Part 4
The first sensation Drake felt when his consciousness awakened was a feeling of complete constriction.
He was in an area of almost complete darkness, with no signs of the soft bioluminescent lighting of mushrooms, or the faint sounds of running water from the stream that neatly ran through the cavern. His body was bound tightly together, with his arms at his sides, and with his legs pulled together. Flexing his muscles slightly, he could feel that whoever did it clearly meant for him to stay put, although for what reason he could only guess.
Tightly bound together, it only took a moment from when he awoke before a sudden, powerful burst of energy ran through his body. That rush of energy briefly sparked through his entire body all at once, before it began to slowly smolder, leaving him with the strangest feeling that something was different within him.
“Hm…”
Despite that, it seemed Brynhild’s second gift turned out to be nothing more than forcing his body to recognize the power that had been growing inside him throughout the trial. Once she did, he ostensibly passed the test, without really undergoing the sort of recognition of his inner abilities most others would have expected. It was a solution that bypassed the fading of his own consciousness in his trial and allowed him to return instantly, with only the promise that he would help her in return.
“She didn’t even force me.” He muttered. “It was nothing but a simple request, and she gave me more than I could have ever asked for.”
He had expected something different, truthfully. A powerful figure from mythology, and one that would almost qualify as a demi-goddess. What she had mentioned was a give and take, but he had very little doubt that she could have simply forced him to free her from the spell of her sleep, despite her and the little show of her saying otherwise. A being of her stature always had ways.
“Ha... still, it seems that I owe another person,” he smiled reluctantly. At the very least, he would ensure that no one would be able to enter her plane. That would at least give him at least some semblance of assurance that he would be able to find what he needed in the meantime to save her.
“As for this,” Drake rolled his eyes as he felt his muscles strain against whatever material was holding him in place. If their intention was to keep him here, they were sadly mistaken. If he was simply in his half-and-half form, maybe. But now? Even with the thick fiber and vines wrapped around him, he could feel his entire body swell with a power that he had never known. No doubt related to his demonic mana core fully forming and allowing the mana to fully incorporate itself in his body.
“Yami mentioned before that Demon Lords often don’t have the physical prowess to fight before they reach the first stage. Now that I reached it as well, I’ve only become stronger,” he chuckled.
Demonic mana did very little for the demons themselves, at least at first. For Demon Lords especially, they were most susceptible at the stage directly before they finished forming their demonic core. Their own path naturally sacrificed the physical powers most demons were granted, and while they were granted quite the sizable bonus to their control of mana, such a cost often left them with the rather succinct comparison to a ‘glass cannon.’ Fully capable and able of causing massive damage but being left even more vulnerable than the average demon.
Such a weakness would make one believe that they would simply bide their time, but unfortunately, the path of a demon inherently required sacrifice. One needed to eat the cores of those who were killed to gain strength, and even those with minions often weren’t able to advance quickly. This however, is where Drake held an innate advantage. Demonic magic held in the body of a Draconian, a race naturally gifted with both physical and magical gifts.
Simply put, any other Demon Lord who would have faced half the opponents Drake had likely would have died, and quite gruesomely at that. They simply wouldn’t have had the strength to survive it.
“That’s why I was given it, I suppose.” He muttered. It wasn’t as if it was an accident. It was a form of mana that worked especially well with his body. Still, a problem he never had gotten over was the issue was of how to effectively use it.
The power itself was quite impressive but given the wealth of information he was given by Brynhild, he had no doubt that he could improve it in some way. He would just need the time, and that could be solved once he escaped.
With a short flex of his body, the fibrous tendons that surrounded him began to break and snap. The amount of force he could put out had increased two or threefold compared to before, and the thick tendons that held him in place could only withstand so much. After only a few short moments, he broke free. Ripping off a few stray pieces from his body, he stood up, only to hit his head on a fibrous roof above him.
A cage of some kind? Drake scowled.
What had happened to the area in which he had started his trial? Better yet, why was he moved in the first place. Given how the Myconid had acted in his trial, he would have thought they were simply along for the ride. It should have been obvious that he would succeed at one point, after all, that was what they were required to assist him with. Despite their attitude on dragging it out, he was sure of that much.
Then again, it was only thanks to Brynhild that I met Yami as soon as I did. The state I would have been left in if I had been caught by those Fenrir clones… I don’t even want to think of it.
