Raven Tide

12: Paya's Blessing (Chyani)

"Av'dona hears my call," Gar'mol shouted through the corridors. "She promises vengeance!"

"Will he shut up?" I clung to Raven Tide's shoulders.

"I doubt it," Raven Tide pulled us around a corner into a cooler section of Silosa Outpost. "He's pissed I killed his son, the green one."

"Good riddance!" I sneered. "But not great, if that gun of his still has charge."

SHKREEEEE!!!

The Graven let out a long screech from several turns behind us. It had condensed into a slender bestial form composed of molten lava.

"Don't you have weapons to kill it?"

"Not a full Graven," Raven Tide shook his head. "My blaster can be charged to kill a minion, but not that thing. It can only be defeated one-on-one."

"Really?" We were on our way to a second docking port on the opposite side of the station. "Not even with a thousand atomic bombs?"

"Nope," Raven Tide grunted and pushed off on another sealed doorway. "My people tested something like that. The Graven is injured, but it grows back."

"But not if you do it by hand...?" I twisted my brow. "Odd."

"The Graven are a peculiar abomination."

The modular hallway vibrated and once again the Graven was on us, snapping its massive red canine-shaped mouth at our heels.

"Shit!" I hugged Raven Tide tighter. "It's back!"

We moved through the corridors quickly, but something felt off.

"How are we still breathing?" I shouted while glancing back over my stumped shoulder to stare down the maw of that monstrous thing. "If it's melting the station, wouldn't it be quicker to destroy the life support?"

"Dunno. The outer shields must be holding," Raven Tide raced through the junctions. "Maybe it wants to keep Gar'mol alive?"

"Maybe..." I narrowed my eyes. The creature was terrifying, but if it was soo damn powerful, why not snuff us out now? "Do you know where we're going?"

"There's a second dock for auxiliary medical transports, just beyond the training arena," Raven Tide jutted his chin forward. "The medics mentioned it when they let me spar with them."

"Couldn't it stop us from getting there if it wanted to?"

"What?" Raven Tide didn't slow down, but he shared my concern. "You think we're getting funneled into a trap?"

"I think this whole place is messed up."

Raven Tide pushed on and eventually rounded the corner into a sterile gymnasium. It was a wide spartan arena with melee weapons clamped to the walls.

"Welcome sinners!" Gar'mol stood waiting for us in the middle of the arena. Then he tapped on his gauntlet to reactivate gravity.

WOMP

We hit the floor hard.

"Chyani calls it again," Raven Tide grunted as he rolled to his feet.

"Av'dona guides you from your impure path," the old Zhaguai flashed his fangs.

"Why's he going on about avocados?" I straightened up while trying to keep my ass and coochi covered.

"Av'dona," Gar'mol bellowed in my language. "Will deliver justice! Kneel and praise her glory!"

The red bestial figure lumbered into the room. It walked on all fours like a gangly werewolf but was three times larger than any of the Zhaguai.

We hurried across the room to keep our distance from both of the fiends, only to be encircled by a wall of fire.