PoV : Our Jewel, Iris (What will our Spooder Queen find up these magical slopes?)
Recap: Our Empress is bored … she tasked Klaus to prepare the Nalveans for her arrival in a week. She finally heard the songbird chirping of Jukal, Rigrach … and promptly wanted to terminate him with his strange way of talking … but with GREAT will-power, she resisted the temptation.
Tiffany took Azalea’s super hard rock she found in the ground to do some testing >.> and Elinor rose all those big bones into a lovely group of Elite Hunters … a full squad. Edmon’s in heaven with all the knowledge they have on getting the fortress up and running.
With all of that done. Elinor sent Iris, her beloved jewel, to the massive slopes of the towering peaks to the north. Let’s see what’s going on with The Supreme Molifoph … let’s hope he’s not like the others. Please! *Prays to Inari*
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Vyktor, Mike Bartter, Thomas Dahl, Shinigamix, Eric, Karanbir Niijjar, Chronicler49, and my other Patrons!
Iris moved silently through the wide streets of her Empress’ new capital, heading north to give Elinor a better understanding of what this Supreme Molifoph was and intended.
She was currently in her primary form, saving her transformation ability for when needed or the last bits of the time she had before the reset. Still, the moment it came off cooldown, she used it to begin the daily cycle, keeping up with the Proficiency training.
The Empress’ power had a few caveats that intrigued the Spider Queen. Her body may have been restored to its prime, yet that didn’t mean she was at her most powerful; in fact, Iris knew she was far weaker than she originally was before her death.
Iris had tested her silk, exoskeleton, and natural talents to their limit in the last two days, experimenting with her new transformations while fulfilling the Empress’ tasks and her own duties within the Royal Court.
Her webs were noticeably weaker in composition, and Violet’s were pitiful compared to where they had been. Azalea’s poison was at least ten times diluted, and Camelia’s physical prowess had diminished significantly. Iris hadn’t felt so vulnerable since her first few years of life, and some less intelligent creatures might think of those details as inexcusable.
Although, those glaring weaknesses were well worth the trade in Iris’ mind for what her family had gained. Yes, she was far more fragile than she cared to admit when pondering some of the past foes she’d faced, yet the unique enhancements the Empress granted far outweighed the temporary cost.
She sensed what Elinor offered the moment the Empress’ butterflies touched her corpse, rousing her spirit and mind from the fathomless abyss that she was pulled from; her adaptability would be multiplied by such a large margin that it was reprehensible to deny.
The Thélméthra survived by a simple method that had carried their race from world to world, devouring everything in their path; her species had literally incorporated the motto Eat, Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome, and Elinor offered to upgrade that system further.
Her Proficiency with the Metamorphosis ability was steadily increasing, extending the time, number of available transformation slots, and techniques she could access within each creature’s DNA. The skills she could call on to adapt those traits into her different forms only increased her plasticity.
She had four available slots at the moment, two of which were filled by human and Ri’bot blood; her body slowly analyzed their composition to gather every useful trait, but she had discovered somewhat of an issue hidden inside the ability, broken strands. It was relatively simple to remedy, though.
Unbeknownst to most of the Ri’bot and humans within the Palace, Iris sampled each of their blood, taking in a drop piece by piece to gain a more robust map of each race’s historical lineage, conferring a more refined vision of the many attributes each of the creatures held.
Humans had a few attractive cerebral traits that could be incorporated to enhance her already refined mental faculties, but upon further evaluation, the Ri’bot were far more intriguing of a species to investigate. Their genetic imprint held hundreds of missing or broken pathways to follow, and after the many samples thus far, it only continued to grow as she worked her way through the clans they’d visited.
She’d only come to realize how much more there was to the Ri’bot after being reborn; her organs used to disassemble DNA and draw from creatures to improve her children was not nearly as acute as it was with the Empress’ improvements, and possibilities opened before her that brought a renewed sense of adventure within her hearts that she’d thought had long been lost.
Iris’s gem-like red eyes were only one of the dozens of organs mixed with Skills that she used to analyze her environment, and her internal investigations were always at work while scanning for prey.
The Jukal were not that interesting of a creature, but after some internal debate, she decided it might be easier to speak to this Molifoph if it saw her as the creatures it controlled.
