The sun was dragging itself towards the horizon, drowning in a sea of colors as it got closer to the end of its daily journey.
It was then that a creature walked out of the crimson coral, it held a vague resemblance to a carapace centurion if you squinted hard enough, with black carapace armor and the signature menacing crimson pattern.
But… if one were to look closer, they would notice some obvious things wrong with it.
It walked as if it was drunk, careening to one side and to the other as if to the tune of some silent song. The scythe's placements were questionable at best, attached to nothing and barely propped up.
At one point one of the scythes simply fell, making the creature halt lingering for a second before seemingly shrugging it off and continuing on its merry way to the Ashen Barrow.
A careful eye would have caught something strange: the creature carried two shadows. One mirrored its grotesque frame, as expected. The other, slim and human, peeled out from under the first when the centurion let go of the fleeing limb.
That lone human shadow paused, facepalmed, and shook its head in absolute disdain.
The whole situation was bizarre and slightly comical.
Unimpeded, it crossed the wasteland, heading straight for the Ashen Barrow. Before long, it had nearly reached the base of the towering hill.
The sun was sinking toward the horizon.
***
The fraudulent centurion arrived at the base of hill, without further ado plopping itself on the ground with nothing to offer, in the same place the previous centurion had gracefully bowed and offered a transcendent soul shard.
An act that was nothing short of disrespectful and near suicidal.
Atop the barrow, the Carapace Demon stirred and rose from the ashen sand. His gleaming armor caught the light of the dying sun. Crowned with horns and encased in polished metal, he cut an imposing figure. Two crimson embers flared to life in his eye sockets. Hefting his massive scythes, the demon descended the hill toward the strange visitor.
The earth trembled with each step. Yet the bizarre centurion remained perfectly still.
The demon halted at a cautious distance, wary that the creature's pitiful state might be a ruse. An awakened demon possessed enough cunning to avoid rash decisions in this treacherous labyrinth.
Or so the three Sleepers believed.
They were mistaken.
A heartbeat later, the demon struck. His scythe flashed, cleaving the centurion in two. The adamantine shell split like butter, revealing nothing but hollow space inside.
On the far side of the Ashen Barrow, Sunny cursed as he sprinted up the slope with Cassie on his back.
Too fast!
They'd expected more time. Who knew the demon would be so reckless?
Gritting his teeth, Sunny pushed himself harder.
Time for plan B.
The centurion's shell burst apart, freeing the Echo hidden beneath. The scavenger surged forward on powerful pincers, aiming to slip under the towering demon and cripple its legs.
The plan had been straightforward: disguise the much smaller Echo in a dead centurion's carapace, send it to lure the demon away, then circle the hill while the three of them hid in the sand. Once the demon left, they'd sprint for the great tree and hide in its branches before dismissing the Echo.
The scavenger was never meant to actually fight.
But the demon's swift attack had ruined their timing. The decoy was destroyed, yet they weren't even halfway to the tree. Now the Echo had to fight, to buy them the last few seconds they needed.
As Sunny crested the hill, his Echo attempted Nephis's tactic from their earlier fight, using the enemy's size against it by hiding underneath. Unlike that battle, though, the scavenger had armor to protect it.
The demon knew this too.
Moving with shocking speed, it swatted the Echo aside with a pincer. The scavenger crashed hard into the ground, its shell nearly cracking.
Sunny grimaced as he ran.
But he couldn't, they needed more time.
Ahead, Nephis reached the enormous black trunk, he dropped her seaweed rucksack and began scaling the onyx bark.
Meanwhile, the Echo struggled to its feet, stubborn fire burning in its eyes. With a defiant screech, it clacked its pincers and charged the demon again.
'Give him hell buddy!' Sunny cheered the scavenger with all his heart.
Without regard for its own life, it rushed the giant with no regard for its own life, swinging its pincers and clacking them menacingly.
In contrast, the demon didn't even seem to be phased as its four arms moved in unison.
The scavenger's arms were sliced off. Its body was gripped in two giant pincers and raised into the air.
Sunny had almost no time to react.
Almost.
From the shadows of a nearby knoll, an explosion of scales, fangs and violent hissing burst forth onto the carapace demon, pushing it back and making it drop the poor scavenger, who sunny was dismissing as fast as he could.
The demon righted itself and assessed the new threat, its crimson eyes flashing as it circled.
Rushing towards the crocodillian, the human shadow wrapped itself around it, making its obsidian scales darker and its moss growths dimmer.
Brandishing its great scythes, the demon charged Scaley, fully intending to sever it half at the torso.
Scaly pivoted and used his muscular tail to swat away a scythe while biting down on the other one.
Crackle pop sizzle.
The corrosive affect barely seemed to affect the demon, only serving to anger it more.
Still biting down on the scythe, Scaly grounded himself…
And rolled with the scythe clamped in its mouth.
Criiiiiiccckkk.
The abominable demon roared in agony and hoisted Scaley it the air, preventing him from doing more damage.
He grabbed each side of the reptilian with it's massive, crushing pincers…
And began to twist.