Chains of Corruption

Kira shakes her head and says, "It's alright, I don't want to forget her, so even if there is pain attached to her memories, there's also joy and I feel happy."

"You're quite brave Kira. I admire that." Priscilla says, "I too have lost someone I cared deeply for. My sister and I were separated when we were young but we found each other years later. She had become a fierce huntress, just like her older sister, and we started a business together. We would take contracts from across the world and we saw some pretty amazing things. Then when all that mess with the demons happened, The Guardians called on us to aid in their fight."

Priscilla sighs and continues, "My sister said the local people still needed our help, but I insisted that if we drive the demons out there would be no threat to the people. In the very first battle, it was apparent that we grossly underestimated our opponents. We fought hard and killed more than a few demons, but we were outmatched. Neither of us were very skilled with magic, I hadn't begun to study it yet, and as I turned around after killing another demon, I saw Kiela, my sister, fighting another. She struck a mighty blow and the demon fell to the ground, but as she turned her back the demon rose to its feet. I tried screaming out to her, but the demon grabbed her and ripped her in half."

For the first time, you see Priscilla cry and you really feel bad for her.

"Then what happened?" Kira says thoroughly engrossed in her story.

Priscilla's eyes show her rage as she wipes her tears and says, "I ran over there as fast as I could and made sure every demon around watched as I tore his arms off and beat him to death with them. I don't remember much after that, but I was told when I awoke that my comrades had to drag me away from the demons because I refused to leave even when they were retreating."

Holy shit that's brutal you think to yourself and Priscilla continues, "I didn't know what to do with my life. I didn't want to hunt anymore, it just reminded me of Kiela. I wandered around the world for a while, mostly doing small hunts just to get by, until one of my jobs took me to High Rock Mountain. I recognized Hakon from the battle on the island and even though we didn't see eye to eye, he respected my strength. He offered to teach me a little about magic and at first I thought it might help on a hunt, but for some reason, the more I learned about it, the more I became interested and wanted to know more. Before long I had become quite skilled and heard of a city powered entirely by magic. Naturally, I had to investigate it for myself and I wound up liking the city so much I bought a home and settled down there, well maybe not 'settled down'."

Priscilla smiles and you laugh a little thinking of your first encounter with Priscilla. You notice both Kira and Priscilla are looking at you now, as if expecting you to tell a similar tale.

"Well Mika? We shared our sob stories, you haven't ever lost anyone, besides Gwen?" Priscilla asks.

You think for a moment and say, "Things are very different where I come from. There are no monsters or sex crazy plants, and the people are all human, not... mixed. That stuff was always fantasy, there's no way someone from my world would believe me if I told them what I've seen. People fought with each other sure, but for the most part it was peaceful, people really only died in accidents or from illness."

"That sounds like a wonderful place. I wish I could visit sometime." Priscilla says.

Kira adds, "Yeah! Me too!"

You smile and then yawn, which makes Kira yawn as well.

"Let's turn in for the night." Priscilla says laying back down on the bed.

Kira makes herself comfortable on one side of your pillow and you close your eyes, thinking about how glad you are to have made these friends. You drift off to sleep a short while later.

Chapter 19: Ambush

You feel a strange sensation coming from your stomach and you open your eyes to see Priscilla standing on the side of the bed. Her hands are are hovering just above your wound, glowing with a soft green light.

"Good morning, I thought it best if we get an early start." Priscilla says as she continues to pour her magical energy directly into your wound.

You look down and see that it has closed up considerably, although you still have a wound about two inches deep.

You feel like your energy has returned as well and ask, "Wouldn't it be faster for me to use Mara's blessing?"

Priscilla looks to you and says, "I suppose so, if you feel up for it."

She takes her hands away as they cease to glow while you concentrate and begin to feel the same sensation as when Priscilla was healing you.

"Don't over do it, you shouldn't rely on this for everything." Priscilla says as she gets up.

Your glowing eyes meet hers as you say, "I know. I need to train my body and not just my mind. I can't afford anymore setbacks. I need to learn to fight so I can avoid things like this."

