The great cores paradox.., p.2
The Great Cores Paradox 2: Book 2, page 2
A sudden movement broke me from my peace. I took a moment to get my bearings, mind still half-asleep. The brilliant blue light of my [Mana Fire] had long died out, leaving the pile of sticks and roots as little more than ash. The other Coreless were spurred into motion, woken from their own slumber by careful taps from the newest member of our group. He must have been the one to keep watch, which wasn’t exactly surprising. [Life—Invigorating Bite], along with its small healing ability, gave a jolt of energy and strength. He would have had a difficult time sleeping.
He kept one finger raised to his lips as he roused the other Coreless, and their [confusion] upon waking quickly shifted into [alertness]. With silent, methodical motions, they reached for their fangs and claws of ore-flesh, pulling them free from their various bindings. They made a few hand signs at each other; unfortunately, their emotional states stayed roughly the same, leaving me unable to interpret.
Still, I had an idea of what they were discussing. A certainty, really. Because I was far more aware than they were of Tiamat’s taunting thought-hisses. They pushed against the walls of my mind-nest with an unrestrained vigor. Threats of enslavement and death that caused the artificial walls of my mind-nest to flex and shake.
We’d been found.
The skittering of Tiamat’s minions came from somewhere outside of the alcove, closing in. Their limbs scratched off stone, and I could almost see the disgusting, flesh-twisted monstrosities with their many limbs of sharp-tipped bone. There was another sound as well, a droning buzz that rested somewhere at the edge of my hearing. Though once I finally noticed it, I couldn’t seem to stop hearing it.
And then the first of them arrived, homing in on our little alcove.
As expected, there were a few of the same minions I’d met before. The ones I received [Chains of the Creator] from. They were just as disgusting as before, their flesh sloughing off in places where it rubbed against stone or simply grown too old. As I had always suspected, despite the power she held, Tiamat’s creations were wrong. Created from her blood, they were just as horrid as Tiamat herself, malformed and prone to falling apart as time went on.
Will stepped forward to block their path, his large hunk of ore-flesh held before him. Bone-tipped limbs skipped off its surface, deflected away. Meanwhile, needles began to fly over his shoulder, finding their new homes within the flesh of the bad-things.
Another of Tiamat’s minions stepped into view, different from the rest. It was just as malformed, just as horrid, but where her other creations were many-limbed monstrosities, the newest bad-thing had no limbs at all.
Instead, it dragged itself across the ground in a sluggish wriggle, leaving trails of slime to mark its path. Its body was riddled with cavernous holes, deep and dark. The droning noise grew, no longer at the edge of my hearing, and winged bad-things burst from the small-tunnels within its flesh.
As they poured from their hive of flesh, their hive-host began to slump, as if the winged bad-things had been the only thing holding it upright. It collapsed in a useless flop, futilely attempting to wriggle in our direction.
The great horde of winged bad-things filled the entrance to our alcove, causing my Coreless to cry out in alarm. As I’d already seen with the Flame Formicans so long ago, my Coreless had a harder time with a large number of small enemies. Their ore-flesh was sharp, but there were just too many to fight.
I hissed loudly, aiming at the flying bad-things with a burst of [Sound Shaping]. A few fell, disoriented by the sudden noise, but only a few. There were many more.
A shout roared from right beside me, the-female-who-was-not-Needle desperately trying to get my attention.
“Fire?” she asked, [anticipation] shining through the link to her [Little Guardian’s Totem], pointing and then blowing furiously at the crowded flyers in great puffs.
As ridiculous as she looked, I couldn’t help but agree with the idea.
I reared back, spitting a great gout of [Mana Fire] into the buzzing bad-things. Their wings erupted into streaks of blue flame, sending them careening into one another and further spreading the fire. The little streaks of flame draped over the few ground-bound bad-things like a second skin, burning their flesh and causing them to shriek in pain. The thought-light erupted into a blinding series of flashes with each new flicker of the flames.
Experience Gained!
Experience Gained!
Experience Gained!
