“We have to beat the monster quickly,” said Riffy. “Quick, quick, quick.”

“Yeah, we get it, Riffy.” I grunted as I pushed myself up to my feet. “You want to do it fast. Everything has to be fast.”

I had been stabbed in the back of my shoulder by Hesta and now my right arm was hanging limp. I had to grip my sword in my left hand.

Riffy was in his original squirrel form, crouched on my injured shoulder. It hurt like heck, but considering the danger, I didn’t want to tell him to move.

“No, this is bad,” said Riffy. “They are coming.”

Serilla and Hesta were rolling on the ground in a tangle of limbs and black hair.

The dull thuds of Serilla’s fist hitting Hesta’s furry carapace created a constant rhythm, but Hesta was unflinching.

Despite her fury, Serilla couldn’t penetrate Hesta’s natural armour.

Meanwhile Hesta’s limbs tied knots around Serilla as the shifter tried to throttle her.

Serilla changed tactics and scrambled to crawl closer to Hesta’s head and neck. She struggled through the tangle of limbs to free one of her arms. I witnessed as her hand straightened out of a fist, her fingers forming a blade-like edge and her nails stretching into claws.

I remembered the Skill: Crimson Claw, a variation on the Vampiric Bite that could activate through bleed inflicted by her nails.

She slashed at Hesta’s neck with her sharpened hand, but Hesta was able to throw up a defensive net of limbs, once again, entangling Serilla.

They jostled for a moment, but this time, Hesta gained the advantage.

Serilla’s face hit the ground as the shifter crawled on top of her, slamming the undead elf into the grass and freeing up her limbs in preparation to stab and puncture.

I crept close enough to Vampiric Bite the shape-shifting bitch and heal my wound, but she sensed my approach.

She hissed at me, then released Serilla and leapt away towards the shadows.

Serilla soon climbed to her feet and summoned Chompi. I tried to stop her the moment I realised what she was attempting, but… I was too late.

The ridiculous pygmy griffon strutted back and forth defensively in front of us. His feathers were puffed up in a show of force while his tabby cat tail swung from side-to-side like a furious metronome.

Riffy tensed at the arrival of the pygmy griffon and the two creatures stared at each other with suspicion and perhaps, a little envy too, but the moment for bickering was not at hand. There were bigger fish to fry. And by fish, I mean a creepy fucking insect-lady and by fry, I mean: kill, kill, kill… with fire if possible.

At the very least, we should destroy her corpse and scatter her ashes. I wonder if the Devour perk works if I have cooked my foe before I eat them?

But before that, we first had to beat her in an open fight and honestly, I didn’t know if we were up to the task.

Hesta was moving along the shadows of the trees. I could still sense her vibrations pinging within my sensory range. This Spirit Seek skill is really good.

The Spirit Seek skill combined elements of Basic Identify with Basic Detect, which was incredible because it meant I could essentially use both skills without filling up two Skill Slots. Also, I could Identify as many things as I wanted without having to recast the skill. The only downside was that it cost a little Mana every second I kept it active, but for now that was no stress. I still had plenty of Mana.

Between preserving Mana or keeping Hesta within my sensory range, I would prefer not to lose sight of the monster that wanted to kill me and the two people I cared about most. Does Riffy count as people? Yes. Riffy definitely counts as people. Chompi doesn’t though.

Riffy’s words finally reached me.

“Who’s coming?” I asked.

“Big meanie and the greys,” Riffy muttered quietly. “They are coming. I know it.”

“I don’t know who you mean—” oh wait. “Do you mean grey squirrels?”

He looked me in the eye and blinked. “Bad, bad, bad.”

“I think we have bigger problems to deal with right now, lil guy,” I said.

Riffy shook his head, but then my attention was drawn elsewhere as a crash of splitting branches and snapping twigs erupted from the bushes.

Hesta charged out of the shadows. Her lumpy body was low to the ground and her many legs spun round in circles as she dashed towards us like a chain of angry lizards.

