Light Foot the Realm Ripper was grumbling to himself, it had been two days since he was trapped in this desolate realm with the Eulb beetles. The insects had taken special interest in eating him, he had of course had a special interest in not letting that happen. His inability to open realm tears had made his constant need to escape much more exhausting.
“Stupid beetles.” He said from atop a plateau.
The ‘stupid beetles’ had lost interest in him. They were now digging holes and repairing their structures that had been abandoned during their enslavement of the fox. The king arthropod had dug himself a nest and was allowing the freshly mottled larvae to crawl across his armored body. They made little chittering noises as they slid down the side of his head and then quickly wiggled their way back up to do it again. The royal insect rumbled in contentment now that his brood was returned. The pale blue females slept atop his back, while they created the eggs the king was the one that carried the precious orbs and eventually beneath the shell covering his wings, he was also the food gatherer.
Light Foot glowered at the bugs. He would need to eat again soon, and that meant moving back into the worker beetles’ line of sight. He timed his escape to avoid any notice and rushed into the lower lands. He found a centipede like creature the size of a large rat. He had quickly dispatched it and enjoyed the nutritious meal. The crunch of the shell was oddly satisfying. He debated again on just going deeper into this region away from the beetles. But did not relish the idea of meeting other denizens of this realm. Ones that were more agile than the Eulb insects. The colony was a deterrent to other predators, and by proximity Light Foot was equally exempted from that danger. He nibbled on one of the legs of his meal and sighed. He would need to continue to stay close. At least until his stone regrew and he could open gates and tears again. Once he had that magic back he would be hunting down that cook and her friends.
He caught three more of the centipedes, eating one and taking two back with him, he once again timed his entrance to avoid detection and hide atop his plateau. “Stupid cook.” He muttered sleepily. “Just wait until I see you next.”
-
Light Foot woke. He wasn’t sure at first what caused him to leave his food induced slumber. He turned his head back and forth; it wasn’t a scent. It wasn’t sound. It was something…something else.
“What?” he asked as he looked in the direction of the sensation, the direction of his gate. He looked in hope and his prayers were answered as the gate opened in a rush of starlight. His own crystals flickered in response to the energy of the gate, and his keystone!
He leapt from his plateau with barely bridled excitement. He landed atop a lower outcropping and kept up his mad dash towards freedom.
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He was halfway there when the blasted cook tore through the gate atop her beetle. She was shouting at the top of her lungs and swinging that stupid pan above her head. The three-eared moron was right on her heels, still running barefoot. And the plant mage was only moments behind running on all fours. The Realm Ripper grinned at their ineptitude and dashed past them. His smile vanished as the large white Colligere came into view on the opposite side of the gate. She was snarling and snapping her teeth in fury as she passed through the opening.
The fox gulped and stumbled in his haste to retreat from the enraged beast. The Eulb beetle colony chittered an answering challenge at the Colligere and as one swarmed towards this new enemy. The red limbed creature was undeterred by the insects and leapt into their midst, only caring about reaching the cook. The king beetle made a chittering noise and beat feet away from the combat as his workers and soldiers slammed into the intruder. At this second wave of attacking arthropods she was forced to redirect her attention to keep from being crushed by the bugs.
Mrs. Strawberry and her comrades made a sharp turn and run back through the gateway. Light Foot ran towards the gate, furious, getting closer and closer he was only fifty yards away, he could see the cook waving at him with her ladle.
The gate closing as she beamed at him.
Light Foot the Realm Ripper ran for his life, the gate closing.
He turned to see as the various beetles were turned into pure energy and absorbed into the Twisted tree seedling freshly planted into the ground by the monster.
He had a feeling he was going to be stuck here for a long, long time.
-
Mrs. Strawberry sat atop her beetle steed breathing heavily; the Colligere taunting and timing to open the gate had taken a great deal of running around and she was finally very exhausted. The Auris and Silken both sank to the ground beside the beetle with great big ‘Oomphs’ of exhaustion.
“Can we not do that again?” The Silken asked, he wrapped his leaf tail around himself to help cool down.
Devourer was delicately wiping his bowler hat with a handkerchief “I’d be okay avoiding such an exercise in the future.” He stowed his bowler in an inner pocket and retrieved his top hat from a different pocket and put it atop his head with a tap. “That’s better, now that we are victorious it is time to dress for the occasion.”
“A hard-fought victory.” Mrs. Strawberry added. She slid down from her beetle and caught Eli as he followed behind her. She sat upon the ground beside her companions. “I don’t know about you two, but I could use some food.”
The Auris looked at the cook “But we need to save Gus and Descendre now!”
“It sounded like they were safe as long as the Colligere didn’t touch the tree…” The ranger noted, she paused and a hint of concern snuck into her voice “…correct?”
“Yes...” The three-eared gentleman admitted with an uncertain trailing off. “But shouldn’t we rescue them as soon as possible?” He looked in the direction of the hole in the mountain. From the hole could be heard the clink of the stone statues far within the depths of the mountain.
The leaves on Onion’s head rustled as he nodded in agreement.
The cook was more pragmatic “We aren’t going to do them much good if we pass out from exhaustion before releasing them.”
“Oh…” Devourer gave her an uncertain nod before he sat beside her.
She unpacked several pieces of jerky and bread, handing some to her companions. “I would prefer to rush to their rescue too, but this is the sensible way to do it. Heroics only work in movies, dearie.”
The three ate in silence, munching on food without really tasting it.