Chapter 254: The Dinner Bell is Rung

“You think we need to yell again?” Ann absently asked Rosalyn as they waited.

It had been a couple of minutes since their outburst, attempting to attract the attention of the Warped in the general area. A few interested creatures had shown up, but nothing that Ann would call a monster. Just weird squirrels that slithered on the trees, some rabbits that dug with shovel-like teeth. Birds had been going about their days above their heads, and the ones in the trees were startled by the sudden noise.

“Not sure. Wish we had a runestone like I did back home. That’d get a lot of attention,” The druid responded. She was crouching on her perch, leaning on her staff set across her knees. “Could always have someone run around and get attention if nothing comes.”

Tarnu trotted up, his mandibles chittering with annoyance. “You two see anything?”

“Not yet,” they replied.

“By Bryltia’s bow, they better show up soon, or I’m gonna snap,” the man growled. “Too much tension for us can be real bad. Know Bones is getting twitchy.”

Pup.

“Yeah, me too,” Ann sighed. She’d been expecting a wave. Not this relative silence.

Pup!

What? Ann asked as Tarnu and Rosalyn’s conversation faded into the background. She kept part of herself listening.

Push.

Huh?

We have been practising you pulling at a Warped presence, correct? Have you felt your own divine presence?

No! What the hell are you talking about?

Waheela let out a heavy grunt. Quick version: You know the Warp is the presence and influence of a divine being, correct? It stands to reason that the Bitch’s blessing is a literal force within you as well. Figure out where it is and push it to grow. You’ll be a fresh kill lying out for any scavenger in miles.

Awful way to think about it, but I’ll try. Ann rejoined the real world. This was a really dumb place to try this, but it beat another session of running through the woods with Warped on her tail. “I’m going to try something. Can you tell everyone not to freak out if they sense Goddess stuff?”

Tarnu gave her a worried look. “How strong?”

“No clue. First time I’m trying this, and Waheela seems to think I can.” Ann admitted. This was so stupid. If any of the people around her snapped and attacked her, this would be even worse than just sitting around.

“I’ll try. Just be careful.”

Ann nodded as he ran off.

“You sure about this?” Rosalyn asked.

“Fuck no!” Ann laughed back with worry in her voice. “Since when am I sure about anything?”

“Last night?”

Yeah, she had been pretty sure about how much fun they’d had. Now wasn’t the time for those thoughts.

Ann closed her eyes and dove into what she knew was her soul. She didn’t really go there. She just felt it. The corrupted portion had become increasingly obvious to her the more she trained with Waheela, but she’d barely paid any attention to the rest of it. Spiritual hands clasped the light that was her entire being as she poked at it. Cold part here, but the rest felt normal. Spending another minute, she couldn’t find it.

This isn’t working. I can’t sense it.

Hm. Maybe it needs to be drawn out of its den. Worship the Bitch, and you should be able to get at it easier.

Worship? Haven’t been much for praying. I just talk to the void and hope she talks back.

Isn’t that all prayer?

Fair point, but it doesn’t affect me.

Then… let your mate help.

I am not fucking Rosalyn here. She’d freak out, Ann retorted.

Always so extreme. Waheela made an annoyed whining noise.

Ann took a second to drag her mind out of the gutter. Orenous wasn’t just sex, she was love, the mind, the heart and everything that connected them.

She smacked her forehead. Doing that with her gauntlets on was not the best idea.

With her forehead stinging, she clambered up to Rosalyn and sat herself on the scant space she had. “C’mere.”

“Whu!” Rosalyn squeaked as Ann pulled her close.

“I love you,” Ann said in a breathy whisper before she kissed her lover. A moment later, she felt her heart do its little flip as Rosalyn started kissing her back.

At that moment, she reached for her soul again.

It was on fire! Those cold places were colder just because everywhere else was an inferno of purple radiance!

Does this happen every time?

It burns.

Ann tried to push on it. It was still there, still powerful, but she just couldn’t get the fire to bend to her will. It raged and roiled, but was still stuck there in her.

I can help.

Those three words sent a shiver down Ann’s spine. The flames flickered, losing their intensity as she was distracted.

I can help push. Not like this, though. I need more freedom to do it.

Yeah, there it was. This wasn’t right. She wasn’t… well, she had considered getting rid of the muzzle. Waheela did know that, since she did.

Just the muzzle? Is that all you’ll need?

Easily.

Ann had to think quick. She’d promised to do it after this fight. Why not now? She could deal with problems if they happened, but Waheela had been nothing but trustworthy since Korvas. It’d be hypocritical to go back on her word. Plus, this was an extension of what she was already doing.

Fine. What do I need to do?

Just say the words. You know them.

I, Annita, Chosen of Orenous, release your mouth so you may howl once more.

Close enough.