“Riffy move to Serilla,” I said, then turned to Serilla. “Keep him safe. Stay back. Only interfere if it’s an emergency.”

“No,” they said in unison.

I cracked my neck in frustration and the injury in my shoulder exploded with pain.

Riffy gasped as he finally noticed my pain. He crawled down over the wound and tapped his little hands together. There was a brief orange glow and my skin began to tingle. It felt like a cold, syrupy honey was pouring over my flesh. The pain vanished in moments.

“Riffy, you can heal?” I asked.

He beamed happily at me and bobbed his head up and down. “Bloom and zoom!”

I walked forward until I was directly between the approaching Hesta and Serilla.

“Well, zoom over to Serilla for me.” Then, I whispered, “Keep her safe for me, please.”

He still looked hesitant to leave me.

“Please?” I asked.

He nodded and zipped away in a flash.

I passed my Justificar sword back to my right and practice rolling my shoulder. It felt good. My Health was full. My Stamina was solid. My Mana regeneration was honestly top-notch, but it was time to stop my Spirit Seek. I was wearing a nice piece of armour. In terms of being prepared for a fight…

I locked eyes with Hesta. “I’m ready.”

Hesta snarled and leapt up into the air on a collision course to flatten me.

I Basic Dodged forward to throw off her aim and swiped at the long insect-like limbs that trailed through the air above me.

She landed with a crunch and half a dozen sharpened limbs snapped towards me.

I avoided the thrusting black limbs and brought my blade down on the last to retract.

The swish of my sword became a shearing sizzle as gelatinous blood poured from the stump. The severed limb fell to the ground and I stamped on it.

Hesta healed the damage by reforming the injured limb, then lurched at me, stretching her buggy tentacle sticks out to the sides and curling them inwards to form a floating cage. Her attack had been too sudden, her momentum wasn’t enough to steamroll me like the first attack.

This time, rather than dodge away, I stood my ground and raised my sword. If she means to grapple me, she can do so with a sword through her chest.

But Hesta wasn’t caught out. She curled her lower half up towards me. What would have been the back of her thighs, if she was human, was instead a scaled carapace. She essentially deflected my blade with her bug-ass.

Then, her cage-like mesh of limbs snapped around me and her uncanny, pale face swooped down to press against mine. Her jaw detached like a snake wearing a dead human’s face and the creepy pincers began to click excitedly.

If you’ve ever seen a dead spider laying on it’s back with its legs locked together like a furry, black, bear-trap, picture that, but big enough enough to completely encapsulate a human being. That’s what slammed into me.

I was being crushed against Hesta’s lumpy torso. My arms were trapped at my side and her face was pressing closer and closer to my own.

I tried to think of any counter other than the first one that popped into my head. I really, really tried to come up with a better plan, but once I think of something that visually appalling, I just can’t get it out of my mind.

I can’t believe I’m about to do this.

The sinister pale face and detached jaw loomed down on me, stretching to swallow my face and I finally stopped resisting. I turned to face her and in one sudden motion, I bit her bottom jaw.

Vampiric Bite activated and the minor bumps and bruises I had already suffered began to mend. I could taste her blood and it wasn’t actually as bad as you might think. Very iron rich.

Hesta tried to bite me back, but couldn’t.

She tried to crush me, but I was healing faster than she was hurting me.

I had my bite locked onto the limp jaw that she had detached and she was unable to remove me.

I felt the flesh trying to contort and shapeshift into something that could slip out of my grasp, but I just bite harder.

Finally, there was a terrible ripping sound and Hesta screamed like bark ripping off a falling tree.

Blood splattered across my face, blinding me with a bitter iron ichor as her lower jaw was completely shredded away from her face. She released the cage-hug and leapt away, landing several meters away from me. Her pale, human-mimicking face was now a vicious mockery of man. She was a twisted, grotesque resemblance of a melted porcelain doll’s face on an nightmarishly large tarantula.

