Arcane Sight made the process of recruiting a new esper quite different. By turning it on and concentrating with the right intention where the veil was already thin, I could see completely through it. Compared to the way I’d been doing it, which required a degree of serenity and meditation, looking into the Esperwild with Arcane Sight was a breeze. I could also take in more of the parallel world with less effort, which actually made it more difficult to maneuver since what I saw was often hard to distinguish from what was in front of me and around me. Somehow, I managed not to fall face-first into the muck of Marekaj. It also felt like it gave me a few more options on which esper to take, or at least I felt like I could keep a strong enough grasp on the magical connection to afford to be choosy. Red had little advice to offer me, being unfamiliar with the roster for the recently-appointed new Gladiator for Vil Kayman, so the option of which esper to recruit was entirely mine to consider. I walked past a few rubbery creatures with either antennae or eyestalks ambling through the marsh on four legs that I later understood to be bunyips, considered a couple of large reptiles apparently called kumi lizards, and eventually ducked under an overhanging hill that was much drier in the Esperwild than it was in Barbavia, swamp water up to my ankles.
We were making fair time through the marsh and wetlands, all things considered. Perhaps it was a drive to be done with the whole affair sooner, as all of us save Wysteria were growing ever more miserable in the odious soup. Rations running low (though yet not concernedly so), finances being what they were, and civilization being so far spread, it was Red’s suggestion that we wait until the last few days of our journey to attempt to recruit another member of the team. With only a couple of days remaining, now seemed like a fine time to traipse into the wild and see what I could see. There was more than enough food in our packs to supplement typical hunting for whatever I picked up before we reached Vil Kayman, made another score at the local coliseum, and could buy supplies for the next leg. Especially after the wonders of Yukiori and being so isolated off the Triangle Road, I was eager to see what the local culture would be, and more excited to be surrounded by strangers than I was used to. I certainly hadn’t become suddenly extroverted, but with no connection to the boons and ills of social media on a regular basis, I felt a stronger thirst for the kind of secondhand socialization overhearing conversations at a tavern and people-watching brought.
If you asked me what drew me to the cliff underside in that moment, I couldn’t tell you, but as I arrived an incredibly large creature swooped down, stuffing its nose into a muddy nest in the cliffside. Something about the whole situation made me uncomfortable, and I cried out.
“Hey!”
“Go away, human,” the creature hissed dismissively in Esperlang. It had large ears like Red with a somewhat porcine, flat, triangular nose. Most of its physique suggested ‘bat’ with the shape of the face and thick fur about its neck, but there was something more draconic about its shapes, with a number of small spines and a long, broad tail. I chanced a few steps forward as it dug its nose back into the nest, and a small, terrified cry emitted from something else within the reeds and mud.
“What’s in that nest?” I don’t recall whether I was speaking Esperlang in response or my own native tongue, the demand came so quickly from my lips. The cold steel of a throwing knife was reflexively between my fingers, the dark feeling in the pit of my gut about those tiny squeaks suggesting I should have an option to back up my words.
“Go back to your side of the veil, wizard!” That last word apparently had no Esperlang equivalent, and it was strange how much the slur stung, even though I was only relatively-recently introduced to it. Perhaps it was the venom and invective in his voice more than the pejorative itself.
“Back away now and you’ll live to tell about it,” I growled.
The bat-dragon growled back, slapping his tail into the mud and flinging a glob of it my way. Of course, since I wasn’t actually in his plane it didn’t affect me, and I used the opportunity of its own diversion to dash forward and examine the nest. Even knowing I was relatively safe from harm, that the creature couldn’t really touch me, the weight of his presence was significant. I was never the type to run toward danger, outside of my more testosterone-filled teenage years, and there was a lot of shutting out the klaxons that were screaming in my brain, but I was being pulled by something; the same type of something that had me take a chance and reach out for Red’s paw so long ago. Amongst the wet earth and grass of the nest were several broken lavender eggshells with dark speckles, fresh spatters of ichor, and a terrified miniature version of the very bat-dragon breathing down my neck. It couldn’t have been more than six inches from tail to tip, backed into the corner of the only home it had ever known and quivering with terror.
