Chapter 127: book 3 chapter 28

Hecatolite let out a long groan, a painful throbbing in her head ruining any hopes of sleep as she rolled over on the hard forest floor. “Not yet.” She whined, uselessly batting at the air as she tried to push back the morning sun itself before giving up and just covering her eyes with her hand. 

She ground her teeth, refusing to open her eyes as she muttered to herself. “Must… have fallen out of the tree.” She grumbled, thinking she must have hit her head on the way down as it was the only thing she could think of that would give her such a massive headache… Well, she guessed it was possible she slept on it funny, given she was in fact sleeping on hard packed dirt and not a cozy bed; but none of that mattered as she tried, and failed, to bury her own head in the dirt to escape the morning light.

For nearly an hour, which was not nearly enough time for her, she finally relented. Letting out a huff she finally sat up; her eyes barely cracking open to find that she was, much to her own surprise, not alone at the base of the tall tree she had slept in.

“Oh… hello…” She said with a yawn, “It's creepy to watch people sleep you know.” She casually looked down at herself realizing she was quite… dirty. Her bare feet were caked in long dried mud and dirt up to her knees, the clothes she had been wearing now coated in a splattering of colorful stains down the front from the berries along with looking as if she had been rolling around in the grass. “That’s odd, I don’t remember eating black berries.” She commented picking at the prominent black stain in the center of her chest, taking only a moment to try and identify the strangely wet spot. The cool black syrup like liquid clung to her fingers as she futilely rubbed it. 

She paused to hold a hand up, aside from the unknown black liquid she found her hand to be covered in a sticky mixture of tree sap and honey that made moving her fingers… uncomfortable. Her tiny digits sticking together as she wiggled them around, the sticky mixture holding a few flecks of tree bark and dirt to the back of her hand.

She paused for a moment before, cautiously, licking her hand. The dirt didn’t help but the sweet honey and tree sap wasn’t bad, the strange black liquid had a very metallic taste… almost like… she rubbed her face, her hand sticking to her cheeks and lips briefly before she was able to pull a glob of the black goop from her face. “Is… is this my blood?” she asked sniffing it, it smelled mostly like honey and sap… but it did have a bloody hint to it.

Shrugging she popped the glob into her mouth, “Hmm… yep, that’s definitely blood.” She muttered chewing on the still coagulating scab she had ripped from her face. “Must of scraped my face up on the way down.” She said looking directly up at the branches of the tree, looking for any sign of her abrupt descent, surprised to find a clear path directly to the branch she had slept on. Nothing between her and it but open air, nothing that could have scraped her face up. 

She scrunched her face in concentration as she started running sticky hands over her unblemished skin. Even with the messy mixture of honey, sap, blood, and oddity that covered her hands and face she found… “It's really hard to tell.” She said tracing her nose with a finger, finding that the biggest “scab” seemed to be there, though it came off with ease. Her face “felt” fine, nothing feeling as if it was out of place outside of the strange liquid that was easy to swipe off. Outside of a throbbing headache she felt… fine. 

Finally she turned to the figure standing before her, having concluded that despite being abnormally dirty she was fine. Whatever it was, it seemed to be patiently waiting for her, the tall figure looming over her as she sat turning her head slowly from side to side. “Now then, what are you?” She instantly regretted scratching her head as her hair instantly became a tangled mess that clung to her.

Letting out an annoyed growl she started tugging at her hair, the enormous figure before her just standing there… silently. To the point where she wondered briefly if it was actually real, given she felt nothing from it. No hostility, no movement, hells she didn’t even think the thing was actually breathing; but she would need to get closer to find that last part out. 

As to why she kept thinking of it as a “thing”, it was simple. Hecatolite had no words to describe the looming figure before her. It was… human shaped, as far as she could tell at least. Two arms, two legs, and a head. No tail though, poor thing. She thought while looking it over. It was tall, if she had to guess it would be able to easily look over even Eryl’s head, hell’s it would give Alistar a run for his money if it weren’t hunched over. Its arms were long, its long spindly fingers curled slightly as they rested on the ground beneath it. She did notice that, much like her own tiny hands, the creature seemed to have claws; though hers were better since they retracted and the creatures were way too long to be practical.

 She smirked as she flexed her hand slightly, her fingers sharpening to a point as she raised an eyebrow. The creature did not move, causing her to roll her eyes. “Fine, I cheated, so what?” she muttered releasing her soul manifestation given her human body sadly didn’t have claws itself. “Mine are still cooler.” 

She sighed as she continued inspecting it. The creature was… strange. It was hard to describe, her only guess was it had to be wearing some form of clothes given that she doubted whatever it was did not in fact have leaves growing out of it. Though she admitted it was… possible? Are there tree people? oh, what are they called… dryads? Aren't dryads hot though? She couldn’t help but chew the inside of her lip as she tried to place what it was she was looking at. Its long arms and legs looked as if they were covered in bark, and strange leaves adorned its chest and shoulders, its whole body looking as if it were designed to blend in with the forest around it.

