Prysmcat

  Well, the Zombie King was obviously involved, and he’d decided to do something more directly aggressive. But what?

  Could he zombie me? Did I have to be dead first?

  What happened if I died here? Would it follow the rules of my own world, where my body and mind belonged? Would I wake up somewhere after a day in Purgatory’s waiting room, maybe where Serru had found me in the Grassnds? That second option would be inconvenient but I was sure I could find the nearest settlement, ask someone to contact my friends, and rely on the general kindness of the locals.

  Depending on what had just happened, it might even feel like the easier option. The way out of a very bad situation.

  I writhed and twisted my hands. The fabric interfering with gestures also interfered with the fast restraints, and after an agonizingly long time, I was able to get the former out of the way. The twists of torn fabric around my wrists stretched just enough that I was able to extricate one of my narrow aquian hands, although the sensation suggested that I paid with a bit of skin. I pawed frantically at the fabric over my head, and could finally take a deep breath.

  That was a bad idea. Nothing in my chest was grating to suggest broken ribs, but the pain was enough to make everything swim again. I’d really taken a beating. Everything hurt. I was sure I was going to be pissing blood for a week, and my head ached abominably. I could taste blood, and when I ran the back of my hand over my mouth and nose, it came away wet; my nose was still bleeding, and my lower lip felt swollen. The odds I didn’t have a concussion this time were minuscule. I tested limbs cautiously, and came to the conclusion that nothing was actually broken, although the hip and shoulder that had made contact with the stone were screaming and had definitely taken more than superficial damage.

  I didn’t have my bag. No medical supplies.

  I looked around, but that didn’t really offer much information. There was less light than in a modern horror movie by a director excessively full of his own cleverness. A few patches of fungus offered a bit of illumination, and some way up, there were several cracks letting light in.

  Cracks that formed an irregur ring, in fact.

  Rough stone under me. Rough stone walls around me. I could feel air currents that indicated an opening to one side.

  And I saw eyes that reflected the faint light, but no sound of breathing, no motion at all.

  I recoiled, then grunted in pain. The zombie felid didn’t move.

  I tried bringing up my HUD, hoping I could change to centaur long enough to heal myself, but it wasn’t much surprise that it came up too fuzzy for me to even use my aquian abilities, let alone change.

  “Having fun, asshole?” I asked, a bit breathlessly, gathering my nerve to stand up. I didn’t want to, I really didn’t, but I couldn’t just sit here.

  The zombie felid finally reacted, sucking in air to speak. “I told you there’s no way home and you seriously need the tutorial before you do anything irreversible. I tried to be gentle. I am fucking sick of following you and trying to find ways to get you to talk. It’s your own fault.” He paused for a heartbeat. “But yeah, kicking an obstinate cocky noob around a bit to work off a month of frustration, kinda fun. Maybe I should keep you so I’m not bored.”

  “Fuck you. I’m not your entertainment.” I fought the urge to tell him that he had a very rude awakening coming once my friends got to a post office and the world’s healers had time to test their theory. Slowly, I eased myself to my knees, and staggered to my feet. The instincts to hold my head and my abdomen and my lower back all collided, since I didn’t have enough hands. I settled for hunching around my core, one hand across my belly, while I used the other hand on the wall to augment my erratic bance.

  “There is a way out of these caves, though,” the zombie felid said. “If you can find it. Water, too. Wouldn’t want you to die too fast.”

  I looked upwards, cautiously. The world tipped and only the hand on the wall kept me vertical. “There’s a hole up there. You covered it. I found it, I win. Let me out.”

  “That’s a way in. Not a way out.”

  “Were you this big an asshole before you came here? Bet you were. And the Quincunx missed that and screwed up.” I had to stop and catch my breath. “Gave you building and crafting skills, right? Couldn’t give you combat skills. Did its best to find something. It would never in a million years cross the mind of anyone here to use crafting on people.”

  “How did... you’ve got a fucking big mouth for someone who’s lost and probably going to die.”

  “Then I might as well be mouthy. My friend told yours what she thought of her. You could use it too.”

  “She’s not my friend!” That was practically a scream. I had no idea how he got that much volume out of dead lungs.

  “Hurts your male pride that people see her as a bigger threat than you, huh? Too bad. Cute couple.” Still holding the wall, I paused to assess the opening I’d found. I’d need to duck to get through, but I had a sense of space beyond so with any luck it opened up soon.

  I really, really wanted to say something scathing. Rip him to shreds the way Serru had the Moss Queen.

  It was taking all my energy to keep moving and not vomit from the pain of doing it. A bit of sassing was about the best I was going to be able to do, just to keep myself from feeling as helpless as I really was.

  I was not going to just lie down and give up. Maybe if I knew what would happen it would be a viable option right now, but I wasn’t taking the chance. If I died here, for real, my family would never know. I’d never be able to find out if I had the formu for a Purification potion. My friends would be devastated and potentially targets.

  He might be lying about the way out, just so he could watch me try and fail, but I had to give it my best shot.

  The zombie felid followed me.