That week he missed in the trial was almost certainly their doing, as well as their reluctance to point him to Yami. She was the focal point of his entire trial, after all. Once he met her, he immediately began to have inklings of his original magic, down to the connection they had originally. Meeting her was a shortcut, and one which would have put him well ahead of the long and winding journey they had likely intended for him. Their own greed for information had put him in danger, and it wouldn’t surprise him if they had done something similar for Yami as well.
With a brief groan, Drake flexed his muscles, feeling the ache and stiffness slowly vanish as he gained an inkling of how much time had passed while he was unconscious. If he had to guess, he could have been in his trial for two, maybe even three weeks at max. More than enough time for the Myconid to have caused trouble.
They’ve had her to themselves for even long… From how she felt, I think she anticipated her trial being even shorter than my trial. Maybe only a half a day. Certainly not for weeks at a time. Damn…
Appearing almost as if response to his negative thoughts, an eye surrounded by a black, undulating fungus appeared with a disgusting ‘plop’ next to him.
“Y-you’ve awakened.” The voice that appeared soon afterward seemed to be nervous, which wasn’t surprising given his condition. “We lost contact with you soon after your encounter with the Wolf Brood, so we thought it best to bring you in a place where we could watch you closely.”
“We are…” There was a distinct pause in voice of the Sovereign, as if it were thinking of the best words to use, “pleased to see you awake and well.”
The Sovereign was a colony organism, so it wasn’t as if they lacked the forethought, but the position they had put Drake in certainly didn’t leave them in the best position to act as a benevolent being.
More interestingly, it seemed as if everything after he entered the forest was completely missing from the Myconid’s sight. They had no doubt been following him all that time, so he could only thank Brynhild for cutting the parasitic creature off from him. Although, it wasn’t surprising that the beautiful Valkyrie would have disliked them getting so much as a peep at her domain.
Returning his mind to the creature before him, he gestured quickly to the eye, “Let me out. I’m going to see Yami.”
“A-ah… Well…”
“What?” Drake tone shifted into a more threatening nature as he turned to the confines of his cage. Looking at it more closely, it was likely nothing more than a fibrous breed of mushroom, one that was suited to holding prisoners in place than the more easily torn apart breeds that made up the rest of the Myconid’s domain. Which only raised more questions on why they had put him here rather than keep him in the area where he first began the trial.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” The eye closed slightly in anticipation. “Please, wait outside until we can bring you a guide.” The eye quickly disappeared with another disgusting noise, as a small opening appeared in the side of the tough mushroom. Drake took the opportunity to exit, only to emerge back into the well-lit cavern full of bioluminescence.
“That was easy.” He remarked. “Still, this place hasn’t changed.”
Not that he thought it would. From how the Myconid seemed to cover the surrounding environment, any source of fungus that they had a connection to in some way could act as a way for the Myconid Sovereign to control it or move through it. Even the so-called jail Drake was put in mimicked this, acting nothing more as the cell and the guard in one. Rather ingenious, really.
[Yami. Where are you?] He instantly directed his attention to the connection he had with the young Imp. Despite his connection with her, and his meeting inside his own trial, it felt like he hadn’t seen her for ages.
He turned his head slightly, as the simply stood there, alone, in the cavern. He didn’t receive a response.
[Yami. Where are you?] He sent another message out over their link. He still felt their connection, clear as day, but she didn’t answer. Could it have been that she was undergoing her own trial?
He lowered his body down, his eyes slowly examining the surrounding environment. The thought that Yami’s own trial would be even longer than his own seemed somewhat absurd. While she had never outright said anything, she wouldn’t have been able to hide such a thing from him, either. The few times that worry had creeped across their bond, it was typically only about himself. She had only worried on occasion about herself, and even then, it was never about a trial. Her thoughts were almost focused on more of… an evolution.
[Yami.] Another signal was sent out across their link, as a sinking feeling began to grow in the pits of his stomach. They had never been too far apart, but never once had she failed to respond. He would have thought that if he couldn’t sense her, then their communication would fail as well, but it was the exact opposite. He could sense her presence as clear as day, but she wouldn’t speak.
The Myconid… He growled, as streams of mana began to release from his body. The amount of power that could be released had grown considerably. If she wouldn’t respond, then he’d find her himself, the Myconid’s so-called guide be damned. Mapping out this entire cavern would just take a bit of time. Child’s play in comparison to when he had to carefully search out Ella in the remains of her village.
