"H-How are you in my head!? GET OUT OF IT!" I asked in terror while slowly backing away from this monstrosity. Breathing in deeply and letting it out even harsher as my limbs steadily got weaker. This thing wasn't doing anything to me. But, the way it so easily spoke to me inside my head, it broke me.
"Do not fear," its voice began to say in my head with the echoes of painful screams, "if your home has been lost, I shall let you join mine, dearest cousin." the voice explained as my eyes leaked.
"No... I don't want to. I won't!" I told it before bashing my head between my claws. Collapsing down with a shudder as the voices failed to dissipate. They just got louder and louder each time. The screams too, the longer it was in my head the more screams I heard. I just wanted the quiet that I hated so much in places like this.
"Join our home, dearest cous- AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" it began to say again before I suddenly crushed it under the weight of my magic. Screaming from the floor before breaking down into tears as a sudden wave of buggish roars filled my ears. And at that moment, it seemed like pandemonium had been created. The weight of the oncoming rage was shaking the tunnels.
"I want to go... Home..." I began to say before my mind began to fill with a different terror. One of fire and melting stone that always was out of reach. It was all too much for me to handle right now. So I just roared in fury and hammered away at the ground, just daring the bugs to come.
All I could soon think about was anger and I just kept on roaring until my throat became dry. With my rage quickly moving on to being expressed with snarls rather than such boisterous noises. And when the first bug came into my sights, I charged at it. Smashing straight through it in a shower of gore and moving on to the next one I saw.
I tore them apart with my hands, piece by bloody piece. I smashed what fell down with my feet and made it into the finest bloody mush. I barrelled through them as if they weren't there. I killed and killed until I had brought myself to a dark tunnel littered with clean bones.
"MOMMY! MOMMY! MOM-" I heard a child scream out in utter terror before it quickly shifted to pain. There was also a noise that made my stomach churn and tremble. It was a sudden, wet noise that kept on going without pause. And as I just wanted the noise to stop, so I charged towards it and tore down a wall.
Leaping at the first bug I saw and the next and the next. Cracking all of their skulls wide open until I was the only one left standing. A pool of yellow and red blood at my feet while my magic lit the area up. And when I saw what caused the screaming, I covered my mouth and suddenly switched my magic to a more gentle flow.
Shivering and crying until the little, terrified children in this chamber went quiet. But they still made noise, some were crying, some were whimpering, others were still in pain. The ones that made no noise, however, made me gnash my teeth with rabid fury. Yet, as the crying picked up, I began to emulate it more before I collapsed yet again.
"BE QUIET!" I would yell at the children before I clawed away at some blood-soaked mud. Twisting apart nearby bug limbs until I was just scraping my claw tips against one another. And with each breath I took from this foul place, the sicker I became. Until, my body just seemed to have enough and I went numb, at least, for a little bit.
"W-Wh-Where's mommy?" probably one of the youngest asked me as they clutched onto a likely dead sibling. And, when I saw that lifeless body, I scurried on over to the younger one and took them away. Letting them scream into my arm and wail against me before my stroking somehow got them to be quiet.
"Okay... All of you... We're going to play a game..." I said to them with uncertainty as I treated this little girl like a toy. A toy for a little kid scared of the dark...
"Game?" many of them would repeat with uncertainty as they moved away from me. Some, however, would squeal right on over when one of those strange, bulbous, wiggling things came by. And when I saw it, I hopped to my feet and clawed at the dirt ceiling until it was hidden behind it.
"Yes, the game's called... Friends and Hole Finder..." I muttered as I got my thoughts in order. The ones that terrified me were set aside and what I needed to do took the forefront. I needed to get out of here and find the other two. I needed to rescue Einervaenae and Larishazza from the osibindah hive, just like I did myself a long time ago...
"I-It's not safe with you..." a child then mumbled before I nearly ran them down in a fit of rage.
"I WILL KEEP YOU SAFE! I AM THE SAFEST PLACE HERE!" I roared straight into his face. Blowing out my scorching, fury-tainted breathes as he suddenly started breaking down into a fit of crying. Upon seeing those tears, I would move back and put the child I was holding down. I would shake my head and stumble away from them.
I couldn't save them, I was too much of a coward to save them from a place like this. They'll just have to follow me out like the others did last time... I did not have the strength to save these kids... I didn't!
All I might be able to do is hide them behind walls of dirt and hope for the best. But, as I moved to claw up at the dirt above me once again, I stopped. I stopped and looked at the mess I caused and I tried to stand myself up straight. I did this, I killed these monsters and my magic had healed those it could even if so many were now irreplaceably scarred.
It was as I thought on this that I began to treat this with more rationale. However fleeting it might as well be given even the most distant echoes made me jump. Yet, somehow, just by chittering my jaws a little louder, I could drown them out. So now I only heard what was closer.
And there was so much pain and suffering close to me. I could hear more screams, more cries and more fear. I heard the crunch of bones and the squirt of blood, the howls of pain that suddenly went silent... I heard it all.
"Wait, right here... We will play the game in a bit." I told the children before I ran away from them. Charging down the hallways of this evil place and silencing it systematically. Some were just people like I used to be, others were broken far more than I'd ever be. I interrupted vile acts in progress and prevented more from happening.
