Chương 86: Demonic Meteor

Day 10 Soon after the others had returned, Ash and I wrapped up for the day. We'd made great progress, but there were parts we'd need to hunt out in the city. I'd gotten a 'Tinkering: Engineering' skill, which had already gone up all the way to level 8.

"Thanks, Eve," Ash said as he pulled the last tool back into his inventory.

"From here on, I should be good to go on my own. Just needed to see how it's done."

"I'll still help you. This work was great for organizing my thoughts. What's your skill at now?"

"Thirteen now. Or fifteen with the buff we got."

"Impressive."

"Can't turn into a living blender, but I can learn things fast." Liz and Stephen had just returned from the boat where they had stored some of their haul and were chatting with Jamie now. We went outside to join them.

"I'd like all of you to join me in hunting something down. I know there is a flying mythborn creature out there, somewhere south of Nemesis' jungle, and I want to eat its heart." I saw the questions on their faces and plowed on.

"But first, Jamie, can you join me on the boat for a moment? I need your input." Jamie gave me his endlessly reassuring smile.

"Sure." As we walked over to the boat, I turned once more to the others.

"Stay ready, it'll only be a minute." We settled down on the deck chairs once more. I didn't even know where to start with this.

"It's only been a day, but I'm already missing them," Jamie said. It took me a moment to understand who he was talking about—Helene and her boys.

"Hey, if this shape turns out to be something useful, you can tag along when I fly out to meet with them. I need to talk to Anthony anyway." Jamie grinned.

"You've come a long way from feeling embarrassed about this and denying this would ever become a thing."

"Shush. It's horrible, and I hate it, and once this van is fixed, I'm never, ever carrying anyone ever again."

"For sure. But that's not what you've come to talk to me about, is it?" I leaned back in the chair and looked up at the starkly blue sky. It'd been a while since we had a single drop of rain.

"No, I need to talk about my perk choices." Jamie also leaned back in his chair.

"Go on."

"So, one perk is out of the question. It perfectly counters all kinds of mental influences, like that jungle's aura, but it also cripples my critical thinking. The other allows me to make three Created, and probably pets too, stronger. Turn them into my champions."

"And the third?"

"Chimerization. I can create my own chimera shapes. I've already figured out that if I combined a gorilla with a honey badger, I could probably hunt any scout that dares to stay outside of their strongholds. And I really want to do that, too. They came into my home. They should have learned their lesson after they saw what I did to Mammon for burning ours down."

"But? You think it's a trap because of Jai?"

"Yes and no. I don't think this is what drove Jai over the edge. But maybe Jai felt a lot like I did when he decided to start on his path."

"I don't think you'll ever fall because you got a couple of extra shapes."

"It's the optimal choice. I'm sure. But it also feels wrong. That first night. I never told you what the final decision was that made me throw myself at that golem. I had reached level eight. And among those perk choices was the perfect one. Pack Leader. Buffs for the entire party. Heals, too. But I couldn't pick it. I was too afraid of becoming that. A leader. You know how I tried to prevent myself from becoming one."

"And you notably failed." I swung my feet down and faced Jamie, who was still staring up at the sky.

"Jamie. The orcs killed two of the hyenas. They ate one. They—" my voice gave out. Jamie knelt down next to me as I cried into his shoulder. It took me a while before I could speak again. Jamie didn't say anything either. He didn't need to. I felt his shared grief.

"I went to their station, and I completely lost control. They are all dead now. I'm not sure whether I would have returned to you if Lucy hadn't stopped me from crossing that last line." There was a plop as Lucy joined me on the chair, their back against mine.

"You make me sound so soft like that."

"You didn't cross the line. That's the important part," Jamie said, as he pulled back. It was getting a bit crowded.

"Hey, Lucy," he said. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Golden boy."

"I failed at preventing myself from becoming a leader. But I'm also doing a shit job at being one."

"So… is there any advice you need from me?" Jamie asked. If it hadn't been for the oath, I would have thought he was mocking me. But he was entirely sincere. I shook my head.

"No. I think I just needed to talk myself through it." It was time to admit that growing more claws was not the answer. I couldn't be everywhere at once. I opened my perk choices and picked Shared Blessing.

"Good choice, kitten," Lucy commented.

"Why are you invested in this choice?" Jamie asked them.

"Maybe, just maybe, I have a problem with anyone who'd bring someone into this world, willingly or not, and then not work at keeping them safe." Jamie and I both sat in stunned silence as Lucy vanished again. Rook. Had they orchestrated me bonding with them because of their own situation? Because the Adversary had dropped them into this world and then left them entirely on their own? Damn. Jamie pulled me out of my thoughts.

"So, are you going to fly off now to make use of that perk?"

"I don't think it's that urgent. I accidentally leveled some of the hyenas and the kobolds with them yesterday. And last night they already attacked the tower. This is a long-term solution. Something to make sure the defenses keep up."

