The Crystbeast that emerged from the shadows was the largest Kar had seen; it dwarfed even the Bastions of the ruins above. Crystal ridges lined its back and it wielded a massive, wide tail that curved up into the air menacingly. A pair of barbed tips each larger than a man jutted from the end of that tail, and ten skittering legs supported its weight. Its underbelly and hide were lined with thick, crystal scales. The most intimidating features it bore however, were its gnashing mandibles and beady, faceted eyes. Followed closely by a pair of wicked looking claws. The creature looked like a giant, twisted version of the scorpions Kar had grown up seeing back in Riftwater.

  This cryst-scorpion angled forward into the light and circled around the ring of columns. Each step it took created small tremors that shook the chamber. Its body was too large to fit through the gaps between the pillars, but Kar doubted they were enough to hold the creature back. It snapped its claws and mandibles together furiously, while its barbed tail swayed in above its body in anticipation.

  “How are we supposed to fight that?” Kar said in dismay. He turned to Erio, “Are we supposed to?”

  “It senses and is drawn to you, as a Marked one. Its purpose is to test you. To kill you if it can.”

  Kar looked around at the rest of the party. Most were in no shape to fight this thing. Kiya, Aldwin, and Destry had all but drained their reserves. He doubted any of them could even Focus right now.

  Jon stood and cracked his neck, and Rowan did too, stretching his arms, “You seen one that big before?” Jon asked his partner. Rowan shook his head, “Not that big. But I’ve fought some pretty big Scorpios before.” Rowan looked towards Kar, “If you can draw its attention, the rest of us can attack its legs from underneath.”

  Kar swallowed hard. He wasn’t sure which part of that sounded more dangerous. The Scorpio—as Rowan had called it—slammed up against a pair of columns. One of them cracked and bits of stone clattered to the chamber floor.

  Kar sprinted forward, uncertain he could distract this thing long enough for the others to do any damage without getting himself killed. He just had to find a way. Somehow.

  He jumped and blasted himself forward in an arcing fall away from the circle of columns. He wanted to get this thing away from the others at least. As he fell back towards the chamber floor he Focused off a series of flares. He immediately wished he hadn’t. There were more cryst-beasts back here.

  Kar slowed his fall and landed heavily on the stone ground. His flares had revealed the mouths of several massive tunnels along the back wall of the chamber, and out of them skittered three more cryst-scorpions, their shapes vaguely defined in the gloom. They weren’t as big as the original one behind Kar, but they were still colossal.

  “Hells.” Kar said under his breath. The ground shook behind him as the first Scorpio turned and came after him. He definitely had its attention. Now he had to figure out the not getting killed part.

  Kar raced through his options. There weren’t any good ones. He looked back and saw a massive claw outstretched towards him. He blasted forward, just narrowly avoiding being crushed. Kar tripped and tumbled across the floor. He drew deeply on one of his shards and felt his eyes widen, then leapt back to his feet. He wasn’t used to his body being this nimble or explosive. It was more than just the infusion of Energia though. Consuming the Essence in those basins had done something to Kar physically. Especially that second dose. Not only were his movements significantly faster and more powerful, but he felt that his stamina had increased as well. He just hoped those factors would be enough to get him through this.

  The big Scorpio’s barbed tail snapped toward Kar. He dove out of the way and it spiked into the ground, those barbs cracking stone. Kar released a torrent of fire at it. Flames engulfed its head and licked at its eyes. It reared back, releasing an awful, grinding scream. Kar saw the Hunters then, with Tharn. Jon and Rowan darted between the massive beasts legs, swinging their sledges to deliver powerful blows. Crystal cracked and shattered chips flew. Tharn had left his shield behind but wielded that great hammer of his. One of his blows nearly broke a leg altogether. Lore was there too, Kar realized. Seeing her in among that forest of skittering crystal legs made him freeze.

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  That moment of hesitation was enough for the Scorpio to nick Kar with the tip of one claw. Kar felt a sharp ache in his chest as he flew through the air. He hit the distant wall and bounced off, falling to the ground with a hard thud. His ears rang and he tried to breathe but couldn’t. He struggled not to panic, to roll himself over. It was all he could do to grab hold of one of his last shards. Energia flooded through him and Kar gulped in a heaving, coughing breath.

