Selene snapped her arm back quickly. There was a small splash of water, but the crab didn’t seem to notice. If it did, it wasn’t moving. Maybe it was dead. She couldn’t tell if it was breathing or not. She looked around in the darkness, trying to find that small point of blue light she had seen earlier. She needed to get out of here, and fast. She was breathing heavily, panicking slightly. This was not the place she wanted to be.
She started moving, making the smallest motions possible. Her arms held up above the surface of the water, feet tired and sore stepping along underneath. The cave was silent, the water mostly still, the faint blue light the only beacon she had. She kept her eyes trained on the light, listening behind her to see if the crab stirred
An eternity seemed to pass. The light grew slowly closer as she inched her way through the water. Off in the distance she could hear water dripping from some unseen stalactite, plinking into the perfect stillness of the water, the sound echoing throughout the cave.
*plink*
*plink*
*plink*
Selene took another step forward. The sandy ground beneath her most recent foothold shifted slightly, pulling her down slightly into the water. The sudden shock of falling in the total stillness made her let out an involuntary shout in the dark. She caught herself, not falling into the water. But the damage was done. She clamped a wet glove over her mouth, silently screaming inside.
There was a roar, and a churning of water. Selene glanced over her shoulder as she heard the chattering of claws and mandibles. The megalocrab was rising from its rest, disturbed by Selene’s shouting. She could see its form against the blackness, lit ever so faintly by the blue light she was trying to desperately to escape towards.
The jig was up. The water churned around the base of the crab as it turned to locate the source of the scream. Abandoning all sense of stealth, Selene started running as fast as the waist-high water would allow. The crab locked in on her position, letting out a shrill, ear-piercing screech that echoed off the walls of the cave. Selene didn’t look back. She focused on moving her exhausted body as fast as it could go. The crab was having just as much trouble as she was moving through water this high, and this was its natural habitat.
As Selene sprinted towards the light, she could tell that it was coming from behind a wall. The cave took a twist up ahead, and something blue was emanating from behind it. Selene didn’t even know if she was heading the right way to find the exit; she was putting all of her hope on this – the only thing she could see. She could hear the crab behind her, but with all the echoing in the chamber she couldn’t tell if it was gaining or not.
Selene rounded the corner of the cave, desperate to uncover the source of the light. It was brighter than she anticipated, the blue glow growing hot white at its source to her light-starved eyes. She groaned, unable to see in the sudden brilliance, shielding her eyes with a glove as she continued to press forward through the water. She tried to open one eye, peering out from under her guarding arm as she ran, trying to get her bearings. The light was coming from flowers, large aquamarine orbs of light. Her eyes started to water, looking around the room. She tried to look around, see if this chamber had any branching paths, but the light was so overpowering she couldn’t see around.
She could feel the water level lowering as she moved forward. The ground must be sloping upward. She could move faster, but she still couldn’t see two feet in front of her in order to get her bearings. She wandered over to a cluster of the glowing lights, ducking down in the middle of them, remaining perfectly still.
They were plants. As her vision slowly began to return and sharpen, she could tell that she was sitting in some foliage. The orbs were some kind of luminescent flower that she’d never seen before. She bent one slightly, trying to hide her shape in the light. Her eyes were watering, and her heart was racing. She was listening closely for the crab. The splashing lessened, she could hear its mandibles clicking as it searched for her. She continued to look around the room, searching in earnest for a way out or.
There was a screeching noise at the crab rounded the corner to the glowing room. Its’ light-sensitive eyes were in revolt. It shied away, ducking slightly back into the darkness of the cave. It still wanted to chase her, she could tell, but it was now hesitant. Selene squinted through the light to see her assailant for the first time.
It had been nighttime when the megalocrab first attacked her in the Thanalan sands. She had only seen it illuminated for a split-second in the lightning before the two of them had been flushed into the caverns by the flash flood, and it was pitch black down here in the caves. Now here, in the glow, she could see it.
It was massive; larger than any she had ever seen before. It was old, scarred by battles with who knows what kind of assailants. She counted a few distinct kinds of wounds. Axe wounds, marks that looked like it had been attacked by other crabs. Small puncture wound that looked as though it had been shot by arrows or stabbed. This crab had been through seven hells and back. One of its eyes was dead, white and opaque. She watched the crab as it hesitantly walked into the glowing room. Selene was perfectly hidden.
Selene had been in plenty of encounters with megalocrabs in La Noscea’s outskirts to know how they fought. Their primitive eyes could only see changes in light and dark, and they were sensitive to sound. Crouching here like this, surrounded on all sides by light-emitting orbs, she was literally invisible to the massive crab. She took the opportunity to look around her.