"Got it. All good?" I nodded and stood up.

"All good. Let's go hunting." We were just crossing the gangway when I remembered another of Lucy's comments.

"Do you think you could seduce an elf? Xenophobic, proud, and loyal?"

"I definitely could. But why should I?"

"So I can turn her into my champion."

"That'd be a very fucked-up relationship, Eve." I ignored Jamie's complaints and went back to rejoin the others. # Heading back north obviously meant using the tunnels again. I couldn't wait for Ash to finish the repairs on that van. Flying was also an option, but I needed to see what exactly that owl's Bridge-Sense would allow me to do. Jamie had learned from the last trip with me as a bird and carried me on his bracer this time. At first, the Bridge-Sense was disorienting.

While we always took great care to follow Anthony's instructions precisely, I just hadn't been aware of how many locations any given path could take you. Now I could see all of them—in all their kaleidoscopic glory. But I could also see beyond them. Instead of crossing a threshold and suddenly being faced with an entirely new part of the world, I could see the other ends of any connection. And the lack of any ambush awaiting me.

I wanted to put the relative ease of this trip entirely on this new information, but it was more likely that the sensory overload prevented me from fully remembering that I was back in those accursed tunnels. That was until we reached our destination, and the subway station on the other side looked nothing like last time. It was nearly entirely overgrown.

"Stop," I said through Queen's Voice. My talons creaked against the bracer.

"What is it?" Jamie asked.

"The jungle. It has already grown over this exit."

"Oh shit," Ash whispered.

"It's growing fast."

"Anyone got any new stealth abilities?" I asked. In reply, I mostly got head shakes. Until Stephen seemed to remember something.

"I got a Cloaking Elixir in my care package," he said. I jumped off Jamie's arm and swapped into the demon scout shape.

"Keep that, we might need that later. I'll scout ahead." With Inevitable End in hand and Cloaking active, I skulked ahead. The moment I passed the threshold, everything changed. Usually those liminal spaces smelled like nothing and everything at once. Different destinations, same impossible absence of identity. This one wasn't. It was entirely conquered by the jungle. Thick roots had burrowed through the roof here, and vines had descended the stairs from the street above. At least it was only plant life.

And insects. A lot of insects. Though I doubted they worked for Nemesis. I continued up the stairs. The spot where we had entered the subway station just a day before was now barely recognizable. The street was torn open where the trees had cut through it. Up ahead, a bus had tilted into a building, and most other nearby structures were entirely hidden by greenery. And no enemies lay in ambush. No red dots on my minimap.

That was until I heard the flap of heavy wings behind me, and a red dot appeared, angling away from me. I couldn't see what it was, but I'd have vastly preferred if it had chosen to attack instead of running. I ran in the same direction it was moving, stored the dagger again, and activated Jaunt. A single jump off a car catapulted me through the canopy, while branches tore at my face. I was lucky to still wear the goggles. Up over the treetops, I spotted my target. A gargoyle. A simple lesser demon.

I had killed one of those the very first night. As a helpless impala, no less. Currently it was still gaining on me, but I didn't break physics to be outpaced by a winged rock. I used Breaking Newton's Laws to reduce my drag to an absolute minimum, activated Focused Fury, and dove back down, only to jump off the nearest branch that looked thick enough to hold against the force. This time I shot up much higher. After a moment of gliding, I adjusted my course and folded my wings close to my body.

The gargoyle hadn't even noticed I had gone up above it. It did notice when I hit it like a demonic meteor. Bones shattered as I slammed into it, and I held on tight as we tumbled through the canopy and into the forest below. A tree stopped both of us, and something in my left arm cracked on impact. Which hurt, but I'd definitely gotten the better end of the stick here. Beneath me the gargoyle tried to crawl away. Its wings were in tatters, and its health bar was halfway down. I decided against Inevitable End.

I remembered how the one I had impaled on my horns had bled. They weren't all that stony. I walked after it, stepped on a wing, pulled it up by its shoulder, and ripped out its throat. Then I swapped back into the owl shape, the Might of the Meek version, and activated Embodiment, just as the last of its health drained away. The kill itself only filled my mastery bar by about a tenth. But I had gotten the first kill and was about to secure another—the reason I went with the might version.

I proceeded to use my talons to dig through to its heart, then devoured it. The demonic transformation sucked—they always did. I returned to the others as a gargoyle. A gargoyle. Nemesis hadn't left a scout here waiting for Blessed to try to sneak into her territory. Just a single gargoyle. Summoned cannon fodder. I laughed. That assassination attempt might have cost Nemesis more than she had anticipated. Had the scouts gone on strike against her, or had she already run out of them?

With this, I had also achieved my fifth infernal shape. This jungle was not the right place to check out that Task Reward.