The thought-light consumed my vision and my ears were filled with the sound of maniacal laughter. [SATISFACTION] and [VINDICATION] flared across the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s Totem, each strong enough that I hardly even had to reach for the connection to sense them.
“And you idiots made fun of me!” not-Needle loudly proclaimed.
Chapter 3
Flammable-Winged Bad-Things
Blue flames coated the entrance to the alcove, sputtering and spreading in turn. Every time a tendril of flame died out, turning gossamer wings to ash, another tendril reached out and set a new bad-thing alight. Lines of blue traced paths across the gray of the stone, forming ephemeral patterns that shifted from one moment to the next. Every so often, a stray spark began the blaze anew, finding its way to another clump of flammable-winged bad-things.
All the while, the thought-light continued to flicker, mixing verdant green with the brilliant blue that filled my vision.
It was beautiful. The crackling of the flames, the shrieking of the bad-things, and even the cackling of the Coreless whose shoulder I clung to. At the same time, it was near blinding in its intensity, the brilliant blue flames beginning to sear at my eyes.
I reached out and pulled, feeling the sweet relief as the flames began to dim, the bright edge of the light sucked into the light reservoirs provided by [Illusion Spark]. Despite that, the alcove remained dazzlingly radiant, the flames of [Mana Fire] both too far away and too bright to have their light stolen all at once.
My scale-flesh, full as if fit to burst with the light I’d stolen, ached—begging for release.
I gave it gladly.
A flare of stolen light ripped itself from my scale-flesh, aimed at the nearest of the flesh-twisted bad-things. It caught the revolting Blood of Tiamat in the midst of a brutal multi-limbed stab, causing it to shriek in pain and surprise as the light pierced deeply into its eyes.
Blinded and dazed, it met its end at the tip of Will’s ore-flesh fang, having never seen its death approaching.
The droning buzz of the flying bad-things became audible again as the crackles of the [Mana Fire] began to die down, flame-ridden bodies crumbling into ruined carapace. Embers flew up with every frenzied step of the flesh-twisted bad-things that walked through them, licking at their heels and searing their flesh, but the remaining flying bad-things were too far away. They lifted to an even greater height, all but clinging to the surface of the alcove’s ceiling.
The once-numerous hive had been slimmed down to less than a third of what it once was. And those who remained were furious. More than furious.
Enraged.
The droning built ever higher, and the flying creatures dove. They pulled themselves from the safety of the heights, flinging their bodies with wild abandon, as if uncaring whether they lived or died. Maybe they really didn’t care.
I sent another stream of [Mana Fire] at those on the outermost edges, whittling away at their numbers, but the main forces of the attack were too close. Even if they were struck by the flames, those flames would be turned on my Coreless when they finished their dive—and while I was almost entirely immune to damage from my flames, my Coreless were not.
I couldn’t risk it.
The-female-who-was-not-Needle cried out, yelling something at the others that I didn’t manage to catch. Then the remnants of the hive were upon us.
It was only up close that I could make out the features that defined Tiamat’s twisted creations. They were too small, and the combination of distance and light had made observing them difficult.
Now, having finally closed the distance, I saw them for what they were.
Each of the flying bad-things were smaller than me in size, with bodies colored a deep red that bordered on black. Delicate gossamer wings erupted from their backs, the almost graceful nature of the fragile limbs a stark contrast with the brutality and rot of the rest of their bodies. Their mouths were filled with a series of serrated teeth, perfect for rending flesh, and each of their many legs were much the same—built almost entirely for the purpose of battle, with little regard to anything else.
The horrible things dripped rotting fluid, black ichor leaking from the growing cracks in their carapaces. They almost seemed to be disintegrating with each and every moment. As if the only thing that had kept them alive was staying inside of the host-hive they burst from. Which wriggled uselessly on the floor near the entrance to the alcove.
I hissed as they flew closer, ripping my throat-flesh with the force of [Sound Shaping] required. The cloud of enemies roiled in response. A few of its inhabitants thrown from their chosen paths by the sudden noise and setting off a chain of interrupted dives as they crashed into one another.
