Magnir has been alive for several centuries, often idly watching the sun rise and set in a dreary and miserable existence. Under Morthybargaron, ‘lesser dragons’ like him were servants at best. While the curse was an open secret, even the lesser dragon males weren’t allowed to try to mate. Like everyone else, Magnir and Roeta lived in fear, enduring the rage of the three Greater Dragon males.
While it was miserable, it was only after meeting a particular human, who has lived less than a tenth of Magnir’s life, and yet, has wisdom and influence that goes far beyond even what the Red Lord coveted, but was too cowardly to ultimately seize. An irony, since he successfully managed to lure the majority of the feldroks into traps and eliminate them by betraying their trust. Had the Feral Feldrok, Lugrae as Hekate and Daniel have dubbed him, not been born powerful enough to become an instant apex predator, Morthybargaron would have conquered the Citadel and likely be half way through exterminating or enslaving the whole world.
Instead, Magnir is a knight trusted to stand and guard the Emperor of the Fievegal, a nation that Magnir himself is considered one of the trusted founding members of, even if he and Roeta are relatively low-ranking founding members.
Even now, as Magnir cautiously crawls with Daniel on his back towards the designated location the human gave him, he can’t help but look at the still-smoldering and heavily cloudy dust storms representing the aftermath of Daniel’s newest superweapons. Magnir, like the other dragons not including the Empresses, watched from the Citadel when Daniel slayed the Devourer a few hundred miles away.
These weapons seem less impressive on the surface, but the fact that he was able to come up with it in a matter of minutes when he became desperate to destroy Kernuules once and for all,... Magnir is reminded that he’s on the right side now. Even if he remains a soldier in service to the Fievegal, his station feels infinitely higher as long as he can keep Roeta by his side.
Magnir checks his back occasionally, even though he can easily feel Daniel’s weight. The curse monster that has been reported made another brief appearance, and it seemed to have a profound effect on Daniel, causing him pain. To his shame, Magnir was unable to do anything but keep flying forward, too terrified of the magic power of the creature to try to find a way to aid Daniel.
I must confess my sin to his Grace, as well as the Empresses and General Neith. I pray… this failure of mine doesn’t cause harm to Roeta or our egg…
Magnir swallows hard. He can’t tell what they’re approaching, because he used most of his mana bringing them as quickly as possible using a wind-rush spell that breaks drag on the avian predator and allows much easier flight.
Please forgive me, my Emperor… I will accept any punishment, but I beg for mercy for them at least.
“Something wrong, Magnir?” asks Daniel.
The dragon flinches and avoids eye contact. “I… I must apologize, my Liege…”
“What for? I thought that went quite well.”
“It’s… I felt it, but… I couldn’t… I couldn’t protect you…”
“Protect me?” asks the human, genuinely confused. He is riding on Magnir’s back like the latter is a beast of burden, but Magnir easily accepted the arrangement because it is the best way to have carried out this mission.
“The… creature…” He’s not sure how else to describe it.
“You mean… the lurker?” asks Daniel quietly.
Magnir nods. He would have said Kernuules if he mistakenly believed the blue dragon was referring to the woodland fiend they came to slay. The Jomsviking crawls over a felled tree that seems to have been knocked down by more natural means a long time ago, given the aging and growth around its trunk. His large reptilian form makes it easy to rapidly cover a lot of ground, even for as cautious as he’s being. And, his wings being folded in give Daniel a fair amount of cover from the sides and partially from the rear.
“To my shame, I was too much of a coward to do or say anything. I will accept punishment, your Grace, but… if I might beg for the life of Roeta and our child…”
Daniel chuckles, blown away by the suddenness. “Sorry, sorry. I know you’re being serious. But, don’t worry about it. You did nothing wrong.”
“But…”
“Geirahoel might say something, but she won’t hurt you. You kept me out of harm’s way and followed my instructions to a ‘T’. I can’t ask you for more, and the curse remains my fault.” Daniel’s tone shifts to more serious, “Instead, I’d rather you ponder reasons she would’ve acted that way as we get closer to the core.”
