PREVIOUSLY
She was going to punch straight through this wall of decayed flesh and bones, since whatever was there, she would rather face it out here. She didn't take out her sword yet, since she didn't know what exactly was beyond there.
Elm listened to the munching, and heard it stop, probably because she was sending loads of hostility towards the creature, and just as she was about to punch straight through, but heard the sound of the creature sniffing, as if nostrils were flaring to take in a scent.
Then, it's voice came out, something inhumane and wet. "I smell soft tissue."
Through a miniscule hole in the mountain of bones, she could see a yellow orb flashing towards her, rotating before a bone-white smile formed in the air above, revealing sharp ivory teeth. It seemed like an upside-down face, but Elm couldn't really scry the shape in the dark. She could only see the eyes and the teeth glowing in the dark.
Now, Elm was sure this domain was definitely inhibiting her powers. How annoying.
"Oh, it's been too long since I've had a visitor," The voice cackled in the dark, before sniffing once more. "And, it's not just any visitor either. My my, who would have known that the Celestial Hero herself would be making a visit in my humble, little abode."
"So good to meet you." The sound of something whooshing in the dark.
"Hero." The voice appeared directly behind Elm.
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Any normal person would have freaked out, but Elm calmly delivered a backheel kick with enough power to knock out a troll, but she felt nothing but air.
"Oh, why so violent, dear Hero?" The voice cackled again. "I've missed talking to your kind. Oh wait, I think I was the reason for one of your incarnation's death. Ah, was it the 45th?"
"Now I remember. Unlike you, he was quite. . ." The voice again appeared behind Elm and whispered, "jumpy."
Elm immediately twisted her core, and delivered a right haymaker that would have knocked out a dragon this time, but still and again, she felt nothing but air.
The voice cackled even more. "Yes, just like that. But well," The voice stopped, and suddenly the darkness got even darker. "He wasn't so jumpy when I stuck a leg inside him."
Elm sensed something dangerous coming from her right, and so dodged it barely by bending underneath the scythe-like claw that would have ripped her apart. Elm was at a disadvantage right now, having to protect the sleeping Pochi inside her right breast-pocket, along with not being able to use any of her innate abilities. And, she really hated physical battles.
But, it still wasn't time for her to take out her sword yet. While listening acutely to what this creature was going to do next, she ran through her mind and memories to find what exactly was this creature and why she couldn't feel any connection to the light.
"Where's that adorable sword of yours?" The voice said, it's razor-sharp legs clattering against the cold, dark floor. The slight tints of ember provided temporary light for Elm to see that she was fighting against something insectoid, and long, very, very long.
"If I do remember, with your powers locked from my authority, the only chance you really have at even thinking of killing me is your sword," The voice took another dig at Elm, but she expertly dodged it by skipping to the side. "Unsheathe your sword. Do it. That's your only chance."
The voice continued to echo those words into Elm's ears, all the while trying to rip apart her body with scythes coming at the speed of light.
"Unsheathe your sword."
"Show me your sword."
"You can't beat me."
"Only with your sword, can you even think of beating me."
"Unsheathe it."
Then, Elm remembered. Her, or more specifically, the 45th's memories rushed into her head, and she remembered and knew what and who exactly she was fighting against. No wonder she wasn't allowed to use her powers.
"The Chimera Lord," Elm muttered, as the scythe coming at her face stopped just before her eyes. "Ameth."
Something long, and big skittered in the dark. It spoke again, but this time, it's voice was a lot deeper and formal. "So you do remember, Celestial Hero of the Stars."
The rest of the Chimera Lord descended from a hole in the ceiling, revealing an iridescent carapace. The rest of its body was in the bones above them, coiled in the network of tunnels it had fashioned in the remains. Its head hanging down into the room like a sleeping bat. The body that emerged was long, like a giant millipede scrabbling into the chamber, so long its body coiled around the circumference of the ceiling. That heeby-jeeby feeling that arises when one sees a spider or an insect, something that dwells in the dark with multiple legs with flagellating antenna and pincers and alien eyes, that primordial instinct that prickles the skin behind the neck, behind the knees, that transforms forearms into gooseflesh, that physical warning that tells a human to either take care or run, well, it hit Nay in full force.
"You've fought me once, twice, thrice, oh who knows how many times you've fought me," Ameth skittered. "And yet, here I am, still alive." It moved and a pillar of stone broke. "Once a little bug, then evolved into an acolyte of the Dreaded One, before devouring her and becoming the Dreaded One herself."
Even for Elm, fighting the Dreaded One which was the god of insects and bugs without any of her skills or powers was pretty much suicidal. The only way she would be able to even the grounds would be to take out her sword, but then, if she did, what would Ameth do? After all, there had to be a reason that Ameth would want her to take out the sword that badly, right?
"Do you fear me?" Ameth smiled, if it was possible for a bug lord to smile. "Everytime one of your incarnations fought me, they either died or I survived long enough to kill their future incarnation."
Elm pointed to the large mark on Ameth's long, carapace, just below it's thick head, where it looked like someone had stabbed a sword straight through it.
"I can do that again."
For a second, the entire mausoleum trembled from Ameth's rage, until it's long body shone a deep blue and it was calmed.
"What do you gain from angering me, little Hero?" Ameth stared down at the being that used to fill it with so much fear. Now, she looked no bigger than an ant. "Without your powers, and your sword, I might as well devour you whole here and now."
"If I were you, so horribly outmatched, I would think of ways to start running."
But, before Elm could even look back, she met resistance against the back of her leg. Looking behind her, she could see part of the thing's long body was blocking their exit. It slid from one wall into the next, parting the bones, as its body coiled around the chamber like a giant serpent.
Those yellow eyes appeared in front of them and the upper half of its body, its torso, rose before them in the chamber outside the tunnel. The iridescent carapace looked like it was fashioned from the armor of thousands of beetles. The scale-like segments fluttered like wings, revealing a pale and long and withered humanoid form within. It wore the carapace like a suit of armor.
Its face pushed into the lichen light as it revealed its visage. To Elm's surprise, despite its glowing yellow eyes and needle-sharp teeth, it had the head and face of an old human woman. Strings of unwashed gray hair hung in front of its face. The skin was wrinkled, but it was also translucent, which created the odd effect of seeing glowing eyes and teeth hanging in the air. Was this another perversion of the human form, meant to frighten her and make a mockery of her kind? Or was this someone who was once human who had transformed into a monster?
"Oh, what's the problem, little hero?" Ameth said. "Do you find yourself a little stuck in this place>"
As it cackled like a crone, it's many legs skittered around the room before it shrieked, causing every torch lighting up the place to die out one by one, casting them all in darkness.
"To The Dreaded Place We Go."