Chapter Four

The chase didn’t last for long. Though the cave I was in now was big enough I couldn’t estimate the size, the bat had attacked us from a ledge on the wall not very far from the tunnel I’d entered in. It would’ve been over sooner if the distress coming from my living [Blightling] and my own panic didn’t make holding my form steady that much more difficult. More than once I’d found myself spilling across the rocky floor when my concentration slipped.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!! I cursed myself as a spark of panic from the link made me splatter painfully on the rocks below the bat’s ledge. The bat itself wasn’t visible from the ground, hidden by the rocky outcropping some 20-30 meters above. I’d tried to scramble up the rough surface several times now but each ended in failure. My puddle body was just too runny, and condensing enough to scale the wall made movement painfully slow while any distraction liquified me. How do I get up there?!

Glancing around me revealed nothing but rocks, mushrooms and some bugs crawling over some mostly-rotten rat parts- likely refuse from the bat monster above. A spark of inspiration hit me and I dived at the bat’s accumulated waste, swallowing it bugs and all. Should still be close, come on 100 biomass give me something good!

Grinding the pulpy meat more rapidly than ever, I felt myself grow bit by bit. 99… 100! … And nothing happened. But… I was so sure… damn it!! I raged and clawed at the rock wall in desperation to no effect. My despairing screams were trapped in my head since my body had nothing to give myself voice. That’s when I found the solution.

A bug that I’d missed in my brief feeding frenzy was scurrying up the wall to get away from me. Bugs climb walls! How do bugs climb walls? I frantically searched my memory while I tried to mimic bug legs with my puddle. At first the results were… less than stellar. Transforming myself from ‘evil puddle’ to ‘noodly bug-legged blob’ only meant instead of splashing against the wall I was now slapping it ineffectually with several pseudo-leg tendrils. Even when I managed to harden the clawed ends and grip the wall, I couldn’t get enough cohesion to support my weight without painfully tearing them off.

Think! I knew I was big and fairly heavy now, going with six legs wasn’t going to cut it. What I needed was surface area and as many grippy legs as I could mentally hold on to. Bug with lots of legs… Centipede! Then the weirdest thing happened.

Where before my transformation had been vague and limited, taking extreme concentration to hold onto, it suddenly felt… smooth. Instead of aimless wriggling it had direction and purpose. Apparently that made all the difference.

Requirements met.

New sub-trait unlocked.

Sub-Trait: [Mortal Shell]

Spend Biomass to form a hardened shell around yourself in the shape of a previously devoured creature. Greatly reduced mental strain to adjust/maintain physical shape. Cost dependent on complexity and size, can be modified.

A dormant piece of your twisted soul belonging to the [Larval Abyssal Worm] has been awakened! What once allowed the worm to cloak its presence in your soul now allows you to create a (very) loose facsimile of your own victims.

I didn’t like that bit about the ‘twisted soul’ but for now I didn’t have time. My body quickly elongated with a wet sound like boiling mud, ridges forming and dozens of legs spearing out of my new sides. In just a few moments I looked like a kindergartener had tried to make a meter-long centipede out of clay and then dropped it in a vat of used engine oil. ‘Very’ loose facsimile indeed, but it’ll do. Inside the shell instead of organs was the remaining liquid of my previous form, though with the compression from the shell it didn’t slosh around as much as I’d have expected.

The new ‘shell’ completely eliminated my previous trouble with climbing and I raced up the cave wall beneath the ledge. As I approached the sounds of the bat feeding became disturbingly audible, with every crunch of bone and rip of flesh sending jolts of urgency through my mind. Caution warred with rage as memories of the creature’s shrieking having reduced me to liquid forced me to pause just out of sight.

Risking it, I peeked one of the false ‘antenna’ of my new body over the edge to look. The bat-thing was facing away from me- focused on its meal- and I got my first good look at it. Picture a mutant bat big as a medium sized dog with huge wings attached to equally oversized forelimbs, it had adopted a hunched posture to feed. The rat we’d fought was already eaten, and it felt like a punch in the gut to realize he had just eaten half of poor #2. I’m so sorry buddy, I didn’t even give you a real name.

