I held onto the edges of my Armedshark and kept my head down. The memories of how the sharp, uneven stony outcrops on the roof had scratched deep gauges into Casiron's back were still fresh, and I wasn't interested in finding out what they would do to me. Instead, I remained low across the wooden back, glad that we were almost at our first goal, as my mind drifted back.
It had taken us weeks to traverse through hidden caverns, along the sides of seemingly bottomless trenches to reach a maze of tiny cracks parallel to the main Spawning Trenches. We'd only come across a few random, roaming Demons, so few that it was almost quiet and peaceful. Lark had said the others were all either fighting or roaming around the massive, chaotic churning mass of teeth, hoping to feed on the remains of a powerful demon that might drift away from the battle.
Whatever the reason was, I had happily spent the relative calm talking with Eliandra, resting in my own Mindscape, and agonizing if I should use the Ulixer'sin Tree. In the end, I'd decided to wait until I wasn't in the middle of a demon-invested sea before making up my mind. When there was a chance, I'd created more Armedsharks, adding to my army, which was now over thirty strong.
All in all, things had gone swimmingly.
I grinned at my bad joke, then sighed. There was one new problem to add to the stack, however. I had realized Libidi might think me dead. We had agreed to meet outside if I didn't die, and she had no way of knowing that I'd found another way to stay this deep. She would likely have left by now, and I hoped I would find her again in the future. I'd asked Par about using sent-message to talk with her, but he said that was impossible unless she gained her own Mindscape.
As we traveled, Lark had been able to guide us through the mazes as if he'd been through all of them before, knowing hidden tunnels through the jagged maze of fissures and crevices. Upon asking, he'd told me it was because he had absorbed the knowledge from other demons. Eventually, he led us to a narrow entrance, hidden below a massive green and purple plant growth.
Which was where we were now, moving through a cavern so narrow Casiron only just fit.
There is a tiny demon up ahead, Casiron said, directly in my mind.
I was jarred awake by his words and looked ahead, not seeing anything. Then a slight movement caught my eye. A hand-sized demon, dull green with four legs each ending in fins, almost flippers, hovered near a tiny aperture.
Lark stopped close to it.
"Vile Snake," the tiny demon whispered questioningly, its froglike mouth causing the words to be malformed and guttural.
What the, I thought, as any remaining fogginess dissipated instantly.
The thing knew Lark was coming here? What the hell was going on? Lark hadn't said anything about meeting someone! Just that he knew the way to the First Lieutenant.
"Yesss," Lark said. "Where issss he?"
The tiny demon backed up, closer to the narrow crevice. It led away into the darkness, probably some escape route.
"I will be allowed to join your host if I tell you this. Yes?" the demon whispered, its guttural voice grating on my nerves. "Become one of the first hundred?"
"Ofcoursssee," Lark said soothingly, his voice oily and soft. "If you do well, I'll even grant you a name!"
The demon's four muddled red eyes brightened, focused on Casiron, then quickly darted to Lark.
"Yox'plir is inside his cave," the demon said. "Follow me."
With one more seemingly worried glance at its escape route, the tiny demon swam forward.
How do these demons never get backstabbed? I thought as Lark just followed the demon. How could he be so certain this ugly frog wasn't leading us into a trap?
I thought about asking Casiron, but the Dracoserp had been quiet ever since we set out. Even during the short moments of rest in the perpetual gloom of the underwater world, he had said little, seemingly absorbed by something. I could sense he was struggling with something, and even now, only part of his attention seemed on what was happening.
Be ready for anything, I told him instead.
The tiny demon kept ahead of us, moving with surprising bursts of speed. Each time he looked behind and saw Lark looming behind, his face warped with clear fear.
The cavern split into many others, and as we passed by, I pulled up my own map to make sure the chaotic maze was added. I zoomed in on the wide sea until I located the part where new details slowly appeared.
The area I'd traveled through looked like a bowl of yarn or spaghetti, but a clear path led back out into the demon sea. The path we had taken with Lark was the only area filled in in this part of the sea, though I knew that if I zoomed out a great deal, I'd see the parts I'd come through during my previous time below the foamy red waters.
After looking at it for a bit, making sure the tiny corridors appeared, I closed my map. Between it, Casiron, and my army of three dozen Armedsharks, I was pretty sure I could get out of here if needed.
Roughly ten minutes after entering the cavern, the demon stopped at another intersection.
