73 - Imminent Danger
Nosey looked over her cards one more time, before tossing them to the ground. “I fold,” she announced with a sigh.
“And then there were two,” grinned C. Shells, looking over at Sonata. “What about you, filly? Gonna slink away like your little girlfriend, or mare up and move into the deep end of the pool with the grownups?” Her provocative comments caused the ponies around them, a combination of watchers and eliminated players, to over-dramatically gasp and ooh, as though scandalized.
It was enough to make Sonata frown, and she glared at the other mare for a moment before turning her eyes back to her own cards. They were only playing for candies – apparently the crew made sure to stock up on them for exactly this purpose – but Sonata was getting tired of losing. She had to win at least one game!
But unlike the last several rounds, it looked like luck was with her this time, and she smirked as she pushed the last of her candies forward. “Hah! You’re gonna be real salty when I take all of your sweets!” The comment earned several chuckles from around her, and Sonata beamed at the attention. She knew that had to be a good line! After all, she had spent the last ten minutes thinking it up!
“Hmm, I wonder about that,” answered C. Shells with a relaxed smile, before pushing her own, much larger, pile of candy forward. “Well then, I call.”
Sonata was the very picture of confidence as she laid her cards down. “Well, except for this three of…whatever this is…”
“Spades,” supplied Nosey helpfully.
“Spades, right. Except for that, I’ve got four in a row,” grinned Sonata as she laid her cards down. “Six, seven, eight, and nine. All red cards.” She crossed her forelegs with a flourish, noting how everyone was staring at her with shocked expressions. “How do you like me now?” she drawled, barely able to contain her satisfaction.
The line was enough to jolt C. Shells out of her stupefaction, and she gave Sonata a slightly-incredulous look. “I like you just fine, girl. You can play cards with me and my crew any day.” Tossing down her full house, she gathered the last of the candies into her pile, chuckling at her would-be opponent’s confused expression. The crowd was likewise shaking their heads in amusement, already starting to break up.
“Huh? But I thought that was a winning hoof!” Sonata looked around in confusion, not sure what had happened.
Nosey put a sympathetic foreleg around her friend. “Give it up, Sonata. Let’s go do something else.”
Pouting, Sonata glanced at where Severance was floating near the door, wishing for the umpteenth time that she’d gone with Lex. She knew it was silly to be so worried about him – he’d had no trouble dispatching those fish-thingies – but she was still somewhat nervous. His talk about what to do if he didn’t come back had thrown her right back to when he’d almost died after fighting the dragon. If something like that happened again when there was no one around to save him…
Sighing, Sonata tried to push those thoughts away. Knowing Lex, he’d probably zeroed in on some survivors and was giving them all a boring lecture or something like that. He was definitely fine.
“They’re breaking in!” screamed Cozy. The shelves that had been piled against the doors and windows rattled again as whatever was outside continued to batter them, trying to get inside.
“Do something!” yelled Cloudbank, looking at Lex. “You’re supposed to be here to rescue us, right?! Well this would be a good time to start!”
He didn’t have a chance to respond before Aisle ran forward, pressing his hooves against one of the shelves covering a window, trying to brace it. “We have to reinforce these somehow!”
“That won’t work!” snapped Lex. “There’s too many of them and not enough of us!” There were six windows lining the sides of the store, and the front and back doors each had a window on either side of them. That was a dozen points of entry altogether, and the majority of them had the shelves covering them quivering under repeated blows.
Whatever those things were, if they kept this up they’d be inside the building in less than sixty seconds.
Lex hurriedly ran through his options again, but no good solution presented itself. Their current position left them too exposed; if those things came in from every direction at once, protecting everypony would be difficult. A quick glance around confirmed that the shop had no second floor, nor was there any sort of basement that Lex could see. It was just an open space all around. That meant that he’d need to create any cover that he wanted.
He could cast a spell to place them all under a force field, like when those fish-monsters had attacked Sonata on the ship. But that spell would only last for a little over ten minutes; if these things were planning any sort of sustained attack, then it wouldn’t be sufficient to keep everypony safe. Worse, he had only prepared that spell once, and retaining it via substituting energy through his body would be extremely damaging.
