The Great Core's Paradox

Kala pulled back on the draw, keeping her breathing steady and sure. The arrow’s fletching kissed her cheek as she sighted along its length, looking toward her target. Then, it was gone.

The arrow flashed off into the distance, blurring out of her sight before it sunk into a charging monster with an audible thunk. The creature staggered at the hit, momentarily losing its grip on the ceiling that it had been running across. The floating flames both illuminated and distorted its struggles, causing its slick skin to shine and warp. Just before falling, one of its many hands reached out and grabbed a stalactite, holding on tight.

The archer noted little of that, having already readied her next arrow, already selected her next target. She loosed a second arrow, looking for a weak point in the monsters’ defenses. It was her job to weaken the enemy before they reached the others, to give them the best advantage possible before the battle had even truly begun.

Some might have thought that Erik’s job took the greatest courage; that being the one who was relied on to be the group’s stalwart shield far eclipsed the bravery required of any other role. While she didn’t dismiss Erik’s contribution, relying on him to defend her in the thick of battle, she didn’t entirely agree with that sentiment.

Archers were not cowards, afraid of a real fight. With every battle, Kala knew that the others were relying on her to thin the crowd - to turn the impossible fights into the possible. There was a certain terror that came with that knowledge.

It was a terror that she had long since become accustomed to.

And so she calmly drew another arrow, selecting a third target. Just as the monster leapt, pushing off of the wall, the projectile rose to meet it. Its mana-infused head pierced through the creature’s exposed belly, causing its pounce to veer off mid-flight.

That same shift in trajectory sent the monster directly into Valera’s raised blades. The nullwater-forged steel pierced through its hide with sickening ease, penetrating the entirety of its body. Its strange grasping arms twitched and tore at Valera’s armor, straining to find a way to injure her in the midst of its demise. A few of the claws nearly managed to do so, scrabbling at the woman’s unprotected right arm, but were beaten back.

Not, Kala was surprised to see, by Valera. Instead, it was the tiny snake that warded them off, having let go of its tail at last in reaction to the dangerous claws. It hissed and bit, sinking its fangs into flesh whenever they neared his perch on Valera’s shoulder.

It was slightly amusing to see, really. Valera had been extremely put off by the snake’s preference for her, and she just knew that part of the woman was likely squealing inwardly that the little monster might be warming up to her. She didn’t quite see things the way that Valera did, but she had to admit that it was at least a little cute, so she understood where the snake-obsessed woman was coming from.

More than Doran did, at least, though she thought that at least part of his concern was worry that Valera would get hurt if the snake became too strong and attacked her. As capable as she was, he worried for her. He had always tried to look out for her, in that way.

She sent another arrow down the cavern, its thin length slipping through the gaps of the battle and catching the leading leg of a Salamander as it fought against Erik. Unfortunately, it was becoming a little too chaotic; the greater-imbued of her arrows could pierce through the others’ armor, if she misfired and hit one.

Kala stepped further away, gaining some distance - though she was careful not to get too far, in case the beasts turned to target her specifically. A dribble of lava spilled out from the wall beside her, dripping from the network of little fractures that adorned its surface, forcing her to move slightly further afield. After the lava flow of the previous cavern, she was wary of how thin the wall might actually be.

Finally, she found a good vantage point to the side of the battle, just behind a cluster of stalagmites that would do well to hide her body. She pressed against one at the outer edge, nocking another arrow before whipping around its curve and pulling the bowstring back.

Arrow after arrow flew across the cavern, some bouncing off hard-plated ridges, while others sunk into more vulnerable flesh. Enough to make a difference.

With the majority of the enemies having become pincushions, the fight turned in their favor. Doran rushed past Erik’s defending shield with a roar, bringing his heavy axe to bear and slicing clean through the leg of an injured Salamander.

Kala winced. While she sometimes understood the need to let out a shout during a battle, it wasn’t something she was happy about. They hadn’t exactly been quiet so far, but it was possible that there was a monster or two nearby that hadn’t yet detected them.

That was feeling increasingly unlikely, with the noise of the fight.

In fact, it was entirely justified.

Another Flametouched Salamander crawled around the corner - this one far bigger than the rest, nearly twice the size. The plates on its skull had twisted at the edges, bending outwards and forming blunt horns that looked like nothing less than a battering ram. Yet, for all its bulk, and for all the way that the cavern shook as it walked, the creature itself was deathly silent. It loosed no growls, no shrieks, no warbles.

It simply moved forward, slowly. Resolutely. Fearlessly.

That, more than anything else, was discomfiting.

The others, too, had noted its appearance. Doran backed up, leaving the crippled Flametouched Salamander behind to thrash on the floor, blood spurting from where its leg had been removed. Erik held his shield at the ready in one hand, his hammer in the other, while Valera found a place somewhere behind each of them.

Finally, the little snake…

The little snake was gone.

Kala scanned the cavern, her eyes piercing through the twisting shadows cast by the light of the floating flames and their own glowing gear. After a moment, she managed to catch sight of the tiny monster, and cursed.

It was trying to finish off the injured Salamander.

She wasn’t sure what had possessed it to attack, after resting for so long on Valera’s shoulder. Then again, she wasn’t sure if monsters had much of a reason for anything they did. More than likely, they simply did things, and that was all there was to it.

The archer watched helplessly as the little snake sunk its fangs into the monster’s vulnerable eye, managing with its tiny size to reach the spot that her own larger arrowheads had failed to reach.

For some odd reason, she felt like that had been an intentional slight on its part.

The Salamander thrashed, but its wounds were too much. Even without Doran’s final attack, it had been battered and sliced by hammer and sword, pierced and cut by arrow and axe. It had been weak.

Weak enough to die to a tiny little snake, it seemed.

The monster slumped to the stone, dropping with a heavy thump. All the while, its murderer bobbed its head in celebration and flicked its tongue into the air. Kala felt her lips quirk in amusement, despite the severity of the situation.

There was just something bizarrely entertaining about it, she supposed.

Unfortunately, there was little more time than that to observe. The remaining Salamanders, wounded though they were, had clumped up around the largest. It reminded her of the way that injured children fled to their mother. It may very well have been the same as that, even.

Still, there was little reason to let things go on.

Kala drew another arrow, sighting along its shaft. A moment later, it flew through the air. A moment later, another one of those wounded children died.

Another moment after that, all hell broke loose.

If asked later, she would be quick to blame the snake for that.