"Follow that path, and you will find Yox'plir's den," he said, pointing a flipper at the right-hand path. "I need to leave now! I'll head to your lair and wait for your safe return, master."
The demon rushed away in the left corridor without another word while Lark seemed ready to head into the right.
"Vile Snake, wait," I hissed, not interested in simply rushing in like that. We had no idea what we were going to find there!
Lark turned around, his dull red eyes narrowing as he gazed at me.
"We need to prepare," I said. "Figure out if Yox'plir is alone or has followers there."
"Why would he have followersss in hisss own cave?" Lark asked, sounding confused.
His confusion surprised me, and I shrugged. "I don't know, to talk with? Order them around?"
Lark hissed with soft laughter, his head swaying left and right like the snake he resembled.
"No demon would let othersss ssstay in his hideout," he said.
I frowned. Why had he allowed both his followers and us inside if that was true?
"Still," I said as I summoned a Vengeful Spirit into the tiny demon on my wrist. "Let's just have this one scan ahead before we go in?"
Lark stared at the small wooden Vengeful Spirit, then snorted. "You are weird, Ma- … Rot Bane," he said before backing up slowly.
I'm weird? I thought as I commanded the tiny Vengeful Spirit to move a few hundred feet ahead of us. Says a demon that has been through multiple bodies, one being a bloody ship!
We followed the path as I kept my attention on the Vengeful Spirit that darted ahead of us. The winding tunnel continued for another five minutes. Then a hazy red circle appeared in the distance. On my command, the Vengeful Spirit moved towards it, looked through, and returned.
I sighed in annoyance as it hovered before me. I couldn't speak with it, couldn't look through its eyes, and thus had no idea what was inside the bloody cave—such poor scouts. I thought for a second, then grinned. I commanded it to swim up if there was one demon inside and down if there were two.
The tiny wooden scout swam up.
I nodded. So only one demon.
That he can see, I reminded myself.
I turned to Lark, gazing at me, a palpable desire for action radiating from his eyes. Reluctantly I raised one hand, which seemed all the information he needed as he rushed forward.
Follow him and get ready to block the main entrance, I sent to Casiron, hoping there was actually only one.
I will. Make sure to flee if anything goes wrong, Casiron replied, which was the most he'd said to me in a single go in the last few days.
I'll stay back, I said, slightly annoyed. I directed most of my Armedsharks after Lark while keeping a dozen near me, just in case. Casiron swam ahead of me, his massive bulk blocking my vision, and I followed him.
Although I couldn't see it along Casiron, I heard Lark burst through something that shattered like glass, then the dull red light brightened. Angry roars and a high-pitched screech drowned out any other sound, then Casiron rushed out into the cavern beyond the entrance.
What the hell is going on? I thought as my Armedsharks surged out ahead of me. That bloody Vengeful Spirit had said there was only one demon!
I carefully swam between odd, red shards that covered the entrance and seemed to be a part of an oddly crystalline plant. The top was blasted apart and passed through and into a large, brightly lit room filled with unmoving demon carcasses drifting around.
Two eerily familiar, large, and four-eyed heads hovered near the right, blocking the only other exits out of the cavern. Their four tentacles were arrayed around them, some pointing at a massive, blue demon that hung in the center of the cave. Others jutted towards Lark, Casiron, and the Armedsharks that hovered just above me. Small, yellow, squid-like demons hovered around them, ripped apart. Higher, against the cave ceiling, three more of the four-eyed monsters drifted, unmoving and with large wounds covering their bodies and not a single head remaining.
Barsoc's, I thought, shuddering as I recalled the first one I'd encountered in Boglodon.
What the hell were those things doing here? I kept my direct gaze from their eyes, remembering what they were capable of, and kept them in my peripheral vision. Their evil, smiley eyes gleamed, some directed at me. Great.
"How did you get in here?"
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A weary roar came from the cave's center, from the giant blue and heavily wounded demon.
My eyes widened as I realized it didn't have any head. It was also twice the size of Casiron, with three long boneless tentacle-like arms jutting from a humanoid-like torso, a gaping wound where a fourth had been. A jet of heat-warped bubbles projected from between the shorter tentacles that covered its bottom, keeping it in place. Four eyes sat high on its torso, above a wide gaping mouth where its stomach should be, the lips curled back in a snarl. Innumerable wounds covered it, and three bloody craters sat where three of its eyes had been. The remaining one pulsed with a dull yellow light that increased intensity rapidly.