“‘Acted that way’, my Liege?” asks the dragon.
“Right. What was happening to me was in reaction to something about Kernuules. It seemed… agitated, to put it mildly.”
“I see…” murmurs the Einherjar. He's mindful of the fact that she could be listening, or she might not be. He can tell that his remaining mana feels a little weak, and when he looks, Daniel has Nemaisol freed from its locking ring once more.
Ah, good. Hopefully, Nemaisol’s power exceeds that of the curse. Though, I won’t be able to detect the core like this…
Daniel, seeming to understand without words needing to be said, remarks, “We’ll leave the Elder One conversation there for now. Just… If she responds again, please act accordingly. If I must be stowed in a void bag, you have my unrestricted permission to act as needed. Though, you’ll have better luck convincing the Empresses to do it instead.”
Magnir scoffs. “My Liege, please don’t put yourself in harm’s way during this mission. I don’t think my heart will take it.”
They both laugh together, and Daniel can hear the Empresses approaching thanks to Hekate calling out to him.
Thankfully, Daniel replies, “We should be close to the core. Keep your eyes peeled, Sir Magnir.”
“Of course, Sire.”
The Dragon cautiously looks ahead, scanning the area. Daniel pats his shoulder, saying, “Let me down. I’ll take a look under that cover.”
“Please wait for the Empresses, your Grace,” replies the blue male dragon as he leans down to let Daniel slide off of his back. “I would investigate in your stead, but I don’t have the mana to transform again right now.”
“I know, and I will.” Daniel sheathes Nemaisol, drawing his revolver as he steps out in front of Magnir.
“Daniel!” cries out Hekate as she dashes past the dragon to catch up to the Emperor. Magnir bows his head respectfully for a moment, but remains alert.
“Daniel, you shouldn’t go further!” complains Hekate. She grabs his arm and gently pulls on him to guide him back.
“What is it, Sweetpea?” asks the mechanic. He trusts Hekate, but he does also want to capture the core of Kernuules to ensure it can’t be recreated, since he’s fairly certain there is one.
“There’s something there! I don’t like it!” She looks into the small grotto Daniel was about to check, since Magnir is too big to enter between the trees without doing damage. As one might expect, the grotto looks especially twisted and alien compared to the more natural forest around them. The trees look somewhat sickly, but also as if they might come alive.
Reignleif and Geirahoel approach, with Baeka following them a little sheepishly. The dragon Empresses have mana to spare in most scenarios, so changing between their humanoid forms and their true forms is inconsequential to them.
The elder of the dragon women present remarks, “There is a chilling pressure coming from the grotto, Mukori. It’s similar to whatever lurks behind the sealed door in Shialvolgarro’s Hoard.”
“I have forgotten to address that door, haven’t I?” asks Daniel a little playfully.
“Whatever is behind there will need to be killed. Develop your weapons first,” remarks Geirahoel sternly. “This one was effective even in haste. I shudder to think anything could withstand a properly developed version of the Fiendbreakers.”
“Wouldn’t it destroy everything inside the Hoard?” asks Hekate.
“Th-That’s what I was thinking,” confirms Baeka a little sheepishly.
“Either way, we need to find Kernuules’s core and secure it,” replies Daniel. “My gut is telling me that’s what I saw, and it’s in there.”
“It’s not food,” retorts Geirahoel bluntly. “Your gut should not be guiding you.”
The mechanic sighs. “Just, trust me, Ladies. Please?”
They stare at him with disapproving expressions. Even Baeka doesn’t like the idea.
“We shall send Magnir,” retorts Geirahoel. She begins chanting, and she casts the transformation spell whether Magnir is ready or not. He flinches, but doesn’t object as he emerges from the misty-smoke of the spell in his human form. Thankfully, Neith’s armor is special in that it switches with its wearer.
Daniel asks, “What prevents our enemies from doing that to our own?”
The five natural-born denizens of Zenkon cock their heads almost in unison, giving the otherworlder a confused look.
