Curselock

Chapter 105: Scorpions

Despite being within a mound of killer scorpions, the boys found their protective mark, Melody, the weirdest thing about the day. She, a Legacy of Nature, was… strange. From eating dirt, to tasting the green blood of the scorpions, she kept the boys on their toes.

Currently, she pushed two small twigs into the soft tunnel-like flooring before chanting about flowers and leaves. Soon she yanked the twigs out of the dirt with the power of a sword-wielding warrior. A drop of thick liquid pooled at the tip of the twigs. She stared intently at the swirling yellow gunk before shoving both twigs into her mouth. She chomped on them like celery, finally swallowing with an audible gulp.

She grunted as the wood fell through her throat, and with the poise of a Legacy on a quest from their Lord, pointed down the tunnel. “Our destination in that way.”

The boys blinked. Jude took the initiative. “Our objective is down that tunnel?”

“Yes,” Melody remarked with a bit of proud arrogance.

“You mean, down the only tunnel?” Jude asked as deadpan as he could.

Unfortunately, his voice inflected ever so slightly, causing the Legacy of Nature to frown. She finally scoffed, turned, and ventured down further into the scorpion nest.

The boys quickly got in gear, rushing into a protective formation. Jude was first, next came Glenny, then Melody, and Leland was last. The order wasn’t set in stone, however, they figured an ambush from behind was highly unlikely as they killed every scorpion they encountered on the way down.

Luckily, Melody knew a light-creation spell, removing the need for the boys to carry lit torches. An orb of bright white light hovered just over her head, casting a long shadow into the dark tunnel. Leland also helped on that front, using the cantrip Glow to make his fingers glow with the light of a lantern – but him being in the back, Melody’s spell took on most of the work.

The boys nodded at once, moving to intercept the threats. Jude pulled his axe awkwardly from his hand, the low ceiling making his normally generous movements close and subdued. A single long blade of crimson red power ignited in Glenny’s hand, forming a tipped spear instead of his normal dual daggers. And Leland kept his grimoire out and open, allowing it to float perfectly in her periphery.

Crystalline Scorpions, while no larger than a large puppy, were still quite deadly. As nesting monsters that usually held their territories, stories of adventurers being overwhelmed by massive numbers were just as common as not. They were dull creatures, following the instinct of battle rather than centralized orders from a queen like most other ant-like monsters.

While that meant sometimes the scorpions would attack each other, it also meant they were quite proficient at killing. Especially with their relatively huge stingers and paralytic poison. Although variants in their coloration, size, speed, and power were quite common. Various jobs were needed within the nest and that left plenty of room for the odd and bizarre.

Three scorpions rounded a dark curve of the tunnel just as Melody predicted. Two of the purple and blue variants were leading the small pack, their dominating pinchers out and ready. A smaller and emerald green scorpion followed closely behind, but it had small pinchers and a thicker tail and stinger.

Glenny’s spear darted out in three rapid thrust attacks. Each hit a different scorpion, sending a spider web of cracks through their mineral bodies. Being in the front, Jude took the two purple and blues, blocking their pinchers with the flat of his axe. Crimson quickly cut into their crystalline exoskeleton and into their internal fleshy bits.

The last of the three scorpions was finished not a minute later, as an entire murder of crows pecked and clawed at it.

Originally, Leland was expecting himself to be useless in killing the scorpions, but oddly enough, his crows out did themselves. He theorized it was the ethereal aspect that the birds carried interacting with the magical crystals the scorpions were made of, but he would defend his stance. For all he knew the crows just really hated scorpions so they worked double time to kill the monsters.

This was especially critical after his curse Fracture failed to do anything against the first scorpion they encountered. While expected because scorpions don’t have bones, Leland couldn’t help but sigh at the time. He was glad he had his flail, even if he kept burning himself with it.

“Do you think the green ones specialize in venom?” Glenny asked, poking at the dead scorpion with his spear.

“Venom-infused spit, actually,” Melody answered. “To dissolve rocks.”

“Ah…”

“You are thinking of the dark green variant. Those are the warrior type and have significantly enhanced stingers with even deadlier poison.”

