Chương 19: Stingtail Nettle Tea

I ran toward the noise, heedless of any danger. Once or twice, I set off one of Pip's traps, narrowly missing one snapping shut and breaking my ankle as the metal jaws clapped together with a harsh crack, spraying mud across my boots. Pip complained behind me, but he was keeping pace. In some reeds, I saw Madam Moolisa flailing around, her bell sounding off like a foghorn, stamping her hooves up and down at an unseen enemy. I drew my knife and ran forward.

Before I could get there, I saw, just for a moment, a tail and a stinger disappear under murky water. Madam Moolisa noticed me, gave a soft moo, and then collapsed. I ran to her side. She was a white cow with brown spots, but still, it seemed as if the color drained from her. Her legs folded beneath her, the mud sucking at her hooves. She looked up at me with big, pleading brown eyes, asking me to stop the pain. That hurt me more than if I had been stung myself.

"Move," Pip said, shoving me aside.

"I have basic level triage." I stepped aside. Vaelith appeared next to me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Why did she follow us?" Vaelith wouldn't meet my eye. I turned, stepped in front of her, and forced her to.

"Why?" I growled.

"... Madam Moolisa is one of my subjects. I heard her deepest thoughts. She wished to come with us on our journey, and so I gave her a little… nudge."

"You heard her? Gave her a nudge? What are you talking about?"

"The deeper someone's devotion to me, the deeper the connection my class allows. One of my abilities is suggestion; I can suggest a course of action."

"You mean force," I replied. She shook her head.

"Nothing that powerful—the subject needs to want it. I can help bring down barriers."

"And why is Madam Moolisa a subject? She's just a cow." Vaelith eyed me curiously.

"Animals can feel devotion, love, and connection as well as any human, or others, for that matter. Madam Moolisa is a fine animal. Worthy of praise."

"And yet now she is going to die. Because of you!" Vaelith waved me off.

"She's not going to die—""Actually," Pip replied, "that seems likely. I have bandaged the sting, but the venom has already made its way in. Perhaps a younger animal could survive, but from the looks of her, your Madam Moolisa's best days are behind her. There is a real chance she doesn't survive this."

"And there is nothing you can do?" I asked. Pip shook his head.

"I've done what I can." I spun, unable to conceal my anger.

"You see what you've done—" Vaelith was kneeling near Moolisa, stroking the tufts of the cow's hair. Her fingers moved gently through the coarse brown-and-white fur, careful around the trembling muscle beneath.

"It'll be alright," she said. Suddenly, Madam Moolisa's breathing calmed. The labored, heavy feeling became constant and steady. Fear drained from her eyes. Even the frantic twitching of her ears slowed. I smiled.

"Vaelith, what did you do—" The demon-princess suddenly fell over, clutching at her chest. Pip fell beside her.

"Were you injured?" he asked, concerned. Why was the man concerned at all about our well-being? I put the thought aside—best to think about that later. Pip went to unbuckle Vaelith's shirt when she pushed him back.

"I'm not injured, pervert," she said.

"It's… one of my abilities. I can split the pain of one of my subjects. Share my life with them." Pip scratched his chin.

"That is interesting. Will it heal both of you?" Vaelith looked pained. Sweat had broken across her brow, catching faintly in the waning light.

"We'll either beat it together… or fail together." I stood, turned, and scanned the area. The reeds shifted in the night breeze. The marsh water rippled in small, dark rings. Somewhere nearby, something clicked beneath the surface. Yet I saw no sign of a stingtail.

"What are you doing?" Pip asked. I could think of only one way to save them both. I had to make some tea.

"Hunting," I said.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. Pip had stayed behind in case their condition worsened. As always, Darwin was beside me. He trembled slightly, his small body pressed close to my shoulder.

"Danger, master," he warned. I didn't reply. The danger of a place named the Venom Reeds was obvious enough. So far, I'd managed to stay relatively dry, but that was about to change. The marsh swallowed sound in strange ways. My boots sank into the mud with every step, and each pull free made a soft, wet sucking noise. Bugs whined around my face. The air was thick and sour, and full of the smell of stagnant water. There, almost hidden in a bushel of reeds, I saw the sharp point of a stingtail's tail.

I could try to blindside it—jump into the water and jam my knife down. But, as it so happened, I found one of Pip's traps conveniently nearby. I picked up a rock and threw it. It splashed near the tail, which immediately went under the water. For a moment, I thought I had scared it off, until I saw movement coming closer and closer. Slowly, the body of the stingtail rose from the water. First its tail appeared, then its claws… then those beady red eyes. It had a dark blue body with red spots.