Each time it got quiet, I would hear more, I would hunt down more. Until I was panting to myself as I stumbled across a dry dirt wall. So many specks of brown stuck to me as I walked along the walls sluggishly. Nearly crossing the line and collapsing once again before I reached a dead end.
"Undwote, take your time, I beg of you..." I pleaded of the God of Death before I tiredly turned back around. Going the same routes again until I reached another dead end filled with the fleshless dead. A slight bit of anger kept on coming back each time as well. I just wanted it to end but each step revealed more that I did not want to see.
Yet, somehow, I found myself stumbling back to the children I left behind last time. And I only knew it was them because the little girl I picked up before was amongst them. A frail little thing with a distinct set of scars around her eye. Each one was as narrow as one of my disgusting osibindah teeth...
Or, rather, those of the ones I slaughtered when I found them here. If they were snacking or feasting, it did not matter, they were dead. That is all that mattered. But, to make sure it was true, even if most were completely gutted, I crushed them with forceful scrapes of the foot.
And when I saw the little boy again, the one I roared at with such hatred. I knelt down before him, and I held out my hand. Waiting patiently for him to take hold of it as I relaxed in the relative quiet. There was still dreadful noises coming from this place, indeed there was. But my rampage has silenced enough of it for now.
"I want to go home..." the little boy cried as he hid his face behind his tail while his eyes focused on mine. In fact, a lot of the children here focused on my eyes rather than my body.
"Yours are not the same..." one quietly pointed out while apathetically shoving a piece of osibindah skull my way. A slightly popped eye dangling from its somehow swollen eye socket.
"They're not..." I told them with a shiver as thoughts of that thing sprang to mind. Even though it got into my head, even though it spoke to me as if I was one of its own. I have done nothing that made me alike one of its own. Any of its children that I saw, I killed without thinking about it.
Gone were the days of when seeing the skull underneath the bug's wracked me full of terror. Now, all it did was fill me with a mixture of wrath, anger, fury and rage. All the same thing, really, but I was not sure what else to think of when I thought about what I have recently done. I tore them apart, limb from limb and ground them into the muck below that I made with them.
I then shook my head as I took a hand into my claw, "Come on, we got a game to play." I reminded them as I began to seemingly drag the children with me. Looking back with a frown at how some still breathed but did not move. Not even the tears of their friends and siblings got them out of those spots.
"NO! We can't play without them..." one of the smallest amongst them cried out as he stood still by what was likely an older sibling. And going by how the sibling had their eyes firmly locked on the open front of another child... I could only guess as to what was going on inside of their heads. And, with uncertain worry, I scratched my cheek before looking at the hand...
"Of course..." I mumbled before I quickly moved away from the kids. Worrying some with thoughts of abandonment before my magic encased them. And with a firm tug of the wrist, they stumbled about as I brought the whole chamber with me. Pulling it through the tunnels and picking up whoever else I could on the way.
Yet, with everyone I found, the magic had to be warped to greater sizes. It drained me more and more and my mind felt like it was suddenly about to break. I trembled and stumbled but the spell stayed up and active and I kept on moving until I reached a grand chamber. Similar to the one I once fell down in saving Vapooliar but damning myself.
"Drone, what is happening!? Why has the Queen gone silent!? What has happened to mother!?" a bug somehow asked me with fear in its voice as it stepped out of the dark and into the light. My light, the light of my magic that burned so bright behind me. But what was in its hands worried me. A crude staff made of mud-caked wood...
Something like that could only mean one thing, and that was that I had come across an earth shaman! And with this sight before me, I backed away in fear, much to its confusion. I panted and panicked until my own magic stopped me from moving. Looking back at it also terrified me, for it was a great big sign showing off how I would not be able to fight right now.
"Drone!" the earth shaman barked as it stomped on over and placed my jaw within its claws. Somehow, as well, despite it having no fire magic, its touch burned. No matter how thick my carapace got, I somehow felt every bit of its claws as it held on to my face.
"The Queen is dead!" I blurt out without granting myself the right of deed. I couldn't fight right now, not while my magic was focused so much behind me! I had to try and get past this earth shaman as is... Yet the mere idea of an earth shaman made me shiver, but to have one up close!?
"Dead...?" it slowly chittered out before it stepped backwards. Its claws tightly clenched its staff before it glared at me.
"What do you want...?" I barely squeak out under the pressure of being presented so vulnerably to the beast.
"Move aside, drone, I must see for myself if the hive is doomed." it ordered just before shoving me to the ground as it used its own magic to bypass mine. And as I laid on the ground, panting and heaving what fear I could out of me, I turned to the direction it came from. There was no light that way but it would take me far away from this earth shaman. The further I was from it, the better.
In fact, the further we all were the better. The last one I met could beat Vapooliar! I barely beat it because it lost its staff! And there was just no way I could get that staff away from it in this state! I needed to get topside fast and soon or there will be nothing but a Pack of Seven waiting for me!
"How did this go so wrong? How did it go..." I began to say as I tearfully brought myself up. Even with all the bursts of rage I have gone through, the slaughter those episodes entailed. I still broke back down into the mindset of a scared little boy. I thought I got over my fears of the bug, yet, somehow, here I was with a barely functioning mind.
.
.
.
