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[talien]

Vlad’s world was awhirl with steel and tentacles. Vlad rolled and dove behind a crate as one sword smashed through it. Another forced him to jump clear of its low swing. He blocked a third with his shield, but it connected well enough to drive furrows beneath Vlad’s boot heels in the sand.

One of the tentacles slapped aside the remains of the crate when suddenly it was sliced in half, squirting octopus ichor.

Cal, sans Kham, had transformed into a roaring, hacking ball of rage. His usual webbed earflaps stood straight up in a fan around his head as he set upon the Leviathan with fury. Two tentacles stabbed him in the chest, but he seemed unaware of the wounds. Calactyte set upon the tentacles with his clawed feet, with his teeth, with his claws and even his tail.

The Leviathan was momentarily preoccupied, but judging from the number of wounds Cal was bleeding from, Vlad knew it was only a matter of time before he succumbed.

Vlad was struggling to his feet when he heard a strange hiss behind him.

“Down!” shouted Kham.

There was a concussive BOOM! that rocked the cavern. Something large and heavy whistled past Vlad’s ear and tore through the Leviathan, ripping it off the edge of the cavern’s outcropping. Cal dug into the ground with all four claws as the blast struck the Leviathan, leaving rubbery gibbets of giant octopus all around him.

“What the hell was that?” shouted Vlad.

Kham was on the ground near a blasted crate, covered in soot. His white smile was unmistakable.

“I loaded the cannon before the Dauntless was boarded,” said Kham. “I was hoping to fire it, but they got to us before I could.”

The momentum of the blast had propelled the wheeled cannon backwards, splintering a door behind it.

A terrific cacophony arose from the ceiling above them. The air was filled with a hail of spears as cultists arrived on the balcony to pepper them from above.

Ilmarė poked her head out of the broken doorway. “There’s some kind of portal in here,” shouted Ilmarė. “But we need a key.”

Bijoux bounded from one crate to the next. “I see it!” she said, pointing at the glowing altar.

Vlad ran over to Kham, shield over his head. “Can you fire that thing again?” He pointed at the cultists above them.

“Sure. If you could find someone strong enough to lift a 2,500 pound cannon and aim it.”

Cal picked up a crate and hurled it at the ledge with a roar. The gibbering and spears stopped for a moment.

Kham and Vlad exchanged glances.

“He’ll do,” said Kham.