M.D.Syl
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Chapter 59 colorless
🕑 Added 2023-03-04 16:57:23 +0000 UTCChapter 59 Trinag.
When there’s life there is a way.
When there’s life there is freedom.
When there’s life there’s a choice.
When there’s life, there is hope.
Brigit, the Keeper of Life.
“Trinag!” “Snakes!” “Run!” “Don’t just stand there, girl!” The horrified shouts behind me snap me from my magical daze. Everything happens in an instant. The snake’s mouth opens wide, and I see the bright white light glowing from its throat. “Watch out!!!”
*crack boom*
Someone pushes me down just in time. A bolt of lightning flashes right above us. Even down in the mud, I can feel the air buzzing, and my hair stands on end. I attempt to get up, but whoever pushed me down is quite heavy.
“Spread out! Don’t be an easy target!” Salik shouts right above my ear, his voice is so loud I hear him through the ringing and then some. He gets up and drags me to my feet by my arm.
We both run to the side while the snake whips its head in a pounce. Salik drags me to the left and the man running to our right screams. His scream turns muffled when the large head engulfs his upper body. The snake throws him up into the humid air and swallows him whole, all while another head surfaces from the water.
This new head breathes out a cloud of murky gas, it moves in a small circle spreading it evenly in all directions.
“Snakes! Take your distance!!!” Salik yells as he yanks my arm after him. I feel like my arm is going to get torn from its socket, but it probably saves me from the gas.
The loud coughing behind us tells me that this gas spreads way too fast. I glance behind, the wall of yellowish-green gas is about to catch us any second now.
“Felul!” <Wind!> I exhale, aiming the breeze behind me. *Woooosh* The gas changes direction, no longer spreading in our direction.
“Don’t do magic. Don’t look back. Just run!” Salik shouts, tugging my arm.
Heart pounding furiously in my chest, I can’t help but look back as a third head pops out of the swamp, muddy water flowing down its scaled brown neck. This third head opens a jawless mouth and spits a black gooey substance in our direction.
“Myrsha samir!” <gravity protects> My red kinetic bubble materializes around me, slowing the gooey fluids before they hit us. But it only happens in a circle around me, the rest of the muddy ground is flooded with that thick substance, and Salik keeps pulling me through the viscous black fluids.
It does slow our movement, but not by much. I can’t help but wonder what it’s for as Salik pulls me behind a gigantic boulder. “Water. Wash us. Now!” he yells at me.
“Nimuwal!” <water boundless> My water jet washes him clean.
“Your legs too!” he orders, and I comply without a question, shaking from the freezing temperatures.
I peek behind the rocky surface.
*crack boom*
Another flash of lightning. With a heat wave, the syrupy black substance bursts into bright blue flames, covering the swamp in a sea of azure fire. A small trail of cobalt-blue flames leads to us, but with the watery puddle around our feet, it doesn’t catch.
Salik leans back on the rock, panting. “Snakes… a Trinag shouldn’t nest this far out from the center!”
I peek behind the boulder. All three heads are looking at me, the glowing eyes are visible even from this far off. The middle head’s eyes radiate bright light blue, the left head’s shine green, and the right one gleam orange. “How many heads does this thing have?!”
Salik shakes his head and mumbles. “Pray that it doesn’t have a fourth one. If it’s a Tetnag or an Onynag we’re thoroughly snaked… A bad way to go…”
The head with the green eyes opens its jawless mouth and a cloud of toxic miasma drifts toward us, covering the sight of the gigantic three snakes, although the bright colorful eyes are still visible through the murky gas.
“Felul!” <wind!> My wind drives the gas away once it’s closer to the boulder.
“By Nuriss’ bloody jugs. I said no magic!” Salik yells in my ear and yanks my arm again, running away toward the next boulder. “Do you have a snaking death wish?!”
“It was blowing that gas toward us!”
“Snake that! We had two more seconds to rest. Just run.”
I can’t argue with running, we both take cover behind the next boulder, breathless.
