The monsters were charging up their drills, the air filling with a high-pitched metallic whine that set Darian's teeth on edge. The sound was like a chorus of grinding saws, vibrating through the stone floor beneath his feet.
'Three of them… I can take this. I'm not that tired… yet.'
He had only seconds to count and position them before they lunged. They came at him head-on, drills spinning so fast the tips blurred into silver discs.
"Radial Freeze!"
A jagged wall of ice erupted from the ground, cold mist spilling off it. But they were too fast, far too fast. The wall hadn't even solidified before they tore through it like paper, shards exploding outward in a hailstorm. Several splinters struck Darian's face, slicing skin and grazing dangerously close to his eyes.
"Ouch!" He flinched back, blinking through the sting as warm blood dripped down his cheek.
Their shadow loomed, mere inches away.
"Ice Armour!"
Frost raced over his body, forming a protective shell just in time. The impact slammed into him like a battering ram, shoving him backward. The armour cracked instantly, shattering into icy fragments. A sharp edge of horn scraped across his ribs, leaving a shallow but bleeding gash.
The force hurled the three creatures into separate directions. They slammed into the cave walls, drills screeching in protest before winding down to silence.
'They hit me… they actually broke through.' Darian's side burned where blood soaked through his shirt.
Then the sound returned, louder, angrier. The drills spun back to life, this time from three different angles: left, right, and dead ahead. Seven feet away.
Think, Darian. Think!
He slammed his palms to the ground, forcing another wall of ice to rise. This one stretched wider but was thin, too thin. They punched through it instantly, shards stinging his skin.
He leapt backward, nearly losing his balance as the wall collapsed under him. His heart hammered in his chest. Then his eyes caught something: stalactites above, jagged and heavy.
He fired an ice shard upward, hooking his arm around the frozen spike and swinging himself into the air just as the drills screamed past beneath him.
"Ugh—" He coughed, spitting a trace of blood. His chest burned.
'They can't reach me here… can they?'
Wrong. Two scrambled up the walls, claws digging into stone as their drills stayed spinning, sparks flickering from the tips. The third waited below like a predator ready to pounce.
'Ice won't slow them… it'll make them faster... wait… faster'.
He aimed at the ceiling.
"Radial Freeze!"
Ice exploded outward, coating the roof in a slick, glassy sheet. Stalactites nearby became hardened, razor-sharp spears of frozen stone.
'Please work…'
He then launched another shard on the wall, not far from him.
He swung away on the shard embedded in the wall. The two climbing beasts lost traction instantly, sliding along the ceiling's ice-coated slope, straight into the frozen stalactites. Drills stuttered, then fell silent.
"Ice Shard!"
The projectile shot forward like a bullet, spearing the nearest monster. It screeched once before going limp, falling to the floor in a heavy, lifeless heap.
'One down… two to go.' His arms trembled. Snowy's presence inside him was flickering, the fusion weakening.
The last two prepared another charge. One approached head-on; the other flanked him from behind and to the right.
'The front one will reach me first… if I jump, I can avoid—'
He leapt, only to see the second monster launch into the air, propelled by the spinning wheel on its body.
'They can jump?!?!'
Too late. The drill clipped his hip, tearing through flesh. Pain flashed white-hot across his vision, but his body still moved on instinct.
A stalactite of ice erupted upward, catching the airborne attacker mid-flight and driving it into the ceiling. The drill sputtered and went dead.
'Two… one more.'
Blood poured down his side, soaking into his clothes. His vision swam. He could barely feel his right leg.
The last monster dropped from the ceiling, drill silent, its weakest state.
"Ice… shard…"
The shot was weak, trembling, but precise. It struck under the creature's body, piercing the exposed machinery. It let out a metallic scream before crashing to the stone floor, twitching once and going still.
The fusion broke violently, Snowy was flung from his arm like he'd been ejected. The little fox staggered to its feet, legs shaking, eyes wide from exhaustion.
Darian was worse. His knees buckled, and the world tilted sideways.
He collapsed.
Snowy took a step toward him, hesitated, then bolted for the cave's exit, determination in its exhausted movements.
The cave was a slaughterhouse. One corpse lay split open on the ground, its black blood pooling thickly. Another was crushed into the ceiling, ice still impaling it. The last was pierced clean through its weak spot.
If Darian were conscious, he'd already be collecting samples, but instead he hovered somewhere between life and death.
Hours passed.
A faint awareness returned. The ceiling above was unfamiliar, dim. Darian's body was wrapped in tight bandages, the scent of antiseptic heavy in the air.
"Where am—aghh…" Pain seared through him when he tried to sit up.
Metallic footsteps echoed closer.
"Master Darian! You're awake!"
Rusty's voice cut through the haze like sunlight.