The-female-who-was-not-Needle turned and made noises at the Staring One; he was doing what he did best: staring. Hopefully listening, too. We were running out of ti.
This isnt a vision of the future, sir. Its sothing that is happening right now. One of the Guards must have taken a Totem with them; it wouldnt be the first ti that the Little Guardian was attracted to a Totem-bearer in need. Though I have to say, it looks like they have even more effects than we thought, if he can show us sothing like this, not-Needle said. Worth noting.
I didnt see any indication of where we could find them, though. They could be trapped in any of the nearby tunnels, the Staring One responded. I was really regretting that the giant Coreless wasnt holding onto a Totem. It would have made finding out if he was going to take to my trapped Coreless far easier. Instead, I settled for slithering towards the one Coreless that was certain to have so understanding of what was going on.
I think the little guy knows, not that he can tell us. Still, I can probably - she cut herself off with a startled yelp as I leapt off of the slab of darkwood that I had been resting on, sticking to her ore-flesh with an application of [Clinging Grasp] before working my way back to my customary perch. Well, looks like I dont need to grab him; hes ready to go. Its probably best to just take him out of Orken and see where he leads us from there. The-female-who-was-not-Needle turned her head towards the moving-wall that marked the nests exit, slipping the Totem she held around her neck. It fell against her skin of ore-flesh, taking away the emotion-sense I had of her the mont it lost contact with her natural flesh.
The Staring One nodded towards the other Coreless of the nest. Counciln and Councilwon, I apologize for the inconvenience. We will have to reconvene after this has been handled.
Of course, Captain Wren. And if those Guardsn really are in trouble right now as your Seeker suspects, I think well have sothing new to discuss.
That we will. I turned to watch as the Staring One swept up the few Totems that remained free of bearers. The mont that his fingers touched a Totem, I felt a powerful thought-hiss of emotion; a mix of negatives and positives, of worry and fear mixed with determination and promise, all bound up within a casing of iron-clad will.
[RESOLVE]
Ill be taking these for now. If so of those Guards are as injured as they appeared to be, a calming aura might be the thin barrier that stands between themselves and panic. He made a slightly pained noise. May have to amputate that leg, if its bad enough.
A few of the other Coreless paled. Maybe they all did, but I couldnt see very far past the Staring One with the nests lack of light. He turned to follow as the-female-who-was-not-Needle swept past him, trailing us past the moving-wall and out into the open air of the many-nest. He sighed, exhaling a deep breath of air. Youre faster than , Valera, and that might an the difference here. Mark the tunnels that you end up taking; Ill see about gathering up so n so that we can dig out and bring back the wounded. Hopefully, so of the other Seekers are back from their hunts by now. If not, well make do with what I can get. Go.
Sir, not-Needle nodded and looked towards the many-nests edge, where I knew the not-sinks waited for us. Her muscles tensed. I gripped tight, reapplying [Clinging Grasp] just in case.
A mont later, as the world began to blur by, I was thankful that we did.
===
As frustrating as communicating with the Coreless had been, being carried by the-female-who-was-not-Needle more than made up for the wasted ti. She dashed through tunnels on long limbs and fast feet; occasionally, she would be forced to slow down at a split in the tunnels, unsure where to go. When that happened, I would use [Illusion Spark] to flash a light in the right direction. She would mark sothing on the wall for a mont, and we would be off.
With that in mind, it didnt take long to get close enough to see the broken tunnel.
Shit.
Not-Needle threw herself down at the base of the rubble that blocked the tunnel, fingers desperately searching for a way through; a stone that could be shifted, a rock that could be removed. She found none.
Fuck!
I didnt need a Totem to sense her frustration.
...is soone out there? Please; Oh Skies above, is soone actually out there? a voice spilled through the cracks in the barrier, muffled and only barely audible. There was a crash sowhere on the other side, far louder than the voice had been. An agonized scream followed, worming through the cracks.
The sound seed to energize not-Needle; she scraped and scoured at the stones with a renewed desperation, searching for anywhere that would give.
Hold on! she shouted, heedless of the way that the noise bounced around in the tunnel. Well get you out of there!
She wedged a fang between two stones, using her weight in an attempt to leverage them apart. For a mont, the stones held - until, at last, there was movent. The space between the fallen stones widened.
Barely anything; a space that was only large enough for a few of the Coreless giant fingers.
It was more than enough for . I slipped through, leaving the-female-who-was-not-Needle behind so that she could continue to work at the stones. I didnt have a way to shift them. My job was different.
The world behind the wall of stone was much like what I had already seen. There was the corpse of a bad-thing; giant and crushed, yet still sohow intimidating. There was the injured Coreless, one with a leg crushed beneath fallen stone, while others suffered from their own scrapes and bruises. There was the vibrating wall, cracking from the strain of holding back the bad-things that threw themselves against it, causing dust to filter down to the floor.
And then, finally, there was my Coreless.
She was easy to find. Even if I hadnt followed the Totem to her, hadnt seen it strung around her neck, I would have recognized her. I would have recognized her by the way that she looked at .
It was the sa look that my tiny Coreless gave each ti I ca for them, the one that inevitably sent their fingers questing towards a [Little Guardians Totem]. I sunk my fangs into the connection, sensing hints of her emotions through the Totem.
[relief/wonder/hope]
Are you she said, trembling. Are you the Little Guardian that Anna ntioned? It was true? Is this real?
[hesitance/worry/fear]
My Coreless always seed shocked the first ti; as if, though they saw , they still couldnt believe that I had co.
It was probably pointless. I didnt know what the sounds ant, and there was no real reason to suffer the pain of forming them - but so of those noises seed familiar. I heard it often, spilling from the lips of my tiny Coreless, nearly every ti they looked at . The sa ones that I had heard when she was nothing but terror, panic, and desperation.
And so, despite the pain, I did it anyway. It didnt cost mana, or light, or anything else that I truly needed. It cost nothing more than so pounding in my head-scales.
I hissed, drawing on [Sound Shaping] one more ti, hoping that the sounds that I was making would be the ones she needed to hear. The pain spiked. The noise warped.
If the stories are real, please save us. Please find us, Little Guardian, the Coreless own voice seed to say.
She froze, palming her Totem with both hands now, causing it to sing with her raging emotions.
[RELIEF/WONDER/HOPE]
The stone beside vibrated again, cracking slightly under the force applied against it. I turned, hissing all the while. Though it had worked, doing that had been stupid. Painful.
My head-scales pounded, and the racket of the bad-things was only making it worse, causing my anger to spike. It made want to sink my fangs into their flesh; to do anything that might stop the constant crashing against the walls. That was fine, I guessed. They had tried to steal one of my Coreless from ; I would need to deal with them anyway.
I found a gap in the wall; barely anything, really.
It was more than enough for .
I slipped through.
Reviews
All reviews (0)