Chapter 16: Firm Hold

Firm Hold

 

How is that fair?

 

The curtain of napalm rained down towards Logan as he found a suitable location to teleport too. He realized he was hardly in a place to judge as the projectiles had a zero percent chance of hitting him. Logan was still a bit pissed though because he had to use another teleport through, and he only had so many more before he would lose control of his stomach.

 

Remy popped into reality onto Logan’s shoulder, and a sigh of relief escaped Logan’s mouth. 

 

Hey little guy, you should get out of here for a bit. I’ll let you know when it's safe ok?

 

-I wanna help!-

 

Yeah, the best way to help right now is to protect yourself, I need to focus up out here.

 

-Aw, ok-

 

With a pop, Remy disappeared.

 

Their teleporting powers offered a lot of protection, but Logan had been curtailed to a bystander in this fight as he didn’t have the offensive power to crack through the spiders’ exoskeleton. Looking regretfully down at the small knife in his hand, Logan couldn’t even imagine nicking the abominations with it. Keeping Remy around would hold him back, and frankly Logan might be better off running himself. Still, he had to try for Jeremiah.

 

Logan turned his gaze to the spiders once more. They were once again readying to shoot, but something about their souls stood out to Logan. There was a bulge coming out of their souls in the exact same spot, making him think it was the Blessing they were about to use. As his tentacles wove about in the corners of his eyes, Logan had a devious thought. 

 

If he didn’t have any way to attack, maybe Logan could turn his enemies weapons against them. It sounded a lot more fun than waiting to get turned into a capri-sun for a couple weeks.

 

Logan gritted his teeth again, and teleported over to where Gregor and Amar were standing. He would need to coordinate this one.

 

“Hey guys, I’ve got a kinda risky plan, do you two think you could take their attention for a minute or so? Really put them on the back foot, and make them back up?” 

 

Last time Logan had received a Blessing that wasn’t his, he had fainted, and although he would be more braced this time, preparation comes in all forms. This backup plan seemed more likely to keep him alive than just toughing it out.

 

“Hah, I’ll only need a minute to beat them!” Amar said with a throaty laugh. If the Bear Claws she used like Jeremiah hadn’t scared Logan, Amar’s sheer confidence did. He would rather not get on the bad side of that woman.

 

“We can hold them that long, yes.” Gregor was a bit more cool headed with his response.

 

“Well alright, let's go violate their souls, shall we?”

Logan’s plan was simple, and he explained as much to the other two. It mostly involved getting the spiders’ attention and forcing them to drop back again. When it looked like they were going to launch a fresh batch of napalm, Logan would teleport in and try and steal their Blessing. If it worked, and that was a big if, Logan would probably be able to hurt the spiders, assuming they weren’t immune. Seeing as they only used the fire inducing goop at a range, Logan was willing to take the chance.

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Gregor stood up, and just ran off, no confirmation, just action. The spiders had started advancing again, and he met them in the center of the prairie, fires bursting up theatrically from the napalm sprayed liberally around. Amar was right behind him, screaming out a fierce cry.

 

Logan didn’t want to rely completely on those two, so he tried to help by casting Root on both of the enemies. To his surprise it appeared to actually do something, as Gregor swiftly de-mandibled the other spider. Both he and Amar had reached close range.

 

Watching from afar, Logan made sure he would be in position for the spiders to back up. He would probably only get one attempt at this before the enemies got wise. On cue, their enemies broke free off their restraints and tried to create some distance. This was Logan’s golden chance.

 

In his practice, he had found that he could cast the bond spell with as few as five tentacles. That’s why, when a bulge appeared on the souls of spiders, three of Logan’s spiritual appendages had already begun snaking into the abominations core. This time, Logan wasn’t just extending an invitation. 

 

He wrapped all three of his tentacles around what he knew to be the Napalm Spit Blessing and heaved. Logan’s theory that the bond spell allowed interaction between souls was correct, and now he was actively pilfering the Blessing and cutting the connections.There was an oddly limp resistance, and if anything, it felt like the creature actually wanted to be rid of the Blessing. Then the Soul Fragment was free, and it was all Logan could do to hold on. 

Logan didn’t realize that the Bond with Remy had guided the process last time he had done this. Now that he was flying solo, there were no helping hands. Just the raw force and spiritual momentum Logan could create with his tentacles.

 

In other words, Logan was flying by the seat of his pants. He had a feeling letting go wouldn't have hurt him, but his prize was metaphysically in his grasp. Quitting now would leave a sour taste in Logan’s mouth.

 

So instead he pulled even harder, and yanked the Blessing through the remaining space and into his soul. As it entered, a bubbling pain started up in his core, running out from his spark and rapidly filling his entire body with its misery. It felt like he was getting burned from the inside out, and for a second Logan worried he might have made a terrible mistake. He really had no idea how this transfer worked, and his imminent immolation might be an unintentional side-effect.

 

Then Logan felt a snap, like everything was clicking into place. A relaxing cool breeze started to drift out from his soul, and Logan realized he made it through the worst. Somehow, his brain didn’t manage to process the two massive spiders charging his body.

 

Logan’s head hit the dirt, and his eyes closed. Unconscious, once more.

When Gregor saw Logan collapse in front of the spiders’ charge, he blamed himself for not asking for more details. This seemed like a terrible plan. At least the strange man had managed to stop one of the fire attacks, but the other spider’s projectiles remained uninterrupted. 

 

The burning globules falling around Gregor made him weave on his path to cover Logan. He was worried he would be too late until a Bear Claw from Amar came down between his target and their adversaries, buying Gregor the time to place his body in between.

 

Gregor didn’t have particularly strong feelings about the man who had warned of the attack, but leaving him to die wasn’t even an option for Gregor. The man had clearly risked life and limb to give Alteep village a chance, and the least Gregor could do was try and do the same to keep him alive.

 

But still, falling unconscious randomly in a battle is not ‘a risky plan’. It’s suicidal at best!

 

However, there was nothing Gregor could do now but try to follow along and keep Logan alive. Maybe if he could replicate his feat and make both enemies unable to spit fire, they would retreat back into the forest.

 

As they continued to push Gregor, despite both steadily losing fluid from their faces where they had lost their mandibles, he realized that enemy retreat was unlikely. So as iron hard legs began to swipe and stab at him, Gregor returned like for like, unwilling to go entirely on the defensive.

 

A thrust was countered with a parry and riposte. When a leg speared toward his stomach, Gregor floated out of the way. Although the spiders were fast they still couldn’t match his agility.

 

Gregor just wasn’t sure how long he could keep this speed up. In his head he was silently cursing the prone man behind him, wishing that their plan had more time and involved more planning. Holding firm seemed like a slow and painful way to die.

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