“Fuck, you are ugly,” I said.

Hesta flinched. She popped and gurgled and resumed the form of Herst.

Herst glared sullenly at me. His lower jaw still seemed injured, but it had mostly reformed, only the skin still looked pink and raw with damage. He genuinely pouted like a petulant child.

“Did I touch a nerve?” I asked. I’m not going to feel bad for this sociopath.

“You ruined my life,” said Herst.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”

“I’m not a kid, you vicious worm!” Herst threw his arms up and stamped his foot. “The All-Mother’s guidance was clear. I was long overdue a reward for my loyal service. In her wisdom, she presented the girl to me. The girl dreamed visions of a terrible beast carrying powerful equipment. It was clear to me that the All-Mother desired me to possess the girl and the gear. Yes, yes.”

“No, no.”

“Yes, yes. But first, I would need to dispatch of the cursed one. The All-Mother’s desire was obvious. Yes. And you would taste beautiful.”

“You do know you’re an idiot, right?” I asked. “You understand that if this society wasn’t so distracted by how insane every other person is, you wouldn’t survive a day among real people.”

Herst crossed his arms.

“For starters, why do you only change your name just a tiny bit every time?” I asked.

“A perfect disguise to approach the foolish prey.”

“But it’s not a perfect disguise, is it?”

Herst was about to respond, but then a turtle shell smacked him in the head.

I turned to see Serilla regaining her balance after hurling Chompi’s shell at Herst.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

From Serilla’s back, Riffy was bouncing up and down with excitement. He looked like he was cheering her on.

“Stay out of this!”

“No talk!” said Riffy. “Hurry! We run, run, run away!”

Herst snarled and swung an arm towards Serilla. As he swung, his arm stretched into a long black tendril. He intended to spear her through the chest.

I dodged forward and parried the blow aside, severing the end of the limb.

Herst recoiled in pain.

“Look,” I said to Herst. “I get that you are a semi-thinking, semi-feeling creature and you’re just trying to survive, like everyone else. But… do you know what? I honestly, don’t give a fuck.

“Having some bat-shit stupid-crazy belief in the All-Mother doesn’t excuse your actions. AIAI didn’t specifically tell you to do any of this shit. You did it because that’s what you thought was right. If I let you walk away, you’re just going to mess with some other poor sod. Sooner or later, you will destroy someone else’s life.”

Herst began to pop and crunch as they morphed into something huge and hulking. He kept his head the same, but his arms and legs grew larger and harder.

“You aren’t going to remember any of this,” I said. “Which is a shame in a way because maybe you might actually learn something, but I can’t leave you with your memories because you would keep hunting me.”

Herst bound forward, murder in his eyes.

I sighed and leapt up in the air.

His eyes follow me and a greedy smirk spread across his face at the sight of such an easy target. He bunched his muscles and leapt at me.

I waited for the moment he left the ground, the point at which his trajectory could not be altered.

Now.

I used the same trick I had against Imber, Basic Dodging down to the ground.

Herst followed my movements, shooting black limbs at me, but I had enough Mana to continue dodging.

I rushed forward, ducking and side-stepping Herst’s frantic barrage of limbs.

With a two-handed grip, I lunged, thrusting that bastard Justificar sword into Herst’s chest cavity.

I felt my Soul Sword rumble in my hand and the blade began to vibrate with jagged intensity. Once again, it took on that serrated texture.

What do you want?

Herst snapped multiple thin, but speedy limbs at me and from this range it was impossible to dodge.

One of my arms, both legs, and the space below my ribs were punctured by the spider-like tendrils.

Herst no longer hand the strength to throw me. They had used a great deal of effort to try counter me and they were suffering as their body tried and failed to heal around the Justificar blade.

Justificar was still humming.

I blinked through the pain, trying to hold my composure better than Herst.

“What do you want?” I asked.

I felt my fangs tingle as though I was activating Vampiric Bite, but I wasn’t close to biting Herst.

