Cass was in trouble... a lot of trouble.

More than she had been in a long time... probably.

She was suddenly jostled her head bouncing against the wooden walls of her prison.

"FUCK!, Hey couldn't you assholes have at least put some fabric in here???" She said Vitriol tainting her tone.

Her captors ignored or didn't hear her. Likely the first, by her guess at least. It had been a long day, not that she could really tell from inside the damned box. The light from the cracks did at least tell here night would fall soon. Not that would change anything for her, they had nailed this damned box shut. They knew that she wouldn't be needing food or water anytime soon, so had no reason to pry the thing open. After all, Cass was dead... technically... at least she was pretty sure she was dead. Most living things couldn't pull off thier own heads and other assorted limbs into pieces without being very very dead at least. So it was a pretty good chance she was very dead. Not that it bothered her terribly. She didn't remember much about being alive anyway. Or so much care, what she cared about was getting her head out of this damn box. Unfortunately all her other bits and pieces were in different boxes, probably also nailed shut and tossed in the back of the hunter's cart. They had caught her off guard setting frustratingly simple traps to dismember her and take her down during her travels. How was she supposed to know a random rope on the ground was a clear trap! She had never hunted in her damned life! Or death... well at least not animals.

After her leg ended up halfway in a tree they all sprung on her. She liked to fight using speed... speed also happened to require 2 legs.

She licked her lips, she felt like she could still taste the lifeblood of the hunter who she had ripped the throat out of... but knew it was probably wishful thinking. There had been 5 of them and she knew she only killed one for sure. Although another would likely have to retire his damnable profession from his injuries. She had extensive experience with what damage the body could and couldn't take... it was a passion of hers. And he definitely would never use his leg properly again. Not without some kind of serious magic.

Gods she was bored... she couldn't even pull at her stitches to pass the time!

Whoever was driving the first cart shouted something or another, it was just too muffled to hear. Her guess was they were stopping to rest. The feel of the cart leaving the road mostly affirmed her guess especially when it stopped and the able bodied hunters started rummaging around outside her boxes.

"Hey guy, can't you let at least my head out of this box? It's not like I can bite you to death! ... unless you let me. But that's your fault at that point." She said, her boredom clearly coming across.

"We don't deal with monsters, so shut up and keep quiet." The hunter rummaging around her said firmly.

He had a surprising amount of control over his tone, most people she talked to after getting thier close comrades throat ripped out let more emotion into thier voices.

It was disappointing really...

"Oh come on, I swear not to bite by... hmm which church are you even bringing me to? I need a gods name to swear by" she said, her smile shaping her voice to a lighter tone.

"I would not desecrate my faith by letting you speak his name beast." He shoves the box containing her head to the side painfully, maintaining the same firm tone.

She grit her teeth not making a sound. Nothing fun to do with this one. It sounded like the oldest hunter, he probably was the leader of thier party. Perhaps if a younger one came near... she would keep her ears open.

She was not so blessed, the faint sounds of camp being set frustratingly covering the quiet conversation the hunters held, just at the edge of her perception.

It would be a long boring night. So she decided to just sleep, it's not like being awake would change anything about the damn box....

"Tal get Amric in the cart! We will keep them back! Remember stick together, they will strike who Is weakest!" The eldest hunter's shouts roused Cass from her rest.

The sounds of blades leaving scabbard and the faint growls of beasts reaching her ears as her dreams cleared.... they were in trouble... serves them right. A howl broke her concentration making her thoughts slightly fuzzy. Some kind of inherent magic no doubt.

Cass bit her lip, three mildly injured hunters versus a magic beast was not good odds... at least not for the hunters. The first scream, and it's sudden cut off was telling. She wished she could have watched, it sounded like a wolf... and they liked throats as much as she did.

The fight couldn't have lasted more than a few moments. the hunter's didn't stand a chance, Especially not injured.

They probably would have made it if they ditched her cart and the two most injured. the beast... well beasts from the sound of cracking bone would have taken the sacrifice. Instead they stayed and fought like fools screwing over themselves and her in the process. It wouldn't take them long to finish off the corpses, making her scent the most attractive in the area. If she was put together she could have probably taken one or two... but they would hardly put her together and ask for a duel now would they?