"Larishazza...? What happened?" I asked my friend as I slowly stood up in the darkness we now found ourselves in. Clicking my fingers and getting some light into the area while blinking away some more of my self-inflicted blindness.
"Here, let me help with that." Larishazza said as she forced a wet fingertip against both my eyes. Initially, I reacted with surprise and backed away as getting jabbed in the eye hurt. But, that was before I came to the realization of what happened.
"Thank you, I really should've asked for that earlier, huh?" I asked back lightheartedly while I let my eyes adjust to their old state. Frowning intently once it became clear that Nin was not with us. And, going by the sounds, he was not exactly on his way either.
"To answer your question, the ground beneath us swallowed us and it has been throwing us about for some time." Larishazza answered with a casual shrug before she began to play with her hair. Little bits of dirt and stones peppered the ground below as she tried to clean it. And I could only shiver once I saw the state my braids were in. They were ruined, completely and utterly ruined!
"Now what do we do? I can't sense Nin and this place is giving me the creeps." I ask with worry before shivering at the sounds of the echoes. I don't know how old they were, but, some of these roars were unsettling. To say nothing of the other noises and muffled words I could hear. And, if I could hear this, Larishazza likely could too, if not more due to her stronger magic.
"We go back up." Larishazza informs me while pointing up.
"Up? You just said we've been thrown about this place." I say in confusion before realising too late.
"We're underground, silly." my friend laughed out before smiling while I groaned.
"I know... I know..." I let out with slight embarrassment that went away just as quickly.
"But, yeah, up. We go up and up and up until the halo is lighting our way again." Larishazza says as she walks off down a tunnel. And even when I lagged behind, she kept walking into the darkness without a concern about her. No visible concerns, anyway, or, rather, no serious ones. The fact she kept making childish noises whenever the ground made squelching noises proved that.
"Should I try and just shoot us out of here? My lightning bolt spell only goes up to the clouds on the first part. It would get us straight out of here if it is strong enough..." I begin to say before her frowning made me stop.
"Lightning bolt spell? We really need to get it a better name, in fact, we should all do that. We should name our magic!" Larishazza giggles out, completely ignoring my question and offer.
"We don't need to name our spells, we can cast them just fin- That's not a concern right now!" I replied to her at first before attempting to shift the topic away from it.
"But, no," Larishazza laconically answers at first, "we don't know how your magic reacts underground, do we?" with that question then asked, I began to think of an incident prior. When the ferry I was on sank and I was forced to get off it as a bolt of lightning. I don't remember much after that, as I hit my head when turning back to normal.
"It works underground... I found out years ago." I clarify to her only to frown when she still shakes her head at my offer.
"Still no, either way, we won't find Nin if we just shoot straight outside when he is probably looking for us."
"But what if he went back to get help?"
"You know Nin isn't like that."
"Right..." I let out as I imagine Nin's likely response and how relentlessly violent it probably was. Or, is, going by how he is probably looking for us right now. And, frankly, thinking about it made me want to get captured as then I could go and rush into his protective warmth.
"Someone's happy." Larishazza says with a coy grin as she pokes my cheeks before dancing off a little.
"I..." I began to say before I stuttered my mouth shut. Turning a little redder with each giggle that then came out of her mouth.
"Like, I know I don't like what Nin is doing right now with you and Liada, but, have you said it to him yet?" Larishazza then asked me as she washed the ground ahead of us. Her nearly bare feet likely picked up on a lot more than just slimy wetness.
"No, I haven't." I quickly answer as I become frustrated. It had been not too long ago when she first started encouraging me to do it, and when I nearly did it... Nin then just had to start having issues with the bracelet. What it did to me was not his concern when I said it was fine.
Yet, he took it off anyway and it briefly soured our relationship to the point you'd forget I ever felt that way for him at all. But, he then comes and puts it on again and like a switch, it was back to normal. I longed for him just like before and he maintained that distance just like last time. I only wish the distance didn't stay there, what would I have to do to get his love focused on me?
Saving his life did nothing of the sort as even then, he kept his eyes on my cheerful friend. Perhaps I needed to do more than that? Maybe I still had to pay back the emotional debt I laid upon him when we first got to Suhurlodst? I would be fine with that, because how could I ever forgive myself for what I did back then...?
If I could, it would probably be a while off, but, for now, I can make it up to him. By putting up with his teasing and all this sexual probing until he recovered from the loss of his home. Even if I, admittedly, rather hated it as it all felt so hollow. But maybe that was just the bookworm in me complaining.
"Why'd you stop?" I then found myself asking as I felt my chest press against her arm. Yet, my bulk did not move it forward and I instead bent around her light-brown skin.
"What in the name of... What is that thing?" Larishazza asked me as we came across some kind of oversized slug. The sticky bone that dangled out its mouth, however, left me uncomfortable. Yet, it was not because it was a bone, but more so because it ate it so sloppily.
"I assume it is some kind of cleaner...?" I put forth as an answer after watching it dig around for some more bones after it swallowed the other one. But, when I saw the bone it dug out, I lanced a bolt of magic straight through its centre. Killing it in that instant and letting its fatty body bubble and pop from a distance as I calmed myself down.
"That was a quick change of behaviour." Larishazza commented before she knelt down by the still bubbling creature to take the skull out its mouth. It was such a small thing and if I had not spent so long near them, I probably would not have known it belonged to them...
