Warning: Mentions of blood, injuries and pain in a slighlty explicit way , nothing outside of the fantasy-violence label
By the evening, Mortigus was on a long walk, reaching beyond the forest and into more wilderness. It was surprising how few villages and cities he had noticed despite walking for days. It would be useful to try to grab some supplies from a city, but he could only think of a night-time robbery. After all, there was almost no chance of finding a disguise good enough for his outlandish body. Though he could maybe make a veil over the wide cap (which took a couple hours to heal after the “sharpness test” done by the hunter) on his head, which would also cover from his head to his neck. It would still be hard to see through it, and the singular eye was closer in size to a plate than a human’s, not to mention its glow. The hunter had some money inside the bag, but it was useless if he couldn’t walk into the market and talk with people in the first place. Night-time robbery was truly the only way. After all, Mortigus needed a map, in the hopes he could head to Arcut, his home village. But it wouldn’t be wise to attempt such a thing yet, he had to leave more distance between him and the group of humans now knowing of his existence.
“I wonder how it’d be like to travel with someone else.” yearned Mortigus. Back in the woods where he hibernated, he grew a quiet hunger for exploration, for experiencing life outside a cage. And even if humans were again trying to put bars around him, nothing will stop him from removing his last shackle. A shackle, is that what visiting his village was?
“It feels like an exaggeration, but I did live most of my life alone. And somehow I didn’t hurt from loneliness until now. Child-me just accepted to live in solitude in that forest so easily. Or that’s just how I remember it now. I only got a few days with Arbero, and I miss them now? After they disappeared as if they abandoned me…Why did I get attached at all? I knew even as a young kid/monster that I will have to live alone, this just proves that it was naive to expect that to change. Visiting Arcut, will it make me feel free, break the last attachments I have to the humans? With the hunters out there, my options are to kill, be killed or never be seen. Maybe I’ll create a small hut, like Arbero, deep in some woods. And just forget about the rest of the world.” Mortigus sunk into deep thought, only to trip on a crooked root. The sun was starting to dim out, fireflies taking off from the ground one by one. “ For the moment, I’ll just do as planned. I’m sensing no large being around, I could camp soon in the area.”
A new day shined over the horizon, golden waves of grain were being split apart by A giant red and white dot. Mortigus’ cap peaked from the end of the lane, seeing another patch of deciduous trees not far away. He headed inside the grove on instinct, preparing to scan the area as usual, yet something unusual did happen. An alluring spark in the Essence made his head turn forcefully. Around two hundred metres away, dense hedges were forming a small citadel of emerald paper and spines, no berry bushes or such in sight. Mortigus got closer and sprinkled Essence on the ground right beneath him, giving rise to a mushroom almost twice as tall as himself. From this vantage point, he could see the true layers of hedges ahead, followed by unassuming trees and a bumpy hill. He didn’t feel any humans nearby, so, led by curiosity, he extended the cap of the mushroom over the hedges and got past the wall of spines, touching the ground again and moving to the source of the weird feeling. To be safe, he retracted the fungi platform and left no sign of his presence there. If he needed to run, he could always create another one after all. He advanced until he reached the base of the hill, though nothing stood out about it. Moss and grass were growing vividly, though certain tiny spots were concerningly bald, as if the soil nutrients were not distributed evenly. Mortigus went closer and kneeled, his hand pressed onto a bald spot. As mycelium dug through, the soil crumbled slightly. Like sound breaking a glass chock full with water, Mortigus’ Essence overburdened the soil, and the resulting sinkhole sucked in Mortigus with little chance to react.