Muddy water spilled off its shell in slick sheets as it climbed up from the marsh. It snapped its claws irritably at me and chittered. It was a bit bigger than the one I'd seen before that had been killed and eaten by dire-rabbits, up to my knees in height and just as wide. Darwin tongue-lashed a nearby reed, flying over to it and landing on top to stay out of the way. I held my knife out. The stingtail walked forward, snapping as it did, but before long, one of its legs hit the trap. Snap!

With a crunch, the stingtail's leg was snapped clean off, sending a stream of blue blood pouring out. That wasn't exactly what I had in mind. The creature, now more pissed than ever, raised its tail threateningly, forcing me back until my back touched a pile of reeds. I could feel the needle-like bristles poking me. The barbed plumes brushed my neck and shoulders, wet and sharp, and something on them made my skin prickle. Losing a leg proved not to be much of a problem for the monster. I couldn't move back anymore.

I'd have to dodge the claws, the stinger, and somehow manage to find a place to stab through its carapace. Just then, Darwin's tongue hit the side of the monster, and he landed on top of its head. The monster thrashed wildly, turning around as it did to try to find the unknown threat. Darwin bit down on the stingtail's head, and I could see that somehow he managed to make it through the hard carapace. The monster turned its back to me, and I knew it was time.

I leaped on top, pushing the tail down with my body weight. It thrashed again, trying to free the tail, but I kept it pinned. With my other hand, I slammed the knife into the back of the monster's neck. My first blow glanced. My second punctured. My third penetrated completely. I kept stabbing in the same spot, ignoring the rank smell and hot blood. Blue liquid slicked my hand and ran between my fingers, and I almost lost my grip on the knife.

The creature bucked beneath me, claws scraping at the mud, tail straining under my weight. Eventually, the monster slowed, then stopped, all life drained from it. The tail lay limp, and the claws stopped their incessant snapping.

"Do good?" Darwin asked.

"Did good," I replied. I needed the sac, and that was all. Hurriedly, I cut into the bulb at the end of the tail. Somehow, it smelled even worse, like something rotting and sharp. Pungent. The scent hit the back of my throat and made my eyes water. I tried my best to ignore it as I carved the membrane around the sac and popped it out. I didn't even bother to store it properly as I simply put it in my pocket. I felt something strange happen, as if the system had activated, but I received no notification.

I left the stingtail body and ran back to where I'd left them. It took around thirty minutes, and when I got there, I was left with a heart-wrenching sight. There were two or three dead goblins; Pip was missing, and Vaelith and Madam Moolisa looked worse for wear. The mud around them was torn up with footprints and drag marks. One goblin lay half in the reeds, its right ear missing, while another had fallen face-first near the edge of the water.

"Vaelith," I called as I dropped to my knees next to her. No use. She was completely out of it. Pip's sack was nearby, and I reached inside, pulling out a waterskin. Luckily, Lina had packed a simple clay cup and the ingredients for the tea, suspecting I'd try it myself first. I got to work. I still didn't know the full effects of the tea, but it said it was used after venom or poison exposure.

System Stingtail Nettle Tea Rarity: Common Type: Monster Core Ingredient: Stingtail Venom Sac Ingredients: Frostmint Leaves, Venom Reed, Honeycap Nectar In Pip's bag, he had a simple metal pot. Lina had provided me with bundled wood and that powder that easily set it alight. I started a fire and set the pot on top. The little flame struggled at first in the damp marsh air, then caught, licking blue-orange against the bottom of the pot. I added fresh water from the waterskin.

Water from the marsh would likely make it worse, if not kill them outright. When the water was boiling, I added the frostmint leaves, grabbed a conveniently placed venom reed, and a dab of honeycap nectar. I had nothing to mix it with, so I just twirled it around. Steam rose from the pot, carrying a bitter herbal smell that slowly softened beneath the sweetness of the nectar. Next, it called for me to add it to the cup, and then drop in the sac. I reached into my pocket… Huh?

When I pulled my hand out, I had two sacs. Not one.

"Lucky," Darwin said.

"Lucky…" I replied.

"LCK. My Luck stat. I think… I think I can find extra ingredients." I pushed that aside as I dropped the sac into the cup. It dissolved instantly; a faint magical light rose from the cup, and then a nice steam began to rise. It smelled minty and fresh, almost like a fake fragrance. Immediately, my own mouth felt dry, and I longed to taste it… but I resisted. I decided that I should help Vaelith first, and so I tipped her head up, parted her lips, and poured the liquid down.

She did not wake as I did, and tea dribbled down the side of her mouth. I leaned her head back down and waited. Not a minute later, her eyes popped open, her hand went for her axe, and she swung, only stopping a mere breath from my neck.

"... Rook?" she said as recognition played in her eyes. Slowly, I moved away.

"Can you put the axe down?" I asked. She dropped it as she put her hands to her head.

"No, no, no, I passed out."

"What happened?" I asked. She looked at me, her yellow eyes hard-set.

"Goblins… they captured Pip."