Jumping up the side of a five-story building, she cut five of the birds huddled on the roof into pieces and swallowed their remains before those around them even knew something happened to their fellows. Iris was already on the street by the time they took to the air in a panic, analyzing the dull genetics.
She doubted the Jukal were anything special throughout their history from the sampling she’d obtained thus far; at most, they were decent scavengers, but never apex predators.
Her primary focus moved to the towering structures around her while the other portions of her mind worked through the genetic code; the Quen’Talrat were one of the few creatures she hoped to collect a decent sample size from within time. However, that might not come for some time, and a likelihood would possibly never be realized after discovering the dead Elinor rose were unable to fulfill the requirements of her transformation ability.
Although, time was on her side.
She studied her environment, pondering all the conversations she’d had between Tiffany and Edmon. There were a great many things that needed to be changed to accommodate different sized races in this massive city; it appeared to be more of a cultural need for humans to have a decorated place to live, and one the Empress shared.
Iris didn’t see the appeal, but her human form even agreed with the Witch and Doom Guard, which marked the desire as somewhat genetic.
There was a specific theme the Empress wanted to give her kingdom, and Violet was becoming entrenched in the process, which likely stemmed from the human mannerisms she’d adopted from her transformation. In fact, all of her daughters were developing in vastly more polarizing directions than before, but she wasn’t concerned since the act wouldn’t lead to them killing each other.
Camellia was, without a doubt, the most active of her children, continually seeking to overcome her younger siblings. It translated well with the Empress’ system and would help build her oldest daughter into a fine weapon.
Azalea, the most devious of the three, was taking a shine to Tiffany as the Witch taught her many things about human culture that translated into the work the Assassin Unit would branch into, many of which Iris was discovering through her short interactions with Klaus and Tiffany. Perfection and fun were two of Azalea’s standout traits.
Violet took the prize for being the perfect Queen candidate, yet motivation had always been the lacking quality that would push her into standing as a potential Thélméthra Prime. If her daughters could have fused their traits, she would never have to worry, yet each lacked something. The Empress’ system allowed wiggle-room, though.
Reaching the outer edges of the northern inner wall, Iris didn’t pause in her motions, climbing up the steep surface to jump across the two-hundred-meter drop to the outer wall, hopping down the opposite side to the empty moat below.
The jungle had overtaken much of the northern field, pressing against the black stone that somehow kept the foliage at bay. Stepping into the thick undergrowth, Iris continued her journey.
There were several types of trees other than the massive blackwood that grew throughout most of the lower valley. The greenery of the jungle’s higher altitudes varied from yellow, orange, green, and purple; weak rays of the dying sun barely made it through the dense overhead canopy, and the tangle of thick vines, fruit, and large berries were mixed with dozens of tiny creatures, thriving in the area seemingly sparsely visited by the Ri’bot.
Iris had noticed few predators that had once roamed the jungle, keeping the fodder population low. Between the eight armies that arrived in the valley and the Quen’Talrat themselves, most of the previous large game around the fortress had been picked clean over a century before.
She did pass burrows within the large trunks, blue slime leaking out of the orange bark as the bug creatures feasted on its sap, and the five-limbed furry animals that hung around its base that would drink what the insects let drip from their hollow.
Past defensive forts could be seen among the overgrowth, remnants from the war a century before, reclaimed by the jungle. She used the fallen trunks, half-rotten branches, and linking roots to move along the floor, keeping an eye on all the phenomena throughout her environment.
The yellow trees appeared to be in the season where they released their glowing pome, deadly to most the jungle denizens, but a few tiny insects feasted on the juices, leaving the seeds for the small animals to collect on the ground.
Streams of water flowed across multiple paths, bringing life to each part of the layers below, melted off the snowy mountains above.
After fifteen minutes of navigating the rich glow of the thriving plant life, Iris reached the next mountain level, and she hadn’t even arrived at the range’s base.
The blackwood had vanished, leaving the orange and yellow trees to increase in size with the higher altitude, but now a greenish-blue fungus grew over the yellow trunks and branches.
Fern-like bushes rose from the amber grass with small hardened orbs sticking to each blade, seeking to trap the tiny insects that hovered down to rest, holding them to the grass to be pulled in and slowly absorbed.
