Page 43 of Queen's Griffon

Or was it planned? She couldn’t help but recall the figurine she and Simhi smashed in the kitchen. Had Benoit somehow managed to get some magical totems sent to Saarpira? Was this her fault? Surely, he’d not had time to figure out her location and send the magical monsters.

Griffon engaged a crab, his glowing sword slicing a snapping pincher with ease. Not so the others who went after the giant crustaceans. Blades clanged against the hard carapaces, bouncing off without leaving even a dent.

At that sight, Avera added her own yelled command. “Aim for the eyes.” A blind creature wouldn’t be able to target so easily. Not to mention, if stabbed deep enough, it might penetrate the brain and kill them. The monsters could have been more easily destroyed had they found the totems and broken them, but they didn’t have the time to waste searching.

Avera drew her dagger, triggered its extension, and charged, heading for the crab chasing a woman holding a baby in her arms. She couldn’t easily get ahead, so she leapt atop its armored back and plunged her blade down. It hit shell first and slid right into the soft orb of its eye, then kept going, unbalancing her. She lost her grip on the sword as the crab collapsed but she quickly recovered and retrieved the blade, pulling it free and grimacing at the sucking sound.

The woman she’d saved gaped.

Avera gestured. “Go! Get inside and barricade the door.”

The mother fled with her child and Avera sought out her next target. She wasn’t the only one on the streets fighting. Men and women alike engaged the crabs, but despite her advice, many simply hacked at the shelled limbs and body. Those with blades fared poorly, but the blacksmith with his heavy hammer did succeed in crushing the carapaces.

As yet another sword-wielding person went down, their futile swipe leaving them too close to the pincers, Avera shouted again, “Aim for the eyes!” A suggestion lost in the din of battle, but Griffon had a voice that carried, and when he bellowed, “Blind the fuckers!” people heard.

Crabs began to drop, or at least flail around without true targets, but more of them kept appearing. The townsfolk, along with Avera and Griffon, formed a line across the road and began to funnel the crustaceans towards the docks, moving them away from the populated area.

Grim-faced, they pushed against the wave of oversized crabs. Unnatural, according to Monty, who huffed by her side.

“It ain’t fucking right,” he grumbled. “Crabs aren’t supposed to be as big as a man.”

“Where did they come from?” Avera questioned as she batted aside a pincer while Monty stabbed it in an orb.

“Everywhere,” he exclaimed. “One just appeared in the bar and clipped poor Freddy in two.”

Had to be magical totems. But the amount of them boggled the mind. She’d been told the magical figurines that could conjure monsters were expensive, and yet they faced dozens. Who had done this?

And why?

Questions for later, as the fight intensified. The crabs chose to mass together and ceased retreating. Their pincers began weaving out in front, making it harder for them to get close to stab. With the crabs using a new strategy, people began to fall more often than the monsters.

Griffon noticed and yelled, “I need a group to flank them from the rear.”

“On it!” Avera yelled, dashing down an alley, Monty and a few others at her heels. They rounded the block and emerged only paces from the dock, behind the mass of crabs.

“Why are they watching?” Monty queried as they noticed a bunch of sailors along with Captain Koonis standing doing nothing.

Avera could think of one good reason. The captain must have been the one to bring the menace to Saarpira. The question being, why? Was he trying to take out the pirate town?

“Jump on their backs,” Avera yelled. “Use them as a ramp.” She showed them what she meant by leaping atop the nearest one and balancing precariously before she drove her sword down.

Monty yodeled, “Hot damn. Now that’s a queen.”

The comment pleased her, but Avera couldn’t get cocky. Gustav always said pride in battle, especially too much of it, could be a person’s downfall.

As she leaped off a carapace, she found herself facing Captain Koonis. “Aren’t you a feisty thing,” he drawled.

Her lips pinched. “And you’re a coward. Everyone is fighting but you and your men.”

“Why would we fight when we planned for this to happen,” he remarked.

“Why would you do this?” she exclaimed.

“Because we needed a distraction. I’d say it’s going quite well, although I expected more casualties on the pirate side.” His lips turned down.

“Stop the attack.” She pointed her sword at him.

“I don’t think so. I need Captain Griffon occupied while I leave with what I came for.”

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