Chapter 41: Side Story: What if? (Symbiont of the Devourer)

"What in the abyss is that?" exclaimed Si'janrii, staring at the humanoid creature making its way towards them. Despite wearing a face that looked very much like their own, the deathly pale skin and glowing silver hair and eyes made it clear it was something entirely different, if the lack of ears and tail hadn't already made that obvious. Its modesty was preserved only by a few branches wrapped loosely around it, with sparse twigs and silver leaves providing the exact minimum of coverage to hide its features while leaving it perfectly clear that those features were there.

"It's not any sort of chilopoda, and frankly, that's all I care about," opined Si'chieen. "If I never see another chilopoda in my life, it'll be too soon."

"It looks like a dryad," said one of the other guards.

"Dryads aren't real," pointed out another. "They're a mythical surface monster."

"I do come from the surface, actually," said the monster. "I got trapped down here due to a stupid wish. And I'm not a dryad. Or didn't use to be, at least. I do admit I've changed somewhat since I got here."

"By the Goddess, it understands us!" exclaimed Si'janrii.

"Shh!" hissed So'layn.

"Ja'yakril would give his entire fortune for a dryad," whispered Si'chieen, ever the money-grubber.

"But it said it wasn't one."

"No, it said that it didn't use to be one."

"And how do you intend to capture it? You want to open the gate when there's a monster of unknown abilities standing on the other side?"

"Why don't we ask what it wants? It isn't trying to attack."

"What is it you want?" asked So'layn, now speaking loudly. "Monsters aren't welcome in our territory."

"I'm not a monster. At least, I don't think so. And I'm searching for the holy sword, to save the surface from a demon invasion."

"It's lying," whispered Si'janrii flatly. "The surface is a fairytale we tell to our children, not something that actually exists."

"We could take advantage, though? Pretend to be considering it and take it to Ja'yakril, and let him collar it."

"And if the collar doesn't work? Or if it starts fighting back halfway there?"

"If it was that strong, we'd be able to feel it. I'm getting nothing whatsoever."

So'layn clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Fine. You two can take it, but I want it thoroughly restrained first, and at the first sign of non-cooperation, kill it."

"Okay," said Si'chieen, speaking loudly once more. "We've not heard of this holy sword you seek, and we aren't convinced by your story, so we'll take you to someone for questioning. We'll need to insist on restraining you until he agrees you're safe. Is that acceptable?"

"I suppose I have no choice," said the dryad, looking unhappy. "Well, no, that's a complete lie. But I like the other choice even less than this one, so we'll go with yours."

The guards tied its arms securely behind its back and led it through the checkpoint.

"It just let you tie it up like that?" asked Ja'yakril, staring at the strange creature. Having a far greater understanding of monsters than the guards, even supposedly mythical ones, he was well aware that dryads should tend towards green rather than silver, and neither should they glow. This creature matched nothing he'd ever heard of, mythical or otherwise. Examination did reveal that the branches it was 'wearing' were growing out of its body, so it did seem to be plant based to some extent.

"She," said the monster. "Not it."

"Yes, it did," answered Si'chieen.

"I dunno," said Si'janrii. "Just look at those boobs. You might have to give her that one."

The monster stared at the ground in embarrassment. "The class description didn't say anything about how much they were going to grow," she muttered.

"How interesting," Ja'yakril continued, ignoring the interruption. "Not to mention that she could approach the town barrier this easily, despite not wearing a collar. Either she's so docile that we don't need to be concerned, or else she's so desperate for something that she was prepared to put her life on the line for it. I wonder which it is?"

"I could hardly fight all of you by myself," she pointed out. "And I really do need to find the holy sword, so I guess you could say I was desperate."

"Holy sword?" asked Ja'yakril.

"You didn't tell him?"

"Of course not. She has some delusion about not being a monster, and being on some sort of quest to save the surface world."

"It's not a delusion! I only look like this because one of the class skills I picked gave me a bit of dryad blood! Besides, I happen to like my new look."