Larger variants to the grass could be seen at the base of the moss, globes of orange liquid releasing small plumes of odor to attract larger prey. Red stock-like growths repelled the larger insects from the lower altitudes, acting to support the trees while living off the fungus that thrived in the area, and the orange flowers that grew here couldn’t survive the more humid environment below.
Various mushroom growths could be seen further up, reaching for the sun that the orange and yellow trees tried to monopolize, spreading their large leaves high above the forest ground, many others using the shade underneath the roots.
Wispy, gelatinous creatures hovered above the ground, deadly to the medium-sized animals that roamed these parts, but were often trapped and eaten by the carnivorous plants that enjoyed waiting by the waters to catch them when hydrating.
Iris never found much of an interest in the area herself, but it did prove to be a bit of a toxic environment for most of the eight races that arrived to wage war against the fiery apes. Between the spores and scents the plants, fungus, and animals released, the north had been reasonably well-defended from a long camping campaign; the area was extremely fire resistant but stood no chance against the Quen’Talrat’s unique brand.
She noticed the purple petals blanketing the water that many of the fish enjoyed, dropped from the flowers growing high in the upper biome of the tree’s branches, releasing small streams of pink liquid down the orange trunks, further feeding the moss and glowing orange ivy.
The terrain was rising rapidly, and few plant life or creatures within the area even noticed her passing. She caught sight of many animal bones within the two sections, and every so often, there would be a Jukal corpse beside it, proving the bird’s low intelligence as it gobbled up the poisonous amphibians or rodents.
Thirty more minutes of swift movement through the area, and she arrived at the slopes; the thickness of the jungle swiftly receding with the increased elevation, and she was able to look down at the massive sanctuary miles below.
To her right was the huge spike-like pillars that rose as high as the city walls, marking the entrance to one of the canyons leading further into the unique jungle terrain, and beyond that were the colossal 1,450 meter falls, releasing much of the water that branched off into the valley from the constant snowfall and melting that occurred on the towering mountains that overshadowed the area.
Iris looked up at the volcano, summit far above what was visible from the dark clouds currently covering it and rising higher than all of the crests of the enormous elevated sierra surrounding the crown jewel; the fortress sat in the giant’s shadow, blocking part of the sun’s rise each morning.
Most of the range beyond this point turned barren before becoming a frozen wasteland, covered in thick ice; the ground underneath had never seen the light in her lifetime. She’d traveled through many of the lower tunnels in the past, but there was little reason to patrol the area when no prey interested her.
There had been snow dwelling predators with long furry manes of white hair, using sharp three toes and fingers to navigate the steep crags, but they didn’t hold a candle to the Quen’Talrat and weren’t nearly as massive. She didn’t know if any of them survived, but the many thick-coated five horned goats around the area had become food for the Jukal.
She figured the Jukal’s leader would be near the summit of one of these mountains, and after transforming into a much more perfected version of the bird, she could sense the small waves transmitting from a source high above, near the volcano’s peaks. It would take many hours to reach the location on foot, so she took to the air.
The Jukal’s ancestors were at least three feet taller than the current version’s max height that she’d observed, and her transformation made use of each trait that prioritized a hunter, not a scavenger.
She was nearly three meters tall with an expanded, thicker wingspan housing a single long claw that could rake and penetrate as needed. Her beak was longer and curved with steel-like antlers on her head to fly down and ram her prey.
Their eyes had adapted to a more timid, pray-like version, bulging and remaining open to see anything that hunted them. However, Iris chose to use an earlier version, hawk-like glowing yellow eyes, sharp for picking up minute movement many miles below.
Her tail had grown to match a falcon, feathers expanding to allow for quick directional change mid-flight, and her feathers would have been bright and vibrant to attract a mate, but instead, she’d opted for black and dark red that would make her all but invisible to the Jukal themselves.
Buried deep in one branch of the birds she’d consumed was an old gene that they’d used in the distant past, generating specialized feathers that altered air turbulence and absorbed noise to allow for a more silent flight.
The combination of traits scattered across their timeline could be linked to create quite a decent hunter, but the Jukal had never had a real predatory design that would grant them a high position within their environment based on their adaptation.
Iris beat her wings, rising high into the air; it had been the first time she’d flown, finding the experience surprisingly enjoyable. Of course, her chosen genes for temperament could also have contributed to the factor.
