The light of [Mana Fire] twisted and contorted, casting shadows across the dimly lit area that I could only see in the few brief moments that Will’s wall of ore-flesh shifted to the side. Acidic spittle sizzled against the stone floor below, each pop and sputter of the dangerous liquid forcing the Coreless that I clung on to flinch in remembered agony.

“The pillars! Get behind the pillars!” The Unrepentant One cried out.

My Coreless moved in a clumped mass, angling their bodies so that they could each stay behind the protection of Will’s wall of ore-flesh. Meanwhile, I took the chance that I’d been given, pulling myself up and around my carrier-Coreless until my body was fully protected from the acid by his own. Surprisingly, [Constriction] helped in that, allowing my scale-flesh to cling easier than I might have with [Clinging Grasp] alone.

With the light of their ore-flesh to guide the way, my Coreless pushed out of the more open sections of the nest’s entrance, hiding themselves behind a thick pillar. While it wasn’t large enough to cover all of the Coreless at once, its bulk helped Will to better defend the others.

“Kala, do you think you could take that thing out with an arrow or two?” Will asked, angling his wall of ore-flesh slightly to let the newest glob of acid spray away from the other Coreless. “I’m worried that my shield might start getting damaged if this goes on too much longer. It can take hits, but I’m not sure about how long it can stand up to acid this strong.” His [Little Guardian’s Totem] was thick with [concern], but hadn’t pushed into [fear] yet.

I hissed in approval just as another glob of acidic spittle splashed nearby, dashing itself against the pillar of stone that we had hidden ourselves behind. On the other side, the stone began to hiss and sizzle.

“I can try,” Needle said in response, one hand reaching towards her needle-spitter and the other towards the set of needle-fangs that she carried. She held the needle-spitter at her side, needle-fang pressed against its thread, and waited patiently, head cocked.

There was another splash of acid, and she swerved around the pillar’s edge. Her needle-spitter rose up. Her needle-fang pulled back. It flew forward with a sharp twang. There was a clatter of ore-flesh.

Needle ducked back behind the pillar as another glob of acid came rushing towards her, [annoyance] and [anger] rising in our connection.

“Why is it able to duck? It’s a plant! In a pot!” Whatever she was saying, she seemed to feel it very strongly; Needle’s face was turning a little red.

“Shoot the pot, I guess?” the-female-who-was-not-Needle responded, and Needle sighed.

“I don’t think that’s actually going to hurt it, but I can try. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it’ll fall over.”

She waited one more time, waiting for another round of acid to splatter itself against our defenses, and then stepped past the pillar again. A needle-fang whistled through the air, followed a moment later by the sound of shattering stone. Needle paused for a moment, staring carefully.

Just when I thought that she might have succeeded, her eyes widened and she threw herself back behind the pillar.

Whatever Needle had done, the bad-thing must have taken offense. The globs of acid came quicker than ever, smashing themselves into the pillar and Will’s wall of ore-flesh with abandon. The sizzling of the pillar grew louder.

“Nope! Now it’s just mad.”

“Well, yeah. That was probably its favorite pot,” the guide Coreless said. The others stared back at him, slightly [incredulous]. “What? We’re hiding from a jumped up house plant. You have to think it’s a little funny.”

“It’s really not, Rowan,” Needle said.

He shrugged in answer. “A little. Minus the horrible, horrible acid, of course. I could really do without that part. It was not fun.”

I hissed, flicking my tongue out to catch the scent-taste of the air. There was a light smell of soil, hidden beneath the sharp scent-taste of the bad-thing’s acid, along with a floral aroma that I realized belonged to the bad-thing itself. It only came from the direction of the acid-spitting bad-thing, making me hopeful that there weren’t any other bad-things hiding themselves within the darkness.

My tail curled inwards, moving towards my mouth, and I clamped down. Then, after making sure that I was at full health, I sent a stream of life essence through the hollows of my fangs.

The tiny wound flooded with golden liquid, immediately sealing over as I pulled my fangs free. The rest of the life essence, with no wounds or fatigue to heal, went towards other things. My scale-flesh started to tingle, becoming unbearably itchy in my sheer need to move, to slither about and do something. My heart drummed in my ears, heavy and forceful. I twitched.

