=See, Skild? I told you that I’d be eating well~!=
“N-no, please, no… I-I… I didn’t-”
=Are you sure you don’t want a piece? It’s really good~! C'mon, I don't offer my food to just anybody!=
As Skild looked up at the gigantic monstrosity, he knew this would be the end for him. It was going to be the end for everyone there. He’d heard of these murderous pnts before, how a base could simply end up unlucky with their location and wind up angering the deadly things, but he’d also heard that a little bit of fire usually did quick work on them.
But no amount of fire seemed to have worked against this unbelievable beast.
Skild was starting to doubt that even the great dragons of the Fire Territory would be able to burn it down.
=Awww, why’d you stop talking? Didn’t you tell me that you wanted to be here to see this?=
Yes, what the monster was saying was true; Skild had indeed accepted her ominous offer, against all of his better judgement. Everything had told him that he shouldn’t have gone along with it, that it wouldn’t do him any favors, and yet he’d been too much of a coward to risk upsetting the pretty dy by turning her down.
If Skild were going to bme anyone for where he'd ended up, it could only be himself.
=Boo~! You’re no fun anymore, Skild! I remember when I first ripped that leader guy’s lizard-y lil’ arms off! You screamed so amazingly then!=
As if to provoke him, the monster pyfully swung someone’s severed arm in front of his face with one of her many tentacles. If this were the Skild of earlier, it’s possible that he might have screamed again, green as he was. But after being held captive by this monster and forced to watch its trail of carnage, Skild had already been exposed to much more gruesome views than this.
It was true what she’d said about him screaming. He’d screamed out of fear and confusion, surprise and anger… But that first scream had also contained his indignity towards the woman who had so brazenly attacked his leader right in front of him. He’d even raised the daggers that he always kept concealed at his waist and tried to attack the woman before she was able to make her escape.
But when the mysterious woman had simply smiled at him and pulled the daggers out of her neck and chest like they hadn't even hurt, Skild immediately knew that he stood no chance against her.
It was Skild’s greatest shame that he gave up so easily in the face of such seeming invincibility. He’d been trained as a soldier by the lizardmen, even though he was only a half-breed who couldn’t use any magic. He might have still been new and had yet to see any battle, but he’d believed that with all the adversity he’d had to face throughout his life that he wouldn’t back down from anything so easily. And yet, even before the guards had rushed in and the monster had shown its true form, Skild had already colpsed to the floor and accepted his fate. He’d done absolutely nothing to try to rescue his comrades from the disaster that had descended onto them, even though he’d thought himself to be a worthy leader to them only moments ago.
The monster hadn’t even touched him, and yet he’d already become completely useless.
=Mmmm~, I can’t believe it’s been so long since I got to eat so much like this! It’s a shame that there’s not more lizard people like you and your leader here, though; You guys are even tastier than the humans! Ugh, I really should have left your leader for st, but I was just so hungry, you know? It was too much to resist!=
Skild shivered, scooting himself even tighter against the corner that he’d huddled himself into, doing his best to hide himself from the monster, even though he knew it was futile. Throughout all of her atrocities, she’d kept him close and made him watch it all without letting a single bit of harm befall him. He didn’t know if it was due to a whim, as she’d seemed like quite a whimsical creature, or if the monster had had a greater pn for him; All Skild knew was that if he hadn’t carelessly agreed to join her for her feast earlier, then she would already have happily eaten him up just like she had his leader.
Who knew when she’d change her mind and decide to eat him next?
Skild lived in constant fear that any moment she would turn to him and end him as quickly as she had all the others.
It was to the point that he almost wished he’d declined her offer, just so he wouldn’t have had to live through all of this.
=Well, I guess it’s okay though, right? You said there were other sver bases, so that must mean that there’ll be more lizard people to eat if I go to them, right?=
The monster happily fiddled with the arm it had been holding as if it were in thought. And then, faster than anything its size should have been able to move, it snapped the arm in two like a wishbone.
=That’s perfect! Hey, Skild? You know where the other bases are, right?=
“I…”
=Wow, was I maybe a little too harsh on you…? Don’t cm up on me now! C’mon and tell meeee~!=
Although the monster’s tone was pyful, like a child throwing a tantrum, its rge tentacles rippled and cracked against the ground like multiple massive whips, leaving deep marks in the dirt wherever they struck. Skild had already seen first hand exactly the carnage that the overly thick vines were capable of causing. And despite his previous thoughts to the contrary, his mind still screamed at him desperately to do absolutely anything he had to to go on living, even if it meant selling others out.
It felt absolutely pathetic to realize that he was no better than Gillef, who’d been the one to deliver this monster to them in the first pce.
“...Yes... There’s a map in the leader’s room that shows the locations of the other bases.”
=Great! Why don’t you scoot your way up there and fetch it for me then, Skildy Skild?=
Skild stared up at the gigantic monster for a moment, looking high into the sky, searching for its face. Had they not been in the courtyard at the moment, then the behemoth of a pnt would have never been able to fit inside the fortress. It was already a miracle that the thing hadn’t caused the fortress to colpse during its rampage, although that didn’t mean that several corridors hadn’t crumbled to bits amidst all of the previous fighting. And with many of those pathways gone, there was only one way left to get to the leader’s room.
“I’m afraid… that you’re blocking the only way there.”
=Huh? Oh, am I? Sorry about that~!=
As the massive monster giggled, the roots of one of its legs parted, revealing an opening. It was plenty rge enough for Skild to get through, and he could even see the exact stairway that he needed to get to on the other side. But no matter what he willed his legs to do, for some reason he just couldn’t get them to move.