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The larger creature studied me for a space of seconds with surprise, seeming to come to a swift conclusion about my semipermeable nature before trying to strike through me and into the esper in the nest. It fluttered into my body at the last second, and I poured my power to part the worlds between us and bring it to the Barbavian side. While I usually only had to manipulate the veil around my hand or arm, this time it was my entire body that acted as conduit between myself and the esper. The hole was, thus, bigger, and apparently gave the massive bat-dragon a metaphysical foothold to squeeze through. Only when it passed into physical proximity with me could I no longer silence the warnings in my head, awestruck as I was by its sheer size. The esper had the powerful form of an alligator, and long arms with chiropteran wings large enough to support its frame. It loomed over me on equally powerful hind-legs, spreading the wings wide and slavering open-mouthed, with impressive ivory teeth.
“Fine! The child can live… I’ll just eat you!”
I spat a panicked curse and threw my knife at the bat-dragon, scoring a hit enough to cause it to reel back in pain. Cupping the tiny esper to my chest with my opposite hand, I began sloshing through the swamp with high steps in what I hoped was the direction of our camp. The bat-dragon chased after, a forceful wind almost taking me off my feet as it beat its wings in an attempt to take to the air. It cursed as well, as apparently I’d injured something critical to flight. Bully for me; I’d likely have already been rent to ribbons if it could get an aerial advantage. Instead we were both stuck scrambling through murky water and wet earth in a chase that must’ve been as hilariously awkward to witness as it was heart-poundingly frightening to participate in. More than once I heard the snap if its teeth; felt the clap of its jaws too close behind me. I tried to turn the fear into fuel, pushing through the mire for safety, or at least some backup from Grajo, Wysteria, and Tanis. Sooner or later this thing would catch up with me, and I favored its odds in a fight over my own meager defenses. Most importantly, I did not want to look back. That felt like inviting defeat, as though confirming how hot the bat-dragon was on my heels would cause me to move more slowly and accept the inevitability of my bloody demise.
The longer our chase continued, the more sure I became that I took a wrong turn somewhere and had blown past our camp. Perhaps it was in my tactical decision to avoid dryer ground, to keep the esper moving clumsily, slowly through the water in case it had more of an advantage than I did in its absence. It certainly had more stamina than I did, and as much as my lungs were burning and a stitch was tearing through my side, I couldn’t so much as pause to get my bearings. We were running, and we could only stop running when we were safe. What qualified as ‘safety’ seemed in slim pickings, however; any opening I could squeeze through, the bat-dragon could most certainly gain enough clearance in to drag me out by my ankles, nevermind what kind of monster or wild animal might be already lurking within. But even with fear and adrenaline, I was not built for distance running, and I needed to stop and catch my breath. The terrain looked entirely foreign to me now; the marsh more gray, the water more thick with silt and mud, and the tree canopies more obscuring of the sun in the dim sky above. The darkness felt oppressive, even more with the bat-dragon so increasingly close behind. Not far ahead, appearing from the swamp mist, was a raised bit of land with a crevasse running through it. My only hope was that it would be thin enough for me and only me, and deep enough to keep my pursuer out.
Crashing through roots poking out of either side, knocking my elbows on clods of earth, I finally tripped and sent slop flying. Thankfully the wetness beneath me kept me from hurting the heel of my left hand or skinning my knees. I held my breath, opening the right hand I’d been holding gently clasped to my chest, relieved to see the baby bat-dragon was physically fine, if rattled. It blinked up at me gratefully, finding stability in our lack of bustle, but then its eyes went wide as it looked behind me. I winced before the sword-like claws thrust through my back and into my stomach, a hot and ragged pain exploding through every inch of me in waves, radiating outward from each wound. A cough escaped my throat and my breath ran ragged, not from any injuries to my chest or lungs, but merely from an incredible agony like I’d never felt before. Stomach acid, sweat, and filth mingled with the claret streaming down my body, causing my injury to burn even more.
My vision was blurring and fading fast. Magic could repair my flesh, but it didn’t relieve me of my exhaustion, and I didn’t have the literal firepower to fight off the esper above me with its fingers intertwined in my guts once I did. There was a wild, long-shot idea that sparked to life in my mind, and while I wouldn’t ordinarily be comfortable with it, the desperation of the situation required drastic action; I refused to live my last moments gasping for air, lost in the middle of a miserable mire, devoured by a creature I antagonized by the compassionate act of robbing it of a meal. I willed the last vestiges of my energy into my magic, reached out to the clawed hand thrust through my back and the creature it belonged to… and just before I lost consciousness, I felt the sorcery take hold. I linked the bat-dragon, then lost consciousness before I could collapse fully into the mud.