He could have created another extradimensional hideaway, the way that he had when he and Sonata were journeying to Tall Tale. But he hadn’t bothered to prepare that spell before he’d set out. He regretted that deeply now, but there was nothing that could be done about it.
He could have cast his short-range teleport spell, since it allowed him to bring passengers along. Its range was extremely limited, but it still would have gotten them outside of the building and at least a block away without leaving whatever was out there any wiser for it. But the maximum number of passengers that he could take along was only three, and since he’d prepared that spell only once – and it was also too difficult to maintain for multiple castings – that would mean that somepony would need to be left behind, and that was unacceptable. Even if he tried to enhance the teleportation spell by drawing in extra energy, that would only increase the distance, rather than letting him bring along additional passengers.
And of course, raising enough black crystals to cover the doors and windows would deplete his horn’s dark magic for only an hour’s reprieve. No matter how he looked at it, Lex knew that there was no way that he could keep these things out, nor get everypony out of harm’s way long enough to wait for sunrise, since these monsters supposedly hated daylight.
“So what’s the plan?!” Drafty’s voice was tight, clearly trying to suppress her terror and only barely succeeding.
“There’s no way to stop them from getting in,” replied Lex grimly. “So the only thing to do is to go on the attack when they do.”
“‘Go on the attack’?! That’s your plan?!” shrieked Cloudbank.
“There’s no defensible position here, and no way to bypass them and escape, so yes!” Lex yelled back. He wasn’t fighting down terror the way that the rest of them quite obviously were, but he could still feel his anxiety rising. The sheer tension of the situation was impossible to ignore, particularly since he was working from such a disadvantageous position.
The one thing he had going for him was that, although he had no idea what he was up against, neither did these things. He intended to leverage that to its fullest.
A splintering sound came from the shelf that Aisle was trying to reinforce, and the stallion fell back with a yelp of fright. Rushing back to the others, he huddled close to them, face pale. Lex narrowed his eyes and pointed a hoof at the shelf, prepared to begin casting as soon as whatever it was came through the window.
Moments later, the shelf was struck again, and collapsed into two pieces, falling to the ground. Instantly, a shape hurtled through the window, landing barely a dozen feet from the group. Turning, the thing snarled at them, giving the ponies their first clear look at what they were facing.
No! It can’t be…!
In that moment, Lex suddenly faltered, feeling his blood run cold.
Lirtkra growled as Monitor leapt down from the ship. It had only been several minutes since it had gone aboard to check for any poh-nees, but that had been enough to tax Lirtkra’s patience.
“Well?” he snapped, uncrossing his lower arms. Unconsciously, he passed his shield to his lower right arm, freeing his upper left so it could join his upper right in grabbing his trident, moving it into a ready position. His lower left arm simply flexed, displaying his eagerness to commit violence.
But the preparation was wasted as Monitor shook its head silently.
Cursing, Lirtkra looked overhead, to where the Cripple was hovering in the air as though it were still underwater. “They’re not here!” he yelled. His voice was accusatory, but that had nothing to do with the lack of prey. Rather, it was because the inferior creature was openly displaying its maa-jik in being able to fly, and the sight enraged Lirtkra. That power belonged solely to the sahuagin holy ones! For such a freakish being to have it was nothing less than an insult to their entire culture!
“And what do you want me to do about it?” rasped the Cripple.
“Find them! Right now!” roared Lirtkra, slamming the butt of his trident on the ground to emphasize his words.
“How exactly do you expect me to do that?” came the hissing answer from the creature, making Lirtkra gnash his teeth at its insolence.
“You’re still alive because the Great Lord of the Deep decided that you were useful. So make yourself useful!” He looked back over at Monitor. “Both of you!” He paused for a moment, thinking of something that they could do, before an idea came to him. “Sink their craft!”
Monitor’s sole response was to blink its bulbous eyes, remaining otherwise impassive. Although he had never heard Monitor utter a sound before, and knew that it could shift from passivity to action instantaneously, the creature’s lack of immediate obedience was enough to make Lirtkra bristle. Maybe he should simply give up on the primary goal of this mission and move on to the secondary instructions that Sitkra had given him…
“That’s a bad idea,” breathed the Cripple, flying slightly lower, though still well out of reach of Lirtkra’s trident.
