My first thought when I came to was, I really need to stop falling unconscious outside. I was laying on something soft. There was a weight on one of my legs. I smelled fruit. Then the pain creped up on me. Seeping into me like warmth. Every breath hurt. I groaned. Suddenly the weight on my leg lifted… then King was licking my face. “Ugh, god, ok. Stop. STOP!” I had to push him away from my face.
That woke me up. Where was I? In some sort of room made of leaves. It was soft and smelled like a barn. Not a room. A nest. I had a sinking feeling. They didn’t… I could hear the chattering of skelkies outside. They did. I would have to confirm it, but I’d bet my boots I was in a tree somewhere. There was a grunt from the other side of the nest. One Eye was sitting on his haunches. He didn’t look happy. In his hand was a spear. The spear I impaled him with. Suddenly I relived the entire fight. The excitement, loss, sense of hopelessness and then victory. I wondered what was going through his head. He thrust it towards me, returning it. I shook my head. “No. It’s yours.” One Eye hissed, but kept it. He held it gently. I pulled up his stats.
SKELKY
DESIGNATION: N/A
SOUL: Warrior
LEVEL: 1
HEALTH: Stable
ENERGY: 5
STATUS: Bonded
BOND: 17%
SKILLS:
Challenge: 50%
Weapons: 82%
Spear: 36%
Staff: 3%
Trickery: 34%
Kinetic Shield: 10%
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength: 3
Agility: 3
Density: 2
Energy: 2
Utility: 4
ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED:
Speed: 4
Intelligence: 3
Toughness: 3
Reaction: 4
WOULD YOU LIKE TO DESIGNATE WEAPON?
I paused. I would need to designate him. But, I didn’t feel like One Eye was a good name. That’s what I have been calling him in my head, but it doesn’t seem appropriate. A new name for a new start in our relationship. I decided to go with the first name that popped into my head.
“Yes. Balor.”
THE NEXOCITE WEAPON HAS BEEN DESIGNATED, “Balor”. IS THIS CORRECT?
“Correct.”
I then touched the green light.
SKELKY. THE PROUD WARRIOR. SKELKIES ARE DESIGNED TO SINGLE OUT IMPORTANT WARRIORS ON ENEMY BATTLEFIELDS. USING THEIR CHALLENGE ABILITY, THEY ONLY BECOME MORE POWERFUL AS THEY DEFEAT FOE AFTER FOE. HOWEVER, THEIR INNATE SENSE OF HONOR IS OFTEN DETRIMENTAL TO THEIR PURPOSE AS AN ASSASSIN. THE ONLY WAY TO ESCAPE A SKELKIES CHALLANGE IS THE DEATH OF EITHER PARTY.
Well, One Ey- err, Balor, now made a lot more sense. This challenge ability intrigued me. I’d have to figure out how it works. For now, our bond percent worried me. I know I literately just finished a life-or-death duel with him… which I just realized is a loop hole around the skelkies nature. Ok, so that probably pissed him off worse than me trying to kill him. Its going to be a lot of work to get it up to King levels.
Balor tossed something at me. I caught it, wincing at the movement. It was a fruit. Suddenly I remembered how famished I was. I started to work at the rind. “Do you have my knife?” Balor just glared at me. “Yeah, didn’t think so.” Kings tail was whiping like crazy. He seemed ok. The only evidence that King just nearly died was a silver patch on his chest. I also noted that his dome was faintly flashing green. I checked his stats.
PULSE HOUND
DESIGNATION: King
SOUL: Beast
LEVEL: Hatchling 100%
HEALTH: STABLE
ENERGY: 6
STATUS: Bonded
BOND: 68%
SKILLS:
Power Up: 46%
Pulse: 16%
Savagery: 61%
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength: 1
Agility: 2
Density: 2
Energy: 2
Utility: 1
ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED:
Speed: 2
Intelligence: 3
Toughness: 3
Reaction: 3
THIS WEAPON IS READY TO GROW.
Hell yeah! King was an adorable puppy, mostly, but I couldn’t wait to see what he was capable of as a full grown pulse hound. Did I just need to let him do his thing or do something to trigger it? He didn’t seem any bigger. I’ll figure it out eventually, I’m sure.
Balor suddenly leaned outside the nest and screeched. He came back, sat in his spot, and continued to glare at me. Yeah… we were REALLY going to need to work on that. Honestly, if I knew how and I was sure he wouldn’t kill me, I’d unbond him if that was what he wanted. I also noted that he appeared unharmed. His broken shell was back to normal. I could be wrong, but I had a suspicion that the… weapons? Monsters? Nexocites?… healed very quickly. I might have wasted my last ENMS on King. But, Balors eye didn’t heal. Maybe if something is lost or destroyed it can’t be regenerated. This is something I hope I didn’t have to find out for sure. I had a nasty feeling I would.
Moments later, there was a shake in the nest. Something slipped its way inside. It was a skelky. Maybe? It had the same general shape. But it was a head taller than Balor. Its chitin, rather than being bone-like, was like tree bark. Dark brown, with the ridges and roughness one would associate with nature. Accenting his wooden armor was tufts of what looked like moss. Vines wrapped around different objects, draping over him like a robe. Stones, gems, strange silvery objects, and even tools. I spotted my knife in the mass of trophies. This creature had a wizened, old appearance to him. I decided I shouldn’t try to get my knife back.
