The Orc took three large freshly killed boars out of his inventory. He'd brought them with him, as well as plenty more supplies, from Goblin Town. His inventory was extensive.
The boars were impressively large, and he heaved one to each of the three dog heads. They sniffed them only briefly before snapping them up, crunching them and swallowing them in three large gulps, saliva now streaming out of their mouths.
Next he took out three barrels of water, rolled one close to each mouth, turned them up on their ends and pried the tops off.
With yelps and even whimpers the dog rolled into a position where it's heads could each lap thirstily at the water. It emptied the barrels quickly, and then settled it's chins on the ground panting in relief. It whined. There was no more snapping or growling.
"What happened to you?" the Orc asked, daring to step close enough to stroke the heads.
bowar, rowl rof. Grrrrrrr...
(monster dead. there...)
One of it's head's gestured to the other side of the tunnel. The Orc hadn't noticed before, and now he swung his torch the other way to see a broken corpse slumped against the tunnel wall.
It was... he didn't know what it was. It was skeletal, bestial. Concerning. It might have been an extremely large cat, maybe a lion, except the head was wrong... the head almost looked... human? But far too large to be human. It also had wings, although they couldn't have functioned, the skin hung off them in rotten strips, and he didn't think the dog had done that. And strangely, it was half buried in a pile of sand, although no other sand was around them in the tunnel at all. Overall the creature, whatever it had been, would have been a powerful one, and a similar size to the giant dog. There were also the remains of many skeleton warriors strewn around the cavern beyond it.
"Did you kill it?" asked the Orc, returning to it and looking closer at the gash down it's side. It was deep and infected. It looked like it was probably poisoned initially, and the flesh around the gash was black and rotting.
brow. wor bowar rof. rolf roawr
(stelladeathslayer guard. no monster get past. maybe next monster get past. stelladeathslayer hurt. stelladeathslayer die soon.)
"Stella Death Slayer? Is that your name?" asked the Orc.
The dog licked him with one large wet warm tongue. She was majestic.
"Stella, I think you're right. Your hurt is killing you. I can't heal it." said the Orc sadly. He was sad, he would have relished the opportunity to see her in full fighting health. Her shoulder muscles were as big as he was, she would have been able to run with incredible speed, and her jaws would have been formidable to see in action.
Under those circumstances, however, meeting this creature in this dark tunnel of the underworld he would have simply thrown everything he had at her to kill her himself. If he could have killed her himself. That's what a younger White Orc would have done: attacked first, thought about things later.
He had been forced to think differently about a lot of things in his life over the last few days and weeks. He had expected that breaking through to Level Five would have given his mind the clarity it had been lacking for years, and throw him forwards with new power and energy. It hadn't. On the contrary, he had never felt so conflicted and introspective about his new self. Who was he? What even was he?He thought that once he was powerful he could walk his own path. But all the power was pushing him towards was responsibility for others.
Was that such a bad thing though? Wasn't that the burden of leadership, to be forever needed?
Maybe meeting this creature like this was an opportunity. Instead of killing a creature for power, couldn't he perhaps harness her power?
He had an idea. He nearly threw the idea away immediately, scoffing at his own stupidity. But he paused...
Why not? he thought. He cleared his throat nervously.
"Ah... Stella. There may be something I can do for you."
ruff! rowaaar roaf bowar roof rowr.
(yes. kill stelladeathslayer swiftly. you gain big stats for this deed, stelladeathslayer no longer hurt)
"No. Not that. Something else. There is a type of... skill I can select. Called battlemount. Do you know it?"
bow worl roof rof? ruf! Grrr...
(tame stelladeathslayer for pet? ha! stelladeathslayer tear you apart if not dying.)
"I don't want you as a pet, Stella," the Orc answered, "I'm the General of an army soon to be mounting an attack on these." he gestured to the dead creature in the tunnel, "You would be a formidable force against the undead. My army is called the Death Slayers. You are a Death Slayer! It must be your fate to join us!"
rurff ruff!
