"Larishazza...? What happened?" I asked my friend as I slowly stood up in the darkness we now found ourselves in. Clicking my fingers and getting some light into the area while blinking away some more of my self-inflicted blindness.
"Here, let me help with that." Larishazza said as she forced a wet fingertip against both my eyes. Initially, I reacted with surprise and backed away as getting jabbed in the eye hurt. But, that was before I came to the realization of what happened.
"Thank you, I really should've asked for that earlier, huh?" I asked back lightheartedly while I let my eyes adjust to their old state. Frowning intently once it became clear that Nin was not with us. And, going by the sounds, he was not exactly on his way either.
"To answer your question, the ground beneath us swallowed us and it has been throwing us about for some time." Larishazza answered with a casual shrug before she began to play with her hair. Little bits of dirt and stones peppered the ground below as she tried to clean it. And I could only shiver once I saw the state my braids were in. They were ruined, completely and utterly ruined!
"Now what do we do? I can't sense Nin and this place is giving me the creeps." I ask with worry before shivering at the sounds of the echoes. I don't know how old they were, but, some of these roars were unsettling. To say nothing of the other noises and muffled words I could hear. And, if I could hear this, Larishazza likely could too, if not more due to her stronger magic.
"We go back up." Larishazza informs me while pointing up.
"Up? You just said we've been thrown about this place." I say in confusion before realising too late.
"We're underground, silly." my friend laughed out before smiling while I groaned.
"I know... I know..." I let out with slight embarrassment that went away just as quickly.
"But, yeah, up. We go up and up and up until the halo is lighting our way again." Larishazza says as she walks off down a tunnel. And even when I lagged behind, she kept walking into the darkness without a concern about her. No visible concerns, anyway, or, rather, no serious ones. The fact she kept making childish noises whenever the ground made squelching noises proved that.
"Should I try and just shoot us out of here? My lightning bolt spell only goes up to the clouds on the first part. It would get us straight out of here if it is strong enough..." I begin to say before her frowning made me stop.
"Lightning bolt spell? We really need to get it a better name, in fact, we should all do that. We should name our magic!" Larishazza giggles out, completely ignoring my question and offer.
"We don't need to name our spells, we can cast them just fin- That's not a concern right now!" I replied to her at first before attempting to shift the topic away from it.
"But, no," Larishazza laconically answers at first, "we don't know how your magic reacts underground, do we?" with that question then asked, I began to think of an incident prior. When the ferry I was on sank and I was forced to get off it as a bolt of lightning. I don't remember much after that, as I hit my head when turning back to normal.
"It works underground... I found out years ago." I clarify to her only to frown when she still shakes her head at my offer.
"Still no, either way, we won't find Nin if we just shoot straight outside when he is probably looking for us."
"But what if he went back to get help?"
"You know Nin isn't like that."
"Right..." I let out as I imagine Nin's likely response and how relentlessly violent it probably was. Or, is, going by how he is probably looking for us right now. And, frankly, thinking about it made me want to get captured as then I could go and rush into his protective warmth.
"Someone's happy." Larishazza says with a coy grin as she pokes my cheeks before dancing off a little.
"I..." I began to say before I stuttered my mouth shut. Turning a little redder with each giggle that then came out of her mouth.
"Like, I know I don't like what Nin is doing right now with you and Liada, but, have you said it to him yet?" Larishazza then asked me as she washed the ground ahead of us. Her nearly bare feet likely picked up on a lot more than just slimy wetness.
"No, I haven't." I quickly answer as I become frustrated. It had been not too long ago when she first started encouraging me to do it, and when I nearly did it... Nin then just had to start having issues with the bracelet. What it did to me was not his concern when I said it was fine.
Yet, he took it off anyway and it briefly soured our relationship to the point you'd forget I ever felt that way for him at all. But, he then comes and puts it on again and like a switch, it was back to normal. I longed for him just like before and he maintained that distance just like last time. I only wish the distance didn't stay there, what would I have to do to get his love focused on me?
Saving his life did nothing of the sort as even then, he kept his eyes on my cheerful friend. Perhaps I needed to do more than that? Maybe I still had to pay back the emotional debt I laid upon him when we first got to Suhurlodst? I would be fine with that, because how could I ever forgive myself for what I did back then...?