*Hissssssssssss!!!*
I peek again, the three massive snake heads no longer point in our direction.
“Oh yes! Gods bless that kid!” Salik cheers and raises his voice. “Come on Golden thrill, back to camp! Let’s see if that thing wants to follow us to our moats. We might have a big haul today!”
“Ti a’ark!” Noro calls out excitingly. The orc waves his axe in the air, running in the general direction of the camp, and passing the rest of the surviving mercenaries who follow us.
“Chegway. Join Bert. Help with luring that thing back to camp.” Salik keeps shouting his orders.
“I’m not getting anywhere near that, bossman! Not for all the gold in the world.” The lean man with the painted face replies as he passes by us.
“You’re leaving the kid to die!” Salik insists.
“Better him than me.” The man replies with a shrug, running off. "Can't get my coin if I'm dead."
“Bloody jugs!” Salik yells. I thought it was only because I am closer to him, but his voice is insanely loud right now. He takes his bow off his shoulder and notches an arrow in the Trinag’s direction. “What are you waiting for, kid? Run! Nothing you can do with that thing. It can sense magic. It’ll target you.”
Can I help? I might be able to blow up one of those heads if I get close enough… “Will it grow more heads if I blow one up?” Is that thing like the hydra from the tales?
“Snake that, kid, just run!” The arrow is loose and he notches another.
I can fly up there and… no I can’t weave so many patterns yet… not to mention if I need to fly away I’ll bring that gas with me… I need to think…
Another arrow is loose, and the Trinag hisses again. This time the heads turn to us.
“Run!” Salik grabs my arm and bolts away, my legs move on their own with his speed.
Berthold joins shortly after, running incredibly fast by our side despite his low height. “We got two of its eyes boss. Four more and we can kill it!” he calls out, breathless.
“We’re running away, kid. If it follows us back to camp it’s our luck. If it doesn’t, I call this job off, we lost too many people already.” Salik replies, no longer yelling.
We keep running, all the way to the camp. A small wooden wall surrounds the camp, supported by an inner mound of muddy earth. A deep wide moat with spikes down below circles the foot of the wooden wall. I don’t think it’ll stop that thing… but it’ll slow it down… they’re using arrows… so I should use ice spikes on that thing… might hit the eyes… I doubt a firebolt or a windblade will get past those scales… Wait… it senses magic… it’s probably for the best if I just use my crossbow…
The mercenaries form up on the wall, using the inner mud to reach above the top. All of them hold various ranged weapons at the ready. Javelins, crossbows, bows. Long spears and pikes lean on the wall at accessible spots. Another group of mercenaries washes the walls with water from the barrel.
“Inara. Don’t just stand there, wash the snaking walls!” Salik orders me and turns to shout more orders to the others. "Noro. Not the time to pray to your bloody goddess! Elitar. Are you gawking at flowers?! War march! Derlon. what in the..."
Yeah… “Nimuwal!” <waterboundless!> I spray the water all over, tuning Salik's shouts out. The mercenaries move to the next wall.
After less than five minutes we’re done, and I’m out of water and necklace mana. I join everyone on the wall with my new crossbow, waiting for the monster to emerge from the swamp.
Elitar’s baritone voice rumbles over the walls in a lower-pitch chant.
“Bloody your axes, bloody your spears.
Bloody your bones, bloody your flesh.
Bloody your lives, bloody your souls.
We live for war, we die for war, we - are war.”
“We live for war! We die for war! We - are war!” The men join the chant, all fired up. My skin is covered with goosebumps as the crowd around me shouts.
“Battles behind, battles ahead.
Nuriss watches, her heroes below.
With bloody eyes, with bloody teeth.
We live for war, we die for war, we - are war.”
“We live for war! We die for war! We are war!” I need to focus, this is silly… I resist the urge to join them.
“We wolves!” Noro yells. “Bone chieftess watches!”
“Fight with tooth, fight with nail.
Fight with iron, fight with blade.
Fight with map, fight with quill.
We live for war, we die for war, we - are war.”
