Chapter 3 - Timing
by Scott S. Combs
The moon reflected itself a thousand times over in the waters cascading down the beast; making its brilliant blue carapace shine as if a beacon. Two great claws rose from the bay, remnants of the cut line still caught in the left arm's joint. It made no sound, save for the guttural moan of compressing sand beneath the weight of the Shogun's step. With each movement, blades of light lashed out from the angles and edges of its armor, assaulting the hapless onlookers' eyes. Twin antennae whipped over the sand bar, collecting the screams of the crew and gauging their positions in the static of the rain. Dead, dying, and soon to be, the Shogun could see them all...
The stinging sound of a sword's edge drawing across a whetstone, and another scream fell silent. Rainwater cleansing the beast's scythe for the next strike...
"If you can walk, get on the ship!" Pegon called out, "Kurocyn, NOW!"
The rain and screams muffled Kurocyn's release. The Ceanataur's right antenna twitched only slightly before his arrow punched clean through the upper joint of its back leg. The joint blew out, buckling the leg under the sudden strain; the monster fell back into the bay waters. Its claws and antennae tore at the air and sand, fruitlessly grasping for its attacker.
Kurocyn knocked a second shaft. The draw of his bow was a dance he knew all too well, the familiarity kept him focused on his marksmanship and the target. Hidden in the night around him, there was time for technique. He slowed his breathing, mentally noting the natural pauses at the bottom of each breath...
The Shogun climbed back onto the sandbar, clearly enraged at the assault. Then it paused; there were no more screams. The beast's antennae still as it focused through the steady drone of the rainfall.
Ducked behind the forward shipping crates, Tocs Duloss discreetly directed his men...
"Keep quite men," he whispered, "Hiro, have the wounded been moved below deck?"
"Aye aye sir." Hiro nodded. "Your son ordered that you signal him when the crew is secure."
"Where is he?"
Hiro hesitated, then slowly tilted his head towards the sand bar. "Still ashore..."
Steeling himself before the Shogun, Pegon had withdrawn to his shield. The crisp blue shine of his steel melted him into the falling rain. Poor eyesight blinded the beast in the storm, and Pegon made not a sound, nor moved but to breathe. His shield arm tightly braced and his feet anchored firmly into the wet sands, Pegon held.
A flash of lightning silhouetted the Shogun against the night sky, and in that instant a second arrow was suddenly embedded just under the Ceanataur's right arm. Then, as if a report from the arrow itself, thunder roared over the bay. The beast reared up, flailing wildly in pain.
Pegon's eye barely caught the blue flash to his side, before he realized what had happened. A shower of splinters and blood fell around him. It struck at the ship...
Neither his stance or shield wavered, but quickly looking back, he could now see into the ship's cargo hold. He saw his father's body, laying half buried under what was once the Stone Tablet's forecastle.
"No!" Pegon cried, turning back to the Shogun. "Kurocyn, NOW!"
The third arrow flew unnoticed, finding a recess not more than an inch away from the second arrow. A solid crunch followed by the wet sound of organs rupturing.
The monster, seeming unfeeling to the shot, launched its right claw forward at Pegon. He pivoted left as the blade struck his shield, letting the creature's weight carry it past him. A swath of sparks erupted to his left, briefly illuminating the sand. Pegon, stepping back and to his right, thrust the bayonet of his gun-lance deep into the Shogun's already wounded arm...
"Burn."
A faint click went unheard in the falling rain. The Shogun's black, lifeless eyes seemed to look into Pegon's soul, and they felt the other's rage...