Still, unlike the Ri’bot, the Jukal lacked heavily in the diversity of their gene pool, making her current form the likely contender for the top-tier peak of their evolution. It would do, but she was far more vulnerable in this state than any of her others and with fewer options. It took time to change traits if needed, but there wasn’t much else worth adapting for.
Her head tilted right and left as she allowed her instincts to help navigate the warm air currents rising from the valley; it was swiftly cooling with the rise, but her thick feathers and resistances kept the weather at bay.
The volcano was preceded by several rising mountains, black rocky crags jutting out of the frigid slopes, branching off to form steep snow-filled paths, winding around hazardous terrain. Ice was beginning to fall around her as she entered the first layer of the cloudy domain, sharp eyes penetrating the flurry to catch the blurry trails and creatures scavenging within the mild storm.
Iris was a little surprised to see the slopes lead to a drop with a steaming liquid lake that likely generated the constant snowfall, from the science she’d heard Tiffany describe to Azalea. She couldn’t tell how deep it went, but certain parts of the large body of water bubbled more fiercely than the others, and more cloud cover blocked her vision further up.
Smooth black stones glistened around the water with green globes of light that crawled up the sides of the walls before vanishing; the Quen’Talrat had used such stone at one point for their weapons. Cracks could be seen with the inner green glow radiating out, spitting some kind of solid white gem into the orange glacial filled loch.
A mysterious floating ball hovered at the basin’s center with dozens of flaming purple gems, pulling in the liquid from the lake before shooting it off in all directions into the atmosphere. It appeared entirely constructed of the slick dark element, shimmering like the stars.
She made note of everything she saw, in case it was important to bring to the Empress, Tiffany, or Edmon. Staying clear of the bullet-like water, Iris flew around the lake, observing the packs of dead Jukal by its shores.
In the distance, she caught the faint outline of what could have been massive chains and a bridge, possibly created by the Quen’Talrat. She continued to climb higher, and just before reaching the next level, Iris caught the silhouette of a spiky fortress of the ape’s design, the snow seemingly painted orange around it.
The sharp gale that the changing slope structure generated, mixed with the floating sphere’s explosive liquid, whipped the snow into a blizzard, blocking much of her enhanced vision, but she could still tell which direction the Supreme Molifoph was located.
Her sharp eyes narrowed as a weak distress call was being issued by the lord of the Jukal; he seemed to be calling for aid, but part of the signal was being scattered. She hadn’t sensed the cry from the valley, and if she did not, neither would any other.
It held no words but played on the Jukal’s protective instincts, manipulating their minds, but the attempt was laughably weak to her mental resistances.
If he was in trouble, then the Jukal surrounding the mountain would converge on the location, yet they are not, which means something is dampening the transmission … that would require intelligence.
The Jukal seemed to have sensed her approach after she received the message, causing the panicking song to center on her, but she simply brushed it off; Iris was only in the form to get to the location, and if everyone did try to mind control her, an action she believed would compromise the Empress would produce a swift suicide.
A curious smile moved her beak. The Molifoph is calming down because he believes I am coming to aid him. Such hubris.
The higher she climbed, the stronger she could feel the Molifoph’s signal, but it didn’t increase in manipulative power. However, she went on high alert when hearing a low pulsating noise that sent a weak, grinding sensation rippling through her frame while reaching the volcano’s invisible summit.
Breaking free from the blizzardous veil, she witnessed a shocking sea of white fog that blocked almost all view of the world below; these types of clouds weren’t visible from the ground.
Her sharp yellow eyes darted between the five misshapen masses of metalwork, embedded with blazing gems that circled some kind of monolith above the crater a mile above her current location. Sharp flashes of energy sparked down the bottom rod, creating small stones that fell into the hole.
The strange creations upon the mountain weren’t her mission, though, and she darted left, toward a crescent-shaped alcove in the jagged peaks of the enormous plateau before the summit.
Coming within a mile of the massive cave entrance that housed the Molifoph, her gut tightened. A sharp distress call exploded from the area before fading with the consistent waves it released.
Diving to the hard, glacial floor, she took on her Thélméthra form, spear-like legs quickly adapting to the rough surface. Activating Cloak of Concealment, a recent advancement to her previous skill, Iris’ entire presence vanished while creeping into the twelve-meter entrance to the hollow.