Ann felt those cold parts of her soul surge. They didn’t grow, thank the Gods, but just grew more intense. As they did, the heat spread. Instead of being forced to go out, they were forced away. Instead of the untamed raging of passion, it was like a jet engine. Or something like that. Point was, it was radiant, directed, and really bright.

Ann opened her eyes to see purple reflecting off of Rosalyn’s glasses. They’d paused their kiss and were now staring at each other.

“You… you’re still in control?”

Oh, it was her eyes again. “Yeah, still me. Waheela’s helping. Let her slip the muzzle.”

“Are… no time for that. Ann, your hair is glowing!”

As Ann looked back, she caught the last of the purple glow disappearing from her locks. Even her eyes faded. It was strange. She didn’t feel any different, but also like something big had just happened. A dozen points of pressure hit her mind, then twenty-seven, then more and more.

Holy shit, I can feel that!

They come! Prepare for the hunt! Waheela howled, bellowing her challenge to all comers.

Ann slipped down off the rock. “Incoming!”

Her ears flicked back as something crashed into a tree behind her, blocked from her view by the spires of rock. In front of her, the plain was still open. Then, at the edge of the trees, she saw the shadows move.

A snaking black mass crept from the darkness beneath the trees. Tendrils of roots flowed out into the open as whatever this Warped was made itself known. Ann had to shove the new sense away; there were so many of them it felt like her head was between Kat’s thighs again.

It wasn’t the only one. Dozens of Twinwolves, much larger than their southern kin, bolted from the woods in a slavering madness. A pack of Snowcrabs skittered between them, fingers churning the snow into a cloud. Something swooped overhead, and Ann flinched as Lucia took a shot at the creature.

She didn’t even have time to see what it was. The Twinwolves hit the line first. The Snake person cracked their limbs with ridiculous strength. A Twinwolf became a single wolf.

A pile of crabs clambered up on Bones, but he used his natural spikes to spear through the weak spots in their shells. He was like a blender as he fought, carcasses impaled to various parts of his body. He’d need help to clear those before long.

Ann wanted to check on Kat and see if her side of things was going alright, but she trusted Eyes to handle that.

A rasping roar echoed through the clearing as their first large target charged. A polar bear. Ann remembered stories of the Tunnbaq, and holy shit was this thing not far off. The mutated creature’s neck was stretched unnaturally long. Instead of fluffy white fur, the bottom of its neck was split open with hundreds of large teeth wriggling as they sought meat to devour.

“Alruna!” Rosalyn yelled behind Ann.

Ann was already running as Alruna joined her. They couldn’t move too far past the front line, but a monster like that commanded personal space, and the other Warped were steering clear.

“Go for the legs!” Ann shouted.

Alruna just nodded as her worms wrapped her arms in squirming muscle. With a huge leap, the woman brought her foot down hard and shook everything in front of her.

The Tunnbaq (Ann would have to ask Rosalyn about it later) didn’t seem to care and used its long neck to strike at Alruna. She blocked, but was knocked away by the creature’s strength.

Ann was already running past its opposite flank and sank her claws into the thing’s ankles. With a pull, she felt tendons snap and watched as the thing staggered.

Then it got right back up. The thing had some crazy regeneration.

Ann dodged a kick, then went for the tendon again. A hole split open in the thing’s leg, and instead of sinew, she was met with teeth. Blood poured from the new mouth as it screamed a high-pitched noise that stabbed at Ann’s ears. A force far too strong for this thing’s leg clamped down on her gauntlet, teeth scrabbling at her arm.

Something hit the other end of the thing, and Ann was lifted as the creature toppled forward. The teeth were still holding on, still trying to eat her hand! This wasn’t like the octo monster, though. She took her other hand and, cursing her current positioning, hit the only thing she had available.

Purple light seared flesh as the Tunnbaq’s rear was charred by a smite. Ann pulled back, grimacing at the wound she’d just left. Right beneath the rather small tail.

A second impact hit the creature’s body, and she looked up to see Alruna snap the thing’s spine with a third blow. “Annita! Smite it here!”

Ann ran over and gouged into the spot Alruna had just hit. She felt the flesh inside already trying to repair the spine. Too bad for it, divine magic burns tended to stop that.

“It’s going to get back up,” Alruna said, slightly out of breath as they stood on the thing’s body. “That’s far from enough. It’ll slow down, though.”

Ann smacked a leaping Snowcrab away with a left hook. “No shit. How do we kill it?”

Alruna shrugged. “Keep hitting it?”

Ann did her best. They had to stop constantly to deal with the smaller Warped that surged their position now that the Tuunbaq wasn’t moving, but eventually they had done enough damage to be sure the thing wasn’t getting back up.

Out of breath, they retreated. Bones and Noa gave them space, then re-filled the gap.

A Twinwolf leapt one of the rocks beside them, sailing gracefully at Ann with bleeding, drooling, split jaws open for the kill.

A bullet punctured the thing’s side, knocking it off course. Before it could even land, Ann was under it, lining up her strike. It fell on her claws, another Smite bursting its heart.

