Bent World: Chapter 30 The Other Side

Chapter 30

The Other Side

Blue glitches.

Random arcane strings of something.

These were the images that flashed across my consciousness as I entered a rift. Not standing around, not fighting the monsters who exited, but actually entering a rift.

The first thing I felt was the infusion of energy all but forcing its way into my legs, arms, chest, and even my mind. I felt alive in a way that was nearly addictive.

Yet, that wasn’t the only sensation I now felt. In my mind I could feel weak points around me. The most apparent was the rift portal behind me, but there were other tingling sensations that burst to life in my mind as well.

For a moment, I felt as if I could somehow imagine an imaginary line connecting me to those different locations, just as I could feel one connecting me to the portal that I just exited. It was odd, as if information was being pumped into my mind directly.

More flickering words on a broken blue text field.

Then suddenly the idea of Exit Nodes filled my mind. Looking back, I could all but see the word Exit Node 1M behind me, but then it was quickly gone as the flash of power that I once felt was quickly removed. Or not quite removed, but seemed to have been fought away or killed.

“AHH!”

Before I could get too lost in the new sensations that were filling my mind, I was suddenly drawn back to the reason why I was here in the first place. My sudden and indescribable need to risk my life to protect the wayward prince.

Focusing, I turned away from the external stimuli and began charging forward at the long tentacled monster that was even now shrinking due to the lack of rift energy empowering its transformation. By contrast, I was increasing, as my body seemed to grab hold of the ambient rift energy and infusing it directly into my body.

“YAHH!”

Blur!

The world began to slow down around me, as I felt my feet slam into the ground. Each step thrusting me forward in a way that was both expected and unprecedented. I was flying forward, almost having to force my body downward to land once more, only to then rise up again. With each step I was able to cover more ground than ever before.

I felt like a god being squeezed into the body of a tiny mortal, and it felt intoxicating.

Before I had time to truly accept my newfound speed, I was already upon the monster. Well monsters, giant squirming monsters with bone like arms that were covered in thick gooey muscles. It was clear that the goo that these muscles had an adhesive quality, if not more based on the training we had received as part of our summer Pathfinder preparations. Maybe a mild paralytic, or sedative effect.

My mind processed these minute details in a second, letting me know that I desperately needed to avoid the other shooting spikes and sticky limbs that were now being launched at me. Or rather they were being shot at where I was, even now I could feel my attack pattern, of always drifting to one direction playing off, as the first strike went wide right, slink.

Seeing the open and exposed underside of the boney limb, the meaty part that was secreting the sticky goo that seemed to characterize this one monster, I struck out on instinct.

One quick slice of my blade to an exposed area, the only concern was that if I dug too deeply and didn’t swing with enough force my blade might get stuck.

Fortunately, I had both speed and Telekinesis on my side, as the blade easily sliced through the thick membrane, causing cords of dense muscles and fluid sacs to rupture, spraying beads of blood, viscera, and goo everywhere.

While I wasn’t completely out of the range of the spray, I did manage to keep most of the spray to a minimum on my right side, as I again began to drift even further left. Then upon noticing a twitch from the great beast, I again began jogging back to the right, towards the previously injured and now retracting right arm.

Again though, the world was slow, or at least the world felt slow as my mind was able to push my body to move faster. My muscles burned and bulged exerting force and motion that I had never felt before. If this was what the other side of a rift felt like, then I could easily see myself getting caught up in the infusion of power. The suffocating surge of energy that jammed its way into my body and all but forced me to push my body and mind to their limits.

Slice.

This time, I was prepared for the slower pace of the monster’s strike. Rather than stopping and waiting for the beast’s strike to full land, I instead maneuvered to the side, then effectively jabbed my sword upwards, into the path of the sinewy muscles and tendons of the best’s odd slim coated limbs.

Splash.

Again, the spray went everywhere, this time covering my previously clean left side. I could feel the sticky goo and blood clinging to my clothing, but it was too late to back out now. I was fully committed to this course of attacks.

