Viewing time is over, Shyva.
Shyva composed herself. Lifting the small globe off its brace with the pouch worn on her hand for protection. The fabric of the pouch was designed to withstand burning and harsh weather conditions and avoid crushing objects within and other agents of disturbance. Shyva couldn't feel the ball of elements, be it cold, warm or burning. Although, she was confident she wouldn't be harmed.
Gently pulling the string of the small pouch, the ball was covered. She knotted the string and placed it on top of her chest, which disappeared into her jacket.
She hoped it was the last task of the day. Shyva felt overwhelmed by the numerous holes in the walls. Her insides swirled with discomfort. She wanted to return home to her family, to safety.
She stared at the holes, captured by their varying sizes. The wall glistened like marble, shiny with traces of jelly liquid forming crisscrosses across each hole like a web.
What are you, people?
Pretending for a while, that there wasn't some bad feeling tugging at her guts that she needed to leave at once. For a while, she was relieved that she had overcome one of the many escapades she had been assigned in her life. If she wasn't going to leave the place alive she could kiss her future goodbye.
As she leapt off the platform, whines erupted from all the holes, perturbing and piercing. Shyva closed her ears with her palms as she slouched, trying so hard to stop the noise. Her hair stood at the nape of her neck, and her skin crawled. The noises surrounded her. She wanted to flee but was drawn to see what would come from the holes.
She got hold of her firearm, cocking it and holding it closely should harm come her way. Shyva turned around and around again, watching the holes with keenness at which hole would be the first to show a form. The cave rumbled; Shyva could feel the ground tremble slightly beneath her feet, with a few rocks from the sealed top of the cave dropping to the ground.
Something enormous must be coming?
A tubular, robust, slithering creature moved out of the hole and dropped to the ground. Shyva directed her pistol to it. She was about to fire, but another slid from an opposite wall. Tens, then hundreds, fell from the holes to the ground.
Shyva could see transparent bodies with coloured internal organs. The top and bottom had tentacles; it was hard to differentiate which was the head and which was anal. Their bodies looked like they had some kind of padding to allow the creatures to glide through the wall on their slime without slipping.
They moved by pushing their segmented bodies back and forth. They hissed, moving in an army surrounding Shyva but slow yet determined. They all ranged from a forearm length to a full leg length.
What do I do now? They're a lot; why did I hesitate to fire? Where is he? Where are you? I need help just like the one you helped me with outside. I need you now.
One of the worms caught Shyva's attention. It stood on its first three segments, the base of its conical head showing its mandibles. It nodded its upper head, screeching higher like it was calling out to something. Shyva was taken by surprise when the ground she stood upon cracked, and a much larger tubular creature about forty feet coiled its form around her. Her firearm fell to the ground, and her body was tightly packed as she tried fighting against it, but it was useless.
Unlike the other forms, the queen, Shyva assumed, possessed a flat head and fangs protruding from the sides of its closed, thin lips. When it opened its mouth to display its fangs to Shyva, like a female would showcase her pride, Shyva could sense a bit of admiration and loathing in its slit green eyes.
She had much more tentacles, taking the form of hair. Unlike the others, she had just tentacles on her head, which had a life of their own. They were stretched long enough to tease Shyva's face by sliding over. Shyva frowned and grimaced at how her face was abused. Half of Shyva's upper torso was left to aid her breathing, but her limbs were bound.
Blue scales lined the queen's body with dark spots and green stripes on both sides. The scales overlapped like that of a fytch. Shyva's suit protected her body from cuts she would have sustained without it. Her palms were tied by a tentacle, grazing her skin. Pains shot through her brain.
Shyva was scared to death for her life; she was ashamed she wouldn't bring the ball of elements home. Her training purpose was to put her task first; a death without completing the task was unworthy.
"Why do you come here?" it asked, lowering its gaze to align with Shyya's, with a couple of spaces between them. Shyva returned from her thoughts.
"You can talk?" Shyva struggled but was coiled around tighter. "This is hurtful, and I wish no harm to you and your followers."
"Yes, you did. You come here uninvited, and you have the notion of stripping us of our source of existence, our source of feeding and our essence. Do you have any idea what you carry with you? Do you have any idea what genocide you're about to commit?"