“Why?” he growled, shifting his grip on his weapon slightly. That monstrosity might be too far away to stab, but it was well within his throwing range, and since he’d tied a rope around the end of his trident, he had little doubt that he could hit it and reel it in whenever he wanted.
“Because then we’d lose the element of surprise,” it countered. “And I’d need to expend magic to damage their boat that much, magic that I’d much rather save for when we find these spellcasting ponies.”
Lirtkra paused for a moment, considering that. He’d been given clear instructions that these two were not to come back alive, but also to kill the maa-jik poh-nees first and foremost. He knew that the best way to accomplish both goals was to have the Cripple and Monitor participate in the battle, and then kill them after it was over and they were weakened. If they lost their fighting edge before then, that would diminish their usefulness when the maa-jik poh-nees were found.
“Fine,” he growled. “Then we’ll go looking for them. They have to be around here somewhere.” He didn’t wait for a reply, turning and walking towards the poh-nee settlement. Maybe taking a more active role in the hunt would earn the Shark God’s favor, and he’d bring their prey within sight.
One way or the other, though, Lirtkra fully intended to taste the flesh of his enemies – be they poh-nee or his so-called companions – before he returned to the water.
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Pity, being sea based creatures, theyre not really affected by variou household materials that might be left laying around a raided store.
Then again, broken shelves migh have nasty points and edges that could help for a while.The more theey break, the more temporary weapons? And Earth ponies would be expected to have power mauls on each hoof? At least untrained but still with bonus?
is there an online pdf of this system ? It sound awsome.
7939490 If you mean Eclipse: The Codex Persona, the system that I used to build Lex's stats, then yes there is. I also recommend picking up The Practical Enchanter, a book of options for magic and spellcasting that I also used when making Lex's character.
Both are free to download; you'll need to register an account at that online storefront, but that's free and takes only a minute to do. I also strongly recommend looking at the author's blog. He's posted hundreds (perhaps thousands by now) of examples of what can be done with the system, and even takes requests. He's also done several pony builds, to boot! I always enjoy it when he posts something new.
First off, I like it how you didn't use the old 'the beginner player wins the pot' cliche for Sonata, quite amusing. I mean, imagining a bunch of ponies playing cards over pieces of candy as chips is just so silly.
Secondly, these creatures are intelligent, highly aggressive carnivores that hunts in packs and they made Lex's blood run cold. What in tartarus are they?(I know it'll be revealed later but man that's one hell of a place for a cliff hanger.)
Lastly, good thing Lex had the crew move to the warehouse though I wonder if the 'Crippled's magic can detect Lex's wards and dispel them. And given that the Cripple can fly outside the water with magic, her identity is becoming clearer though the Monitor is still a mystery.
Eagerly awaiting the next chapter.
7939916
That particular trope is one that I've never been very fond of. The entire idea of "being so dumb/unaware/inexperienced that you blindly fumble into success" is a comedic one, but beyond that I don't see very much value in it. To me, it belittles the idea that you need experience, study, insight, effort, and intelligence in order to master something, which is, in fact, actually the case. Not knowing something won't let you inadvertently reach a state of zen when you try it (which is why I was rolling my eyes at how Snails was depicted in Buckball Season).
The mystery will be revealed next chapter!
Yeah, you can't really remain hidden on a seagoing vessel when your enemies are aquatic. On the other hand, hiding inland (even if only slightly) is far better. As for the Cripple and Monitor...well, we'll find out more about them soon.
Thanks! Comments like yours are what keeps me writing!
No typos................ None at all..........
But guesses are here, so that's something at least.
They are ponies! No? Sahaugin that have somehow adapted to life on land! No? Maybe Zombies. When in doubt, go with Zombies. No? Not even Zombies? You really are pulling my leg. Well then, hmm....
Need more time, more clues, maybe just the answer.
8080122 The answer is revealed next chapter!