Hundreds of Jukal were strewn across the cave, bodies cleanly dismembered, and these were far bulkier than the ones she’d slaughtered in the valley. A nest defensive variant to the species which were slightly more competent than their commander counterparts that guided small groups.
The cuts are well-aimed … calculated, but not efficient, clearly overkill … something Azalea might do if in one of her moods. This scent is … unfamiliar. Two creatures, both vastly different from one another, and the Molifoph … has only been through here once … a day ago, but could they have flown here from the north within that time?
No … the conclusion is that the Jukal are not here for the Quen’Talrat the Empress raised, but our activities drew the Molifoph’s attention. Then … why is the Molifoph here, and what did he do to incite these two creature’s displeasure?
Iris moved methodically, each of her eight legs finding the perfect grip against the icy ceiling as she followed the trail of carnage, and soon, she slowed to a halt, hearts quivering in her body with what her perception returned.
Impossible … how … why here … together?
Dropping to the floor, Iris moved further into the tunnels, delving deeper into the underpass, leading to a large chamber, and skipping all other paths she’d already scouted with her sensory abilities; the two figures ahead gave no indication of noticing her.
Iris halted at the entrance, her vast field of vision taking in the entire area. Teal veins ran along the deep blue ground, ceiling, and walls, releasing a soft glow with creatures buried deep inside that she didn’t recognize, and two black statues could be seen behind a three-meter-tall, plump bird-like creature that was a distinct cousin to the Jukal.
The genetic pieces were starting to fit together with the blood she’d absorbed, but there were likely several unique things about this particular variant of the ancestral bloodline. Its body was blocking a frozen over passageway that continued between the statues.
However, the thing that all of her focus was acutely centered on was the two fully grown Thélméthra standing on either side of them, facing her. The questions running through Iris’ mind were vexing, sending waves of caution through her entire frame.
Mature Queens … acting together? They don’t have my family marking, nor a similar design… the exotic brand they wear is new. They aren’t siblings. It is impossible … unthinkable … are they fighting over this territory … only a single century has passed … then why kill the worthless bird? Not a single Jukal appeared to be eaten from the evidence they left behind, so it cannot be for food, and where are their drones or daughters … we are alone? They must explain themselves!
The Queen to her left with the yellow and green designs hummed with an amused tone, air puffing out of the plates on her abdomen to reveal a note of authority she hadn’t heard since speaking with her own mother.
“Still hiding, Dear? The ugly bird said his champion was on the way. Poor timing.”
The Queen to her right with pink stripes and small red dots chuckled, voice a tad lower than most of her kind. “And you still have yet to attack us? How long do you think we will wait?”
Deactivating her skill, Iris glared suspiciously at the two Queens. “Attack you … for what reason would a Thélméthra attack another without cause nor context? To contend with the species outside of territory is illogical to the mission.”
“Oh…” The yellow and green one’s front left leg twitched. “She’s a strong one, Serris. Careful.”
“Hmm … I don’t know why you indulge in such fantasies. You’ll give her the wrong idea, Lexi.”
“Who is she with?” The first mused.
“Who is your mother?” Iris demanded. “One brood of Thélméthra enters a world, and you are not of my brood.”
“A worthless question,” Lexi replied with a bored tone, causing Iris’ breath to steam.
A worthless question?
Iris’ front left leg lifted to deflect Lexi’s jab as she launched forward, aimed at her eye; their actions confused and irritated her. The blow was far too soft to even damage the hard outer layer of the organ and an utterly inefficient point of attack on a Thélméthra.
Lexi’s body language showed disbelief as she darted back. “Oh?”
“I told you,” Serris replied with a short chortle.
“You mock me,” Iris growled, hot pressurized steam erupting from her plate. “I cannot recall being so insulted or infuriated in my entire life, and by Queens. What is the meaning of this … invasion to my planet that my great grandmother won by world trial combat?”
“Hmm … perhaps she is strong,” Lexi mumbled, legs alternating to Iris’ left while facing her.
Iris’ legs twitched, enraged by their utter lack of decorum befitting a Queen. “If you do not answer me this second, then I will consider…”
Her answer came by way of shadowy webs that appeared below her feet from thin-air, giving no indication the Queen had spun the silk. The speed would have caught Azalea off-guard, but Iris had battled her sisters and practiced with her mother to combat her species in the past. Other broods would have vastly different skills, which a Queen must expect, but something such as this had only happened once in Iris’ known history of her kind.