(good name! agree stelladeathslayer is formidable.)
"I would take you as my battlemount."
rowrl, rof roawr! ruf! bwoar rooorf. rowl grrrrrr.... boww?
(ride dying mount! ha! bad tactic. want win battle?)
"As I understand it, the General and the Mount may distribute their wounds. I will take you as my Mount, if you will take me as your General. We will share your wound. I am very tough."
grr.. rowl rorf bwar bwar worl rowl bruff.
(stupid idea. if not kill stelladeathslayer then go away leave alone die peaceful.)
"And then what? Rise again as an undead monster? Become one of them?" he pointed to the dead thing again, "Your wound is festering with necrotism. Soon it will take you over."
grrrrrrr...
(stelladeathslayer not like choices)
"Join me. I have more boars."
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... rorf bow woar rorf. yelp!
(stelladeathslayer like boar. general not win so easily. stelladeathslayer is not for free. not dead yet! defeat me! win or die! howwwwooooollllll!)
She pushed herself painfully but surprisingly quickly to her feet, barring her teeth, snarling with her middle head and letting out a loud bark with the other two, before letting out a howl that threw the White Orc backwards bodily some way down the tunnel. Even mortally wounded she was a dangerous force, and she'd beat him on initiative! He hadn't expected the attack. He admired her all the more for it!
As they had been talking the White Orc had noticed the middle head was the one that did most of the communicating, while the side heads seemed to function as support by growling or whining or sometimes ruffing to help emphasise a point. He also noticed the right head watched everything very intently, and the left head regularly sniffed the air. He decided that the middle head must be dominant. He would concentrate on attacking it.
Although he'd been thrown backwards he hadn't lost his footing, and even before his backwards momentum subsided, his darkradiance was cast and he pushed it's full oppressive power down the tunnel towards her, running forwards as soon as his feet found purchase with a
Waaaaaaaaaaghh!!
Her heads turned sideways from the battering onslaught of the radiance, gritting their teeth and snarling with the effort, and her front legs buckled under her for a moment, but she pushed back up even with her eyes squeezed shut and leapt forwards towards him, opening her jaws wide as she lunged.
He had enough movement left in his current turn to save by leaping up into the air, and felt her middle head's jaws SNAP! shut below him. He spun, and as he descended he brought the heavy darkmetal shield down in a crushing blow on the top of her head.
Her skull crunched down to the floor of the tunnel, and with a YELP! the rest of her body flipped over with the momentum behind it. She regained her own footing surprisingly quickly and turned to face him again, but the middle head lolled unmoving. The left head licked and nuzzled it with a
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
grrrrrrrrr.... SNAP!
It tried to spring forward, but severely wounded and now bearing the weight of an unconscious head, it stumbled as it lunged. The Orc smacked it across the snout with a savage backhanded clout from his shield, and with a final YELP! she collapsed.
He leapt up in the air again, jumping over her heads onto her back, and straddled the base of the neck of her middle head, his legs locking in comfortably between the other two necks on each side.
honourguard[1xselected]:[battlemount]:invite:stelladeathslayer? stelladeathslayer has declined
"BAD DOG!" he yelled at her
grrrrrrrr...
"STELLADEATHSLAYER BE A GOOD DOG. GUARD AGAINST THE UNDEAD! I AM YOUR MASTER NOW. WE WILL SHARE YOUR GRIEVOUS WOUND AND THEN WE WILL EAT BOAR"
honourguard[1xselected]:[battlemount]:invite:stelladeathslayer? stelladeathslayer has reluctantly accepted +50connection Distribute damage: Mount 59,521/60,270 General 2/51,210 to Mount 30,100/60,270 General 29,243/60,270. Survivable. Necrotism will require specialist healing.
The Orc took out a healing pill as a jagged rending pain shot up his side and a throbbing headache blurred his vision. He had himself to blame for the headache. He popped the pill and at least some of that started to subside.
Stella's middle head shook itself awake, ears flapping.
bowar ruff rowarr! row bow bowar! ruff ruff!