“You want to try my Vampiric Bite?”

The blade practically sung.

Interesting.

I activated Vampiric Bite and the Justificar curled becoming a curved blade.

Herst gasped and pushed away from me. He staggered backwards covering the wound that appeared as the curved blade was pulled out of his chest.

As the Justificar tip exited his chest, I spotted a barb at the end.

Damn. It works. My Skills can be channelled through my weapon and the sword will change its shape to accommodate!

The wound that was left was huge and squirting blood. Not just leaking, the blood trickled back towards my blade. Like the quicksilver streams that had drained from the spring, a streak of blood was flowing from Herst’s wound to my sword. However, this stream was much smaller, just a trickle really.

And then, incredibly, I felt the healing and the stamina flooding into me.

My Soul Blade was actually working for me!

But why? What’s his angle here?

Herst squeezed at the wound. His body was popping and morphing back together, but the blood still leaked out of a slit in his chest. It was a small amount, but it wouldn’t stop.

“Oh, hell yeah,” I said.

Then, I charged. I swung and drove strike after strike at Herst and this time, he was the one that was dodging and evading.

I pressed my advantage. It was incredible. The Justificar was channelling Vampiric Bite through the blade and regaining my Stamina as it deprived Herst of his. I felt unstoppable. I felt inevitable. I felt...

Thunk!

I felt a turtle shell crash into the side of my head.

I spun and saw Serilla looking awfully guilty, her cheeks blushing red.

“Oops,” she said. “Sorry, I missed.”

Riffy was covering his eyes with his hands.

Herst used the advantage to scamper off into the shadows.

I chased him into the treeline, but hesitated at the sheer panic in Riffy’s voice as he screamed at me.

“No, no, no!”

I stopped running and turned to look at him at the exact moment a small javelin flew past my throat. If I hadn’t stopped that thing would have punctured my neck and I would be bleeding out on the ground.

The trail of blood linking Herst and my sword broke apart and the Vampiric Bite ended.

I activated Spirit Seek again and Herst began to vibrate within my sensory field. He was hiding just within the darkness of the trees, but he hadn’t quite entered the forest. If anything, he seemed to be backing away from them.

Then, I saw movement. A line of small figures were crawling out of the forest.

The Greys had arrived.

Herst stepped back into the moonlight, he had his arms raised in a placating gesture.

I heard a squeak from among the trees and then Herst squeaked back.

He can speak feral? Well, of course he can. He’s more beast than man.

I ran back to where Serilla waited with Riffy.

Chompi was shuffling back to them too. He looked miserable. I guess being thrown around in a fight wasn’t his plan when he picked that Turtle Shell skill.

“What’s happening? Serilla asked.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “I think the grey squirrels are coming. Riffy?

Riffy nodded. “We’re in big trouble.”

Serilla brought her hands up to cover her mouth. I think she was hiding a smile.

I thought the whole thing seemed a little ridiculous too. Why would we need to worry about some squirrels? But then again, why was Herst holding his arms up like he was placating them.

Damn it. I wish had finished Herst/Hesta. I was so close.

----------

The Grey squirrels marched over the moonlit grass. There were dozens of them, more than I had ever seen in one place. They marched in formation. This wasn’t just a random group. These guys were organised.

Some of the grey squirrels were different from what you might expect. The vast majority were small grey versions of Riffy, but some were bigger. There were at least two that were the size of big dogs. They looked mean. They were here to look tough and they succeeded.

Serilla sighed gently beside me. “They’re so cute.”

“Focus on the situation,” I whispered out of the side of my mouth.

“I am focusing. Look at them. They’re so fluffy.”

A couple of the squirrels were bigger than your average cat, but smaller than the large dog kind. These ones were wearing strange outfits. It almost looked like armour, but…

The moonlight reflected off one of the plates of their armour.

Yep. That’s armour alright.