Priscilla smiles, seeing that her words last night made an impact.

"Where's Kira?" you ask, as she is not in the room sleeping as you would expect.

"Once she learned how to control her energy better, she has been practicing her transformation like crazy. She says she can hold it for about twelve minutes now, and has been using it to help Farah's crew move debris and scavenge the ship. I told her not to use up all her energy and she said not to worry, but I think she's been using it as often as possible, that girl is hopeless." Priscilla says as she shakes her head and laughs.

For most of the day, you alternate between healing and letting your energy recharge until you feel well enough to get out of bed. It is still slightly painful, but it's manageable, so you decide to go outside for some fresh air. The sun is just starting to set over the dunes and you see Farah once again standing at the bow smoking. You slowly make your way to her and she gives you a smile.

"My hero. How are you feeling, I'm amazed you're on your feet already." She says while handing you her pipe.

"Much better, thanks." You say taking a drag.

"I thought you were going to die, I just couldn't understand why you would try to save me in that condition. Even Priscilla had her doubts, but that little fairy never gave up on you. She kept saying you would wake up soon and that you would be alright." Farah pauses to take a long drag before continuing, "That girl really is something, and so are you Ms. Champion."

"Yeah, I wouldn't have made it this far without them. I'm glad they decided to come with me." You say as you look out in the direction Farah said Ardent City was in, but all you can see is sand. "I think I'm going to rest some more. I want to get going as soon as possible."

"Sure thing, oh and Diedra says 'Thank you for saving the captain.' She was injured during the attack but it looks like she will be alright. She's resting in my quarters now." Farah says with a smile.

That's right you haven't seen Diedra since that night. You hope she didn't get hurt too badly as you walk back to your room.

As you enter the room, Kira says, "There you are! I came back to check on you but you were gone."

You sit on the edge on the bed and say, "I just wanted some air."

Looking around, you don't see Priscilla so you ask Kira where she is.

"Oh she said she was going to bring some food." She says obviously annoyed. "But that was a while ago now. I'm just gonna go get something myself, you stay here and rest up ok?"

You smile and nod as she flies out of the room. Even though you've been in bed for two days, repeatedly using your power to heal your wound has kept your tired and it doesn't take long before you are asleep. In the morning, your hear Priscilla and Kira talking and open your eyes only to realize your covered in sweat.

"Why did they take the sails down? Now we don't have any shade." Kira whines.

"Farah said she got a reply from the rescue ship, they should be here in a few hours. They don't want to leave anything valuable behind for scavengers." Replies Priscilla.

Kira perks up and says, "Oh ok! Then they can take us the rest of the way?"

Priscilla shakes her head and says, "No. They're coming to pick up survivors and take what salvage they can carry. Farah and her crew need to be treated for their injuries and they also have a business to run, we will just have to continue on our own."

Kira looks disheartened until you say, "It could be worse, we could have crashed in the middle of the ocean or something."

"Oh Mika, you're awake!" Kira says flying over and inspecting your wound.

It has healed more, but not as much as you would like.

You close your eyes and focus until you feel the wound begin to heal before you say, "Why don't you two go get some food? I'm going to let this heal a little more, then we can leave."

Kira looks concerned and says, "Are you sure you're ready? The ship itself isn't going to be picked up for a few more days, we could stay a little longer if you need to."

You shake your head and say, "No, I've wasted enough time. We need to get to Ardent City as soon as possible. I feel much better now and this shouldn't take much longer to heal."

Kira looks doubtful but Priscilla ushers her out and they leave the room. About an hour later, Kira and Priscilla return. You are already putting your armor on and Priscilla begins packing her things. A short while later, the three of you are ready to begin your trek through the desert. After only a few minutes of walking, you are dripping with sweat and your armor isn't helping things, but you can't afford to be without it if you were attacked, so you bear it.

Kira seems to be feeling the effects of the heat as well as she lands on your shoulder and says, "I'm just gonna rest my wings for a bit."