“Still, damn...!” He cursed. He would need to find answers on his own, and above all, it would need to be done quickly. No doubt the Myconid would see him releasing swaths of mana all over their cavern as somewhat hostile, given the nature of it.
Taking a breath, he closed his eyes as trails of his mana began to snake out of him. They each split off in a different direction, and with it, a mass of information began to stream in towards him.
This place is a lot larger than I was expecting. He examined. Two of the tendrils to the right of me lead almost straight down in different places. He strained slightly, as the mana continued to lead outwards in all directions, giving him a sort of mental map as the reaches of him mana expanded even further.
The feeling of constant information streaming in left him somewhat uncomfortable, much like eating too much at one time. Still, that was nothing compared to allowing natural mana to build up in his body. This was too simple in comparison. Still, whatever this cavern was, it was undoubtedly connected to a larger cave system, one that the Myconid didn’t control.
“A cave system this large can run on for miles and miles. If a race like the Myconid can pop up down here, what else could have changed?” He pondered.
He shook his head free of the thought, as he concentrated on expanding his reach as fast as he could. Just as he did however, a concerned look suddenly crossed Drake’s face as his mana crossed a very unusual source.
Wait there’s… humans here? As his mana began to build, two different sources of mana made themselves known to him as he mapped out the cavern. The familiar pull of mana that only occurred with those of the humanoid races, rather than the push he felt from others with a mana core inside them. They were strangely close as well. Other holdings cells similar to his, maybe?
Why are they holding them here as well… He scowled to himself as his mana continue to surge outward. Surely Aesir didn’t drag another group here as well. Or… could it have been Peter’s group? What reason could there have been for them to brought down here with him? Yami made it seem like his own situation was nothing more than a gift from the tree spirit, despite his own feelings on the matter.
“If it really is Peter’s group… Dammit!” He snarled, only to quickly force the mist-like form of his mana into shards throughout the cavern. It was a stop-gap measure, but it would give him the time to search out the two mana signals and resume mapping out the cavern quickly once he was finished.
Turning towards the source, he sped over the crag-ridden floor of the cavern, careful to avoid the traces of fungus that that spotted his path. His own ‘escape’ had been detected the moment he broke out of the hard fiber that held him. If he was correct on their ability, the Myconid couldn’t sense him unless he touched it. Still, it wasn’t as if the they wouldn’t discover that he had vanished. That particular problem could be pushed aside when the time came, however.
Quickly scaling a large ledge, he lunged forward, avoiding the small streams of water, and stalagmites that covered his way. As a human, or even in his semi-human form, such a rapid pace in the damp and treacherous environment would be next to impossible. It was true that his semi-human form was comparable to most other humanoid races, but only a few weeks earlier, even his Draconian form wouldn’t have been able to maintain this sort of movement.
“This sort of thing really is possible, now.” He smirked. Still, despite the enormous increase in his abilities, something was off. The Myconid had captured him and sequestered him away. It was an action that made sense if they felt he was dangerous, however, that didn’t explain the barren, almost desolate appearance of his surroundings as he made his way forward.
“The Myconid kept me away from the others. Not to mention, the other cells seem to be in a barren part of the cavern, one that they barely control. I’ve even been able to come all this way, and not see a single Myconid. Just what was their plan…”
The Myconid’s thought process was entirely too alien for him to even come up with a solid idea, completely disregarding that it may have been some order from Aesir. If they wanted memories from other species to relieve them of the monotony of such an underground life, why not simply share them peacefully? It was true that the Myconid certainly didn’t seem overtly hostile, and their entire way of life seemed to encourage their insular way of living. Such a species should simply greet those they meet with peace.
“Ha…” Regardless, their motives seemed entirely too vague, and could easily be accomplished in some other way. It was some attempt to keep him away from Yami, maybe?
Leaping down a steep ledge, he smiled as he finally spotted the source of his destination
“Here.” He arrived not half a minute later, in front of two cocoon-like structures. They emerged from the floor before forming a large, circular ball, covered in that same hard fiber that had completely encased him. Speaking of which, regarding his current self…
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“First things first, I suppose,” he whispered. With nothing but a small thought, he connected himself to the small gem inside his mind. His body dissipated, only for him to return in a more suitable form for the figure inside. It wouldn’t do for his disguise to be ruined by a simple mistake. His half-and-half form was practically a necessity.
He turned towards the two fibrous pods, closely examining the overall structure. It only took a moment to come upon an obvious solution.
