Page 61 of Poseidon's Trident
“We still don’t know how to kill this thing or even what it is, exactly,” Jayden says.
“I’m thinking brute force,” Raven says.
“You’re always thinking brute force,” I say with a chuckle.
“So? You know who my father is.” Raven adjusts her grip on the ax.
“We need to get a look at it.” Jayden cuts into our banter. “If it has a hard shell, we will need to reassess where to attack.”
A huge pincer swipes out at Jayden while his focus is on me, and Raven and I shove him out of the way with more force than necessary and swing my sword at the crab claw. It bounces off the shell uselessly and sparks fly.
“Fuck,” Jayden yells.
He jumps back to his feet and dusts the sand off his clothes before grabbing his sword once again.
“Sorry, my strength has increased.” I shrug and face the crab.
“I have someone’s blood on me now,” Jayden says.
“You would’ve had your own blood on you if B hadn’t saved your ass,” Raven says.
“Right. Let’s kill this thing.” Jayden adjusts his grip on his sword.
“The claws are practically metal. My sword bounced right off.” I widen my stance as another claw comes at my shield.
It prods the shield and the shadows writhe to protect me from the razor-sharp pincers. They are like shark teeth ready to rip through flesh and bone. The creature scuttles from behind the trees and one of them falls, shaking the island.
Huge beady eyes stare at me from underneath red armor and something about the creature seems familiar but I’m not quite sure why. What is this monster and where did it come from? Why is it on this island attacking human ships when I’m sure it should be somewhere else entirely?
“The entire shell is metal. Fuck.” Jayden runs a hand through his hair. “How the hell are we supposed to kill it?”
“Can you see any kinks in its armor?” I ask as I dodge another swipe at me.
The creature is getting bolder by the second. It swipes a claw at Raven and she blocks it with her battle ax, pushing the creature back but not harming it in any way.
“I don’t see anything but metal,” Jayden growls.
“What about the underbelly?” I ask. “It should be soft, right?”
“No, Beth.” Jayden glares at me.
“No, what? It could be the only way to kill it.” I flick my whip out at the creature, filling it with electricity.
A high-pitched shriek fills the air as the crab scuttles back, tugging at the whip and pulling it along with him. I jerk forward, stumbling as the crab attempts to drag me along with my whip.
“Beth, let go and call it back to you,” Jayden barks as he stabs at the side of the creature but it does nothing.
Reluctantly, I release the whip and the creature scuttles back. I grip my necklace and the whip returns to my hand instantly.
“See, Jayden? Its shell is too strong. I need to get beneath it.” I glare at him.
“Why do you need to be the one to get beneath it?” He dodges as the crab attempts to stab him with the sharp point at the end of its claw.
“It keeps coming after me.” I spin out of the way as it swipes at me again.
“That’s probably because you shocked it, B.” Raven grins.
“Or it was brought back like the rest of the monsters with the sole purpose of killing me.”
