Johnathan was quite surprised when Samantha passed through the cave opening unharmed. Although the more he thought about it the more sense it made, she was different from the rest of his creatures, she had something close to a soul. Still he knew embarrassingly little about his existence and why some things worked and others did not. It was really something he should have done in the beginning.
Oh well, hindsight 20/20, he would just have to do it now while he still could. First off was the abomination, he had done everything right, gave it a soul, a body, and even a mind but it still came out distorted. He suspected that it was because he did not use her original soul but his. A soul and a body while separated were still bound to each other. If a soul was distorted or altered it could potentially alter the rest. While it made sense, he could not really test it right now, so he put it on a shelf and marked it for later.
Next was his creations, what were they made of? How could he create them? Johnathan selected a random mouse and carefully pulled at it. To his surprise it was not made of solid matter like his cave but something else, something familiar. With a start he realized it was just a condensed form of the mysterious substance he had been calling his life force. It seemed to be less dense than the invisible fluid like substance that flowed into his cave and fueled his core. Now that he was looking for it he noticed it filled his whole cave and was consumed by his creations. it bellowed out of his core like a steam engine and flowed lazilly like a fog to his entrance. Unlike the substance that fed his core however, it seemed to be more substantial and bent to his will. It also seemed to have an incredible ability to shape matter, as demonstrated by the fact that he was able to excavate half a kilometer wide maze in a matter of days.
IIt seemed that these creatures were just mindless creations of his will made real by this substance. Almost absentmindedly he created another mouse to restock his army and was taken aback by the sheer amount of the substance was needed just to create it. All of the substance within a meter of the new mouse was almost completely gone. Even though the space filled back up quickly Johnathan knew that he could not create indefinitely. The high cost to recreate these creatures and the fact that they passively consumed the fog like substance meant that if he was not careful he could get stuck in a situation where he needed more than he had.
He looked at his cave and realized that a lot of redesigning would have to be done. For one weaker creatures could no longer be created in mass, he would have to focus on getting stronger creatures using the weaker creatures as support group. He would also have to try and make choke points, focusing more on strategic fights than a long war of attrition. He also noticed some troubling facts, even now the substance was noticeably thinner at the entrance. All of his creations, almost 100 strong, consumption was taking a toll and he suspected that he could only create a few more before problems arose.
He attempted to increase the size of the cave opening but the rock moved slowly. To dissolve even a simple stone he had to expend almost all of the invisible fog in the entrance. It was just not enough, he needed less creatures and he needed to produce more fog. He began to dissolve his mice, which by far were the most numerous but also the weakest. He continued this reducing his mice from nearly 50 strong mouse battalion down to a much more reasonable size of 15. He continued with this lost in thought about the implications of these new discoveries until one mouse resisted. It did not resist much, he could still easily pull it apart but the fact that it had done it at all warranted his attention. The more he looked the more strange the mouse seemed. For one it had a scar on its side, presumably from the fight with the invading snake, and it also seemed to be a bit larger than all his other mice. He knew that killing something gave him power but now he began to suspect that some of that power also went to the creatures that killed.
He left this mouse, absorbed by his thoughts he began to focus on his core. If his creatures could grow stronger and larger, then maybe so could he. Maybe he was not limited to this measly amount of creatures, maybe he himself could also grow. He had seen his core heal over time but never really considered possibility that he could grow. At first he was disappointed, his core did not appear bigger nor did it seem any different than it was when he was born. He kept looking closer and closer, getting more and more determined. It was not until he could almost see the atoms themselves when he saw it. Small crystalline growths sprouted from his core and ever so slowly began to stitch themselves together forming an incredibly thin new layer around his heart. From this new layer more growths sprouted in the same fashion as before. This was it, he could grow, he could get stronger but it took time, lots of time.
It was at this point, mid thought, he felt it. It's not easy to describe the feeling of death, most things only get to experience it once and unlike so many stories it was not pleasant. It was the feeling of pain, fear, and the struggle to live reaching a grand crescendo followed by sudden and immediate nothingness. He had been ignoring the feelings coming through his connection with Samantha but this could not be overlooked. While Johnathan should have felt nothing but happiness at his mistake being wiped off the earth, he could only feel sorrow.
His connection was not gone though, he could still sense her presence floating in the void. In his moment of weakness he reached out a mental hand to the girl, determined to give her a proper burial and incorporate her knowledge into his own. At first nothing happened, but on his second attempt a familiar sensation greeted him. Power was being pulled directly from his core, he tried to stop it, now aware of what he had done, but it was too late. He was stupid! He had felt compassion for a human, for one of his creations and now it was going to cost him. Johnathan continued to struggle but the drain just continued to grow until he was pulled under into the darkness of unconsciousness.
-
Samantha awoke in an all to familiar black abyss, illuminated by nothing but a small pulsing red stone. She hated that stone, she hated this cave and its stuffy interior. She wanted to die, she had died TWICE! Her parents had betrayed her like everyone else, no one wanted her, there was no place for her and so she just wanted to die. However this dam cave had other plans, and just like everything else she was powerless to stop it.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Or was she? That stone seemed to be the center of this place, if she could just smash it maybe she will finally be free. Silently she looked for a loose rock and found one about the size of her hand near a small puddle. Excited now she walked to the core and swung her arm with all her might.
“STOP!” A deep voice reverberated through the rock itself causing everything to stand still, even the water seemed to drip slower. Samantha's hand was stopped just millimeters above the core. Her face was distorted in pain and discomfort as she tried to move her hand but it was no longer hers. It was then she realized she was not free and she could never be free. This was not a cave but a place of endless torment and suffering, this was a dungeon.