She took a deep breath as she finally looked at its… head? Well, where its head would be if it weren’t obscured by an enormous animal skull. She briefly thought it may have been a deer skull but, that would be the biggest damn deer I’ve ever seen! And what kind of deer has crystal horns? The deer-like skull, that was easily as big as her torso, looked as if it had been bleached. Very fine intricate carvings covered nearly every inch of the skull flowing up to the two massive light blue crystal-like horns branching out from the skull like, relatively, small lightning bolts. The sunlight dancing around and through the crystal like horns only adds to the effect.

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She narrowed her eyes, looking into the hollow black pits that were the skull's eye sockets only to find nothing. Like they were made of pure darkness she found herself unable to see whatever was beneath the skull though much to her delight her soul sight did activate. Her momentary happiness faded when she found that the creature looked… almost exactly the same. The only difference really was its soul was covered in vibrant colors, the leaves on its chest and shoulders now a bright healthy green, its legs and arms now a deep earthy brown looking almost like enormous vines that connected it to the dirt. She did think it was odd that its soul still wore the skull.

She blinked a few times, resetting the skill only to notice the forest around them pulsed with energy. A soft green glow covering the trees, that looks a lot like Siofra’s glow? She thought remembering her soul sight’s reaction to the elven goddess. She is the goddess of nature isn’t she, so that makes sense, I guess. Her eyes followed the soft green haze, realizing it swirled around the creature before sinking into it.

“Never seen anything like you before.” She couldn’t help but cock her head as she watched it for a moment. Still finding she felt absolutely nothing from the odd creature. no emotion, no hostility or friendliness… it was just there, watching her… “Well…” She paused holding a hand out to the creature indicating it to speak. 

It did not reply, causing Hecatolite to mutter under her breath as she stood. “Well, you're a chatty one, aren’t you?” She grumbled as she stretched, the headache fading as she did. Though she didn’t feel anything from the odd creature, something deep inside her told her that it was in fact not food. Even if it couldn’t talk she felt that it wouldn’t taste very good…

Both of them looked to the side as the sound of a snapping twig filled the air, Hecatolite’s eyes going wide as she saw a deer in the trees. Her mouth opened slightly as she realized that her assumptions about the skull were in fact correct, as she looked at a deer with the light blue crystal like horns she had to admit that it was indeed the largest deer she had ever seen! 

I need… again she was interrupted as the entire area was suddenly awash with a… feeling? The air suddenly feeling heavy as a deep feeling of danger covered the area, a warning to run… “Is… is that what it feels like when I do that?” She couldn’t help but say as the enormous deer sprinted away. She would have chased it but the massive creature finally moved, appearing between her and it as it ran.

It appearing before her caused something to click. “Wait, that’s the first living thing I have seen since I got here… and the big dark creature I kept seeing yesterday… have you been scaring all the animals away from me?” She growled pointing a tiny finger at… well the creature’s waist, she quickly adjusted to point up at the skull.

It didn’t reply. Just standing there like a statue causing her to scoff as she tried to poke it only for her hand to sink into it. It felt like pushing her hand into a dense bush, pushing past the leaves she found a tangled mess of what felt like woven vines. Puzzled, she pulled her hand back, watching the strange leaves quickly reform around the spot. 

Almost as an answer to its prodding it finally moved, lifting one of its abnormally long noodle-like arms that sagged like a rope in the middle, it pointed off to the side as if directing her.

She cocked an eyebrow, “Yea, no. Sorry big guy, but I don’t have a habit of listening to strange bushes I find in the forest. Maybe try lighting yourself on fire next time,” she chuckled to herself as she lazily waved a hand. “I hear stone tablets help too.” She promptly turned, stepping into the opposite direction only to walk face first into a wall of vines that sprouted up behind her. Hecatolite let out a small, surprised gasp as she stumbled back. 

Quickly composing herself she glared at the creature, “Starting to get real creeper vibes from you.” She hissed, her tail slapping the vine wall. She could feel the wall bend, dozens of sharp snapping sounds ringing out, but the wall held. 

The massive creature shook its head, its arm shifting slightly as it continued to point. The air around them shifted as Hecatolite could suddenly feel a warmth, a feeling of safety… “Are you trying to tell me it’s safe?” She clicked her tongue, unsure of what to do now.

The creature wasn’t “hostile”, and Eryl would be upset with her if she just attacked it unprovoked. It was clearly smart, sure it couldn’t talk but she was sure Amethyst would still be mad if she just ate it too… I mean…. It’s trying to kidnap me isn’t it? Would they buy that though? I could just not tell them? But how would I explain my fancy new skull hat? She pondered her options as they stood, neither of them moving.

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