"Something here has been eating children..." I muttered in enraged horror as sparks began to fly off of me. A deeper instinct inside me had been set off by this sight and it seems like the same had happened with Larishazza.
"Then might I suggest we go feed them something else?" I was asked by my friend as her magic began to behave strangely. The earth was eating it up and it soaked the walls before they suddenly dried out again. Yet, Larishazza did not look concerned as she did it, so this must have been one of her spells. Or, the retooling of an existing one, not that it mattered.
"Will you be fine down here on your own?" I then asked as I pondered going back to the surface just so I could clean top-down. She, on the other hand, if I went through with this, would do down-up. So many of these creatures would not escape and we would be glad about it.
"I'm more worried for Nin." Larishazza admits uncomfortably as she rubs her arm and looks about. I sighed at first and nodded in understanding, but, I had some ideas.
"The magic in this part of the continent is weaker, yes? So, these creatures should be rather weak as well, no? Just, go nuts and when you find one that does not bow down so easily, that is your worries gone!" I explained in hopes it would calm her worries.
"Nin already looks so alike these things. There's no way I'd be able to tell unless I made sure to get up close to each of them." Larishazza says.
"You won't feel fluttery on the inside when you are near him?" I then ask as I try to think of more ways we might be able to tell who is Nin. Maybe giving his clothes to Liadanann wasn't the best idea...
"No, I won't. He's my friend, sure, but, I don't feel for him the same way you do." Larishazza admits rather nonchalantly with an uncertain shrug. Part of me felt happy to hear that, but, the rest was worried she might saw him in half with a jet stream of water.
"Well, good luck, I'll see you in a little bit then?" I questioned in an effort to shift the topic. All while I thought about casting my spell.
"See you up!" Larishazza cheerfully hummed out before she skipped down the dark tunnel with a handful of water orbs. And, as I watched her disappear into the darkness with her body outlined by her aura, I moved on. Shooting past her as a lightning bolt and striking my way through anything that got in my way. Be it dirt, stone or bug flesh and this kept on happening until I saw the sky again.
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"Down I go!" I let out as I turned myself to a person again before I reached the clouds. And I slammed back down the ground with a thrilled smile on my face before I was forced to confront the destroyed village. The sight of this destruction did a lot to remind me of what I needed to do. So I traced my steps back to the stone circles and tried to get back in.
But when the circles failed to open up suddenly as they did for Nin earlier, I frowned. Was it just a coincidence that opened them up before or was it something else? Either way, how I would get in now seemed to be the same regardless. I would have to blow a hole into the earth and burn my way through.
"Guess I am going back up." I comment with a small shrug as I idly look up to the clouds again. However, I would briefly halt my actions while looking for the airship as I couldn't see it. It didn't really matter, I suppose, but, it was good to check. Especially given our history with flying predators.
For now, though, I would focus on the predators from beneath the mountain. And I was soon back inside their tunnels once again with a flash of light. A shower of molten stone and burning dirt falling down around me before I moved on into the depths. And each time I heard chitters or the sounds of a slimy creature, I struck.
Cooking some to a crisp with a mere tap of the palm while others were impaled on searing digits. If one of them got too close to me, I just transmuted my body into the sky's wrath and walked on without a care. Those that were far away I shot towards as a lightning bolt before switching back to normal. And, in some cases, I turned straight into both lightning forms in succession.
Charging through some as a lightning bolt and leaving gaping, cherry-hot holes in their sides. Before then dropping down as a woman made of lightning and crushing their rapidly burning bodies beneath me. Yet, after a while, when it became clear it wasn't too dangerous, I stopped doing it. Mostly because it made me a little too self-conscious about my weight whenever I crushed one under me.
I know I wasn't fat or overweight or even slightly chubby or pudgy. But, if Nin and possibly some of the others found out about it... I'd be laughed at non-stop for just dropping myself on these beasts to kill them. And I did not want that, I wanted to be treated seriously as a great slayer of vile beasts!
Not an overweight ball that hit with enough force to loosen an island from our mountains grasp...
"HELP US! PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP!" I heard a man scream after a short while of travelling and killing. Then, when I heard it, I rushed on over as quick as I could to find out what the problem was. Even if it was pretty clear what the problem indeed was. But, when I got there, I was a bit confused by what I saw as there were barely any bugs.
Even less when I got done shocking those that came at me to death. So, I tried approaching one of the villagers likely taken from Vadei's village. I cut one of them loose by suddenly chopping a lightning hand down on the glossy black frame. Pulling him out of the rest as I watched the frame bleed some kind of foul-smelling liquid.
"A human witch...? From Eusorochii!?" the villager questioned before we were interrupted by strange sounds echoing from the small tunnels behind the frames. Whatever it was, some of these men immediately started to panic and the one I freed had to be forced still.
"Don't come all out at once..." I muttered under my breath as I raised my arms and spread my legs slightly. Slowly applying what I have seen before in fights before forgetting all about it as I ran about shocking peculiar bugs. They were peculiar in that they had no real bodies to speak of! It was like they were skeletons made to surround you!
