Levi kept a close eye on the trap as Pierce set one clawed foot on the first plate.

The giant centipede jerked it back immediately, but nothing happened. He tested the panel again, putting three claws on it before pausing, then continued forward. When he reached panel two, he felt at the wall a few moments, then twisted himself up sideways, laying his antennae down flat to avoid brushing either the floor or ceiling tiles, picking his way forward along the wall before bringing his front back down onto the safety of panel 3.

Levi called out for him to stop.

Pierce slowed, looking to Gordon for confirmation, then to Levi in uncertainty.

"Those trap holes, he's using them as footholds. He's plenty long enough. Is there any reason we can't just use him as a bridge to get everyone across without touching the floor at all?"

Cen and Centoo took the hint and crawled along the wall opposite Pierce, reaching all the way to the end before stopping just short of the eqralne's room.

Frosty gleefully scampered after them. Flomper rolled her eyes and disappeared into the floor, clearly unimpressed. Tink shrugged, being a flying creature who didn't need such things as floors, while Lash and Iris looked at each other. The soul-seekers were going to be the biggest problem, between their relatively huge size and the flaring tendrils they could only draw in so far.

"Guess that leaves Two—" Levi started, but the gremlin had already jumped up onto the wall and was carefully crawling his way along it, following Pierce's example and using the lightning holes like they were handholds on a climbing wall, his long claws plenty strong enough to hold him despite the tiny contact points.

Gordon laughed. "Guess that leaves you and me."

Firelord crawled up onto Pierce's tail, as though to say 'don't forget me'.

Levi waved a hand to Pierce. "Go ahead."

Pierce paused at panel 3 long enough for Maggie to coil herself onto his head and back - she really was quite large and took up a substantial proportion of the giant centipede. Once she was situated comfortably, he crept across the tile and onto the opposite wall, creating a very spiky and awkward bridge the rest of the way to the end of the hall. He stopped just short of the opening, flanked by the two smaller centipedes.

The eqralne lifted its head when they got that close, but tilted it from side to side as though listening rather than seeing. Come to think of it, Levi wasn't sure if it even had eyes. The constant flicker and spark of electricity across its head and down through its body made it hard to make out features.

"Move as quietly as you can," he whispered to Gordon, who nodded understanding. They crawled up on Pierce's back, careful not to brush the ceiling plates, and inched their way toward the miniboss room.

Levi could think of quite a few uses for a partly-intangible stunning horse, now that he was back in 'collect things' mode. He mentally instructed his minions to work to tame it so they wouldn't kill it inadvertently.

Then it stamped a hoof, snorting electric fog from its draconic nostrils, and turned toward the room entrance.

Levi and Gordon were only halfway through, but if it charged them it could take out half their team with its stun before they reached the end.

He mentally urged his own team to hurry forward and spread out to distract it. As long as they weren't clumped up together, they'd have a decent chance of evading.

Cen, Centoo, and Skarm all rushed into the room immediately, Tink close on their heels.

The eqralne immediately rushed them.

Skarm leaped away, raking his claws down its side as he evaded its charge.

Cen and Centoo split up, scurrying in two directions, but the eqralne was faster. It closed on Cen and galloped through him, turning with the curve of the circular room to chase down Centoo.

Cen stood twitching for a moment, but by then Frosty had reached the room and Pierce was crawling forward. He had to move more slowly to prevent dislodging the humans on his back, but while the miniboss was distracted chasing the smaller centipedes it gave the team a few essential moments to clear the entry and spread out.

Iris drew her wispy tendrils in as close to her body as she could, tilting so they'd trail out behind her instead of floating to the sides, but couldn't squeeze into the tunnel until Pierce was out of the way.

Levi wanted to rush into the fight so badly, but as long as Pierce was still conveying them slowly across the wall, there was nothing he could do to speed up without risking bumping the ceiling tiles which were all too close as it was. If the hall were taller, he could have used Pierce as a ramp to get a run-up and stamina-jump himself over to the fight, but right now even crouching upright would have been impossible. Pierce was... quite large.

Then they were out, slow movement shifting into a flat-out rush as Pierce cleared the last tile and Lash and Iris crowded in behind him.

The eqralne saw its chance and rushed at them, lightning flickering eagerly within its liquid body. Pierce reared up and slashed out with his front ten legs, scoring several slashes across its body before it ran straight through his chest and down his entire length. Maggie hissed in annoyance and slithered to the side in a hasty bid to escape the stunning effect of the lightning-horse, but the way she was coiled over Pierce made it hard to disengage.

Pierce resisted the stun effect; Maggie did not. The giant snake flopped stiffly to the ground, twitching, as the eqralne just kept running.

Level 8+

(Fleeting Eqralne)

Health 84%

But though it had intangibility on its side, so did Levi's team.

Iris and Lash pushed through the hall, setting off the panels twice as they rushed forward heedlessly, but thankfully their health remained fairly high. Neither would be out of action, and neither had been stunned by the traps.

Lash didn't waste a second. Gleefully he spun into the boss, slicing through its body with his flailing tendrils in a constant barrage.

The impacts didn't stop it, but they did slow it down and dealt continuous if minor damage.

Iris chased after the eqralne, slowly gaining on it as Lash wore away its momentum. Then she was in reach. One tendril snapped out, snaking around the eqralne's neck, then she drew herself forward and glommed onto its back, wrapping all eight of her own wispier tendrils around its body completely.

Iris didn't have enough substance or weight to her to slow it down much, but between the two of them they successfully slowed its charge from a full gallop to a strained jog.

Speed advantage nullified.

It did mean it would be harder to hit the boss without harming his own minions in the process, but Levi was confident enough of his abilities and those of his team that he wasn't overly worried. The only potential problem would be what happened once it managed to stun one or both of them. From what he'd observed so far, soul-seekers had high magic resistances, but they weren't immune.

Skarm dove in beneath its galloping hooves, clawing up at its underside as he slid below and away before it could trample him. Two followed right behind him, his natureblade glowing as he imitated the attack but with much more effectiveness. Skarm's enhanced claws may be good at dealing extra physical damage, but they were not best suited for magic-based opponents.

Levi himself ran after the eqralne, then grabbed its rump in a Beast Bite that managed to keep a hold on the semi-substantial mass. Tugging backward, he slowed its progress still further, though he did take several kicks to the chest, sparking against his armor.

Level 8+

(Fleeting Eqralne)

Health 55%

Even those attacks were enough to drop its health significantly. This was going to be an easy one, for once. It may be a plus, but unlike the eqralne final boss they'd faced with near-disastrous consequences, this one had no support. Levi's team outnumbered and outpowered it completely.

Sure, there were a few close calls, but like Tink the Mirror Sprite, the Eqralne was best suited to a support role, not a main damage dealer. This one also seemed to be on the flimsier side, if its rapid health depletion was anything to go by.

The outcome was inevitable. It only took three minutes, eight Dismay, and two Tame, and they did it without a single casualty.

Tame: Success!

Would you like to name ‘Fleeting Eqralne’ at this time?