Once I break this open, they’ll know I’m here. Drake grimaced. Force wasn’t an option, especially if he was doing this without the Myconid’s knowledge. Simply prying it open would be the same as announcing his presence.
“So…” He held out his hand towards the hard mass, before letting a small bit of his mana flow towards it. If he couldn’t simply open it, due to it alerting them, why not try something a bit different?
His hand was held a fraction away from the cocoon, as a dark-red mist began to pour out, resulting in the material wilting and decaying under the stress of Drake’s mana, much like his shards had done before. Drake noticed this with a mischievous smile, only continuing to slowly eat away at the exterior. His smile lasted only for a moment however, as he noticed the tough material seemed to fight the very basis of his mana. His own power had grown, but it would require at least a minute to form a hole large enough to get inside.
Sturdy thing. It’s fighting me like everything else that damned tree has it’s hand in. He shook his head with a growl.
This was his first real test, but now he knew. The Myconid species weren’t independent of Aesir in any real sense. Just like inside the dungeon itself, the same mana that gave him so much trouble before was present even here, in what could only be called a cell. The large root in the center of the cavern, the one that descended down from the ceiling, had been connected with the Myconid Sovereign, but he didn’t think much of it at the time.
Truthfully, it could have been nothing more than a simple communication method, but it seemed that it was sharing far more than that.
Drake resumed focusing on the hard, fibrous mass, watching the exterior slowly eat away into nothingness as his mana continued to spread across it, his eyes darting back and forth for any sign of the Sovereign’s appearance. Luckily, it appeared his mana accomplished what he wanted. It was slow going, but given the situation, he really couldn’t complain.
Releasing more mana, he attempted his best to concentrate his mana into a singular source, without letting it crystalize. The finer points of control over his mana always seemed to escape him, but the degree of power in the mana itself had certainly undergone a change in grade. The exterior of the cocoon continued to dissipate into ash as he slowly expanded its reach across the surface, and before long, he managed to get into a position where he could comfortably reach the prisoner inside.
“Finally.” A small smirk crossed his face as he finished. He hadn’t alerted the Sovereign, which was his main point of concern, and it wouldn’t be much longer till he discovered who was inside. His mana snaked inside, slowly covering the interior of the ball completely before covering the prisoner.
“Now, just who are you…” He murmured.
“Mmm!” A muffled voice cried out with a sudden, stifled lunge as his mana covered the person inside, startling him a bit as he quickly scanned the surroundings for any signs of the Myconid.
“Good,” he whispered. “Damned idiot.”
“Just keep quiet. Otherwise, you’ll get us both caught.” He admonished the person inside, as he focused his mana, letting it slowly whittle away the bonds holding the person inside. He needed to be careful not to let their body get caught up in the process, but he also needed to move on quick. There were two signals he caught, after all.
His mana seeped into any small holes or cracks surrounding the individual, only furthering the process of disintegrating the fibers that held them in place. Despite that, the material still held together tightly, leaving him to only shake his head. The stuff that held it together… without Aesir’s mana, it would be little more than a piece of sturdy material, no more robust than wood. With it however, well, let’s just say he had been lucky that he was in the Draconian form when he awoke. He doubted he would have been able to break out otherwise, given the ability of the Myconid’s fibers to counteract his mana to a large degree.
As he was almost finished breaking the hard fiber that covered the struggling figure inside, a sudden low, whooping sound came out from behind him. He froze in place, only leaving the smallest tendrils of his mana to continue the slow work inside the cocoon as he turned around.
“A Myconid. A sprout by the looks of it,” he scowled, looking at figure on the ledge above him.
It was unfortunate, but at least it was the smallest of them. The adults could be anywhere from three to six feet, and the small mushroom-like creature was only barely more than two, not to mention the considerably more symmetrical form as the youngest of the species gave it away. Still, even fighting the small creature here wouldn’t solve anything. They were a hivemind, after all. Its loss would be felt if he attempted anything.
Another series of small ‘hoots’ escaped from the small creature, as it began to bumble its way down towards Drake. He watched on, mixed.
What was it doing here? Why is it just slowly making its way down towards him? He gauged the sprout, questions flying through Drake’s mind as he tentatively watched it climb down.
