The vawykin royal guards escorted the members of Del’vhario and Khratzika down to the cellar and into another cavern, excavated deep beneath the ruins. This diverse group of beings arrived at a medium-sized cave adorned with the bizarre imaginings of these dregs. The primitive markings on the walls bore the record of their nascent culture, the product of lesser minds whose claws had scratched the stone.
“Sit,” commanded the queen. She took her place on a rocky chair atop a platform inside the cave while her guests settled down on the ground below. The four newcomers were surrounded by the imposing lieutenant and six other vawykins, her personal royal guard.
“Klikules like new home. They singing happy,” a faint smile spread across the queen’s lips.
“All that chitter?” asked X.
“And the glowing Ekk’s. That only happens to satisfied klikules,” explained Mau.
“Huh... Good to know,” muttered the elf. He turned his attention towards this vawykin nest’s queen. “Why did you invite us?”
“Queen Laklec!” Her lieutenant frowned, baring his sharp teeth as he corrected the elf.
“Queen Lacklec,” X corrected himself, “why did you invite us?”
“Special occasion. Klikules happy, sing. We, happy too!” replied the queen.
“Klik klok, clak clak!” clicks and clacks followed her pronunciation.
“You understand any of this, Mau?” inquired X.
“They’re joyous. When klikules emit light from their interior, they excrete a special... secretion. It loosely translates to royal jelly,” explained Mau.
“You know a lot about these dregs, you treasonous swine!” observed Nila.
“One has to! If one’s takeover of the lessers is to be successful,” Mau shot back.
“Damn. I forgot we’re before the very representation of success,” retorted Nila.
“I almost did it, if only—”
“Silence!” yelled the muscular vawykin guard, stopping the gnomes’ chatter. The queen studied the four recent arrivals to her nest, seated before her. She was about to address them when Mau asked her, “Where’s your sister? I thought she’d be here, all over me by now?”
The queen’s eyes slanted, a sharp piercing look on her face drew slight anger, colored with scorn. Her mouth revealed her sharpened teeth hidden under thin lips.
“Maybe she doesn’t want to see you after the shit you pulled. This is always your problem!” Nila chastised him.
“What? Bettering their races is a worthy pursuit!” exclaimed Mau.
“Quiet!” shouted the queen, slamming her fist on a cold stony armrest.
“I was only asking, Queen Lacklec,” said Mau as he gazed into her eyes. “I had forgotten how pretty you look when you’re serious. And my oh my, you’re showing off your also pretty, although not as much, rows of teeth. Ain’t we a lucky bunch!”
Ignoring the male gnome, Queen Lacklec clacked her claws and a vawykin entered the cave carrying eight pieces of meat impaled on his claws. The raw flesh was covered in the purple goo that had previously decorated every surface of the sacks of dung. The vawykin left one piece in front of each guest and distributed the rest, starting from the queen and progressing down the vawykin hierarchy.
“Now, eat,” ordered the queen.
The vawykin nonchalantly speared their claws into the raw meat and began eating. Khratzika took hers and slurped it in a single go. The three Del’vhhario members looked at the gooey mess; the inedible meat resembled entrails, not even clean ones, adorned with glowing pus-like dressing.
“Eh... Mau, do you know what kind of meat this is?” X asked the knowledgeable gnome.
“Klikul meat,” replied the male gnome.
“Eat,” Queen Lacklec increased the tone of her voice.
“Yeah, well, it’s a hard pass from me. My gnome ancestors are fucking watching me, and I won’t disappoint them,” Nila said firmly.
“Last time I ate them... damn it,” Mau remembered. “Lacklec, can’t we—”
“Eat!” the queen no longer had any patience left.
“And if we don’t?” the redheaded elf asked the gnome, who shared this tragic fate with him.
“We were given parasite meat, exquisitely submerged in royal jelly. I told you, didn’t I? They feed the parasites to their babies. But the Royal Jelly is special. It is given to the strongest vawykins larvae, er, babies, to elevate them to... something akin to aristocracy, even to make queens. Something like that. And we’d better eat it. You don’t reject a royal offering, do you? Though I only ate the normal purple stuff, not this... glowing royalty gourmet. And if I’m getting this right, it’s a ritual. They’re offering us this to thank us for bringing happiness to this shit we’re now being offered to eat,” explained Mau, smiling at the queen.
“Oh well, what’s the worst that can happen?” X picked up the raw flesh before him and gave it a nice big bite. The parasite meat crunched, its pasty insides overflowed, and the royal dressing dripped from his mouth. He kept chewing the elastic meat but finally decided to simply gulp it all down in one go.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Mau picked up his piece as well. “Aw hell! I remember the fucking taste not leaving my mouth for weeks after,” he said, then took two bites out of their royal food.
While X and Mau chewed on their meat, Nila found herself between two sharp places: the threatening claws and teeth of their hosts, or the nastier cutting-edge taste of the inedible food before her.
The food’s hidden potential hit X first. His vision expanded, time slowed down, and his body grew numb.
He strolled along a river of light, particles brushing past his feet. Above him, a mountain with its peak almost within reach, and on either side, an abyss. No sounds, no wind, just a creeping vertigo and dizziness. Step after step, unguided, the elf continued to follow the path of light—a purple river. The brightness grew in size and intensity, piercing his skin and threatening to penetrate his face. He raised both hands to shield his face as the light crashed and shattered into crystals.