SHAMKY
DESIGNATION: N/A
SOUL: Treant
LEVEL: 11
HEALTH: Stable
ENERGY: 5
STATUS: Wild
SKILLS:
Plant Growth Level 3: 52%
Regrowth: 10%
Challenge Level 2: 8%
Weapons Level 2: 19%
Spear Level 3: 24%
Trickery: 96%
Kinetic Shield Level 2: 20%
Battle Rage Level 2: 18%
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength: 4
Agility: 3
Density: 3
Energy: 6
Utility: 4
ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED:
Speed: 4
Intelligence: 10
Toughness: 7
Reaction: 7
THIS WEAPON CANNOT BE BONDED IN CURRENT STATE. REDUCE STATUS TO LIFE THREATENED IN ORDER TO BOND THIS WEAPON.
Balor made a little “Ook“ sound and gestured at me. The shamky immediately screamed at Balor, who seemed to shrink back. I assumed Balor was their leader or something similar. This thing was clearly higher up on the skelky… or shamky social ladder. It studied me for a moment. I suddenly felt awkward. Like I was intruding. It huffed air out of its nose, satisfied. Then it probed my broken leg. I let out a grunt of pain, and King exploded in a fit of barking. Both Balor and the shamky started screaming, but in different tones.
“KING! Down boy. It’s fine.” I pet him as he calmed down. He was still snarling at the shamky. From within the folds of vines, he produced a small pouch made of dried leaves. From it he pulled a small object. It was cylindrical. A translucent shell protecting a silvery metal that seemed to shift and move, crawling up the tiny walls like a single celled organism. It held it out to me. After a moments hesitation, I carefully took it.
“Thanks. I will… treasure it?” The shamky just stared at me. After a full minute of akward silence, he huffed annoyed. He motioned with his finger like he was eating. He wanted me to swallow it. It was a pill, I realized. How the hell did they get pills? I eyed the metallic liquid. More Nexocite. I had enough of that in me as it was, no way I would eat more.
The shamky saw my hesitation, then looked at Balor. He gestured to me and grunted. Balor then leaped onto me. My legs and ribs screamed, King started barking and snapping at him. I was a fool, I thought the bond would keep me safe from him. His four arms held me down, I couldn’t fight back. With one of his hands he wrenched the pill from my fingers. I felt more hands prying at my mouth like wrenches as he forced the pill in. It was so fast, so violent I didn’t have time to try NOT to swallow the pill. It slid down my throat. Balor crawled off of me. I coughed and spat. His fingers tasted like sweet mud. There was a tingling sensation that spread from my gut. Suddenly my ribs, legs, half-healed finger, every scratch and wound, erupted in an intense itching sensation. I gasped and thrashed. I tried to rub and scratch at the itching, which did nothing. After a full five minutes of agony, it stopped as quickly as it started. What the fuck was that? I shivered, it felt like it had dropped twenty degrees.
The shamky looked pleased. Then it snapped its head towards Balor, eyes full of malice. It screeched while pointing outside. It then left unceremoniously. Balor looked like he was about to cry. There was a lot here I didn’t understand. He looked at King and I, and gestured up.
Then I realized my pain was gone. I tested my leg. It was healed. That pill was a pill version of the spray. Seemingly a lot more powerful. Which likely meant it was a lot more dangerous. I could imagine my broken and cracked bones being healed with a stratus of silvery metal. I was slowly being taken over by this material, wound by wound.
Outside the nest was a city. Or, the closest to a city I’ve seen. Dozens of nests sitting on branches like tree houses. Skelkies, most hatchlings but some full grown, moved and climbed around. We were in a large clearing in the tree canopy. It seemed to be centered on one particularly large tree. Resting in what seemed to be a hammock of vines and plants was that shamky, watching from above in a lazy manor. It was like a throne overlooking his subjects. Dozens of glowing red eyes were watching me. Balor screeched and gestured onwards. I picked up King, whose tail was tucked solidly under his body. Heights, it appeared, was one of the few things that could scare him.
I followed Balor. It was slow, as I had to climb through the trees while holding a heavy puppy. Many Skelkies watched us with curiosity. A group of them approached closer than the others. They threw mud- I hope it was mud -not at me, but at Balor. I suddenly felt guilty. He was being cast out of his home. From everything I learned about these creatures, they held honor in high esteem. Balor had failed his challenge. Whats worse, he is still alive. Sorry about that.
Eventually, We dropped into the jungle floor. I flailed a bit in the air on my way down and accidentally dropped king. When I hit the ground, the pup attacked my face with a barrage of licks. Around the large tree was a clearing that glittered with silver motes of light. Strange plants crew around and under the skelkies nests. It was straight, about waist height, with large, wide leaves. The leaves were speckled with silver. At the top of the plant was a perfectly spherical ball of silver which glinted in the light. For me, it was a mystery to be solved another day. But Balor seemed to have one final act of rebellion in him. He nonchalantly, too nonchalantly, approached the nearest plant. He snatched the orb on top and then sprinted away screaming for us to follow. King was already chasing him, tail wagging. The skelkies above started hooting and screeching, so I ran as well.