《Why Are All Of My Monsters Women!?!》 Prologue: Rebirth Death It''s a strange thing. Usually, when you die, it''s the end, the great finale, the sleep from which you do not awaken. So... How am I still awake? Not alive, not if the surrounding darkness is anything to say on the matter, nor the previous memory of my death, so... Is no one going to explain this to me? Isn''t the usual trope that some god, or at least a deific figure of some power, comes and tells me that I get a second life or something? Or are we doing the other one, where I sit here for a long time, reflect on my death, potentially go insane, and than get reborn? Or is this the afterlife? Am I stuck in a vast void of nothingness forever? That would suck... ... And... I''m already bored. I, however, refuse torelive my death, for there is no reason to, I remember it clearly, so why would I need to remember it? ... Though, maybe I should putsome thought into it, like what I could have done tonot die. Okay, for one, I probably shouldn''t have been the one driving. I was always kinda (read: extremly) piss at driving, so that surely is mistake number one. The second would be, without a doubt, not paying complete attention to the road, and instead staring at my phone to change the song on youtube. Looking back, that was a bit retarded. Third would be mistaking the gas for the breaks. Yeah, that''s probably whatreally nailed it there.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. So, death by idiocy, not completely unheard of I''m certain. Nor the last it happens either. ...Goddamn I''m really bored. ....... .... .. .... ...... How long have I just been sitting here now? Could have been a long time, or no time at all. Maybe it''s been forever, or maybe time doesn''t exist for me anymore. ...... ..... ... ..... ...... Maybe... I need to think of something? Like... How about gemstones? If we''re being honest, purple has always been my favorite color, so purple gems in my eyes are better then the rest, though to be fair, red is pretty good as well. Maybe, since I seem to have forever, I can just combine gems for the luls? Sure, I mean, who''s going to stop me, God? If he could, why isn''t he here!? So, you know what, screw him anyways if he doesn''t want me to combine gems, I going to do it anyways! How about Amethyst and Garnet? I know Rubies are more well known, but to be honest, I like Garnets more, so Garnet it is. So, what else? We have purple and red... Maybe green? Yellow? Though, now that I thinking of it, why not just combine a gem of each color? Because, why the hell not? ..... ... ..... So, it''s been a while since I''ve talked to myself, or at least taken to remembering what I''ve said to myself... I think, I don''t quite remember. However, I have good news! I have combined almost every gemstone I could think of, and have decided to call it, drum roll please! ... Dulveritite! ... Yeah, I should probably workshop that, but until then, why not just decide what it looks like? I was thinking of a cut gemstone, with the diamond look, with the top being like a ruby, the one with the three points. I''d like to think that the color would be primarily be a dark purple, though at times would swtich to diferent colors, because why not, not like it exist anyways. And why not make it glow while I''m at it? I mean, it doesn''t really matter, so screw it. There we go, Dulveritite, in the gem! ... Wait, why is it actually here? Nothing''s here, so why is this made up, sad excuse of a chaos emerald currently sitting in front of me? Can... Can I touch it? That''d be nice, I haven''t touched anything since... Since... ... Have I ever touched anything? I mean, I certainly have, I think, I mean the sensation is there, sort of... ... Let''s just grab it. Not like anything worse can happen, righ- Crystals, Strings, and Noodley Things! Okay, I would like it to be known that I now remember what pain feels like. Hint, not very pleasent. But with that out of the way, I would also like to bring up something new, that being that the sense of touch has returned to me once more! Truly, this is a leap for all me kind! ...Whatever I am at the moment. I can also confidantly say, after taking stock, that I am now lacking all of my everything. That is rather disconcerting, yes, but I will be honest, I am just glad I can do something again, even if it is just barely feel whatever it is that is currently enveloping me at the moment. It''s nice, just feeling... ..... ... ..... Okay, I''m bored again. I know, it didn''t seem like it took such a long time, and maybe it didn''t, but I can''t quite tell that myself. There''s not really a way to tell time here, ya know? Though, now that I think about it, how can I