“We live for war! We die for war! We - are war!”
“Prey ahead!” Noro calls out. “Ti a’ark!”
The massive three headed snake slithers out of the swamp, four eyes gleaming in three different colors.
“We live for war! We die for war! We - are war! We live for war! We die for war! We - are war!” The men chant over and over.
“Ready!” Salik’s voice is raises above the loud chant, people take their aim at the monster. “Aim for the glowing eyes!” He shouts the obvious.
I aim at the single glowing blue eye of the middle head. I could handle that thing if it wouldn't have been able to breathe lightning… the gas is practically a joke… and the gooey stuff is only flammable, it won’t go off without a spark… could've turned it against the snake even... maybe I still can...
The three heads are raised, jawless mouths open wide.
“Looooose!!!”
I squeeze the trigger and duck behind the tip of the wooden wall like everyone else around me.
*crack brouom*
the hair stands on my nape, and the wall shakes with a deep thud.
“Inara! Give us some wind magic!” Salik yells his order.
Oh now he wants my wind! “Felul!” <Wind!> I exhale, daring to take a peek. Only a single green glowing eye remains, covered in murky gas. The gas isn’t even blowing in our direction, the creature uses it to hide.
“My wind can’t reach that far!” I protest as more arrows disappear into the foggy miasma.
The massive three headed snake turns back into the swamp, slithering into the fog. When I get strong enough, I’m coming for you! I wonder how many bottles I’ll need to fill your soul in…
“There you go ya bastard!” “That will teach you! HA!” “Some snake you are!” “We live for war! We die for war! We - are war!” “Ti a’ark!”
People cheer, laugh, and pat each other’s backs. Only Salik looks grim.
“Cheer up, bossman, we survived this. Most of us anyway.” Chegway pats his back.
Salik pushes the hand away. “Snake off! Bloody jugs we lost so much money on this one, and we have nothing to show for it but our own dead.”
“How much money are we talking about?” I ask him. He saved my life… if it’s something I can afford I’ll cover the costs…
He turns to me, thick eyebrows in a deep frown. “We spent nearly three hundred gold coins on this expedition, the pay should’ve been three times that…”
I try not to scoff. “A thousand gold coins? I’ll cover that.”
“We aren’t looking for charity kid.”
“Salik. You saved my life out there, it’s worth the thousand… snake that, I’ll pay you two thousand. I can afford it.”
The men burst into a loud cheer again, people pat each other backs, and this time I get a lot more attention from them.
“You have my thanks,” Salik replies once the cheers die out.
I shrug. “It’s well earned. Besides, I can’t let you go broke if I want to keep hunting out here.”
He nods with a grin, then turns around, eyes darting over his people. “How many did we lose? Head count!” He orders.
“Brevor, Aram, Lodil, Shar, Fobel, and Joe are missing, boss,” Elitar says.
"I saw Shar myself, that snaking thing ate him." One of the mercenaries adds.
“Let me gather my things and restock my arrows, I’ll go look for them.” Berthold picks up his longbow.
“They’re most likely dead, Bert, no reason getting yourself killed out there,” Chegway interjects, holding Berthold’s wrist.
Berthold points at Chegway angrily. “There’s a chance one of them survives. What if it was you out there, huh?! Wouldn’t you want some help?! I can avoid a one eyed Trinag! And it’ll go back to its swamp to heal anyway!”
“Your funeral tree, Bert…”
“Pack up Golden Thrill! We’re done here!” Salik calls out. “Berthold, you have a day, kid, skies smiles.”
Berthold nods, picks a quiver, and runs out into the fog.
*
{27} Koshavi (February) the 13th
We are packed and ready to leave. We're only waiting on Berthold, the wait lasts all day, and a grim mood settles on the camp when the sun sets on the distant horizon, but there’s not much we can do.
{27} Koshavi (February) the 14th
I wake up to the happy wild cheers around the camp. I leave my warm blankets, huddling in my coat. I notice that Berthold is back, along with a wounded bald man who only broke his leg.