Ann let the corpse fall off her arms and staggered to the side. Lucia was still on the rocks, but where was Alruna? She was gone. Ann’s head swam as she looked over the surging mass of malformed meat before her. A shout from her right caught her attention, but she couldn’t see who it was past one of the rocks. Then another to her left!

Where did she go? Who did she help?

“Kid! Go help them! I’ve got these,” Tarnu roared, shaking her by the shoulder. He was massive, and his mandibles were stained black with blood. Fur was everywhere, and his voice sounded little more than a barely contained growl.

All she could do was nod and run to where she was needed. The person she was sent to help was covered in Twinwolves and murder bunnies. A man covered in armoured plates like an armadillo swung his axe in a frenzy. While the creatures couldn’t really hurt him all that much, they’d just have to weigh him down until they could get to softer parts.

The bunnies were new. They had two types. One type stayed back, backs split open, spines exposed, as fleshy tendrils threw their ribs with terrifying speed and force. The second had the same tendrils, but when they jumped on the overwhelmed man, they used them to stab away.

Ann couldn’t stop to look further. She grabbed a rabbit by the arm as it tried to stab the axe wielder again, and spun to hurl it back into the oncoming mass. A Twinwolf turned, its split heads conflicted between targets. One wanted the man, and the other wanted Ann.

Ann didn’t let it choose. She dug her claws into the thing’s faces and pulled hard. Eyes burst with a wet pop, and flesh split in a torrent of blood. It wouldn’t kill, but it’d give her time to save her compatriot.

Thanking the Gods that the Murder Bunnies hadn’t chosen to grapple with their tendrils, Ann started grabbing and throwing. It was hard work, and she got her own share of cuts and stab wounds as the monsters retaliated.

“Thank you kindly!” the man shouted, cleaving a rabbit in two as it tried to jump him. “These ones always gave me trouble.”

“You need to swap with someone?” Ann panted, doing her best to give him room enough that he didn’t attack her, but close enough to fight.

“No! They’re trouble, but…” he interrupted himself to bring the back side of his axe down on a Snowcrab, shattering its carapace in a single blow. “But I’m not too hurt. Just swing my way when I shout, ya hear?”

Ann tapped her helmet where her ears would be and grinned beneath her wolf mask. “I hear loud and clear!”

“How’s the rest?”

“Real damn busy!” Ann sidestepped the lunge of another Twinwolf. Before it got all of its paws on the ground, she’d snipped several tendons in its legs and cut where its jugular should have been. She stopped for a moment to admire how much faster she’d gotten before a rabbit rib hit her helmet with a loud thwack.

She reeled, but managed to stay upright. More than anything, she couldn’t hear shit for a few moments. Kat’s training kicked in, though, and she focused on finishing off both Twinwolves she’d left wounded. The first was almost entirely back up, but a fist down the middle of its necks solved that problem with a purple flash.

The second was similarly dealt with. It was bigger than even these Timber-Twinwolves… Dire Twinwolves? More questions for Rosalyn. When she tried to pierce its fur again, she found the stuff thicker and resistant to her knife-hand blows. Snapping jaws grabbed hold of her arm. Big mistake. Remmi had extensively trained her to fight one-handed. “You’ve only got two hands. You lose one, you still need to fight. I’m not training a damn quitter,” she’d said. Instead of pulling away, Ann used the anchor point to pull the monster bodily into her next strike. Whatever she hit had to be vital, because the bleeding didn’t stop nearly as quickly as the other wounds. She couldn’t spare many more smites. This was still the beginning of this engagement! Alruna had some Mind potions, but she’d rather that Bren, Rosalyn, or the others use them.

“Go! Get some healing! I’ll be fine!” the man shouted.

Ann skipped backwards, letting herself disengage from the heat of a fight. A melody hit her ears, and her aches soothed a bit. Looking over her shoulder, she found Bark with a wooden whistle in his wooden lips. Tooting a jaunty ditty, her bleeding slowed a bit and then stopped entirely.

“Holy shit, you’re a Bard?”

“Mmmm, yes!” Bark replied with his wooden, creaking voice. “Llllllike my instruments! Mmmmmmake many of them! Watch out!”

Ann ducked. An explosion rang in her ears. A Murder Bunny hit the snow, bleeding from a bullet wound. Bark casually crushed the creature’s skull.

“A gun?” Ann asked, flabbergasted.

“Harrrrrd to do damage with song! Bullets do much betterrrrr!” Bark made a crackling noise as he laughed. “Rreturn to the centerrrr. Take a breatherrr.”

Ann did as she was bade. Rosalyn wasn’t there. She couldn’t see her Druid anywhere, and the rocks were causing massive issues with lines of sight.

“Is fighting!”

Lucia’s shout was eclipsed by a thunderclap on the other side of the stone spires. Ann couldn’t help but smile. “That’s my girl!”