XIII

“Shhh! Easy girl!” Yoreno said as he patted his horse’s neck.

“Whoa!” Lev called. “Agh! Come back here!”

“Shit!” Dell exclaimed.

“Something’s coming,” Mai said. “I feel a source of… magic?”

“Be ready,” Sorika said.

Yoreno turned to Dorrin. “You hold back,” he said. “Loose as many bolts into whatever is coming as you can!”

“All right!” Dorrin said, nodding emphatically.

“Look!” Lev exclaimed.

Yoreno turned around to see what he was pointing at. It was the rock he had picked up. It was moving!

“Something tells me that whatever is coming,” Dell said, “it’s not bandits.”

The rock tumbled over the sand, making a trail as it went.

“What’s drawing it like that?” Yoreno wondered alloud.

His heart was pounding as a knot of apprehension formed in his gut. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

“Well,” Mai said. “We can probably still turn back if we’re quick.”

Lev whirled. “And what was all that about being adventurers? You think I was just talking?”

Mai shrugged.

“Come on,” Yoreno said as he let go of his horse’s reigns. “Let’s go see what’s going on.” He stepped forward, his sword in hand. As he went forward, the trail rose slightly. When they neared the bend, he could feel vibrations under his feet.

Stamping through the sand, he picked up his pace toward whatever was just around the bend. As the wall fell away and the path became visible, so did a huge form. It was rough, blocky and chiseled.

“Oh!” Lev said from behind. “A rock monster?”

“You say that like you’ve seen one before,” Dell said.

“No—I just, I thought it would be something more hideous.”

“That’s not so bad, right?” Dorrin asked.

“Yeah right,” Sorika said.

“You are serious, right?”

“This is a problem,” Mai said.

“Yeah,” Yoreno added, and glanced down at his sword. “I don’t think our swords are going to do much to that thing. Not if they aren’t enchanted with magical damage.”

“Okay,” Mai said. “Listen up! Everyone, play distraction. Try not to get too close. I’m going to blow that thing up, but you need to keep it away from me.”

“Easy,” Lev said, and moved forward. “Hey, rock brain!” he shouted and loosed an arrow at it. The flick of the head ricocheting off the monsters body was so puny and pathetic. “Over here.”

The creature, if it could really be called one, looked at them with what it had for a face. It was just a man-shaped monster with a large body and shoulders without a visibly distinguishable head..

For whatever passed for those body parts. They were just boulders.

Mai invoked some magical spell and then thrust it forward. It went in for a direct hit, but then the rock monster moved and shunted the barrage into the air where it exploded harmlessly.

“Great!” Yoreno said. “More distractions! Keep it away from Mai!” He ran to his right so he could circle the monster without getting too close. As he came to its back, he moved forward—close enough to strike it.

He swung his blade—not too hard. He didn’t want to damage his sword. It wasn’t indestructible like Ito Farralia.

The monster must have felt him, because it lumbered around to face Yoreno as he back-stepped quickly. The thick sand made him trip and he fell on his back.

Turning quickly, he got up and ran as vibrations came his way.

“Run, Yoreno!” Dell called. “Over here, you stupid brick!”

Then there was an explosion loud enough to send a sharp pain through Yoreno’s ears. He fell onto his stomach and shielded his head as small rocks and sand fell atop him.

After a moment—once things calmed, he turned onto his back to see what was going on. He half expected the monster to have been blown to little pieces.

It was still standing, damaged and missing an arm, but still lumbering about.

The rocks—the ones that must have made up the arm, trembled and tumbled back into form as they dragged back to the main body by some unseen magical force and reconnected.

“That’s really unsatisfying!” Lev complained.

He had a point, Yoreno thought. How were they supposed to kill this thing?

“Might have to just run,” Sorika said. “It can’t be very fast—surely?”

“You might have an idea,” Yoreno said. “But what of the horses?”

“Whoa!” Lev screamed.

“Yoreno!” Sorika called.

He glanced to where the party rogue was pointing. There was something under the sand moving right for him. Fortunately it was rather small, but he still got up in a hurry and raised his sword.

Whatever it was, it shot out of the sand straight at his head. He swung his blade, connecting his strike with the thing and it caromed back into the sand.

It was a pile of little rocks, shaped somewhat like their bigger counterpart.

“Awe,” Dell said. “Little baby rock monsters.”

“Um,” Sorika said. “There’s more than one little baby rock monster.”

Glancing forward, Yoreno saw that there must have been at least twenty more mounds of sand getting pushed about as the mini rock monsters came at them in force.

“Dammit!” Yoreno cursed. “Dorrin!” he called.

“Yeah?”

The tracker was hanging well back.

“Go get our horses. Everyone else, get ready to make a break for it. We’re going to have to rush past these monsters.”

“I think you’re right,” Dell said.

The big one started lumbering toward Yoreno again. He turned and ran toward the little ones. They jumped out of the sand, moving at him with incredible speed.

He hit one out of the air, then a second.

A third one hit him in the chest plate, but the runes reacted, sending the creature flying without the force from its lunge affecting Yoreno in the least.

He wished his blade had been enchanted similarly for this moment.