"That's hardly something we can take your word for, obviously," pointed out Ja'yakril, frowning. "But if you hold still a moment, this will let me check if you're telling the truth."

"What?" exclaimed the monster, staring at the collar in Ja'yakril's hand, and suddenly struggling violently against her bonds. "No! Keep that thing away from me."

"Perhaps his politeness caused you to misunderstand, but it's not optional," said Si'janrii from behind.

With Si'chieen's help, the pet collar clicked into place, and her struggles ceased, though her eyes remained filled with fear.

"There's no need to look so afraid," said Ja'yakril. "You're perfectly safe here. Now, let's check a few things. Please answer everything truthfully, without attempts at deception or avoidance. First, what is your species."

"A mix of human and dryad," answered the monster, still visibly panicking, but forced to comply nonetheless.

"Human? I've not heard of them."

"We live on the surface. I'm the only one here."

"And why are you here?"

"To retrieve the holy sword and save the surface from a demonic invasion."

"What?" exclaimed Si'janrii. "Your collar isn't working!"

"I can assure you that it's working perfectly. While she is indeed struggling against it, she's not currently achieving anything. Although she does seem to be growing more resistant at an alarming speed. At this rate, it may not be effective for more than a few hours."

"She's growing resistant?! Then we need to kill her, right now!"

"Perhaps your ears aren't working correctly," said Ja'yakril, noting with surprise that however scared the creature was of the collar, she didn't react at all to the possibility of being killed. "I said we have hours. Furthermore, her story appears to be the truth. Well, there's one more question, I guess. Are you a monster?"

"No," answered the girl.

"It seems that you've brought something here even more interesting than a supposedly mythical monster, but I suspect all that you two care about is that I'm not going to be able to pay you for her," he said to the guards, before turning back to the girl. "While I'm loath to continue questioning a person using a pet collar, I do have to ask, you've mentioned a 'class' twice now, and blamed it for changing your species. What might that be?"

"A result of the Goddess' blessing. For protecting and repairing her shrines, I am granted additional power. The changes to my appearance came as a result of repairing the shrine at the top of the corridor these guards were defending."

The room fell into silence, before Ja'yakril spoke up, shakily. "One of you two, go fetch a priestess. Now."

"What? We're not going to..."

"Now! I may not be able to pay you for her, but you can be damn sure the temple will make sure you are properly compensated."

The girl looked on in surprise, apparently not expecting this turn of events.

"I told you that you're safe here, and I meant it," said Ja'yakril, recognising her confusion. "It should be obvious that we couldn't trust your word. It might be uncomfortable being forced to answer my questions like that, but now it means I believe you, however outrageous your claims may be. Once a priestess arrives, we can get that collar off you, and you'll be free to go."

Si'chieen grumbled from behind at that, but didn't seem able to argue, and the girl visibly relaxed.

"Besides, even if you were a monster, you still would have been safe. I have a great respect for my pets, and treat them well."

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It wasn't too much longer before the priestess Do'myrith arrived, took one look at the girl, then recoiled in horror.

"May the abyss take me!" she exclaimed. "A servant of the devourer, here?! What fool allowed it to come this close to the town?! Destroy it! Burn it!"

"What? But..." started Ja'yakril.

"I don't want to hear your excuses! It wears the tree's accursed branches, as if they were decoration!"

"But I..." started the girl.

"Silence!"

The alarmed girl found herself unable to make any noise. Still unable to move due to the influence of the collar, she could do nothing but stare at Ja'yakril from the corner of her eye and will him to step in. He didn't, staring shamefully at the ground as the priestess approached.

"Holy fire," she intoned, raising a hand and causing a pillar of white flame to surround the girl. Neither the pet collar nor the silence spell were sufficient to prevent the screams as her flesh boiled and her bones turned to ash.

"Now, what have you to say for yourself?" asked Do'myrith, turning to the three vulpes. "You request a priestess, claiming to have discovered someone with the Goddess' blessing, and instead I find that. Just what did you hope to accomplish here?"