They were beasts, they lived to break, crush, and consume that which was weaker. They would finish thier meal, then they would finish her.

The cracking of bone was interrupted by deep growling... perhaps they would fight over a choice bone...

The growling continued... they were being threatened. The sounds of tearing flesh had stopped entirely replaced by aggression.

There was a snarl... and what sounded like a wet fleshy pop followed by a thump and light sizzling.

What the hell...

The aggression was replaced by fear. She could smell it, as well as cooked flesh. Something just fucking popped one of the beasts. Based on the sound of them scattering, it was probably something scary. Overwhelming force was the only language they understood, and that smell spoke it plenty clearly.

The silence was damning... whatever had scared off the beasts didn't start eating the corpses. But there was no call for survivors either...

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

But it was moving, and she was impatient.

Whatever it was, it literally could not be worse than death... again... probably...

"Hey, whatever the hell you are, get over here!" She shouted at her boxy prison.

"Open the box! Let me out!"

Whatever it was, it must have heard her because she heard something scrape the wooden body of the cart. A moment later an odd scraping noise was made around the edges of her box. And the top was simply lifted away stunning her to silence.

What faced her now was something she had never seen before. A massive gem, or crystal... she wasn't sure stared her down.

Even if it was a simple crystal it would be incredibly valuable... she couldn't see a single flaw in the... wait...

She took a moment to look at what the crystal was attached to, a silvery metal body interspersed with more of the same stone, yet the metal was actively moving and flowing. It looked almost molten but without the heat or glow. Her mind went into overdrive trying to connect the dots and failing miserably.

The first thing she thought was automaton, and while incredibly rare she had seen at least one in a city... somewhere. But it was metal, Solid metal.

Whatever this was was actively fluid and what must be crystal, it couldn't possibly be a gemstone it was way too massive!

Perhaps it was a monster? But a monster would just calmly open a damn box in the back of a cart! At least not that she knew of...

While her brain raced her mouth went on autopilot.

"The fuck?" She said in a lower tone.

The thing just... stared at her, Unmoving.

While she kept leaping for a conclusion ANY conclusion the thing suddenly just put the top of the box back on leaving her in mostly darkness again.

She was stunned. Unable to even think about what she had just seen... before it clicked in her head that it literally just closed the box in her face... again...

"Wait no... Hey HEY THATS NOT HOW THIS WORKS! GET ME OUT OF HERE FLATFACE!" She started shouting angrily.

"DONT JUST CLOSE THE DAMN BOX AND WALK AWAY YOU KNOW IM STILL HERE!"

This thing couldn't just open the box stare at her and leave! That wasn't right!

"I AIN'T A DAMN VEGETABLE YOU SHINY FUCK LET ME OUT!!!" She kept at it hoping to at least anger it to break the damn crates open. She would probably survive the blow to pull herself back together.

She started kicking her legs and trying to punch the walls with her arms, separated as they were she still had full control.

She made as much noise as possible genuinely annoyed at this thing continuing to ignore her.

"DON'T LEAVE ME HERE DAMNIT!" She continued to shout. Freedom was so close, just had to get the damn thing to get her out!

She heard it return the same noises from before, likely of it somehow removing nails from another box and she struggled more.

"DON'T YOU DARE JUST LOOT THIS SHIT AND RUN! I FUCKIN HEAR YOU!!!" She shouted at the top of her... well couldn't be her lungs those were entirely disconnected from her mouth after all. It made her pause for the first time wondering how the hell she spoke at all.

Suddenly she knew her left arm was free, the lid no longer there to bang her fist against and she started grabbing for anything, the edge, a hand, something.

She took a deep breath... well at least she felt like she did. And calmed down.

"Alright bud, you got my arm free... I need to be able to see in order to get the rest put together." She spat the words out, still frustrated at the things apparent random actions. Hoping anything she said would get through it's... well it didn't have a skull.

That much was apparant. Especially when the lid of her head's prison was lifted again.

She focused on the largest crystal this... Thing... had for a head.

"Alright prism brain... I need you to get the rest of me out, start with my arm" She spoke slowly and deliberately hoping some kind of meaning would get through the things thoughts, God she hoped this thing had thoughts.

