“How did you take those down?” I ask in astonishment. I didn’t think I’d given him any ranged equipment and I don’t see how else he’d have done it. “And how did you even find them?” Not that I’m in any way upset at the mass cull he seems to have conducted.
The mass River is carrying is composed of numerous black blobs. One, two, three...I count seven of them slung over his shoulders by their bulbous tails. Walking over to him, I view them admiringly.
It was purely down to Fenrir’s nose that we found them, River told me, proudly looking down at the lizog. Fenrir seemed to realise that he was being talked about and wriggled happily. His wriggles gain in intensity as I send approval down the Bond to him. Once we found the first, it was easy for him to gather what I wanted to hunt and he led us directly to it whenever he caught the same sort of scent.
“So that’s how you found them, but how did you kill them?” River made his equivalent of a shrug.
The way I was taught to: climbing up into the trees above them and stabbing at the body. My jaw slackens a little.
“...Why did I never think of that?” I mutter to myself. It makes sense: the blobs aren’t exactly fast and they don’t appear to have any other method of defence apart from their tails. “So you’re going to harvest their venom, then?” River sent confirmation down the Bond. I hesitate. “Do you want to use my knife?” Even if his wooden one is remarkable for what it is, it’s not anywhere near as good as my own blade. River looks at me, surprise coming down the Bond.
You’d allow me to? His question is almost hesitant and I wonder why.
“Sure. I’m done with my own harvesting.” I pull it out and hand it to him, handle first. “Just, don’t lose it, OK,” I half-joke.
I won’t, he promises, looking at my tool with eagerness and no small amount of awe. He turns it over and over in his hands. I suppose I can’t blame him: it’s got to have been the first metal tool he’s come across in his life. Still…
“Are you going to use it or just look at it?” I tease him. He starts and guilt comes across the link. “Look, man, I’m just joshing you,” I tell him, immediately feeling bad that he took my words too much to heart. Then, scratching at my beard, I get a thought. “Actually, could you do something for me?”
Of course, River answers immediately.
“Would you be able to harvest the venom from this too?” I pull out one corpse I haven’t yet touched: the venomous predator which tried – and very nearly succeeded in – killing me while in the vine-strangler forest. Not having had much experience with extracting venom glands, I’m wary of starting on this corpse itself.
I’d be happy to, the lizard-man answers honestly and with no small bit of vengeful glee. Clearly he has some bad feelings about this sort of creature. My question must come across the link as he looks up at me and then clicks his jaws uncertainly. I lost two of my broodmates to a smaller version of this creature. Even though I managed to kill it, I wasn’t in time to get them back to the herbalist.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I say softly. “You don’t have to do it if it brings up bad memories.” He sends negation at me.
No, I’m happy to. Each time I kill another of these, I am gratified that fewer of my kin will die to them. Harvesting and using their bodies is only right. OK, fine. As long as he’s happy.
“Looks like we’ll be staying a bit longer,” I tell Bastet and Lathani. “Is that OK with you?” The raptorcat quickly assents, but the nunda doesn’t respond. She’s crouched next to Bastet, her eyes fixed on Ninja who is now playing with her siblings. “Lathani, are you OK?” I frown as I try to remember exactly what happened with her, even putting my hand on her flank and sending in some healing magic just to check she wasn’t caught by the snake too.
She seems fine. And thinking about it, she’d been ‘patrolling’ near the trees when the whole debacle went down. Or had she come running in? I hadn’t been paying too much attention to anything other than the snake and the poisoned cub, but she’s here now so she must have come running at some point. Either way, she’s being very quiet right now even if she’s technically fine according to my magical examination.
The little one...she almost died. Like prey. Lathani gives off a sense of confusion and vulnerability, her mental voice soft.
“Yeah,” I agree, a pang of fear going through me in memory.
But...she is not prey. Why did she almost die? It’s almost adorable, her sorrowful confusion. What am I saying? It is adorable, and heartrending at the same time.
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“All living things die eventually. And when life is a series of battles, anyone can be a victim.” She’s quiet for a little longer.
I don’t want to die. The admission is stark, almost matter-of-fact if not for the sense of tumultuous emotions she gives off.
“I don’t want you to die either,” I tell her plainly. “None of us here does. Your mother in particular wants you to survive and grow strong. But we can only do that if you help yourself.” Seeing the opportunity to impress on her some important facts, I continue. “You’ve grown a lot and will start going out into the forest more and more. Pay attention, listen to your companions, and keep your senses alert. Hopefully all that will mean you survive to get bigger than your mama.” She sends me a scathing look.
No one’s bigger than mother!