-
Johnathan had come back from the darkness to the monstrosity swinging a rock at his ruby core. He had screamed at it to stop and, with just millimeters to spare, the hand came to a halt. In shock he began to process what had happened, Samantha had woke up before him and for some reason had decided to attack him. If that was the case why did she stop though? If she was truly trying to kill him no amount of shouting would have stopped her and he would be dead. Did she have a change of heart? He doubted that, he could feel the hatred and anger flowing through the connection between them. On a whim he tried something.
“Put the rock down gently where you found it” he commanded. He watched Samantha's face distort with rage, fear and then acceptance as her hand slowly lifted the stone away from his core and walked to a small puddle at the back of the hallway. After placing the rock on the ground she sat defeated, he could feel the despair slowly fading to apathy. His will could overpower hers but she was still separate being who had hopes and dreams. She needed a reason to live and he did not know if he could provide that.
“You will defend this cave and my core with your life” it was not much but it was something.
-
“You will defend this cave and my core with your life” she knew these words were coming and she knew that she would not be able to resist them once spoken. She could feel her will to fight wain as tears fell down her face. Everyone had abandoned her, her own father had shot her and left her to the clutched of a monster who could command her body as if it was not her own.
Her body aimlessly wandered around the dungeon, mindlessly following the stones’ command. She no longer cared, she didn’t want to feel, she didn’t want to exist. The days began to merge together with the only breaks being the ocasional fight with whatever creature randomly decided to enter the cave today.
She hardly noticed when a large body of a man began to crawl into the cave, or the frantic orders shouted by the core. She didn’t see the shiny revolver he carried and if she had she would not have cared. Her body moved, following the orders of its master, and it attempted to slash at the man with its claws.
BANG! A thunderous clap sounded down the dungeon, causing her ears to ring. Pain she felt a familiar pain in her side, triggering a memory. A bubbling insidious rage filled her very being, waking her from her daze. How dare her father shoot her, HER! How dare he pretend to love her! He was the true monstrosity not her!
The air around her hands began to crackle with pure energy and emotion which illuminated the room in light blue glow. She poured all of her power and anger into one outstretched hand and aimed it directly at the mystery man. 3 spears of pure energy quickly formed around her hand and launched themselves at an incredible speed directly into the wide eyed man's chest.
“Ha…” with satisfaction plastered on her face she felt exhaustion pull her back into its dark embrace.
-
Johnathan could not believe what he had seen, up until now he thought he was the only one who could manipulate the fog but it seemed she could too. He felt the sudden burst of anger and the sweet taste of satisfaction samantha had felt just before she passed out. He did not have time for this now though, she was bleeding out and he had to help her. He focused on the wound on her abdomen. Thick red blood poured out at an alarming rate, if he did not act fast she would die and he would have to go through the unpleasant process of revving her again. That sent a shiver down his spinemetaphorical spine, it’s not that it was painful but it definitely was not pleasant.
He tried to stitch her wounds together but she resisted. It seemed he could not modify a body that still housed a will, even if it technically was originally his will. There was only one option left he would have to do it the old fashioned way. He had a little information about first aid and had memories of seeing a doctor stitching a wound. With nothing left to lose he attempted to summon a needle and thread, which thankfully appeared, and began sowing. He willed a mouse to grab the needle with its mouth and another mouse to thread it. He then used the first mouse like a makeshift hand and two more to push the wound closed while he worked. It was slow and imprecise but when he was done the bleeding had slowed considerably.
He then used a dog to flip her over. The bullet had gone clean through and the second wound was a little larger than the first. It took four mice just to pull it closed enough that the first mouse could stitch it together but like the other side the bleeding slowed tremendously when he finished. It seemed the mice were more useful than he had imagined but if she died now after all of this it was not his problem. He then focused on the dead man, he had 3 gaping holes in his chest. He greedily pulled at the body and like before it dissolved into small white specks which floated to his body. The familiar power rush sharpened his senses and he could physically see his core grow. Some of the specs floated to samantha and upon absorbing them completely the bleeding stopped. Johnathans dismay about the loss of power was cut short as strange blue shapes began to glow on her skin and her body began to shift. Her skin moved, her hair grew more evenly on her head, her bones stretched. It was as if her entire body was reshaping itself but before it could complete the glowing shapes on her skin dimmed and the processes stopped. She didn't look too much different but she looked more refined. Her hair was less patchy and her body less deformed, she didn't look human but she looked less like a monster.
Johnathan now focused on the newly acquired knowledge. He had been spent the last few days revamping his maze, complete with choke points and ambush rooms, and was almost done when he had been rudely interrupted. He had two choices he could tear it apart and learn more about the world or he could create another monster to defend him. Seeing as how much trouble Samantha was he decided that learning was the best option.
He ripped apart the new mind and was fascinated by the new information he acquired. This man was part of the army and had come to inspect rumors about a monster. The man did not believe in such stories but if his presence could help calm down the civilians he did not mind. So he had walked around trying to look busy and important when he felt it. A slow creeping fog which made his skin crawl and his hair stand on edge. He traced the source down to a small unassuming cave.
He had entered the cave with his gun in hand ready to kill whatever he found but he could not prepare for what he saw. A monsterous green midget charging at him in a fashion that would be almost comical if it were not for the inch long nails clearly intended to take him down. He immediately shot the creature in panic. This only served to anger the beast and he watched, frozen in fear, as the air around the monster began to glow and small bolts of lightning shot from its hands. The once empty eyes only held pure seething rage as it pointed a hand directly at his chest. He began to pull the trigger but it was to late, three blue spears formed around the hand like magic and flew straight into his beating heart.
Something clicked in Johnathan's head. Magic, the fog was just like magic from those children's stories. Samantha was magic, he was magic, he could turn power of life into magic.