And I tried my best to kill all of them, but dashing about a room of this scale was taxing. Unfortunately, even my change in tactics wasn't enough to save all the men here. As some were soon screaming in terrible pain while their mouths were muffled by something. I even got a clear view of what was going on after I tore away another man from an approaching one.
These things seemed to just eat them alive! These bugs ate grown men whole! It made me nauseous but I did not relent. And, thankfully, soon, some of these bugs began to pull back as I made it clear it was not safe for them.
"What in the name of..." I soon began to say in disgust as I watched one man I failed to save convulse in the frame. And, out of a sick curiosity that I would likely be ashamed of until I die, I watched this man die... I watched his proverbial shadow spasm inside of the beast before he went still. Then, he suddenly roared at me and scurried off into the dark when the frame let go...
"Which way is the way out!?" I was asked by one man before he was suddenly grabbed.
"OUT!? OUR CHILDREN AND WIVES ARE HERE! WE NEED TO FIGHT!" another yelled at the one he just grabbed. And, very quickly, a fight broke out between those who wanted to escape and those who wanted to save their families.
"Enough!" I boomed out like thunder as I slammed a lightning-covered boot to the ground. That was all it took to get their attention, and that was fine by me. So I then moved and picked up some of the frame and broke and messed with it. Soon slamming a makeshift spear into the arms of one of the men while glaring at the rest.
"Wherever you need me, I'll be there." the newly-equipped man told me as he tested the spear while some others went and grabbed weapons. But, there was nothing of quality here, only whatever I cut off from this strange biological contraption.
"Come on, we don't have much time, these things eat children!" I told them as I repeated what scared me the most about these things. But, as I looked around this area some more, I came to a realisation about Nin... He had been in a place like this before and if we go by how that other man turned... He was like that because no one saved him during such an event.
And it made me yearn for his touch once again, or, rather, it made me want to feel him in my arms. I wanted to comfort him so very badly, having finally truly understood his predicament regarding his body. But, if he was like that, then surely there's be others like him, no? Those who can still be saved in their minds...?
This was probably one of the worst times to be ignorant about the creatures of this land. So many different kinds of lives were at risk right now. I had the capacity to help these people but I also wanted to try and fill out my knowledge. To see if I can save even those who I thought I had failed prior.
"I can smell some of them, this way!" one of the men soon declared with a firm beating of his chest before he ran off. Quickly, he was followed by others and I would move to catch up with them, just as quickly overtaking them as well. And this was all in spite of my choice of footwear! Yet, I would try and keep in time with them as I could not smell anything but the foulest of stenches in this place.
Frankly, I was surprised that I had not thrown up yet or started feeling queazy. So much of this place was just unsettling and demanded wholesale torching. Not just any torching either, only the finest incendiaries would do for a place like this. And going by what Nin said about Brewbrt's town and our departure from it, there were many places like this.
And it made me sad, for it meant that this beautiful land was often tainted by the presence of such foul things. A pleasant valley or view could be ruined in its entirety by the paranoia these creatures would make. It probably even explains why all settlements of notable size were fortified to the extent they were. With things like these lurking below...
"KILL THEM ALL!" a husband roared as he shoved his makeshift spear into the back of a bug crawling over a crying woman. And when I saw how her legs were parted, I froze with the kind of fear only a woman knew. I would then steadily get angrier until I just let loose a storm from both sets of my fingertips. Whatever had shells over its flesh was struck down and cooked blacker before I stopped.
Heaving out heavily as I calmed down until I felt something familiar. I could sense a rather strong concentration of magic and it was getting closer very slowly. The people around me could feel it too, it seemed, so it must have been using a spell. Or, rather, Nin was using a spell.
But if that truly was Nin, "Stay here, watch the way we came in and any other ways in, I'll go have a look." I say before letting my magic drain out into the surrounding women. I did my best to heal them of any injuries, but, my magic could not heal the kind dealt to the mind or soul. Only their husbands and families had a chance at doing that.
"W-Who's there!?" I heard Nin call out with a terrified voice that made my heart sink. So, when I heard it, I charged on down until I saw the great shine his magic let out. And I went straight towards him and held onto him tight as he suddenly broke down.
"It's alright, Nin, it's alright!" I said to him as I tried to soothe the man I loved. But, the way he was shivering and shaking made it clear just this would not be enough.
"One... One... One of them was inside of my head..." he whimpered as he buried his face into my arm. It even nearly brought tears to my face as well, seeing him in this state. It made me worry for him in ways I could not begin to describe even if I was given all the time in the world to ponder it.
"There won't be any more monsters in your head, Nin, it's okay... It's okay." I said to him in a tone I emulated from my own mother. But, given how it has been a while since I've seen her, I might be taking more influence from Vadei's mother. It would not surprise me given how often I like to be around her just to see her be a loving mother to Vadei.
"W-Where's Lari...?" he then asked me in worry as he tried to escape my grip. But, for once, I was able to overpower him as it is clear he has been expending quite a bit of his magic.
"She's alright, she's clearing out this place from the b-" I started to explain to him.
"LARI!" he suddenly roared before most of his casted magic returned to him. And I was forced to watch him break free of my grip and run off into the depths of the hive. A vast collection of survivors was left behind in his wake. I would have gone after him, but this sudden burden prevented me from doing so.
