at least, it felt like they did. My sense of time was lacking. I could not see the sky, and there was no meal service. The room had also come with pre-stocked travel rations and a water barrel. It had to have been planned out somewhat. And honestly, I wondered if Emboru was just that out of touch with what people needed.

Though, arguably, it had everything I needed.

Eventually, I had enough solitary confinement. I needed something… more.

So, I poked my head out of my room, and into the tunnel network.

There was an infested human partially embedded in the dirt wall of the tunnel. Vines partially subsumed the human into the wall. It must have been claustrophobic, but the human seemed at peace. Likely, that state of mind had something to do with the infestation taking root. I shuddered.

“H-hel-p-p Y-youu?” the infested human sputtered and croaked.

I grimaced again. Several tendrils worked their way through the human’s lips, and were visible inside its mouth when it spoke.

“Ugh,” I struggled to mask the disgust. But on a second attempt, I came closer to a courteous response. “Yes, please… May I leave?”

The infested human croaked without speaking, its tendrils snapping across its chest and into the dirt wall. A near imperceptible shudder traveled through the wall. The motion drew my eye to the nearly completely hidden, mostly submerged, tendrils or roots that laced through the dirt. They were spiderwebbed and fine and absolutely had just relayed some manner of message.

The infested human shuddered once more.

“N-n-nooot y-ye-et,” the infested human said.

“How much longer then?” I asked.

“N-no-ot lon-n-ng.”

No visible shudder had traveled out from the infested human that time, which implied that the message had contained more than just a simple denial.

“Will–?” I started to ask, but the creature sputtered over me.

“-g-go- -ba-a-ac-ck i-in.”

Not because the infested human told me to do so, but because I had much to think upon, I headed back to the burrowed out bunker that served as my cell.

Not much time had passed, before the walls shuddered, then shuddered again.

I poked my head out, and found the infested human in the process of pulling free from the dirt wall. It looked at me and stopped.

“L-l-le-eav-v-ve.” The infested human limply pointed with their free wrist and hand towards the exit of the tunnel system. I guessed that I had just been given permission to leave.

Keeping a careful watch on the creature, I slowly walked up along the path leading to the way I had been brought in. I stepped out from the burrow and blinked against the daylight.

A shadow fell over me. I looked up and saw Emboru looming over me with all her height.

Without anything else to do, I bowed my head.

“Emboru of the Vaul Mucary. Thank you for hosting me.” I almost said rescue, but that was both partially untrue, and would grant Emboru a stronger negotiating start than she already had. Not that it would make a difference. I also decided not to lodge complaints over my lodging.

I shrugged a bit helplessly and tugged at the collar that sealed my Marks and left me relatively helpless. Emboru interpreted that as an affirmation, likely reading more into my scents and body language than I had meant to communicate.

Emboru plucked a tendril up from within the gelatinous material of her body and within the curled tendril there was a pin like key, which looked very similar to the kind that matched my collar. I hoped it was the same one, but I lacked the means to clarify.

Regardless of if it was a match or not, I reached for the key, almost without thinking of it.

The tendril raised up until it stood at Emboru’s head, or what went for their head. Given the height disparity, and given the fact that my Talents were sealed, I doubted I could jump to reach it. Not that I could.

I frowned up at the key, remaining as dignified as I could while expressing both my desire and disapproval.

They were not exactly clear, and I was not exactly certain what they were aiming for.

“Are we re-negotiating then?” I asked, biting back the acerbic tone at the fact that Emboru was somewhat backsliding on our deal. Not that our deal had ever been finalized. But the spirit of it had.

Why would they keep the key from me if that was solely the case? Likely, they planned on setting the baseline first, before beginning to warp it further towards their favor.

Realization swept through me. Emboru, for all that they were a terrifying individual, with capabilities that far exceeded my own, was terrible at striking deals. Likely, they seldom had to, and considering their standard abilities to assimilate, that made sense. Knowing that, it left me some room to maneuver.

Normally, by revealing what I needed first, I would weaken my starting position. But there were ways to allay that. So, I listed out what I wanted, plus a little bit extra, the nice to haves. In no particular order.

“My left arm restored. This collar removed–” I really did need that one, the arm would have been a nice-to-have “-and protection against becoming sealed again, if possible. The grimoire to grant me the ability to become human–” something that I needed if I were to integrate with society “-My egg, I think it’s called a mist egg–?” a nice to have but something I really did want “An escort to Southbridge, immunity from infestation, and necessary resources to enter and live in Southbridge, such as currency, clothes, and tools.”

Their head tilted downwards, and gave the impression of narrowing eyes, of doubt, of speculation.

I gave another shrug and smiled, planning to change their attention away from my increased list. “I learned more about the world. And for you, you need me to infiltrate Southbridge to find your… sibling?”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Oh. Perhaps I assumed too quickly that they were poor at the art of bartering. Or perhaps, they were taking my own tactic and deploying it against me.

“What other duties?” I asked. “And is there a reason you’re holding the key up there?” I wanted to say they were holding the key ‘hostage,’ but that would strain already tense relations.