Could it have simply been here on its own? Was it simply apart of the child-like curiosity he would expect of any child? Some small part of him was curious what would happen if it were separated from the rest and taken far away from this lonesome cavern. Would it simply die, or would it be able to grow some semblance of individuality? Would the creature even desire that? There was just too little that he knew about this race, and whether or not it’d be correct to attack.
The idea of killing any smaller, and considerably younger member of any species left him with a sick feeling, but he might need to do just that, given the nature of them. It was a potential choice that bothered him.
The small Myconid finished bumbling down the small ledge towards Drake as it let loose a small series of ‘hoots’ again. Shaking its head lightly, the spores he recognized as the more mundane method of communication was released, as it bounced up and down, gesturing Drake towards them.
It wants to speak? I still don’t see any trace of the sovereign. He looked around suspiciously, before simply giving a short shake of his head. The sprout really was alone, and in that case…
Breathing in to calm his nerves, he walked forward into the spores. Almost instantly, he recognized the strange connection as the spores covered his body, and a series of images came across to him, along with a sense of curiosity.
“Memory. Source. Take?” Brief flashes of the fibrous holding cell were transmitted to him, as well as two more flashes of what could only be the humans inside came across to him. Even he wouldn’t have recognized them if it hadn’t been for the rough size and shape. One seemed a tad short, however. Regardless, the memories it transferred seemed to be nothing more of them when they were already brought here, fully wrapped.
Memory… source… Yami mentioned something about how enthusiastic they were about learning about the outside. It would make sense they would do some of that but… They can’t honestly be kept here just for that…
The thought seemed much too drastic. Sure, if they were brought here by force, as some sort of captive for Aesir, it might be necessary, but to go to all this trouble? Surely the dungeon itself would be more suitable for such a thing.
“You… know you can’t keep humanoids here, right? They’ll die within a week if they aren’t properly provided for,” he admonished the small Myconid.
“Death?” Hearing Drake’s words, the small sprout immediately held out it’s arm in a cautionary motion, as it said, “Surprise!”
It slowly motioned its head back and forth, as if it was the most natural response to it.
“Bad. Bad. Bad.”
“Uh… yeah,” he responded.
Did the sprout honestly not know? Sure, it seemed the Myconid could survive off nothing more than nutrients and a bit of water, but surely it knew that those it held were different.
“There you are.”
Drake stiffened as a disgusting ‘pop’ made itself known behind his shoulder. The occasional movement and muffled voice from inside the pod Drake had broken into stopped completely as well. It was a case of simple distraction, even if the young sprout meant nothing by it. The Sovereign had found him, only this time, it was obvious Drake meant to disrupt what had been constructed here.
“Sovereign…” Drake burned with a veiled anger at the disgusting creature as he clenched his teeth. The individual sprout Drake met might have been guiltless, but as for the hivemind that served as the connection between them? They undoubtedly served as a more knowing enemy.
“What exactly is all this?” He motioned to the two fibrous cages. “You can’t honestly be keeping the people here just to sate your need for knowledge,” he snarled. While his response was somewhat calculated, the anger behind it wasn’t. His telepathic bond with Yami had proved useless, no doubt due to the Sovereign’s own interruption, and the presence of the two humanoids being kept captive in these desolate caverns only exacerbated the feeling that something was off about it all. Even the Sovereign couldn’t deny such a fact.
To its own credit, the eyes that made up the Sovereign’s influence closed in apology, no doubt sensing it had been caught in some way or another.
“This… is complicated.” Several of the eyes ‘popped’ as they positioned around the young sprout who had made its way down to Drake. The small creature bowed its head with an uncertain expression, as it slowly turned away from them both, and began making its way back to the more populated areas of the cavern.
“The young one sensed confusion and anger. Please, I assure you, we mean no harm to you.”
Drake laughed sarcastically, as he merely glared with a sardonic smile. “Oh, I’m sure.”
They don’t seem to lie, but they like to leave out the truth. He thought with a scowl.
“What exactly is all this? You can’t expect me to believe this is out of your own grace and good will.”
“Good will… yes, that is exactly what we mean to understand.”
The leering eyes of the Sovereign suddenly flashed over to the two pods Drake had discovered, one of which was badly damaged. There was a strange look in them for a split second, as the tough, fungus-like fibers that made up the exterior began to simply unravel. One, which Drake had been hard at work destroying, simply revealed the one inside, while the other slowly branched open, with the hard fibers around each of them loosening up to allow Drake to see them.
“Morgan.” His eyes flashed with recognition, only for them to glaze over in the next second with confusion.
