Chapter 21: Chapter 21 - Braided Worms

The cranetongue swayed through the air. Beady eyes and narrow beak focused on Zoe. She charged, her fist shining like metal as she boosted her Might.

[Skein 88/99]

Spending six Skein brought her Might up to 35. This made her 17 times stronger than before the System arrived. Her muscles gripped her bones. Flexed. Released. She moved like a rocket-powered machine and punched the cranetongue in the face.

Knuckles met feathers. The cranetongue’s head snapped back. Its neck fell limp like a cut puppet.

Zoe’s momentum took her to the other side of the cave wall. She tried to grab at the wall, but her hand bounced free of the small holds. Falling toward the water where the mirrodiles seethed. She kicked off the wall and sailed through the air. One foot stepped upon the five-seated boat and she waved her arms for balance.

The cranetongue she punched seemed dead, but she received no cooling energy toward her level up. Instead, the mirrodile sucked up the bird like a strand of spaghetti and swam to join the other six mirror-scaled beasts. Zoe supposed they had some kind of codependent symbiotic relationship. Unless she killed them both, she wouldn’t get any death energy.

It was a similar situation to the puppeteer. She almost missed the straightforwardness of the fight on the plane, but after a brief flash of the memories of that dark and claustrophobic fight, she decided she could handle some inconvenience if it meant she could fight in a well-lit environment. A tight smile tugged at her burnt lips.

She was having fun.

The beasts circled the boat as she regained her balance. Six cranetongues swayed. A circular pattern of energy bloomed upon their foreheads. The pattern was familiar. The puppeteer in the dungeon’s first room had a pattern like that. When Skein passed through the circular pattern, the puppeteer animated the skeletons. But what were these birds trying to control?

She kicked out at the nearest mirrodile. Her foot struck its flank, and immediately a violent force burst from the mirrored scales and struck her foot. The force caught her off guard. She spun about and fell onto her ass in the boat. The second she sat down, it started moving downriver.

Her eyes widened at the rocking motion. No matter how much she wanted to level up, she couldn’t afford to be separated from the others. So she did the only thing that came to her mind, and she leaped from the boat. When her foot lifted off from the wooden seat, the boat bobbed in place as though anchored. Despite having no oars or paddles, it seemed to move once they boarded but remained still when they left.

Not even the surging water could move it, no matter how bright the cranetongue’s magical circles glowed. It was good to know, but hopefully, they wouldn’t destroy it in the ensuing combat.

A bright burning blue circle upon each of their foreheads. Zoe could make out tendrils of Skein passing through and dissipating into the growing storm within the grotto.

Wind whipped up and blew the water in stinging rain. The river sloshed. Waves broke and swept across the cave floor. A mirrodile lumbered onto the wet stone, scaled belly dragging, and from its jaw slipped a beak at the end of a long feathered neck.

Water spattered Bella and Anton where they slept and woke them up. Anton’s eyes flew open. He took in the scene and grinned.

“You trying to hog all the levels to yourself?” he said.

Zoe smirked from the boat.

“No…”

“Did the boat move?”

“Just a little.”

Zoe landed beside Bella.

“Sorry to wake you,” she said.

Bella rubbed at her eyes.

“Was that five minutes?”

“Something like that.”

“You’re terrible.”

“Well, they wanted to eat my feet.”

“Serves you right for not sharing the kills.”

“You too?”

Bella unslung the runeblade.

“Sharing is caring, boss.”

Zoe’s fists flashed with steel.

“Fair enough.”

With all three of them fighting, it didn’t take long before the mirrodiles were subdued. Of course, the strange beasts weren’t without surprises. The storm conjured by the cranetongues destroyed visibility and made their footing treacherous. The mirrored scales reflected every blow with equal measure. Bella’s runeblade could weather the retaliatory force, but Zoe’s fists suffered.