She flicked he'd eyes towards her arm ans tried to move the things attention. Surprisingly it actually seemed to follow the instruction and picked up her arm at the base, holding it infront of her.

She laughed! This would work, this thing would listen to her! Her arm made a thumbs up signal to the metallic monster. Now to somehow get it to open the rest of the boxes...

She started trying to signal it to pick up her head, she needed to see and being in a box was really less than ideal. She felt the things hands, although they felt more like cold claws. Cold smooth with only a few edges, as well as what felt like only 3 fingers. Big ass fingers for sure, but only three. She use her fingers to mime picking up her head searching for any visible light in that big clear gem of a face it had.

She was starting to think this thing was some kind of Elemental, although she had never heard of one that used more than one element. While she was lost in thought the thing used it's other arm to pick her head up by the hair rather roughly.

"Ow Ow Ow OW FUCKWIT Didn't your mother tell you not to pull a ladies hair? What are you fucking 3?!?" She shouted at the thing and it immediately placed her back in the box. It then shifted its 3 fingered hand to lift her head by the neck.

Somehow, this was the most delicate touch Cass could remember since her death. She kind of automatically gave another thumbs up as she was turned towards the crates, she didn't even have to signal for that one. Which surprised her again, but not enough to stop her from signaling and asking the blockhead to open the other crates.

It quickly put her arm down giving her a perfect view of it opening her torso casket, which immediately silenced her. The damn thing just touched the nails and they melted into its fingers joining the metallic liquid covering its joints. It was like it was fucking eating the metal... well stabbing it is out of the question, there was no way the caravan has something specialized like a non-metal blade or knife.

Not that she planned on stabbing her convenient Savior, but it always paid to know when and where to put a knife.

Once the thing lifted the lid she started speaking again.

"Alright buddy, now I just need you to get the rest of me out, I'll pull myself together."

She started dragging her arm to and then into the box letting the stitching reach out and flow into the holes in her arm pulling it firmly against her torso.

She quickly leveraged her torso up pushing her open neck strait at the rock hoping the concept would be clear as it wiggled.

"Head Home please" She was speaking in the same slower tones that seemed to work best with the thing, as she was proven right again when her head was stuck back on her neck... the right way!

Mark +1 for the rock! And minus 20 for nearly pulling her hair out, it had literally taken what felt like forever to grow back.

Although she was a little weirded out that it grew back at all, considering she was definitely dead.

She propped herself against the box and started pointing at the boxes where she felt the rest of her pieces were.

"Just a simple puzzle buddy, hip bone connected to the leg bone, leg bone connected to the foot bone... foot bone connected to the assholes who put me in the boxes in the first place."

She watched the rock eat the nails freeing her limbs still drawing a blank on any monster or construct capable of that level of sheer fuckery. If she figured it out she could totally melt handcuffs or chains off her limbs. Not that many were very effective on her anyway. But it was a really neat trick. She busied herself flopping her limbs around only slightly more gracefully than a fish out of water, grabbing and setting each in place smiling at the feeling of being whole... or at least solidly fragmented again.

After giving her fingers and toes a stretch, boxes fucking sucked. Her brain immediately flashed with all her options.

- Try and kill the rock, sell the gems or crystal whatever

- Make a run for it hope she could run faster than that thing could and just get away.

- Stay and figure out what the hell this thing is, it did just save her from becoming a monster chew toy... even if it did pull her hair.

She really only had one option and that pissed her off. That thing chased off the wolves... and it had exactly Zero traces of blood on its... frame? body? Whatever it was. Which meant it had a ranged attack.

She wasn't stupid enough to try making a bolt for it, or stabbing a literal metal melting monster without more information.

She finished her internal debate and external stretch lifting both hands infront of her facing the source of her annoyance.

She flipped him off, both hands.

"Fuck you"

She dropped the signal and hopped off the wagon taking stock of the camp. It looked like all the hunters were in various states of dead, she also saw a pair of dead wolves. Looked like the deep forest variety...

One of them was missing a third of its chest, the source of the smell of cooked flesh still steaming blood and little fleshy fragments scattered in the dirt in an almost abusive pattern.

She was glad she didn't try to run.