground, with Voidmaw creating a small crater.

"You little scum," Voidmaw said as he recovered, "you have messed with my plans for the last time, this time, you will be crushed, I will wear that annoying cape as a handkerchief to wipe out the blood of your goblin friend."

"Say what you want, but you could say the same about you, monster," Arsec retorted, "No running away this time, there are no rodents to help you now."

"Is that so?" Voidmaw said, "Well, that's one thing we can disagree on... LOOK AGAIN!"

As he said that, larger and stronger versions of the mutated rodents, six in all, crashed down and circled Arsec. One of them sought to bite Arsec's head but the boy's hand stood in the way. As the teeth sunk into his forearm, Arsec knew the little pinches from the weaker rodents were no more. His eyes opened in pain as he felt a strong grip on his muscles, not enough to break it, but sure painful. Arsec's brain was overloaded with adrenaline again as he thrust his spear into the monster, who dropped dead as the spear pierced his chest. 

"You like them?," Voidmaw said, "You sure are a handful, human, your strength and resistance are appalling, but can you withstand my bite a dozen times over?" 

Arsec panted as his sight blurred when looking at the torn sleeve and bleeding bite marks. He then turned to Voidmaw, sniffling as he stepped back a few inches hesitatingly.

"We can agree that this time will be completely different, hehe... You will die here, insignificant bug, No one can stand before the power Cycloph grants to his servants!" Voidmaw declared, cackling as he began to walk towards Arsec, his elite minions encroaching him on all sides.

Arsec's mind then raced across Mesui looking at him from a distance reaching out with her hand, Chief Tulag sitting on his tribal throne, Malimali and the rest of the herd, his encounter with the Red Flame, even his fight and conversations with Stoat...

He whipped his arm to steel himself and looked at his enemies with resolve as tears ran.

"I may perish today, monster, but I'm sure taking you down... it'll be either you or both of us, but you are not coming out of this..."

Voidmaw snarled, "Ugh, annoying..." as he followed his words with a roar—indicating his minions to attack.

*******

Mesui saw Arsec disappear alongside Voidmaw and bit her lips, rushing to group up with the goblin hunters, who had maintained their position thus far. As she got to them, they all stared at her in confusion, especially the squire, who was ready to scold her with a vengeance.

"Princess Mesui, how—"

"Save it for later, squire, order everyone to push to the mound's top, now!"

"Hold on, I will not risk my—"

The squire then saw Mesui's face right before his, taking him aback.

"Listen, you... You don't like me, I get it... Lock me up for eternity after this if you want or marry me to some northern prince, but you shall listen to me today! I have two friends who are risking their lives to buy us precious time so that we can rescue my father and his Keshig warriors..." 

The squire's gaze loomed over the princess to check if what she said was true, "Is Chief Tulag really there?"

"Do you think I'd be here, in the middle of rodentmen territory, fighting that and that and all of them just to convince you to let me be?" Mesui said as she pointed at the large looming object in the clouds and the rodents, "No sir, stop me and I'll knock you again, take over your warriors, and have this as my victory!"

The squire stared at her, both aghast and... inspired? His lingering doubts were blown away when his eyes spotted a rodent's savage maw about to bite an unsuspecting Mesui from behind. His hands moved as fast as he could to push her away, but then the rodent's contorted jaws were grabbed by a giant paw as the Giant Stoat responsible for all the mayhem on the grandstand. It had come crashing down, surrounded by fearful rodents trying desperately to subdue the beast with numeric superiority—to no avail. 

Stoat threw the attacker against the rocks and let out a roar to scare the others approaching. The squire stood there with the other goblins while the beast followed the fleeing rodents. 

"What say you? Be quick!" Mesui said, calmly fixing her hair.

The goblins looked at her momentarily, before the squire turned to them angrily, "What are you waiting for? Follow the princess!"

The small army let out a war cry as they charged the steps, meeting the ferocity of the rodents that had remained there after Arsec tackled Voidmaw.

Mesui strategically stood behind a line of four warriors, like she did with Arsec, shooting anyone that would pass by her allies' blades and clubs. The squire stood firmly behind her, ensuring her safety. For a moment he looked at her and something stirred in his heart—a memory of his youth, where a fiery-orange-haired goblin similar to Mesui rallied him to charge at one of many rhino hunts together, only sturdier and bigger. He smiled as he moved forward with the princess to his chieftain's side.

They reached the top and realized even the strangest of the mutated rodents had left. There was only now a group of inert goblins staring without blinking at the clouds above. The gigantic shadow behind the shrouds did not reveal itself still, despite the enormity of its appearance. 