His body rolled like a pillbug down the dirt slide for a couple of seconds, coming to an abrupt stop in the middle of a surprisingly spacious cave. Thankfully, Mycolians don’t appear to be bothered by such a thrashing, as his body healed quickly. His head, however, spinned for a minute, as he clumsily grabbed the nearest wall and pushed himself back onto two feet. Mortigus brushed off the dust, though his new pants were muddied. He directed his eye around, finding the hole he fell through, but it was no more than a thin tunnel, covered by all the caved-in dirt and rocks. On the other hand, to his side, a slight breeze could be felt, which he followed in the tunnel’s darkness. A light beam filled with dust was raining down through what seemed to be the step entrance of the cave, a few roots acting as a ladder. This entrance must have been camouflaged with magic, impossible to see from outside, otherwise Mortigus couldn’t explain how he didn’t notice it at all before. This wasn’t a burrow of a simple beast, concluded Mortigus, right before backing away from the entrance and putting his palm on one of the burrow’s walls. Surprisingly, the ground was already brimming with mushrooms, so in less than a minute, Mortigus managed to get a rough layout of the burrow, chock full of chambers and intersecting tunnels, among them rooms resembling underground gardens. His eye’s glow was rather dim, not enough to safely navigate these tunnels half-blind. Since he couldn’t feel any large living creature currently in the burrow, he gave bloom to many tiny bio-luminescent mushrooms, colourful garlands lining the walls and ground. Their gentle light showed the true home hiding beneath the ground, far different than what an abandoned mine could be. Mortigus was on edge, but a faint call of mushrooms luring him deeper, like the voice of an old friend that awakens buried memories. The burrow hummed the tune of a gentle Essence and a familiar touch. Mortigus lowered his head and stepped into a garden cultivating multiple species of mushrooms and hardy plants that need little sunlight. Water containers were neatly organised in a corner, as well as small bags of seeds and compost. The roof of this room was solid and probably not an illusion, though it was surprising to see an underground garden working so well. Nonetheless, this room held the main pool of Essence within it, keeping the conditions of this environment perfect for gardening. As much as he wanted to reject it, to toss it aside as a delusion, Mortigus noticed it. That somewhat faded Essence was of Arbero, an old signature that wasn’t yet washed away by time. They were here once, but it was clearly not a previous house of theirs. It came across as far too closely maintained and lived-in, and Arbero was rooted down in the cemetery forest. Did Arbero create this space for someone else, or was Mortigus simply assuming that Arbero’s Essence would have such a unique feel that he could discern it from any other user of Essence? Mortigus kept his hands tightly stuck to the wall, trying to sense every little detail he could, extracting all the memory stored by the earth.
Unfortunately, Mortigus’ concentration was to the detriment of his alertness. A sudden thud echoed through the tunnel, sending a chill down his spine. “Did someone-” Mortigus reacted, but his eye didn’t even twitch before a new presence appeared at the garden’s opening.
“ Cine dracu’?! Ce cauți aici?! (Who the hell?! What are you doing here?!) ” shouted an alien voice from behind Mortigus. Mortigus turned around slowly, a stoic figure blocking the door. The mushroom’s lights showered on a dirty, yet almost reflective carapace, a bulky insect standing on two legs and just a little bit shorter in stature than Mortigus, though both were slouching a little in this section of the tunnels. The insect's beady eyes were laser-focused on Mortigus, while it was pointing its two muscular arms right at the intruder. Its arms ended with what looked like spiked gauntlets with three slick fingers sticking out. One claw was holding an iron dagger, worn but still sharp, while the other had a tiny storm of dust dancing around the wrist. “Mâinile sus, dacă văd un singur semn de magie, dărâm tunelul peste tine! (Hands up, if I see even a sign of magic, I’m crashing the whole tunnel down over you)”, demanded the insect, gesturing with its dagger for Mortigus to lift his arms.
Mortigus caught the queue and followed through. Though beast-like at first glance, this burrow and this mannerisms were certainly that of an intelligent creature. Arbero might have mentioned insect-like people in his retellings, but Mortigus was too tense to remember the details. He didn’t recognise the language the burrower was speaking either, so at the moment all he could do was to remain vigilant at any chance to escape and not provoke it.