Selene scanned the walls, her eyes finally adjusted to the bright lights. The room she was in was a dead end. The only path was back the way she came, into the water. The megalocrab was now in the center of the circular alcove, turning around in the middle to try and find her. There was nowhere else she could be.
The crab turned around in its search, mandibles clicking. As it rotated in place, a glint caught Selene’s eye. Something shiny was stuck on the surface of the crab’s carapace, shining brightly in the light of the orbs. Selene squinted, trying to peer through the glare to see what it was.
It was an old sword; a straight blade wedged into the hard surface of the crab’s shell. Its design was strange; perfectly straight with almost no hilt to speak of. A rotting strip of leather was wrapped around the handle, barely hanging on by a thread. It was obviously sharp enough to pierce… and stick. Selene took a deep breath.
The crab clicked its mandibles angrily. It turned sharply, obviously frustrated that its prey had escaped. It turned away from Selene, gnashing its claws. She steeled her nerves, fighting back all of her mental urges to stay put. True, she was safe where she was, for the moment, but it was a dead end. There was no way to sneak out now that the crab was in here, and even if it backtracked down the tunnel there’s no way she’d be able to sneak past it.
Selene moved her hands as slowly as she could, moving them up towards one of the glowing plants. She slowly twisted the orb around on its stem until it snapped of silently. To her surprise, it stayed lit. She held it back behind her, primed and ready to throw.
Selene took a deep break.
It was now or never.
Selene snapped like a taught bowstring, sprinting from her hiding place and running towards the crab. It turns to face her, screeching as it gnashed its claws. Selene chucked the glowing orb in her hand, throwing it over the crab’s head. It turned, following the source of the motion with a screech. Mustering up all the strength her sore legs still had in them, Selene launched herself onto the crab’s back. It skittered after the orb, so excited that it might have found its target that it was completely ignoring the woman on its back. Selene clung on for dear life, climbing forward hand over hand towards the embedded sword.
The crab reached the orb, lurching forward and stabbing at its target with a giant claw. It pulled back, stabbing repeatedly in a frenzy of rage. Selene stretched out, fingertips finally reaching the sword. Pulling herself forward, she braced her feet against the shell and ripped the sword out of the crab’s back. It squealed in pain, turning in place, searching for the source of its pain. It couldn’t see Selene, sitting atop it and trying to maintain her balance. She gripped the sword wound, using it as a handhold to stay atop. The crab was suddenly aware of her, bucking wildly to get her off. It tried to reach up and grab her in its pincers, but Selene was just out of range.
The crab went into desperation mode. It scuttled as fast as it could towards the nearest cave wall, trampling glowing plants beneath its feet. It slammed into the wall, the sudden jerking motion sending a shudder through Selene’s bones. She maintained her grip, trying not to fall off. The crab repeatedly smashed its side against the wall trying to dislodge her. Selene stood up on the balls of her feet and then launched herself into the air, landing awkwardly on the ground in front of the crab.
She scrambled back onto her feet as the crab turned to face her, gnashing its claws wildly in the air in frustration that its prey could evade it for so long. Selene jumped up, slamming the sword into the crab’s last good eye, feeling a satisfying squish as the old blade pierced the juicy organ. She ripped it out violently, trying to lock herself into a defensive position. Juices sprayed from the crab’s eye as it flailed about wildly, no completely blind. It staggered as it tried to walk, unable to locate Selene. Its behavior erratic, Selene readied her sword and ran forward, lunging and thrusting her blade into the crabs screeching mouth, stabbing the soft flesh. She twisted the blade and tore it out, blood flying into the air. She ducked under a wild incoming claw, then struck the crab again with the blade, aiming for the soft roof of its mouth, aiming for the brain.
Selene let go of the hilt, falling down to the ground in exhaustion and scooted out of the way, just in time to avoid a crab claw lunging into the ground where she had been standing. She back away, the crab physically incapable of following her. Its legs buckled and one side fell into the dirt. It tried to scream, but the sword stuck in its throat reduced it to a pathetic gurgle. Blood spattered out onto the floor as the crab gave a final wheezing lurch towards her before collapsing.
Dead.
Selene’s chest was heaving with exertion and panic. Sweat beaded on her forehead as her muscles stiffened back up. The adrenaline flooded from her body as she collapsed back against the ground, closing her eyes. Her breathing slowly returned to normal and she slowly sat back up, fighting back the aches in her body. She pushed herself to her feet, crawling to the corpse of the dead megalocrab. She planted a foot on its old dead eye and reached a gloved hand down to the old blade. She grasped it by the hilt and slowly pulled it out of the crab’s brain with a sickening pop. She gave the crab one last look, and limped out of the cavern.
* * * * *
End of Chapter I
Selene Artemis 