feel? Am I not dead anymore? I''m pretty sure I was, you know, before I touched that crys-... .... ... Oh, fuck me. I''m a gemstone now, aren''t I? Oh, please, no, of all the things, please not that. Please don''t be what I''m thinking it is at the moment. Taking a moment to feel out my dimensions all but confirms what I fear, no matter how much I want to deny it. It would seem that I am now Dulveritite, in the gem. Though, now that I think of it, doesn''t this have it''s own trope attached to it? Like, do I have mana now, or something? Maybe if I reach within myself I can pull it out? ... How the hell does one reach within themselves? Is it an automatic things, or a process you have to actually do? Maybe if I meditate? Would that work? Or is it willpower? You know what, enough questions! How about I simply will myself to see what is inside myself? that should work! ..... ... ..... Oh! That is trippy! There''s strands of... something all over the place! And different colors to! Neat! Okay, I''m going to bet all the money that I don''t currently have that those strings are mana, or at least some equivalent of such. Now, if willing myself to seeing these string allowed me to actually do so, maybe I can will them to attach to me! ..... This might take a while... ...... Okay, now I don''t know how long it''s been, but I can tell you right now, this was almost not worth it. Almost being the key word here, because when I attached just one of those string, a wave of nirvana flooded through me, and I can''t quite recall what happened afterwards. Though, now that I am in full control of my actions again, I can''t help but notice that I am now glowing, just as I have described Dulveritite to. God, that is not as good a look as I thought it was. Sadly, I can''t change it now, so I will just have to live with it. Back to the strings, I notice they are attached to me, almost as if they are chained to my gem. It looks neat, actually. They even have different colors, which if I were a betting gem, I would guess are different types of mana. The purple strand is probably some shadow stand in, though, that would contest with the black strings, which probably stand for the same thing. Maybe one stands for night, and the other for shadow? I can''t say I quite know. For now. But, now that I''ve attached all the strings in the area around me to, well, me, how do I go about using them? ..... ... ..... Okay, I''ve put some thought into it, and I''ve decided to try a thing I''ve read about (I think) in several novels. Cultivation. Now, I know that sounds pretty weeby, but hear me out, I''ve stared into myself, and it''s just a bunch of empty space, technicolor sure, but still empty space. So, I''ve decided, I''ll bring the strings in, and try to tie them together, just to see what will happen. Setting on that, I start to drag the strings in, and everything is going well so far, though a thing to note is that the strings don''t seem to play well together, so tying them all together might be difficult, especially with all this pleasure distracting me. And just like I thought, they''ll come in all I want, but going together is another story altogether. Alright, new idea! I''m thinking that the probablem is that there is just to many string to tie, and that none of them in particular really like the other. So, I''m going to be taking all the string swith the same color, and tying them together first. And with some effort, it actually worked. Wow. Maybe I''m selling myself short on these ideas a little bit, because I was certain that wasn''t going to work at all. Alright, now that I''ve got all the alike strings tied, let''s move on to tying those of similar color. Again, this will probably take a while... ..... ...If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ..... Oh dear God Emperor! That took for-fucking-ever! However! It is now done, after many a long hour (maybe), All the strings have been tied together. Good, now the only thing I need to do now is figure out what to do next, probably another willpower thing... ..... ... ..... You know, that ball of stringdoes look a bit like a mess... I''m thinking that I should fix it, if only because I don''t want that on my conciousness every time I look at it. It has absolutelyNOTHING to do with the pleasure involved with manipulating these strings, just a want for tidiness! If you thought otherwise, than perish said thought at once! I, am a PURE Dulveritite gem! I have no such thoughts, not now nor ever! ..... ... ..... Alright, so, it has been a moment indeed. For starters, Imight have gotten a bit carried away on the whole fixing thing with the strings, but only a little! Regardless of such matters, I will have pride in the