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.

I felt a hand reach out to grab me when I finally let go, plucking me from my perch and lifting me 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 her eyes quickly focused on the battle that still raged on at the edge of the alcove.

Her hand trembled lightly as it blindly searched for the needle-spitter that had fallen to her side, but 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 lightly, and, looking down, I could see growing spots of red where the remnants of her wounds had ripped themselves open anew. 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 had worked its way past Will’s guard, knocking it back with overwhelming force in the brief moment 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 quickly 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, but they were not nearly strong enough to cut through the glowing skins of ore-flesh that my Coreless draped over themselves - leaving exposed flesh as their only viable place to attack.

They swooped down from above, focusing on the visible flesh of the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s arms.

That was a mistake.

She had 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 slicing 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 had originally wished it to be. It was all of them - reduced in power, maybe, but still effective given enough life essence.

And I had given her more than enough, in the moments when the flying bad-things first attacked.

Her newest wounds slowly closed again.

The last of the flying bad-things died, cut into pieces and crushed underfoot. Carapace crunched in a delightfully satisfying manner, and 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 seemed to shudder 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} again, 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 towards the world outside, where the last of Tiamat’s creations fought against 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 that 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 reduced significantly.

Will still held the brunt of the enemies’ attention. The many-limbed bad-things swiped and stabbed with abandon, furiously attempting to get around his guard. Limb after bone-tipped limb smashed into his ore-flesh, sending clanging sounds echoing across the cavern. Every so often, he would be forced to give ground, shuffling his feet backward and disturbing the layer of ash that coated the stone below him.

Despite that, he gave as good as he got. The bad-things did not have the defenses that he did; they were not covered in ore-flesh, nor scales, nor carapace - nothing but squishy, disgusting flesh.

He punished them for it.

With the ashen remains of most of the flying bad-things underneath them, their footing was destabilized - another reason to give thanks to the Great Core for its foresight in my creation. I did not have the ungainly weakness of feet and legs like Tiamat’s horrible creations did. I was better.

I willfully ignored that my own Coreless had feet and legs as well. The Great Core was merciful in allowing them to serve it, but I was sure that they would not suffer from such poor designs if the Great Core had been the one to create the Coreless. It was a shame, but they would have to live knowing that they would always have legs. I couldn’t change that.

Yet?

I put the thought aside for now. It wasn’t worth worrying about at the moment.

Needle shouted something; she had been doing it every time that she spit a needle-fang close to the other Coreless, so I knew what was coming.

“Right shoulder!”

I tasted Will’s [understanding], and watched as he let his shoulder droop slightly. A moment later, a needle-fang whistled through the air. It shot over his dropped shoulder, burying itself in the bad-thing that was before him.

The force of the needle-fang pushed at the enemy midstep; it slipped and slid, unbalanced, as the blow combined with the poor footing caused by the ashen coating below sent it toppling backwards.

As the disgusting bad-thing met its end, lying helpless on the ground, I couldn’t help but be grateful for my lack of legs.

What if I had been made with legs?

I almost shuddered at the thought, revolted.