(stelladeathslayer feel great! master not so bad! hungry!)
The White Orc threw another six boars onto the floor. He jumped down painfully after them, clutching his side and pulled out his fire pit and cauldron. The giant dog jumped up onto all fours and turned excitedly in a tight circle in the tunnel, letting out a small yelp! from the still hurting gash in her side, then lunged for the boars.
"Wait!" said the White Orc raising his hand. She stopped suddenly, eyes wide, jaws wide, saliva dripping to the cave floor.
"Sit Stella. We will eat together." She shut her jaws and buried her rump in the floor, back ramrod straight, though still favouring her unhurt side. Her heads were right up at the ceiling and saliva splashed down in large gobbets from each mouth. The left head salivated as much as the other two combined.
The Orc started a fire in the pit and hung the cauldron over it on his metal tripod.
The stew in the cauldron started to bubble and a delicious smell wafted through the tunnel.
He ladelled some stew into his bowl and blew in it slowly, looking at her with a slightly mean grin. Then he took a slluuurrrrrrp.
She fell upon the boars ravenously, crunching and swallowing while the Orc laughed at her and shook his head. Laughing caused him to grimace in pain however, and he pulled back his cloak to properly inspect at the wound he had gained from distributing their damage.
It was deep and red, with rotten necrotic tendrils around it that looked like they were reaching both outwards from the wound as well as deep within it. He had a thought, and pulled an ancient book from his extensive library.
The usual way to treat necrotic damage was with Life or Nature magic. He didn't have any of those, nor any pills or potions made with those sorts of ingredients. They weren't something that were even vaguely aligned with his powers. However, he had heard of treating necrotism with Crude mutagenic magic, and while his darkradiance wasn't wasn't exactly that, it did certainly possess similarities to mutagenic power. He put the book away. What better opportunity to find out?
He stood up, and pulling a cast iron poker out of his inventory, he set it over the flame of his firepit.
"Stella, I'm about to try something to heal us more. Whatever happens just stand back."
ruf ruf ruf!
He cast his darkradiance. Instead of forming the metal shield he usually did, he just let the oppressive power thrum around his arm, hand and fingers. He gritted his teeth and plunged his fingers deep into his wound.
Aaaaaaarrrrrgghh!
He cried out with pain and his knees buckled, but he forced himself not to withdraw his hand. He could feel something happening, but it wasn't enough. He collapsed to the floor, the thrumming pain still pressing into him, still forcing his hand in. He looked at his side through blurry eyes. The black tendrils were decreasing, but they were still there. The agony was intense, but he had to do more. He had to cut it out. He imagined his black metal shield in his mind, but instead of forming the shield shape he forced his will into the same concept of forming the radiance, but chose a blade instead. The pain in his side changed. It became sharp and focused. He looked down to see a black thrumming blade in his hand.
emerged:craft:darkmetalwright
Aaaaaarrrrghhh!
He drew it slowly around the wound, slicing through the tendrils, carving them out of himself. They retracted into a hunk of flesh that he finally sliced off of himself and cast away on the floor. He dispelled the blade immediately and clenched his side. It was now bleeding profusely, but it was healthy green orc blood that poured out of it. He grabbed the poker that had been heating over the firepit and gritting his teeth one final time, laid the red hot metal across his wound, cauterizing it, then blacked out.
----------------------------------------
Liiiiiiiick!
The White Orc woke to a large warm, wet tongue, and some hot, extremely unpleasant breath on his face.
(wake up master. stellsdeathslayer worries.)
"Ay! Stop that!" said the Orc, rubbing his face and sitting up slowly. His side burned. He pulled his cloak back again and looked at it. There was a large melted strip of blistered flesh. It weeped a clear fluid, but it wasn't blood and it wasn't rot. He had done it. And he'd pushed his skill forwards too. He took another healing pill.
"Stella, show me your wound." he said to the giant dog towering over him.
