Chapter 108: V2 Thirty one

When Pia said there were spiders the size of horses, I’d been expecting to see arachnids no larger than my Frisian stallion, or Victoria’s gray shire horse, but what we found were much bigger. Personally, I’d be more inclined to say the spiders were the size of an Indian elephant. 

Hanging upside down from the ceiling of the cavern, I mentally cursed the faun for her failure to alert us that we were walking into a den. Though, as I vaguely recalled a time where I led my brother into a similar situation,  I found myself unable to blame Pia for her oversight. 

Under the effects of the spider's paralyzing venom, I was left frozen in place, watching as the figures below me attempted to retreat back into the tunnel. I knew there was only one way I was going to get out of this situation alive, but I was reluctant to call Pyr into the fray. 

Bringing forth the alchemic fire wisp would set the cavern ablaze, and end the lives of those who’d been taken prisoner by the spiders alongside me. Only I, its creator, was immune to the wisps blazing flames. 

When Kip, Roswyn and I began our assault on the spider-filled cavern, we’d quickly discovered even the smallest flames ignited all the webs around us. Because of this, and out of concern for our web entangled companions, we fought more cautiously than we should have when faced with such foes. 

Within seconds of entering the cavern at the end of the tunnel, we’d been overwhelmed by thousands of tiny spiders, who rushed towards our group in a dark wave.

 As we struck out at these tiny foes, doing our best to keep them from overwhelming us, larger enemies leapt upon our group from above. 

Seeing Roan and Lenny almost crushed beneath elephant sized spiders, we shifted our focus to aiding them. This distraction provided the smaller foes ample time to drown us in a sea of arachnids. 

Before I’d even fully comprehended what was happening, dozens of fangs pierced my flesh, and I found myself unable to move or call forth my fire. 

Then we were dragged down up to the ceiling, where I got my first glimpse of the den boss, a mammoth sized spider queen who proceeded to wrap us in a cocoon of silken webbing. 

 We had been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers, and unprepared for what we’d encountered. 

 If only I had listened to Pia, and sent Pyr in to burn the spiders away, I could have already been back in my laboratory tending to more important matters. Instead, our attempts to prevent the deaths of our guild mates would lead to even more deaths. As I would be forced to summon the wisp to ensure the spiders did not somehow escape the cavern, and enter the temple above. 

Eyes locked on the battle below, I waited until the surviving members of our party drew closer to the tunnel. 

In the midst of the group, Rainy was dragging three large white cocoons with her vines, which she’d used to pry the prisoners from the ceiling. 

Now. I decided, seeing the dryads vines snaking their way out to grab onto the fallen body of Darius who’d just succumbed to the fangs of a giant spider. 

In a burst of flames, Pyr exploded into existence and shot downwards, flames blazing out around him in a wave of searing heat. 

Hopefully, with it distracting the spiders, Rainy might have enough time to grab a few more cocoons before the flames reach the roof of the cavern. 

I briefly considered having the wisp burn away the webbing holding us to the ceiling. But, I knew that would not end well for the others, as his fire would burn them in the process. 

The ground below was quickly engulfed in flames, as Pyr bounced around the cavern. Feelings of glee trickled into my mind as the wisp relished in the mana released by the deaths of those it burnt. 

Heat seared my cheeks, and I welcomed the warmth as it washed away the chilly feeling of the spider's venom coursing through my veins. Feeling the mana building up around me, I began absorbing it into my core while Pyr continued to burn away the spiders. 

High pitched shrieks filled the air, breaking my concentration, and I peered around as best I could from within my confines to see the massive spider queen scuttling across the ceiling. I watched for as long as I could, but soon the spider moved beyond my line of sight, disappearing behind a cluster of large stalactites. 

Pyr’s flames crept up the walls eating away at the webbing, and I noted with dismay, they also burned Rainy’s vines. 

The dryad appeared to be trying to save the few of us who still hung in the webs, but her efforts were fruitless when faced with the flames of my wisp. As the fire reached the first cocoon, I glimpsed red skin, and white hair as the web burnt away. 

This would be the second time Victoria died for me in the past few weeks. 