The man receives an honorary place in the carriage, and half an hour later the carriages roll out in the direction of Axero.
The way back is a bittersweet mix of joy and grief. People donate little money to the families of the ones who die, but there isn’t as much money as had been for Sorer’s death.
People sing around the campfires at night, enjoying Elitar’s music. Brevor, the wounded man Berthold rescued, is the one making the meals. Apparently, he broke his leg while fleeing the Trinag. But the monster either ignored him or didn’t see him.
"So I found the maiden in this hidey hole under a tree." Berthold starts in his dramatic voice around the campfire. "The Trinag had cornered her, it was toying with her, biting the tree off one branch after the other. I lined up my shot aaaand took out the last eye." The crowd whistles. "If you'd all come with me we could've taken that thing down!" Berthold continues. "But alas, I was there to save the maiden. Running under the writhing snake, I ran to the maiden, took her hand, and we ran out of there! We ran through mud and water for three days and three nights..."
The mercenaries jeer and whistle, throwing some food at him. Berthold picks an apple from his lap and takes a bite, going on with his made up tale.
Now I see the mercenaries who mock him in a different light. It’s some form of respect to them, not true mockery.
Salik asks everyone to poach for new recruits while we're in the city, as well as split the money after I pay them the promised reward. The majority of my money is stashed back at the Maven's after all.
*
{27} Koshavi (February) the 19th
We’re back in the city. I bid the mercenaries goodbye, leave Loyal at the stables, and walk back toward the Maven of Mysteries shop. I carry a magical bag full of dead animals, and five soul bottles wrapped in my pouch.
My body is tired, sore, and cold from all the walking and riding. It’s the good kind of tiredness, the kind you have after a long day of work and makes you feel amazing when you enter bed in your comfortable sleepwear. Ahh… it’d be really nice to snuggle in bed with a book right now… I’m almost in time for my birthday… I’ll celebrate connecting my first mana pool with my birthday… this will be nice…
I’ll deliver the money to Salik later… it can wait a day or two…
I huddle in my coat as I enter the Alleyway that leads to the hag’s shop.
I spot a group of women outside the entrance to the shop, each is better looking than the other. All of these girls are overly busty and outlandishly beautiful. With quick prodding of my crown-knot mana pool, I can tell that they are all mages. None of them are as strong as the hag, they aren’t even strong as Firuk or Balusha. But they’re still way stronger than I am. They're clearly full mages... or very advanced apprentices... no... mages...
I frown at them, and they all look at me as if I’m not welcome there. They probably felt my mana pokes at them.
Gulping, I attempt to ignore them and head toward the shop’s door. The hag must be there.
“Where are you going, short stuff?” A tall woman with fiery hair, blocks my way. She’s wearing a revealing black dress. Wow… aren’t you cold wearing that thing? It’s snowing if you hadn’t noticed…
I guess not… magic…
“Shop’s closed!” The other one declares. She’s a short woman with long blond hair and clear blue eyes. Her bust is disproportionally huge, and the cleavage in her white dress almost reaches her belly button. I don’t know how you keep your sacks contained, lady… they might hit the floor if you aren’t careful…
I frown when the rest of the women surround me like a pack of hyenas.
*~*~*
Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: formed: 1 gem replenished per five minutes.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 66
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 6 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 18 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 9 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 14 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 27 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 4 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 9 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: formed: 40/41 gems
Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating.
Light: Noxi’s Light, Lako’s Blinding Light.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet.
Earth:
Wood:
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s lesser shield. Imari’s Minor Telekinesis. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body.
Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s weightless bodyb.
Focus capability: 11 patterns
Social status: Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries.
Wealth: 1400 gems. 1421 golden peas, 7 silver scales, 37 copper bits.
Items:
Magical necklace. Contain a 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 simple healing potions.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keep the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 25g
Magical bags for animals (Ownership Maven.)
5 soul bottles. (Ownership Maven.)
Roll of magical preserving cloth. (Ownership Maven.)
Companions:
Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 6/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Injuries and scars:
