The second one leaped at her, landing short. She slid backward defensively, avoiding the forward swipe of its claws. She swayed her head, fangs bared, and let out a menacing hiss, daring him to try to take her head on.
The bitten rat tried to pounce and latched on when her dodge was mistimed. But something was wrong with it–it let go of her without even biting or clawing at her. Instead, it stumbled and collapsed; it was gasping, foaming at the mouth, and spasming.
That was new. Had she gotten her venom directly in a major vein or artery? The other rat took the opening and sliced at her, teeth gnashing. One grazing claw cut her scales, drawing blood on the side of her upper body. The stinging pain went deep and radiated downward. Her attempt to counterattack hit nothing but air.
The rat’s fur bristled, and its eyes flared with an internal light. A deafening shriek escaped its body, and it surged forward, moving faster and more erratically, its tail twitching. She rolled with the impact and tried to squeeze her body around it, trying to tie down its limbs with the coils of her body.
Its jaw snapped down dangerously close to her. She tried to return the favor, but her fangs got stuck in the matted fur. She clenched down and tried to rock her body, trying to throw it off balance. Its claws scratched and clawed her, opening wounds.
She reared back and finally bit down on a forelimb, hearing it shriek. Within seconds, its paw went limp, but it was still in this fight to the death. She twisted her body to constrict its neck, keeping those deadly teeth away.
I’m higher on the food chain, not you, rat! She felt genuine fear and fury coursing through her, heart pulsating with an unusual strength. This rat didn’t care what she did to it. It was going down fighting, pushing back with a strength that defied its body size.
She heard a scream of rage. Out of her peripheral vision, the girl lunged toward the rat, driving the glinty object deep into its side, thrusting with all her might. It screeched and recoiled in pain, slashing out with frenzied claws and ignoring Neska. But the girl didn’t relent, stabbing again, and again, and again, screaming.
The rat couldn’t bear the multiple blows. It finally fell on its side, and Neska slid her body away from it, fangs bared against this still-dangerous foe. It tried to rise on trembling limbs, then collapsed; her venom had taken its toll. The rat spasmed, foaming from bloodied jaws. That unnerving rattle continued for several seconds.
Then, its body stiffened, and the creature drew no more breath.
Neska let out her breath in panting gasps. That had been too close. She peered up at the girl, hugging her knees and trembling, tears coming from her eyes. The bloodied dagger, barely more than a toy, lay discarded by her side. Ragged claw marks from the rat ran along her arms.
A searing pain struck Neska, radiating from her skull, all the way down her body. Several messages appeared as that searing pain continued, the worst pain she’d ever felt, like being stabbed all over with tiny needles.
Interface Partial Unlock Complete.
Experience Gained. Ravager Rats (3) defeated.
Level increased: ??? → 1
Ability gained: Enhanced Venomous Bite (Venom, Piercing, Physical). Launch a piercing bite at a target, inflicting initial venom damage, and additional damage over time.
Ability gained: Coiled Strike (Physical, Evasion, Momentum). Coil your body to make a strike with your fangs or your tail, dealing physical damage. Can be combined with other attacks. Damage increases with contact velocity.
ERROR: SOUL SHELL INCOMPLETE. MANA CORE REQUIRED.
ERROR: SOUL SHELL INCOMPLETE. CLASS ROOT SEED REQUIRED.
Initial Attributes pending Soul Shell error resolution.
Initial Titles pending Soul Shell error resolution.
The horrible pain receded, and the bright spots in her vision slowly faded. The world came back into focus, and she felt disoriented. What…what on Galwein did I just see? Oh, I feel awful.
She peered down at herself, expecting to see she’d been badly wounded–except that the wounds she’d received had scabbed over. The pain was present, but she was no longer bleeding. The girl next to her, sobbing, finally peeked over her huddled knees, looking at Neska, eyes wary.
Neska bowed her head. I'm not like them. I’m not a monster. Please believe that.
Then, the girl sniffled and spoke in a choked-up voice. “T-Thank you. You s-saved me,” the girl whispered between sobs. Neska had no strength left to protest when the girl gently picked her up and held her in her arms, sitting down several feet from the dead rats.
Neska gently wound around the girl's arms, trying to reassure her. Thank you for trusting me, child.
She heard distant shouts nearby, but the girl didn’t rise from her position. One was a somewhat familiar, deeper-voiced female.
“Belle! Belle, I’m coming!” she heard the woman scream out. Neska craned her body weakly to see a woman with dark hair in simple laborer’s gear sprinting at full speed from the direction of the town, limbs pumping and a dagger in hand, expecting anything. It was the girl's mother.
The other voice, she knew intimately.
“Neska! Neska, are you okay?!”
She’d never heard Risha terrified. Not once. Not like this. The witch’s hat flew off as she sprinted to her and the child, currently sniffling softly. Risha skidded over and first kicked the rats away, dagger out as if unsure if they were still alive. The lack of response assured her, then she knelt to examine the girl. “Genna, she’s okay!”
The woman arrived a few seconds later, dagger in hand, and recoiled when she saw Belle’s state, then Neska. “Belle, put that thing down! Risha, your bleeding snake–”
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“S-saved me from them,” Belle mumbled between tears, pointing a shaky hand toward the rats. The mother's expression softened as the words hit home, and she glanced down at the weapon clenched in her hand. Her hand slipped twice as she tried to put it back in the sheath.
Risha gently took Neska out of Belle’s hands, cradling her in her lap, while she reached down for a vial on her belt, filled with a bright red fluid. She then extended it to the mother. “Genna, here. Health potion, pour half of it on her wounds. It disinfects and regenerates injuries. Have her drink the other half.” Even rattled, Risha gave calm instructions, and the mother’s hand stopped trembling as she grabbed the potion.
Neska gazed up at Risha, her face filled with palpable relief. “I’m just glad you’re okay. That was stupid of me. So, so stupid. Those monsters got so close, past the patrol lines, past my wards, even. What the hell was the garrison in town doing, taking a smoke break?” she asked to no one in particular.
She clenched her teeth and said no more as she inspected Neska’s body for any injuries. She dabbed the red fluid from another bottle onto the scabs. Neska let out a soft hiss of pain as the wounds itched and started to close up.
Neska looked over to see the wounds starting to close on Belle’s arms after she sipped the potion. Genna looked up at the witch, her eyes red and bleary. “Risha…my little girl is alive because of your snake. Thank you.”
She pointed at the rats, finger trembling, and her eyes were little more than dark flashes. “Those damn things…They just take and take, and take more, every year.”
“Not all monsters act with malice, Genna. Some are just trying to survive. But not these.” Risha put a reassuring hand on Genna’s shoulder, and her expression softened. “I have to ask a favor.”
“W-what do you need?”
“You and Belle need to leave. Go south, to your folks in the Thistle River Junction. Go with the biggest group of travellers you can, and go armed.” Risha glanced around warily. “I can’t guarantee safety anymore. They got past my wards. Something either terrified those rats enough to drive them past them, or the wards are failing. I don’t think it’s the latter.”
“Risha, you just want me to…leave?”
Risha reached over and clenched her shoulder firmly. “I know things, Genna. I’ve known I’ve been working against an invisible clock, long before I came to Peolein. If you don’t pack up, you might not get a chance after this to leave before…”
She gazed north, toward drifting smoke–the army encampment, and beyond, far beyond the horizon, a land steeped in death. The ruins of the empire of Arivol. “Before something terrifying happens,” she finished. “I’m not speaking of bad omens, I’m talking about real dangers that are on the move.”
Genna cradled her daughter in her arms, whispering comforting words. The girl's sobbing had lessened somewhat. Neska craned her neck to grab the soft stuffed doll the girl had been carrying, and nudged Genna’s arm. The woman looked at her with moist cheeks and bleary eyes, and slowly took the doll.
“We’ll leave as soon as we’re able. You gonna tell others?”
“Just you for now. Dead monsters attract…other unpleasant elements, as it were.” Risha gazed toward town and held Neska tightly. “Do you need help?”
“No.” Genna rose, with Belle rising shakily to her feet, clinging to her mother. “Risha, you’ve always been an oddity, if not kind. But I know a good woman when I see one.”
She started to lead Belle back to the house past the treeline, but the little girl stopped and walked up to Risha and Neska, hugging them. “Not all monsters are bad, are they?”
“They are not, child. Many fight for us and protect us.” Risha swallowed uncomfortably. “The Awakened…may be our best hope.”
That was the first time Risha had ever brought it up on her own volition. Something fundamental had changed. Is it me? Or something else? She had been worried even before now.