"Father!" Mesui called, searching for him amidst the crowd.

"Secure the perimeter!" The squire ordered, "Tend to the wounded, come on, come on!"

Mesui felt a very cold sweat fill her back as she walked through the battered goblins, searching for her father. They remained still, looking at the skies without batting an eye at the goblin princess moving among them. Their eyes unsettled her, as they had been filled with a strange black sclera and very tiny but visible white iris.

"Don't look up!" Mesui ordered, "They put a spell on them, take them away quickly—"

Her words were cut off when she felt very heavy hands grabbing her and throwing her violently towards the edge of the mound. At the same time, the immobile goblins' eyes had turned to their worried brethren, and lashed out in anger, throwing punches and shoving them while displaying a desperate fervor to remain there.

Mesui shook her head and stood up to meet her assailant. She looked up, readying an arrow, but then she relented her aim as the tall, muscled figure in front was crowned with the Crest of the Tulag goblins on his head. 

"Father... what are you doing?" Mesui asked.

"We are... where we are supposed to be... child..." Tulag's voice said, raspy and eerie. 

He looked at her, wild-eyed and drooling, his head and fingers twitching as if he were puppetered.

"Father, listen to me—"

A deafening horn-like sound breached the sacrificial shrine, blowing the wind from the clouds down unto them. At first, Mesui was taken aback, but then she cleared her eyes from the dust and droplets still falling everywhere.

"You are not well, father, let us take you home!"

"We are where we are supposed to be... child!" Tulag yelled, seemingly unbothered by the whirlwind around them. 

The fight raged in the mound, as the crazed goblins attacked their brothers and the latter sought to restrain them. Among them, the squire had successfully subdued one.

"Tied them up, knock them out, whatever you need to do, just take them the hell out of here!"

Mesui approached her father carefully, her eyes locked onto his and her voice trembling with urgency, "Focus on my voice, Father. Remember who you are. You were forced to come here by that monster... Voidmaw. Please—!"

Tulag's eyes flared at the mention of Voidmaw, rage contorting his face. With a beast-like snarl, he lunged at her.

"You shan't speak of him!" he roared, launching a barrage of blows, his fists a blur of fury. Mesui leaped back, desperate to maintain distance, but his towering frame closed the gap effortlessly. His hand clamped around her arm like a vice, lifting her off the ground with ease before hurling her away.

A horn's mournful call echoed through the mountains, and Tulag's gaze drifted to the looming darkness above. A twisted smile spread across his face, as if he found solace in its ominous presence. Seizing the moment, Mesui dashed forward, scaling his arms and looping her bow around his neck.

"I will take you home, Father! I... will... save you!" she cried, her voice straining with effort. Tulag staggered, his movements wild and erratic, before wrenching her free and slamming her to the ground. His hands closed around her neck, forcing her to look up.

"You should see, little one. It is so... beautiful!" he hissed.

Mesui gasped for breath, her vision blurring. She squeezed her eyes shut, her mind a desperate mantra. "This is not my father. This is not him!"

"F-ather... d-don't..." she choked out, fighting against the darkness closing in.

Just as Mesui's vision began to blur and she was about to give up, the three rodent cubs attacked. They clambered up Chief Tulag, their tiny claws and teeth sinking into his flesh, scratching and biting furiously.

Mesui watched in stunned disbelief as the cubs, once so helpless, now attacked her father. Conflicted, she didn't know what to do. The cubs' message was clear—they wanted her to win.

Alas, the assault was brief. Tulag roared in fury, swatting one cub aside with a brutal backhand. He grabbed another, hurling it violently away. The last cub he caught by the neck, choking it just as he had tried to choke his daughter.

"No!" Mesui screamed, her voice a raw blend of fear and rage. But Tulag paid her no heed. The small rodent cub's eyes fluttered, then closed, its tiny body going limp in Tulag's grasp, who remained numbed from everything he was doing and simply resumed his contemplation above, neither pleased nor saddened by the cubs.

Fueled by desperation and fury, Mesui summoned all her strength. "This ends now!" she thought, determination hardening her resolve. She launched herself at her father, aiming to free the helpless cub and end his rampage.

With a burst of strength, Mesui swung her bow and struck Tulag in the face, disorienting him. Seizing the moment, she tackled him, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing with all her might.

Tulag thrashed wildly, his immense strength threatening to throw her off. But Mesui held on, her grip tightening with every ounce of desperation and love for her father. 

She cried through gritted teeth, "Give... Up... Already!!"

Tulag's struggles grew weaker, his movements more sluggish. Mesui could feel her muscles burning, but she didn't relent. Finally, with a shuddering sigh, his arms dropped, and his body went limp. He was unconscious.

