“I’m open to new ideas,” she said through ragged breaths.
A roar echoed through the shrine beneath our feet. Four fishfolk in green tabards raced up the stairs with barbed spears in hand. The starsquids rushed toward them, but the cavalry had finally arrived.
The newcomers used the reach and barbed heads of their spears to avoid monster tentacles. I severed limbs where I could as the armed fishfolk helped turn the odds. I saw a flash of coffee-colored skin and seashell braids before I heard a beautiful and familiar song. I felt water touch my skin and imbue me with renewed strength.
Kumi stood behind the guardsmen as her song thrummed powerfully from her chest. A fresh band of fishfolk guardsmen marched up the steps and took positions at each side of the shrine.
“I heard that I was missing out.” Kumi smiled as she helped Vesma to her feet. “Can’t let you outsiders take the claim for single-handedly winning back out city for us.”
The guards advanced and took on a new horde of the squids that had climbed into the shrine. They were joined by lampreys that filled the air with mist.
“Took you long enough!” I called to Kumi. “Where did these monsters come from?”
“We don’t know!” she shouted back as she drew her daggers from over her shoulders.”Our guards are clearing out the streets as we speak.”
“They missed some,” Vesma shot back.
“It appears they did,” Kumi agreed.
Vesma and I charged back into the fray. Kumi’s healing song and ribbons of water filled us with new energy and determination as we took on the newest wave of starsquids. Lampreys appeared behind them with their teeth bared in hungry grins.
“Your city has all the prettiest monsters!” I yelled to Kumi over the sizzle of cooking flesh and the thud of blows. “Why don’t you make statues of these?”
“We wouldn’t want to make every other city jealous,” she replied.
I shot a blast of thorns into the eyes of an onrushing starsquid. Its milky eyes burst, and the monster screeched as it swung a rippling mass of biting limbs. The barbed tentacles sliced through my Frozen Armor and tore it from my chest.
A half dozen starsquids pushed past the guards and closed a tightening circle around Vesma. She kept them at bay with rapid stabs from her flaming spear as she tried to cut through their armor and clear a path. Before I could jump to assist her, she rocketed herself into the air with another Untamed Torch pointed toward the ground, but a tentacle caught her around the ankle and slammed her into the floor.
“Vesma!” I yelled as I hacked down the starsquid in front of me with a spray of Stinging Palm thorns and a well-timed swipe across the creature’s face.
I summoned an Ash Cloud around the lampreys blocking my path and tore through their scaled flesh as they choked and swung blindly at their surroundings.
A starsquid raised its tentacles high, ready to bring them down on the fallen Vesma. Kumi appeared beside her like a guardian angel and drove a knife between two thrashing limbs. The tentacles went limp after her well-aimed strike. She ripped her weapon free before spinning gracefully around and delivering a deadly stab to another monster.
Together with the guards, we drove the invaders past the fountains, beyond the flaming braziers, and back toward the drop at the shrine’s edge.
“This beats all the cloak and dagger with the guild,” Vesma said.
A single starsquid broke from the pack and dragged itself toward a waterfall, but I sent a blast of fire from my hand that caught it in the back of the head. The lone monster spun as I closed in and punctured its rubbery skull with the Sundered Heart.
The guards cheered now that the shrine was rid of monsters.
“We’re not done yet,” Kumi said. “We have to regroup with the others and drive the monsters from the city.” She turned to Vesma and me. “Your efforts will not be forgotten, travelers.”
“Oh, we’re not done,” Vesma retorted.
“We’ll continue fighting while your people are endangered,” I said to the princess.
“Thank you.” Kumi bowed her head ever so slightly. “Then, let’s proceed.”
I followed Kumi and the guards down the shrine toward the street.
My gut was snarling at me for food. All the Vigor in the world couldn’t distract me from the fact that I hadn’t eaten since last night, and it’d been a hard, long day.
“If only I could satiate you, Ethan,” Nydarth whispered to me.
“You never told me you could cook,” I whispered under my breath. I heard the dragon spirit’s quiet chuckle in my mind as I stepped back out onto the street.
More guards joined our party, and they provided a brief report to the princess.
“The city has been cleared,” a soldier said to her. “We’ll continue searching the buildings for any stray monsters.”
“Thank you,” Kumi said as she cast a look around the street.
The stone bricks were barely visible beneath mountains of twitching monster limbs, fishfolk corpses, black blood, and monster entrails. Blood tainted the water that coursed in small streams beside the street. It didn’t stop the residents of the city from cheering as they emerged from their homes and saw us standing at the shrine steps.
A little fish girl ran up to Vesma and wrapped her arms around her leg.
“Thank you for saving my mummy,” she said. “The gods are good to send you.”
Vesma looked down at the girl uncomfortably. “We’re not—”
“The gods are good indeed, little one,” Kumi said as she sent the girl back to her mother.
“They know we’re not really from the gods, right?” I asked.
Kumi just smiled mysteriously. “Aren’t you?”
“I really hope the gods put sushi on their cosmic list of shit they wanted to hit me with,” I said. “If I see another starsquid today, I’m probably going to eat it.”
Kumi smiled a little
