Runt of the Litter - Tales from Alirast

Trillia took a deep breath.

Checking for the third time that her resources were topped off.

Leaf hovered off to the side with the floating shield. Ialu and Dire sat at the entrance of the door. As she looked at all of them, she offered a nod and stepped forward into the room.

Visus crawled out of one of the ruined houses and looked over at the lone orc standing in front of him. A massive hand came up and offered her a thumbs up.

She returned the gesture.

The old Cyclops paladin immediately started to back-pedal, chanting regeneration and healing spells.

Trillia ran forward with her rapier in hand. "[Full Augment: Chain Lightning]!"

The bolt raced out and slammed into the Cyclops' chest. Before he could fully recover, Trillia loosed a second one.

A heavy trunk-like club appeared in his hand and a sweeping attack followed that caused Trillia to jump into the air to avoid getting swept aside.

She raised [The Shattered Bolt] and began volley-firing at his exposed eye. The old paladin was fast enough to raise one hand to shield it, not needing two hands to use his massive weapon.

Trillia began pouring mana into her rapier as he raced to close the distance. Her other arm was still lifted and pointed in the direction of his face. Her mana was holding steady despite her barrage.

Visus snapped out with his left foot, and despite Trillia's best efforts to dance around the attack, it still clipped her in the arm.

She suppressed a cry of agony as she felt bones snap and the shoulder get yanked from its socket. She wouldn't be shooting her little crossbow bolts anymore.

Deciding to use his own momentum against him, she raised the rapier and positioned it so that its tip would drag along the bottom of his foot. "[Lightning Slash]!".

Once more, the loud cacophony of sound rumbled throughout the room. Visus howled as the brilliant white energy flowed from the rapier into his flesh. Lighting the inside of his ankle up with the brilliant light before the mana exploded out and took his foot, the cyclops stumbled only briefly before swinging both hands down to crush the troublesome little orc.

This was it. The moment that Trillia had been training for - for the past six months. "[Phase Step]!"

She was gone.

Visus' hands slammed into the ground, shattering earth and stone alike. Trillia landed on his shoulder and drove the tip of her rapier into his eye. "[Lightning Slash]!"

The old paladin made no noise as he fell over in a heap. Trillia quickly looked at her mana and saw that she was only missing about thirty percent.

"Damn...you really did beat him in a one-on-one." Vincere's voice managed to reach her despite the ringing in her ears. Trillia looked down at her broken arm with a frown on her face. Perhaps she should have phase stepped out of the way of that attack?

At least all of her internal organs were still internal.

"Yeah. I only succeeded thanks to the bracers, though."

Vincere despawned the body of Visus so the old man could rest while he respawned, coming over to inspect her arm and the shiny new leather bracers that Malor, Frederick, and Vivi had created. "That good?"

Trillia nodded as she sheathed her rapier. The many creatures that followed her fell in line as they traveled to the resting spot that the group had been staying in for the past several months. "No health regeneration, but it triples my mana regeneration. That, with the enchanted cloak I have, has me regenerating over three thousand mana a second."

Her guide let out a low whistle at the number. "With your healing spells, you basically don't need to worry about the lost health regeneration either."

She opened her status to see that her mana was already full.

With a mental flick of mana, she turned off the buff that the bracers were giving her. "In a battle, that's mostly true. The danger is if I am ever knocked out. There's a good chance I won't wake back up unless they can figure out a fail-safe."

As they stepped into the much smaller and cooler clearing, Trillia was met with cheers. Layla ran over to tend to her arm. The little Cleric was getting damn good at healing broken bones. Mostly because Visus was so good at breaking them in the first place.

"Did they work as expected?" Fred, Malor, and Vivi all crowded around the table that Trillia had taken a seat at, peering at the bracers.

"They worked perfectly! The only time my mana dipped under its maximum, long enough for me to notice, was immediately after a Phase Step. But that ability eats up fifty percent of my mana. So I don't think we can really count that."

Layla made a small cut on her own forearm before pulling Trillia's broken arm out and letting her blood trickle onto the wound. "Knit flesh with body and soul. [Bestow Regeneration]."