Reeling its now injured limbs backwards, it exposes more of its underbelly, while using the now injured limbs to block its other limbs from being able to reach forward. The problem with having limbs in a line like this, as I now just have one limb, a giant mouth and one dangling prince to worry about, at least for the moment.

Before I even have time to realize what I am doing, I use the long sword in my left hand as a temporary shield, while using my right hand to reach into my bandoleer, grab two throwing knives and then with on continuous motion hurl the blades forward.

The moment the throwing knives are released from my hands I feel them slow down ever so slightly, as if the pressure outside of my moving stream of force is denser and more compact. Forcing the blades to go somewhat slower, that’s when my Telekinesis takes over and all but hurtles the blades forward at incomprehensible speeds.

Thwick, thwick, thunk.

Thwick, thwick, slink.

The first blade slides forward at the open maw of the monster. Only now can I see that it wasn’t ready to eat the prince, rather it was already crying out in pain from my two previous attacks. The second blade landed at the joint. Slicing into and through the thick muscles that held the joint in place and lifted the prince like a giant organic crane.

Of course, the response to my throws was almost immediate, but still delayed. I was still running forward, trying to catch up to the kinetically hurdled blades, only to notice the appendage that had been easily lifting the prince now began to drop.

Again, time was slowed, or at least my mind seemed to be able to react far faster to stimuli and the world around me than I had ever managed previously. This was why I was able to mostly stop my momentum forward, pivot left, and slice upwards at the appendage that still clung and coated the body of the prince.

Slink, clunk!

My blade cut through the muscle just fine, only to meet its match when finally slashing into the bone of the beast. If I managed to strike with a better angle, or apply more force to my blow the exchange might have been different, but I didn’t. I didn’t even think to use Telekinesis again on the strike, as I was already trying to use some of my hands to help rip the prince free from his sticky sinewy confines.

Yet, the task was either larger than I expected, or there was more to what was happening than I had anticipated. Regardless of the reason, I now had one arm draped over the prince, and his muscly cocoon. To my surprise, the underside of the coating sticky membrane was smooth, almost alarmingly so. Making my ability to grab hold of the prince that much tougher.

Worse, my initial burst of speed and energy I gained from exiting the portal seemed to be fading, as I could feel my muscles that had been strained beyond their natural abilities suddenly constricting. As if I was now having one of the largest knots ever forming right in the middle of every muscle I’ve ever used.

Chip-churp.

With the realization that my body was slowly adjusting to this new world and losing its initial surge, my senses began to pick up other alarming factors. Most notably was the fact that we were not alone. While there had been only one large creature responsible for this apparent rift breach, I could now clearly sense the fact that there were others. Other creatures that were not intimidated to stay silent in the presence of the over grown muscly crustation that had limbs and arm movements that were unparalleled in either world I had experienced thus far. Analytically, my mind went wild trying to take in all the differences, as it was clear that this creature that had struck was fierce with an oversized exoskeleton, implying that it mostly dealt with water, yet the area we emerged to, while swampy, or at least coated with lush watery fields was not what I would expect from a large body of water. Maybe the crab like creature was on the land, covering eggs? If so, this could explain the reason why such a creature would choose to strike through a randomly appearing rift. Almost like it was a moveable refrigerator door that opened in front of an already starving monster.

Regardless of why this creature was here, I knew I needed to leave.

Grabbing hold of the prince and trying to rip him free, my eyes caught the sight of large white stones that seemed to be stacked one on top of the other in a pile not so far off.

Seeing the pile of eggs, I realized I was not wrong in this being a mother nursing her eggs in some way. Again, this created more questions that I didn’t have time to answer, but glancing at the eggs I couldn’t unsee what I had seen.

Focusing on the prince and on the still sticky slab of muscle that coated the prince, I pulled using every ounce of Telekinesis I could muster. Invisible arms and appendages pulled at the prince and the muscle, while opposing invisible arms pushed the limb away.

Shrr-ipp.

The sound that erupted next was both spine chilling and somehow satisfying. Maybe I have been spending too much time with Auntie, as I don’t think I would have enjoyed this type of carnage in my past life.