Truthfully, he had expected to see Luke or Peter in the other pod alongside her. It was one of the reasons he had been so adamant about coming here first. Instead however, he spotted a strange, bald creature, not any bigger than a few feet tall. It was covered with dark skin, with darker specks covering its arms and belly, almost like the markings of an animal. It was completely bald and looked nothing like the races he had seen on the surface. Most strange of all, he had a hard time imagining anyone would willingly choose to become such a creature in the first place.
“I felt two humanoids though…” Drake didn’t understand why he felt the same signal from the small creature as he did Morgan. On closer inspection, it somewhat resembled the small woman he had met on the caravan, the one who accompanied the dwarf, but the features were entirely too different for them to be the same race. Not to mention just how far down they no doubt were. No human would have been able to travel so far down, let alone willingly live in such a dark and dreary environment.
As he looked on, Morgan began to twist and buck as the fibers were increasingly loosened, although not so much as to allow her full release. The other creature merely looked on with a more hesitant expression.
“Drake! Drake, thank God.” The look on Morgan’s face was of desperate panic. “Listen, this place is a death-trap. I was practically tortured here. You have to get me out of here! I’m going to die here if you don’t, please!”
She hadn’t known it was him at first, given the completely thorough nature of the wrappings around her body, but now, she felt he was her only hope. Her desperate cries lasted only for a moment longer as a sudden glaze came over them, and her head slumped over as if she had suddenly fallen unconscious.
“You-” Drake motioned dangerously to the Sovereign as the creature took a defensive posture.
“Please, let us explain. The elf is a paranoid and untrustworthy one, we assure you.” The expression of the eyes was almost one of sneering disgust as they merely shifted to Drake and the second one that was being held captive.
“The reason for her presence here, is simple. She failed the trial that was laid down for her by the Great One, disregarded the rules set down for you all, and when she given the chance to repent, she lied, ignoring the great boon she had been given.”
“Despite that however, rejoice! The Great One is truly generous. She will be released soon, as it has already approaching the time she was allotted to us.” The eyes noticeably shifted, the voice cheering slightly as it continued. “The time may vary slightly, but she will undoubtedly be released.”
“This is what the one you call Aesir told us. We assure you, we will return her to him within the week. No doubt she will be placed on the surface soon after.”
Drake turned his head questioningly as the Sovereign finished its explanation. She committed a crime behind their back? No, from the sounds of it, it may have been just behind his. The only opportunity had been when they had first arrived at the dungeon, and he had gone down first. The rest of them had come charging down into the dungeon not soon after he entered, complaining of the golem-like monsters. From the sounds of it, she had stolen from Aesir, and the other two kept quiet so as to not cause too much trouble.
So, it’s actually her own fault she’s down here. It wasn’t a lie, either. He thought in a reserved manner.
His own transformation had brought him more of the abilities that Yami frequently used, much like she had gained the use of his abilities. Most notably, he had gained the use of Yami’s intensive telepathy. Although it was still weaker, it wasn’t difficult to determine the truth from the Myconid, given the Sovereign’s complete monolithic thought. He’d still need to speak to Morgan to fully understand it all, but it wouldn’t be hard to fish for the truth.
Motioning to the other captive, they pleaded for Drake to take a more understanding approach.
“Please. Although he and his race are new, no doubt he will illuminate your suspicions much more than what you would allow us.” The Sovereign motioned over to the other captive.
Drake responded with a brief scowl, as he walked over to the strange creature. He would relieve Drake’s suspicions?
“What are you, and are you in danger here?” He said briskly.
“Vakna og ég sé fjandinn. Bara mín heppni.” A rough growl emerged from the creature as the clearly male voice spoke in a low tone, murmuring to himself as he shook his head. His expression was scattered, his eyes darting cautiously from the eyes that surrounded the pod to Drake, only for him to give a low sigh as he looked to Drake.
“Lizard. Speaks. Base.” The creature gave another shake of his head as a significantly irritated look formed as he gave a closer look at his surroundings.
“Unnatural.” The creature spit at the base of the fungal pod, as a rather scornful look emerged at the Myconid that had no doubt kept it here.
“What kind of language is that…” Drake looked on in confusion. Surely since he was a humanoid, he used to be human, right? From the looks of it, he didn’t seem to trust Drake any more than the Myconid, however. Sure, he wasn’t exactly normal, but any average person would recognize him as one of the humanoid races. In a place like this, that should result in nothing more than sheer joy.
