He raised the sharp blade and brought it down on the thing before him. It pierced the supple newborn's skin and drew blood from the wound.
“Argh… please…” The thing moaned again.
He raised the knife again and plunged it into its flesh. It squealed lightly in pain.
“Please….” The pained gasps were starting to hurt even him.
“Just let go of continued combat. I am trying… to ….. end your waking.” Egosum stabbed it several more times when it finally passed on.
The mercy kill failed to save its much agony as the creature’s eyes drained of all life left. The blood pooled underneath the thing and crept towards him with each second.
‘Not my proudest moment.’ He turned around and hopped off the table to avoid the spill. The cold packed earth floor welcomed him with open arms, carrying him to the jar he called home.
Mid-leap he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Upon landing he slowly turned to the stairs in fear of the Hag finding out who the constant intruder was.
The eyes that stared at him through the railing glowed a light blue in the darkness. The creature up above had its vision trained on him.
The cat from earlier froze in place as Egosum stared right back at it.
‘Am I fucked?’ The standoff lasted for a few more seconds before he made a break for it. The sudden burst of movement startled the cat into action. Egosum Leaps high into the air as the cat leapt to the floor below in a pouncing motion.
“Oowa oowa. Stupid cat. Can’t catch me.” The first hop he took empowered his ego as he watched the cat call far behind. It carried him to the first shelf nearby. He hit the wood with an audible plop and glanced back to where the cat was.
It ran on the ground with bounding motions, carrying it closer and closer to him. The next leap took him to a shelf across the room. His impressive weight caused it to tremble as he hit it. The cat followed not far behind him, knocking over herbs and glass jars.
The shattering startled even him as the noise echoed around the room. Both creatures froze mid action as they waited for the sounds of shuffling to erupt from up above. After a few tense seconds of silence, they looked back at each other to restart their chase.
With the fear of waking the hag at the back of their mind, they rushed through the shelves, knocking small animals out of their containment.
The influx of more targets caused the cat to slightly lose focus. A white puffball mouse skittered along the floor while a long worm with legs swam up a shelf.
With so many pieces of prey before it, it struggled to remain fixated on him.
Another hop took him only a few feet from his jar, the impenetrable sanctum he called his temporary home. Without the imminent fear of death, he quickly walked up to the jar to begin climbing back in.
The soft click of claws ripped his attention from the safety that sat before him. A glance backwards showed the cat walking forward with a blood-soaked maw dripping slowly.
His blood ran cold as the blue eyes trained in on him. The cat almost seemed to sparkle slightly as it got closer each second. His vision was drawn to it as it looked through him. He was almost hypnotized into inaction as the rhythmic swaying shoulders and glowing eyes entranced him. The aura it gave off reminded him of the mages he had seen casting spells near the vernal pools, only much less bright.
The connection he made shocked him out of the hypnotic state. The cat had made up the distance he gained in the time he stared into its figure. He had been tricked!
Right as the cat lunged at him, he tried to jump out of the way only for its sharp claws to grab ahold. His tough skin kept the curved grippers from drawing blood. They skid off the surface as he struggled in its grasp.
The cat fumbled with him, falling to keep a good hold despite the thick epidermis. Egosum felt his back feet meet something behind him and kicked with all his power at once.
He went flying upwards at incredible speed and smacked into the shelf above him sending everything on it scattering to the ground below. Glass went flying everywhere as shards splintered away, leaving a cloud of reagents and pain on the ground below.
His body fell limply downwards, straight into the jar he called home. Upon realizing his salvation was finally at hand, he stood up in the jar and secured the lid firmly.
The shop was a mess from their chase and the cat laid against the wall in the distance, having been sent flying by his kick.
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‘Bastard cat tried to kill me? How bold. If only it wasn't so stupid, then maybe it would have been a real challenge.’ He watched from his sealed jar as the cat stood up and shook its head clear from the blow it had just received.
It seemed to handle the momentous kick very well despite the sheer force he imparted with it. The cat looked over to him and hissed loudly in anger.
A sudden crash from above froze them in place. Bumps and thuds rained down from above. The hag came rushing down the stairs with magic dripping from her hands.
“Whoever is here shall be gutted down to every organ! Your skin shall be peeled one finger and a time. Your eyes with be dried to the point of becoming raisins. Your…. You stupid cat.” The anger in her voice was palpable as she saw the mess and the bloody cat that stared up at her descending form.