Within seconds, the body that had been forcibly bound to the crane like appendage of the odd beast was ripped free, allowing me to pull the prince over my shoulder in a type of fireman’s carry. Where I proceeded to run.

Each step caused an eruption of pain to course through my body, as my already overworked muscles pushed and tore open the already knotting lumps that were in my arms and legs. Still, I pressed on.

From my periphery I could see more monsters coming in. For a moment I thought they would all try to flank me, fortunately it seemed that I wasn’t the only one who noticed the now exposed nest of eggs, as giant lizard-like monsters surged around us and towards the next.

The mother monster crab monster had been chasing after me, but suddenly stopped its charge, as its instincts took over, forcing her to retreat back to fend off the predators to her nest. A nest that she now had to defend with three less working appendages.

For a moment, I almost felt bad for the mother monster, but then realized she started it, and with that realization I continued back.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the rift was already in the process of trying to close itself.

“Noo!” I cried out, momentarily forgetting my alleged vow of silence. With my right hand firmly around the still struggling prince and the layer of bleeding muscle that coated him, I only had my sword wielding left hand free. Which didn’t do much in the grand scheme of things.

At least, I didn’t think my hand could do much, but that’s when I felt a surge of energy flow out from my hand. Just as I had used my left hand to close rifts from my side, it seemed that I could use the same hand to do the opposite here.  

I hoped this was the case, as I could feel the rift drawing out power from my body. Power that was drained from my still throbbing muscles and yanked out in a defined arc through my left hand, out my body and used to infuse a few last vestiges of power into the closing rift.

Within seconds, the rift that had been inches away from sealing itself away completely suddenly sparked back to life, opening wider. Then as if reading my mind, went even wider as I intended to get through with the prince still on my arm.

Fwoosh.

Air from this realm surged out of the sealed portal, and with that expenditure of air, I felt a slight tugging sensation grab my body and help push my aching body forward.

Thwoom.

We arrived at the far end of the portal, crashing down to the ground as my body was now unable to hold the weight of the older and larger prince. Simultaneously, as I exited, I could feel all the energy I had just expelled through my hand to open the portal on the other side suddenly get drawn back into my hand.

I was almost certain that if I looked I could see the clusters of energy growing darker, as I drew back the expended energy and more somehow.

SWOOSH!

Then in one burst, I felt the rift close, and suddenly my body felt extremely heavy.

“They’re hurt!” Auntie cried out, as she came to me and began infusing my body with her healing energy.

Like being forced to relax by being electrocuted, I felt her power course into my body. But rather than fighting the foreign energy like my body normally seemed to do, this time my body accepted the healing energy. Or my body seemed to accept enough of the healing energy to actually have a cumulative positive effect on my body.

As she worked, I could feel a tingling sensation fill my back, followed by a sudden spike of cold.

Hiss.

I winced at the sudden pain.

“Hold still, I don’t think it hurt you too badly, but we don’t want you to get it infected,” Auntie spoke.

Infected? I thought, or at least I thought I commented mentally.

“Yes, it looks worse than it probably feels, if that is any consolation.”

That was good, as I couldn’t feel a thing. Mentally I tried to think about when I could have been hit. Did it strike me as I was leaving? Was that part of why I felt myself flying and stumbling forward?

I tried to think about what happened, but it was all a bit too much. My mind was a bit too fuzzy.

Looking up, I met Auntie’s gaze. For the first time looking into her normally cold and stoic eyes, I saw something that frightened me to the core. Fear, she was legitimately afraid, but of what?

Then before I could ask, she spoke three words that I instantly agreed with.

“You should rest.”

For a moment, I thought about protesting, about resisting, but in the end I just listened.

Darkness.

***

(Lady Jaupry)

Lady Juniper Jaupry looked on in horror as she saw the rift immediately beginning to close after her brother was abducted by a monster. While horror stories of such occurrences did pop up from time to time, they were mostly used as horror stories for why children should obey their parents, avoid going out at night, and generally do good deeds.