They developed a strategy. Zoe weathered the beaks and charging mirrodiles while the others worked to wear down the creature with injuries. Once subdued, they snapped the neck of the birds and then held down the mirrodile while stabbing through the open jaw to pierce the brain.

It was messy and tiring, but they each killed two of them before the last creature swam away. They stared at the six corpses all mirror and blood and bloated on the wet cave floor. Water dripped from the ceiling, but no stormy wind blew, and the smell of the dead creatures grew foul in the enclosed space.

“So,” Bella examined her blood-sated runeblade. “Did anyone level up?”

Anton shook his head.

“Nope.”

Zoe shook her head as she pried a mirrored scale from a mirrodile’s crest. It was a curious sensation as the force of her pulling reflected against her fingertips. Maybe instead of a Technique, it was a unique property of the scales themselves?

“We could skin these things and make some armor?”

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Anton squatted down beside her and lazily extended his dagger pommel first.

“That’s a great idea, boss. Take my dagger. I assume you know how to skin a gator and treat the hide?”

She took the knife.

“Just because of your sarcastic tone,” she cut along the outer length of the lower jaw and pulled on the muscle to tighten the flesh. Her Might and the dagger made quick work of the task. “I want to prove you wrong, but we don’t have the facilities.”

She removed the hide from the face and tossed it to a bemused Anton.

“Souvenir,” she said. “Let’s take a body with us for food and get on the boat. It doesn’t look like it’s safe to stay here any longer.”

Bella walked over with an armful of the white fruit that had grown back during the night.

“Skein anybody?”

They chewed the strange, indescribable fruit, and restored themselves. Zoe was about to step into the boat when the faceless mirrodile twitched.

“You’ve got to be joking.”

Bella swung her sword overhead and lopped off the creature’s head. Without the scales to deflect, the attack went through without effort. The body continued to twitch and move. Little spasms.

“Do I just keep chopping?” Bella asked.

Zoe shrugged.

“I suppose.”

The back of the mirrodile burst open. Flesh spattered their surprised faces. A creature like a braided snake slithered out of the wound. It was two creatures twisted about each other as they looped toward the water. Zoe’s eyes widened. One had white feathers, while the other reflected the light from glittering scales.

She stomped down on the creatures. Their spines shattered beneath her bare foot. A strange muffled explosion from the mirrodile’s scales blew gore out in a thin spray from under her foot that painted the floor bright red. But Zoe was distracted by the ice-cold death energy charging up her leg.

The other gators started twitching. Their abdomens bulged. One popped, and another pair slithered for the water. Zoe kicked it into the wall where it splattered against the rough stone.

“We have to kill the little ones,” she said.

More of the oddly twisted larvae squirmed free of the wounds. The three humans got stomping.

[Level up! You are now level 7.]

Zoe grinned.

“Damn,” it felt so good

[Please select an element to incorporate:]

* [Water: Dexterity +4]

* [Mirror: Insight +4]

* [Stone: Dexterity -2, Might +2, Willpower +4]

But then the Hunger gnawed. A tiny pinprick nibbling at her guts and growing with every swallowed morsel of her restraint. She couldn’t tell if it was psychological or physical, and that scared her. But she would know if she keeled over and died.

Because she refused to give in and take the essence straight away. She could control the urge, it would not control her. What was the point of advancing her Willpower if she couldn’t use it to curb her cravings?

But how do you force your brain to stop doing something, when all you have is your brain to control it? She was a surgeon, not a psychiatrist!

Even breathes. Deeper. Exhale, hold the void in her lungs, and let the feeling cancel out the void in her guts. She was more than the burns on her lips. She was more than her desire to devour. More than her need to survive at all costs.

She was a human being.

She was not an animal…

“Boss?”

Zoe lay on the ground, hands clutched around her stomach, staring up at Anton and Bella. Bella’s smile was concerned, but infectious.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“I’m fine, just…” she sighed. Why keep everything a secret? “These burns on my lips. I got them after I incorporated the Mirrorbell fragment. The System cursed me, gave me this Title…”

With a mental nudge, the System took her desire to share and conveyed the information.

