Mia watched Diana’s hands tremble as she cast her healing magic on Hector's wound. The warrior lay on his back on the wet fleshy floor, his face pale under the grime and sweat. Blood seeped through the tear in his side, pooling on the ground. Mia held his hand.
“Mia…” he managed to croak.
"I'm here, Hector. I'm here. Don't talk, just stay with me." Mia said, kneeling beside him. She tore a piece of cloth from her cloak and pressed it against his wound, trying to stop the bleeding. She felt his pulse, which was faint and erratic. He had lost too much blood.
“Talk to him, tell him to stay with you. He can’t lose consciousness” Diana said, still casting her spells.
“Hector, can you hear me? You have to fight. Hold on a bit longer just until Diana manages to fix you” Mia said tears streaming down her face “Please, don’t give up now. We’ve won. You’ve won. You killed that giant monster. You can’t leave us now. Stay with us Hector.”
Hector opened his eyes slightly and groaned “Is anyone hurt?”
Tears blurred Mia’s vision and she couldn’t find her voice for a second.
“We’re all fine. You're going to be fine too Hector.” Frank said, also kneeling next to Hector.
Her hands were shaking from pressing the blood soaked rag against Hector’s wound, her tears dropping on his chest. She noticed Frank pulled his daggers, and moved one of them towards Hector.
“What are you doing?” She asked, quickly glancing about, looking for her bow. Which was discarded a couple of feet away.
“Cutting his armor open so he can breathe.” Frank said doing just that apparently he didn’t notice her glance. He removed the chest piece, making the nasty wound visible.
“How bad is it?” Hector managed.
Mia looked at his stomach with a hole big enough she could stick her finger inside and not touch the edges of the wound.
“Not that bad, it's healing already” She said, somehow managing the lie.
Time hung suspended as Hector's breaths grew shallow, then ceased altogether. Panic gripped Mia, and she just sat there numb. Diana sat back and stopped her magic.
“Oh fuck no, youre not dying until i fucking allow you to” Frank shouted, he looked at Diana “You keep healing him!” Kneeling beside Hector, he pressed his hands firmly against the unconscious man's chest and started CPR.
The rhythmic thud of Frank's heart massage echoed through the cavernous nest.
“There's no point, he's gone.” Diana cried.
“You heal him or ill fucking stab you! He's not gone until I say so!” Frank shouted, continuing the massage with a frantic energy. Diana got back to casting her spells with a dark glance at Frank. The wound seemed to be closing but the warrior didn’t stir.
Mia’s eyes were fixated on Hector's face. The lifeless gaze piercing her very soul. She clenched her fists, helpless against the despair that coiled around her. She felt like the world was crumbling around her, didn’t she promise herself she would protect others? Just when she thought that she was strong enough the damn city threw something even more horrific at them.
Was this supposed to be the end for her oldest friend? Frank still struggled pointlessly but she knew it was over. She hid her face in her hands and cried.
Then, against all odds, Hector's body jolted and he gasped for air. It was the most beautiful sound Mia ever heard. Her body tingled from the overwhelming relief, she collapsed onto the warrior and hugged him. Frank, arms trembling, leaned back and laughed.
Hector's eyes flickered open, awareness replacing the vacant stare. “Mia… that hurts…” He managed.
She immediately let go of him “Oh god sorry” but she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. She felt a wave of relief, joy and exhaustion. Mia looked at her blood covered hands and the almost closed wound on Hector's side. They did it. They brushed with death and survived.
Diana stopped her magic again, this time with a self satisfied smile.
“I know you’re hurt, but we can’t stay here for long” Diana said to Hector.
“Yeah I get it, just let me rest here for a moment and I’ll be good to go” Hector said, trying to sit up.
Mia pushed him back down, “Lie down and wait for the healing to work” she said in a stern voice.
“We could check out the room in the meantime,” Diana suggested.
“I’m not leaving him to look around,” Mia said.
“We could find something that would help us get home,” Diana said, looking Mia straight in the eyes.
Mia felt two conflicting needs fighting within her but when she looked at Hector and he nodded. “I’m good, just let me rest for a second. I’ll shout if anything happens”
“Okay, if you say so” Mia said, still unsure.
“Let's find some treasure at the end of the dungeon then” Frank said, still looking giddy from Hector’s survival.
“Fine, let's get it done quickly, we probably made enough noise to lure anything in this room ” Mia said, “Spread out.”
Diana and Frank actually listened. Even though she could hear Frank humming the Scooby doo theme song. She just rolled her eyes and refocused on the room.