Priscilla on the other hand, seems to be enjoying the heat. Maybe it's because she's part lizard, but it's kind of annoying to see her so content in this miserable heat. Progress is slow, at least you think it is, it's hard to tell when all you can see is sand. You come to a small gathering of trees that starkly contrast the otherwise barren landscape, unfortunately, there is no water here, but the trees provide much needed shade. You and Kira sit under a tree and catch your breath while Priscilla sits atop a nearby rock and takes off her shirt.

As she lies there and soaks in the sun she says, "It's starting to cool down a bit, perhaps we should find a place to camp before nightfall."

"What's wrong with this spot?" Kira whines.

"Most desert creatures are nocturnal, we would be easy prey if we stay out in the open. We should look for somewhere we could have our backs to a wall like a cave." Priscilla explains.

You agree and begin searching the area with Kira. Even though there are some big rocks in the area, none of them lead to a cave.

You are about to head back to Priscilla when Kira says, "Hey Mika, what's that?"

You look in the direction she's pointing and see what appears to be a large hole in the ground in the distance.

"I don't know, let's ask Priscilla." You reply.

When you announce Kira's discovery, Priscilla looks worried and says, "Hmm... If I had to guess, I'd say it is a burrow. It would offer us shelter for the night, but most likely it already has an occupant."

With no other option in sight, the three of you make your way to the edge of the hole.

"So, what do you think lives down here?" You ask, not taking your eyes off the opening at the bottom of the hole.

"I'm not sure, but if it's nocturnal then it should still be sleeping. Maybe we could surprise it and make this easy on ourselves, although if it isn't asleep we would be fighting in a confined space."

Priscilla says weighing the options.

Both choices suck, so you choose the lesser of two evils and decide it's better to have shelter than to be out in the open all night. Carefully, you, Kira, and Priscilla make your way down into the burrow.

"I don't see any webbing, so I guess this isn't a spider nest." Priscilla comments.

Kira replies, "That's good, the last one was scary enough, although she ended up being pretty nice."

Priscilla turn to Kira and says, "Most likely it was due to her proximity to the city. She probably saw quite a few people and knew how to deal with them. Out here it's different, the creatures live more like animals than people and are more aggressive as well. If you see anyone, assume they're hostile."

You stop for a moment and focus until you feel Mara's blessing awaken.

"Maybe you should save that for the fight." Priscilla says.

"I'd rather not walk into a trap, besides I've been using it so frequently, as long as I keep it in check, I can just sense things that are close by and it doesn't use as much energy." You reply as you try to get a feel for your surroundings.

Priscilla seems impressed that you are learning how to control your powers so effectively and says, "Alright then, we can..."

You interrupt Priscilla and say, "Shh... I just heard something."

Priscilla and Kira look around silently as you try to pinpoint the origin of the sound.

"It came from that way." You say pointing to a passage leading even further down.

"Of course." Kira says quietly.

She reaches for her bag and pulls out her staff again. Her eyes begin to glow and she conjures a sphere of light at the end of her staff. Her training is really showing now as the spell is throwing out much more light than last time. It actually illuminates the passage well enough for you to see a few feet in front of yourself and you cautiously descend deeper. The passage winds around as it continues down and leads to a room with huge holes in the walls and ceiling.

Priscilla puts her hand on your shoulder and says, "This isn't good."

She is about to continue when you both hear a series of clicks coming from the back of the room. You and Priscilla immediately scan the darkness beyond the light of Kira's spell but then you hear a similar noise coming from a different direction.

"Scorpions." Priscilla says without taking her eyes off the holes in the walls.

You hardly have time to comprehend this information as a dark shape emerges from one of the holes in the wall. Kira swings her staff and the sphere of light floats towards the figure revealing it's features. A woman with jet black hair and piercing red eyes stares back at you. She is nude and her hips are covered in black chitin that is attached to a massive scorpion body. The woman stands up fully and smiles, showing off her fangs.

You draw your sword and prepare for a fight when you notice another scorpiongirl coming out of a hole on the ceiling. You focus a bit more and learn there are about ten of them all together.

"Damn, there's more of them in the walls." You say as Kira readies a fireball and Priscilla brandishes two small knives from their sheathes on her hips.