If I could, it would probably be a while off, but, for now, I can make it up to him. By putting up with his teasing and all this sexual probing until he recovered from the loss of his home. Even if I, admittedly, rather hated it as it all felt so hollow. But maybe that was just the bookworm in me complaining.
"Why'd you stop?" I then found myself asking as I felt my chest press against her arm. Yet, my bulk did not move it forward and I instead bent around her light-brown skin.
"What in the name of... What is that thing?" Larishazza asked me as we came across some kind of oversized slug. The sticky bone that dangled out its mouth, however, left me uncomfortable. Yet, it was not because it was a bone, but more so because it ate it so sloppily.
"I assume it is some kind of cleaner...?" I put forth as an answer after watching it dig around for some more bones after it swallowed the other one. But, when I saw the bone it dug out, I lanced a bolt of magic straight through its centre. Killing it in that instant and letting its fatty body bubble and pop from a distance as I calmed myself down.
"That was a quick change of behaviour." Larishazza commented before she knelt down by the still bubbling creature to take the skull out its mouth. It was such a small thing and if I had not spent so long near them, I probably would not have known it belonged to them...
"Something here has been eating children..." I muttered in enraged horror as sparks began to fly off of me. A deeper instinct inside me had been set off by this sight and it seems like the same had happened with Larishazza.
"Then might I suggest we go feed them something else?" I was asked by my friend as her magic began to behave strangely. The earth was eating it up and it soaked the walls before they suddenly dried out again. Yet, Larishazza did not look concerned as she did it, so this must have been one of her spells. Or, the retooling of an existing one, not that it mattered.
"Will you be fine down here on your own?" I then asked as I pondered going back to the surface just so I could clean top-down. She, on the other hand, if I went through with this, would do down-up. So many of these creatures would not escape and we would be glad about it.
"I'm more worried for Nin." Larishazza admits uncomfortably as she rubs her arm and looks about. I sighed at first and nodded in understanding, but, I had some ideas.
"The magic in this part of the continent is weaker, yes? So, these creatures should be rather weak as well, no? Just, go nuts and when you find one that does not bow down so easily, that is your worries gone!" I explained in hopes it would calm her worries.
"Nin already looks so alike these things. There's no way I'd be able to tell unless I made sure to get up close to each of them." Larishazza says.
"You won't feel fluttery on the inside when you are near him?" I then ask as I try to think of more ways we might be able to tell who is Nin. Maybe giving his clothes to Liadanann wasn't the best idea...
"No, I won't. He's my friend, sure, but, I don't feel for him the same way you do." Larishazza admits rather nonchalantly with an uncertain shrug. Part of me felt happy to hear that, but, the rest was worried she might saw him in half with a jet stream of water.
"Well, good luck, I'll see you in a little bit then?" I questioned in an effort to shift the topic. All while I thought about casting my spell.
"See you up!" Larishazza cheerfully hummed out before she skipped down the dark tunnel with a handful of water orbs. And, as I watched her disappear into the darkness with her body outlined by her aura, I moved on. Shooting past her as a lightning bolt and striking my way through anything that got in my way. Be it dirt, stone or bug flesh and this kept on happening until I saw the sky again.
"Down I go!" I let out as I turned myself to a person again before I reached the clouds. And I slammed back down the ground with a thrilled smile on my face before I was forced to confront the destroyed village. The sight of this destruction did a lot to remind me of what I needed to do. So I traced my steps back to the stone circles and tried to get back in.
But when the circles failed to open up suddenly as they did for Nin earlier, I frowned. Was it just a coincidence that opened them up before or was it something else? Either way, how I would get in now seemed to be the same regardless. I would have to blow a hole into the earth and burn my way through.
"Guess I am going back up." I comment with a small shrug as I idly look up to the clouds again. However, I would briefly halt my actions while looking for the airship as I couldn't see it. It didn't really matter, I suppose, but, it was good to check. Especially given our history with flying predators.
For now, though, I would focus on the predators from beneath the mountain. And I was soon back inside their tunnels once again with a flash of light. A shower of molten stone and burning dirt falling down around me before I moved on into the depths. And each time I heard chitters or the sounds of a slimy creature, I struck.