“ Nu ești om, mai degrabă ciupercă. Micolian? Ești cumva … Arbero? (You aren’t human, rather a mushroom. Mycolian? Are you, by chance…Arbero?” inquired the burrower, jolting Mortigus. He decided to try to communicate, pointing at himself with one hand.
“ You know Arbero? You think I’m with Arbero? I know him too, I mean no harm.”
“ Oh, iți recunosc limba, cred. Și ai reacționat la numele <<Arbero>>. (Wait, I recognise that language, I think. And you reacted to the name <<Arbero>>) ” remarked the insect, after which it started rubbing its neck with one claw to clear its throat.
“ Move …forward, slowly. “ ordered the burrower, in a raspy and forced tone. “Now left.” Mortigus followed as asked. “ Now stay there.” Based on appearances, the insect directed Mortigus inside a kitchen or pantry, Mortigus standing next to a table while in the opposite corner, between shelves and cupboards, stood the insect. Mortigus freezed, his eye watching the burrower carefully,as it slid to the right, one hand reaching over to a wooden shelf and the other still threatening Mortigus. Its claw managed to get hold of a weird stone emblem, which it twisted and brought it next to its neck.
“ We understand each other now, right?” said the insect, its tone, language and even pronunciation clearly different than before. It maintained an intense gaze towards Mortigus.
“ Yes, I think so.” responded the mycolian, slightly confused.
“ Good, good. So, you are clearly a mycolian, are you Arbero?”, asked the insect while keeping its guard up.
“ I am not Arbero, but I do know him! My name is Mortigus, a young mycolian in the grand scheme of things. You know of Arbero but, had you perhaps never seen them in person?” clarified Mortigus.
“ Never ever. All I got is my parents’ stories mentioning Arbero. You’re the first actual mycolian I’ve ever seen, but that is not so surprising.” The insect took a brief pause then introduced itself. “ Mortigus, you said? I’ll exchange names then, I’m Lut, a farmer that woke up with a bizarre intruder into her home. I’d like to hear an explanation regarding that.”
Mortigus gulped before answering.
“ I and Arbero were pursued by some people and a hunter, we got … split and I ended up running from them alone. And I ended up in this region, where I felt the Essence of Arbero and followed it to this hill. Then I crashed down into your home by accident.” clarified Mortigus, though the tension in the air hadn’t left. He continued, trying to keep a consistent tone: “ I am really sorry for the intrusion, I really mean no harm. I was just attracted by the remnants left by Arbero here.”
“ Arbero did work on this house, though I never expected mycolians to be able to track each other off on something so minor. To be safe, before we continue this discussion, take your baggage and empty it on the table next to you.” ordered Lut in a calm tone.
Mortigus took out most of the provisions he had between the two bags he managed to collect. “ I have some weapons that I stole from a hunter. I can’t really use them, but I will place them on the table.”, Mortigus warned. Lut twitched a little, clearly vigilant.
Mortigus layed down the flintlock, a knife and the magic ring onto the table, backing away after the fact. The ground under the table rumbled for a second, as dirt liquified and lifted it from underneath and moved it away from both Mortigus and Lut, following the gesture made by Lut’s claw. Lut dragged a chair and offered it to Mortigus, while she placed herself between him and the table filled with weapons and food.
“ Look, I understand what it’s like to run from the hunters, I believe you for the most part. I need to make sure of one thing: were you still being followed until this point?” asked Lut firmly.
“ No. For at least a couple days I haven’t sensed any other being resembling a human. Once I found the hill though, I kind of got overly focused on Arbero’s Essence and...”
“ Didn’t detect me in time? It figures.” intervened Lut.” Hopefully you tell the truth, your discretion was not particularly trust-worthy, judging by what I found on my way here. You made the glowing decorations through the burrow, right? They look nice, you can leave them there. But that mushroom bridge over the hedges, I cut it down.”
Bloodhound Ring
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