“Sovereign, what is he?”
“Hm? Oh, he refers to himself as a svirfneblin. Interesting, interesting creatures, to be certain. They live somewhat insular lives, much like ourselves, and are distrusting of outsiders. Although he seems to miss his family and wishes to return. Such a wonderful contradiction.” The mass of eyes seemed to show a great amount of pleasure, tightening ever so slightly as it spoke of the memories it no doubt gained.
Contradiction… God, I hate how these things think. Drake scowled to himself, before giving a brief shake of his head as he focused on the strange creature in front of him.
So, they’re a monster race? That… doesn’t seem what they are though. They can even speak broken English from the looks of things.
It was all too strange. A brand-new race, one that didn’t really fit either category. They were neither monsters, nor a group of humans that transformed. In any case, he would need to speak to them at length to get any real answers out of him. Not something he imagined he would get the chance to do, unless he was discreet about it.
Drake looked carefully at the dark creature, as a faint smile crossed his lips. Discreet. It was something that was almost impossible for him before, but now? Well, it seemed Yami was helping him out once again.
“Can you speak?” Drake asked innocently, all the while directing his focus towards him.
[Don’t worry. I’m not apart of the Myconid. I need to know what you are before I can help you.]
It was only a small twitch, but for a moment the creature’s eyes widened as he quickly looked between the Sovereign’s brooding eyes, and Drake’s own figure. Keeping his face as passive as possible, Drake soon heard a somewhat gruff voice sound off in his mind, as the creature made a show of sighing as he looked away from Drake.
[You… actually aren’t one of them, then?]
[Them?]
He didn’t look anything like the Myconid, how could he have possibly been mistaken for one?
[Ha. To be saved by one of your people, and one with such an ability. To think that such a species could make such a simple mistake.] Drake could see a faint smile pass over his lips at the innocent question.
[You asked for what I am. My race is known as the Deep Gnomes.] He replied in a gruff tone, his voice full of pride at the name.
[As to your later question, even I’m not sure of the cause, but extended interaction with these particular Myconid leave one… changed. In short, it seems as if they become part of the Myconid. They retain some of their personality, but they undoubtedly become different people.]
[Then…] Drake’s mind instantly was drawn to Yami. Even when he first awoke, she seemed drawn to them. It was the exact sort of situation where she would have been easily caught up in a trap, especially when he wasn’t there.
No…
[How long does it take, and can it be reversed?] The telepathic wave transmitted seamlessly to the Deep Gnome, while the drastic shift in tone seeming to surprise it slightly as he looked on. It wasn’t even a question of what Drake would ask next. Yami had always treated Drake as a top priority, and Drake held her in just as much importance. If Yami had been affected by them, then surely this Deep Gnome must know something to fix it.
[How long it takes… that I don’t know. I’ve seen others of the Myconid species, and this colony is entirely different in comparison. I was sent here to discover just why they differ from the others, but I was captured, and placed here. If you could help release me…]
“Tch… No luck past that, huh?” Drake huffed loudly, only barely keeping his composure as he glanced between the creature and the Sovereign, keeping their silent communication discreet. He wouldn’t be able to have an extended conversation right now. As they were, Drake was simply giving the Deep Gnome a fairly hateful look in complete silence, all within the Sovereign’s watchful eyes.
He turned, before walking away from the pods as if he planned to go back towards the center of the Myconid’s establishment.
[You’re located under a dungeon. No doubt that has a part to play in all this. I’ll be back for you. Don’t worry.]
“Hm.” A low, gruff response was all Drake received in return, leaving the Sovereign in a somewhat confused state as the mass of eyes simply were split between the duo.
And as for Drake, he now knew the Deep Gnome was just as much of a captive as the rest of them here, and that his feelings on this species were right from the beginning. Their abduction of species, and their overbearing interest for memories. Just how did that differ from normal Myconid…
His face sunk even deeper, as he walked forward. He would rescue the Deep Gnome, he could do that much for what little information he was given. However, if Yami was harmed in the least, he’d torch this place to the ground first.
“Take me to Yami.”
“A-ah, yes. We’ll… show you the way there.” The Sovereign responded as dutifully as always, the hivemind deciding that it would be best to stay with him this time around. Forming a continually moving line of black, pulsating eyes, the Sovereign led Drake back into the center of the cavern, all the while unaware of the growing violence in the one they led.