The Lilliad 22

Lilli peeked above the table to survey the room. Benk and Lorit were chopping away at the stinger, and it didn’t seem to be doing anything. They were bloody, and she could see where acid had dissolved some of their clothes in the joints of their armor.

‘Yikes. This is maybe not my fight. I have no metal to wear.’

Igni came charging in, with Ser Alcuin close behind. It was hard to tell with the helmet, but the knight might have been concussed- their steps were odd, and unbalanced.

A roar emanated from below, shaking the room. Lilli grabbed the table and clutched with all her might. Elathor made a soft keening noise and dug through their robes for something.

The sound subsided, and Lilli dropped to the floor.

“Lilli.” Elathor crept towards her. “We have to finish this thing. I need you to guard me while I try something.”

“Try something?” She panicked. “You don’t know if it’ll work?”

“Well, Lilli, I have only rarely encountered monsters the size of buildings, so I’m guessing a bit here.” Elathor whispered something and their hands glowed red. They were obviously concentrating hard.

‘I do have to give them that. And I don’t have any good ideas.’

Lilli looked over at the rest of the party again, who were pummeling the stinger with all their might. It looked like their efforts were mostly serving to dull the thick plates, and not break them. The stinger thrashed around, stabbing and smashing.

‘They can’t hang on much longer.’

Lilli unsheathed her daggers and steeled her nerves. ‘I’m in this, no matter what. I’m not getting out without them.’ She ran at the stinger, dodged the incoming pointy end, and hit precisely on an area where the others had been hitting. She could see some tiny cracks from this close- a really hard hit would leave the creature injured and the stinger useless.

“We need to hit harder!” She grunted, pushing Ser Alcuin slightly out of the way so they wouldn’t get gored. They were panting and their posture was a bit slack. “Any ideas?”

Then Igni stepped back and shifted their stance. Across from her, Benk’s eyes went wide and he dropped to the ground like a rock.

“Elathor, can you do it now?” She yelled, voice high. “Igni is about to make it really, really mad.”

Elathor rose, red light seeming to congeal into solid form and drip from their claws. Their mouth was moving, but Lilli couldn’t hear what they were saying. They rose their hands.

“Lilli, I need you to help keep that thing still.” Elathor said dispassionately. “If it moves, this will kill all of us instead.”

Then the red goo shot out, trapping the stinger. It pulsed as the thing thrashed and fought.

Then Igni came down, bringing their fists down on the weak spot and sending shockwaves through the floor. Lilli fell forwards, and plunged her daggers into the stinger. This time, they stuck into flesh. She held on for dear life, and watched up close as Elathor’s red slime slid into the cracks and down into the flesh. It immediately caught on fire, constricted, and began to turn black.

A calamitous roar rose from below, and then the floor exploded.