Magnir realizes first that Daniel might not have been present when the very same strategy was used against the dragons who tried to transform mid-battle against Yaulwembor, only for the Faormyr to reverse the spell on them. “In general, the spellcaster performing the act would have to be stronger in magic than the target, which is why, regrettably, Yaulwembor was able to do it with ease. She’s arguably as strong or stronger than Her Greatness Hekate. Please take no offense, your Greatness.”
“None taken, Magnir. I think you’re right.”
Reignleif, picking up the conversation from the Jomsviking, explains with her soft voice, “Sir Magnir is correct, Mukori. And, it takes time to cast and must be targeted. It can be done, but is impractical in conflict. And, if the target resists the spell, it becomes harder to complete.”
Daniel nods. Their explanation was perfectly adequate for him. “Either way, I’ll cover Magnir.”
“No!” exclaim all four women present.
“I-I’m the lowest ranked. If anyone should accompany him…” starts Baeka.
“I won’t stand right beside him. Sir Magnir, Neith’s armor is durable enough, that the revolver won’t be able to penetrate. If you are attacked, I intend to open fire, if you’re alright with it.”
The dragon noticeably flexes his hands, balling them into fists briefly. He’s visibly nervous, even with his borrowed armor hiding his face. None of the Empresses criticize him, since one of them would never agree.
“You can refuse, Sir Magnir,” replies Daniel. “But, my armor is the same as yours.” Daniel turns the revolver on his own chest, and everyone flinches. The mechanic braces himself before anyone can react, and he fires directly into his own chest, ensuring the angle ricochets the bullet off to the side rather than straight into its own barrel, up into the chin of his helmet, or towards any of his companions.
Hekate and Baeka are forced to cover their ears, and Geirahoel flinches back while Reignleif lunges forward. The blue Empress disarms Daniel as he stumbles, but true to his word, his armor is unscathed, other than freshly polished scratches through the dirt, but newly stained with powder speckling and soot smearing across the surface around the scratches.
“Mukori, you fool!”
Daniel holds his hands up, trying not to provoke Reignleif, who yells at him for the first time since they met. She has never raised her voice like this, and he quickly apologizes. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Mukori! Please, let me explain!”
“Quickly, Mukori!” snaps Reignleif, while Geirahoel stares at him in horror. Magnir takes the revolver from Reignleif when she holds it out away from Daniel, never looking away from him.
The human Emperor keeps his voice as calm as possible to reassure everyone. “It’s a trust exercise. True, it wasn’t practiced this way on Earth, but I knew none of you would trust my armor or yourselves enough to do it.”
Magnir cautiously looks at the four women individually. Geirahoel, Baeka, and Hekate make eye contact with him, while Reignleif refuses to let go of or look away from Daniel.
Magnir doesn’t have the large, profoundly sensitive ears his Sovereign Empress has, nor the acute hearing of the young Mikadresselle. However, he can easily hear six heartbeats racing at only slightly different paces, all elevated, which includes his own.
Daniel is speaking calmly, but his heartbeat betrays him to everyone who can hear it, which is everyone present. The only one who can’t hear anyone else’s heartbeats right now, most likely, is the human himself.
Daniel adds carefully, “I am sorry. I just want you to know what the armor CAN take. This was absolutely the wrong place and time, but it’s also why I will be safe enough as long as you guys don’t let me take a direct hit by anything.”
“Done,” declares Reignleif angrily. Her voice is softening back to its usual tone by a little bit, but her simmering rage is almost palpable. The dragon takes Daniel’s right wrist with her left hand, and she makes it clear that she won’t be letting go as she stands fast. “Sir Magnir, use caution, and retreat as necessary. Hekate, Geira, and I will provide any covering attacks as you retreat.” She specifically emphasizes the women’s names while glaring at Daniel.
Geirahoel takes the mechanic’s left hand, adding in agreement, “Agreed. Use caution. Mukori’s mission privileges have been revoked.”
Magnir bows. “I shall obey, my glorious Empresses. My Liege, please forgive me for heeding the words of the Empresses in this matter.”
Hekate adds, “No need, Magnir. As the Empress, I agree with them. We’ll protect you and Daniel. Also, Baeka.”