ball of string I have constructed! I have seemlessly woven every string into one ball, a core, if you will, and along with it, I have taken the extra step to, beforehand, weave all the individual strings of a single color into one large string, making it a lot tider in my tye-dyed inner sanctum. Though, I should also say that while all the individual string have been tied together leading up to the core, I did have to leave the very ends unstrung to allow me to weave it all into an interconnected ball. Really, I think I''ve done something rather amazing. I mean, who knows quite how long this took, but that matters not! Clearly, I have made art here, and I should recive nothing but praise for it! ... Oh yeah, there''s no one else here... Well, that just won''t do! Whom will praise my brilliance if they don''t exist! Though, now that I think about it, even if they did exist, there isn''t really any space for them to praise me in, is there? ... Maybe... If I use my will, I can simply make the space! So, focusing my willpower, I simply decide that whatever is surrounding me to expand! ... But nothing is happening... Okay, new plan, maybe, just maybe, I can use my stringcore to help me in this? hmm... Alright, I have an idea! How about I ''unravel'' whatever is around me into strings? Would that work? Possibly. I won''t know until I try, right? And with that I focus the substance that is around me, concentrating as hard as I can on whatever it might be,really taking my time to anyly- It''s fucking dirt. ... .... ... How in the Emperors ravishing ribcage did I not notice that beforehand? Really, I should have at least considered it a possibility! I''m a fucking rock for gods sake! How am I this retarded!? Haaa... But back on topic! Since this is dirt, then it probably works with the brown strings. Now, all I have to do is focus on dirt, and will is to unravel into brown strings! ..... ... ..... Okay, that was aLOT fucking harder than it really needed to be! However, it did work, which is a good thing. I now have a sphere of empty space around me. And I can actually see now, which, again, is a good thing, and something I approve of immensely. Though, something actually interesting to note, while I was able to unravel the dirt into strings, when I pulled those strings in they didn''t act like the strings did when I pulled them in the first time. Instead, they merged with their brown counterparts. I examined the strings afterwards, and nothing really seems to have changed with them, though, for some reason, they did give of the impression of being very slightly sturdier. And, while I could sit here and ponder why this is, I instead believe that I should continue onwards, if only because when I realized how to actually unravel things I got this random urge to do so in a particular direction. So, with nothing better to do, I decided to simply follow this whim. Honestly, after unraveling things the first few times, it gets kind of boring. Though, things did get interesting again when I hit something new. The outside. If I''m being truthful, I will admit that sight of the moon hanging in the sky after being forced to stay in a black void, then underground, for so long... I really was grateful in a way I can''t truly describe in mere words... It was just... Ahem, right, getting past that, it would be good to take note on how even though I could see outside, I couldn''t seem to do much more past that. I even tried to unravel several things, and nothing happened. Eitherthe outside world is immune to my unraveling skills, or I am just not yet proficient enough to actually affect anything. Though, I was able to unravel a bit of the grass apparentlyjust within whatever ethereal range makes up my ability to unravel. I suppose it is neat that there is a range to it, and this is information that I should remember, but I will also admit to it being really annoying that there seems to be some random limit to one of the few things I can actuallyfuckingdo! Haa... Alright, stay positive, there are other things to talk about! For one, apparently the moonlight entering the hole I made can be unraveled as well, which was certainly interesting to witness. How to describe it? Well, imagine a flashlight (whatever that is) shining into the dark, but after a certain point it just seems to just... Stop. That is honestly the best way I can describe it. Regardless, I thought occured when it comes to these strings of mine. If everything around me is made of these strings, if only on a minescule level, can I weave the strings to make things? Hmm, it might be possible... With a little work... Ah, screw it, I''ll just wing it! I mean, what could possibly go wrong? ... .... ... We shall never speak of what had transpired. You may not know what I am speaking of, but I believe that is for the better. I can only say, yes, I cantechnically make things with the strings. Living things even. I, however, will never do it again. And no, I will not explain why. You all are better of not knowing of the... THING That was created by my random weaving. I shall personally see to it that none shall ever know of its visage, even if it means I must die again to do so. ... Alright, feeling better now. And, what''s that, more news! There is now a Noodle in my lair! I don''t quite know why, but there is! It''s something different, and not that THING so it can only be good! Though, even after I''ve said that, I can''t help but notice that the poor things is injured. That''s rather sad. Maybe, just maybe, I can use the strings to help? Now don''t get me wrong, after the first time I used the strings to make something living, I''ve become rather hesitant to even touch them again. However, that was making something from scratch. Perhaps, with the noodle as a starting point, I can actually do something cool with them? I would say I''ll just wing it, but after the last two times, I think that this time I''ll go with the less is more approach. And by that, I will anylyze the strings that make up the noodle and- I can''t look at it''s strings. In fact, I can''t see the strings around it at all... I... I don''t know how much I like that. Even after trying to blindly manipulate the strings I can no longer see around it, nothing happens. And I very much don''t like it when the very few abilities I have don''t fucking work! So, I truly feel that no one will blame me when I slammed Purple, Brown, Red, and Grey strings down on this fucking noodle. It squirmed, writhing against both my will, and the strings I constantly infused into the damned things. Honestly, I was seeing red. This fucking snake thought it could crawl up into MY lair and render ME incapable of doing AnYtHinG! Not a chance in hell. I cared little for it''s throes of agony, I cared little for when it''s scales began to rapidly crack and molt, and I cared little for the blood that it spat, the venom it tried so desperatly to use on an attacker it never could truly percive. And honestly, I certainly didn''t notice the extra things it began to... Grow either. Though, I would like to attribute that to the fact that I was rapidly losing conciousness... Noodle Thoughts So... Much... PAIN!.. It''s a hot, all enveloping pain, consuming all thought and ravaging all senses. Thrashing around does nothing, there is nothing to thrash against. Biting does nothing, there is nothing to bite. The pain seems never end! ... It''s gone. The pain is gone. In fact, the pain from before is gone as well. How? And why do things feel... Different? Looking down makes things a bit more obvious as to why that could possibly be. I look different. The first thing I notice is that my body has taken a strange shape. In fact, It lookes almost like the tall two-legged things that wander into the forest sometimes, the large lumps on my chest lead me tobelieve that my shape is more reminiscent of the female of the species. Thankfully, both my tail and scales have survived whatever changed my body, though even they look different. For starters, my tail is not only much longer, and larger, it feels... I guess the right words would be both harder, and hotter. My scales have changed from the green they used to be into a dark grey, though the edges glow slightly orange, like the hot rocks left behind from the tall two-legged creatures magic. Even if they are different, I''m glad I kept my tail instead of having two legs. Though, even if part of my body resembles their females, that isn''t completely true. My claws, for example, actually have claws, and are covered in scales, though only the back of the appendages are covered all the way up to my back, where I feel more scales. The inside of my limbs up to the jointhas scales, but after that, the scales are gone, leaving behind the two-legged creatures hide, like on the front of my body. Weird.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Feeling my head reveals that I now have antlers, like the swift footed four legged creatures, though they feel much thicker, sturdier even, and hopefully won''t fall out. The side of my head has fins like the scaled swimmers, though these also seems sturdier than theirs. The fur on top of my head goes down my back to where I believe the lumps would be if they where on that side instead. It is also a silvery grey, with bits of orange on the end. And, suddenly, a noise catches my attention, along with a strange... thing. Ping
System calibration complete!
Name N/A
Health Points 5,837/5837
Magic Points 3,221/3,221
Species Lava Wyrm
Age 110 (Adult)
Strength (31 x 25%) 38 ((Inside Dungeon: 76) Inside Core Room: 228)
Dexterity (18 x 25%) 22((Inside Dungeon: 36)Inside Core Room: 66)
Constitution (30x 25%) 37((Inside Dungeon: 60)Inside Core Room: 111)
Intelligence (12x 25%) 15((Inside Dungeon: 24)Inside Core Room: 45)
Wisdom (17x 25%) 21 ((Inside Dungeon: 34)Inside Core Room: 63)
Charisma (23x 25%) 28 ((Inside Dungeon: 46)Inside Core Room: 84)
Traits Fire-Blooded: The fire in your veins burn brighter than any mortal flame, and twice as hot! All fire based attacks deal 2X damage and immune to heat Dragon''s Breath: Your breath is that of a mighty dragons! You can exhale a 30ft cone of flame Steel-Clad: Your scales are more than a match for any suit of normal armor. 25% chance to deflect all physical attacks and 10% chance to ignore all magical attacks Earthen Muscles: Your strength is enforced by the power of earth. Gain +6 strength Dragon Hearted: The heart of a mighty dragon resides inside you. Immune to sleep, paralysis, and fear effects Progenitor: You are the first of your kind, so you will set what is typical and atypical for your species. All stats are increased by 25% First Dungeon Claimed: You are the first bound to "The Dungeon of Origins". Inside the dungeon, all stats are doubled, however, your life is now bound to the dungeon FinalBoss: As the final boss of "The Dungeon of Origins" you gain tripled stats while inside the core room
For a while, I stare at the strange thing, trying to figure out what it was. Clearly it''s supposed to serve some sort of purpose, but what it might be is beyond me. And speaking of such, the stone that initially drew my attention has grown dim. I do not know why, but I feel a protectiveness over it, as if it were an egg, yet it felt more important than any clutch of eggs that I, or anyone, has ever laid. So, like an egg, I curl around the glowing stone, to keep it both safe, and warm. I certainly feel warmer now, if nothing else. A Rock meets a Noodle "Urrgh.. Wha-.. Wha''s goin on?" I awoke with massive headache and a slightly drunk feeling. Eveything was blurry, and slightly glowy and just generally sucked. All in all, excellent way to start the day, I suppose. Seeing as how my, I''m hesitant to call it sight, but will until a have a better name for it, was proving next to useless at the moment, I decided some internal retrospective was in order. Only to be rather confused at what I saw. I don''t now why, but it seems as if my stringcore was less... There? I don''t really know why that would be, I don''t really remember- "oh..." "Ooooooohhhh..." And suddenly, I remember my tantrum. I also remember not really seeing what happened as a result of said tantrum, though seeing how a good amount of my stringcore is now effectively GONE, there''s a good chance something exploded. Though I sould probably check, just to be certain. Pulling my focus away from my internal perspective, the first thing I immediately notice is the slight glowing around me. Now, I was prepared to write this off as a consequence of throwing strings to hard at the snake, only to notice a few thing: 1. The strings afar more organized than they should be if that is the case and, 2. On taking a closer look, it seems as if the glowing both follows a pattern and seems to be coming from under something. Kinda like scales actually... "Well," I thought"that neat. I didn''t know thay could do that." and simplydisregarded this phenomana as the strings capable of doing something that I simply hadn''t know theycould do yet. An interesting discovery, if nothing else, and something I''ll make note of. Once I expanded my vision, I found the truth. The truth being a glowing, horned, snake lady. Now, I am going to be completely honest, that was probably thelast thing I was expecting to see. The only things really contesting this stranger in the ''not expecting'' contest beingthatTHING somehow reviving itself, or Cthulhu himself deciding to stop by for a visit. Though I''d probably have to build a temple afterwards, if only because I''d feel inclined to after having the supreme mad tentecle boy himself stop by. I''m distracting myself. And knowingly doing it to. Why? Simple, I really don''t want to acknowladge that I was involved with the creation of mega snek waifu over here. I also don''t know why I disapprove of it, which, now that I think about it, if I don''t know why I''m doing/disliking