===***===
The crucible was marked by a fence of sharpened bones. Silver and iron barricades were hung with a few skeletons of travelers who hadn’t made it through unharmed.
Chay’s mists rolled along the ground.
Xane flexed into a silver shard, his skin glowing as light source. “Dude, I look insane. What do you think our body fat is at? Five percent?”
“That’s kind of bad,” Chay said. “We are starting to stand out. Slaves are universally fit but not lean to death.”
Marcus flexed behind Xane, standing on his tip toes. “Who’s trying to be a slave? We’re strong enough to beat the shit out of demons.”
Rationally, Chay wanted to contest this claim, but he sensed neither of the other demigods was in the mood for being serious.
The mists found the entrance. “Got it. Here goes nothing. Onto, what was it?”
“Rhibinelg,” Goro said — the name of the next realm. He carried their toga bundle which at this point contained nothing more than lube – a plasma-filled gourd bottle.
“Right, follow me.”
===***===
They fell out of the kaleidoscopic fissure in a shower of sparks and dropped into a foaming ocean.
A plane of dark froth stretched under the black sky of limbo. Chay fought himself to the surface. His shoulder belt hadn’t made the journey.
“Shit, the blade!”
“On it,” Xane shouted back, treading foam.
Chay inspected the substance they were swimming in. There was water in it, refusing to mix with the… was it oil? It felt more like syrupy soap. Ectoplasm foam?
“I thought this was going to be a desert,” Marcus said, swimming quite happily.
“Rhibinelg is both,” Chay said. “Half desert, half ocean. I figured it would be more of a large beach area but this is just a crucible.”
“Got it,” Xane said and raised the mage-hand which had fished up the voidblade knuckles. “Chay’s right. The ground is ten feet down but it’s not smooth.”
“Land,” Goro said and levitation-swam like a pond skater. He carried the now tattered and wet toga bundle. His hair clasp had also disintegrated on the trip, his hair slicked back and dripping.
A jagged rock, crusted with blue gems poked from the surface. It was circled by pale imps high above. There was not enough surface to stand on but magic supported mountain-climber positions with ease.
Chay let his fog spread and Pie raced in circles, chasing the tendrils.
“We’ve seen this stuff in limbo,” Xane said, an orb of foam hovering above his palm. He shaped it into a galloping seahorse.
Marcus plucked a mollusk off the rock and tossed it in the air with animus-power. The imp flock collapsed upon it, fighting for the food.
The foam-shimmering Filipino frowned. “Why don’t they just come down here, if this is what they subsist on?”
The rock trembled. “Fucking naturally,” Marcus said, his chakram springing from his thumb and growing.
A car-sized crab claw swung from the sea and rammed into Xane. The musclebound demigod’s legs were ground against the rock. His scream died as he shot blind lightning into the attacker.
A second claw rose like a rocket and swiped Marcus off the surface. He could barely cry out before he was dragged into the froth.
Chay tried to see as many weaknesses as possible in the moment he had. The enemy was territorial and wouldn’t follow them far, but they were a rare, large food source.
“Go for the eyes and mouth. It’s faster *above* water. The underside is soft but hard to reach and-”
Who was he talking to? Xane was in pain, his legs messily sliced off. Two motes were reconstructing the bones while Goro held him up.
Chay didn’t have the option of playing general from afar. He grabbed the knuckles off Xane’s hand and put it on his own.
“It won’t follow far,” he said. “I’ll grab Marcus and run. Come after.”
Chay took a deep breath. The umbra-fog had a way of filtering water-mist for him to breathe but even under the best circumstances he was going to inhale some liquid.
He dove. It was dark. A claw came his way instantly.
The wiry demigod rammed his fist at the chitin and dug Hole in. He got pulled along with the crab’s swing. When he was at the right angle to make use of the claws weak point, he wiggled Hole and nothingness cut into the creature.
Half the claw broke from the arm and Chay pulled away. It had been the right claw so if Marcus was still held he’d be *this* way while the monster’s face was *that* way.
Chay decided to cut his friend free first. No telling if Marcus had managed to fill up on air in time.
He felt the cut claw coming back and put all his magic into evading. With an upside-down twirl, Chay sliced the voidblade across the damaged claw, into the arm segment, and as it slammed into him it broke off.
Spitting tasteless foam, Chay swam sideways and orientated himself. He was lost. The crab had turned to hit him. Now he could barely tell up from down.
Light fell onto his shoulders. The others dove to his position.
Xane’s lower legs were still healing, currently without skin. His crotch was aglow — a demon nearby! No, Chay’s own aegis was dim.
Goro dropped into the light of the cockcage, carrying an orb on his forehead like a headlamp. Xane had one mote left, breathing through a butterfly.
Chay gestured them to come closer.
“Where to?” Xane asked, through his butterfly-shaped breathing device.
Chay made his way toward the crab’s face. As soon as Goro’s lamp illuminated the creature, the berserker went to town, ripping his way into the tanky exterior.
Chay and Xane swam along the creature’s back until they found the second arm. The chakram bounced around at its joints as the crab twisted to protect its soft fleshy parts.
Xane’s crotch-light fell on clouds of blood. Chay ran Hole along the limb to cut it cleanly. As the arm dropped, Marcus emerged from the blood cloud, frantically gestured up and swam to the surface. He had almost drowned — almost.
Xane supported the rescuee’s escape while Chay turned around and joined Goro, opening the crab with his blade that sliced monster chitin like sturdy cardboard.
Once they were sure the crab was dead, Chay gestured up and swam in the light of Goro’s fading thaum-headlamp.
The pantheon reassembled on the rock. Chay wished there were some place to drop and nap.
“How… Xane, how did you make your aegis glow?”
“Oh,” the mage said and turned his crotch-glow off. “I’ve been experimenting with that. Tried to conjure demon blood but that didn’t trick it. Then I just… willed it? Pumped some magic in. Not sure I can teach you how.”
Chay watched him turn the lamp between his healed legs on and off. Then he heard whiny moaning behind him.
Goro was elbow deep in Marcus’ ass. The tall, tan demigod with white hair had his eyes crossed, grimacing in overwhelming pleasure.
“It’s coming…” Marcus moaned. “De-definitely. More, like, forward.” He twitched as Goro’s fist inside his stomach put the pressure on the front of his walls, tenting his abs.
Marcus creamed. Immediately Xane was collecting the cum in his mage hand. Each of the three got a roughly equal sip. Chay hated how even cumming had been perverted by the abyss from something fun and joyful to a forced and disgusting chore.