Chapter 55: Crack and Clap...
Both the log and Luca fly through the air, both slamming down into the salt bed at the same time.
"SMASH!*
Fortunately for Luca, the salt bed provided and relatively soft surface to land on, preventing any crippling injuries. In fact, the only damage he'd taken was some whiplash. His neck feeling very sore after being wrenched around by the sudden change in momentum.
Luca quickly shakes his head and gets to his feet, the stone blade already in his hand as he looks towards where the giant scorpion had been... A cloud of salt dust was slowly settling, Luca looked on nervously, gripping his weapon tightly.
He took one glance over to his friends who were standing there with incredibly surprised expressions. Apparently, they hadn't been expecting him to fall from the sky accompanied by a tree... He locks eyes with Sarr'ina for a moment before having his attention drawn towards a screech and skittering sound.
Gritting his teeth, he stuffs his fear deep down and starts walking towards where the scorpion should be, along with his log. By the sound of it, the creature wasn't completely dead yet, hopefully it was injured enough to weaken it.
The salt dust eventually cleared enough for him to see through... His log had indeed hit the scorpion, but not in any lethal way... No, instead, it had landed straight on the base of its tail. He could see black blood oozing out from beneath the wood, and was please that its main form of attack had been crippled.
Luca didn't think he'd actually be able to fight it if its tail was still active, that thing moved faster than his eyes could follow, let alone defend against. He continues to trudge through the salt and walks in front of the scorpion has it squirms around in an attempt to dislodge the log.
*Thwip!* *Thwip! Thwip!*
Arrows shoot from behind him and clatter against its exoskeleton, doing literally no damage whatsoever. Luca sends a glance over his shoulder at his friends and slowly approaches the scorpion, stone blade bared.
Its beady eyes all focus on his, and it's large pincers begin clicking with the intention to rend his body apart. Its mobility seemed to be restricted due to the log on its tail, but that didn't mean it was powerless.
He began stepping towards it and was mindful of its potential range, the scorpion bent forwards and snapped a pincer at him, the appendage not even being close to reaching him. It continued to try and attack him to no avail, allowing Luca to track exactly on much range it had.
Once he was 'fairly' confident, he steps just outside of its range and slammed his stone blade on its extended pincer.
*Crack!*
The blade dug into its exoskeleton, drawing some black blood before the monster pulls its limb back. It tries to snap at him again but is just out of reach, allowing Luca to strike again.
*Crack!*
His attack hits around the same area his earlier one had, breaking off a large piece of its exoskeleton and revealing its pink and rather 'gooey' flesh beneath.
*Thwip!*
An arrow pierces the now defenceless flesh, causing the monster to screech in pain and thrash about as if it were attacking an invisible enemy. Luca got a couple of hits in, but began to get worried at the sound coming from the base of the log trapping the creature's tail... It wasn't anything he recognised, but it sounded as if some material was being strained...
Of course, it wasn't the log that was having its durability tested though... With a final *RIIIP!*, the Scorpion falls forwards away from the log, the flesh connected its body to its tail having been torn apart by its frenzied rampage.
Profuse amounts of black blood flowed from its wound, and the creature screeched in terrible agony as it writhed about... However, soon enough it turned its beady eyes towards Luca, and he was sure he could feel the full force of its anger towards him through its glare.
Without wasting another moment, he leaps backwards, just as the scorpion lunges forwards and grabs the air where he'd just been with a pincer. A line of sweat drips down his face as he imagines how badly that would've hurt had he been caught.
Arrows begin pelting the creature with increased fervour now after seeing it escape. And Luca was worried it'd turn its attention towards the others. "I'M HERE YOU CRAPPY SPIDER-LOOKALIKE! WHAT'S WRONG? NOT SO TOUGH WITHOUT YOUR TAIL?!" he shouts, 'luckily bringing its glare back to him in full force.
It changes him, and it's only by sheer luck that he manages to duck under the first pincer strike. He knew the next one would come next, so instead of allowing it an easy combo, he throws himself atop its extended right limb.
He'd grabbed on just behind the pincer and almost lost control of his bowls when the scorpion attempted to bring its limb closer so its mandibles could bite into him. Luca held on tightly though and managed to work his way onto its back. Without its tail, it had no way of directly attacking him, so instead elected to shake him off.
Luca slammed the stone blade into the exoskeleton on it's back and used it to hold on for dear life. He could see Sarr'ina, Gil'ga, and Sar'bal all getting ready to run into the salt bed to help him. "NO! Stay AWAY!" he shouts, causing them to halt mid-stride.
With renewed determination he wrenched the stone blade out of the crevice he'd created on it back and gripped it with his free hand instead, using the blade to try and dig through its armour, like he had done the rock above the cavern.
The scorpion had apparently had enough, however, and instead reared back and thrust itself into the salt bed, it wormed its way through the salt and Luca was forced to get off of it before he followed it beneath the sand.
Soon enough, it was gone... The only thing indicating that it was still around being the grinding sound of it moving underground. He quickly looks towards his friends and points at them, "Stay off of the salt! It'll kill you before you know it!" he shouts, running towards the log to try and confuse the submerged threat.
Once atop the log, he looks around for something heavy enough to lure the monster... He considers getting the others to fire arrows at the salt bed, but doubted it would be enough to trick the creature... Arrows just weren't heavy enough to mimic himself.
Fortunately, he still had his quiver on his back. While one or two arrows might not be able to attract the beast, a quiver of them might. He unslings it and tosses it onto the salt bed, shielding his face as the sound of grinding explodes, the scorpion bursting from the ground and clamping the quiver in its pincers, breaking it into pieces.
Leaping off of the log, Luca manages to get back on top of it. Bringing the stone blade high above his head and back down again, right into its face. The blade chops into its face, destroying a few of its eyes and causing even more black blood to spew out.
He momentarily wondered if it'd die of blood loss but shook his head, pulling g the blade back out and striking down again.
*Thud!*
And again,
*Thud!*
And again.
*Thud!*
With every strike the scorpion jolted, the blade burying deeper into its head. After the first strike it'd tried to shake him off, but second, third and fourth? It stopped moving, becoming completely lifeless.
Huffing, Luca fell onto his ass, the stone blade was still buried in the now-dead scorpion, but he was too out of breath to do anything right now. "Heh, second monster down... Hopefully that'll be it." he mutters as his friends run towards him.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Niggross
Niggross Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone