The Mother of Monsters

Teyva wasn’t exactly sure where she was, but she was certain she was no longer in the library itself. While the stone looked the same, the passages were unlike anything she’d encountered before. They wound and turned this way and that, forming a complex network that seemed to be intended to confuse and disorient. These passages must have been how the Labyrinthians got their name. She wrinkled her nose at the thought, rounding another corner as her mockeries guided her towards the room they’d discovered an hour before. She glanced at her stats, her stamina was starting to dip low and she had to guess that it was almost night. Fortunately, Azrael and Teyva had kept a fairly consistent rhythm in sleeping so they wouldn’t lose track of days as they went by.

She hesitated when Azrael’s name crossed her mind. She tried again to reach out through the private chat and got nothing but silence. She could still see Azrael’s stats, her stamina slowly dropping as well as she moved about wherever she was. She wondered what was preventing her from speaking to her friend, was she simply out of range? She drew herself out of her thoughts as the Mockery cloud in front of her came to a stop, the little darlings swarming back into her satchel. Only Queenie remained outside, clambering onto her shoulder where Nephral usually sat. She reached up and stroked the little creature’s side, sensing its thoughtfulness. She wished she could understand what they said like Nephral could but she supposed knowing how they felt was enough.

Teyva inched her way toward a sudden turn in the wall, noting a faint glow coming from inside. She reached out to the mockeries and asked what they’d seen in there. Images of skeletons flashed in her mind, three of them. Two carried swords and one wore strange robes. Teyva frowned, a caster, typical. Her first time fighting without anyone to bounce ideas off of and her opponent could use magic. She had her armor, so she had some defense against magic. Given how ridiculous the difficulty curve had been so far she still wondered if it would be enough.

Teyva glanced up at the ceiling, it had to be at least twenty or even thirty feet high. Her lips widened into a wicked smile and she took several steps back and away from the opening into the room and looked for a nice open spot where some halls intersected. If this was how Paraklytus wanted to play, then she would go all in. She cast [Summon Behemoth]. A circle of runes and symbols appeared on the ground and began to glow as a hole opened up in the world and the grey-skinned monstrosity pulled its way free of where it had come from.

The creature looked down at its summoner, its massive frame looming over Teyva. It raised its dark clawed hands and placed them on the ground, leaning down to look her in the eyes. She reached out and touched its face, stroking its enormous cheek. “Hello darling, did you miss me?” She whispered only to get a grunt of affirmation in response. “I need you to do something for me, can you do something for mother?”

It bore its monstrous teeth in a wide smile and dipped its head in affirmation, she patted the side of its head and nodded, “Good boy, I need you to go into that room and smash the skeletons in there, can you do that?”

The smile turned into a wicked grin that looked a little too close to Teyva’s. She patted his nose and stepped aside, following him toward the opening. As soon as the Behemoth rounded the corner he drew in an enormous breath before releasing an ear-splitting howl. At once Teyva could see the skeletons turn in reaction to the noise. They drew their weapons up only to seem to realize their situation. In one leap the Behemoth crossed the distance between it and the soldiers, snatching one up and ripping it clean in half before slamming its fist down on another. Teyva strolled into the room, enjoying the show a little too much. She pitied the soldiers and what they’d gone through, but all she could do was visualize them as Paraklytus. It was a small catharsis.

After the Behemoth had thoroughly pulverized the skeletal mage, Teyva took a moment to take stock of her bearings. She pulled up her compass only to watch it spin in hapless confusion. Sighing, she pocketed the tool and glanced around the room. It appeared to be nothing more than a place to stop and rest while navigating the labyrinth. There were several benches as well as a fountain that poured a steady stream of clear water from the wall. Teyva snatched a trail bar from her inventory and gnashed it down, quietly bemoaning the messy eating habit that had developed from possessing pointed teeth. She scratched her head and glanced at the wall across from her and then to the opening on the opposite side of the chamber from where she’d come in.

She pointed at the wall, “Darling? Smash that for me, please?”

The Behemoth spun at once and rushed headlong at the wall, only to crash into it at full force and fall backward onto its back. It let out a pitiful and confused groan, its pallid chest rising and falling as it worked through the pain that it had just inflicted on itself. Teyva got to her feet and hurried over to his side, “Are you okay?” She asked, putting a hand on the dark mark on the Behemoth’s forehead. It let out a rumble of affirmative and tried to pull itself to its feet. Teyva put her hands on her hips and smiled at the creature as he righted himself into a sitting position, scowling at the impenetrable wall. “Don’t feel bad, it’s probably magicked or something,” She said. It huffed out an irritable breath and turned to look at her.

She glanced at her stamina and sighed, it was really time to take a break. Without Azrael there she’d have to depend on her summons to watch over her as she slept. She glanced toward the two entrances to the room and held out her hands, casting [Create Wall] on both of them until the passages were sealed. Satisfied, she made her way over to a bench and called out her mockeries. “Okay dearies,” She said, “I need you to watch over mommy tonight, keep an eye on the room.”

The mockeries crawled out onto her arms and peered up at her curiously. She smiled at them, “You cuties take turns watching and wake your big brother here and I up if anything happens, alright?”

With that, the mockeries scattered throughout the room, finding any possible space to occupy and remain hidden. For the most part, they crawled up to the ceiling, peering down through the gloom as Teyva made her way over to the sitting Behemoth and pulled herself up and into its lap. It peered down at her when she rested the back of her head against its chest. Her body felt so heavy, every bone ached from the endless fighting of the past four days. She needed sleep but she knew one night’s rest was not going to be enough to recover completely. It would restore her stamina, sure, but she’d come to realize her stamina and her body’s aches and pains were two very different things.

“I miss Azrael,” she muttered and looked up at the Behemoth, “You think she’s doing okay?”

She checked Azrael’s stats and saw that her health had dipped a little but was steadily climbing again along with her Stamina. Teyva chuckled, “Already asleep, huh? Quitter.”

She yawned as the Behemoth wrapped its arms gently around her frame, providing what warmth it could. She sighed, “Thank you dearie,” she mumbled and slipped off into a deep sleep.

Teyva woke to the frantic chattering of her Mockeries, the creatures shrieking into her mind, urging her to wake up. Disoriented, she struggled out of the Behemoth’s arms as the big monster roused with her. A loud crack of sound erupted somewhere nearby, her sense of direction skewed by the sudden awakening. She shook her head, the Mockeries seething bloodlust and she waved her hands helplessly, urging them to pin down the source of the disturbance while she came to her senses. A din of humming wings rose up around her, echoing in the room something let out an animalistic cry of pain before going silent beneath the raging storm of tiny mimics.

When Teyva finally came to her senses, she found herself staring at yet another horror this world had to offer her. The creature’s body was damaged significantly by the sudden attack by the Mockeries, but the dead thing was unmistakably a reptile of some kind. It had a long, slender body and two enormous eyes that skewed in various directions. It’s back and shoulders were covered in thick plates of stone that reminded Teyva of the material the walls were made of. It had a wide, flat head with a mouth that wrapped all the way around before rising in an eerie grimace. It’s feet had three toes each, all of them with what appeared to be pads designed for sticking to walls.

Teyva glanced at her stamina. She was back up to three quarters, not a full night’s sleep but it was something. She checked Azrael’s stats and found her friend’s little green bar was still filling slowly.

“Lucky duck,” Teyva grumbled, “I’ve got to get out of here.”