something, isn''t that a good reason to stop doing that? Alright, enough of thisphilosophy shit, let''s see if I can talk to her! After all, I have been by myself for... An amount of time. Perhaps it''s time to break that spell of isolation! "Hello! Can you hear me?" The snake, however, continues to sit there. She didn''t even flinch. Than again, she is coiled up around me, and her eyes are closed. Also, she''s breathing lightly... She''s fucking asleep. That''s just GREAT! The first goddamned thing that might be even begin to provide atiny bit of banter, and she''s FUCKING ASLEEP! So I decided to let my frustration out in the most adult manner I could think of. By screaming at the top of my non-existant lungs in rage. As a side effect, the snake woke up, so that''s neat. How she did so, however, was a bit startling.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. She immediately pushed her torso into the air, turned to the entrance, and shot what could only be called a gout of flame straight from her mouth, washing over the room up to the entrance, and slightly past. That... "Woah..." I mean, what else could I say? This chick just flooded the room with fire! From her mouth! I don''t know if I should feel greatly awed, or horriblyintimidated, so I just decided settle for both. Thankfully, she stopped trying to charbroil everything in frount of her when she realized there was nothing to broil. She turned her head around the room for a bit, almost if she was trying to look for something. "Um..." That was all she needed to put all her attention on me. Her stare felt rather intense, so much so, I could almostfeel it digging into me. "Hi?" That made her pause her intense staredown, which is a good thing, because I almost felt I was going to shatter from the intensity. She tilted her head a bit, and leaned in closer, unintentionally, I think, showing she had a rather large chestal area. Why this was, I don''t really know, but it was a thing. While I was distracted with the thought of why a fire breathing snake lady would have such large boobs, also how and what the point was, she picked me up and brought me closer to her face. After squinting a bit, I finally heard, "Egg?Youspeak?" I would have gasped to high heaven if I could. She COULD speak to me! YAY! This is the best day ever!"Wait, did she call me egg?" She tilted her head the other way this time before saying,"That is what you are, is it not?" Is she serious? I mean, that''s a really simple indicater for being- you know what, I''m not going to explain why that''s dumb, it just is."No, I''m a Dulveritite Gem who can control strings and manipulate my environment with said string control... you know, now that I said that out loud, I just realized that''s weird as hell. How can I do that?" It seemed I wasn''t the only one who was confused at least, seeing as she just gave me a look of utter befuddlement. Well, seeing as we''re both lost in this conversation as it is, might as well drop this topic and bring up a new one."What''s your name?" She blinked,"Name?" "Yeah, your name?" "What is a name? I... How does she not know that? Wha... I take a moment to shake of my confusion before answering,"That''s what you call yourself." With that said she just stared at me for a while, like she understood what I said, but didn''t quite understand what it meant. I felt kind of akward with her staring at me so hard, so I decided to just say, "Would you like me to give you one?" That got a reaction. She blinked, straightned her head up, and nodded at me. Hmm... A name for a fire breathing snake gal. Actually, I think I have one! "How about Tiamat?" She adopted a contemplative look for a short bit, than said the name as if she was tasting it on her minds tongue, before giggling. After the litteral foutain of fire she spat out of it earlier, I can say I didn''t expect such a... Normal, for lack of better words, sound like that to come out of her mouth. Not that I disliked it though, it sounded rather cute, you know for a fire breathing snake lady. She interrupted my thoughts with a question. "Your name?" And... I didn''t have a response. I feel as if I should have one, was certain I did, but for the crystally life of me, I hadn''t a clue what it was."I... Don''t remember..." Again, she looked confused. Than, weirdly enough, it seemed as if she were looking at somthing before her eyes lit up. "Origin!" "What?" "I am Tiamat, and you are Origin!" I... didn''t know how to feel about