[Gluttony (+1 to all stats, Hunger increased)]

Bella hugged her.

“Sounds rough,” she said.

Zoe returned the hug.

“I didn’t mean to change the quest, or betray you all…”

Anton grinned.

“Not a betrayal. You’re the boss. But this new quest has us helping you. I wonder, what happens if we incorporate the bell fragments instead?”

Zoe blinked. That was a good point, and the shock distracted her from the gnawing pain in her guts. She had felt so burdened by Rue’s secret, by the changes to her quest, by the new Titles…

“I have one other thing to show you two.”

[Quest Breaker (Increased chance of revealing hidden objectives)]

Anton’s eyebrows raised as he examined the Title.

“So how does that work?”

“I’m not sure, I haven’t had time… But let me…”

[Dungeon Objective: Assist Zoe Chambers in absorbing the remaining fragments.]

[Bell fragments absorbed: 0/3]

It was a strange sensation to apply her Title to the active quest for the dungeon. Not dissimilar to doing a mathematical equation in your head, and remembering the result to compare it against the next problem.

[Quest Breaker applied]

[Dungeon Objective: Absorb the remaining fragments]

[Bell fragments absorbed: 0/3]

[Warning: Quest difficulty supersedes Dungeon difficulty. The chance of Black Star Incursion occurring before Quest completion is 105%]

They digested the information.

“Is this the part where someone tells me what an Incursion is?” Bella asked.

The System remained silent.

“It can’t be good, right?” Zoe said.

Anton grinned.

“I’ll bet you it’s fantastic.”

“What’ll you bet?”

“Well, I think it’s going to be exactly what we need. If I’m wrong, I’ll buy the first round when we get out of here.”

“Need to find a bar first,” Bella added.

“Right,” Anton’s grin widened. “When we find a bar after getting out of this place, then I’ll buy the first round. If,” he raised a finger. “If I’m wrong. But if I’m right, it's on you two.”

“Which one of us?”

“Figure it out amongst yourselves.”

Bella and Zoe exchanged a look.

“Alright,” Zoe said. “I’ll take your bet, but for now…” And she hesitated, as the gluttony begged her to be silent. It could all be hers. Every scrap of power. Hers. these two were only fit to help her achieve her goals. Nothing more. They weren’t real— “I’ve been deciding for all of us, but this quest involves you two. How do you want to go about it? Should we divide the bell amongst ourselves? Or should I take it all?”

Anton looked at her with his insect-collector gaze.

“What were the components of the bell fragment?”

“Sound, Metal, and Faith.”

“Any of those increase Insight?”

“No. The fragment decreases Insight.”

“Then I wash my hands of it,” he clapped his hands and stood. “Shall we take the boat now or sleep some more?”

Zoe laughed, careful of her lips, but still releasing her relief.

“What about you, Bella?” she asked, and the Hunger screamed. “How do you feel?”

Bella ran a finger down the runeblade.

“I already have one cursed item inside my body —”

“I don’t think the bell is cursed —”

“Look what happened to your lips, mate. You think that’s normal? Maybe it was your actions, but if you asked me beforehand if absorbing that fragment was the wrong thing to do, you know what I would have said?”

“You would have told me I was being some kind of Australian euphemism for idiot?”

Bella shook her head.

“I wouldn’t have said diddly squat. I don’t know what’s wrong, I don’t know what’s right. Nobody explained the rules to any of us,” she stood. “You want my opinion? Keep the bell for yourself, but wake us if there’s a fight. I want to get strong. So,” she stepped onto the boat. “Let’s get moving, yeah?”

The boat bobbed along down the river. Bella grinned as Anton and Zoe leaped on board. The boat rocked in the water but continued down the tunnel of stone. With the glowing weed beneath the surface, it was strangely beautiful. A reminder that the otherworldly changes weren’t all apocalyptic.

Then more mirrodiles swam up from among the weeds.