The Mother of Monsters

Azrael was quick to explain to Teyva what had happened after she had been dislodged from the wagon. According to the Warden, she had awakened only a few moments after Teyva had fallen out. It took several minutes after that for the wagons to slow to a stop, the drivers having noticed that the Lydan was no longer in pursuit. There was some debate as to whether or not to continue on from where they were when they heard the cries of the Rilk Queen engaged with the Lydan. Soon thereafter Yaga Yftha and her patrol had arrived, a scout had reported to them that a caravan was being pursued by the Lydan and they had come to help drive it off.

“Elat, Myself, and a few of the caravaneers joined up with her patrol group to ride over and see what had happened. We were halfway there when we stopped hearing the Rilk Queen,” Azrael said.

“With the Lydan still roaring, we really did fear the worst. Especially after we saw the rilks fleeing,” Elat said, “I should have jumped out with you.”

“And leave Azrael with a head wound?” Teyva grunted. She was laying on a pile of cushions and hay in the rear wagon. A medic from Yaga Yftha’s patrol had bandaged her up here and there but they would have to return to Osan to get her proper treatment. Teyva had insisted that if she had a little time with some rilks she could heal herself but Yaga wouldn’t hear it.

“When we arrived you were fighting it all on your own. There were bodies of rilks everywhere. Then there was the rilk queen, torn to pieces and…” Azrael shook her head, “...we saw you and The Marble bring it down. It was incredible. We also saw you loot them. Yaga had a lot of questions about that.”

“I’m sure she did,” Teyva said, adjusting herself a little on the cushions.

“Master Yftha wouldn’t let us join the fight,” Elat said, “She had to have Azrael restrained.”

“You didn’t have to tell her that part!” Azrael blurted, punching him on the shoulder. She crossed her arms and looked away, her grey skin darkening a bit under the eyes.

Teyva hooted out a laugh that hurt more than it should have and she coughed. The two of them leaned in to help but she waved them away and looked around. She spotted Nephral laying on one of the crates behind her, his eyes shut and his mouth a little slack in a deep sleep. His tail flicked back and forth almost thoughtfully. She forced herself up to a sitting position and peered over the side of the wagon through the holes in the covering. The Marble was keeping an easy pace as the wagon rolled along, no longer in a rush to flee danger. Nearby several mounted Azar were keeping their own pace, watching the rolling fields of golden grass for even the smallest sign of danger.

“You should really get some rest, Teyva,” Azrael said, “We still have several days before we get to Osan. Yaga wants to take you to see the King as soon as you’re patched up.”

Teyva thought about going to sleep and slipping into the void. Now that she’d leveled up she would be experiencing that place again. She shuddered at the thought of the possibility of seeing Teyva Rani while she was there. She shook her head and leaned her head back against the crates. “I think I’ll stay awake a little longer if it’s all the same,” She lied, already feeling exhaustion grab her and pull her down.

Azrael chuckled; “You do that, my lady,” She said and added, “I won’t leave you alone next time. I promise.”

Teyva mumbled her own affirmation before drifting off to sleep.

Teyva found herself in the void after that, the roiling cosmos a great vast sea of dark clouds and violet lightning as always. Blessedly she found the place without a sign of Teyva Rani and her temporary prison. It seemed like Teyva would really have to die in order to encounter the evil woman again. She contented herself with taking a bit more time with her attribute choices. Even though she had leveled up twice from the encounter the menus only showed that she had fifteen points to spend. She supposed that meant she could only level up once per visit. That worked for her, she didn’t want to miss out on additional ability picks.

As planned she dumped all fifteen points into her Skill stat, bringing up all of her attributes to an even level. She had been wanting to create a good foundation for her abilities and with this she was finally comfortable with focusing on one attribute over another. She watched her stamina jump to match her health and smiled. She could handle longer fights now. With that done she felt herself rise back up to the surface. She opened her eyes and found that it had grown dark and she was no longer in the wagon. Her body still ached but she was now lying comfortably in a small tent with a blanket thrown over her.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, reaching for her satchel instinctively and hesitated. She looked at the limp bag sitting next to her and let out a sigh. She hadn’t had time to really think about the Mockeries that had died fighting the Lydan. She ran her fingers over the fabric and jumped when the bag moved and lurched. A single coin crawled its way out of the folds, the heavy-set object was far larger than the others of its kind, looking more like an enormous mechanical bolt than a coin. Its many eyes opened sleepily and it looked back at her before scuttling into her lap and up her arm.

Teyva felt a tear run down her cheek, she reached up and stroked the rim of the coin, “Look at you, what a queen. Brave little survivor.”

The creature’s thoughts washed over her through their connection. Concern, triumph, sadness, loneliness. Teyva nodded slowly as if listening to a child speak. “I know, I know, I’ll make plenty of little darlings for you to play with,” She said, opening her palm and letting the mockery crawl into it. She examined it for a moment, tilting her head. “You’ve been around a good long while, haven’t you? You’ve gotten big.”

Images of a tomb, darkness, and humans screaming in fright. Teyva raised her eyebrows; “That long! So you were one of my first, huh!” She reached up and pet the tiny thing, “I think I’ll give you a name. How does Queenie sound?”

The creature chattered in response, its tiny limbs rising and falling in a quick staccato. “Oh, you like that do you? Good girl.”

She let out a sigh and fell back onto her back, holding the coin over her head. “Well Queenie, mother has some upkeep to do and uncle Nephral has run off someplace, so it’s just you and me. Will you keep me company?” She asked, already knowing the response. A tiny explosion of joy erupted in the back of her mind and she laughed. “Okay! Okay!” She set the tiny creature onto her shoulder and pulled out her [Old Satchel] and opened her inventory. She had eight aspect shards to use after the fight. Six from the combined loot from the Lydan and the Rilk Queen and two from leveling up.

“Can only use three at a time,” She paused, “Unless…”

She glanced at the [Aspect Stone of the Titan] and let out a breath through her nostrils. It didn’t have a sinister name like the [Aspect Stone of the Unspeakable] and to be honest she felt like it might be a good idea to add something new to her powerset. She rolled her jaw, noting that she didn’t sense any protesting from the back of her mind. Was the unease gone because Rani was locked up? She wondered if it counted as a Racial stone, could she even use it? She pulled the stone from her inventory and it dropped into her palm, landing with a hard slap. It weighed a ton! She grunted and let it fall into her lap.

The [Aspect Stone of the Titan] appeared to be made of solid gold and glittered brightly when she touched it. Unlike the others that had their own odd shapes and quirks, this one was entirely inert. She reached out and ran her fingers over the surface, triggering a prompt.

It looked like it did at one point have requirements to use. She had completely forgotten about her [Spark of the Outsider] trait. She looked the stone over again and frowned. She had been too cowardly to take on the Labyrinthian stone before and it had cost her time and experience. The Wolf Lord Deshan’s words also rang with her, Aspect Stones don’t change a person, they only amplify what is already there. If she wasn’t willing to face herself at this rate then she wouldn’t survive much longer in this dangerous world. She steeled herself and selected ‘yes’.

“Titan race?” She hadn’t noticed that as a race when she had become a Labyrinthian, “What gives?”

She frowned and mulled it over, she had no idea what the racial abilities of a titan were and when she selected the name only an error message appeared. She tried to use her journal as well, visualizing the titans and all she got was a reference to the Lydan. Was she not a high enough level to know that kind of thing? She considered the Labyrinthian’s traits. It had given her additional racial traits from other races as well as that very useful language ability. Would she still know the language she’d been speaking so far if she changed it up? She sighed, it was best not to take that risk.

“No,” Teyva said and the Aspect Stone exploded.