But again, it was only a few. Far more carried on unopposed.
Slightly panicked, I bit down into the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s exposed flesh. She jerked in surprise as a stream of glistening gold ran down the hollows of my fangs, a large portion of my available mana shifted into life essence.
And then, as the cloud of bad-things finally hit us, I slipped to the safety of her back and held on with [Clinging Grasp], protecting most of my length from attack.
Hard carapace crunched against even harder ore-flesh, shattering with the force of the bad-things’ charge. A few, however, found more sensitive spots. They ripped at flesh with razor-sharp forelimbs and serrated teeth, causing my Coreless to cry out. I peeked over her shoulder as she swept at them with fangs of ore-flesh, running the edge above the places where exposed skin allowed the disgusting things to cling.
Blood ran down her arms and she grunted in pain, but the wounds quickly knit themselves closed, [Life—Invigorating Bite] still running through her veins. The other Coreless behind us weren’t so lucky. The-female-who-was-not-Needle had taken the majority of the swarm, but quite a few had slipped past. [PAIN] and [RAGE] reached for me unbidden, flaring across the links of their Totems.
I whipped my head around to check on them, only to find a coating of smashed carapace on the ground, the bad-things stomped to a pulp by the angry Coreless. Needle, who did not cover herself in as much ore-flesh as the other Coreless, lay on the ground. A quick sweep of each nearby [Little Guardian’s Totem] revealed she was the only one in notable pain.
I dropped from the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s back and rapidly slithered to the fallen Coreless. The Unrepentant One ran past me, crunching fallen bad-things underfoot, while the newest male Coreless kneeled beside Needle and wrapped a long stretch of threaded skins around her bleeding leg. Needle grunted along with each pull of the skins, face stretched into a pained grimace.
Red soaked the white of the skins, running from the wounds.
“Fucking Skies, that hurts like a bitch,” she moaned. “How am I supposed to stop things like that with arrows, damn it!”
The male Coreless pulled tight on the wrapping of skins and she let out another moan as he tied the end off.
“Sorry, Kala. Don’t want you losing too much blood before that gets fixed. I’m still not sure if the snake’s healing can do anything about blood loss.”
“I know, Rowan,” she snapped, [irritation] and [pain] flooding through her [Little Guardian’s Totem]. “I’m still gonna fucking complain, though. This sucks.” Needle sucked in a shuddering breath, exhaling a moment later. “Go, I’ll be fine.”
He nodded, picking up his ore-flesh tipped rod, and moved to reinforce the Coreless behind me.
Needle held out a hand as I slithered closer, pulling me toward her wounded leg with a sense of [resolve] and more than a little [anger]. I thought for a moment, looking over the wounds, trying to figure out what to do. I only had so much mana at a time, and using it all to heal Needle might mean someone else could die later.
In the end, I decided to heal her enough that she could fight, saving the rest for later. Unlike the other Coreless, Needle didn’t need to be extremely mobile. As long as nothing was trying to reach her, she only needed to be able to stand.
I bit down, activating [Life—Invigorating Bite].
Golden liquid dripped from my fangs.
Chapter 4
Legs Are Horrible
Needle gasped in [relief] as [Life—Invigorating Bite] worked to mend her flesh. She shook, as if the clash between the warmth of life essence and the cold of blood loss were a bitter war within the depths of her body. And still, more golden liquid spilled from my fangs. I held on tightly, wrapping my tail around her leg and gripping tightly with [Clinging Grasp].
Even so, my fangs were nearly ripped from her flesh before I was done.
A hand grabbed me and I finally let go, plucked from my perch and lifted into the air. With no reason to fight against it, I let the hand pull me.
“Skies Above, that feels so much better…” she muttered lightly, placing me onto her shoulder—much like the-female-who-was-not-Needle tended to do—and patting me awkwardly. “Good snake?”