Daniel nods, unable to refuse now that he scared them half-to-death once more, even though he knew the armor would hold.
“Can I at least have my revolver back?” asks Daniel. Magnir looks at the women, and Hekate defers to Reignleif. “He won’t need it. Just go and get this over with. We will need to scold Mukori again, it seems.”
Daniel sighs, though he can’t help but chuckle uneasily.
“This isn’t funny, Mukori,” growls Geirahoel. “Your idea was stupid. You did a stupid thing like a fool. Your privileges to act in a combat manner have been revoked. If you keep provoking us, that will become permanent.”
The human slumps slightly, but he replies, “I am sorry. I just wanted to prove that Magnir wouldn’t have to worry if I use the revolver to cover him, even if I have to shoot at him.”
Hekate slugs him lightly in the abdomen, and he coughs. “That was nothing, Daniel. You can still be seriously hurt, even if your armor can’t. So, stop being so brave. We can handle it. Magnir can handle whatever it is. You did your part, now let the rest of us do ours.”
Daniel lets out another long exhale, though he doesn’t present defiance or attitude. Instead, he turns his hands so he can hold Reignleif’s and Geirahoel’s, which they somewhat hesitantly allow, though both of them give him a warning scowl and squeeze his hands to remind him that he’s not getting out of it with sweet words or kind gestures. “I guess I just wanted to be a typical main character and do everything.” They aren’t very amused by his joke, from what Magnir can tell, and he cautiously stalks towards the grotto. Since he has it, and it is extremely powerful even without magic, Magnir keeps the revolver aimed ahead of him. He keeps in mind that he only has five bullets remaining, since it was taken from Daniel before he could reload the one he spent on his ‘trust exercise’.
How very strange. And, did my Liege seriously ponder it as an option for even a moment that one of us would perform it on him? Magnir shakes his head, a bit bemused by his Emperor. He even gave Magnir permission to stow him inside a void bag under the assumption he would be grievously wounded and need a gathering of non-magic healers to treat him, which are a scarcity in a world where magic healing, if the victim is lucky enough to receive healing, is the norm.
I’m glad the Empresses are here. I can’t help but think the Emperor is trying to get me killed… This thought causes the male blue dragon to chuckle at himself.
As Magnir approaches the small opening through the twisted bramble of brush towards the rock formation with signs of a pool of water being inside, he can’t shake the eerie feeling the women described. Like Hekate said, there is a chilling, almost sinister feel to the grotto. Magnir was never allowed near the secure door of the Dragon’s Keep, but even then, there was a low level eeriness that any dragon could feel coming from beyond that seemingly unbreachable barrier.
And, the small secluded area ahead of him hidden deep in the forest feels like the kind of place that he might not come back out of.
As he gets closer, the pressure increases. He glances cautiously over his shoulder, and Geirahoel says seriously, “We will not leave you to die, Magnir.”
“Yeah, and we won’t use a Fiendbreaker until we can get your body out first!” adds Hekate confidently.
The male dragon scoffs. “Yes. Please don’t scatter me across the landscape, your Greatness. I’d prefer to die whole, if possible, instead of fertilizer for the forest.”
The other laugh, but Magnir doesn’t feel much relief. The closer he gets, the more his heart races. Yes, he’s already on edge from watching Daniel perform his cavalier ‘exercise’, but the feeling coming out of the grotto truly does feel like it can snatch away the dragon’s soul.
He swallows hard, trying to take one more step as he reaches the entrance.
Whooom!
It’s not wholly audible like the shockwaves of Daniel’s superweapons or explosives, but energy races over Magnir suddenly, and he can’t help but lurch back. Almost simultaneously, the four women also react to the energy wave, with Baeka’s tail and fur patches on her arms and cheeks noticeably standing on end. Geirahoel and Reignleif have jumped back, dragging Daniel and causing a cracking sound from inside of his armor. And, Hekate panics and dashes behind Daniel, squeezing in when the two dragons somewhat instinctively fall behind Daniel after he stumbles to a stop.