And very, very soon, I was forced to move aside as lovers came back together and children cried into their father's arms. Those who found most of their family instantly turned around to try and get them out of there while the others became more desperate. Some even went charging off on their own like Nin had done before they got here. But, unlike with Nin, I doubt these men would survive unless I went after them in order to help them.
Yet, how was I going to help them when I still had to handle all these other survivors? Each child and woman Nin brought here only increased the issues of us lacking weapons. I was lacking a solution for this problem and it was bringing a great amount of stress to my mind... I left one group so very vulnerable if I went to help another...
But, I would just have to risk it, we had cleared the way here, hopefully, it would stay that way. So, with a nervous step towards the darkness, I ran off in the direction Nin went in. This way, I can get more of the men who ran off this way to come back if we saved their families. Yet, as I got closer to the sounds of them, it got worse and worse.
"I'LL KILL YOU ALL! YOU HEAR ME YOU DAMN BUGS!? DO YOU HEAR ME!?" I heard one man howl as he slowly hobbled out of a small entrance holding a small body. And as I lit up the area with my magic, I saw that the body was a lot smaller than it should have been. It made me feel so very sick and I went past the bloodthirsty man as if he was never there. I just wasn't sure how to handle something like this...
And in a twisted way, I was thankful for the magical presence I sensed deeper in the hive. It was an unfamiliar aura, but, it was something for my mind to focus on. There would also be no problems with what I did with it either. As the closer I got to this aura made it clear it was one of those bugs.
A relatively powerful one by the feel of it, yet, I very much doubted it was more powerful than me. I have slain a mountain-melting wyvern after all. This was just some bug living in the dirt beneath my boots. Some parasite that preyed on the weakest people they could find, and, I was not weak.
"I will be having words with you." I called out to the magic-using bug once I reached a grand chamber that had been blasted open wider. The faint sensation of Nin's magic was all over this place and a lot went up into a hole above us. I could only assume that meant Nin actually was brought into this place after we were separated.
But what could have caused Nin to unleash such destruction here? I could see no bodies beyond what little remained of the bugs at the entrance I had just walked through. Everything else was just, gone, pulverised into the walls around us which had been set into a firmer state by his magic. He had actually let loose so much magic that he made the land tougher...
It was an impressive feat, but, I still had to remember that we were on the edge of Jherikra. I also had to remember what I was currently about to fight as it had now acknowledged me. And, I was a little disappointed, this one actually had an aura of peculiar magic about it, unlike the others. But, it did not look particularly special at all, it had a staff, sure...
Actually, that was a very useful thing to note, "Suitable material for a new queen." the bug then said to me in a creepy fashion. And, it may have been dark, but I could see how its jaw moved in accordance to those words. Like an animal that had just spied a filling meal. Unfortunately for it, however, I had no intention of being its new queen, I had far grander titles waiting for me at home.
I did not respond to its words, instead, I flung a bolt of lightning at it and watched as stone blocked it. Then, I steadied myself for the ground began to erupt and distort as giant cylinders began to come at me. Before they slammed into me, I would turn into my alternate form and let them melt around me. Then, I would use my aura to make the melted stone explode away, only to be shocked at how quickly they came back together.
And no matter how many bolts I seemed to fling, I could not get past its defences. Yet, all these probing attacks made one thing clear to me. My lightning form was either hot or magically potent enough to near-instantly melt his controlled rock. I could just charge him if I wanted!
So I did, I ran through what I could until I was near him. At which point, I reached out my nearest gloved hand and held it out for him. Only for the bug to shoot into the sky on a pillar of stone which I ran into. And, eventually through.
"Get down here, you got a lot to answer for regarding what you have done to my friend!" I called out amidst getting struck at harmlessly by stone constructs. Nearly snorting at the bug as it began to test new ways to get past my defences. But our strength was just too different. It would not beat me like this, and it also seemed like it knew that...
"Very suitable, but, too strong." it commented before it brought itself over to the chamber entrance. At which point, it began to strike away at the dirt and rock. And the land about me rumbled as it suddenly began to collapse in on itself. I tried to turn into a lightning bolt to get out of here, but, I only went up!
I couldn't just leave this bug around, so I had to cancel the spell and travel on foot. And, as I desperately ran for the creature which was slowing me down with more stone... I thought of an idea that might backfire greatly. But, I needed to find Nin again, and that overpowered my worries.
"No! No! No! No! NO! NOT NOW!" I acted out as I intentionally exited my lightning form incorrectly. Letting my body spasm out as it returned to normal and getting caught against the flat-faced charge of the bug's spell. And I was sent flying with a painful thud which hurt more on the landing than the blow itself.
But, the plan had worked, the bug had caught notice and had moved its pillars to protect me from the falling debris. They then began to harshly pull me over to its waiting form which was looking at me suspciously. Yet, its caution was not enough and it still approached my immobile form as I panted in fake exhaustion. I was worried that it would see through my plan, though.
"Damn you... I'll kill you for what you have done to my friends..." I coughed out for real as all this dust dried out my mouth.
"There is still great power in you." it observed just before it touched my breast and began to feel the magic concentrated in it. The bug would realise too late, however, that I was still able to fight. And it would roar in sudden pain before it exploded into a cloud of ash that let loose little blue sparks.