Perhaps it was because he was afraid she would close her roots and crush him as soon as he attempted to go through.
=Well hurry up and go get it for me then, Skild!=
A thick tentacle coiled behind him, pushing him forward, giving him no choice in the matter. Skild gulped and closed his eyes as he was propelled towards his possible doom.
~~~
“I’ve… returned with what you requested of me.”
=Oh good! Gimme, lemme see!=
Skild pced the map into one of the eagerly beckoning tentacles, recoiling away once it had been taken. His eyes, which had swiftly shifted themselves away from the monstrosity, instead quickly searched the room, realizing that something had changed. At first he couldn’t put his finger on it, but soon he realized what it was.
In the few minutes he’d been gone, the over 30 guards that had been lying dead, scattered about on the ground, had already been eaten up, leaving almost nothing behind.
=Heyyy, wait a minute! Why’s this map so messed up?!=
Skild grimaced and hung his head to the floor, well aware of what the monster was angry about. The map that she’d ordered him to retrieve had been half-soaked in the blood of his leader, making it stick together in odd pces and causing the ink to spread and wash out, becoming partially illegible. …She wouldn’t be able to tell whether this had been caused by her careless attack on him or by Skild’s own doing, however.
=Aw maaan, that sucks… Well, not like I was gonna be able to read it well anyways; No one ever taught me how!=
Suddenly a tentacle wrapped itself around Skild’s leg, sneakier than its size would have advertised, and soon he was being pulled up into the sky, up and up, higher and higher, until he came face to face with the monster's eerily unexpressive visage.
=I’d been hoping that you’d teach me how to read it Skild, since you’re so nice and all! And, you know, if I couldn’t learn how to read it, then I’d even been thinking of taking you along with me, like a little pet! I've been alone for so long now you know, and I’m sure it would have made getting inside of those other snack-filled dens reeeal easy~! But idunno… Maybe it’s for the best, you know?=
The tentacle holding onto Skild’s ankle swayed him around in the air, shaking him side to side and getting him to let out little fearful screams.
=I like you and all, but I’m sure you’d make for a terrible actor… Maybe even worse than that Gillef guy! So I think I pn to make a deal with you instead! Unless you want to be eaten by me, that is; I definitely wouldn’t turn down getting to eat another lizard person, even if it’s not a full one!=
“A… A deal?”
=Yeah! First you have to promise that you’ll hunt down and kill that Gillef guy for me once I’m out of here. Can you do that for me? I’d do it myself or summon up one of the others to do it, but I’m kind of too busy for that right now; It’d really be in the way!=
Skild readily nodded along to the monster’s request, easily giving up Gillef. He'd had already done much worse by selling out the other fortresses to save his own life; Compared to his kin, Gillef hardly mattered to him. If his life could be spared with such an easy answer, then Skild was more than willing to oblige.
=Aw, you’re so obedient~! I’m a lil’ gd that I don’t have to eat you, Skild! Alright, this second favor is even easier, okay? Once you do it you’re totally free to go, and I won’t bother you again unless I have to, so long as you keep your first promise! All you need to do is go downstairs and release every single one of the captives that you’ve been keeping prisoner down there. Don’t skimp out on any of them; I’ll come find you and eat you if do~!=
Although his face grimaced with fear at the way she menacingly swung him about a bit more as she spoke of eating him, Skild still readily nodded along, deeply thankful to the Fire Spirit that he was going to make it out alive from this horrifying monster’s wrath, all with such minor deeds demanded from him.
“Yes, of course, I’ll do it fwlessly!”
=Good, good~! If it’s you, then you won’t scare them off too badly~!=
The monstrosity lowered him down gently, making sure to put him right side up before pcing him on the ground.
=Oh, but before you go you should totally take this. Ugh, this would all be so much easier if I could just summon Lily to take care of everything for me~. Well, without mom inside of her, I mean…=
As the monster mumbled what sounded to be nonsense to herself, she grew several beautiful, shining flowers at Skild’s feet. They looked absolutely alien to him, who had grown up in the Fire Spirit’s nds. Then again, every flower he’d come across since coming into the Forest Spirit’s territory had looked strange at one point or another. However, these flowers felt especially different, like they emitted something holy, something pure. At the same time, however, something deep inside of Skild was confusingly repulsed by the very existence of the damnable things.
=Take these flowers and make anyone who looks a bit too injured lick them. Huh? What? …Licking’s no good? What do you mean licking won’t work?! Oh, but eating it works though…? Okay then, well I guess just make them eat a petal from it or something, I don’t know! Just do whatever it takes with that flower until they’re better again and then set them free, got it? And if they need somewhere to go for whatever reason, point ‘em towards that cute little town towards the west. I’m sure you know the one I mean.=
Skild quickly gathered up the flowers, giving them extra care as he listened to the insane pnt’s ramblings. It didn’t matter how crazy the monster’s words sounded, Skild would be an absolute yes-man until he was free and safe from this mess.
“I will do as you order, My Lady.”
=Oh you~! If I didn’t think it’d make Til jealous, maybe I would keep you around! Well… I guess it’s always good to have a backup incase things fall through with him, right…? If you end up with nowhere to go, feel free to wait for me in that town to the west, okay~? I promise to give you a super good life there~!=
Skild kept his eyes trained to the ground, unwilling to give the monster a response.
He had no idea what he’d do with his life after he escaped, but there was one thing that he knew for certain:
No matter what happened, he would never go to that town!