She went to the nearest column and inspected one of the small caves. Like all the others the centipede was asleep, however Mia instantly noticed that something was different with the bug inside. It looked much less monstrous and beast-like than the ones they were used to fighting.
The Abomination she was looking at had far less pronounced teeth, the plates fit together far better. Mia stretched her head to see the monster from both sides, it had an even number of legs on both sides. And its flesh lacked the oily sheen she associated with the Abominations.
Mia looked into another cave, this bug was somewhere in the middle between the usual ones and the one she just inspected. She quickly circled the whole column. Each monster was somewhere on the scale of corruption.
“Hey guys, come over here” She heard Diana shout.
She rounded the column again and ran towards Diana, Frank was already there.
“What is it?” Mia asked.
Diana just pointed to one of the caves. There was one of the signs that they sometimes found on the buildings.
“What does it say?” Mia asked looking confused at Frank and Diana
“Talk to this guy,” Frank said, quietly.
Mia looked at the centipede more closely, it was definitely the least monstrous of the bugs she had found, it looked like an animal and not a nightmare. Mia noticed that the tubes connecting the creature to the wall seemed damaged and leaking a foul smelling mixture onto the cave.
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“This is not a creche, or home. It's a prison or a lab” Diana said.
“What do you mean?” Frank said, still sounding bewildered.
“The bugs are in different stages of corruption, right? The building pumps some shit into them and the bug which is not connected is the most normal. That's the lab part.” Diana said “They are unconscious, they didn't even wake up during the fight. That's the prison part”
“What about the sign?” Frank mused.
“No idea, but so far they were only helpful. No idea how we are supposed to talk with it” Diana responded.
“Do you think it speaks Morse code? I’ll tap out ‘Stop trying to kill us, please’ on its armor.” Frank quipped. “If that fails we can resort to the universal language of threats and stabbing. Works every time” He twirled his daggers.
----------------------------------------
Diana looked at Frank's antics and could feel her foot tapping the floor, her indecisiveness irritating her.
“Whatever, seems like a time for action and not thinking” Frank said and quickly cut the fleshy webs covering the entrance to the prison cell. Diana watched. Then he grabbed the bug by its front legs and heaved it outside, disconnecting the tubes connecting the Abomination to the walls.
Diana identified the Bug.
CTHOSARUM CITIZEN
TYPE: CHTONARIX
LVL. 5
HP: 30/30 (UNCONSCIOUS)
MP: ??/??
SKILLS:
LUNGE - ?
INHABITANTS AND BUILDERS OF THE CITY OF CTHOSARUM. MEMBERS OF AN INSECTILE SENTIENT RACE.
Everyone's jaws dropped.
“It’s sentient?” “ It's not a monster?” Mia and Frank barraged her with questions.
“Quiet, let me think!” She said in a tone that accepted no disagreement.
“Just because its sentient it doesn’t mean it won’t attack us the moment it wakes up” She said “It appears also weaker than the Abominations”
“How do you know? Maybe it can use magic?” Frank interjected.
Diana sighed, “ Yeah I was about to say that, let's prepare for when it wakes up”
“How do you know it will? Wake up i mean” Mia asked.
“I don’t. But it would make sense once its disconnected from the walls.” Diana responded
She quickly cast a bunch of Explosive runes around the bug and a slowing rune under it.
“Go a bit back and cover us from a distance” Diana said and the other woman nodded and jogged away to take position.
Diana sat down to wait. She watched the centipede with curiosity. It was missing the wrongness of the monsters, it didn’t scare her but it was always good to be prepared. She cast a barrier on herself just to be sure. With Frank at her side she felt ready for anything the bug might throw at them.
She wanted to talk to the creature badly, to learn more about its origin, its purpose, and its thoughts. It could help her get into the pyramid or even unlock more of her magic. It would be easier if it would cooperate but even if it didn't she could probably still use the methods Frank proposed. Violence actually did solve a lot of problems.
The only problem left was the communication itself, but one step at a time, even if this one didn’t manage to talk they could find another. She hoped that the creature was intelligent enough to talk to. She waited patiently for the centipede monster to wake up, and to hear its voice for the first time.
The centipede monster stirred. It opened its eyes, and instantly jumped up and curled into a ball with its armor on the outside. A smell of iodine filled the air.
Diana was surprised and happy it didn’t roll into the Explosive runes surrounding it. At least it was smart enough to understand it was in danger.
“Can you understand me?” Diana asked slowly.
The bug started vibrating its armor plates producing a sound not dissimilar to nails on a chalkboard, with clicks and clacks added on top of it. Frank stood his hands on his daggers.