Cooking some to a crisp with a mere tap of the palm while others were impaled on searing digits. If one of them got too close to me, I just transmuted my body into the sky's wrath and walked on without a care. Those that were far away I shot towards as a lightning bolt before switching back to normal. And, in some cases, I turned straight into both lightning forms in succession.
Charging through some as a lightning bolt and leaving gaping, cherry-hot holes in their sides. Before then dropping down as a woman made of lightning and crushing their rapidly burning bodies beneath me. Yet, after a while, when it became clear it wasn't too dangerous, I stopped doing it. Mostly because it made me a little too self-conscious about my weight whenever I crushed one under me.
I know I wasn't fat or overweight or even slightly chubby or pudgy. But, if Nin and possibly some of the others found out about it... I'd be laughed at non-stop for just dropping myself on these beasts to kill them. And I did not want that, I wanted to be treated seriously as a great slayer of vile beasts!
Not an overweight ball that hit with enough force to loosen an island from our mountains grasp...
"HELP US! PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP!" I heard a man scream after a short while of travelling and killing. Then, when I heard it, I rushed on over as quick as I could to find out what the problem was. Even if it was pretty clear what the problem indeed was. But, when I got there, I was a bit confused by what I saw as there were barely any bugs.
Even less when I got done shocking those that came at me to death. So, I tried approaching one of the villagers likely taken from Vadei's village. I cut one of them loose by suddenly chopping a lightning hand down on the glossy black frame. Pulling him out of the rest as I watched the frame bleed some kind of foul-smelling liquid.
"A human witch...? From Eusorochii!?" the villager questioned before we were interrupted by strange sounds echoing from the small tunnels behind the frames. Whatever it was, some of these men immediately started to panic and the one I freed had to be forced still.
"Don't come all out at once..." I muttered under my breath as I raised my arms and spread my legs slightly. Slowly applying what I have seen before in fights before forgetting all about it as I ran about shocking peculiar bugs. They were peculiar in that they had no real bodies to speak of! It was like they were skeletons made to surround you!
And I tried my best to kill all of them, but dashing about a room of this scale was taxing. Unfortunately, even my change in tactics wasn't enough to save all the men here. As some were soon screaming in terrible pain while their mouths were muffled by something. I even got a clear view of what was going on after I tore away another man from an approaching one.
These things seemed to just eat them alive! These bugs ate grown men whole! It made me nauseous but I did not relent. And, thankfully, soon, some of these bugs began to pull back as I made it clear it was not safe for them.
"What in the name of..." I soon began to say in disgust as I watched one man I failed to save convulse in the frame. And, out of a sick curiosity that I would likely be ashamed of until I die, I watched this man die... I watched his proverbial shadow spasm inside of the beast before he went still. Then, he suddenly roared at me and scurried off into the dark when the frame let go...
"Which way is the way out!?" I was asked by one man before he was suddenly grabbed.
"OUT!? OUR CHILDREN AND WIVES ARE HERE! WE NEED TO FIGHT!" another yelled at the one he just grabbed. And, very quickly, a fight broke out between those who wanted to escape and those who wanted to save their families.
"Enough!" I boomed out like thunder as I slammed a lightning-covered boot to the ground. That was all it took to get their attention, and that was fine by me. So I then moved and picked up some of the frame and broke and messed with it. Soon slamming a makeshift spear into the arms of one of the men while glaring at the rest.
"Wherever you need me, I'll be there." the newly-equipped man told me as he tested the spear while some others went and grabbed weapons. But, there was nothing of quality here, only whatever I cut off from this strange biological contraption.
"Come on, we don't have much time, these things eat children!" I told them as I repeated what scared me the most about these things. But, as I looked around this area some more, I came to a realisation about Nin... He had been in a place like this before and if we go by how that other man turned... He was like that because no one saved him during such an event.
And it made me yearn for his touch once again, or, rather, it made me want to feel him in my arms. I wanted to comfort him so very badly, having finally truly understood his predicament regarding his body. But, if he was like that, then surely there's be others like him, no? Those who can still be saved in their minds...?
This was probably one of the worst times to be ignorant about the creatures of this land. So many different kinds of lives were at risk right now. I had the capacity to help these people but I also wanted to try and fill out my knowledge. To see if I can save even those who I thought I had failed prior.
