Galen Vesa

“Hold him!”

Voices called in the distance. Distorted sounds reaching my ears as if on the other end of a mile ling corridor.

“Now!”

Something stirred within me, trying to dig deeper. Sinking it’s claws in…

Suddenly my vision cleared, released from whatever held it. Released just in time to witness the queen of earth driving her fist deep into my abdomen.

And I felt that.

Guts churning thud that sunk deep and spread through my insides.

And I gagged.

And reached.

And let out a howl that did not came from my body but rather from something within it.

I fell to my knees spewing ghastly black smoke of a fetid stench.

And my throat snapped.

My lips ripped as a pair of long burning arms emerged from them, clawing around. They braced themselves against my shoulders and pulled itself from within me.

Morbid faceless creature of gore and excrement. It broke free and roared viciously.

And my body shook from the pain of its birth while I retched again and again, spewing goops of black slime.

The creature reared on its hunches, sweeping its misshapen arms in wide ark, slicing through the countless rows of armed spirits.

A voice trilled in the distance. One I somehow knew. One calling for power. And the power within me responded with eagerness and the spirit’s name came to my lips sweet and refreshing.

But the power wanted more. More it demanded!

More unearthly names came from my bleeding lips.

And the power roared. Living flame fanned by the screeching wind set ablaze the creature while earth surrounded it granite walls, locking it in a hellish furnace. It burned and burned and cried and wailed and rammed against the earthen walls but to no avail.

“It does seem we had dealt with them all.”

Hands of water, yet again held my frame. They got all… all of what?

“All of the baggage your second heart picked up over the years it stood in a jar. Not the best of ingredients she could use.”

“Although,”

The spirit opened her palm and burning red smoke appeared within it.

“This one I believe you may want to hold onto?”

Erta’s soul swirled in her grasp. The queen smiled and gently let the smoke sink back inside me. The moment the last wisp disappeared, Ertas’s presence assaulted my mind. Words and feelings I could not comprehend washed over me.

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“Do not fret dragon. He is mine and under my care. No harm shall come to your precious dolt in my arms.”

The spirit answered in my stead and the dragon fell silent. Blushing.

*I Did not!*

I know what I felt. Precious dolt huh? From you that's flattery I guess.

She growled and cussed and… felt happy? Dragons. I will never understand them. Speaking of understanding. The spirit carried my upper torso towards… oh… towards something that appeared to be my lower half. I am not sure if I wish to understand how that happened or why I still lived. Magic. Yeah. I shall call it that.

“Forgive us. We had to bring you to the gates of death for that one to detached itself. Now, I shall address that.”

Her form changed to that of a bubble of crystal water that absorbed me and my lower half and several other bits and pieces laying around. I felt mana rush through me while she cleansed the remnants of black goop out of my body and begun to reassemble it, part by part.

The witch has removed certain abilities from those parts. I can restore it for you.

The queen whispered in my mind while I saw my womanly bits taking their rightful place in my lower half. If by certain abilities she meant…

No. Please don’t. I am too broken for that. That is one of the greatest responsibilities I would never accept. I know I am not fit for any of that.

As you wish.

My lower half slowly floated towards me and I’ve heard my spine reconnect with a crack. All the while the fire burned.

Interesting…

Water nibbled at something on my back.

Does it hurt?

My back? Yes. Quite a lot recently.

Oh, she does not mind. Hold still I shall finish that for her…

The bubble rotated me this way and that way then slowly put down and melted away.

“I bless thee traveler, my power is yours to command.”

The spirit reassembled her body next to mine and placed a kiss on my forehead. Then casting a look at the others still burning behind us, she sealed my lips with a kiss and her tongue danced against mine while my mana rushed between us.

With a smile she let our lips part. A fox’s smile.

“Let that remain a little secret between us.”