The little girl eventually let her soft hug lapse, and her mother carried her in her arms, speaking assurances quietly. After they were just past the trees, Neska heard other shouts–possibly others drawn by the noise from a different angle.
Risha let out a shaky exhale and set Neska down, convinced she was alright. “Neska, can you move? We have some things to talk about. They're important.” The baleful look she cast at the deceased rodents suggested these monsters were part of the topic.
I can. But you owe answers, too. Neska gave a soft flick of her head as Risha knelt next to grab her hat, giving it a quick dusting before settling it back on her hair. Two boys nearing adulthood and their father ran to the clearing, weapons drawn.
“Where's the threat? We just saw Genna carrying Belle, said there were monsters! But–”
Risha pointed at the monstrous rats. “That was all of them. But I cannot guarantee there will not be more. Get their cores if they have them. Then I’m burning the bodies.”
The father, holding a hatchet as though he had recently split wood, tipped his straw hat. “Seekers ought to know about this.”
“They normally should, but I prefer they don't. Ravager rats barely have enough intelligence to attack competently. They did not slip through by accident.”
The boys glanced at each other nervously, while the father grunted, not responding to the implication. “Alright. Gut them, get their cores, boys. Assuming they're mature enough for one.”
Risha had turned and was already headed back to the shop as the boys complained about cutting into the dead beasts. Neska didn't disagree. Even if she could, she wouldn't eat them. There was something foul with them.
The trip back to the shop seemed to take far longer than she remembered. The ache of the claws from those rats settled on her body like phantom pains.
Upon entering, Risha closed and locked the door. Then she dimmed the glowing crystal by the window, indicating her shop was closed. Her stoicism lasted for about five seconds longer before she slumped against the door, rubbing her temples. “Neska, your Interface is active, isn't it?”
We’re not going to talk about how that little girl could have died? Or that you knew I had an Interface active? What even is this thing?!
She was furious. But the weary glance Risha gave her made her pause. Neska slid her way to the counter, up the convenient ramp, so she could see at eye level with the witch, coiling her body lightly. She tapped her tail on the table. Well, let's start.
Risha reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled paper. It was none other than Neska's first words. For the first time in a long time, Neska saw a genuine smile on Risha’s face, not the faint, forced one she’d always observed. “You are Awakened, Neska. This is both the moment I’ve been hoping for…and the moment I’ve dreaded.”
The witch pulled out her notebook and drew out a mechanical pen–this one with a self-contained ink source. She drew two words, then laid them flat on the counter. Yes and no were legible. She tapped the page with her finger in front of Neska. “If you can read this, and you can understand it, tap ‘yes’ with your tail or snout.”
I could just say ‘no’, which would paradoxically indicate I can read and understand it. Decisions, decisions…I’m still mad at you, Neska thought, staring upward with an unblinking gaze. She wagged her tail back and forth gently, while Risha furrowed her brow.
“I know. I know. I haven’t told you what I should have a long time ago. This truth was coming out eventually.” Risha leaned in closer, eyes glimmering. “You’re not like other snakes. But you are not a monster. Don’t ever let anyone believe that, most important of all, yourself. Okay?”
She is going to cry if I don’t answer. Neska tapped ‘yes’, and Risha smiled proudly.
“You can read. I thought as much. I suspected you did, based on your strange habits of hovering on my neck while I worked, peering at the pages.” Risha flipped the page over and scratched in the alphabet, plus yes/no. “Neska, a few important things, first, before I say anything else. Do you have any memories of anything unusual? Anything at all that seems…out of place?”
I…don’t think so? What does that even mean? She shook her head and tapped ‘no’ for now. The knowledge of reading had come quickly, and she knew from Risha that children spent a few years learning the basics. She’d done it in far less time.
But learning speed wasn’t the same as knowledge. Risha took a steady breath. “Neska, I need you to remain calm when I tell you this next part. I want you to know that what happened…was your choice. The choice was always in your hands.”
Choice of what? What is going on? What does being Awakened have to do with me knowing things I shouldn’t, as a snake? Has the answer stared me in the face the whole time? But she knew she wanted the answer, more than anything. Risha’s fingers clenched onto the edge of the table, yet she spoke with resolve, her voice steady.
“The Awakened are reconstituted souls, inserted into the young of monsters to help us fight the Varadur–the collective of the invaders.”
Then, the second blow came before she could recover or react.
“You were killed by monsters a year ago. I brought you back for a chance to make a difference.”