Suddenly, the light disappeared, plunging the elf's surroundings into pitch blackness.
Amid the darkness, a noise—a voice, one familiar to him. He knew that person. X sprinted through the obscurity, but that lack of light resisted. With his hands outstretched, he pushed against the darkness, carving a path. Yet, more darkness surged toward him. He fought his way onward, guided by the familiar but unintelligible voice.
A vision materialized ahead. It was colossal, towering like a two-story building, yet as thin as paper—an enormous crystal. A frameless window into his soul. Upon it, he observed a human figure bowing its head. A gesture of respect? Something about the image on the thin crystal felt familiar. He walked near and shouted at the figure but received no response. There was no movement either. Then, a moment later, the voice parted the darkness in half. “Me?” X listened in compete silence. “You?” The figure within the flat crystal pointed directly at him, raising its head. The elf observed it clearly: a face made up of blood and raw muscle, devoid of skin.
“You!” yelled X.
“No, us,” spoke the figure.
The crystal shattered, revealing an alien forest. Giant mushrooms, luminescent ferns, and twisting flowers emerged from the darkness. An unlit path stretched ahead of him, offering no option but to move forward. Step by step, the path narrowed, and the forest grew denser with each stride.
[Where do you think you are you going?]
Amid the sounds of his own steps, he noticed another set of footsteps veering off the path. He heard a child giggle but only saw its fleeting shadow. X pressed on, his march unbroken. Peculiar apparitions littered both sides of the path: friends, foes, past, present, and future. He managed to catch a glimpse of a small humanoid figure.
[Or pretending to go, because here... the light is deceptive.]
As he focused on the forest, its reflections glitched, akin to a malfunctioning hologram, as if adjusting its own parameters. Vertigo once again overcame him, heightening his senses.
[Watch where you’re walking. There’s nothing but darkness down here.]
The path eventually came to an end, and his consciousness tumbled off a precipice. His head blazed in flames throughout the descent until it came to an abrupt halt. Rising from the ashes, his hands groped for the ground—damp, moist. He stared at his bloodstained hands. In every direction lay corpses, body parts, bones—some half-devoured, others partly rotted—yet all were his own body.
[With us... within you.]
A screech shattered the stillness of the remains. He cast his gaze around, yet the corpses no longer bore his own likeness. Only the bodies of the slain, the forgotten, the betrayed, lay strewn across this hollow ground. X traced the source of the screech and locked eyes on it: a specter hurtling straight toward him. He couldn't move, the oppressive atmosphere pinned him in place. The apparition halted before him, and he recognized her. The lower half was consumed, decaying, but the upper part was unmistakable—an entity that had left an indelible mark on him. The ethereal figure of beautiful Ruianne.
“You betrayed us all. You killed us,” uttered the specter.
X smiled as he closed his eyes. Upon reopening them, he found himself seated within the cave. However, he was alone. His shadow sat before him.
[Enjoying the sights?]
“Not bad... Not bad at all.” X grinned a frivolous smirk. “I found it.”
[Nothing good, I guess.]
“Not for you.”
[And neither for you, but you’ll still do it.]
X laughed.
“If people know how I am, why do they keep trusting me?”
[There’s your mistake, they don’t. You never give them a chance to flee from you.]
“No, no. You’re wrong. They keep their eyes welded shut.”
[And you take it upon yourself to open their eyes?]
“Someone has to.”
[By any means necessary?]
“You do forget. You always do. Who you’re talking to.”
[I’m telling you... ... ...]
His shadow’s words continued, yet the elf could no longer discern meaning, only a feeling, an emotion, a lightness of being where time stopped and a diffuse consciousness reigned supreme. Nothing else mattered here.
Several hours later, he regained partial consciousness. The red tones of dusk had appeared, and his hazy memory could barely remember what happened with everyone else after he had chewed that priceless meat. Walking around the ruins, he stumbled upon the entrance to the solitary tower gracing this ancient structure. His altered consciousness guided him up its crumbling stairs. At the tower’s zenith, a bracing chill wind dispelled his drowsiness.
The elf had witnessed his past as well as his future. He understood his own desires, where those would take him, and even more importantly, what he needed to do to get there. To the top of his ambitions. He knew he didn’t see destiny, only a mere possibility. But with unwavering determination, he would push everyone and everything toward that distant goal on the horizon.
From that vantage point, he realized the true magnitude of the fissure that cleaved this expanse. It extended far into the distance, eventually dwindling into a mere line where the sky touched the ground. On the opposite side of the fissure, his sight ventured into a sprawling valley enveloped by a dense forest that concealed everything within its grasp. If there was one aspect of life he cherished, it was the embrace of nature. In that regard, he was truthful to the dryad. He loved nature’s untamed essence—the boundless ocean of possibilities waiting.
He likened himself to one of the dryad’s vines, acting under nature’s command, his self ready to explode with the essence of life. To take it to every corner of the land. His spirit would become the will of the universe, an unchanging principle, a call to action, to persevere, to live, a will to violence. A promise he always paid in full to everyone and himself.
Back within one of their claimed chambers, they schemed. Still high as kites, the three Del’vhario members planned, engaged in cryptic conversations, some so obtuse and convoluted not even understandable to themselves. Amid the laugher, shouting, and paranoia, a shape emerged—an idea, a proposition. They would bet everything, not for a promise, but a possibility—a single chance to make it on their own terms.