  He struggled to his hands and knees, vision still swimming as he strained to see what was happening. The larger Scorpio spun in circles frantically, Kar’s allies still underneath it, swinging away furiously. The other cryst-scorpions had reached the fray and swarmed agitatedly around their larger brethren; snapping their claws fruitlessly as they ground against one another. The chamber was massive, but still too confining and cramped for all of them to move freely.

  One leg, then another, collapsed completely beneath the main Scorpio. It staggered against the wall as it struggled to redistribute its weight.

  For a moment Kar started to think they might actually pull this off. Then one of the Scorpio’s caught hold of Tharn in its claw and squeezed. The Cryst-knight’s lower body cracked then shattered as he was shorn in two.

  Before Tharn’s upper half had even hit the ground, a spear launched by Erio stabbed into one of the Scorpio’s eyes. The loud crack sounded like slabs of lake ice breaking to Kar’s ears. He lurched to his feet and ran towards the chaos.

  The Scorpio reared back reflexively, lifting its torso into the air. Jon, Rowan, and Lore all hacked away frantically at one of its legs, and with a deafening crunch that critical support gave way.

  The Crystbeast collapsed to its side, then capsized onto its back where it thrashed wildly. Its tail caught Rowan and sent him sailing through the air and out of sight. Jon and Lore managed to leap free but one of the smaller Scorpios closed its claw around Jon’s leg and wrenched him into the air. His raw screams echoed faintly as he was shaken back and forth in its grip.

  Another spear impaled that Scorpios eye too, and it dropped Jon to the ground. Kar reached him at the same time as Lore, and they each grabbed then hauled the man away from the scuffling cryst-beasts. Jon was in bad shape. He’d blacked-out, and his leg was mangled beyond recognition. Kar placed a trembling hand and poured all the Energia he could into the Hunter. The worst of the bleeding stopped, but that was about all that he could do for the man.

  “Stay with him.” Kar told Lore, then stood and clenched his fists. She didn’t argue, thankfully. Kar noticed then just how badly she was trembling, “It’s going to be ok.” He reassured her. She nodded numbly, and Kar turned and jogged back towards the fray. He had an idea.

  The largest Scorpio still thrashed on its back, and that’s where Kar headed. He looked over towards the circle of columns; Kiya was Focusing jets of fire towards the beasts, but they seemed largely ineffectual. Erio was out of spears and looked to have retrieved Tharn’s upper torso. Kar was shocked to see Tharn still moving. Erio slung him across his back like a pack and Tharn wrapped his arms around the taller Cryst’s neck and shoulders.

  Kar turned back to what he was trying to do. One of the remaining Scorpios lunged for him. He jumped and blasted himself high, his palms open and directed downwards. Kar sailed beyond snapping claws, up and over the toppled cryst-scorpion. Kar let himself plummet downward, and at the last moment, he snapped his hands together and Focused the largest blast he could directly into the creatures exposed belly. The scales there cracked, then split apart, a rift gouged in its body.

  Into that rift Kar fell.

  He caught himself on the Scorpio’s jagged insides, the edges cutting into his palms and fingers. Kar ignored the pain and gripped tighter—the bright crimson of his dripping blood contrasting against the white crystal of the beast’s insides—then pulled its Energia into himself as he had done before with that cryst-soldier.

  The Scorpio screamed as Kar took its power as his own. He hadn’t thought of what to do with the Energia if this had worked. It was far too much for him to hold or even use. But the process was beyond his control now. Kar began to convulse as he drew ever more greedily on the Beasts Energial reserves. It thrashed weakly, then fell still. The light within it dimming, then fading altogether.

  Kar held still for a long while, unable to sense anything. When his vision finally cleared, he realized he still held all that Energia inside of himself. It had reached an equilibrium of sorts. He felt calm on the surface, but deep within a tempest of power boiled. Kar heaved himself out of the crevasse he’d made and stood atop the Scorpio’s massive, crystal corpse.