Situating her feet between the threads rising to meet her, she jumped to the ceiling, outspeeding the acceleration before darting left, activating her stealth abilities. Any decent Queen should be able to detect her at this weakened state, but an added millisecond was life and death in a Queen battle. Yet, if the second Queen intervened, then she might need to retreat.
Sure enough, Serris jumped to meet her, and Iris maneuvered her body to dodge the slash to her leg, aiming for a guarded joint. Not wishing to fall into any trap, she ducked the blow, spear-like right leg angling to jab into the Queen’s shamelessly unguarded mouth; it was as if these Thélméthra had never battled another Queen, or utterly mocking her.
Her mind shifted gears without hesitation as her attack met empty air, but her sharp atmospheric sensitivity could recognize an invisible movement to her right, and she swung her abdomen around to batter the hidden foe away while dodging another spontaneous projectile from Lexi.
A second, third, and the fourth spray of shadowy silk targeted her from multiple angles; she could dodge them in her Thélméthra form, but the actions would be more effortless in her human state. Morphing in mid-flight while throwing out a tether to the wall, she escaped the path, using Shadow Step to quickly move behind Serris, breath held to not give away her position.
However, Serris’ speed accelerated to an extreme degree, swiftly dodging her surprise attack. Jumping to the ceiling to avoid Lexi’s acidic spray, Iris could feel her muscles screaming the danger she was in; if a Queen was using such projectiles, then the power must be potent, but the effects on the ice weren’t what she expected, bewildering her.
A confused smile brightened her human full pink lips; Lexi entered one of her own webs, possibly proving her inexperience. Iris had already attached a thread of her own to the silk, sending the stimulation to take control of the substance.
The first real surprise came when it didn’t respond, not even a repulsion, but her secondary manipulations of weaponized thread to the left sent both Thélméthra retreating, and further confounding Iris.
She could have repurposed the silk to contend our strength … does she know she’ll lose?
Iris hadn’t been more focused on the reality that she would likely die since facing the White God, but the caution she executed with the two on one Queen’s contest only served to make her question her opponents’ actions.
They were not weak and could very likely handle her daughters had they come up against them with these Queens’ reaction speed, combined with their burst movements, and yet the depth of their attacks were not intended to kill a Thélméthra, nor countering the traps she was setting. It was as if they didn’t have the slightest idea of their own weaknesses, and the strangest piece of information her perception returned was their extreme increases in speed upon her own strikes.
If they attacked at that speed, I would be in danger … together, I would be unable to contend…
The two Queens jumped to her side, aiming a combined blow to her armored belly that would require far more strength than they showed to penetrate. She was even weaker in her human form compared to her Thélméthra, but on the chance they had some hidden skill from another race that could bridge the gap, she leaned into a backbend, eight lance-like legs sprouting out of her back to impale the Queens’ second plate gap on a horribly timed release of air.
Again, their speed rapidly increased beyond her own, retreating a safe distance to launch mid-range projectile web slings, but she’d predicted the game of back and forth after analyzing their attack patterns, laying a trap with the tens of thousands of thread now littering the cave, and she sprung the trap.
A small smirk lit Iris’ lips at the sheer ridiculous nature of the contest; it was as if this were just a light game they were playing. Although, they had been quite rude. Yet, as her thread encircled them, her smile fell; she’d caught the Queens, yet the mass her silk compressed was far smaller than two of the most deadly foes she’d ever faced, or so she had thought.
The realization was the first thing that genuinely stunned her, and that bit of processing allowed the two to somehow escape her trap.
That wasn’t an issue; she’d expected some kind of action that might combat her control over the silk or to slip the thread using some other form of skill, and the two were swiftly recaptured by the mess of web now filling the chamber with her manipulations.
“Ugh…” Lexi growled. “Serris, cut the web!”
“… It’s too strong.”
Iris’ astonishment turned to unmitigated animosity, closed fist quivering with rage as the two struggled with her traps. Her chilling voice was colder than the environment that surrounded them. “… You are not Thélméthra Queens … I am under a simple trick of the mind.”
