Taboo Online

Chapter 12: The First Enemy Defeated

Luke lowered the point of his spear. "Which one?"

"The one on your left."

He glanced left. "My left or yours?"

Yvonne hesitated before pointing. "That one."

Luke stared at her hand. "That’s my right."

"Oh."

The monster on his left lowered its shoulder.

Yvonne’s head snapped toward it. "Your other side, Luke! Left!"

The creature launched itself forward.

Luke turned and braced his spear, but Yvonne’s voice cut through the rush of panic before he could settle his footing.

"Don’t stand there! Move!"

He stepped backward instead of sideways, giving the creature a clear path straight toward him.

Its bare gray feet pounded against the stone as it crossed the arena. Luke raised the spear too early, and one long arm struck the shaft before the blade could reach its chest. The impact knocked the weapon aside and nearly tore it from his hands.

Luke stumbled just as the other claw swept toward his face.

"Duck!"

He dropped his head, and the claws passed close enough to cut several strands of hair. Without taking time to aim, Luke thrust upward, but the spearhead only scraped across the monster’s ribs.

The creature twisted toward him and caught the long shaft beneath one arm. When Luke tried to pull it free, the weapon refused to move.

"Reinforce!" Yvonne shouted.

His mind went blank. "What?"

"Your skill, Luke!"

"Right!"

Luke activated Reinforce, and warmth rushed through his arms and legs. His grip steadied almost immediately, while the spear became easier to control.

[Mana: 42/50]

He shoved the shaft forward hard enough to make the monster stagger. An opening appeared beneath its chest, but Luke rushed the next thrust and missed by several inches.

A gray hand slapped the weapon aside before the other struck him across the shoulder. Pain shot down his arm, and although Luke stumbled, he somehow kept the spear in his hands.

"What am I doing wrong?" he shouted.

"I don’t know!"

He looked at her in disbelief.

Yvonne pressed her lips together. "I can see what it’s about to do, but that doesn’t mean I know what you should do with a spear."

"You could’ve said that sooner!"

The monster charged again. A pulse of light crossed Yvonne’s blindfold, and her face tightened as she tried to follow the vision.

"It attacks high."

Luke lifted the spear to block.

"No, wait. It wants you to lift your arms."

"What?"

The creature dropped low and drove its shoulder into his stomach.

The air burst from Luke’s lungs. He folded around the impact before being thrown onto his back, and the spear clattered beside him.

The monster climbed over him and raised one claw.

"Roll right!" Yvonne called.

Luke rolled left. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Its claws struck the stone beside his head.

"No, your right! Luke, the other way!"

"You told me to go right!"

"I meant my right. No, wait, yours!"

"I’m a little busy right now!"

Luke kept rolling until he collided with Yvonne’s boots. His shoulder struck one heel, and his face pressed into the warm skin of her exposed thigh.

For half a second, he forgot about the monster. Her thigh was much thicker up close than it had appeared from across the arena, and the soft skin beneath his cheek made it difficult to remember why he was on the ground.

Yvonne placed a hand on the back of his head.

"Luke, this is really not the time."

"I didn’t do it on purpose!"

A system window appeared.

[A truthful statement has been detected.]

[Minor stamina restored.]

Some of the pain faded from Luke’s chest.

He stared at the message. "Seriously?"

The monster pulled its claws from the floor, and Yvonne’s fingers tightened in his hair.

"Up. Now."

Luke grabbed his spear and pushed himself onto one knee as the creature rushed toward them again. Purple symbols blurred across Yvonne’s blindfold, growing so bright that she winced.

"What do you see?" Luke asked.

"Too many things at once."

Several translucent versions of the monster appeared around it. In one future, it attacked Luke. In another, it passed him and reached Yvonne. A third showed Luke attempting to block before being knocked over the edge.

Yvonne raised both hands to her temples. "I can’t tell which one is actually going to happen."

"Then what happens in all of them?"

The creature continued closing in. After a tense pause, Yvonne lowered one hand and pointed toward its upper body.

"Its right shoulder moves first every time."

Luke focused on the monster instead of the ghostly images surrounding it.

Its right shoulder dipped.

He remembered the previous attack. "It’s going low."

"I think so."

"You think?"

"I’ve never fought a monster either, Luke!"

Fair enough.

The creature lunged, and Luke stepped left while trying to keep his body facing forward. The monster passed beside him, giving him a clear view of its exposed side.

He thrust, but his rear foot slipped at the worst possible moment. The spearhead struck lower than he intended and cut across the creature’s thigh, spraying black blood across the stone.

The monster shrieked.

Luke pulled the spear free before it could trap the shaft and backed away so quickly that he almost tripped. His attack had been ugly, but at least the weapon remained in his hands.

"I actually hit it."

"You did."

"I was aiming much higher."

"It still slowed the creature down. That’s what matters right now."

The wounded creature turned while dragging one leg.

A second figure began moving from the outer ring.

"There’s another one coming," Yvonne warned.

Luke glanced between the monsters. "Can you watch both?"

"I can try."

The light beneath her blindfold intensified, drawing a pained breath from her. Two groups of possible movements spread around the creatures until the air seemed crowded with overlapping claws and limbs.

"The wounded one attacks first." Yvonne hesitated. "No, wait. The second creature might overtake it."

"Yvonne."

"I’m looking."

"I need something before they reach me."

The creatures approached from different directions.

Yvonne drew a slow breath and forced herself to speak more carefully. "The wounded one goes for your chest. The second comes from behind a few seconds later."

"How many?"

"Two. Maybe three."

"That’s not a lot of time."

"It’s still more than you’d have without me."

Luke could not argue with that.

The wounded monster charged. He watched its right shoulder as the creature lowered itself, but his nerves got the better of him and he moved too soon.

The monster adjusted its path.

"Too early!" Yvonne warned.

"I know!"

Claws slammed against the spear shaft and shoved it toward Luke’s chest. He widened his stance, and the pressure became easier to resist.

Yvonne had needed to tell him where to place his feet during the first exchange. This time, his body remembered before she said anything.

The second monster closed in from behind.

"Two seconds," Yvonne said.

Luke pushed against the creature in front of him while its claws remained locked around the shaft.

"One."

Instead of continuing to resist, Luke suddenly relaxed his arms.

The first monster pitched forward.

He stepped aside just as the second creature lunged from behind and struck its companion across the back. Both monsters shrieked as their bodies collided.

Luke tore the spear free and stumbled away.

"You made them hit each other," Yvonne said.

"I was mostly trying not to die."

The first creature shoved its companion aside. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Luke lowered the spear and watched its wounded leg drag across the stone. Remembering where his earlier attack had landed, he waited for the damaged foot to touch the ground.

Its weight shifted unevenly.

Luke thrust.

The spear entered beneath its ribs. He had aimed for the chest, but at least the blade struck flesh.

The monster grabbed the shaft, and Luke instinctively tried to pull it free. The weapon refused to move.

"Stop pulling," Yvonne said.

"Then what do I do?"

"I don’t know yet."

"That’s not helping!"

The symbols across her blindfold shifted rapidly as she searched through the nearby futures.

"Push it deeper!"

Luke drove the spear forward. The blade sank farther into the monster, and its grip weakened as it screamed.

He twisted the shaft before stepping back. The spear came free, and the creature collapsed before dissolving into black smoke.

[Enemy defeated.]

Luke stared at the empty space it had left behind.

He had killed it.

The second monster struck him across the back before he could enjoy the victory.