“Magnir! Get back!” cries out Hekate.
She doesn’t have to repeat herself on his behalf. Magnir jogs back towards the group, keeping the revolver aimed at the grotto. His eyes dart all around the twisted trees and brush, searching for any signs of movement.
The wave that passed over them all was nothing short of what Magnir would describe as pure malice. Evil and Hatred came together to grant life to something terrible.
“Let us retreat and summon another Fiendbreaker,” remarks Reignleif. Ironically enough, with exception of Magnir, everyone is hiding behind Daniel as much as they can, crowded together as they are. And, in direct contrast to everyone else, the Jomsviking included, Daniel is the only one who seems unfazed. He clearly didn’t feel the wave of sinister force that surged forth. Whatever it is lurking within the dark hollow knows they are present, and isn’t keen on welcoming them.
“That’s not an option,” replies the human as he steps forward, gently taking the revolver by the barrel and cylinder to claim it from the male dragon, who is visibly shaking.
Just being bumped by the weak human is enough to startle Magnir, and he snaps his gaze to Daniel. “I’ll handle it.”
“““Daniel!?””” yell his companions simultaneously, including Baeka.
“We JUST got done talking about this!” snaps Geirahoel.
“I won’t allow it!” adds Reignleif sternly. Still, they are too afraid to actually step forward to reach him.
Magnir understands. If Daniel could feel what just scratched at all five of the Zenkon natives’ souls, he would strongly consider using the Godkiller instead of the Fiendbreakers.
“M-My Liege,...” adds Magnir fearfully, while Hekate remains speechless, trembling as she hugs her tail in front of her. She keeps glancing between the grotto and Daniel, who is unyielding in his posture.
Baeka tries her luck dissuading him. “D-Daniel, you can’t. The thing that is in there…”
It’s then that Magnir finally notices Daniel’s subtle movements. The mechanic’s helmet hides his expression, and his armor does make some of his body language less noticeable. But, he is wincing in pain. He is favoring his right forearm at his chest, keeping it out of sight of the women, but that’s not the only thing. He’s moving in the same way as when the Shadow was distressing him. His right hand balls into a fist and releases several times.
Daniel takes a breath and exhales. “I made a promise,” growls the human quietly. Again, it’s the same tone he had when he muttered the word ‘[Silence]’ in his mother tongue.
The Shadow? Why does it care so much about the core and Kernuules? Will… Will Daniel be harmed by this? What do I do?
“M-Magnir! Stop him!” cries out Reignleif. His own feet are stuck to the ground, and he glances at the dragon Empress, who is also too afraid to step forward.
Daniel says gently, “Don’t be afraid. If Kernuules could regenerate, he already would have.”
The mechanic stalks towards the grotto, and he makes it to the entrance without needing to slow down.
Magnir does his best, gritting his teeth tightly to the point that his gums hurt and his jaw feels like it might break if he applies any more pressure. He can taste faint traces of his own blood. However, even the pain can barely drive off the fear still coiled around his racing heart.
Daniel is cautious, but he’s not nearly as afraid.
Magnir sparks his teeth, igniting a pilot flame. Daniel looks over his shoulder when the crackling starts, and Magnir jogs towards the mechanic.
Daniel explains as the dragon makes a beeline for him, “If I don’t stop it now, Kernuules will go into hiding, and we’ll never see it again until it ambushes us once more. Please, permit me, my beloved Empresses. Trust me, and I’ll destroy what makes you afraid.”
Magnir stops right in front of Daniel, and both of them look at the women, who are still gathered several yards away.
Geirahoel’s face is pale, and her mouth is hanging open as her lips tremble. She finally looks away, unable to answer. Reignleif clutches her hands in front of her, rubbing them nervously, also unable to answer.
Baeka holds her own answer, since she’s not an Empress, and she’d rather not be the only one to say whatever it is she wants to say.
Hekate closes her eyes, gritting her sharp teeth together. Tears start to fall from her eyes, and she whines, “D-D-Daniel… I… I’m scared…”
“I know, Hekate. But, it doesn’t have the strength to fight back. Not meaningfully. So, please. I don’t want it to get away.”