"I can smell some of them, this way!" one of the men soon declared with a firm beating of his chest before he ran off. Quickly, he was followed by others and I would move to catch up with them, just as quickly overtaking them as well. And this was all in spite of my choice of footwear! Yet, I would try and keep in time with them as I could not smell anything but the foulest of stenches in this place.
Frankly, I was surprised that I had not thrown up yet or started feeling queazy. So much of this place was just unsettling and demanded wholesale torching. Not just any torching either, only the finest incendiaries would do for a place like this. And going by what Nin said about Brewbrt's town and our departure from it, there were many places like this.
And it made me sad, for it meant that this beautiful land was often tainted by the presence of such foul things. A pleasant valley or view could be ruined in its entirety by the paranoia these creatures would make. It probably even explains why all settlements of notable size were fortified to the extent they were. With things like these lurking below...
"KILL THEM ALL!" a husband roared as he shoved his makeshift spear into the back of a bug crawling over a crying woman. And when I saw how her legs were parted, I froze with the kind of fear only a woman knew. I would then steadily get angrier until I just let loose a storm from both sets of my fingertips. Whatever had shells over its flesh was struck down and cooked blacker before I stopped.
Heaving out heavily as I calmed down until I felt something familiar. I could sense a rather strong concentration of magic and it was getting closer very slowly. The people around me could feel it too, it seemed, so it must have been using a spell. Or, rather, Nin was using a spell.
But if that truly was Nin, "Stay here, watch the way we came in and any other ways in, I'll go have a look." I say before letting my magic drain out into the surrounding women. I did my best to heal them of any injuries, but, my magic could not heal the kind dealt to the mind or soul. Only their husbands and families had a chance at doing that.
"W-Who's there!?" I heard Nin call out with a terrified voice that made my heart sink. So, when I heard it, I charged on down until I saw the great shine his magic let out. And I went straight towards him and held onto him tight as he suddenly broke down.
"It's alright, Nin, it's alright!" I said to him as I tried to soothe the man I loved. But, the way he was shivering and shaking made it clear just this would not be enough.
"One... One... One of them was inside of my head..." he whimpered as he buried his face into my arm. It even nearly brought tears to my face as well, seeing him in this state. It made me worry for him in ways I could not begin to describe even if I was given all the time in the world to ponder it.
"There won't be any more monsters in your head, Nin, it's okay... It's okay." I said to him in a tone I emulated from my own mother. But, given how it has been a while since I've seen her, I might be taking more influence from Vadei's mother. It would not surprise me given how often I like to be around her just to see her be a loving mother to Vadei.
"W-Where's Lari...?" he then asked me in worry as he tried to escape my grip. But, for once, I was able to overpower him as it is clear he has been expending quite a bit of his magic.
"She's alright, she's clearing out this place from the b-" I started to explain to him.
"LARI!" he suddenly roared before most of his casted magic returned to him. And I was forced to watch him break free of my grip and run off into the depths of the hive. A vast collection of survivors was left behind in his wake. I would have gone after him, but this sudden burden prevented me from doing so.
And very, very soon, I was forced to move aside as lovers came back together and children cried into their father's arms. Those who found most of their family instantly turned around to try and get them out of there while the others became more desperate. Some even went charging off on their own like Nin had done before they got here. But, unlike with Nin, I doubt these men would survive unless I went after them in order to help them.
Yet, how was I going to help them when I still had to handle all these other survivors? Each child and woman Nin brought here only increased the issues of us lacking weapons. I was lacking a solution for this problem and it was bringing a great amount of stress to my mind... I left one group so very vulnerable if I went to help another...
But, I would just have to risk it, we had cleared the way here, hopefully, it would stay that way. So, with a nervous step towards the darkness, I ran off in the direction Nin went in. This way, I can get more of the men who ran off this way to come back if we saved their families. Yet, as I got closer to the sounds of them, it got worse and worse.
"I'LL KILL YOU ALL! YOU HEAR ME YOU DAMN BUGS!? DO YOU HEAR ME!?" I heard one man howl as he slowly hobbled out of a small entrance holding a small body. And as I lit up the area with my magic, I saw that the body was a lot smaller than it should have been. It made me feel so very sick and I went past the bloodthirsty man as if he was never there. I just wasn't sure how to handle something like this...
