Walter was so deep into his redesign of one of the more complex rotary circles of the Immortalizer, he didn’t understand where the voice came from at first. It took him a few seconds to catch up with Edwin’s body and reassert himself into the present. The rain had finally stopped, although the sky was still blanketed by dreary grey clouds. The party had halted and Bordan was speaking intently at them and gesturing wildly. Finally, Edwin fully remembered where he was, shaking off the cobwebs and trying to concentrate.

“Get down already, Edwin!” Bordan hissed. “It hasn’t seen us, I think. Same tactics as before. This time you’re in the lead though. I try to get its joints and keep it from the others.”

Edwin looked where the former soldier was pointing. First he didn’t see anything, then something he had thought was a boulder moved. He had known that mammoth beetles were very large, but reading about it and seeing an insect that was two meters tall a stone’s throw away were two very different things.

The monster had six legs that were each as thick as a man’s. Its body was a massive black bulb of chitin armor, and while its back was turned to the group, Edwin could barely make out a seam to a smaller segment near the front.

“I don’t see anything else around, you?” Bordan asked. When the other adventurers shook their heads, he looked at Edwin.

“Let’s go.”

They scrambled out of the small defilade that they had sought shelter in. Edwin discarded his walking stick and pulled out his mace, almost slipping on the muddy ground in his excitement. When they were halfway to the monster, it sensed their approach and turned around. Edwin didn’t consider himself squeamish, but the huge, faceted eyes, hairy feelers and massive mandibles sent a shiver down his back. Without a sound, the beetle charged. Its bulk belied its speed as it accelerated from a standstill, heading right for Edwin. His disgust was only worsened as the nightmarish sight shot towards him, but he kept his head and sidestepped behind a tree. The creature’s size meant that it had trouble maneuvering between the trees, and it had to slow down. A bolt whizzed past Edwin and ineffectually glanced off the thick shell on the beetle’s back. The creature twitched, turning towards Leodin.

Bordan attacked it from the other side, using a second tree as cover while he thrust his spear at the beetle’s side. He hit the point where the middle limb connected to the thorax, sinking the steel tip into its flesh. The monster skittered backwards, the spear tightly wedged into the joint, then charged Bordan. He danced around the tree, keeping it between himself and the beetle. Edwin jumped forwards, his mace flashing towards the monster’s back in a great downwards slash. The thick chitin shattered around the impact, and clear liquid splashed Edwin’s face and torso as his weapon sank deep into the beetle’s body. He pulled it out in disgust, just in time for the creature to spin around like a top. Its mandibles snapped at Edwin, and he barely got his shield in place to keep them from cutting him in half. Edwin was pushed back, and he quickly retreated behind his tree. This time though, the beetle was out of patience for his little trick. It lowered its head and closed its mandibles around the base of Edwin’s cover. With a great crack the young tree was sliced off just above the ground, the top part slowly leaning, then crashing to the wet forest floor.

Suddenly, the forest was illuminated in a bright light as Salissa walked her flame over the beetle’s shell. It jerked and quickly scrabbled backwards out of her range. Edwin blinked the bright spots out of his eyes and searched for damage to the monster, hoping that he had been wrong after all. The shell seemed untouched, but the creature was angry and charged directly at the mage, its mandibles clicking wildly. Edwin decided to go on the offensive, and when the monster was passing him he swung at its face with all his might. The attack landed, passing through with the crack of bursting chitin and exiting out the bottom, taking half of the head and a single massive mandible with it. The beetle veered to the side, colliding with a tree in a daze. Moments later, a second bolt passed by Edwin and disappeared into the opening he had created. The monster’s right legs stopped working and it flopped to the ground with a thump. The beetle wiggled on the ground, left legs and remaining antenna twitching wildly, until Edwin flattened the other half of its head with his mace.

The adventurers stood around the dead beetle, not quite knowing what to think. Finally, Edwin spoke up.

“Is it just me or did that feel too easy?”

“I guess it was.” Bordan replied thoughtfully. “When I saw how big it was I got worried. Now we know what Mennick meant when he said that mammoth beetles aren’t considered dangerous because of how dumb they are.”