Every word she said sent shivers down the cats back. The crone took each subsequent step with an eerie calmness that seemed miss placed on her harsh feature. Each quiet thump shook the room as a gravity he had yet to witness took the room over.
“Why does it smell like goblin blood in here?” The words came out like a sweet whisper with a hidden darker tone to them. The cat took off into a sprint into the back room that houses the abomination quickly followed by the furious woman.
Egosum sat happily in his jar as the creatures just out sight brawled with horrible hisses and vile curses flying out into the air.
‘What a strange cat fight. Hehehe. I think that feline was a female at least. Whatever, it works either way.’
He made himself comfortable in the jar and fell asleep to the waning noises in the background.
The influx of the herbs sent him falling into his mind as he saw visions of his situation. All at once, he found himself back in the grey swamp.
All around him, the sprouts grew in immense volumes. The orange herd that drove him wild the first day stood the shortest out of all of them but appeared to be the most numerous at the same time. It was an extremely pleasant feeling to be back in a swamp after the stressful waking time he had.
“I see you are finally back to continue our talk.” The dirt spoke up before he could take any time to think.
“You can see?”
“I…I… You are annoying. Whatever. Now that you have had time to think, you must see the benefits of listening to me now.” The smug dirt lifted slightly in an upheaval of emotions. It seemed confident that it would finally be listened to. It made his next words all the more satisfying.
“No. You are really bad at reading the situation, you know? I am growing bigger every day and my skin must rival the front-line warriors of the toad-kin with how thick it is. I’m living pretty well.” Egosum stuck his chest out in defiance and spite at the rude former wisp.
“The only reason your skin is so tough is because of how much qi you are saturated with. How did you even learn about your newfound toughness? Did you almost get eaten by a cat like the toad you are? Hahaha” It seemed pleased with itself to mock him, but he was quite proud with how well he faired against the cat.
“Cats are the deadliest of combatant for a young amphibian. The fact I stood up against it and came out victorious is a testament to my martial prowess. It will not be long before I can beat back swathes of the creatures.”
“You actually fought a cat? Heh, that is so stupid. Did you at least kill it?” It dismissed the proud achievement and insulted him in the same sentence.
“I did not get the chance to finish it off, but I did have the upper hand. One more exchange of blows and it would have been over for it.” He was getting really tired of this stupid soul soil.
“I see. You know if you just listened to me, you would be capable of wiping the floor with that thing by the time you leave this place. Your old master couldn't even compare to the teaching I could give you.” It took one last chance to convince him
His patience was finally up. He discounted his achievements and insulted the great Quetinctol in one thought. Egosum jumped away from the immobile insulter and wiggled himself into the mud to get comfortable. He refused to listen to any more slander.
He considered himself so great, yet he was the one who turned himself in a patch of dirt. The thought of destroying that cat and seeing the look on its face as he obliterated it would be nearly priceless if it came from any other source than that stupid thing.
He took the next few hours in the place to relax and enjoy the feeling of being back in his swamp home. The scents, textures, and heat all reminded him intimately of the world he fled from to save his life.
His mind drifted into the stream of time pondering on the nature of the world he found himself in. The only thing that was missing from the swamp was friends to populate it with. There had to be a way to invite better company than that stupid patch of dirt here.
His thoughts carried on for a time when the swamp around his started to flicker again.
“You will eventually come to me for help. I will give it, but I won't let you live this stubbornness down. Heed me!” The dirt got in the last word as he found himself straddling awake back in the jar.
His whole body barely fit the once spacious jar now. Despite not amounting to much compared to a full-grown kinsman, he was now nearly a third of the cat's size.
He listened for any noises around the shop and found nothing of interest. The sun was out and the back room was motionless. It was the perfect time for an outing. Despite his newfound strength, he struggled to open the lid now that the jar was so cramped.
With much effort and frustration, he finally pried it off and squeezed out of it. He looked back at his temporary residence and decided that today was going to be the last day he stuck around this shop.
The herb supply began to dwindle with only half of them left. That meant today was going to be a day of feasts.
He hopped off of the shelf and slapped the floor down below with his impressive weight. It was going to be a fantastic time.
His leaps took him from spot to spot as he devoured the enormous quantities of drying plants. The final herb left was the intoxicating orange plant.
‘The dirt called it frog bulbitis if I remember correctly. Pretty fitting with how delicious it smells. Must be meant for me.’ Egosum shoveled the plant down with extreme gusto. With the plant gone, he looked around the shelved room in contentment.