Lark didn't reply, his eyes flickering between what I presumed was Yox'plir and the Barsocs.
My first instinct was to run. I'd almost died from one Barsoc, but Yox'plir was able to kill three, which made him dangerously powerful. Before I could say anything, Lark surged forward towards Yox'plir.
"Rot Bane, kill the Leralion ssscum," he shouted.
His words shattered the moment of reprieve, and Yox'plir screamed in anger, a howling coming from his eye as it flickered ever faster, focused on Lark. A thin burst of red light lanced from it, hitting Lark, drilling a large hole into his flesh, and leaving bright flashes in my vision.
A fucking laser? I thought as I turned my attention to the Barsoc, making sure not to stare directly at their eyes.
The two demons hesitated for a moment, then backed up. The eery smilies on their eyes turned to one of curious surprise. One stretched out a tentacle and pulled a dead yellow, squid-like demon towards its eye. A mouth appeared, and it devoured the demon's body in a single smooth motion. Some of the wounds on its body began closing.
Fuck! We need to kill them before they heal fully, I sent to Casiron while directing my Armedsharks to attack the left and most wounded of the Barsoc.
Casiron shot forward, his wings folded close to this body, as he surged towards the other one.
I was backing up, now partially inside the hole, ready to flee at a moment's notice. The last time I'd fought one had been horrible, and I would never forget the moment the thing drilled into my mind.
This time, however, I wasn't alone.
As the two Barsoc focused their creepy smiley eyes on the Vengeful Spirits, their pupils warping to smileys of anger, nothing happened. The Armedsharks simply dodged their haphazard flailing tentacles before grabbing them, biting down as they held on. Like a swarm of hungry piranha, immune to whatever mental tricks the Barsoc tried, they dove in and out of range, biting and ripping at its eyes while some held it in place.
I felt my worry subside as I looked at the one Casiron was wrestling with. He was larger than the Barsoc and had already ripped apart one eye when a scream of pain ripped through the cavern.
"Rot Bane, help!" Lark shouted before another scream pierced through the water.
I turned just in time to see Yox'plir's eye flare up brightly, and another laser drilled a hole in Lark, mere inches from his eyes.
Lark's skin was covered in puckered holes, blood oozing out, as he rushed in to attack Yox'plir. Before he could even reach him, the blue demon turned its bottom towards him, ejecting a stream of superheated water that slammed into Lark, shoving him back and causing him to careen into the vegetation-covered backside of the cavern.
Seeing the pulsing eye, the massive gaping maw, and the massive tentacles, I instantly knew that my Armedsharks would get ripped to pieces.
Casiron, get that one. I'll hold the Barsoc, I sent as I saw Yox'plir's attention turn towards us.
A sickening ripping sound came from behind me, as Casiron pulled one of the Barsoc's eyes clean off before kicking it away and swimming towards Yox'plir.
I directed all but two of the Armedsharks I'd held back towards the second Barsoc. As I looked up, something moved in the dark entrance behind it, and a swarm of yellow jellyfish demons burst out of the entrance.
Yellow lightinng pulses erupted from their thin tentacles, bursting apart against the thick wood of my Vengeful Spirits and leaving acidic scars. Those attacking the Barsoc suddenly froze, hovering in midwater as they gazed at one of its bleeding eyes. I directed two Armedsharks forward, and they slammed into its eye, causing it to gurgle oddly as the eye popped before letting out a scream that warped the water around it.
Pain flared up in my head, and I grasped my ears as it felt like something was tearing into my mind.
The Armedsharks around the Barsoc began shaking, cracks appearing in the hardened wood. The nearest jellyfish demons exploded in a burst of yellow puss.
Through the pain, I directed a host of Armedsharks towards the Barsoc, and they rushed in, the wooden exterior cracking as they began ripping it apart. The scream stopped suddenly, leaving behind a stunned silence. A quick look around showed that Yox'plir, Lark, and Casiron seemed unharmed by it and still fighting.
My Armedsharks weren't as lucky. Some had lost arms; others long cracked open fissures across their bodies. Still, they were still fighting.
