Addendum to Victor 8b

Hey all - I figured since I'm only promising one chapter a week, I shouldn't leave people on a cliffhanger. I finished the scene with the creepy thing in the corner:

Thanks! 

-Plum

Victor stepped back behind the crumbled doorway, his heart racing. What the hell was going on? He peeked around again, staring at Thayla. Was she breathing? He thought he could see her chest moving ever so slightly. “Victor! Hurry!” her voice called from the far corner again. Should he run and try to get Captain Lam or the others? What if Thayla was dying? What if that thing was slowly choking her or draining her life away? His mind began to run away, imagining all sorts of horrifying scenarios.

“Gorz, any idea what’s happening?”

“No, Victor. I’m sorry.” Victor wished he could see better, but neither his little light nor Thayla’s could reach that far corner. Then it hit him—his light spell! He didn’t want to send a rage-attuned light in there, though. He concentrated on his Enraging Orb spell, turning his mind inward so he could focus his will on holding back his red rage Energy. When he saw the spell pattern start to form, he pushed some inspiration-attuned Energy toward it and was pleased when a white-gold orb of brilliant light began to form above his outstretched hand.

***Congratulations! You’ve learned the spell: Globe of Insight - Basic.***

***Globe of Insight - Basic: You create an orb of inspiration-attuned Energy that will help those within its radiance see the potential in their surroundings. Energy cost: 50 Cooldown: minimal.***

Several things happened at once when the globe of warm light finished forming above his palm: motes of Energy formed out of the air and surged into Victor, the light shone brightly into the room where Thayla lay against the wall, and something screamed with rage and indignation from the dark corner. Having never experimented with moving around his orb with just his will, Victor thrust his hand into the room as if to throw it toward the dark corner.

He watched as the orb sailed through the air, banishing the dark shadows and exposing the long, twisted, gray tendril that snaked over the ground and wrapped around Thayla’s neck. Another such tendril was already groping its way over the ground toward Victor, and he lifted his baton in preparation to bat it away when the light uncovered the creature lurking in the corner. It looked like a gray, fleshy tree trunk with stubby limbs and a wide mouth at its center. The gray tendrils or fleshy roots were slithering forth from its base. Unbidden, Victor’s Uncle’s favorite expression slipped from his lips, “Madre de Dios!”

His orb had stopped mid-air near the center of the room, and its bright light revealed Thayla’s purpling flesh and the weak twitching of her limbs. No longer considering fleeing as an option, Victor charged toward her, skirting away from the other probing tentacle-root, and slammed his baton against the one that held Thayla. He smashed it hard against the stone ground, and though he couldn’t cut the thing with this blunt weapon, he felt something give inside it, and the creature screamed again. The screech came from its gaping, gnashing maw. When Victor flinched from the sound and looked toward its source, he saw the mouth was filled with little razor-like teeth and a dozen probing slimy tongues.

Victor shuddered and pounded on the vine, again and again, madly grinning, when he saw the gray flesh start to pulp and break apart. The creature continued to scream, and its other probing tentacle finally caught up to Victor, snaking around his ankle. He tried to yank his foot away, but it tightened like a vise, pressing the leather of his boot into his flesh and grinding his bones together. He hadn’t expected it to be so strong! Victor hesitated for a moment, weighing his options, but then the tentacle jerked, pulling him sideways, and he panicked, activating his Berserk.

Red lust for violence filled his mind and clouded his vision, and Victor stopped resisting the pull of the tentacle-root, charging headlong at the gray, fleshy thing in the corner. He cackled as he brought his baton down onto the broad expanse of pallid, damp flesh, smashing it into the creature as hard as possible. Frustration fuelled his rage when nothing much happened as a result of the mighty smash. The flesh jiggled, the maw screamed, and the tentacle wrapped further around his leg.

The creature’s maw was large enough to snap Victor in half should he fall in, but, even in his madness, he used his left hand to brace against the trunk-like exterior of the monster and continued to pound his baton, to little effect, with his other. All the while, the gray tentacle continued to snake up his leg and around his waist, and that’s when a shiver of panic broke through Victor’s rage, and it began to fade. He felt the creature’s enormous strength as it continued to squeeze, and then he felt a dark, invading Energy start to creep into his pathways through the flesh at his waist, where the tentacle was in direct contact with his skin.

Victor raged against the intrusion, pushing hot red Energy toward the foreign presence, and he managed to shove it back for a few seconds. Then, he began to weaken, his guts squeezed so tightly that he was having trouble taking a breath. His pummeling of the monster degenerated into pathetic slaps, and darkness began to creep around the edges of his vision, and once again, the invading Energy began to push into him. Then, something strange happened in Victor’s mind; he stopped panicking and wondering what to do next. Instead, he thought about Yrella and Vullu, and then he thought about Belsa and wondered what happened to her. He’d never know, he realized.

Something wet and hot hit Victor’s face, and the squeezing lessened slightly. His ears had long been overwhelmed by the creature’s screaming, so he didn’t notice anything different when it continued to shriek, perhaps with a slightly higher pitch. Again, wet, hot fluid splashed him, and again, the tentacles loosened, and Victor felt blood rush up to parts of his body that had been deprived. He managed a gasping breath and opened his eyes. Another splash of hot fluid accompanied by a feminine grunt greeted him as he jerked his head from left to right, trying to see what was happening.

Thayla was swinging a broad-bladed axe against the creature’s trunk, showering herself and Victor with gore with each swing. Her latest chop had severed much of the tentacle, and Victor managed to stumble back, falling onto his butt. Not knowing how else to help, Victor channeled his inspiration Energy into Inspiring Presence, and suddenly Thayla stood up straighter and began to hack in earnest, more precisely placing her strikes. Victor, for his part, felt a surge of well-being and scrambled to his feet, instantly spotting his fallen baton. He scooped it up and was about to lay into the monster, regardless of the ineffective nature of his weapon, when Thayla stepped back, grinning.

“It’s done,” she said, panting. She reached toward her chest, slipping a finger behind her leather vest, and suddenly the axe disappeared.

“Nice job…” Victor panted, rubbing his sore leg and waist.

“If you mention my axe or my dimensional storage, I’ll kill you in your sleep,” Thayla said matter-of-factly. Victor genuinely felt insulted and was about to tell Thayla that he wasn’t a snitch when a massive current of Energy poured forth from the dead monster into them both, and he lost himself in the exhilaration of it.

***Congratulations! You’ve achieved level 16 Spirit Champion. You have gained 7 will, 7 vitality, and have 7 attribute points to allocate.***