By the time dawn’s light is peeking over the horizon, I’ve gone past the point of exhausted and into almost delirious from tiredness. My brain feels wrung out, and an ache permeates the whole of my body. Even my Core is throbbing, the constant emptying and refilling putting it under strain. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve earned a new level of Masochist for my pains. Instead, I sense that I need to take it a bit easier on the casting magic front for the next few days or risk rupturing something.
While I suspect that it would be either my Core or Energy channels which would be damaged, and know that I could repair them even if they were, I’d rather not have to deal with it in the first place.
Fortunately, I’m done, or at least that’s what I realise after I reach for the next webbed hole only to find myself grasping into the thin air of the cave entrance. I’ve done the whole tour of the cave, returning back practically to where I started.
My brain numb enough to barely be able to register this fact, I allow River to guide me to sit next to a little fire he set in the middle of the cavern. I’m surrounded by shapes, some familiar, some less so. I feel a sharp pain somewhere inside, and a brief sense of loss.
It takes my over-tired brain far too long to realise that it’s the sensation of Lathani’s Bond snapping. I have enough awareness to be relieved about that: however much it helped with the fight, however ‘right’ it felt to have her properly as one of us, it’s really not worth enraging Kalanthia by having an active Bond when we return. More than she will probably already be, anyway.
Sleep, master, River tells me firmly, a rumble in his throat. You have done everything necessary. You need to rest.
I don’t have enough energy to argue with him, dropping into a dreamless sleep before I even lie down.
*****
When I wake, it’s obviously been a number of hours. Not enough for me to be fully rested, but my mind actually feels like it might be able to work. I’m also ravenous, so immediately pull out a bowl of thick stew as soon as I’ve sat up.
Drinking it hungrily by using a rough spoon I managed at some point to find some time to carve – really no more than a slightly indented piece of wood – I am single-minded in my focus until it’s all gone. Thirst still continuing to annoy me, I next pull out my canteen and finish the water left in it.
With all the animals drinking from my big pot, I’m going to have to do some work to restock my supplies of drinking water. Or just take the risk that whatever parasites or diseases I could pick up from contaminated drinking water, I’ll be able to deal with by using Flesh-Shaping. I still need to refill my containers, whichever choice I go with in the end.
My thirst and hunger levels now satisfied for now, another basic need becomes uncomfortably obvious. I sidle out of the cave and find a spot to the side of it to do my business. Covering the smelliest parts with some earth I dig up with a stick, I return back to the cave.
Pausing at the entrance, I have to take a moment to just absorb the sight. By the end of the night, I’d been so exhausted that even with my higher Intelligence stats, I’m unable to bring up any clear image of what the cavern looked like.
Now, though, is a different story.
My efforts were successful beyond what I’d thought reasonably possible. Every single webbed cell is now open – all twenty-seven of them – and a good two thirds of the occupants have remained. If the sight inside of prey beast sitting warily beside predator isn’t sufficient, the number of connections I now feel from my Core space is more than enough proof. In the course of a single night, my group of Bound has more than tripled.
Of course, it’s not as simple as that. Although I’ll need to spend more time analysing each of the new Bonds independently, I know that they are not all designed for the long-term. Some, in fact, I sense will run out in the near future; I decide to put analysing those to the top of my list.
I would love to say that I remember each and every one of the beasts as the unique individuals that they are…but I don’t. Frankly, after the fourth, the rest started to blur as my exhaustion took over. Hopefully my sleep-deprived self didn’t promise anything I shouldn’t have.
I also have the nagging sense of notifications informing me of some – probably significant – changes to my status sheet. About to open it, I’m interrupted by Bastet.
What are we doing now, pack leader? That’s a very good question. A very good question indeed….
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Kalanthia may be worried about Lathani, but honestly I’m not feeling all that keen to see her any time soon, knowing her reaction is likely to be poor. Even if in a sense it’s at least partially her own fault for not keeping sufficient watch on Lathani despite knowing we were going after something that had managed to kidnap a lizog.
However, I do need to get back to the cave – there are still a number of preparations I need to make before we engage with the quest. And despite grumbling about Kalanthia’s lack of surveillance of her cub, I know that she’ll be worried, and don’t want to force it to extend longer. But is it a good idea to go right now?
I look up at the sky, estimating the time, then check my map to see how we are in comparison to home. It took us a good few hours to get here, and that was with all of us running flat out and me riding Hades most of the time. Not all of my new Bound are likely to be capable of either that speed or distance. Especially not with how poor a state most of them still are in.
