The giant axe swept toward Levi. Levi swung toward it. Not trying to deflect it, but to throw himself aside. His blade struck the broadside of the axe, and he twisted his body to the side. The axe cleaved through him, but not center of mass. His arm flew off, spewing blood. A cold blast of pain shocked through him.

  Ah, fuck. He had seconds until shock kicked in for real. Minutes until he died. And he’d be losing blood and slowing down that whole time.

  He had one good hit left in him. He had to make it count.

  Levi threw his remaining arm out. The Armalgam leaped off his shoulder and jumped at the giant cannibal’s face. The cannibal reached up to smack it out of the air, but the Armalgam clutched onto it with four out of five arms. The fifth one—or rather, Handy—reared back like a scorpion’s stinger and delivered a deep stab into the cannibal’s abdomen. The cannibal grunted in pain. Latching onto the Armalgam with both hands, he threw the construct aside. The blade jerked out of its gut with a spray of blood. The Armalgam soared through the air, then bounced off a tree and hit the ground.

  Before the cannibal lowered his arms, Levi darted in. He jumped, striking upward into the man’s armpit. The cannibal roared, but choked mid-roar. He touched his chest.

  Levi yanked his blade out and stumbled backward, spewing his own blood the whole way. As fast as he was losing blood, the cannibal lost blood faster. It poured out of his armpit and gut, bruising his abdomen dark purple. He lifted his giant axe, but his strength flagged. He crumbled, slumping under the weight of his weapon.

  “Levi!” Colin ran out from the brush, gold light already beaming from his staff.

  Levi grinned. He walked over to his arm and picked it up, sticking it back on his shoulder. “What do you think, doc? Can you put it back on?”

  “Uh… probably,” Colin said. He leaned left and right, fretting over the limb. Carefully, he adjusted it to match up with Levi’s remaining arm better. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

  “It will in a bit. Adrenaline’s still strong right now,” Levi said, giving him all the thumbs-up he had.

  Isa stepped forward, leaning her head left and right. She froze, holding her breath, then hissed in annoyance. “Not good.”

  “I’m very aware,” Levi said, peering at his arm. “Hey, it looks like it’s going back on, though!”

  “Not you. The cannibals.” She pointed. “The first three are coming back around. I think they were lying in wait for this one. But they heard our fight. They know something happened. We have to get out of here, now.”

  “Can we wait for Colin to put my arm back on?” Levi asked.

  The Armalgam scuttled over. It still dragged its one injured arm. Levi had managed to heal it somewhat on the walk, but it hadn’t healed completely. The black marks still dug into its flesh, withering it to the bone. It had recovered a little, but not enough to pull its weight. It gave Levi a little pat, sympathizing with him.

  “I know, right? It’s a bad day to be an arm,” Levi said, patting the Armalgam back.

  Electricity jolted up his shoulder and down his spine. Levi twitched, grimacing. “Ow.”

  “Can you feel it now?” Colin asked.

  Levi wiggled his fingers. They responded weakly, but they responded. Moving them hurt, but then, moving anything hurt. His whole arm felt weak. Whether it was lifting his hand or making a fist, his body responded sluggishly. It wouldn’t work for fighting. It barely worked for anything. But it was connected to his body once more. “Yeah. I don’t think it’s back in action, but it seems to be plugged in and responding.”

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  Colin nodded. He glanced at Levi. “I’ll fix it better, later. As long as it’s good enough for now…”

  “It’s good enough,” Levi replied.

  “Good. They’re almost here,” Isa said tersely.

  Climbing to his feet, Levi whistled. The Armalgam climbed up onto his back. Isa scooped up Colin. They fled, racing into the forest. Levi held his injured arm close to his chest. Every time a leaf or branch tugged his shirt, he grimaced. His nose wrinkled. Being injured sucks.

  They’d barely vacated the path when the three cannibals from earlier ran back onto the scene. They came upon the corpse of the large cannibal and froze. One of them knelt and turned the body over, checking its injuries. He paused, then touched the blood and lifted his bloody fingers to his mouth.

  Seconds before he could suck the blood off his fingers, another cannibal smacked him on the back of the head. He grunted and gestured toward the forest.

  The other two cannibals looked amongst themselves. They breathed deeply, sniffing the air. Slowly, they began to nod. They turned toward the forest.

  “Shit. They scented us,” Levi muttered, glancing over his shoulder.

  “Dammit. I was hoping they’d eat the big boy and forget about finding who killed him,” Isa muttered.

  “They decided to have their dessert and eat us, too. Looks like they’re gonna come kill us, then go eat the big boy,” Levi replied.

  “Well, that’s not great,” she muttered back.

  “No kidding.” Levi gestured. The Armalgam released his back and dropped into the forest. It backed into thick undergrowth and vanished.

  Isa glanced after it, but said nothing.

  The cannibals pressed through the woods. One of them paused. He pointed toward a branch.

  Another cannibal grabbed the stick and pulled it toward them. They plucked a few filaments of cloth off the end of the branch and sniffed them, then smiled, a long, slow smile. They lifted their head, gazing onwards.

  And then a blur of eldritch horror slammed into their ankles and tackled them to the ground. Two discolored arms hefted a sword high, then struck home, stabbing over and over again.

  The other two cannibals stared. After a a second, one jumped into action. He swung his axe, tossing the Armalgam off his companion. The ball of arms flew into the forest and vanished in the shadows.

  The two cannibals turned, gazing warily into the forest. Their companion thrashed on the ground, crying out in pain. After a moment, one of the other two kicked the injured one and grunted, frustrated. The injured one fell into a pained silence, occasionally moaning or grunting.

  The Armalgam dropped out of the sky. It latched onto one of the cannibal’s head with all five arms and threw its weight to the side, spinning in a full circle. A horrible dry crack rang out, and the cannibal slumped to the floor. The Armalgam released him and leaped onto a tree, scuttling upward into the shadow of the canopy.

  The final cannibal gripped his weapon tight. He looked up, watching after the Armalgam. Slowly, he backed away.

  Into the tip of a sword, which slid right between his ribs and out the other side.

  “Chew on this,” Levi hissed in the man’s ear as he pulled the sword free. He kicked the man forward, onto the other two cannibals. He dusted off his hands “Well, well, well. Three first villages, dead on the ground. Not so tough after all, huh?”

  “Oh, shut up,” Isa grumbled. She thumbed toward the village. “More will come. They’ll smell the blood. We need to go.”

  “Got it.” Levi gestured at the trees. The Armalgam dropped down, hugging onto him as he landed. He hissed in pain, wincing. Instinctively, he reached for his bad arm, but forced himself not to at the last second.

  “You aren’t fighting fit, either,” Isa commented, eyeing his recently-detached arm.

  “Only need one to have a good time,” Levi replied. He swirled the sword around in his remaining hand, brandishing it at invisible enemies.

  Colin walked out of the forest. He startled at the sight of the cannibals, pulling his eyes away. In a slightly shaky voice, he reminded Levi, “Didn’t you say dual-wielding was for idiots? That smart people use both hands to swordfight?”

  “Yeah, but I’m not smart,” Levi replied.

  Colin rolled his eyes. “Come on. Let’s retreat for now, and I’ll heal up that bad arm of yours.”

  Leaving the cannibals behind, Isa and Colin walked off. Levi hesitated, then stood on his tiptoes. He could just see the first cannibal’s corpse from here—the really big one. He took a deep breath, gathering all the death energy he could, then pointed at the cannibal.

  The cannibal twitched. He shifted, then began to rise, his eyes glowing a sickly green.

  “Watch our six,” he murmured, then followed the other two.