Yet, her brother had done all of those things and more. He was a good brother. He was of course weaker, but no more so than any other members of the fairer sex. He didn’t go out without an escort, and never left at night. By all records and accounts he was perfect, which was why he was likely chosen by the monsters. They could sense purity, probably found it delicious, just like in the stories.

Juniper wanted to follow her leader. That crazy bitch who never cried out, never showed bad body posture or image, just took in all warrior training and seemingly asked for more. Many times Juniper had seen her leader, their Pathfinder running laps or performing other exercises after helping with the successful closing of a rift.

Relentless, that’s what the Pathfinder was, a true monster that anyone would gladly follow into combat.

Yet, here it was, her chance to prove her worth, that she wasn’t just a token place holder on the team. But she paused, her mind told her to run, to follow the Pathfinder, but her legs froze in place.

Then only once the rift began to close did she find her body was able to once again move. However, the Pathfinder never paused, never hesitated, she just ran head first into danger. Ran through a rift into an unknown world, something that had been forbidden, for they were warned that the rifts could close at any time. Yet, knowing this, the Pathfinder went through the rift which immediately began to close after her passage.

From there Juniper could only watch in horror at the steadily shrinking rift.

It was over, she had lost her brother and her Pathfinder in the span of a minute max. Then the unthinkable happened.

The rift that had been closing began to glow with a bright golden light. Bright like the sun. Seeing that ethereal glow, Juniper felt something swell up in her chest, as hope began to surge.

Holding up her left hand, the Pathfinder seemed to momentarily lend power to the rift, allowing it to open wider as she approached carrying a writhing mass of muscle. Only after seeing the well polished boots of her brother did Juniper realize that the sac of meat somehow contained her brother.

For a  moment, she was so lost in seeing the two emerge from the rift, that she barely noticed the long boney spike lash out and defiantly strike at her Pathfinder pushing the two forward, causing both to stumble to the ground. Yet, despite the effort, the clear pain that she must be in, the Pathfinder was quiet, focusing on her left hand she raised it at the rift and proceeded to drain the last of the energy.

Only once the rift closed, did the pressure that had filled the entire arena finally dissipate. Again, Juniper was not the first to act, despite being right there.

The first to act was Dr. Andry, the head physician of the house that found this amazing Pathfinder. Next to move was Juniper’s own house doctor and guards, all of whom went to wrestle her brother free of the thick strip of muscle that still coated him.

“GAHH!” Her brother, cried out and suddenly Juniper felt the last form of tension she had felt leave her body. She was only ten, far too young to be expected to react timely to such events. Yet, that didn’t stop her Pathfinder, who was allegedly younger than everyone but Lady Pandaline Andry, a person who was too young to join this tournament.

Juniper watched on as her brother was quickly freed, where he got up raised one hand to the crowd.

CHEERS!

Excitedly everyone who had just been a spectator to the whole event, one that lasted at most ten minutes to this point cried out in excitement knowing that the prince was fine.

Simultaneously, members of House Andry came to pick up the limp and seemingly lifeless Pathfinder.

“The Pathfinder is fine, they are just sleeping!” Dr. Andry cried out.

More cheers.

With that, the crowd went wild again, stomping their feet and causing the ground to tremble with the force of their cheers.

Seeing the two go off, Juniper thought about following the Pathfinder, making sure she was okay. But then realized she needed to spend this time with her brother. Still, she couldn’t help but think about how poorly everything could have gone, had she not been here today.

With that thought, Juniper made up her mind, that despite the societal ranking that the Pathfinder might have come form, she would freely give her blessing to try to wed her brother, a prince. Juniper even planned to help with funds if she wouldn’t be able to properly maintain her bother’s standard of living.

“I will gladly accept you as a sister in battle and in hearth,” Juniper swore a heart oath to her Pathfinder, a vow she intended to keep, less she lose her powers and ability to fight on.

Then just as the old stories told, she felt a knot of energy form right over her heart, where she saw the great system acknowledge her vow.

Heart Oath Detected. You have pledged a vow of family unification with your team’s  Pathfinder. . .