Hekate’s ears lay flat, and her expression is pained.
“...ll it…” mumbles the teen.
“What?” asks Daniel. Even Magnir didn’t hear what she said because her tone was so quiet and mouse-like.
With tear-glistening eyes, Hekate cries out, “Kill it, Daniel! I trust you, so kill it! Please!”
Daniel’s shoulders relax, and he nods. “Thank you. I will.”
He ducks into the grotto, and Magnir can’t take a step further. Just one more step puts him at the range that triggered the wave, which is still pressing out malicious energy even now, which is why none of the five magic-sensitive denizens of the world can overcome the fear.
Magnir felt the Feral Feldrok’s presence only once, and he was forced to flee by his instincts.
The Feral Feldrok wasn’t evil.
He doesn’t know why, but Magnir is certain that whatever lies within the grotto truly is the source of the Devil of the Wood.
And, the weakest among them is the one who went in to face it.
***
It has a sort of shrill tone, but it’s distinctly the sound of something growling in warning. It doesn’t quite sound right, but it does remind Daniel a bit of a racoon fighting with another animal. It makes a sort of high pitch snarl, and then a wailing bark-like yell.
Daniel grips the revolver even more tightly in his left hand. He’s pretty sure Reignleif nearly broke his right wrist when she panicked and retreated the same moment as everyone else. She definitely strained his shoulder, so he’s going to have to be careful of his right arm for now.
The mechanic is mindful of the fact that his solid backpack has ripcords on either side of it to activate the teleportation function, which means he’ll have to be prepared to abandon his revolver in order to either draw Nemaisol or escape if he’s going to cautiously favor his right arm and wrist.
“Be careful, Daniel. It doesn’t have much residual mana of its own right now, but I think it may prove to be scrappy…”
Can you tell what it is?
“No. Something’s wrong with it. Would you like to see what you think?”
Before Daniel can answer, which he was going to refuse anyways, since his head still hurts from the first time she shared magic vision with him, the yellow glow shifts, and so does the snarling.
The human is comfortable with firearms, and he has decent grouping when firing handguns and in quick succession. However, he’s right handed by nature, and his opponent as one thing far exceeding the relatively average human from Earth.
Agility.
The creature with a yellow glow emanating from it all but streaks from its seclusion around the corner to a point central on the wall, and Daniel doesn’t even get a solid look at it before it launches itself towards him with a shrill wail.
BOOM!
Daniel’s revolver thunders as he tries to snap his aim onto his fast moving target, but he misses above and to its right.
For a moment, his heart nearly stops. His peripherals briefly convince him that it’s Hekate he just took a shot at, but he is quickly reminded that it’s impossible. She’s outside and too afraid to come near the yellow-glowing fiend’s core.
Or rather, the creature that turns into Kernuules, apparently, if Daniel’s instincts aren’t wrong.
He is tackled by a weight comparable to a child, and his footing gives in spite of his attempts to block the beast, which has razor sharp claws and glistening teeth. It also has a ragged, but somewhat bushy tail and protrusions from its back that Daniel thought were extra arms.
He doesn’t have time to assess the rest of its appearance as it claws and bites at his throat. The water splashes as he lands on his back. He narrowly manages to shove his right arm in under the creature’s neck, holding its head back from reaching his neck as its foreclaws slash at his armor, hooking joints and corners of the plating. Sparks fly, but he can tell the monster is roughly the strength of a dog, or even a fox from Earth; able to do damage and throw its weight around, but far below the typical monstrous beings of Zenkon that he has been dealing with regularly.
Golden amber eyes burn brightly deep inside sunken sockets of its canine-like skull. Daniel catches its lower jaw with his armored hand, and it chews on his fingers, thrashing its head as much as possible to escape his grip while its talons continue to try to tear his shell away. Daniel groans and grunts from the pain in his wrist and shoulder, which are somewhere between annoying and excruciating, but not as bad as he initially feared.
The wayward technician presses the barrel of the revolver to the underside of the creature’s jaw, firing a second time.
