27.2ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ.ᴄᴏᴍ/sᴛʀᴀᴛᴏᴛʜʀᴀx

There was a scuttling tapping noise and the scrape of a door. Rain slunk around the building and hid behind a poorly made crate. He peeked over the top as the front door opened, a long black spike crept from the door and hooked around it. It took a moment for Rain to realise he was looking at a gargantuan spider leg as several more thin legs slipped through the door and then the body of the creature, a terrifying spider with the top half of a Goblin sticking up where its head might have been. The monster needed to turn its body at an angle to fit its bulbous black abdomen through the door and even then it was a struggle, it got stuck and had to tug itself free. Standing on the grass the bottom of her spider torso must have been six foot off the ground such was her size.

Behind her the Half-minotaur ducked through the door. His dark green fur slashed with black rippled over thick slabs of muscle as he moved, heavy hooves impacting the ground. His face was more squashed than a Minotaur with pointier teeth and long knife ears and orange eyes. The twisted crown of horns on his head gave Rain pause, so did the fact he was massive, standing eight foot tall, larger than any Minotaur Rain had seen before.

Not just a Goblin-minotaur. He thought. An evolved Hobgoblin-minotaur?

The Spider-goblin turned to Cairn. "I'm going to cast a locating spell to see if I can pinpoint the creature and then we are going to gather our strongest, even the Harpy Queen if she can be convinced, and we are going to destroy this intruder into our tribe's home."

He sneered but remained silent. The half-spider rolled her fingers and stretched her wrists before cracking her knuckles and forming a complicated sequence of seals with her hands. A large intricate symbol on her spider abdomen began to glow blue and mist started to spill from it. She focused, deep in concentration.

Cairn scratched his balls through his loincloth. He peered around, bored. He yawned. He paused mid yawn however when his eyes alighted on a trail of red through the grass that led to the building they had just come from. He blinked and furrowed his brow.

"Hey."

"Remain quiet, this is not an easy spell and far from my usual area of expertise. I almost missed that leveler with it this morning. I need to focus."

"Hey, I see red."

"What?"

"I see red, on the grass."

The Spider-goblin paused and the mist began to dissipate. She scowled.

"Just, go look into it, I'm losing my spell with your blabbering."

The Spider-goblin closed her eyes and the mist resurged.

Cairn sighed and strolled off to investigate.

Rain backed away from the crate and returned to behind the building. He looked up. The building was crude but it did have a roof. He set his claws in the uneven wooden planking and hauled himself up until he clambered atop. Crouched low he made his way across the wooden tiles until he could peer down. The Minotaur was looking at the bloody grass while vaguely scratching his chin.

"Curious."

His eyes tracked the red following it until they came to the window Rain had hid by to listen in on them.

"Cairn! It's here! The damn thing is here!" cried a scratchy voice causing Cairn's eyes to widen.

Too late. Rain dropped from the roof like winged death, his claws outstretched and maw open ready to bite down on the Half-Minotaur's neck. At the last possible moment the Minotaur caught sight of Rain's shadow and twisted his head aside. Rain's teeth latched onto his shoulder. The Minotaur's arm swept up before he could bite deep and crashed into him. Rain was flung away from the Minotaur with a flap of his skin hanging from his front teeth and went tumbling across the grass.

The Minotaur roared his pain and jerked around to see Rain picking himself up. Blood washed down his shoulder.

"That was good, you almost got me. I can see why you've survived with a nasty bite like that. You'd just need to get up close and Bam!" The Minotaur closed his thick fingered fist in front of his chest. "Unsuspecting prey would fall like flies."

Rain grinned. "Suspecting too."

"Hmm. Too bad you're not female, I'd have liked to have some kids with teeth like that. I'll still enjoy breaking you in for the regular Gobbos however."

"I'll pass thanks."

"You won't get a choice in the matter. You won't be the first monster I've caught for the tribe, nor will you be the last."

Rain snorted. "You threaten, but I will devour you."

Cairn's nose wrinkled in annoyance.

The Spider-goblin scuttled around the building at this point and came to a stop seeing Rain, a worried look crossed her face.

"Listen, thing that came from the lake, you haven't fought anything like me before," boasted Cairn.

"We'll see. Your Harpy Queen talked big too, but she's dead now."

Cairn blinked at him and turned to the Spider-goblin.