Just then, the squire arrived, breathless and wide-eyed. Mesui, still panting, looked up at him. "Take my father," she commanded, her voice firm. "Make sure he's secure and safe."

The squire nodded and hurried to Tulag's side, carefully lifting the large goblin. Mesui turned her attention to the rodent cubs. She approached their small bodies, tears welling up in her eyes as she gently gathered them up.

*******

With a mighty sweep of his hand, Voidmaw sent Arsec flying back. 

The boy retained his stance as he managed to block the blow, but as his feet stopped dragging on the ground, he dodged a charging rodent, letting him pass and grabbing him by the leg to throw him away, but as he tensed to do it, he was forced to release it as another snapped its mouth to bite him. Arsec elbowed the monster, closing its mouth, before hitting it with his spear, but then another came at him and grabbed the spear. As they grappled with the weapon, Arsec managed to hit his opponent's head so that it would let loose, just in time before the other two came at him with their claws open. 

Arsec created distance by sweeping the area with his spear, leaping backward to dodge Voidmaw's smashing fists into the ground. These rodents had learned well to stay away from Arsec's powerful sweep strikes and thrusts, as two lay in the ground with broken bones or holes in their chest, and one more was embedded into a rocky wall, arms and legs splayed out. Now, the rodents would swarm the boy and throw consecutive attacks so to give Voidmaw time to close the gap and attempt to crush, throw, or simply hit Arsec.

As his mind raced, Arsec began to realize that this was a fight of attrition, and he needed to break this deadlock. His eyes darted here and there as he circled Voidmaw, chased by the rampant one-eyed rodents. 

The pain was excruciating, and he found himself unable to shake the rodent away. Panicked, Arsec's eyes diverted to the other two rodents that approached him, ready to seize him, to bite him further. There was nowhere to go. 

The bubbles burst in the same fashion as the other as soon as he was hit, with Voidmaw exiting his trance and stomping his way toward him once more. His foe had raised the stakes once again, and this time Arsec's mind was too strained to seek a solution. 

The giant monster raised his claw to stomp him, Arsec's eyes locked on it, his arm and spear fixed on his place by the rodent's bite, and the threat of the other two charging rodents loomed closer.

"What is this?" Voidmaw asked, shocked to see his hand burning, unable to quench the fire, as it consumed his hand further and further. 

Voidmaw noticed that for every mark, every biting wound and bruise, red embers appeared around Arsec. Voidmaw's eye widened in confusion as a nameless fear began to invade him. However, he shook his head and steeled himself as he roared and his minions charged again. He then charged his eye once more and prepared to release his dark bubbles.

With this new opportunity at hand and his strength renewed, Arsec saw what Voidmaw was attempting to do. Reflexively, Arsec burst his legs forward and jumped, grabbing Voidmaw by the jaw and pulling him and Voidmaw's concentration at the same time. The monster began to walk, shaking his head and attempting to shove the boy against the ground to hurt him and make him release his mouth. Arsec held on tight as they advanced around the mound, followed by the two remaining rodents. 

Voidmaw roared and screeched as Arsec tightened his grip on his jaw, and the spear on the other. He began to pierce Voidmaw's body with thrust after thrust of the spear. This dance tensed as Voidmaw began to climb the mound with Arsec still hanging. His minions attempted to follow, but as they geared up for an initial jump, another beast joined the fray. Stoat emerged from the side, grabbed both one-eyed rodents, and smashed them against the ground, one of them managed to free itself from the giant stoat's grasp and flee, climbing onto the grandstand, intending to flee.

Stoat looked at the lifeless rodent, sniffing the air in search of more opponents, her nose and eyes caught the glimpse of Voidmaw reaching the top, and she growled.

Voidmaw rolled as soon as he got a hold of the summit to be freed from the red-burning pest assaulting his head and neck with that horrid spear. The boy released the monster's neck and saw his body drop a few meters away from Voidmaw.

Arsec's body was burning with exhaustion, but his vigor remained as the flames not only numbed his pain but also comforted him with a burning wish for victory.

As he got up, aided by his spear, a familiar voice called him from behind.

"Arsec!" Mesui said. 

Arsec turned and saw Mesui looking at him while holding the three dying cubs in her arms. She placed them in the ground and readied an arrow almost immediately as her eyes widened in desperation.

"Turn around!" she begged.

Arsec turned abruptly and saw how Voidmaw's teeth were almost upon him, as he had attacked in a furious lashing, still affected by the wounds the young man had inflicted on him.