Six were pulling the other Barsoc's limbs in opposite directions. Others rushed in, gouging out its eyes. As soon as they began popping, I put fingers in my ears, but it didn't help. A second, shrill scream pierced through the water, and I felt something burst in my nose as a bit of red blood trickled up in the water in front of me. It was bright red compared to the yellow ichor and muddled red and black blood of the demons.
Three of my Armedsharks stopped moving suddenly, almost cracked apart. The others attacked with wild abandon, and finally, the scream ended.
I drew in gasps of air through my gills as I quickly took stock of my remaining army. Seven Armedsharks were unmoving, while the remaining twenty-four were damaged, some more heavily.
None of the Jellydemons had survived the screams. Their bodies had exploded and left behind clouds of yellow skin, puss and ichor.
I was about to breathe in relief and focus on Yox'plir when more movement came from the entrance. Carefully, more Jellydemons came forward, and as soon as they saw the unmoving Barsoc, they surged forward.
Dammit, give me a break, I groaned as I directed my battered army forward.
Tirelessly my Armedsharks surged forward, ripping into the yellow demons. Within moments I knew they were much more powerful. The yellow bursts of lightning only left minute dark scars on them. Still, more demons kept appearing, though I wondered why there were no bigger, stronger ones. Was this some type of hatchery?
I stared at the frenzied battle before nodding. The Armedsharks were easily able to hold their own. I looked around somewhat at ease now, making sure no demon was sneaking up on me.
My Armedshark mount suddenly turned rigid, drifting sideways.
Already? I thought with a fearful shudder.
I hurriedly summoned a new Spirit inside before focusing my full attention on the Armedsharks. They were dominating the fight, but that wouldn't be much longer. I'd timed it such that the Armedshark I was using as my mount would be the first to fade, so the others could guard me as I summoned a new Vengeful Spirit.
Hurry! The Vengeful Spirits will leave soon, I projected to Casiron.
We are working on it, came a snarled remark.
My momentary relief was gone again as I turned my attention to him just in time to see Yox'plir growl in anger as his tentacle arms struck out at Casiron, who kept circling him, slashing and biting at the tentacles.
Less than two minutes, I said.
Casiron replied in a non-commital growl as he suddenly turned and rushed forward, nimbly dodging a tentacle arm and ignoring the others that slammed into him. He rammed Yox'plir's, wrapping his tail around the base of the tentacles and digging his hind legs deep into the blue torso. His front legs held onto the other side, but I could see he was trying to steer clear of the toothy mouth.
The mouth suddenly slid across the surface to reappear below Casiron's left front leg biting down. Wood splinters shot away, and Casiron shivered but didn't let go as he bit at the Demon's face and its remaining eye.
Behind them, a dark shadow circled, long and nimble.
Dammit, attack already, I thought, wishing I could send a message to Lark.
Lark was heavily wounded, large chunks of flesh gouged from his body, and a bloody cloud hung behind him.
I wish this wasn't in the bloody water, I suddenly thought as I looked at the others. If it wasn't, I could have helped, fought too!
My desire to fight and battle surged as I imagined running forward and swirling with my ax. It took all my effort to resist commanding my Armedshark mount to attack. The desire to fight continued, though, growing steadily, and it took all my willpower to keep myself from rushing in.
I only saw flashes of what happened ahead of me as Casiron's tail managed to wrap around one of the demon lieutenant's arms, and Lark swished forward in the temporary hole in the lieutenant's swirling defense. I foggily saw him wrap around the demon, pinning down one of the remaining tentacle arms. Then he bit down into Yox'plir's headless neck. Its single remaining eye burst a bright red, pulsing rapidly.
"Wait, wait," a ragged, frightened roar erupted from between the lips. "I'll do what you want, just don't-"
His pleas caused my desire to fight to increase even more, and it slowly warped. Images of myself ripping apart Yox'plir and biting down flowed into my mind.
Lark ripped out a large chunk of the demon's neck, swallowed it, and bit down again, ripping out another chunk. A gurgling scream came from Yox'plir, and he shuddered and flailed. Lark continued chewing, slivers of flesh drifting away, some towards me. A large wound ripped open at the top, the tough skin finally fully pierced, and Lark let out a screech of victory as he rammed his head down into the opening.
I felt myself inch forward, hovering away from my mount, towards the fight. Hungry.
Yox'plir's mouth was wide open in a silent scream of agony, and somewhere deep inside, I knew that the sickening chewing sounds from inside should have made me nauseous. They didn't, though. Instead, they made me ravenous.