“You think it's talking?” He looked at Diana.
“Don’t know, it seems to be some kind of defensive reaction, like the smell?” She theorized.
“We want to communicate” She tried again. “Can you hear us?”
The sound’s stopped. The bug was completely still, then she felt a voice directly in her brain, completely bypassing her own ears. She felt like there was a second person thinking inside her head.
"Yes, I hear you. I am a Chtonarix, a hunter of prey. I do not know you. I do not trust you. Why are you so close?" the centipede said.
“It's telepathic! Can anyone else hear it?” Diana said in a panicked voice and backed away from the bug. The experience was disconcerting.
“Yeah I can hear it, it asked why we are so close.” Frank said. Diana glanced at Mia in the distance who should have heard her question. The ranger just shook her head. Hector was standing next to Mia, his shield raised, he looked ready for battle.
“Back up, Frank.” Diana said, then added louder “If I or Frank behave strangely, shoot the bug, it might try to control our minds or something!” Diana took cautious steps back and felt a small tremble in her legs. The idea of something taking control of her most precious resource sent shivers down her spine. The bug didn’t comunite anything further.
“What do I call you?” She asked about the bug.
A flow of images and concepts flooded her mind. She sensed a vibration in the ground. She perked up her antennae, and followed the source. It is an arachnox, scurrying through the tunnels. She is hungry, and it is her prey.
She moved swiftly, using her many legs to propel her forward. She is a master of the underground, and nothing can stop her. She catches up with the arachnox, and strikes. She sinks her mandibles into its flesh, injecting venom. It squeaks in pain, and tries to escape. But it is too late. Her venom paralyzes it, and I drag it to my lair.
I am a Chtonarix, a hunter of prey.
The vision was gone just as fast as it popped into her mind. She was staring at the creature before her. She spit to get rid of the metallic taste of blood from her mouth.
“You understand High Speech. Why do you broadcast in Low Speech? Why are you so close? What are you?” She ‘heard’ the bug in her mind again.
“What do you mean by high and low speech?” Diana asked in confusion. “ I am a human. What is this place? What are you doing here?”
The centipede was silent for a while then it started making the sounds again. The sound really triggered something in Diana’s lizard brain that told to check if she was just having goosebumps or if it was actual bugs on her.
“That was Low Speech. This is High Speech. This is Cthosarum. I was a prisoner here. Undecided what to do next.” The thoughts stopped for a moment before continuing. “Rude creature. ”
“Uhm” Diana hesitated. “So sound is Low Speech and High Speech is telepathy?” She let the question hang.
“Yes” the bug sounded … irritated? No it's more indignant? “Rude rude creature. Why do you broadcast in Low Speech? Why are you so close? Why are you so close? What is a human? What do you want?”
The questions seemed to pile up, the bug was helpful so far, but the repetition of’ rude’ had her worried. She was missing something here. Maybe it was the distance? She motioned to Frank to back up some more. After they did she tried again.
“Is this far enough?” She asked.
“No.” The bug said in her head. “Rude rude RUDE creature!” It was a shout in her head. The centipede was agitated, it started clicking with its legs again. “Why do you broadcast in Low Speech? Why are you so close? What is a human? What do you want?”
“Diana look at how the questions pile up, he answered yours, maybe do the same?” Frank suggested.
Diana nodded, it was worth a try. “Humans communicate in Low Speech. I don't know how to broadcast in High Speech. I am surprised I can understand it.” She offered a bit more to offset her delay in answering questions “ This is a big distance for humans to communicate over. I don’t know how far you want me to go. Humans are sapient mammals. I want many things” No use spilling everything at once.
The tactic seemed to work, the clicking noise stopped.
“So Human not rude, just … uneducated. Barbarian.” Hunter of Prey sent over understanding with more than a note of condescension. “High Speech is for Trade. You provide information and ask questions. In equal measure. Quantity and quality. Can you trade?”
Understanding dawned for Diana, she was indeed pretty rude by the creature's standards asking so many questions while delaying her own answers. It was time to remedy that.
“Thank you for that information. Yes we can trade. We are not of this world, we want a way home. Can you help us? Also why can we understand High Speech? How far would be far enough for you.” she said. Three questions and three pieces of knowledge, should be fair.
“Thank?” The centipede was confused “I do not grasp the concept. Uninterested. Just Trade. I can help you. Everything understands High Speech, it's the language of everything. We can help each other. I want to be in the Home. Help for you also there. ”
“We want to help each other. Where is the Home?” Diana asked.
The bug uncurled. “The Pyramid.”