"She's back!" Rion exclaimed. "What happened to hunting?"
"I don't know," Lie said, her voice tense.
"So, uh… what do we do? Go further down the cave?"
Lie shook her head. "No, this is essentially already the bottom."
Rion began to sweat. "Ahhh, I didn't come here to die to a crab."
Lie sighed. "Me neither. Haven't even read my book yet."
Rion gulped. "There's not even anywhere to hide."
The clatter of claws on stone continued, joined by that all-too-familiar, awful squelch.
Lie tightened her grip on her staff and quickly raised it. "Oh well. Rion, you ready to fight!?"
"Huh!? Are you serious!?"
Lie nodded. "Unfortunately."
Rion sighed, then lifted his wand. "Ah man…"
For some reason though, his heart was pounding—not with fear, but with excitement.
I swear my past self had a few screws loose…? Rion thought, charging his wand with magic.
Then finally—he saw it.
The Clamshell was massive, towering over them. It resembled a crab, but big. In its right claw, it held a huge, still-wriggling fish.
"So that's why it's back so early," Lie muttered. "Had a big catch."
The Clamshell went still, watching the two mages with its dark, beady eyes—four of them, rising from its head like stalks. Then, with a dull plop, it dropped the fish and let out a low, guttural growl.
Did it just growl!? Rion thought, stunned.
"GET READY!"
Rion glanced at Lie as the Clamshell raised its massive claw. It slammed it into the ceiling, shaking the cave, then it came downward in one swift motion—right at Lie.
She dove to the side, narrowly dodging the blow. Stone and dirt flew everywhere, along with blue goo from freshly crushed eggs.
"She doesn't care about her eggs!?" Rion shouted, firing a blast of magic at the beast.
"Apparently not!" Lie shouted back, sending a blast of water at its face.
Their attacks barely fazed it. The Clamshell shook off the hits and kept coming.
Rion and Lie tried to get beneath it to strike its underbelly, but it scuttled too fast, swinging its claws and legs wildly.
"Does it have a weak spot!?" Rion yelled, dodging another strike.
"Its eyes!" Lie shouted, launching a water ball. "But I don't see a world where either of us hit them—not here, and not with it moving like—AHH!"
She threw herself to the side as one of the Clamshell's huge legs crashed down where she had just stood.
Rion, breathing heavily, aimed for the eyes and fired—miss.
The Clamshell frantically bashed into the wall, sending rocks tumbling down. Rion blasted them away with a burst of magic, but in that moment, he didn't notice the creature's left claw whipping toward him.
It tore through the ground, shattering more eggs as it skirted toward Rion, ready to grab him.
"Watch out!" Lie shouted. She fired another water ball at Rion's arm. Instead of bursting however, the water held together. Lie yanked upward, lifting Rion off the ground just in time.
The Clamshell's claw shot beneath him, crashing into a cluster of eggs and splattering goo everywhere.
Control, Rion thought as he looked at the water holding him.
Once Lie set him down, he sprinted over to her.
"Listen—I've got an idea…"
(And thus, Rion's adventure continues…)