  After a while, he heaved a huge and deliberate sigh. “This is boring. You’re slow.”

  “Compin to the person who just beat me up.”

  “That wasn’t even very much. Not even hard enough to break bones or anything. Just to make sure you’re paying attention.”

  “Yeah? Give it a try.” I coughed and spit out a mouthful of blood.

  “Ugh. Fine. Go left at the first branch and then go straight. If you’re capable of that. Maybe water’ll make you move at least a little faster.”

  “Don’t count on it.”

  I really didn’t have much to lose. It was pusible he was bored enough to throw me a small concession in hopes of making this more exciting.

  So when I reached a fork, I switched hands, stumbled across to the far wall and caught myself against it, and followed the left.

  The next fork was harder, since the middle path meant stepping away from the wall, completely out of contact briefly. I did it one shuffling step at a time, making sure I was stable before moving again. A wall under my hand was a relief in itself.

  That tunnel did eventually take me to a cave with water trickling from one wall, making a small shallow pool on the floor that drained through a crack at one side of the little basin. The ripples twinkled cheerfully in the light of a couple of unfamiliar glowy copper-coloured crystals embedded in the walls.

  I staggered when trying to kneel, and it wasn’t very controlled, but I made it down without much more injury. With water from my cupped hands, I rinsed my mouth, spit well away from the pool, and did it again until I could no longer taste blood. I had to wait for the pool to refill before I could drink, and it wasn’t as much as I wanted but then, I probably should be drinking slowly anyway considering the damage I’d taken. I tried to be patient, and eventually I at least felt like I’d had enough of that. I used the hem of my sarong to scrub at my bloodied face. The bridge of my nose was swollen and tender, as was my lower lip, and there was blood oozing slowly from one temple.

  The rest of the damage, as near as I could tell by the light of the crystals, had failed to break skin. I was reasonably sure he was right that I had no broken bones, and all joints were at least roughly in the right positions. Bruising wasn’t going to show much on my midnight-blue skin, but oh boy, there was going to be a lot of that, and it was going to be super-colourful.

  I wasn’t seeing double and I could remember my name and how I’d gotten here, so I was going to have to just hope the concussion wasn’t a bad one.

  It hurt, a lot, but I could walk.

  And if I had to be stuck in any form in a cave network, aquian was probably the best. I didn’t have felid night vision, but I could feel the walls and any openings even with no light at all.

  If I could get my gatherer abilities back, I might be able to orient on my friends. I could find items, though not people. Would it pick up on something in a bag? Something from the Forest that wouldn’t grow locally?

  My friends.

  “Hey. Asshole. You better not be messing with my friends too.”

  “Oh, yeah. The drag queen and the geeky bookworm and the furball? They’re more useful now. I’ll send them in to beat on you if you bore me too much. And that pink-haired anime porn star of yours? Gonna keep her alive for a while ”

  Anger surged.

  Reason stumbled along behind it.

  Serru. Not Zanshe.

  He was taunting me with raping Serru, not with zombie-Zanshe kicking my ass.

  He hadn’t been anywhere near them today.

  And he might not, if I kept his attention on me. They were probably searching and that would make them vulnerable.

  “What’s the point of keeping her? You’re all about having a dick as much as you are about being one. Gotta be in whichever form has crafting skills to keep your zombies, eh? And I bet the Shallows Quincunx site gave you crafting to go with your aquian form. She likes girls. Try forcing her and you’re gonna have an innie instead of an outie damn quick.”

  “Bet you love that.”

  “There are things that matter more than plumbing. A lot more. You didn’t tell me I’m wrong, either.”

  “You think you’ve got it all figured out, don’t you? You know how the Quincunx works and magic and death and all the rest.”

  “Getting there.”

  “If you knew anything, you’d pay attention like most people do when they get here. Listen when someone who’s been around a while expins what’s going on. Pick one form and find a spot to live and just keep your head down and forget about anywhere else.”

  “I gotta try to get home.”

  “For fuck’s sake! There’s no way home!”

  “Says the person who just beat me and tossed me in a cave. Not sure why but not feeling like trusting your word.” I cupped more water to drink, and spshed it all over my skin and hair to get as wet as I could. “But thank you for the water.”

  “I’ve tracked a lot of newcomers down to make sure they get that standard offer and understand what’s going on. You are absolutely the most stubborn and the worst at actually fucking listening to anything. You’re so damned sure that you’ve put all the pieces together and you don’t need anything else. I’m pretty sure you’re actually worse than I was.”

  “Cool. Do I get a trophy?”

  He snarled something incoherent I didn’t bother replying to.

  I’d heard once that you could solve a maze by keeping one hand on the wall at all times. Would that work in a cave system? I had no idea, but it was as good an option as any. Was there any point to trying to mark my route? Probably not.

  I had to use both hands for bance while I staggered to my feet.

  Okay, I’d come from that direction, I was pretty sure.

  Oh boy. This was going to be bad.

  I started stumbling along again, trying my best to ignore the zombie felid who was following me to watch me.