Chapter 14 – Vanquish the Architect

Lillia dove behind one of the taller broken statues around her as the creature dropped from the ceiling. Three of its twitching, gnarled arms caught it, acting as legs as the creature righted itself on the floor. By the time it was standing, its shadow covered almost half the room.

Lillia really had placed a lot of confidence in the challenge being three spellmites.

The architect shuddered and lurched forward, using the obsidian staff to support its scuttling legs. The creature was massive, but looked like it needed everything it had to balance.

Once it had gotten itself situated on the ground, the creature turned to Lillia. Seven eyes locked onto the princess, and a chill shot across her skin. The thing’s torso twisted horrendously toward her instead of using its legs to turn around.

Lillia squeezed Vianaffir tight. The scales of her gloves ground against the handle as she pulled the blade out to her side and drew her weight backward.

The thing crouched low to the ground, holding the massive obsidian staff away from its body with its third arm as it crawled using the other two. Five shaking limbs aligned. Lillia braced for it to charge.

It pounced.

By the time Lillia had registered the movement, the staff was already in her side. Ichor splattered across her, and the princess tumbled through the air. Her body twisted and flailed as she lost which direction was up. Then there was the ground.

Lillia crashed onto the floor, smashing through one of the glassy statues in the room in a shower of powdered black. The princess tumbled. Vianaffir clattered to her side. She gritted her teeth and clutched at the ground, waiting for the pain to catch up with her.

[Chitterpede Chitin Battle Gown – 1 Charge Used!]

Lillia scrambled to her feet, finding the sword on the way up. Even if the chitin had absorbed the pain from the blow, flying that far was disorienting. She couldn’t tell where she was in the room. Her head was convinced that it should have been spinning. She shook the static free.

A quick check told Lillia she was halfway across the room from the stairs. The altar’s melted remains still hissed behind her. The oily creature was charging at—

Oh shit.

Lillia ducked this time as the staff swung viciously above her head. The metal slammed into the statues along its arc, spreading glass around the room. At the end, it slammed into the floor, shattering the stone-like floor and embedding itself.

The architect screamed into the film over its mouth. The sound of muffled gurgled frustration filled the room. Lillia winced at the volume as the creature tried to pull the club out of the ground.

One leg was right in front of Lillia as it pulled. She swung Vianaffir in a wide, awkward slash. It dug through the ichor to the flesh below. Something squelched. Steaming black blood poured out by the bucketful.

The architect screamed and tore its limb away. Vianaffir stuck. Lillia held on and was lifted by the sword, carried high into the air above the back of the architect as it reared away from the pain.

Lillia could feel her grip slipping on the sword. She was going to fall. She was ten feet above the ground. Then fifteen. If she let go now, she could—No. Then she wouldn’t have a sword.

Vianaffir cut deeper into the thing’s flesh as it shook her and the beast twitched. The black blood splashed across Lillia, sticking to her skin and eyelids as it squirted from the open wound. Lillia screamed. Blood got into her mouth.

Lillia opened her eyes just in time to see the seven eyes of the creature lock onto her as it turned its oily head back to her at an impossible angle. One arm continued to try to pull the maul out of the ground as another snapped backward at the third elbow and reached out toward the flailing princess. Ten twisting fingers writhed toward her, ichor dripped from their fingernails and splashed onto the back of the architect.

Her sword was still stuck in the creature, and staying still wasn’t an option. Lillia looked down to the back of the creature. It looked gross.

Up it was.

The princess tried once. Twice. Thrice. To heave herself up using Vianaffir as a grip. The blade slipped each time, and the princess swung precariously through the air as her struggle turned into momentum.

Something crackled on the ends of the architect’s fingers. Lillia’s skin crackled with static. The smell of an approaching storm washed over her.

Lillia gave up climbing and swung. Her right heel stuck fast in the ichor of the arm. The stream of blood poured over her shoe and started to climb up her leg.

“Ew. Ew. Ew.”

Lightning crackled in the air.

Lillia kicked with a dull, wet thud. She kicked again, and it was enough. Vianaffir ripped free of the arm and Lillia fell backward through the air just as the world went white. Lillia’s teeth buzzed as lightning slashed through the air in front of her.

Booming thunder crashed across the room as Lillia landed on the creature’s back. She felt the oily black liquid that covered it seeping into her hair and through the collar of her dress. Why did it have to be horrific in a gross way?

The arm that Lillia had been stabbing slammed back down to the ground as she lay on the thing’s back. The arm that had fired lightning grabbed twice at the air where Lillia’d been, before pulling back toward the floor again.

The architect roared. Lillia squeezed her eyes shut. Vianaffir had fallen just to her right, an inch or two out of reach. She reached toward it, and her middle finger brushed against the pommel.

Another roar. Lillia felt the creature’s head swing from side to side. A third roar and the creature heaved as it pulled on the maul again and finally tore it free from the flagstone.

Lillia imagined pressing herself further into the back of the thing. Hiding perfectly and disappearing until…something happened. It was lurching around under her, stomping around the room. It was searching for her. If it figured out where she was, it was going to kill her and…

Vianaffir was right there. It was so close. What would happen if she moved? Would it know where she was then? Would it snatch her off its back and tear her in two? Blast her with lightning? Smash her with the maul.

Lillia choked back the panic. Her chest was tight. She would have felt cold sweat if she weren’t covered in black blood and sticky ichor. She was on its back! She just needed to stand up and grab the sword. She could stab it then. What creature could survive a stab in the back?

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Hopefully, this one couldn’t. After all, Lillia’s entire situation was because her aunt had stabbed her in the back, so they were clearly metaphorically survivable. It would have been nice if this were all a metaphor.

Lillia reached out for the blade again. She knew she couldn’t reach it without moving, but when the thought crossed her mind, she instead pulled her hand back to her chest and stared at the ceiling wide-eyed. The still black water was smooth again, as if nothing had ever come through it.

She could feel the creature moving beneath her. It was stalking the room. Hunting her.

Wait.

Lillia spoke under her breath. It was a quiet, hopeful whisper.

“I, Lillia of House Ashvalin, anoint Princess Lillia as my champion.”

Lillia held her breath and waited for the creature to notice her. It smashed the maul into a nearby statue. The sound of shattering glass covered the next line.

“May you bring my grace to your blade. Bring your honor to my house.”

She could do this. She just needed a little help and she could… Lillia balled her fist and literally peeled herself from the creature, rolling to Vianaffir and rising to her feet.

“Rise, Princess Lillia! Fight with my blessing!”

[Heiress’ Blessing is on Cooldown!]

The architect roared and reared back. Lillia struggled to keep her footing. It reached back to her with both of its free arms. Writhing void-like fingers spread wide, writhing impossibly.

Cooldown?

“OH COME ON!? HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?”

[Lillia used Indignance! Level 2 – Spellmite Architect was dazed!]

The twenty twisting fingers that had been reaching for Lillia collapsed with the arms. The creature stumbled forward, its weight off as it lost control of its movement for a moment. The architect crashed to the floor with a sickening crack, sliding forward until it hit one of the pedestals in the room.

Lillia had a chance. She raised Vianaffir high into the air the same way she’d seen knights do in murals and storybooks. If this was her gross, stupid dragon, she was going to slay it.