BOOM!
Something feels off, but the shot successfully drives the creature to flail off of Daniel, splashing violently through the water as it shrieks. In spite of the point blank shot to its head, the beast is still energetic and violent, already thrashing back to its feet as the human scrambles to his own. He can tell his backpack took on water with the additional weight, but he’ll have to compensate if he doesn’t want to get pinned down. The Emperor can hear Magnir call out, “My Lie-...”
The dragon is cut off by what Daniel can only surmise to be some sort of grunt or other similar guttural sound that he can barely hear.
Particularly because the strange mammalian creature pounces at Daniel again.
In spite of the splashes of water, Daniel gets a moderate look at it this time.
It almost certainly resembles a fox, but it has some sort of bony appendages protruding from its back and containing segments and ‘fingers’, but no webbing or feathers like wings.
Still, his view of it is only fleeting, and it dashes towards him violently, the yellow glow coming from somewhere on its body sparkling in the light.
This time, Daniel maintains his footing, catching the creature and hugging it to his torso as he stumbles backwards to stay on his feet and move towards the exit.
“I’m coming out!” calls out Daniel, unsure if they’ll hear him over the frantic snarling and shrieking of the violent monster attacking the mechanic.
During the onslaught, the human finally realizes two very important, very peculiar details about the creature he is almost certain is the core of Kernuules.
The first is that the creature isn’t bleeding, in spite of the grievous wound he just gave it. Otherwise, blood would be raining all over his helmet and visor with its violent thrashing, as well as tainting the water.
The second thing Daniel can’t ignore is that the creature isn’t just emaciated. From what he can tell just by brief glimpses when his vision isn’t blocked by gashing teeth, glowing amber eyes, or deadly claws, the creature almost literally meets the definition of ‘skin and bones’. Its patchy fur adds to this appearance, looking sickly in shades of black and grey, with flashes of green and brown from what Daniel sees.
He notices his armor turning black, rather than the normal amorphous, faintly titanium-rainbow hue it typically becomes under the presence of magic. The way the color is shifting matches the means by which it changes colors from mana, but he hasn’t seen black except…
No… Radioactive? But… Then, how could Kernuules even form?
Daniel doesn’t have time to think about it. He wrestles the monster outside, and he notices a spot on the ground where Magnir was forced to expel the contents of his stomach.
“Daniel!? What is that!?” calls out Magnir.
“Our core!” replies Daniel. Under the moonlight, the creature’s sparse fur seems to capture the glow, and the magic sensitive companions in Daniel’s group keep a hefty distance. The ladies have moved even further away, and Hekate and Geirahoel are holding each other as they watch in horror.
Is it the radiation? Is that what’s…
“Not just radiation, Daniel,” replies Kaeralegier’s voice. “This… creature… It truly is an abomination…”
Daniel struggles just to keep any control over the struggling and flailing little beast. Its snarls and wails are piercing, and no one else can get close to it, apparently, for fear of being overwhelmed by actual nausea.
Daniel throws himself forward in a body slam, quickly scrambling to shift his right hand to pin the monster down by its neck and aim the revolver with his left at its head again.
Whatever it is, Zombie Extermination 101 says to aim for the head. And, even if it’s a werewolf or vampire, scrambling its brains with a bullet similar to a .500 nitro round should at least disorient it briefly.
“Spirits and ancestors…” murmurs Magnir in horror, and Daniel glances at him. The dragon is staring at the monster, which is clawing violently at Daniel’s right arm. When he looks again, his own stomach drops.
While it looks truly monstrous due to its skeletal, zombie-like appearance, big fox-like ears protrude from its skull, which somewhat resembles that of a werewolf, as Daniel would describe it. It indeed possesses skeletal wings, long having lost their webbing, but truly unmistakable.
After all, Daniel has seen an adult version of this creature already.
Though it has blemishes that detract from the truth, this violent, thrashing little creature can be nothing other than a member of the most powerful race of beings in the world of Zenkon.
The devilish core of Kernuules, and possibly Kernuules itself, is undeniably an adolescent feldrok.
***