I accepted the pat graciously, understanding her slight [discomfort] with the situation. She must have struggled with feeling worthy of my help after allowing herself to be injured by Tiamat’s horrid creations. Still, Needle rebounded from her sense of failure admirably, and she focused on the battle raging at the edge of the alcove.
Her hand trembled lightly as it blindly searched for the needle-spitter that had fallen to her side. I could taste the simmering edge of [anger] that hid behind the remnants of [pain]. Finally, she grabbed hold, pulling it up to lean against her uninjured leg. Then, with a grunt of exertion, Needle threw herself to her feet.
Breath hissed through her teeth as another wave of [pain] shot through her still-wounded leg. She staggered and, looking down, I could see growing spots of red where the remnants of her wounds had ripped themselves open. I bit down on the exposed flesh of her upper arm lightly, just barely breaking the skin, and sent a few more drops of life essence through the hollows of my fangs.
Needle stood a little straighter and her stance firmed.
Yet, through it all, the look in her eyes never changed. Even without my latest bit of help, I knew she would have had her revenge. I was proud to see that look in one of my Coreless’ eyes, and even prouder to confirm it through her [Little Guardian’s Totem].
Moments later, a torrent of needle-fangs flew through the air, the ore-flesh at their tips shining with mana-light. They darted through the openings in the battle, burying themselves into flesh with astounding accuracy despite Needle’s slightly trembling stance.
One needle-fang caught an outstretched limb that worked its way past Will’s guard, knocking it back with overwhelming force before it could pierce through his side. Another, shining with even more mana-light than the rest, shot straight through one of the bad-things’ feet and pierced the ground itself. The disgusting thing jerked, trying desperately to free its trapped limb, and lost its head in the midst of its distraction.
As if that was the only thing holding my Coreless back from victory, the tide of battle turned.
A few of the flying bad-things still buzzed about, attempting to harry them from above, but their fangs had been removed by the death of the majority of their brethren. Their forelimbs were still sharp, easily able to cut through flesh, only they were not nearly strong enough to cut through the glowing skins of ore-flesh my Coreless draped over themselves. Which left exposed flesh as their only viable place to attack.
They swooped down, focusing on the visible flesh of the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s arms.
That was a mistake.
She’d always been the fastest of my Coreless, and now, with the life essence provided by [Life—Invigorating Bite] still running through her veins, she was faster. Her arms seemed to blur in my vision as she picked off the diving bad-things with swift sweeps of her fangs. The overwhelmingly sharp ore-flesh sliced through carapace just as easily as it sliced through air. Here and there, a bad-thing got through, causing her to flinch back. Even as fast as she was, there were limits. I tasted [pain].
But [Life—Invigorating Bite] wasn’t just speed and strength, just as it wasn’t only healing as I’d originally wished it to be. It was all of them—reduced in power, maybe, but still effective given enough life essence.
And I’d given her more than enough in the moments when the flying bad-things first attacked.
Her newest wounds slowly closed over.
The last of the flying bad-things died, cut into pieces and crushed underfoot. Carapace crunched in a delightfully satisfying manner. I almost imagined that even Tiamat could hear it, somewhere deep within the depths of the World Dungeon.
That she would know her failure.
I taunted her, sending a thought-hiss of mocking {DERISION} through the wall-cracks of my mind-nest. The walls of my mind-nest almost shuddered in response, and I could imagine clouds of stone-dust drifting through the air, unsettled by the force of the would-be usurper’s rage. Still, I had faith in the Great Core. Faith that she could never overcome.
I sent her another flash of {DERISION}, hissing with delight when the walls of my mind-nest shuddered once more.
She knew of her failure now, that much was sure.
My attention turned back to the world outside, where the last of Tiamat’s creations battled my Coreless. Fortunately, the size of the opening to the resting place my Coreless had chosen was working against Tiamat’s creations. While it wasn’t narrow to the extent I personally would have preferred, the space was restricted enough that the bad-things couldn’t move wherever they wished. With the flying bad-things taken care of at last, the danger had significantly reduced.