that. I felt like my name was important to me, and that I should be trying to figure out what it was. But, at the same time, she just looked so pround of herself, like she''s a five year old who just solved a, to her perception, difficult puzzle, or answered all the question on a math test correctly and got a bonus 10 points for the extra question on the bottom. So... I caved. "Sure, I''m Origin, and you''re Tiamat. What a lovely gathering we make, a rock and a snake." "The best!" Well, if nothing else, I was starting to feel better about the whole forgotten name thing. She sat me down and started to slither her way to the entrance of the room. "Where are you going?" "Hungry, so I''m going to hunt." And before I could comment on that, she slithered her way out of the room, up the tunnel, and outside, the one place I couldn''t go... Yay, my conversational partner is now gone. It''s everything I''ve ever wanted. ..... Gods I''m bored. Maybe I can do something around here todistract myself until she gets back... Noodle hunting The forest looks different now. I''m not sure why, though if I was forced to guess, I would put it up to my new perspective. All the things I used to have to look up at are now far below me, things I would have never been able to even comprehend being able to touch I can easily grasp in my claws. And that''s another thing, since I have claws now, I can now grab things, something else I used to never be able to even think of doing. I think I like my new form. Being tall and grabbing things is both entertaining and conveniant. Now if only it was as easy to be as sneaky as I used to be. That is one of the only downsides of this new body of mine. Since it''s so large, not to mention the two legged form on top of it, it''s nearly impossible to sneak! I''m always colliding with or brushing against something! I even tried to slither like I used to, but, again, with the two legged form that I am stuck with makes that really uncomfortable. It obviously wasn''t made for propar sneaking. For one, the arms make it nearly impossible to make a propar slithering motion without it being at least a small bit awkward, my neck was not the slightest bit appreciative of holding my head in the postions it would need to be in to properly slither for long, and because it''s a female two legged that makes up my upper body, the lumps on my chest drag on the ground in a rather painful way. Ugh, why do I have to have these? And why are they so obtrusive? The female two legged that I saw didn''t have lumps this large, so why do I? And I glow. That''s also another thing I do not understand. Why do I glow now? How does that make sense? The glowing makes hiding basically a thought of the past. Even if, by some miracle, all the other problems with my form become moot, and I do somehow sneak close to something, the glowing would give me away almost instantly! How am I supposed to hunt like this? I am faster than I remember ever being before. Perhaps I could run something down? It''s never a stratagy I''ve employed before, but the four legged pack hunters use the tactic almost explicitly, so perhaps there is merit to it? It was in this contemplative state when I heard the sound of cheers from my left. There''s only one thing I know of that makes that sound. And only for a few reasons... I decide to try my hand at stealth again, if only because when the two legged focus on something, like they usually do when they cheer and celebrate, they become rather inattentive of their surroundings. A short while later, I find a group of two legged celebrating a succesful hunt, and not a small one either. Somehow, someway, the two legged have somehow managed to hunt one of the great beast of this forest. And not one of the weaker of them either. If my sight does not betray me, it appears that a great boar, and several of it''s smaller kin, are now being butchered and prepared for holding over the two legged''s magic pits. Hmm, I don''t know why, but the thought of eating a boar sounds pleasing right about now, and since the two legged went through all the trouble of killing some for me... I count about 15 of the two legged in the clearing, though seeing as they hunted a great beast, and a boar at that, there where undoubtedly more when they enacted the hunt. Perhaps coming across them now was a blessing, being that they are tired, unaware, and overall weakend from the fight and high from their victory. Now all I need to do now is find the right angle...
