Leaning heavily on my makeshift spear, I fixed her with a wary gaze. My legs shivered like those of a newborn faun as I struggled to stay standing. I managed to wheeze out.

“Are… you friendly?”

The mysterious woman slowly sheathed her blade as she seemed to think for a moment before giving a small shrug and responding.

“I’m neither friendly nor your enemy. I simply found you by chance. Though, conveniently for you, I do have a warning, for both you and your little snake friends.”

I narrowed my eyes as I tried to gauge her. I can’t read her expression very well due to the mask, but she does seem genuine. How does she know about the Lamia? I can’t do anything in this state so fighting is off the table… it probalby always was after seeing that slash…

I felt a small shiver go down my spine as I stared at her handiwork. The head was so smoothly cut it was as if I was looking at a diagram in a textbook.

“So… what is this warning?”

“The floor’s great filter is coming soon. And this time the Phos Cave Systems won’t be the safe space.”

I stared incomprehensively before tentatively asking.

“What do you mean by the “floor’s filter”? And is this place the Phos Cave Systems?”

“Go ask your lamia friends. I’m not here to teach you. Good luck surviving though, if you're lucky we’ll meet again.”

With that she casually turned away and left into the jungle without so much as a glance behind her. I stared after her until her silhouette disappeared behind the dense foliage. As soon as she was out of sight, I fell unceremoniously to the ground idly staring up at the canopy above. Specks of light from the crystal lights shined through and gave my surroundings an eerily beautiful atmosphere.

My pain slowly returned to the forefront as my adrenaline wore off. I hate this… Why the hell did this have to all happen to me. What did I even-…. Shut up complaining won’t get you anywhere. Feeling sorry for yourself at this point, seriously?

I felt a familiar wet heat in my eyes as I lifted my arm and covered my face. I should be happy! I finally managed to fight and kill one of those things… Instead, I’m laying here crying like an idiot… idiot…

I just wanted to curl into a ball and sleep. At least that way I wouldn’t have to deal with anything anymore… Fuck I can’t let it get to me.

I wiped the hot tears from my eyes and slowly forced myself to stand. Speaking aloud as if to set my actions in stone.

“I’ll get the evidence of the hunt, and go back… I’ll be congratulated and I’ll ask about the mysterious woman. Maybe something will come of it but it’s going to be okay. It's all going to be just fine”

I took slow deep breaths to calm myself before burying my emotions as deep as I could manage. I can still get through this. I just need to keep moving forward.

I forced my aching body forwards and using the small knife given by the She, I began to cut off one of the front large fangs of the beast. It was a slow and tedious process as the fang was wet in saliva and far sturdier than I first would have guessed. Dammit… I didn’t even get the satisfaction of finishing this bastard… Next time…

I eventually managed, and with the slick fang in hand I started heading back towards my temporary home. Every time the wave of emotions and heat behind my eyes threatened to return, I took a moment and calmed myself with deep breaths. Eventually I managed to stumble far enough for the village to enter my sight. A worried looking Artemis was waiting by the gate, looking left and right with a furrowed brow as she observed the jungle for any sign of movement.

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Her expression lit up in excitement as it fell upon me before she quickly forced It into a dispassionate stare, though I could still see a small smile. She quickly slithered to my side and whisked me into her arms as she looked down on me.

“You did well.”

I felt my throat choke up as I tried to respond.

“I-I… I did it.”

I looked up to her as hot tears stained the edge of my vision. I shook my head and tried to stop myself and yet I couldn’t. My face burnt hot in shame as I was princess carried into the village. I heard a few cheers from a few of the lamia I had talked with. I just want to go and sleep… god, this is embarrassing…

She gently took the fang I had been clenching from my hands. Slowly relaxing my iron grip on the fang with her own hand. My white knuckled hand slowly returned to normal as she handed the fang to another lamia to the side. She carried me to what had become my makeshift home for now and set me down softly inside.

“Just take the time to rest and recover. I’ll make sure that no one interrupts you so you can relax alright?”

The softness of her voice and tender expression surprised me. I still need to tell her about the mysterious demon women though… Ah… that can… wait… for now.

“Thank you. I-I’ll do just that.” I tried to return her smile, yet the tears refused to stop. She simply tussled my hair and left me to my thoughts. I fell back onto the floor and quickly the exhaustion threatened to overwhelm me as I stared at the roof.

The pain from the cut across my arm as well as my back pain had already begun to fade surprisingly enough. I lifted my arm and inspected it, the cut which had been bleeding steadily had already begun to heal. The caked blood made it look much worse than it was. It wasn’t bleeding anymore yet I felt an annoying itching as it continued to heal. I dropped my arm and stared at the roof. Guess I can heal a bit faster now… I should really… find out…

The exhaustion finally caught up with me as my eyes closed and I found myself lost in a world of dreams.

I felt something gently poke my cheek… once… twice and again. I slowly opened my eyes while raising my hand to defend my cheek from the “villainous” attacker. There sat a familiarly small girl with a curious expression on her face. I let out an involuntary groan and muttered.

“I’m awake… You can stop poking me… Ran please…”

She puffed up her chest with a smug grin stuck on her face as she gazed down at me.

“Soooo~ what happened?”

I sat up rubbing my eyes as I gazed at her.

“Alright, alright… So, the hunt started with me watching from the trees.”

She listened intently through my dramatic retelling of the story, though for now I kept out the existence of the mysterious woman and altered it slightly to fit. Her tail swayed side to side whenever she grew excited, or the story reached a high point.

As I finished recounting my story, she was quickly growing drowsy, and had curled up into a small ball at this point sitting on my bed. I sighed and gently laid on the cold ground staring up at the roof.

I’ll tell them about my encounter tomorrow. For now, let’s… rest… The last of my thoughts faded away as I fell into a deep sleep.

I slowly stood up, I was in the same jungle that I had just been in. Standing there across from me with a neutral expression was the same woman I had met that day.

“I gave you a warning, you can’t say I didn’t try to help.”

I heard sounds behind me, the jungle towards the village was lit a flame. Smoke quickly filled the massive cavern as I heard clashes of metal and brutal yells and screams echo from that direction. A pit of dread filled my stomach as I stared on. She continued to talk with a cold stare as the flames reflected ominously in her eyes.

“Make sure to make a decision that you won’t regret.”

The dream darkened and my sleep fell into a messy collage of horrifying sights and sounds. Brutality and pain filled every corner of my vision.

I jumped with a start as my heart hammered in my chest and I looked left and right rapidly as I tried to recover. My gaze fell onto a startled Ran staring at me with wide eyes.

“Ah, sorry about that I didn’t mean to scare you.” She let out a deep breath as I said that and gave a small nod before she simply slithered towards me and gave a small hug. My heart calmed and I felt my face break into a small smile at the comforting embrace.

“Thank you Ran. Truly thank you for all you’ve done to help me.”

She responded with a smal,l muffled sound and slowly separated while looking away with slightly red cheeks.

“I’m gonna go get some breakfast. So, um, see you later!” she said as her volume increased throughout her whole sentence. She quickly slithered away in embarrassment.

Alright let’s go find Artemis. I need to talk to her about that warning. Bringing up the dream may be a good idea as well. Well let’s get going.

I forced down the left-over fear and discomfort and headed out.