Trillia watched the buff pop up in front of her, dismissing it immediately as the broken bone and flesh began to pull itself together. It was easily the most disturbing thing she had ever felt in her life. She could feel her bones moving of their own accord, even the little shards that had shattered off the original bone. She watched blood that was caking her arm flow back into her body free of impurities. As was usual with Layla's regeneration, her stamina plummeted, and her stamina regeneration was wiped out.

"As usual, it'll be shot for a week or so. Just cause the bone is mostly fixed doesn't mean it's at a hundred percent."

"Way, way better than just having the broken arm. Think you'll ever get to the point of healing that Taz is?"

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Some day. But Taz uses a bunch of weird monster skills and monster passives to make his healing magic so potent. If I can find the right monsters, I might have a chance."

Trillia felt the presence join them in the cave before she heard the voice, turning her head slightly at their new guest. "Your Majesty."

Alliyah offered a friendly smile as she approached, the more that their group saw the Generals, the more they realized that war had to be happening around the world. They were always in armor of some kind and always smelled of blood and death. "It's been nearly a year. It's time for you and I to go to the Beast Scar. Arlyss says that there might be another shard of Alirast there."

"Yeah. With the bracers, the armor, and my own abilities. I should be able to use Phase Step to travel in the Aether, at least somewhat safely. Especially with your help. Any idea what we'll find in there?"

"I'm afraid not. I did a little bit of scouting, but it just shows up as a box of nothing in the Aether. That means something really powerful, or really clever is hiding whatever is in there. I think it might be a dungeon or something like a dungeon."

As the group looked at her with a puzzled expression, Alliyah continued. "The size of the box in the Aether is...relatively small. There aren't many things capable of warping space to such a degree as dungeons are. At least not something that's mortal and found on Alirast."

"You think the box you see in the Aether isn't how big the space actually is? Why?" Fred asked as Trillia passed the bracers over to them for more tweaking.

"Call it a hunch. I've been in...I dunno. A lot? Several thousand dungeons, at least. You get a feel for when you are seeing dungeon trickery in the Aether."

The group nodded but didn't press her for more information. Layla grumbled a bit. "Well. I guess this is goodbye for now. You two had better not get yourselves killed."

Alliyah snapped up a mock salute. "Yes, Ma'am! We'll do our best."

Vincere and the Viceroy had gone into a full-blown panic attack the first time Alliyah stepped into the dungeon to seek out Trillia.

Despite having spoken to her on several occasions, they were both still very frightened of speaking to her and incurring her wrath. "Queen Alliyah...may we ask a question?" Vincere bowed his head several times as he asked.

"You may."

"Why aren't you taking all of them? They're all quite powerful now."

"No. They aren't. They are certainly getting to that point, yes. But it's also a matter of resource scarcity. The rest of this little bunch of misfits may not amount to much right now, but they grow quickly and trust each other. If Trillia and I die in the Beast Scar, then Alirast will have lost two of its defenders. If all of us were to die...well." She shrugged at that. "I'd rather not risk so many, and if I'm being honest. If whatever is found there can kill Trillia and I, the only chance we would have had for victory is if all of the Generals had joined me."

Trillia nodded and offered a brave smile to her friends. "Which would be an ever greater loss for Alirast. Lord Arlyss has determined that most of the [Primordial Spawn] creatures have been flying monsters. After speaking extensively with Lotan, it's been decided by most of the gods and rulers that the [Primordials] aren't actually gearing up to wipe all of us out. We are just unfortunate collateral. They seem to be gearing up to fight off the Eldritch."

Her friends shot her worried looks, but after their promise a few months back, none of them argued with her verbally. "I expect to see all of you outfitted in the absolute best Core gear I've ever seen when we get back."

Both of Vivi's heads snorted. "Never you worry. We have never made such fast..." She paused, and the heads looked at each other, probably trying to remember the correct words. "Learning? No. Progress?"

Alliyah offered the Cyclops woman a smile and a nod. They continued. "We have never made such fast progress until we met these two." They motioned to Malor and Fred.

"We won't let down."

Trillia smiled as she stood up with a stretch. "I know the answer, but I'll ask anyway. Do the two of you want to join us?"

