Prince, in his beastman form, strode across the scorched gravel. With every step, the pointed toes of his insectile feet sank into the cracks between stones, sending crushed fragments spraying from either side.
His black shadow fell over Barlow, swallowing him whole in an impenetrable darkness.
"Now I'll answer your second question."
Prince's voice squeezed out from between the lips beneath his head carapace and his mandibles. It was lower and raspier than before, carrying the muffled growl of a beast's throat.
He raised his right arm, and the three stinger claws slowly spread open beneath the sun, their tips glinting coldly.
Barlow sprang backward. The pincer claws cleaved down where he had just stood. The instant their tips struck the ground, the gravel was sliced into four neat gashes, broken stones flipping outward along their edges. The cuts were so deep that the dry bedrock beneath the sand was visible.
"The secret I discovered was this."
Prince's first strike missed, and his scorpion tail immediately swept sideways. The venom sac at its tip smashed into the nearby sandstone cliff, grazing Barlow's shoulder.
A crater exploded across the cliff face. Cracks spread outward from its edges, and the entire section of cliff groaned under the strain.
Barlow slashed backward at the seam between the segmented armor plates of the scorpion tail. Sparks flew as blade met shell, but only a faint white mark remained on the carapace.
"Wolof buried me in the Royal Tomb."
Prince pressed forward a step. His scorpion tail recoiled, and his stinger claws launched a continuous barrage of thrusts.
The claw tips collided with Barlow's blade several times in the cramped space, each impact numbing the web between Barlow's thumb and forefinger.
Prince spoke as he fought, his tone not quickening in the slightest despite the