(Amaia)
I don't even have to turn around to know it's Alnitak behind me, whispering. His scent assaults my senses, and the heat of his body is enough to reveal that.
I don't even know the name of the other guy as we form a circle. The boy with hair falling over his face, slightly turns his head and watches me with intrigue from over the bridge of his nose.
"Kacir Fallon," he says quietly, extracting his chain blades. The thick silver chain holds two sharp blades on each end laced with something purple.
Effortlessly, he swings them, getting in the flow and focusing his gaze on the rumbling ground.
"Amaia!" I speak for the first time since setting foot in the pit and he gives me a small nod without focusing his attention on me.
My whisper doesn't seem to have been carried to my mates who are speaking among themselves.
The ground shakes once, the sand sinking inside the centre from where green and red tentacle-like arms are rising.
Involuntarily, I take a step back and collide with a hard surface. From the sheer pain in my thigh and the strong scent that swirls around me like a tornado, I know it's Alnitak.
He places his chin in the hollow of my injured shoulder and whispers, "This is going to be epic."
A fire consumes me from his mere touch, a fire that burns my existence and yet is like a blistering warmth.
The tentacles spread, waving in the air like a giant octopus erupting from inside. The thick, horrendous stem covered in thorns, with a head like a cactus, emerges. The head has three eyes centred on the top, which are focused on us.
The grotesque creature, which seems like a cross between a cactus and an octopus, is about ten meters high and about the size of a small football field wide.
A shiver runs down my spine but I ignore it, getting into my fight mode.
"Brace yourselves, the tentacles are most likely poisonous, so try not to get in contact with them." Mintaka takes the front, his giant axe ready to cut down whatever comes our way.
Two tentacles fly towards us but Mintaka raises his axe and elegantly chops one down like one does an asparagus.
The other one flies towards Kacir. He swings his chain blades above his head and swings, slicing half of the squirmy tentacle.
It falls on the ground with a thud, oozing yellow sticky liquid.
The creature shrieks as its tentacles retreat, and the boys snicker.
One stands in front of me, the other flanks me while Alnilam has moved to my other side, acting as if all of them are protecting me.
"Come at us again," Mintaka tauntingly chuckles, waving his axe at the grotesque creature in front of us.
Wrong move!
The creature becomes enraged and about ten of its tentacles fly and crawl towards us at a blinding speed.
The hair on my nape prickles…
The scent of my mates intensifies as the morning breeze hastens…
My eyes focus, my hand grips the handle of my two-bladed weapon.
Mintaka jumps, slicing through an incoming tentacle, and so does Alnitak, but there are so many of them.
Two of them fly towards me and I duck just in time to avoid getting hit in the face, rolling sideways. I swing my blades and efficiently cut both of them down.
They fall and wriggle, and the rest of the shooting arm retreats as the cactus-like creature screams at the loss.
"Lassie, got moves. Colour me impressed," Alnitak grins and sends me a wink while slashing away with his axe. His face and hands have drops of gooey yellow liquid sticking to them.
The air becomes heavy with our grunts and its relentless painful hollering.
But to my horror, I watch as the arms grow back and reach for us again.
The more we cut, the faster it regenerates.
"He is regrowing them. We need another strategy," Kacir huffs from near me, his chain blade dripping yellowish substance as he snaps another tentacle into two with it.
The twins halt to think, keeping their calculated gazes at the horrendous creature. I think for a second before speaking.
"We need to go for the stem. If it has a heart or some kind of fatal vein, that's where it will be."
Their heads turn with such speed, like a blade swishing through the air. Shocked surprise descends on their handsomely identical faces.
"You are not mute," Mintaka asks with his right brow raised. One of his fiery strands has let itself loose from the bun and spills across his eye like a line of molten ember.
But I didn't even get time to answer when those wiggling arms shot towards us again and grabbed Mintaka's arm and Kacir's leg.
They curse as they get dragged up and hover upside down in the air.
Alnitak and I instantly jump into action. I swing my blades one-handedly and jump, slashing at the arms holding my mate and companion. Alnitak covers my back and protects me from more incoming tentacles while I free them both.
Then, without thinking further, I rush towards the creature, swinging my blade in every direction, cutting whatever it throws at me.
I hear the three of them behind me, encouraging me forward.
"Go, we are right behind you. Aim for the stem," Alnitak screams from behind me, urging me forward.
The creature watches me with its shrewd eyes, trying to capture me but I duck and slide with every attack. I have spent my lifetime killing such creatures after that tragic night which took away my family.
Closing in, I jump with my blade stretched forward. Two tentacles fly towards me like spears, ready to impale me midair but Alnitak's axe cuts them off cleanly.
He has my back.
My mate has my back.
Tarian never had my back like that.
Even though I couldn't have him or tell him, he is there for me.
The thought comforts me, wraps around me like a breeze of change.
"Die, you ugly monster," I scream at the top of my lungs and plunge the blade right in the middle of its stem-like body where I believe its vital organs could be.
It thrashes and gurgles frantically while I pull the blade back and it crashes towards the ground.
I flail and plunge towards the ground.
Only for a strong pair of arms to catch me before I hit the ground. My body submerges into a sea of pain and relief at the same time as I turn my head and fall into those gold chasms.