Distress and a guilt-inducing spasm of hope came through the link from Skritter when I found him pinned playing dead under one of the bat’s forelegs. Unfortunately he also let out an excited squeak that ruined his disguise as ‘dead’. The bat’s head snapped towards him and it hissed around a mouthful of #2 before lifting its other clawed arm to finish him.

Out of time! I gathered up my body and launched myself at the beast’s back. Halfway through the air towards it I saw the bat’s ears twitch and it abruptly leapt aside, making me miss completely. Damn it, of course it has super hearing! My brief rage at the unfairness of life ended as the bat screeched and stunned me again. It didn’t force me into liquid this time, but I still couldn’t move as the bat pounced on my back and pinned me with all four of its limbs. Then it bit my head off.

This was...much less fatal than I’d have thought it would be. While I still felt the uncomfortable muscle-pulling sensation from when part of me was separated, I didn’t think it had actually done any damage by trying to eat my ‘head’. Better yet, I could still feel the part of me it was trying to swallow right now and immediately came up with a new plan.

You screwed up now bat-freak. You just got in melee range of an attack blender! This one’s for #2!!

Abandoning [Mortal Shell] took less than a second as I reverted to my original form and completely gave in to the [Blight Pit]’s murderous hunger. Dozens and then hundreds of needle-sharp tendrils formed as my body completely enveloped the bat’s head and chest before lancing into its skin. The bat tried to let out it’s disrupting screech again but only managed a wet, choking gurgle as the ‘centipede head’ it had swallowed turned into an omnidirectional buzzsaw going down.

The fight after that didn’t last ten seconds. Tendrils rapidly burrowed through eyes and ears into the feebly struggling bat’s brain before ripping it apart, killing it instantly. I didn't- couldn't- stop there though. Rage, guilt, frustration… All got taken out over the next few minutes as I tore the bat to pieces. But it didn't get better.

I wanted to cry. To vent. To be panting and out of breath from this outburst and get some relief. But I didn't have lungs, tear ducts or even eyes. Hell, my brain chemistry didn't even exist in this body except as a pass through from my 'awakened' soul.

Eventually I settled into my puddle form on the ledge with the remains of the bat strewn around me, too despondent to even let myself eat. What brought me out of it again, was Skritter.

The poor little guy had limped over to me bleeding and with two of his six legs broken, dragging several pieces of #2 slowly behind him. Fix? Friend? He looked at me with so much hope in his horrible little milky eyes it broke my heart.

No buddy, I'm sorry. I can't fix that.

He looked at what was left of #2 and I felt his brief sadness come through the link. He then put the remains of #2 aside and started bringing chunks of bat over to me. Grow, more? Protect! His sudden determination was shockingly nuanced for such a simple statement. He wanted to get stronger, for us to make new friends (literally in our case) and be able to protect them, all backed up by an unshakeable belief that I would get it done.

It was… humbling, after my near failure with the bat for the little guy to still have so much faith in me. So I sent him a positive over the link that had him attempt to do another hopping dance, only to stumble over his broken limbs. Let’s get you fixed up first though ok?

My tendrils gathered a few pounds of bat meat into a pile before picking up Skritter and gently depositing him next to it. The hope was that absorbing new biomass would heal him the same way it did for me, and for once things went way better than expected. Though it did take a minute to convince him that I wasn’t going to eat until he’d finished the pile, to his dismay.

He’d eaten over half the pile (and several times his body weight) with gusto when I noticed his skin start to secrete an oil that looked like my puddle. He kept wolfing down the meat and in a few moments was completely obscured by the growing mass. After the pile was gone he settled down into a bubble much the same as when I’d first summoned him.