Applying a few of her extra Skill Points she saved for exact moments like this, she watched the illusion impressed on her fade; cold, burning red irises watching the shadow silk change to a green goo-like substance with the acidic liquid.
The two imposing Thélméthra, the creatures that had actually struck a degree of fear that she had only felt twice in her life, changed to a three-foot-tall gelatin-like creature that was now having trouble escaping her silk, stickiness increased after discovering their weakness.
This … thing is Lexi?
Serris was more human-shaped with moss-like hair and four blade-like arms, showing a sleek exoskeleton. They were releasing hideous sounds as they struggled, and Iris could no longer understand them since Serris was no longer inside her head, seeking to sell the image of her most feared enemy.
To think I would be made a fool by such … weaklings … the only reason they survived was that I did not know their actual locations in that bulky miscalculation she fed my mind.
Iris strode forward, spiky legs wrapping around her human back to finish the moronic things.
They made pitiful shrill noises as she approached, Lexi trying to spit more acid. Iris simply swept the substance to the side with a sharp gust of wind, generated with the sweep of her hand, and sent it into Serris’ face, causing the insect’s shrieks to increase as the liquid burned her. Her blades swung down with cold hatred; never had she felt such humiliation.
Her arm instantly changed positions as a swift-moving figure closed the distance from the doorway, and a black, mantis-like insect sought to cut her in two; this had real force behind it, even greater than her own.
Iris’ nose twisted with irritation as the jagged blade hands passed through her extended legs, severing two before cutting a slight gash in the back of her human wrist. This creature was a threat, unlike the others.
Darting to the ceiling, thread wove from her left fingertips, closing the wound and temporarily utilizing her silk to replace the cut tendons. She would heal within five minutes, and the lance-like legs it had cut off would be replaced in time.
Two more close dodges across the chamber and Iris had gained the proper ground to utilize her silk using her long gradient white and black hair.
The creature matched her avoiding prowess, dodged the deadly thread, laced with poison while continuing to attack her, cutting the wire it couldn’t escape at critical integrity locations; its movements were unlike anything she’d seen, utilizing the swift bursts of its wings to maneuver midair, but it would be too late to save the two fake Queens as her silk hardened, working to turn them into pulp.
Her constriction stopped with her movements against the ceiling as the creature spoke, high-pitched sound not giving an idea of his gender. “W-Whhhaiiit…”
It was another mental attack, but far too weak to cause any illusions; this was simply to convey speech, and the transmission was quite poor with her bolstered resistances from the Mental Shielding I Skill she’d obtained.
Knowing it was only one way, she gave it a chance to speak; the Empress had told her to investigate the Molifoph, not engage with a life-threatening foe, but the creature’s appearance made it a possible threat to Elinor if she had trouble with it.
“Weee … retreat … you kill … I may looose arms … still kill youuu. Iiisss itttt … wooorthh rissssk…”
Iris glared at the insect-like figure, flexing her mending fingers while pondering the offer.
I could kill it … but it is a risk that could leave me severely damaged. If I can catch it from the shadows, or apply more traps it wouldn’t be an issue, but … no, securing my safety to report the threat takes priority. If by some stroke of luck it does land a finishing blow … there would be no suitable offensive support for Edmon or the knowledge of our enemy. If I had Edmon, it would be simple to handle the three, but if more are lurking … retreat is the best outcome.
Keeping her guard up, Iris released the two, casting a net over the Molifoph while bringing all of the chamber’s web around herself as a guard, easily dragging the dead bird out of the cave.
The three creatures seemed to be communicating, and Lexi stepped forward with green goo falling out of her oddly shaped ears, but the black exoskeleton bug restrained her, placing its bladed arm in front of her.
Hmm … secure the corpse for questioning in a safe place … then follow to discover their origin. They may be tracking me through my mental waves … if I increase my shielding further, it shouldn’t be an issue.
Iris never experienced the pulsating desire to kill something more than the two fools who would dare impress themselves as Thélméthra Queens and pretend to pose a threat to her; she had to restrain herself from grinding her teeth at the mere thought of the unrefined audacity, fingers flexing with the indignation coursing through her mind.
If there are more, report on the discovery, and in the chance a safe opportunity arises, strike … a dead threat is better than a living.
Maps:
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