To my shock, the flames consumed the silken cocoon without burning the Kijo within. 

The fire glided over her skin, in the same way it did my own when I interacted with the wisp, and when the cocoon was almost completely gone, the red skinned warrior fell from the ceiling. 

Victoria’s body landed with a hard thud onto the floor of the carven, floor which was mercifully free of any flames. Four more cocoons were burnt away, the occupants of each hitting the ground in a manner I knew to be painful, if not bone shattering. Yet none appeared to be touched by Pyr’s flames. 

I had previously stopped using the wisp in combat due to his inability to differentiate between friend and foe, which had resulted in Pia’s death on one occasion.

 When Pyr began burning, the wisp would do so without care for what was burned; its only desire was to feed upon the mana of everything its flames consumed. But now, seeing my companions laying safely on the ground in an area free of fire, it showed that Pyr had reached a level of intelligence to know they were not food for its flames. 

The wisp in question appeared in front of my face, its eyes filled with glee as it blew a fiery spit bubble into my face. Pyr’s spit bubble made quick work of my own cocoon, and I shut my eyes as I fell onto hard stone. Sharp pain radiated through my head, as it slammed into the hard ground.

 I laid motionless on the floor of the carven, listening to the shrieks of dying spiders as mana swirled around me. Pushing past the aching in my head, I fought  to focus on absorbing as much mana as possible into my core. 

A loud screaming shriek, followed by a stronger wave of mana let me know Pyr had reached the fleeing spider queen. 

As the mana flowed into my body, integrating into my core, a burning sensation built within my chest, alerting me to the formation of my second wisp core.

Eyes flying open, I stared out at the fire surrounding me in panic. The burning lump moved up my esophagus, and I clamped my mouth closed, fighting to push the core back down.

 I didn’t want another Pyr. No, this core would not be fire wisp. It was intended to be used for the continuation of my research into wisps, not to be mistakenly formed as my first had been! 

Mentally ordering Pyr to douse its flames, I un-summoned the wisp, sending him flying towards the tail pinned beneath me, where it disappeared from sight. 

As the flames died away, I discovered to my horror that I was unable to open my mouth to expel the newly formed core. 

The effects of the spider venom on my muscles was preventing me from opening my mouth, but it failed to prevent the sensation of agonizing pain as the core continued to absorb the mana from within my body, growing stronger as I grew weaker in turn. 

I needed to get the core out of my body, but no matter how hard I struggled I could not get my mouth to open. 

The day I formed Pyr’s core, it stopped pulling mana from me the moment I spat it out, but how could I spit out the core when I couldn’t even open my mouth? 

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When I could no longer keep up with its runaway consumption by pulling in the mana released by the spider's deaths, the unformed wisp turned its attention to the mana in my core.

 Even once the magic granting me human form shattered, leaving my body that of a red fox, the venom still held me prisoner, and the core continued to drain every drop of mana from me. 

The sound of canine whimpers echoed off the walls of the carven, as I fought to open my jaws to release the core from my body, and break the connection. 

Nothing I did, not even trying to reabsorb the wisp worked to stop the flow of mana leaving my core. I did not know what would happen once the core absorbed the last of my mana, but a part of me knew it was going to be bad. 

The image of a crystalline orb with cracks forming over its surface entered my mind, and I frantically tried to pull the mana flowing out of the damaged core back. 

I knew that if I didn’t fix my core, it would mean a true death. The concept of true death wasn’t one I gave much thought to, as I had been told it took dozens, if not hundreds of deaths to reach the point of shattering our cores. 

My heart constricted in my chest as I thought of everything I had gained over the short months I spent in Kaledon. 

According to what I was told, when someone died a true death they had to give up all their possessions to Celeste in exchange for a new life in Kaledon. Those who died true deaths could not return in the same race or appearance as before, and would often find themselves in a significantly weaker race. 

There was even someone stuck in the body of a goblin after multiple true deaths.

All the horrible races I could end up as flashed through my mind, and I let out a wordless scream of denial. I would not let a wisp of all things steal away the life I had built.