Plenty of the squirrels carried weapons, like crossbows or straight swords. As the group passed the thrown javelin, one of the large dog-sized squirrels yanked it out of the ground.

“That battalion is twice the average size,” said Riffy. “I think it might be General Arandyr.”

The battalion marched until they were equidistant between us and the trees, then they stopped and waited.

One of the armoured cat-sized squirrels stepped forward and blew a horn. He squeaked a few times and Riffy gasped.

Then the armoured squirrel bowed and one of the ordinary sized grey squirrels stepped forward.

The moonlight wasn’t quite bright enough to get a good look, but I think this one was wearing a green and red military jacket.

“General Arandyr,” Riffy whispered.

“This is the best day of my life,” said Serilla.

The Grey squirrel General Arandyr began to squeak and chatter in our direction.

Once he finished, Riffy spoke. “He introduced himself. He says you are travelling with a known enemy of their kind. He wants you to introduce yourselves.”

Riffy turned to me. “He means me. He wants to capture me and hurt me.”

“We won’t let him do that,” I said gently.

“You’re safe with us,” said Serilla.

I faced the general and raised my hand in a fist over my chest. “I am Null. This is Serilla. We have no quarrel with you or any of your kind. You have nothing to fear from us unless you try to harm one of us or our friends. You just interrupted a fight between myself and a dangerous foe. I had the upper hand. You have dealt me a disservice. Even so, I will forgive that and your unprovoked attack, if you agree to leave us alone.”

Riffy squeaked as he translated, then he listened to the response.

"He said you must give me to him or we will all share the fate of the red cur."

Serilla was staring off into the distance. “There’s someone else coming.” She pointed down the trail.

Sure enough, a group of shadowy figures were making their way towards us. They were walking on two legs, likely Standard Common Races or something similar. I could count about five of them.

The grey squirrels had noticed them too. General Arandyr waved a hand at two of his soldiers and they ran ahead to meet the approaching group.

“What’s the plan here?” Serilla asked.

“Run,” said Riffy. “We should run.”

“Do you think we can out run them?” I asked.

Riffy looked affronted, but then he turned his head to the side and considered. “Maybe.”

“What about back to the tavern?” I asked.

“You won’t be able to enter,” said Serilla.

“I think under the circumstances—”

“No, Null,” said Serilla. “You really won’t be able to get inside the building. Morgon can bar people with magic.”

“Right,” I said. “Shit. Yeah, that’s obvious. I should have realised. So what, we just run in some random direction?”

“Widdle Stump,” said Riffy.

“Widdle Stump?” I asked.

“Widdle Stump,” said Riffy. “Safe place. Good protection. Not too far.”

“Do you know the way?” I asked.

Riffy nodded.

“Widdle Stump?” asked Serilla, but I think she just wanted to say it out loud for herself.

“Widdle Stump,” said Riffy.

“Fine. Widdle Stump.” I breathed a heavy sigh. This could end badly. “Wait for me to drop my smoke, then lead the way Riffy. Chompi, you stay here. Try to look big. Serilla will summon you to safety before long.”

Serilla clenched her fist and nodded.

Riffy gulped and fluffed up his tail.

Chompi flapped his wings and looked unhappily at the battalion of squirrels.

I couldn’t blame him for not appreciating his role, but the less of us trying to slip away, the better our chances. I looked for Hesta/Herst, but couldn’t find them in the shadows. Hopefully they had left. One fewer problem to deal with at the moment would be worth it even if it did mean I missed the chance to put an end that mad bitch for good.

The approaching group were closer now. I tried to make them out, but it was still too dark. One of them was taller than the others. I think he was clean shaven or wearing a helmet because the moon reflected off of his head.

I didn’t have time to worry about whoever was approaching. We needed to get out of there.

“Right. Serilla start to walk towards them. The moment, I drop my smoke, you should use your illusion to make it look like you are still walking their way. Is that possible?”

Serilla hesitated, then nodded.

“Everyone ready?” I asked, looking at them all in turn.