"I don't know what you mean by devourer, but as far as I could ascertain using the pet collar, it was her belief that she wasn't a monster, that she held a blessing from the Goddess, and that she was the one that repaired the shrine on the upper level."

"Then your usage of your collars is obviously not as well developed as you believe," responded Do'myrith, snorting in derision, before turning around and walking back towards the town. Where she impacted an invisible wall and was knocked over backwards.

"What?" she asked.

"If I had to hazard a guess, the Goddess is cross at you for killing her blessed servant, and now she's not letting you back through the town barrier," said Ja'yakril flatly, answering the not-quite question.

"What?" Do'myrith repeated.

One hour and much fuss later, an extremely angry Dru'niryeal, having heard the story from all parties concerned, had banished Do'myrith from the temple. Given that she wasn't able to re-enter the town, it wasn't much of an additional punishment, but the symbolism was important.

Meanwhile, a rather cross Katie stormed into the centipede's brightly lit cavern, where a carnivorous tree far bigger than the original snaked its roots over the entire cavern floor, which was flooded up to Katie's ankles with nectar. The tree's branches reached almost to the ceiling, with the hollow remains of the shell of the chilopoda sagacitas embedded near the base of the trunk. Trying to use Katie as breeding stock had not turned out well for the chilopoda, her body at the time already in use by something that had no mind for the chilopoda sagacitas to attack.

"Right, shoving a slave collar on me, promising to remove it but then burning me alive instead is not the behaviour of civilised people. Time for plan B, as much as I hate doing this," she muttered to herself, climbing among the branches and letting them wrap themselves around her. They gently and lovingly restrained her before plunging deep into her various orifices, filling the previously silent cavern with lewd moaning and damp squelching.

"Hey, it's another of them!" shouted one of the guards, a little while later, as another silver haired creature approached the checkpoint. Its appearance was identical to the first, and if there was any difference at all, it was only in the awkward way in which it was walking and the slightly distended stomach.

The rest of them gathered up to look, watching as the monster stopped just short of the kill line.

"Sorry to intrude," it called, "but I don't suppose you've seen my sister?"

"Well, that's going to piss off Ja'yakril," sniggered one of the guards, word of the events back at the town not having made it to the checkpoint yet. "He thinks he's paying for some unique, mythological monster, when there's actually a whole family of them up there."

"Hey, can you smell something strange?" said another. "It smells... sweet."

The other guards sniffed, most of them able to pick up the aroma on the edge of their perception.

"Damn it," muttered So'layn. "It's an attack! Open fire!"

The response wasn't the sound of the magical weaponry being activated, as he'd expected, but the grinding of the gate being opened.

"Why, thank you kindly," said the monster, stepping in while the surrounding guards simply stared blankly, weapons clattering to the floor.

"You hypnotised my men!" exclaimed So'layn, drawing his sword.

The monster turned around and gave him a smile even sweeter than the smell that now heavily permeated the air.

So'layn lowered his sword. It was just a smell. A monster couldn't help how it smelt, after all, and it wasn't... unpleasant. In fact, he very much would like to get closer to the source. Yes, he would like that very much indeed. His sword clanged on the ground as he took a hesitant step forward.

"Aww, look at you all," said the monster. "So hungry. Well, let's see if we can fill you up, shall we?"

The monster pulled aside the branch that covered its breasts, and the smell intensified even further. The guards reacted immediately, pushing and shoving each other in an attempt to be the first to attach themselves to the source of the hypnotic aroma.

"No need... to rush," it said, panting at the frenzied stimulation. "There's... plenty for... all of... eeep! you," it finished, its stuttered words punctuated by a loud squeal when one of the guards accidentally employed a few too many teeth.

Ten minutes later, the entire contingent of guards lay dead on the floor. A further five minutes, and the magical equipment installed in the encampment had been destroyed.

