Chapter 19: Bom's POV
I was dead.
Not literally. But emotionally? Physically? Cosmically? Done.
I thought I'd get ten or even five minutes of peace. Just five. Instead—
BOOM.
Something massive crashed through the forest.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Bob screamed. "It has ONE EYE!"
Clavis squinted. "And it's... purple? Looks like a giant octopus."
"Octopus?! Oh, they're delicious!" Bob said with too much excitement.
"This one looks like it's planning to eat us," Clavis muttered.
It was an Octopiantis. A giant, one-eyed, purple tentacled beast that reeked of fish and rage.
I stepped forward, wobbly and light-headed.
Clavis grabbed my arm. "Bom? Are you okay?"
"I haven't eaten a lot . I haven't slept. And even immortals run out of steam..."
I didn't even get to finish. The Octopiantis charged.
"Run!" Clavis shouted.
We dashed through the underbrush, but it was fast—too fast.
"We have to fight it," I said. "All three of us. Together."
Clavis and Bob nodded.
We launched the attack.
Clavis darted in first, blades slicing at the tentacles with sharp precision.
Bob circled to the left, hacking away with his sword, dodging blows like a panicked dancer.
I stood back, hand crackling with red thunder, then fired bolt after bolt into the beast's slimy hide.
It screamed. We pressed harder. Victory felt close.
Until it grabbed me.
A thick tentacle whipped out and snatched me mid-air.
"BOM!" they both screamed.
I struggled, but I was too drained. No power. No energy.
Thanks, Regis. If you let me sleep last night, I might've actually lived through this.
Clavis slashed at the tentacle, but it wouldn't let go.
Bob? Vanished.
"Did he run?" I whispered.
The Octopiantis hurled me across the clearing. I hit the ground hard, vision blurring.
I looked up just in time to see a sharpened tentacle coming down on my neck.
I closed my eyes.
This is it. The end.
CRACK.
Something smashed through the air.
I opened my eyes. The Octopiantis head... gone.
Standing in front of me?
Bob.
Sword in hand. Chest heaving. Covered in slime.
"Did you... jump off a tree?" Clavis asked, stunned. "And cut its head off?"
Bob grinned. "One slash. Boom."
He ran to me. "Are you okay?"
I grabbed him and hugged him. "I'm okay. Thanks to you, Bob."
He froze. "You're hugging me."
"Yes, and don't get used to it."
Then I looked down.
"Guys..." I said, blinking. "The flower. I'm on top of it."
"What?" Clavis came closer. "is this the Petricitia."
"Ugliest flower I've ever seen," Bob muttered. "And it smells like feet."
I laughed. Despite the pain and slime and bruises, I laughed.
It was a twisted, gnarled black bloom with a stench that could kill joy.
"Let's go home," I said, grabbing it. "Clavis, perfect knight as always. Bob... I never thought you'd save me. But you did. You act dumb, but you're brave."
I ruffled his blonde hair.
His face turned beet red.
Clavis nodded. "We're a team. And a team has each other's backs."
Bob stretched out his arms. "Group hug?"
Clavis sighed but stepped in.
"I told you not to get used to it and For a handsome man like me to hug always its —"
Too late. They yanked me into the hug.
I smiled.
In that moment—in that ridiculous, slime-covered group hug—
the immortal idiot that I am felt something I hadn't in centuries.
Loved.