Ialu and Dire didn't even hesitate before bobbing their heads. Alliyah laughed as she stood up as well. "Honos will not be joining us. She'll take us to the Beast Scar, but it will only be the two of us and your entourage of pact-bound sentients that join us."

The group made small talk for a bit longer before Alliyah and Trillia headed out of the dungeon. Trillia was strapping the bracers back to her arms once Malor and Fred were happy with their final adjustments. "Nervous?" Alliyah looked over to Trillia with the same warm smile she often wore.

"Terrified, honestly. This is a place that, since day one, you haven't been confident about our ability to clear and live. Frankly, I don't understand why you are even considering me."

"You can go into the Aether. If I thought I could convince them, I'd tell Ialu and Dire to let you go alone. Make no mistake, if things start turning sideways, I am going to launch you into the Aether and let them die."

It hadn't been the first time that Alliyah had spoken to Trillia of sacrificing her animal companions to make an escape. It never sat well with her.

Despite that, both Ialu and Dire puffed up their chests and seemed ready to do just that. "Let's make sure it doesn't come to that."

As they stepped into the sun, they paused when they heard huffing and screaming from the dungeon.

"I can walk on my own! Damnit, stop carrying me around like a sack of vegetables!"

Layla continued to fight and struggle as Stas skittered his way out of the dungeon. Holding the Cleric in one of his many skittering legs. "Honos, mind if I hold on to your front legs while you fly? You fly way faster than I do."

Alliyah and Trillia looked at Stas as he walked over to Honos. "Of course, General Stas. The two of you can sit on my back if you'd like. Even carrying the two canines, I won't be weighed down enough."

"That would be most wonderful, thank you." Layla had stopped struggling upon hearing the words. Stas climbed up on the back of Honos and set Layla down.

"Where exactly do you think you're going?" Alliyah finally broke the awkward silence.

"To the Beast Scar, obviously. It's way too dangerous to drag Honos through the Aether, so I know you won't. But it's still a land of behemoths. So I am not going to leave Honos to fend for herself out there while you and the little avatar go dungeon diving. Or whatever exactly it is you're going into."

Alliyah stared at the little goblin, who had pulled out a book and was scribbling away in it. Slowly, her gaze shifted to Layla, who had wrapped her arms around one of Honos' backspikes and was ready to go. "Isn't she a bit..."

"She's my student, not yours. Besides, just think if we can get some muscle tissue from a behemoth! Honos can devour the core and most of the meat. Layla and I can use the blood and muscle tissue for ourselves. I'm sure Honos won't mind sharing a bit if we help with the kill. You know how strong a behemoth can be, Alliyah. Imagine an orc with the muscles of a behemoth!"

Layla's eyes lit up in the same dangerous way that Stas' often did. "Or their blood! I wonder if our bodies would accept a full blood transfusion. I've heard that Behemoth blood is almost entirely immune to poisons and disease."

Honos, not helping the situation at all, snaked her head around to look at the two of them. "It is! It's a particular problem for dragons that specialize in disease, venoms, poisons, and things like that. There are also variants of behemoths that can regenerate faster than trolls! Though, I don't think one of their hearts would fit into your bodies."

Layla seemed to think about that for a moment. "I've read in some of the Master's old journals of people using partial organs for transplants. Given their vitality, I wonder if we could use a partial behemoth heart."

Stas immediately started to shake his head. "Don't be greedy, Layla. The heart contains an immense amount of power and nutrients. Honos will be doing most of the fighting, to help her overcome her past and to gain experience. She should eat the hearts."

The crazed little orc nodded and bowed her head to Honos. "Forgive my greed, Lady Honos."

"Maybe we can kill a few. Find a small behemoth that has a heart closer to your sizes? Queen Alliyah, is something amiss?"

Alliyah and Trillia were standing next to the dragon, looking up at the three of them as if they had lost their collective minds. "No. Just make sure you don't go off and die. If I have to walk back to Kadessa after we're done, I am going to be very cross with you."

"Of course, Queen Alliyah. I will not dishonor the dragons a second time."

Trillia wondered how bad an influence she and Stas had been on Layla, who seemed eager to jump into battle with literal behemoths.

Current Progress Towards Evolution: 87%