"Why'd our biology have to be this way...?" I then asked the gods as I began to rub my hand along my clothes. I did not want whatever stuff that bug had on its claws on my clothes. Especially so near a place that should have only been touched by Nin. With this bug dead, though, I began to return to my original goal of finding Nin.
.
.
.
"Oh, okay, you like it rough, do you?" I laughed out at the weak creatures that were attacking me. I was too strong for them to hurt me, but they had gotten the jump on me as I walked in the dark and now... Well, uh, they seemed to be trying to rape me. My magic, however, kept them away and I was forced to look at some rather grotesque sights.
I would kill a few, but, I had to be careful as I was also protecting some people I had found. These sudden bangs that were echoing throughout the tunnels also had me worried. As they shook this place down to the foundations. And with each bang came more violent results down here.
Cracks, loose rocks, new tunnels or chambers being revealed. That was what was happening with each blow I felt the distant tremours of. So I had to pick up the pace to get these lot out of here. But, my magic wasn't really made for this.
I had improvised my fighting style out of my dancing style and that basically meant no protection. I could make shields, sure, but that was again, an improvised spell meant for something else. They were constructs meant to help me spread the joy of dancing! Not means to fight horrible creatures!
"Are you sure none of you knows how to use magic!?" I asked after clearing a tunnel with a large ball of water magic. And it was quite the tunnel as I did not even hear the water burst until a while later. But, in regards to my question, I got the same answer as before when I found them. A big fat no...
It made me want to roll my eyes, but, I kept on going either way. And I would kill as many as I could before I let out a sigh of relief when it felt like I was done. Only for me to then get jumped by a bunch hiding on the roof above as we entered a new chamber. My quick thinking, however, managed to save those I was guiding by keeping them separated with a wall of water.
"Get off!" I groaned in annoyance as they began to pile onto me. Certain body parts were even coming out during these brief few moments. But, something else was quickly approaching, and it made me smile despite my predicament. And in but a moments notice, I was in the arms of someone I could call friend.
"ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?" Nin screamed and cried as he protectively hugged me while I cleaned myself off. I didn't answer with words, though, I just smiled and returned the love my friend was handing out. Maybe I should have, though, because it seemed that my quietness was making him more worried. As he was completely baffled to see me smiling when he pulled me before his teary eyes.
So, I remedied the issue with a simple uttering, "Don't worry, I'm alright, Nin!" I tell him as I smile brightly. Keeping up the smile even as I began to flick small pebbles past him and at slowly approaching bugs. And as he settled into the idea that I was fine, he began to turn into a similar state.
"Can we get out of here...?" he then weakly asked while shivering and looking about in a paranoid manner. It was also interesting to note that the tremours had stopped as well. So, either, it was him, or Einervaene. And, just this once, I wanted to think it was Einervaene confidently strutting her stuff that caused the ruckus!
.
.
.
"What point is there...? I brought you back here so we could put you to rest but..." I began to say to Dad before I started crying again. And the fact all I felt was his cold touch only made me cry more. I don't even know why I was talking to him. I'd get no response and no closure, all I could do was imagine things he would say.
But... I have spent so long away from him and not interacting with him that I have all but forgotten how he behaved. I can remember things he has done with me and the others, yet, even then... I still could not figure out how he might answer my questions and cries.
"Maybe, I just need to go find you myself." I then let out quietly and miserably before getting off of the bed. And, despite having an idea, I was reluctant to move away from the bed. Maybe it was because I felt so weak as of late and so tired... I could not tell as all I could think about was Dad...
About how I would never hear him call me Little Va anymore. How I would never get to sit there smugly as Conquei got scolded for her lack of feminity. Or the reverse where I was getting scolded for my foul behaviour. Not one thing I did with him would ever happen again...
"Please come back..." I pointlessly begged as I wiped my eyes with my messy tail. The beauty it once had, the care I once put into it. It was all gone and I just could not muster up the effort to look after it anymore. I just couldn't care in general, I suppose.
And soon, I finally mustered the emotional, mental and physical strength to leave Dad behind. I left him alone and slowly made my way down the airship and back to my chair. I got many worried glances on the way, and some even tried to stop me, but I refused their offers. Even when I fell down into a fit of coughing and gagging, I refused.
I denied every bit of help offered to me until I got all the way to the bridge again. Where, to no surprise, Mom was waiting for me. And the moment she saw me was chaotic as she just threw me into my chair. A harsh but gentle hand rubbed my scalp and she barked her orders to someone.
Then, when I woke up again after going through a series of flickering eyes. Before me was a steamy bowl of something and holding it up was a Mom who loved me so much... So very much... Then, once again, I began to cry at the mere thought I might lose her soon too.
All it took was a one-in-a-million chance for Dad to die and now that we were home... We could see how much danger was present in the area. Osibindah had come and they were tearing our home apart in the hunt for whatever it is they wanted. Be it food or bodies to steal...
If Dad was gone just like that, then what is to say that the moment we land that Mom won't go to? That Conquei who I had to go back a second time for won't just vanish for a second time...? I wanted to go home, and now that I was here, I never wanted to land there... It was too dangerous for them...
"Vadei, please, listen to me, you need to eat!" Mom's begging soon registered in my ears and I looked up at her.