They all looked terrified, but one-by-one they nodded back at me, even Chompi.

Riffy glanced back at the approaching group. “Big meanie.”

“Who is that, Riffy?” I asked.

“Big mean lump Lecter,” said Riffy with a pout.

My fists clenched at the sound of that name. Mother fucker.

“Is everything alright?” asked Serilla.

A tightness formed around my neck. Cold, steel chains tightening, tearing the flesh. His rough hands rifling through my hair, clenching and pulling. The sound of my own skin tearing. The shooting agony as the world ripped apart.

“Null, whatever it is, stay calm,” Serilla reached up and touched my arm.

I flinched at the sudden contact, then recognised my own heavy breathing. My eyes met Serilla’s.

“Stay with us,” she said. “We need you now.”

“He’s the one.” My voice was rising. “He’s the one. I’ll tear his throat out. I’ll rip his fucking head off.”

“It doesn’t matter who he is. We have a plan, don’t we?” she asked.

I couldn’t answer. My teeth were chattering with rage. My muscles were twitching as my neck turned again towards the approaching Lecter. That piece of shit is here, now… why?

Serilla’s hands touched my face. She turned me to face her again. Her green eyes were wide and frightened, but they still glistened with compassion for me in that moment. Then, she continued to turn my head until I was looking at Riffy.

“What’s more important,” she asked. “Vengeance or protecting us? Who are you going to be, Null?”

“Null’s a hero,” said Riffy, as though it was plainly obvious. “He always has a plan, plan, plan.

I blinked back a furious tear and lowered my eyes.

Fuck!

“Alright,” I said. “We stick to the plan, but with one small adjustment.”

I opened one of my bottles of Quicksilver juice that I had collected from Sengamura’s spring before my bastard of a Soul Weapon had decided to bring the whole ecosystem down on me.

“Now, Serilla, do your thing and ignore everything except the signal to run.”

She turned and walked stiff-backed towards the grey squirrels.

I raised a hand towards the approaching group.

I activated Surge.

Quicksilver needs to be treated like flowing water. I understood that now. The last time I tried to create a sphere and shoot it like Sengamura did, it had splashed harmlessly. But I understood what I was working with now.

I cupped the spouting quicksilver into my palm and gradually formed it into a sphere by rolling it around, over and over.

The quicksilver’s natural tendency was to spill out and expand, but I forced it to resist that urge. Instead of letting it balloon out until it was bigger than my head, I kept it small. I squeezed a huge amount of quicksilver into the sphere in my hand. Keeping it spinning all the while. It was difficult and I soon reached my limit.

The ball I created was the size of golf ball and the quicksilver was spinning much slower than what Sengamura had achieved, but it was better than nothing.

I had no idea how long it would hold its shape for and I had no idea if it oculd even inflict any damage, but at the very least it should create a little distraction.

Chaos was what I needed at this moment. Hurting Lecter would just be a little icing on the cake.

“Catch,” I yelled at Lecter.

Then, I threw the ball and willed it to burst forward with all the propulsion I could imbibe.

It floated through the air at around the same speed as one of Vidari’s stones. It would be easy to dodge, but I didn’t wait to see how it landed.

I immediately released my Surge skill and activated Smokescreen.

A cloud of smoke gushed out of my hand, covering the mound of grass we were gathered on.

The moment the smoke reached Serilla she stopped walking and focused.

A second later, a shadowy impression of her took up her trajectory and exited the smoke as though she had never hesitated.

As a group, we darted backwards, crouched low we slinked through the grass.

Once we guessed we might be fully out of sight, we started to run.

In the distance, I could hear people shouting. I couldn’t be sure if my attack had actually hit. But either way, it had worked as intended.

Every single eye had been on the quicksilver. No one had witnessed us slip away.

We had a head start. That was all that mattered.

“Riffy, lead the way to Widdle Stump.”

As Riffy darted into the lead, a trumpet blared behind us. They were coming.

----------