"Eat and be merry! We commit this feast to the fallen, to show them honor in their sacrifice!" The hunt commander, who was standing on a stump as he made this declaration, was met with cheers. He hopped off the stump and sauntered up to the large roasting boar, carving of a small piece with his knife, and went about aquiring some ale to go along with it. A man came up behind the commander and clapped him on the shoulder. "Good idea planting your spear in the ground like that to meet the boar''s charge! I''d have thought it would''ve run you flat like that, but you showed it!" The man handed the commander the ale he was seeking originally. The commander accepted the drink with the comment, "To be honest, I thought it was going to run me over as well! But I remembered fathers lessons on how one meets a horse charge, and just applied that for the situation at hand" He drank some of the ale before continuing, "Just got lucky, really."If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Now that you mention it, I had been meaning to ask ya about that." The man looked at the commander more seriously than before, "What''s got the lords son down here hunting boar the size of horses?" "Ha, there is nothing for you to worry about Stefan, I''ve been meaning to get a boar hunt like this under my belt for a while now. And seeing as there was one in the area, I decided ''Why not?''" Stefan frowned as the commander took a bite of the boar on his knife, "I think we both now that that''s a lie. I think I have a right to know the real reason, seeing as 13 of my people died for a hunt that you tell to me was just a whim." The commander just chuckled before replying, "Now Stefan, I''m not sure you''ve heard the tales, but I''ve heard it said that up to 20 men have been lost to hunts such as this. By all accounts we where rather lucky to lose so few." "Lucky or not, that''s 13 fathers and sons that will never be going home." Stefan retorted harshly, "As their mayor, I''d like to at least know why they died." The commander frowned, before breathing out a sigh, "I suppose if anyone has to know, it should be you." He motioned for the mayor to follow him to the edge of the clearing, a bit further away from the party. He swiveled his head around a bit, and when he was satisfied that no one else would hear him, he explained, "A messanger from the capitol came to father a week ago, directly from the King himself. The letter detailed to father how the court wizard felt a flux of magic in this area, and ordered that it be investigated." Stefan blinked at that. "Magic? I''ve not seen any magics about." "No, and that''s what has me curious. If the magic was so powerful that the court wizard could feel the flux in the capitol than something should be about, but so far I''ve seen not a hint of evidence to support that. It''s strange, no?" Stefan looked down for a bit, contemplative. If what the lords son said was true, and the court wizard truly felt a magical flux in the area, than there should besomething wrong. But so far, there has been nothing amiss that he could see. So what could it be? "See," The commander said, breaking Stefans thoughts, "it''s strange, isn''t it?" He than sighed again, and said aloud, "If only there was some sign-" Men began screaming behind them, shocking the two. They quickly turned to find that the merry party they were just attending was under attack by a strange beast. It had the upper half of a woman, though twice as bewitching as either of the two had ever seen. This, however was tempered by the crown of horns she wore, the scaled talons that made up her hands, and the grey, glowing serpants tail that took the place of where her legs should be. Before they could truly take in the creatures appearance she wrapped herself around a unlucky hunter, and with a resounding crack, and a gush of blood, squashed him in her coils. Stefan and the commander rushed to their spears, and while they both knew they where for boar, having something in their hand was better than simply waiting for their turn in the monsters coils. "Arm yourselves!" the commander called as he took up his boar spear and turned to face the monster with Stefan. Several men rushed for their weapons, though another was caught in the beast coils before they all could fully equipt themselves. They all gathered around the mayor and commander, spears pointed at the monster. The monster stared at them, seemingly unintimidated by their wall of spears. Instead it breathed in deeply, inflating her chest, and than opened maw to release what could only be called a wave of flames at the assembled hunters. The fire washed over the hunters, consuming the first line entirely. Though, for their sacrifice, they brunted the flames for those behind them, and they behind them, and so on. That, however, did little to help the agony they all felt as the fire flooded over them. The hunters quickly scattered, several falling onto the ground to put out the fire that tried to grow on them. Stefan, however, rushed forwards and brought his spear to bare againt the monster, thrusting it with all his strength at the creatures heart. Only for the spear to bounce off her chest, causing him to stagger backwards. His eyes widened as the monster hissed, his only warning before she lashed forwards and grabbed his right arm, and before he could even begin to struggle, crushed it in her grasp. The agony coursing through his body was enough to make him scream, which was only amplyfied when the creature grabbed his other side, and with a harsh yank, gorily ripped his arm from his body. The spurt of blood that followed the tearing, not to mention the sounds of it and his screams were enough to send the rest of the hunters into the woods. It was a dangerous place, sure, but anywhere that wasn''t here was the better place to be as far as they were concerned. Only the commander turned back for but a moment, to see the monster one last time. He wished he hadn''t. The monster had grossly extended her jaws and was pulling the screaming, bloodied Stefan into them. She was at his hips when she and the commander caught each others eyes. He stared for but a few moments longer, before turning around and bolting as fast as he could through the woods. He so very much wished he had just run, that he never looked back, that he never met the monsters eyes. That he never noticed the amusement, the contempt those crimson orbs held as she stared into him...