Fishwhacked: Reign of the Walrus Witch

Chapter 12

Even with the lumbering crystal monster tearing through Detrite, the mineralads still gave Yawp suspicious looks as he chased it down with them. Mineralads who owned pickaxes, which was every citizen of Detrite, were prepared to fight until they saw what the crystal beast was capable of.

Yawp, with his hammer ready, followed the monster to a quaint circle with a fountain in the center. The fountain, which spewed crude oil, quickly caught fire from the sparks that leapt out whenever the crystal took a step. Mineralads surrounded the crystal and ran at it with pickaxes. Yawp had a hard time wading through the mob of mineralads.

The beast grabbed the nearest mineralad as the others fruitlessly hacked at it. The mineralad struggled for a few moments before falling dormant and dropping his pick. The monster's crystallized nature spread from its hand and encased its attacker.

The orange of the mineralad's eye went dim as his body became part of the crystal beast. Rather than a mineralad-shaped lump on the end of its hand, the new mass seemed to spread evenly throughout the monster's body as the mineralad was sucked away. This wasn't noticeable until a few more handfuls of mineralads were absorbed and the monster was clearly bigger than it was before. The initiative shown by the mineralad citizenry dampened when they saw it assimilating their brethren. They clanked and grinded in Mineraladish as they retreated. The beast roared.

Guards in shinier armor approached from the direction of the palace, and despite the townsmineralads' warnings, attempted to fight the monster. They soon met the same fate as their fallen comrades.

The queen, with Ebb, Paistra, Rocko, Arbort, and the Mineralad Milliner, arrived at the scene with a smattering more of royal guards. The guards formed a wall in front of their queen.

"What is that thing?" Ebb yelled over the sound of the beast's roars and the mineralads' dying screams. "Hey, it's Yawp!" She waved across the circle, and Yawp waved back.

"Pummelstone," the Mineralad Milliner said. "A monster of ancient mineralad lore, one of corruption and ruin."

Almost as if hearing its name, Pummelstone turned the side of it closest resembling a "front" towards the queen. Having absorbed the elite guards, it was now twice the size than when it first clambered out of the earth. It towered over the mineralads and had sprouted a few more arms.

Ebb stuffed the dead Omnifish into the sheath and held the living Omno forward. She looked at Paistra and Arbort to see if they were ready.

"I'm not sure what we can do against that thing, but we can't let it eat any more mineralads," Paistra said. Arbort nodded.

Rocko clutched his pickaxe but hung back. "I can't get anywhere close to it."

"Outsiders, I will not ask you to risk your lives for my city. But it would be really great if you decided to help out. I'm just saying," the queen said. To her guards, she ordered, "Evacuate as many mineralads from this district as possible. Have the demolitionlads ready their explosives, I want to assault this thing without getting too close."

Yawp engaged Pummelstone. He swung his hammer into the beast's leg. The sound of metal on rock rung out and echoed against the buildings. The monster seemed completely unfazed. Yawp tried again, this time with the claw of the hammer. With all of Yawp's strength behind it, it pierced a miniscule bit of Pummelstone's hide. It was enough to get stuck, and with Yawp's refusal to let go, he was pulled along as Pummelstone walked. When Yawp noticed crystallization creeping onto his hammer's claw, he dug his feet into the dirt and pried it out.

Queen Flintionette pulled her gilded, jewel-encrusted pickaxe off her back and stared the monster down. The beast lumbered towards her. Ebb ran forward and slapped Pummelstone in its torso-shaped mass. Omno bounced right off, but left a slight discoloration. "What is-" Ebb began when she noticed it, but was interrupted by one of Pummelstone's fists. She held Omno up in front of her and the fish absorbed most of the force, but Ebb was still thrown backwards. Arbort caught her and stopped her from hitting the ground. Pummelstone's knuckles were also marked, where they had come into contact with the Omnifish.