“And the key?” I prompted, once more.

I tilted my head, frowning, as I tried to parse that. “The key to my collar, for my… left arm?”

“Alright. Assuming you won’t need my services too often–”

“-then we have an agreement?”

Right. As a ransom, to guarantee I would deliver.

“Agreed. Tell me about this arm, is it a prosthetic? Some sort of magic, like the grimoire?”

I failed to recognize a lot of what they were saying, and as I slowly shook my head, they realised this.

Soon, within twenty seconds, an infested rat scurried towards us from the burrow system.

I felt hesitation, but then I noticed that one of the rat’s arms seemed discolored, compared to the rest of the mangey tendril infested skin.

The rat stopped before me.

I bent lower and got a closer look.

It had lost its right foreleg at the elbow, at least judging by the ragged scarring. From below that point, it still had an arm, but not the one it was born with. I glanced back at Emboru, and the clear gelatinous material that formed their skin, then back down at the rat’s foreleg.

The same material.

Peering closer, within the transparent gelatinous arm, I saw an absence of bones, but there was a skeletal scaffolding of a sort. They were tendrils. In fact, they were the same tendrils that weaved in and out of its upper arm. They plunged back into its skin and emerged within the clear material, serving in place of the actual bones.

Towards the bottom of the foreleg, where the paw should be, there were three narrow tendrils that formed three jointless limbs.

“You want to give me an arm like this one?” I asked to clarify.

I had concerns, but I thought best to clarify their offer before outright rejecting it.

“It would be transparent? Not skin and bone?”

While I lacked complete comprehension, I had an idea what they meant. There was some variability in results, depending on myself, on my Marks, or species, or some other unspecified variable.

“What would be the best case?” I asked.

Within one of their thicker tendrils, almost a tentacle coming out of their lower back, they gestured towards the rat.

“And worst case… ?” I asked, nervous.

The rat began shivering, before collapsing to the side and seizing up, with froth exiting their mouth.

A painful death, then. I should have seen that coming, as even the best medical procedures carried a chance of death.

I cleared my throat. “How… how likely is that?”

“Can you give a percentage?”

“What was that out of?” I asked, having missed the number, and not quite willing to risk this procedure without fully understanding what I was getting into. It took a few moments, and some creative charades, but it came out to a one in fifty chance of death. Which was hardly the worst, considering all I had been up against.

But that left one last question, and likely the most important one. As, I noticed, when examining the infested rat, that its arm seemed had the tell-tale tendrils through it that usually went hand-in-hand with infestation. And while I was hardly an expert on the biology of it… I had concerns. I just had trouble formulating them.

“Would I become infested?” I asked bluntly.

<...>

That did not sound like a negative.

“Pardon?”

“No. But explain. Please.”

Did I mean losing my agency, my free-will, my sense of self? Well, maybe. “I definitely need to keep those,” I hedged. “But are there stages of infestation? Is it contagious? Will it spread? Can tools easily detect its presence and out me?”

“That is sounding better. How would it activate?”

“Whose signal?”

The most complex layering of scents washed over me, far above and beyond their normal speech pattern.

Then I would forever have a threat hanging over me, a figurative bomb strapped to me. If Emboru so decided, and came near enough, they could activate the infestation.

Of course, if I were that close to them anyways, as I was now, then I would be under their power, and they could choose to infest me regardless.

Not that that made a good reason to accept.

“Would you activate it?” I asked.

“And those reasons would be?”

Assuming Emboru was not mercurial in their moods or definitions, then I would likely be safe. Though, there were always outlying situations.

“What of others within your Root?” I asked. “Would they activate it?”

Acceptable then.

“How will I hide it from humans, if its visible or detectable?”

I nodded. It would make sense that the Illusion expert would be responsible for hiding aspects of themselves. Especially considering… everything. A glove and long sleeves would likely work for the most part.

“Why must I remain sealed for this then?” I asked my final question.

“Alright then,” I said, holding out my hand.

They ‘looked’ at my hand, tilting their head to demonstrate confusion.

“Humans shake their hands to finalize a deal,” I explained.

But Emboru still shook, though they had to use a tendril to do so.

However, when it was time to let go, Emboru continued holding on.

It caught me by surprise. I would have thought there would be a preparation period. I felt unprepared.

“Is it going to hurt?” I asked in a tighter voice than I would have liked, hoping to reduce some of my fear. Because obviously, they would use anesthesia, or put me under for the procedure.

It would be a falsehood to claim I had no second thoughts.

Blessings: Rank (1/9)

* Body: 65

* Mind: 75

* Spirit: 49

Talents:

* Athleticism (3/9):

* Climbing I (1/9)

* Featherlight (6/9)

* Stealth I (5/9)

* Trackless Tracks I (1/9)

* Area Coverage (1/9)

* Alchemical Immunity (ineligible for growth)

* Eschiver (3/9)

* Evasion (6/9)

Spells:

* Illusion I (5/9)

* Touch (6/9)

* Closed

* Closed

Gifts:

* Obsession (3/9)

* Closed (0/9)

* Closed (0/9)