If this is what the Coreless felt when I used [Life - Invigorating Bite] in higher amounts, I understood why they were so willing to let me bite them. It was heady. I felt powerful. Strong.

It wouldn’t last long.

I peeled myself from the safety of the Coreless’ ore-flesh, stretching my length towards the pillar beside us. The stone, carved with depictions of fake-leaves and plant-flesh, was rough on my scale flesh; easy to grip, and even easier to climb.

“What’s he doing?” one of the Coreless asked, their words wrought with [confusion]. I kept climbing, ignoring the hands that reached for me. Between my life essence-enhanced scale-flesh and the fast-spot provided by my mana-lit ore-flesh, I moved quicker than ever before.

Soon enough, the floor was far below me, leaving only the glow of my own ore-flesh to light my way. I broke through the darkness at the nest’s upper levels, holding fast to the sides of the pillar with alternating amounts of [Constriction] and [Clinging Grasp]. The carvings that adorned the face of the pillar changed as I ascended; one moment they were darkwood trees and fake-leaves, the next they were vines and twisted ivy, only to become fields of grains and fruits slithers later.

The scenes melded together in a display of skill that nearly made me salivate, yet at the same time enraged me. I could imagine a many-nest made new, filled with carved imagery of the Great Core and its wonders; in the end, it was only imagination, the carvings fashioned into much lesser things. I was forced to look at wasted potential, touching my scale-flesh against it regretfully.

Finally, I reached the peak of the pillar, finding the place where it met with the ceiling above. Already, I was beginning to feel the effects of [Life - Invigorating Bite] fade, each wasted moment causing my scale-flesh to slow just a tiny bit more.

I twisted myself around, head-scales facing downward, and reached out towards the ceiling carefully. Part of me worried that this would fail. I silenced it, letting go of the pillar, allowing my scale-flesh to release its hold.

The fall never came, [Clinging Grasp] enough to keep me steady.

I moved, slithering along the ceiling, each new stroke of my tail another chance for [Clinging Grasp] to fail. Before it did, I reached the next pillar. I clung to it - and then I moved on again, a tiny light on the ceiling’s surface.

Finally, after more pillars than I cared to count and more near-falls than I wished to remember, I reached the back wall of the room. The plant-flesh bad-thing was below me, a darkwood rod covered in flickering [Mana Fire] on the floor in front of it.

The Lesser Core’s creation rested on a mound of soil and shattered stone, furiously spitting its acid at my hiding Coreless, their mana-lit ore-flesh like targets in the darkness. Even from where I watched, I could hear the sizzling that it caused, and I could just barely make out the pits and divots from the places where globules splattered. Needle-fangs occasionally shot out when the volley of acid stalled, trying to pierce the bad-thing’s plant-flesh. Nearly all were met with giant globs of acid; the rest were dodged with surprising grace, the bad-thing’s lack of bones allowing it to easily bend out of their flight path.

I slithered down the wall in a winding trail of mana-light, stifling an anticipatory hiss as I went. There was a combination of [confusion] and [realization] from a few of my Coreless, and the needle-fangs stopped.

Still above and behind the bad-thing, my scale-flesh bunched together. I leapt.

My coiled scale-flesh ripped free from the wall’s surface, sending me flying towards the bad-thing. My jaws filled with the heat of [Mana Fire], the brilliant flames ready to burst forth. The bad-thing turned.

It spit, the glob of acid that shot from its maw larger than any that had come before. The sizzling liquid flew on a path to meet me. With my reflexes and perception still enhanced by the remaining life essence running through my scale-flesh, I had more than enough time to react.

I pulled on something within me; [Traveler] activated, removing the effect of my personal fast-spot, immediately cutting my speed in half mid leap.

The bad-thing’s acid missed.

I didn’t.

The scattered soil cushioned my fall. The [Mana Fire] warmed my scales. The thought-light’s notice of my victory was more welcome than either of those.

Experience Gained!

Level Up!

1 Trait Point Gained.