Thyssa stood at the edge of the pit. It was filled with red fluid that boiled into acrid fumes. She reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of cloth – a detour, a difficult hunt, but a vital one. She unwrapped the cloth just enough to reveal a heart.

“Food…I smell it,” said the Glurk, its voice echoing from the pit. The voice was weak with hunger. “Give it here. Food for knowledge.”

“Some now. More when I’m satisfied.”

Thyssa dropped the heart into the pit, where some wet unseen thing snapped it up.

“What do you seek?” asked the Glurk.

“I am poisoned,” said Thyssa. “I need a cure.”

“Hm…poison…hm…could be easy to solve, quick trip to the Slough of Despond. Could be all but impossible.”

“Don’t play games with me. I have nothing to lose.”

“Not playing games…just…need more knowledge…a sample.”

Thyssa knew what the Glruk was after. “I could cut my arm.”

“No! No…the impurities of the cavern…ruin the sample. Must be fresh…from the source…”

“No other way?”

“No other way.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Thyssa sighed. “Fine. Just a taste.”

“A taste…taste taste taste…”

“Just enough to figure out what it is. No more.”

“Cruel greedy girl.”

“That’s me. Now hurry up before your food expires.”

“Mmm…stay still…”

The Glurk reached up a tendril as long as creatures have hungered. The tendril unfolded to reveal a stabbing sucking thing. Thyssa looked away and reached down and gripped the cold metal in her pocket. She felt the tendril pierce her skin, a squeeze as it sucked out her blood…

SLURP SLURP SLURP

Too much!

“Stop!”

“Can’t…”

Thyssa pulled up the scissors and stabbed the tendril, which recoiled and released, spilling her blood on the ground. It slithered back into the pit. The Ogre Queen had taught her that trick, and she’d learned from the Glurk itself – an exchange the Glurk must have regretted all these years.

“Hurts hurts hurts!”

“I warned you.”

“Just my nature.”

“And this is mine.”

“No…not your nature. You are something else. Something strange. Sad, strange girl. Doomed, dying girl.”

“What do I have to do.”

“The venom of Spiteful Kreit…you’d be dead already, if not for the Benevolent Heart.”

“You know what this is?”

“A thing of healing…make the sick healthy, the malform human, the poisoned blood pure.”

“So, as long as I keep this, I’m okay.”

“Would be…were it anything but Spiteful Kreit. Not even the Heart can protect you for long. That much venom, girl your size…maybe…if you don’t remove the Heart again…three days.”

“Three days!”

“Will feel like more…much more…I were you, I’d jump in the pit…save myself the pain. I’ll make it quick, make it easy…”

“That’s not an option.”

“Poor…you…then. Only alternative…drink the Goddess Fountain.”

“Where?”

“At the top of Mount Three Trials, straight north of here. At the top, there is a temple…such beautiful human workmanship…stained glass of many colours…and the waters, sparkling blue. That’s the cure. It is a holy place. When you feel unworthy…you are close.”

“Thanks,” said Thyssa, producing a liver and tossing it down into the pit. As Thyssa left, the sounds of snapping jaws echoed through the cavern.