The other scorpiongirls seem to be smaller than the one that first appeared, but their pincers and stingers are surely just as deadly. There is no room for error here and you assume a defensive stance. The larger scorpion girl hisses and the rest of her followers come out of hiding, hissing and snapping their pincers at you.

Priscilla says, "Mika, try infusing your energy into your sword. Give it an electrical charge, the vibrations from the lightning should help penetrate their shells. Kira, try to stay up high out of their reach and give us support."

You take her advice and let your energy flow into your blade as Kira nods and flies up higher. A white aura surrounds your sword and dances like fire for a moment before turning into the familiar purple electricity. One of the scorpiongirls charges you and more follow her. You ready yourself and just as the scorpiongirl's giant pincer strikes, you sidestep and slash down hard. Your blade cuts all the way through the girl's chitinous exoskeleton, leaving a gaping wound in her abdomen.

She hisses and slumps to the floor as another scorpion girl leaps over her towards you. You raise your sword and block her attack, struggling to keep your balance. Kira throws fire at the girl which distracts her long enough for you to sink your blade between her breasts. As you retract your sword from the now lifeless body, a pincer hits you in the ribs and knocks you to the side. Two of the scorpion girls are climbing the walls, attempting to deal with Kira, but she's too quick and they can't get close.

As you stand, you narrowly avoid being impaled by a stinger and quickly raise your sword, cutting off a portion of the tail. The girl scurries backward, blood pouring from what's left of her tail, as another charges in to take her place. Priscilla is suddenly thrown across the room and just before she impacts the wall, she flips over and lands on all fours, pouncing off the wall onto a different scorpion girl and driving her twin daggers right into her neck. She quickly finds a new target and rushes towards her.

Priscilla is fighting like a wild animal and it is somewhat frightening how efficiently she's killing these monsters. This must be how she survived fighting the demons all those years ago. Your thoughts are cut short as a pincer grabs hold of your torso and lifts you into the air. You turn your head and see it is the large scorpiongirl holding you and her tail is poised to strike. Your body seems to move on pure instinct as you stab the woman's pincer and she drops you. Her tail strikes out and you barely manage to move your head out of the way. As your feet hit the ground, one of the smaller scorpion girls grabs your leg, but you quickly impale her on your blade.

You see Kira out of the corner of your eye and she is holding her own against the two girls attacking her. She darts around the room avoiding their pincers and makes it to an empty corner. She transforms as the scorpion girls close in on her and fires two arrows in quick succession at them. Only one finds its mark, but Kira releases the transformation just as the other girl strikes, dodging it and preparing another fireball.

She hurls it at the girl's face and it hits, the girl screaming in pain. Kira flies in while charging a much bigger fireball, and as the scorpion girl flails about in pain, Kira comes to a stop right in front of her and begins pushing the fireball directly into the scorpiongirl's eye as she blindly tries to hit the tiny target with anything she can. Her shrieks of agony only last a few seconds before she slumps to the ground.

There are only four scorpion girls left now, including the larger one and you slowly back up to where Kira and Priscilla are. The three of you have your backs to a wall as the remaining scorpion girls encircle you.

"That should be enough." Priscilla says as her hand glows just like it did when you met her.

She moves her hand from left to right and you can see the girls' eyes begin to glow with Priscilla's energy. Suddenly, they start attacking the air around them and don't seem to see you anymore. The larger scorpionwoman however, seems unaffected and looks confusedly at her kin before hissing and charging at you. Both her giant pincers come together and smash down hard. You manage to block it, but the girl clamps down on your arm as she continues to try to crush you with her other pincer.

Kira tries throwing a fireball at the woman but her human torso dodges it and she strikes with her stinger. At the last possible second, Priscilla leaps in and grabs the tail just behind the stinger, rendering it immobile. The woman lets go of your arm and raises her claw to try to smash Priscilla. Kira quickly transforms and fires an arrow that hits the woman in the chest. She takes a step back and eases the pressure holding you down, and in that instant, you drag your blade against her pincer with lightning speed, cutting it in half, and you jump into the air.