And in a twisted way, I was thankful for the magical presence I sensed deeper in the hive. It was an unfamiliar aura, but, it was something for my mind to focus on. There would also be no problems with what I did with it either. As the closer I got to this aura made it clear it was one of those bugs.
A relatively powerful one by the feel of it, yet, I very much doubted it was more powerful than me. I have slain a mountain-melting wyvern after all. This was just some bug living in the dirt beneath my boots. Some parasite that preyed on the weakest people they could find, and, I was not weak.
"I will be having words with you." I called out to the magic-using bug once I reached a grand chamber that had been blasted open wider. The faint sensation of Nin's magic was all over this place and a lot went up into a hole above us. I could only assume that meant Nin actually was brought into this place after we were separated.
But what could have caused Nin to unleash such destruction here? I could see no bodies beyond what little remained of the bugs at the entrance I had just walked through. Everything else was just, gone, pulverised into the walls around us which had been set into a firmer state by his magic. He had actually let loose so much magic that he made the land tougher...
It was an impressive feat, but, I still had to remember that we were on the edge of Jherikra. I also had to remember what I was currently about to fight as it had now acknowledged me. And, I was a little disappointed, this one actually had an aura of peculiar magic about it, unlike the others. But, it did not look particularly special at all, it had a staff, sure...
Actually, that was a very useful thing to note, "Suitable material for a new queen." the bug then said to me in a creepy fashion. And, it may have been dark, but I could see how its jaw moved in accordance to those words. Like an animal that had just spied a filling meal. Unfortunately for it, however, I had no intention of being its new queen, I had far grander titles waiting for me at home.
I did not respond to its words, instead, I flung a bolt of lightning at it and watched as stone blocked it. Then, I steadied myself for the ground began to erupt and distort as giant cylinders began to come at me. Before they slammed into me, I would turn into my alternate form and let them melt around me. Then, I would use my aura to make the melted stone explode away, only to be shocked at how quickly they came back together.
And no matter how many bolts I seemed to fling, I could not get past its defences. Yet, all these probing attacks made one thing clear to me. My lightning form was either hot or magically potent enough to near-instantly melt his controlled rock. I could just charge him if I wanted!
So I did, I ran through what I could until I was near him. At which point, I reached out my nearest gloved hand and held it out for him. Only for the bug to shoot into the sky on a pillar of stone which I ran into. And, eventually through.
"Get down here, you got a lot to answer for regarding what you have done to my friend!" I called out amidst getting struck at harmlessly by stone constructs. Nearly snorting at the bug as it began to test new ways to get past my defences. But our strength was just too different. It would not beat me like this, and it also seemed like it knew that...
"Very suitable, but, too strong." it commented before it brought itself over to the chamber entrance. At which point, it began to strike away at the dirt and rock. And the land about me rumbled as it suddenly began to collapse in on itself. I tried to turn into a lightning bolt to get out of here, but, I only went up!
I couldn't just leave this bug around, so I had to cancel the spell and travel on foot. And, as I desperately ran for the creature which was slowing me down with more stone... I thought of an idea that might backfire greatly. But, I needed to find Nin again, and that overpowered my worries.
"No! No! No! No! NO! NOT NOW!" I acted out as I intentionally exited my lightning form incorrectly. Letting my body spasm out as it returned to normal and getting caught against the flat-faced charge of the bug's spell. And I was sent flying with a painful thud which hurt more on the landing than the blow itself.
But, the plan had worked, the bug had caught notice and had moved its pillars to protect me from the falling debris. They then began to harshly pull me over to its waiting form which was looking at me suspciously. Yet, its caution was not enough and it still approached my immobile form as I panted in fake exhaustion. I was worried that it would see through my plan, though.
"Damn you... I'll kill you for what you have done to my friends..." I coughed out for real as all this dust dried out my mouth.
"There is still great power in you." it observed just before it touched my breast and began to feel the magic concentrated in it. The bug would realise too late, however, that I was still able to fight. And it would roar in sudden pain before it exploded into a cloud of ash that let loose little blue sparks.
"Why'd our biology have to be this way...?" I then asked the gods as I began to rub my hand along my clothes. I did not want whatever stuff that bug had on its claws on my clothes. Especially so near a place that should have only been touched by Nin. With this bug dead, though, I began to return to my original goal of finding Nin.