As funny as it had been pretending to not understand what the-female-who-was-not-Needle wanted from me, it might have been even more entertaining to witness what happened once I actually did what she wanted.

A stream of [Mana Fire] burst from my jaws, setting the pile alight, and I suddenly found myself whirling through the air as the female Coreless burst into a series of jumps and overenthusiastic laughter, absolutely radiating [excitement] and [pride].

It took a surprisingly long time for her to settle down again; by the time that she did, I had begun to push past amusement and into dizziness instead. Fortunately, she put me down and the world slowly stopped spinning.

It was a dangerous thing, spinning at such high speeds. I’d have to remember that.

“Fire! Ha! I told you that it would work!” she said, one hand on her hip while the other pointed at each of the other Coreless in turn. “And you all doubted. You don’t deserve this fire.”

“Really, Valera? Because we could have just -” Will tried to say, but was quickly interrupted by the-female-who-was-not-Needle, her hand raised in the air and palm aimed towards him.

“Nope! You guys can go make your own, boring, normal fire with the flint and steel you love so much. Meanwhile, those of us who had a little faith can sit here and enjoy this much better one. Oh, looks like that’s just me and the little cutie. Too bad for you.” She plopped down next to the roaring blue flames, lifting me up with her free hand and putting me on back on her shoulder. I drooped a little, my scale-flesh relaxing under the warmth of the [Mana Fire]. I hadn’t done much slithering of my own during the day, content to let my Coreless carry me, but it had still been a long day. I was feeling sleepy, and the fire was only making the sensation stronger.

With [amusement] still flowing through their [Little Guardian’s Totem] links, the other Coreless steadily scooted closer, ignoring the noises that the-female-who-was-not-Needle was making all the while. Soon enough, everyone had taken positions near the fire, seeking the warmth that it provided.

“You four don’t deserve our fire,” the-female-who-was-not-Needle proclaimed in a mangled hiss.

They didn’t bother to respond, acting as if they hadn’t noticed her hissing and warming their hands by the fire. She hissed a few more times, casting furtive, almost wounded-looking glances towards the others. Still, I could sense that it was all for show, and the other Coreless probably could too. There was no [hurt] flashing through her [Little Guardian’s Totem], just a mix of [enjoyment], [amusement], and other various positive emotions.

I was thankful that my Coreless - minus The Unrepentant One - were all wearing their Totems properly. If they hadn’t been, the strange use of facial expressions that were opposite from what was really being felt that the Coreless sometimes adopted would have made me completely misunderstand the situation. I may have become a little better at interpreting the Coreless, even without constantly checking what I could find from their Totems, but it was difficult when they did things like that.

I was probably missing something here, but I was satisfied with the progress I had made recently. It would be much easier to convert Coreless once I was better able to understand them and how they thought.

If only they could learn how to properly hiss; things would be so much easier then.

I let out a little hiss of regret, adjusting my coils into a more comfortable position. Slowly, the quiet, mangled hisses of my Coreless and the warmth of the fire lulled me into a peaceful slumber.

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. Around me, I could see that the other Coreless were jolting 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 anyway.

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 each 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 with no chance to interpret them.

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 had been found.

I could hear the skittering of Tiamat’s minions somewhere outside of the alcove where we hid, closing in. Their limbs skittered and 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.

Like I had expected, I saw a few of the same minions that I had met before - the ones that I had received [Chains of the Creator] from. They were just as disgusting as before, their flesh sloughing off in places where it had rubbed against stone or simply grown too old. As I had always suspected, despite the power that 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 of 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 fell to the ground 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 had 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.

I heard a shout 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 spreading the fire even further. 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 flickers with each new flicker of the flames.

Experience Gained!

...

Experience Gained!

…

Experience Gained!

The thought-light filled 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 proclaimed loudly.