“Yeah.” Leodin agreed, stepping close to inspect the creature. “It just went straight for us, nothing like the wolves.”

“We did get lucky with the trees, though.” Bordan cautioned, crouching down to pick up a mandible. “This could’ve been quite a bit harder in an open space. Also, you really need something heavy like Edwin’s mace. With just the spear and crossbow it would’ve taken us forever.”

They examined the beetle some more while Edwin tried to get the clear goop off his weapon and body. It smelled absolutely disgusting.

“Can we go then?” Salissa finally asked. “I wouldn’t mind getting out of these shoes.”

Her comment reminded the others that they were still dripping wet, as the thrill of the fight had made them briefly forget the discomfort.

“We should probably take apart the beetle.” Bordan said slowly. “It’s getting late, and even if the villagers want to buy the carcass, even if they can find it all the way out here, they won’t be getting to it until tomorrow. It will probably be mostly eaten by then.”

Edwin groaned, looking at the massive body.

“Does anyone know how to skin this? Or even which parts are valuable?”

After a few seconds, Leodin spoke up.

“I think it’s mostly the chitin and mandibles. I’m sure alchemists would pay for some of the guts, but we don’t really have what we need to transport those. Shall we just grab the shell and leave the rest?”

His idea was met with approval, and soon they had freed several large plates of chitin from the carcass. The work was gross but easy as the adventurers used their swords to lever apart the plates. There was no simple way to transport them, so they stacked the smaller ones on top of the largest pieces and Bordan and Edwin carried the stack between them like a stretcher while Leodin unerringly led them back to the village. The walk was, in a way, even more miserable than the rest of the day had been. The siren call of civilization only made their wet clothes more uncomfortable and their aching feet protest at every sodden step. Everyone’s but Edwin’s, that is.

--- ----- ---

Bordan sighed in pleasure as he wiggled his toes towards the fire. They adventurers were in the common room of Rellick’s Field’s main hall, lounging in chairs around the crackling hearth. They had hung their wet clothes to dry and changed into fresh ones, but only the warmth and comfort of the fireplace could bring life back to their weary bones and wrinkly skin. Edwin had been careful to apply a new bandage before he joined the others, as he didn’t want anyone to see the unbroken skin on his leg. Nothing remained of his injury.

He looked over at Salissa. The girl had her eyes closed, basking in the warm glow of the fire. Edwin considered bringing up the fight, and how her failed attempt at burning the beetle proved what he had told her two days ago – that converting fire alone wouldn’t get her very far, and that by ignoring the plethora of options magic afforded her she was effectively hamstringing herself. It was so obvious to Edwin, why couldn’t she see it? He was about to speak up, already searching for the right words, when he stopped. Salissa was bundled in a blanket, leaned back in her chair before the fire, and for once her face wasn’t contorted into her usual scowl. She looked less like the annoying, arrogant mage and more like a young girl. Long-buried fatherly emotions stirred in Walter, and Minyalas face surfaced from the deep well of his unconscious. He hadn’t thought of her in decades, and now twice in a few months?

Maybe I am finally getting old. Or they were right and becoming a Lich truly does make you go crazy.

Minyala had been much younger than Salissa was, but it had seemed like the word ‘headstrong’ had been invented just for her. It had taken Walter a while to figure out how to speak to her, and he never quite understood why she acted like she did. Sooner or later however, it had become apparent that if she was given a piece of advice, no matter how well-meaning and correct it might be, she would do her damnedest to not just ignore it but do the opposite instead. She did this even if her original intention had been to do the exact thing that she was later told. Once Walter had realized this the two had gotten along great. Then again, maybe if she had learned to listen to advice in time, little Miny might not have died.

The way she acts, the way Salissa exploded when I confronted her, makes me think they might have this in common. If I’m right, I can’t tell her what to do, especially not two days after our argument.

Edwin leaned back, rubbing his eyes in annoyance. If she wouldn’t take advice, she would continue to go into combat without being equipped for it. It endangered her as well as the rest of the party. But there was nothing he could say right now that would make a difference, except for making it worse.

I’ll just have to make sure we all survive long enough for her to realize the problem herself.