Jude shrugged at the statement. “So purple and blue push dirt around. Light green breaks up rocks, and dark green kills things?”

“Yes, more or less,” Melody said.

“Alrighty then.” Jude put away his axe and kept going.

They battled through the tunnel, never fighting a group of scorpions more than six at a time. Eventually the tunnel split and Melody repeated her twig tasting ritual, directing the group in the proper way. Hours went by as they progressed slowly downward.

Apparently, the Lord of Nature wanted the nest “cleansed” from something that the scorpions had inadvertently brought into the depths of their home. Melody was less than forthcoming with just what the item was, but Leland was able to conclude it was something alien to the local ecosystem and probably magical in nature.

At some point, Melody stopped the group and pulled out an artificed compass. Jude made some snide remarks about needing to know which way was north while underground, but quickly changed his tune when the compass started to produce sound.

It clicked and ticked, much like a pocket watch, but loud and with authority. The sound echoed against the tunnel walls, calling to all enemies that lurked in the shadows.

Melody tilted her head at whatever it was she was reading from the compass, before turning to the path ahead.

“Fourteen approach. Six from behind, as well.”

Glenny was the first to curse, conjuring a spear as Jude removed his axe from his hand. Leland pressed his palm into his grimoire, summoning a violet ring about his head. Water spun to life in front of his opposite hand just in time to meet a dozen or so softly glowing crows.

Sending the crows to intercept the scorpions coming in from behind, he set his feet and leaned into his shield of water. He watched through the somewhat clear swirls of magical water, four purple and blue scorpions, a light green and a silver-yellow scorpion bound through the dark. Crows met crystal as the scorpions slammed into the protective water.

Behind him Jude and Glenny accepted the call to arms, slaughtering any scorpion that dared come near them.

Meanwhile, Melody stared at her compass before twisting her head up as if she was looking through the ground to the surface.

“One approaches,” she said, her eyes locked on something high above the group.

Unfortunately, the boys didn’t catch the warning and instead fought on.

He came upon a small “village” just as his Lord said he would.

Activating a Legacy ability, his only non-lethal one, he scried the initial land looking for his targets. The massive sheep made it difficult, their casual grazing covered all tracks and most of the evidence he was looking for. Occasionally he’d find something human, but either the impression would be too deep or sized differently.

Memorizing was always one of his strengths, which in times like this, was critical. He knew each of the boys’ footprints down to the very morsel of leather their soles were made of. He’d been following them for days through the snow, after giving their handler the slip, that was. Which in and of itself was curious. Three young adventurers in need of a babysitter? Especially one of such power?

It didn’t matter, in the end. His Lord and uncle had not stated anything about the woman, so as far as he was concerned, she was of no consequence .

But he was still curious. He wasn’t quite sure how often his puppets would be noticed, being a young Toy Maker and all. But if the woman’s power level was anything to go off of, then he figured he’d mostly go unmolested while carrying out his Lord’s will.

That made him smile, especially since he was killing two birds with one stone. He was appeasing his Lord and completing something delicate for his uncle. It took the guesswork out of creating a dynasty, it took the annoying part about killing someone out of the equation.

At least until his Lord told him to kill his uncle. Then things would start to be annoying. But such was the way when the Toy Maker wanted something.

“Creating a dynasty,” while not something he would have envisioned for himself, was absolute in his eyes. His Lord willed it, so he would obey till his dying breath. Just like his father.

His uncle didn’t know about his Lord. He’d played off the rapid fire questions after his Dream Ceremony, specifically the ones about why his hand tattoo was invisible. But with a few well-crafted lies and leading half-answers, his uncle never suspected a thing. Not that it would matter. His uncle was a Witch after all.

Still, the Toy Maker had said to keep the secret, so he had. And now the fruits of his loyalty would surface. He’d have his first three permanent puppets soon, very soon. And what puppets they would be. Adventurers, powerful ones for their age at that. They were literally the best puppets he could ask for. They would grow with him, age with him, evolve with him.

Three royal guards to start his Lord’s dynasty with.

He smiled as scried the pasture. He’d find their tracks soon enough, and when he did, he would be that much closer to becoming the king of these lands.