Shyva didn't reply, and the queen continued, "We were never disturbed since the fall of the worlds, the empires. We have our separate world, away from you creatures who think you have control everywhere and on everything, but we are creatures nobody cares about until you need something we have. We are the 'Tuveshis', and we have survived."
While the queen of the 'Tuveshis' talked, Shyva was all strategy and tactic. Her next move was to escape from being a captive. The pressure of the queen around her made her fight choke. She was dizzy, gasping for air at intervals. The devastating ache in her head caused her blurry vision.
Shyva got hold of her dagger tucked in her sleeves, faking being attentive to the speech of one of the most hideous creatures she ever laid eyes on. Her left hand was somewhat free but not enough to swing a slim blade. She maintained eye contact with the queen, lowering the dagger from her sleeve. In a swift flash, she slashed the tentacle around her wrists, dug the blade deep into the queen and pulled it out, causing streams of green fluid to ooze out of the gash. The gash wasn't meant to kill it but to free Shyva. A creature that colossal, would take more than a gash to destroy it.
Being stabbed caused it to drop its hold on Shyva with instinct. Shyva fell with a thud. For a moment, Shyva relished the freedom, gasping and holding her chest. She remembered she had an adversary that groaned with pain. Shyva decided she would put up a fight before she was coiled up like some rodent. Getting to her feet, she pulled her feet apart and flashed her dagger, ready to strike.
The queen sighted her foe and dived to crush Shyva, but to its surprise, Shyva leapt and flipped in the air, landing on the part of the cracked ground. She took precautions to avoid slipping into the cracks.
The queen lashed its tail at Shyva but missed as Shyva leapt on another cracked part of the ground. The queen flashed her fang, wanting to strike again. It was disappointed and furious that she was missing her target. Shyva waived every attack, calculating the queen's next attacks and predicting her strikes. Her life depended on her decisions. On her first mission, she couldn't be dead; it would be embarrassing how her sisters would mourn and make a mockery of how special she was.
Watching Shyva with intent, it flashed her fang and struck with a flash; Shyva saw it coming, so she leapt to the side, stabbing the side of the queen as leverage to haul her on its body.
The queen shook its body violently in response to the pain that seared through her body. It groaned loudly as its followers watched without aiding in her battle, for she was the most powerful of them all.
Shyva blinked in amazement at the gashes on the body of her foe, closing up layer by layer and stopping the liquid that oozed out moments ago. The regenerative ability was stunning as the regenerated layer was stronger, almost calciferous. Shyva's blade broke as she slid it into the body of the queen.
Why didn't I notice this earlier? I guess the other wound is healed as well?
Shyva knew the regenerative ability wasn't giving her any victory. She had to think hard about how to evade any strike or blow.
"You thought you could win." It vibrated jubilantly. "I've not started with you. There's no rush in killing you just yet when I know you can't escape my kingdom. Even if you flee my strikes, my army out there would devour you."
She is right, but I am not backing down.
The passing of days before the mission…
In Master Chi's Class
"What are your weaknesses," he moved past every one of them, with sisters holding the heads of their fellow ones in the pool. "They are a figment of your mind in ways to deter you from completing your tasks."
Some of the girls struggled in the water, gulping in more liquid, while others stayed still, eyes wide and cheeks swollen from the air stored in their mouths. Shyva was one of the calm girls.
"Drowning is different from this torture, but sometimes some tasks you'll face may be exactly like this, a situation where you might think there isn't any other skill you've got left, but it's untrue. It leaves you to observe how to advance your opponent, but you must conquer in this position."
"For the ones fighting for their lives without reasoning implies all they have been taught was in vain. No matter the circumstances, remember to keep calm."
"Now, struggle a bit and feign death."
Shyva had no weapon at her disposal except a grenade, which wasn't advisable in her situation. As the queen came for her, she thought of a plan. Running towards the queen, she missed her step and fell on her face. Her breathing stopped.
The queen stopped in its tracks, lowering its face to its prey. It noticed Shyva had stopped breathing. It moved around her again, still unsure of her death. When it was convinced Shyva was dead, it opened its mouth and howled, vibrating vigorously at the death of its oppressor.