The bubble tripled in size over the next couple minutes before popping with the same wet squelch as before, and I got my first look at the new and improved [Blightling]. It had kept the same overall aesthetic, although the chitinous plates on its limbs had extended around and covered the back and sides. His body had elongated, becoming more like a ferret in general shape, and his middle pair of legs had shifted much closer to the front pair while trading the dextrous paws for a set of serrated claws like a mantis.

Skritter’s head kept in theme with the new changes -becoming longer and more predatory- with the notable addition of two oversize ears and a more batlike nose, courtesy of his latest meal no doubt. Overall his appearance had gone from ‘pretty’ intimidating to super intimidating, and the window that popped up shortly after confirmed it.

Attention.

Minon [Blightling] has evolved to a new type.

Type: [Blightling Hunter]

Evolved form specialized for hunting prey. Sacrifices some mobility/utility for greatly increased lethality. Can be summoned directly for increased cost if requirements met.

Fueled by a desire to protect its burgeoning family, this [Blightling] has evolved into a creature far more suited to direct combat. Ware to any that would threaten them while he still breathes!

I reached out to him through the link and his response was much clearer, like his intelligence had also received a boost from his evolution. We grow. I protect. I KILL. He hissed over the ledge looking out into the cavern and I felt my confidence soar.

Hell yeah you will! Now let's get you some backup.

His agreement rumbled through the link and we set about gathering up the scattered biomass on the ledge. I noticed right away what the screen meant about sacrificing utility, the big claws his second pair of legs had turned into got in the way of trying to carry or drag things. He solved this by holding the claws above his head, but I could tell it was uncomfortable and he wouldn’t be able to hold it long.

Resolving to get him some help as soon as possible, I started digesting the growing meat pile and summoning new [Blightlings] to help. There was a lot of biomass available on the ledge with the bat dead, although we carefully avoided anything from #2 I still wound up with just over 300 and 5 new [Blightlings] before I reached my control limit (still no idea how that worked). Trying to summon another [Blightling Hunter] directly proved futile at any point during the process, so I’d have to rely on them evolving the way Skritter did.

Speaking of Skritter, he immediately took to the new [Blightlings] with enthusiasm, though he seemed a bit more reserved and protective than with #2. That reminded me of my earlier regret, and I resolved to give them names right away.

Calling them over from exploring the ledge I had them line up in front of me while I studied them to come up with suitable names. Eventually I decided on: Itchy, who’d gotten some of the bat’s prickly fur stuck in his chitin and kept trying to scratch it off. Spook, who’d gotten a nervous disposition and repeatedly jumped at any noise his brethren made. Gnaw, for picking a favourite bone and kept gnawing on it while he waited. Theo, after my childhood best friend. Much like my old friend had for me, he'd only been here for a few minutes and already decided his siblings were going to be his best friends (whether they liked it or not). And lastly- Pollo, named for my old (and slightly snooty) dog after watching the new [Blightling] turn up his nose at Theo’s antics.

Naming complete I sent them each more positive feeling through the link which kicked up a small celebration. Skritter didn't join in this time but elected to keep a watchful eye on the surrounding cave while the minions (even Pollo ditched the aloof bearing) scampered about happily.

I finally took a minute to inspect the ledge we were on. It was much longer than it was deep, following the wall of the cave for about 15 meters before tapering off. The deepest point was only about three meters in- where the bat had made a crude nest in a small inlet bracketed by a few stone columns and smaller stalactites. A small pool of water collected at the mouth of the inlet with overflow trickling down off the ledge. As a first ‘base’ goes, it was perfect.

Large cavern, water, defensible position, obviously enough wildlife to sustain predators, the list of desirable features went on. Looking out over the ledge through Skritter’s senses revealed a dense forest of stalactites and stalagmites stretching into the distance, the cave’s ceiling rising and falling unevenly while small streams of water ran across the floor. His ears twitched and oriented at a myriad of small sounds; tracking bugs, mice, a few more bats and a number of others we couldn’t identify.

Alright guys. I turned to my attention back to my minions. We’ve got a lot to do, but for now? This is home. Let’s get started!