Lark must have finally reached Yox'plir's heart, or other vital organs, as the demon turned rigid then slumped upon itself, the stream of hot water vanishing. As Yox'plir shuddered, his arms stopped flailing, and the scratching of its nails across Casiron's hardened wooden skin ceased. A wave of muddled red blood with dark swirls inside flooded from its mouth.
My mind cleared slowly, and I realized I was hovering ten feet from my Armedshark mount, dangerously exposed in the water. I quickly swam back as worry grew.
What just happened? I thought as I focused on Lark.
Casiron released his hold and crookedly swam back to me. His front legs were heavily mauled and covered in large puckered holes, as were his chest and head, and I knew it would take a lot of work to fix.
Behind him, Lark continued gnawing his way down, his head now so far down.
"Where issss it!" he hissed, his voice muted from inside the dead demon.
Hasn't he found the heart yet? I thought, confused and still muddled from the quickly fading anger. He needed to bring the heart as proof, I knew that much, but hadn't he killed Yox'plir when he found it?
My mind stilled, as a bright, orange glowing bit of liquid, almost like metallic honey, oozed out of Yox'plir's mouth, casting the room in a dull orange light.
A wave of shock came from Casiron, followed by a host of emotions; hope, fear, anger, and disdain, all mixed into a tight ball. I barely noticed.
As the metallic orange liquid drifted away, I couldn't keep my gaze from it. Just looking at it made me aware of the power hidden inside it, as if I was looking at liquidized orange lightning. Oddly, there was something vaguely familiar to it, but the liquid congealed together into a small uneven but rounded blob before I could figure out what.
"What is that?" I finally muttered, noting that Casiron was inching forward, his eyes wide. The emotions I'd sensed from him were gone, replaced by a wall.
Lark's head jerked back and out of the mutilated body, causing the viscous liquid to bob and drift away. His eyes widened as his gaze fell on the orange liquid blob, and he surged forward, mouth open, swallowing it. A burst of red light, similar to what Yox'plir had before, came from his large reptilian eyes and bright orange swirls appeared. They grew until they covered roughly ten percent of Lark's eyes, then the glow dulled.
My mind cleared again, the second time in as many minutes, as the hypnotic power radiating from the liquid vanished. Some of the deeper wounds on Lark's body began sealing, and his body flailed as the short pseudo libs grew slightly.
Did he just absorb that demon's power? Its essence? I thought.
The orange stuff must have been something like that, and I wish I knew why it seemed so familiar. I tried to recall where I had seen anything like it before when Casiron moved forward.
"There are more incoming," he said, his voice gruff, deep, and odd. He also sounded far more worried than he had before. "We need to leave!"
He was right, though. I turned to my Armedsharks, noticing the areas of irreversible damage. There were missing arms, tails nearly ripped from the main body, and slashes so deep the sculptures would likely fall apart when the Vengeful Spirits disembodied them, which would likely be any moment now.
"Vile Snake, we need to leave," I shouted.
"Yes, letsss get out of here," Lark hissed. A large red and black glob sat between his jaws, which I hoped was the heart we needed as proof.
Blood flowed freely from his mouth and wounds, mingling in a mixture of red, purple, and yellow.
Lark's eyes were burning brightly, and he shot down to the bottom of the hidden entrance we had come in through. As I commanded the most damaged Armedsharks to stay behind to cover our retreat, I saw that the entrance had been hidden below a cluster of large crystalline growths that spread outwards, creating a muddy, mirror-like surface.
Inside the tunnel, we were barely a few hundred feet from the entrance when the fist of my Armedsharks turned immobile. Cursing, I bound new Vengeful Spirits into them while Casiron hung back.
"They are fighting with your other summons," he said, his gaze drifting to Lark.
Then let's hope they won't stop if those stop moving, I thought, rushing on.
When I finished half, Casiron hissed. "They are coming!"
I cursed and ordered six of the revived Armedsharks back through the tunnel as I continued on the rest. Seconds ticked by as I filled the remaining twelve so quickly that the swirling vortex of spirits around me had no time to abate between each summon. When I finished the last, an idea had formed. Perhaps I could use Karma to increase their duration? These might be skills I'd gained from Rathica, but Par might still be able to boost them.
"Let's go," I said, holding onto the largest Armedshark while sending a mental thank you to the Vengeful Spirits fighting valiantly to cover us.