She bounded sideways so he could see. Her wound was also clean. And surprisingly well healed. He must have somehow purged the necrotism out of both of them by removing it entirely from himself. That was an interesting aspect of their relationship. He'd never had much to do with beastmastery. He had a book about it in his library though, he was sure.
"Do you have a regeneration skill Stella?" he asked, "You seem to have healed very quickly."
boaawar rorf roff! ruff! ruff!
(stelladeathslayer not know! stelladeathslayer just hunt and play and eat and guard!)
He wondered if he could see her stats himself. He looked.
battlemount:stelladeathslayer. Three headed dog. Guardian of the underworld. When in range: bond:shareallstats, x2authority, trait:terrify, trait:teeth, trait:extrememetabolism, trait:heightenedsenses, skill:deathhowl, skill:fearsomegrowl, skill:mightybite, skill:triplebite, skill:pounce, skill:riptoshreds, skill:boundlessenergy
Although he couldn't specifically see her stats, he now had a bond:shareallstats.
"Hey Stella, I'm going to climb up on your back now, I want to check something."
ruff!
He climbed up and opened his stats:
WARRIOR MAGE, LEVEL 5:BATTLEMOUNT:STELLADEATHSLAYER, LEVEL 5:BOND:LEVEL 6
QUEST: GET THE TINY TROLL TO CRAGTOP.
Time remaining: Gervais has not yet arrived at Cragtop.
XP:bond:shareallstats(10) 111480
Waagh! he thought. A burst of energy flowed through him. It was like levelling up! Sudden and... incredibly potent, and exhilarating!
BOW WOW GRRRRR.... RUFF RUFF!
Her bark echoed powerfully down the tunnel. It summed it up perfectly.
WAAAAAAAAAGH!
He answered in kind.
When they were together they had a powerful one hundred and eleven thousand xp... their bond shared all of their combined stats, and together they were the equivalent of a Level Six. He felt immensely more powerful. They WERE immensely more powerful. It was a huge difference. Do bonded beings develop unique shared skills? he thought. He'd have to look that up later. Because if they did, those skills would be mighty indeed!
"We're a powerful team Stella." he said, slapping her shoulder fondly, "More powerful than I had expected."
RUFF!
He jumped down off her back again and checked his stats. There was no change, he still had the benefit of the xp when he was next to her. He wondered what kind of range that might have.
"Stay there, Stella." he said.
Bow roawar rorf ruf.
(feed stelladeathslayer. then stay still.)
"No!" said the Orc with a laugh, "Stay. THEN food. I'm going to need to find another source of boar if you keep this pace up. What do you usually eat down here anyway?"
Bruff. Rorar. Gre. Grrrrrrrr... rerp. Bowar rorf bwar
(Rats. Bats. Goblins, but taste vomit. If nothing else, gnaw skeletons. Or cavemushroomcreatures. They not meat
"What is a cavemushroomcreature?" asked the Orc, "I've never heard of that before."
Gre rof.
(Goblin pet.)
The Orc shrugged. He took a step back and checked his stats again. Still bonded. He stepped again, then again.
At his eleventh pace the bond dropped out and his stats returned to normal.
Ten paces was pretty good going. On the battlefield that would give them a lot of flexibility. Additionally, the bond:shareallstats was ten points. That meant they could increase it.
He fed her three more boars.
"Alright Stella, it's time for us to go. I've got some friends I'd like you to meet. But there's a rule: you can't eat any of them unless I expressly tell you you can. Do you accept this rule?"
Bow roawar, grrrrrr.... ror bowar. Ruf!
(feed stelladeathslayer a lot. not need eat friend.)
"I will feed you Stella, or allow you to feed, but my rules are not conditional. Do not eat my friends unless I tell you. No matter how hungry you are. Ever. Understood?"
Ruf.
"Let's go lead and lead an army."
RUFF! RUFF! RUFF!
The Orc jumped up onto her back and held on tightly as she bounded off suddenly and powerfully down the tunnel back towards the Crypt of Splinters.