Arsec put his spear in between and the jaws closed, now they were grappling with the spear as Voidmaw tried to close his mouth and finally end the human.

Their struggle was short-lived as Stoat emerged from the mound's edge and tackled the monster, both of them rolling towards the other end of the summit. The giant stoat, smaller in size than the one-eyed abomination, managed to grab Voidmaw's neck and force him down. Her throat glowed blue, and then the exploding embers of Stoat's fire engulfed Voidmaw's neck. The monster shrieked in pain, and with a swoop of his hand hit the giant stoat away, to the side of Arsec and Mesui. 

Voidmaw retreated, his eye twitching and darting here and there. He glimpsed his army scattered through the grandstand, dead and utterly crushed. He spotted the goblins—his prisoners, his sacrifices to Cycloth—leaving through the entrance, following the water from the rain flowing down the mountains. He finally stared at the three individuals who had made his plans miserable since the start and he roared in defiance.

Stoat roared back. Mesui tensed her bow. Arsec readied his spear.

Then came another deafening blast from above, like a massive horn. The four of them looked up as the shadow finally revealed itself. An object of steel and flesh oozing droplets of black liquid. A perfectly symmetrical circle was meticulously carved into the round metallic surface, its edges smooth and precise, contrasting sharply against the steel sheen. The recessed shape created subtle shadows within the groove, highlighting the craftsmanship and the cool, reflective quality of the metal. 

Then, within the meticulously carved circle on the metal surface, eyelids began to materialize from nothingness, slowly taking shape and closing tightly. Gradually, they parted, revealing an eerie eye with a black sclera and a glowing white slit for an iris, the stark contrast giving it an otherworldly, mesmerizing presence.

Voidmaw grinned, then cackled and culminated in a burst of full-blown laughter. 

"Bear witness, little scum, and rejoice!" He said, raising his hands with the little strength he had, "You are about to be crushed by the power of the Dark Crafter! Your souls will be reborn in their destruction, as He Who Molds all shall make use of you as he sees fit!"

Arsec placed himself in front of Mesui and aimed his spear skyward, unsure of what to do as dread filled him. Stoat growled but her fur tensed as she recoiled in doubt.

The giant eye, however, looked down on his wounded servant. Despite his wideness and expressionless semblance, it showed a strange sense of irritation, one that Voidmaw was quick to notice.

"No... No... Cycloth!" He said in terror, "I brought them as you commanded me! Unleash your fury at these interlopers! They are a pest that has been a thorn at my side at every turn! I beseech you! I beseech y—"

Crack.

Voidmaw's weakened neck twisted and fell off, with only a small ligament connecting it to the rest of the body. 

There was a moment of silence, as the eye began to close and its massive bulbous body began to lift once more. Arsec, Mesui, and Stoat observed how the same goo that crept from the crevices of that sinister being emerged from Voidmaw's body and, as if it had intelligence of its own, engulfed and filled Voidmaw's lifeless body.

His mass suddenly enlarged, and became a giant mass that released black tendrils as the liquid surged up and down as if molding something new... something darker.

The liquid receded, entering the new body as if being absorbed by it. Voidmaw's new form was an incoherent amalgamation of dark purple flesh with a giant eye in its center, moved by tendrils that slithered across the ground.

The giant being was gone, lost in the clouds. Arsec looked at the eye at the center of the new monster, twitching aimlessly. It did not say anything, it did not boast like Voidmaw, nor try to do anything to them other than reaching out with its tendrils. Then he noticed the latter continued to grow, seeking to root themselves into whatever crevices and holes they could find.

Arsec frowned, he was done with the monster.

"Mesui, what happens if you shoot in the eye?" he inquired, eyes locked on the bulbous mass.

The goblin princess sniffled, tears still running down her eyes, and tensed her bow. Her mind raced as she peeked one last time at the three little bodies behind her, "This is for you, little ones."

Her arrow flew across the summit and into the eye, bursting it in a blast of black dust and goo.

The abomination squealed and shook its tendrils in pain, they lashed out and tried to reach the three. Two tendrils managed to get into range, but one was swept aside by Stoat's paw, and the other was pinned to the ground by Arsec's spear.

"Stoat, burn it," Arsec asked.

The giant stoat roared, charging her breath, and then blasted the mass with the blue fire, disintegrating its flesh and melting the tendrils. Then the three of them looked as the blue fire engulfed it and consumed it. 

Stoat then lay down and a blue steam covered her, reverting her to the thin and weak masked human form. She then collapsed, debilitated. Arsec rushed to catch her, carrying her in his arms. After all that went through, she was as heavy as a feather.