“You could be one day,” I tease her. “Then River will be calling you The Great Predator.” A sense of amusement bubbles from her and I feel lighter for having helped her get over her funk. “Go on – entertain yourself, but don’t go too far, OK? Ninja is going to be fine, but only because I was able to heal her quickly enough.” She assents and then goes to play with the three raptorcat cubs. I don’t miss that she is keeping much more of a wary eye on her surroundings than earlier. I approve!
Casting my glance around the others, I see that Fenrir is sitting near River, begging for scraps that the lizard-man seems happy to toss him every so often. Sirocco is already tearing at a lump of unidentified flesh and her Bond is exuding satisfaction, so she seems OK.
Since I’m suddenly at loose ends, I figure I might as well get started on my newest top-priority. Yes, I could head back to the cave either alone or just with the feline-types, but dealing with my internal matrix is actually the most urgent thing for me to do anyway. Plus, I feel better knowing that we’re all together here.
Settling down on the softest bit of ground within easy reach, I close my eyes and drop inside myself. The process now very familiar to me, I quickly make it to my Core. There, I reach with metaphysical hands into the burning sun and tease out a tiny bead of bright light. It’s easier to do this time than the first, the improvements I’ve made to my Energy control obvious.
Keeping control over it as it runs down one of the gleaming threads, I direct it to extend the damaged filament by a fraction. Then I wait, my attention on my Core. When no pain comes and the crystalline structure stays intact, I ‘breathe’ a sigh of relief, returning to my Core to start the process again. What if I try with a bigger drop next? I wonder.
Over the next who-knows-how long, I experiment, trying to work out the most effective and efficient way of doing this. A bigger bit of Energy, or mana, or whatever it is, does extend the filament a little longer than the smaller bit, but I sense that it’s less efficient, proportionately more Energy or mana being released to the world than when I drew out a smaller bit.
Further testing proves that the key to making the process more efficient and effective is the shape of the Energy when I pull it out. If I don’t focus, it will automatically make a ‘ball’ shape. Trying to make it take any other form is as difficult at first as trying to control the Energy rushing towards me from my Bound’s kills. However, just like that Energy, I start to gain more control over the mana I feed down the threads that make up my matrix.
Yes! I celebrate internally as, for the first time, the spherical blob becomes ever so slightly oblong. It takes another several attempts before I can maintain the oblong shape even as the light travels along the thread; it takes many further attempts before the oblong shape reaches the end of the filament. However, all the effort is rewarded when the oblong shape doubles the length the thread grows.
My enthusiasm, which had been waning, is renewed. I continue pulling mana from my Core and work hard to increase the length while compressing the width. Each time I improve the shape of the mana, my strategy is proven, the filament growing with increasing speed.
By the time a shaking of my shoulder rouses me from my meditative state, I feel like I’ve actually made some progress. Checking my status is a little disappointing – neither reduction has budged at all – but I feel like I’m definitely on the right track. If anything, though, this trial and error has proven to me just how long it’s going to take to get back to normal. Well. My new normal, anyway.
At least I’ve had one visible improvement: my Energy Manipulation Skill has levelled up from Novice three to Novice five. Unsurprising, but gratifying nonetheless. I suspect that I may rank that Skill up to Initiate before I’m done fixing myself.
Opening my eyes, I look up at the figure looming over me. River.
I saved you these. He holds out a double claw-full of bloody-red chunks of flesh. Closer inspection reveals them to be organs. Hearts.
“Thanks man,” I tell him, touched that he thought of saving them for me. I hesitate. If I add them to my Inventory, they’ll lose whatever residual Energy remains in them. Then I have an idea. Pulling out one of the hides I skinned off a monkile, I pile the sixteen hearts onto the inner side and then bunch it together so I can hold them in one hand. Wait sixteen hearts? “How many of the black blobs did you kill?” I ask, surprised.
Only eight. They have two hearts each, he explained, obviously understanding my confusion. Here. I thank you for its use, he continues, handing me the knife handle-first. I thank him and tuck it into my belt. Lifting his chin briefly, he goes over to his work station and starts hauling the remains of the carcasses back onto his shoulders. He, too, has a little pouch made of a big leaf dangling from his belt. It looks a little delicate, but will probably last at least the short journey up the hill.
I join him, grabbing three carcasses. Sure, it will probably make my clothes bloody again, but at least I have some clean clothes to change into since doing the washing during the rain storm. Maybe once we’ve dumped the carcasses for everyone to snack on we should come back down here to wash off again.
Then again, I did want to ask Kalanthia about flesh-shaping… I resolve to come down for a quick wash-up after depositing everything and getting my hearts cooking. After returning, I’ll ask her. It’s time to make a decision about my Skill once and for all.