Attack the tentacles

You jump into action, lifting your {if@ sword = true}sword{elseif mace = true}mace{endif} high above your head and bringing it down on the nearest tentacle. Your {if@ sword = true}sword cuts cleanly through the appendage{elseif mace = true}mace slams down on the thing, causing it to go limp{endif}, and you watch as the rest of it quickly recoils back into the shadows. Good, you think, that works then. You waste no more time and get started on the remaining tentacles. The first priority is to free Lia, and once you accomplish that she joins you in taking out the seemingly infinite number of tentacles.

A deep roar shakes the ground beneath your feet, and suddenly you’re lying on the ground. As your mind catches up, you realize you were knocked hard in the gut by a tentacle you hadn’t seen coming. Lia turns to check on you, and is immediately grabbed from behind. When you try to get up, you feel a tentacle wrap itself around your arm and send you careening through the air. You land next to your {if@ sword = true}sword{elseif mace = true}mace{endif}, which you must have lost when the beast knocked you down. You grip it and look for Lia.

Your catkin companion is now suspended in mid air by two tentacles, kicking and screaming wildly to prevent two more of the black, slimy things from gaining purchase on her legs. Pushing yourself to your feet seems like a herculean effort at this point, but you do it anyway and **** yourself to take one step after another towards your endangered party member. Lia’s screaming fills you with enough adrenaline to charge in and take out one more tentacle before you’re grabbed, lifted, and slammed hard into the ground. Your head swims from the impact, and the tentacle holds you pinned to the ground. As your vision clears, you look up to see Lia fully restrained, held spread-eagle by four tentacles before the massive red eye.