 Reaching out for the wisp core with a metaphysical fist, I dragged it down, forcing it back towards the cracked orb within my center. 

You are mine! I made you, and I can unmake you! I screamed at the core, as I shoved it towards my own. This time my focus was not on taking back the mana the wisp was draining away, but the core itself. 

Mine, mine, mine! Over and over again, I repeated that mantra as I attempted to merge the two cores back into the singular core I’d possessed before entering the spider den. 

Pain radiated throughout my body, as arcs of raw mana burst from the core’s, but I did not stop, I would not stop until two became one. 

This was my life, I was in control, not this fragmented part of me. I would not lose myself again, not like before. 

“Do you really think you are in control? Pathetic! You’ve never been in control! Not now, not ever! You’re nothing, but a shadow of your mothers legacy! A legacy you’ve failed. Look at yourself, look at what you’ve become.” A voice that sounded so much like my own mocked.

A red fox darted around a paved courtyard. A fist sized ingot of gleaming metal in her maw as she ran from a hulking Minotaur. 

Standing before a bench, a girl with the same red hair and ears as the fox slammed a hammer down onto a glowing red stone, killing herself in a shock-wave of explosive fire. 

Alive once more, the girl raised berry to her mouth, licking it with a tentative swipe of her tongue, before collapsing to the ground where she writhed in pain. 

Dozens of similar incidents played before my eyes, as the dark voice plagued my mind, mocking each death, or instance of stupidity.

“This isn’t what you’re supposed to be!” The voice screamed as I watched myself dangling from the ceiling of the den, before falling to the ground in a heap. 

 A different person replaced the girl with fox ears. The image of an older woman, her face void of expression as she gazed at a beaker held in her hand. 

More images of women played through my mind, before they stopped on one where the woman strode confidently onto a stage, staring out at the audience with a cold, calculating smirk as she spoke. 

My heart pounded as I recognized the stage my mother stood on. I had watched the recording of that conference thousands of times since her death. That was the last time I saw her alive, and the reason she’d never returned. 

I watched the memory, as with only a handful of words, my mother tore apart the previous presenter's research, leaving the man to flee the conference room amidst mocking laughter. 

That same man would, only hours later, disable the anti-collision software on his vehicle before crashing it into the one my mother was in, killing them both.

The image of my mother faded, replaced by a man in a crinkled white coat, who knelt before me. 

“Your mother would have wanted you to have this. She always kept it on her desk, right next to your picture.” he said, handing my younger self a resin model of the periodic table. “Dr. Cole left a lot of projects unfinished, maybe one day you’ll see them finished.” 

As I stared at the younger version of myself, clutching my mothers periodic table to her chest. I remembered something I’d long ago forgotten. 

Dr. Carlson disappeared, his form replaced by that of my mother. This time, her expression was not the cold one she was known for, but a gentle smile as she embraced a sobbing red haired child. 

Smoke poured out of the building behind us, as people rushed out with masks covering their faces. 

“I didn't mean to! I just wanted to be like you! I wanted to help with your research. You told Daddy it wasn’t going well, so I… I didn’t mean to burn it.” 

“My sweet Kadi, don’t worry about mommy’s research. One day, you’ll have your own laboratory right next to mine, and your own projects to work on. You don’t have to be like me, Kadia, just be happy. That is all that matters.” 

I don’t need to be like her, she didn’t want that. The images of my life after my mother's death played through my mind, followed by those of my time in Kaledon. I hadn’t been happy, I had been trying to chase my mothers memories, attempting to mold myself into her image.

 I would never be her, but that didn’t matter, because I’d found a way to be what she wanted me to be. Happy.

A surge of power filled me, as the two cores I’d been attempting to merge exploded into a white mist.

 My body felt lighter, and the pain I felt faded as the white mist coalesced into the wispy form of a twin tailed fox.

 The fox stared at me as it curled one of its tails around a crystalline orb filled with glowing blue mana. Seeing my core intact, and feeling the mana within me pulsing with power, I released my feeble hold on the conscious world. 

The strange fox curling itself into a ball around my core would be a problem for another day. For now, the only thing I wanted to do was sleep. 

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