"Excuse me..." I politely asked between a new set of coughs. Attempting to get up before the mere presence of her hand put me back down. She wasn't going to let me go anywhere so I needed to be smarter about this. But, I just couldn't think of anything as my head would just start pounding harshly.
"Mom, can you help me with something, please?" Conquei asked as she came in, likely holding something. But, that only made Mom's grip on me tighten.
"Can't it wait!?" she asked back surprisingly harsh as she tried to tease my mouth open with the sweet smell of the food. She failed in that task and the spoon just hovered before my cracked lips.
"Thank you..." my sister let out quietly when Mom just walked off with a stressed huff. Leaving me alone in my chair with a bowl of warm food. Something I quickly set aside before I began to slowly set the airship down as to not alert anyone. But my lack of sleep made it feel like we were suddenly jerking about and it worried me.
Yet, I managed to succeed in my task and the airship landed without an issue. Now, I just needed to quickly get off the airship after giving it a timer before it would go up again. If Mom and Conquei could die so easily if we were not thorough, then I'd have to clear this place. I was stronger than them, I did save them after all.
So, I could save them again, surely? I just needed to get off this airship quickly. But, upon reaching the outside spaces, the timer had already finished and the airship had begun to rise. So I swallowed my fear and just fell overboard.
"DAMMIT!" I screamed after slamming into the ground below. Just this small drop had hurt so much and I was clutching my body as I cried my pain out. Then, when I was done crying over something so insignificant, I finally managed to get up. Each step, however, was accented by the huffs of pain I could not help but let out.
And when I looked up at the distant and blurry airship, I smiled a bit. Because now that they were up there, they were safe. I could fight these osibindah attacking my home and make it safe for all of them. And, maybe, just maybe, I could go see Dad again before Undwote takes him...
"Come out... Bugs..." I weakly croaked as I bounced between trees with painful thuds. Not even paying attention to how my claws were steadily whittled down by the bark. Then, when I ran out of trees to hold on to, I fell to the ground. And I led there quietly in the grass as my mouth tried to suckle what moisture it could.
Then, once again, I cried as I began to regret my plan. This wasn't going to work at all, not at all... If I could not even get past Mom of all things in this state... How was I going to stop osibindah!?
How was I!? Dad would have hated me throwing my life about so recklessly like this. He would have hated it and the moment I would find him again... He would be angry with me, my last moment with him would be anger, not joy...
"Please come back... I have been an idiot..." I cried as I rolled onto my back and reached out for the distant airship. But as I watched it rise higher and higher, I got angrier. And this anger was soon converted into the strength I needed to get back up. And I kept on moving once I was up again, a glare on my face as I slowly hobbled over a low cobblestone wall.
Then, I went over the wall slowly and gently hopped down from it while hugging my tail with one arm. It was very cold out here even though the halo shined brightly down on me. Even the little sticks that snapped under my feet seemed to hurt more than they should have. Yet, even with my precautions, none of it got easier.
It hurt to move, to think, to see and to hear, everything about this slow journey was pure misery. Not even the thoughts that drove me were any better. It was just a mountain of bottled-up grief and anguish. Mom and Conquei seemed to have gotten over it, but I have not for some reason...
All I could think about was Dad's cold hands and increasingly colourless fur. That bed he was in was all that seemed to matter to me right now and I just didn't know what to do. But, thankfully, I found something to distract me from Dad, at least for a moment. Because I was able to find our old house which was still miraculously intact.
I guess that was one benefit to living at the edge of the village closer to the woods. The mountains were further away so the osibindah would be as well. It was quite dusty, however, merely walking past the broken door set my nose off. To my displeasure, as well, my face stung intently as if I had sneezed out razor blades or something.
"Still here? Mom, I thought your cooking was better than that." I commented as I stared at the cold fireplace and the large black pot. A dusty stew full of new things was still in said pot and it had congealed into something else. It still looked like a stew, mind, but, I would not want to eat it at all. Even with the completely empty stomach that I had...
I soon moved on, though, to a different part of the house and came to a stop before our bedrooms. Me and my sister shared a room just like Mom and Dad did with the other one. It wasn't a large house by any means, but it was my house. Our home... That was all it needed to be to be better than all the other places I have lived at.
"You better not be trying to scare me..." I mumbled miserably when I heard chittering coming from behind me. It was probably just Nin coming on by to see why the airship had come on down. So, I went out to meet him, only to freeze up when I saw yellow eyes, not blue. But, I did not back away in fear or try to fight.
I just stared at the frail-looking osibindah as it stared back at me and swished about its stolen tail. Then, it moved to grab me and pick me up to which I sighed weakly. The joy I had previously found by going inside our home was now gone and I was being carried off. Death was awaiting me now and I could go see Dad again!
Yet, even with how much I hated my life right now, no matter how much I just wanted it to end. I could not help but feel a growing sense of dread as I was carried off by this bug. And soon, I was forced to say goodbye to the light of the halo as I was brought into a tunnel. To my surprise, however, the bug did not spear me on anything disgusting...
It just left me alone in a small chamber alongside a couple of other people from the village. Each of them was somehow in a better state than I was... It did not confuse me, however, I knew exactly why I was like this right now. Nor did I really linger on my fate, I just felt so tired right now and I just wanted to sleep...
So I did, I slowly, somehow, managed to get to sleep while being watched.