Katie resumed her journey down the tunnel, continuing her odd gait while complaining to herself. "I know it said I would produce the poisonous nectar, but why does it have to be from my boobs? And I know it said I could act as an incubator for its seed, but why does that require the tree to, well, pleasure me? I swear I've got splinters. Splinters. In my damn vagina! And the seed is bloody huge! I suppose I'm theoretically pregnant right now, and it's not as big as a real baby would be, but that's not the point! And why can I only produce the nectar while pregnant? What sort of stupid limitation is that? I knew there was a reason I tried talking first, and it wasn't just because I'm nice..."

She was still grumbling to herself when she came into view of the town. Ideally, she wanted to be on the inside when she triggered the seed to sprout, but the walls were heavily guarded, so that seemed impractical. Hopefully, growing it right up against the wall would work just as well, as long as she found a large enough initial food supply. She looked over at Ja'yakril's house, built in contact with the wall in its attempt to remain within the protective barrier. Perfect.

Ja'yakril headed to his door to answer the knocking, hoping it wasn't anything related to the incident earlier in the day. His hopes were, unfortunately, unanswered.

"You?!" he exclaimed. "I saw you burn!"

"And did nothing to stop it," Katie replied. "But don't worry; I got over it. You never asked me for all the details of my blessing, but suffice to say, I got immortality in with the bargain. Now, if you don't mind, I have a need for lots of fertiliser."

"Fertiliser? What do you..." Ja'yakril staggered, hit mid-sentence by a sudden burst of the nectar's hypnotic aroma. Having witnessed Do'myrith's outburst and been present for the discussion with Dru'niryeal later, he now knew full well what it represented and therefore what Katie meant by fertiliser, but was powerless to resist. "That smell... You... No, stop... Please... I... It wasn't... me..."

His desperate pleading descended into incoherent mumbling as the hypnotic aroma attacked his mind, and he stumbled senselessly toward Katie and his death.

"I'm damn glad the smell never had that effect on me," Katie said to herself, with a shake of her head. She'd originally thought it was only the centipedes that were affected in that way, but it turned out to be pretty much everything other than herself and the beetles. "Now then, you want to drink this, right?"

The insensate Ja'yakril nodded dreamily.

"But it's not polite to keep it all to yourself, is it? Good things should be shared."

He nodded again.

"Why don't you call all of your pets over, then? You do value your pets highly, you said, so surely you want to share this good thing with them?"

He nodded for a third time, and a brief bout of concentration crossed his otherwise relaxed expression.

"Good boy," said Katie, petting him on the head and scritching his ears.

Ja'yakril smiled happily.

There wasn't nearly enough space in the house for his entire collection of monsters, but it didn't matter. The rest gathered outside, close enough for use. Having a structure built right up against the outside of the town wall seemed like a rather serious defensive flaw to Katie, but she was hardly going to complain, given that she was about to make use of it. She activated the seed, and struggled not to scream as new roots tore through her body, consuming her flesh in order to grow. When they were done consuming her, they moved onto the pile of corpses she'd built up in front of her, and from there to the collected monsters outside, now frozen in place thanks to the death of their collars' master.

And from there, they moved onto the walls.

As a plant rather than a monster, the angelica vorax was not subject to the barrier, and roots tore into the wall, as well as climbing it and plucking guardsmen right from the top. They continued to grow, bursting through the other side, and started grabbing citizens from the streets.

The trunk grew against the wall, branching out and producing its signature glowing leaves, an image of great beauty that contrasted heavily against the background of terrified screaming.

"And that was the other reason I wanted to try talking first," muttered Katie, back in her respawn chamber, rubbing her belly. "At least I got another level of pain resistance."

Leaving the respawn chamber for the second time that day, Katie took a detour in the wolves' cavern, making her way to the cliff edge. Where there had previously been a large patch of light was now a single, enormous tree, its glowing leaves illuminating the entire cavern.

"Wow, you sure grew a lot in only an hour," she commented. "Must have been a lot of those fox-kin down there."

Gaining access to the floor peacefully would have been preferred, given that the fox people seemed intelligent, but when they used slave collars and magic, another attempt at talking would have been too much of a risk. Giving no more thought to the number of lives she'd just reaped, Katie headed back down to the second floor, and began her unimpeded search for the entrance to the third.

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