“A shab?”

It looked similar to the shabs Jason had encountered in the past, but at least triple the size. Instead of the red and purple colouration, it was sandy yellow. The creature skittered about, as if confused, then seemed to spot Jason and moved towards him. Jason walked towards the creature, in turn, as he drew another dart. This one had a black cord and he tossed it at the creature.

The dart bounced off its shell, the impact triggering the dart. Darkness burst out of the dart, shadows engulfing the creature in defiance of the glaring sun. It wasn't complete darkness, instead, a murky region of roiling shadow. Jason continued forwards, casually walking into the dark mass as if he hadn’t noticed it. The other adventurers looked on as Jason vanished into the shadows.

“What is that thing?” Humphrey asked.

“A sand shab,” Phoebe said. “Bigger than the aquatic variety. Likes to drag victims under the sand instead of underwater.”

“Should we help?” Gabrielle asked.

Alien shrieks of monstrous rage came from within the darkness.

“I wouldn’t bother,” Jason said, suddenly next to them.

Phoebe looked between Jason and the darkness into which he had vanished.

“Teleport?” she asked.

“Shadow teleport,” Jason said.

“What shadow?”

Jason looked down and she followed his gaze to see he was standing in her own shadow.

“That’s sneaky.”

“The monster isn’t dead,” Gabrielle pointed out. Angry cries were still emerging from the patch of shadow, which was fading away. They could see the outline of the monster within.

“The darkness fades over time,” Jason said. “It’ll last about thirty seconds, total.”

He casually restocked his bandolier darts from his inventory. In his other hand was his dagger, blade slick with yellow ichor. He took out a rag and started wiping it clean.

“What about the monster?” Gabriele asked.

“It’ll last about fifty seconds, total,” Jason said. “That’s a guess, since I’m going to try a new ability.”

The last vestiges of the magic shadow faded, the shab scrambling around in confusion. It spotted the adventurers and headed in their direction.

“Uh, Jason?” Humphrey said.

“Yes, Humphrey?”

“It’s coming this way.”

“Shabs aren’t very quick,” Jason said. “I just need those afflictions to stack up a little more.”

He finished cleaning his dagger, returning it to its sheath. He glanced over at the approaching shab. It wasn't built for forwards movement, skittering side to side as it came. He raised an arm in its direction, chanting out a spell.

“Suffer the cost of your transgressions.”

Black spread out across the shell of the monster as if it were passing into shadow. Its hectic skittering slowed to an uneasy stagger. When one of its shell-encrusted legs crumbled like dry, stale bread, it collapsed to the ground. More of its shell broke apart to reveal blackened, withered flesh. It didn’t get back up.

Ability: [Punition] (Doom)

Spell

Cost: Moderate mana.

Cooldown: 30 seconds.