With as much time as I’ve spent asleep, the sun is already past its zenith. Much as I dislike the idea of staying in that smelly cave longer than we need to, it might actually be the best option for us. We can then set out at dawn tomorrow and spend as much time during the day travelling.
Actually, that’s not a bad idea – it gives everyone a day to rest and recover and offers me some time to get to know my new Bound. I’d like to become familiar both with them and their Bonds, and to figure out how to integrate those who are going to be sticking around with our life. Hopefully Kalanthia won’t mind us descending with such a large group of extra bodies. Well, if I survive seeing her again, anyway.
“We’ll stay here for the day and night,” I answer Bastet, the cave going silent as I speak, every pair (or more) of eyes fixing on me. I feel a hint of unease at having so much focussed attention on my person, but power through it with the same kind of mask I used to use in the occasional big meeting at work where I was obliged to speak. “I want to get to know all of you a little, and delaying until tomorrow will allow our slower and weaker members to make the journey back home within the day. As it is, I suspect we’d be risking travelling through the dark if we left now.”
What do you wish us to do, then? Bastet asks next, the rest seeming happy for her to speak for them. I hesitate. There are lots of things that need doing – collection of food and water just at the top of the list – but until I know what everyone is able to do, I can’t correctly delegate. And until I know what exactly is in each of the Bond agreements, I’m not willing to send off my most competent Bound as I can’t be certain that my safety will be guaranteed. If they were all Dominate Bonds, I would be, but as they’re Tame Bonds, it might be another question.
“For now, just rest and relax.” Then I wrinkle my nose as I look at the various piles of excrement both inside and outside the cells. “Actually, if any of you can find a way of reducing the smell and making this cave a little more comfortable, that would be good. But we won’t be staying here for long. Also,” I continue as a thought occurs, “I’d like all the pieces of white webbing put in a pile, please. But don’t touch the web outside – it’s soaked with venom and I don’t want to have to heal any of you.” More to the point, I don’t think I should heal any of them because of the risk it poses to me. “I’ll let you know as and when there are other things to do.”
Master, River interjects hesitantly. Many are still hungry and thirsty. The aid you offered helped, but they have been without for too long. You may recall that some were nearly dead of it when you opened their cages.
That’s unfortunately true. I think back to my vague memories of last night’s marathon; Three of my new Bound were so weak that I thought them too far gone when I removed the web covering their cells. I tried anyway, and their flesh sucked in mana like a hungry sponge, the energy helping to make up for some of the damage that starvation and, more importantly, dehydration had caused. Invariably, these chose to take the Bond.
In fact, there were only seven where the Bond was not successful. I recall that two of them were Tier two and had probably only recently been caught. Although they’d accepted the food and water, they’d rejected the healing as much as they could and had beat a retreat as quickly as possible. I’m thankful that they were clearly not predatory – probably the only reason the danaris managed to catch them – as they didn’t seem interested in a fight. I was only barely able to send a wave of Flesh-Shaping into the larvae in their wounds to kill them before the beasts vanished. Hopefully they won’t get sepsis, but if they do then that’s on them.
Three of the others came out fighting, and of those we were only able to calm down one enough to heal it. Even then, it only allowed enough to remove the danaris larvae within its wound and to close the hole in its side before it took off. The other two, my Bound had needed to pin down so I could yank the larvae out with a ‘knife’ of Flesh-Shaping, and then release to scramble away.
As for the final two, those were fortunately our only deaths, though I regret the necessity of losing any. They had been unreasonable and too powerful to pin. I think that the pain and perhaps knowing what was going on had driven them mad. I don’t blame them, but at the same time, it was getting too risky for my Bound – I wasn’t willing to lose one of my companions for the sake of a creature which was unable to see when we were trying to help it.
But that still leaves me with twenty new Bound, of which one in particular was a massive surprise – I’m keen to speak to him for sure! But River has a point.
“Alright. Let’s all go down to the closest water source. Sirocco, can you find that, please?” The bird sends me a wave of acceptance, then wings her way out of the cave – apparently she overcame her dislike of being inside it at some point during the last few hours. “We’ll move together at the pace of the slowest member,” I tell everyone with a little sigh. Looks like I won’t be able to check my notifications for a while. Unless… I wonder, eyeing Hades. Was his willingness to carry me before contingent on it being the most efficient means of transport or battle?
Only one way to find out.