DD 204 Ch 15 (Patreon)

I followed behind the older shaman, with Felin at my side, despite her people's attempts to separate us. Felin seemed to sense that this might not end well, especially if we were separated.

At least, it might not end well for me, that was for certain. 

The shaman walked into a large building. The interior was mostly open, with columns breaking up the circular space. There were a few doorways that led off to other rooms, but we didn't seek those out. The shaman sat down at a desk that was put to the side.

"Come here, sit with me." She patted the chair close to her, clearly for Felin, not for me. 

"No thank you," Felin said, her tail stood awfully still. 

"And why is that? Do you not trust me, as a shaman? I am the leader of this safe zone, and by her grace," the woman made a gesture of reverence, "I lead." 

Felin's tail started moving once again, this time, though, it seemed upset. "Yes, well, she is the difficult part," Felin growled out, "because where I grew up, the Nekorians did not worship a goddess." 

The older shaman's eyes narrowed dangerously, and the leonid Nekorian, who had joined us in the room, growled. "Don't tell me the demons have taken that away from you as well. Have they brain washed you to the point that you don’t even recognize your own goddess."

“Now--” I tried to speak

“Shut it. No word from your mouth will be believed Demon. Your kind are full of tricks.” The lion ground out between gritted teeth. 

Felin turned to him, snapping, "The demons have taken nothing. Ken's not even a fucking demon," she waved her hand at me, "he's a human that used an item in the dungeon and it turned him into a demon." 

The two older Nekorians frowned, taking a closer look at me. "Oh, he's a human," the male said, "Well, that makes this easy enough. We don't have to be concerned about retribution from that end now." 

A sword was suddenly cutting the air between me and him as he sprang into action to cut me down. He was definitely faster than me, but not so fast I couldn't activate [Dodge] while sidestepping. His blade narrowly missed me.

Felin pulled the claws out between her knuckles and slashed towards the Nekorian's face.

He barely avoided her claws, a small line of blood appearing on his face as he stepped back, anger setting into his eyes as he wound up for another strike. 

"Stop," the old shaman commanded. Her words pierced through the tension and both of the Nekorians went absolutely still.

"In my presence, I decide the fate of the people." She was being fairly stern to the guard, but I was under no illusion that she couldn't have stopped this the second he began his first attack. After all, of those present, she was clearly the highest level by a large margin. 

"But shaman," the lion began, but she held a hand up to stop him. 

"You could claim ignorance before I spoke, but now I've spoken. It is not your turn. Your continued disagreement with me becomes your fault." The shaman answered.

The man stopped, his jaw tensing. I could read the undercurrent that said, 'you failed to kill him with a single blow and you failed in general.’

I'd have to be incredibly careful. I nudged Felin as subtly as I could, only for the older shaman's eyes to snap back towards me. 

"And do not think of trying to escape with that portal of yours," she spoke slowly, "I can guarantee before one fully forms, you won't have functioning legs to step through to the other side." 

Well, that made the situation crystal clear.

I was no longer here of my own free will. The shaman was not going to simply kill me. Yet, at the same time, she wasn't going to let me leave.

There was something I was missing in all of this.

The woman spoke slowly, "Now that we know you are not truly a demon, our options are of a significantly wider variety." The woman, at least, gave Felin an apologetic look. 

By spilling the beans, it seemed I had lost some sort of protection inherent to being a demon. The Orkai seemed to respect me just for my race and the possible connections I could have as a result. It seemed the Nekorians weren't so different.

"We know very little about these humans. All we have learned so far is that they are a young race and ignorant enough to wander around this depth of the dungeon without [Universal Language].” She began.

“I promise you that will be fixed shortly.” I offered.

“I'm sure it will be. Most races that begin to make it down to at least one of the seven great cities change rapidly. But at present, we have found ourselves several interesting pieces about humans already."

She held up a finger. "One, humans were apparently in contact, at least passively, with a group of Nekorians that we would love to be folded back into our people. Two, you have a great capacity for change. I've never heard of a Nekorian or any other race using an item to transform themselves into another. There was the second lesser demon with you. Is she the same?"

I hesitated before nodding. This woman really was a Nekorian shaman, like Felin. She could probably just force me down and use my tattoo to get the answers anyway.

"Interesting.” She said.

I couldn't quite figure out where she was going with the conversation.

"And three, you are a completely unknown race. Given the first, it is easy to assume that you are a substandard race, new to the Dungeon. However, I can already feel that you yourself have passed a difficult trial. You also sent a subtle hint with the green-haired one to have somebody ready for a portal, which at least shows some intelligence and strategy.”

I nodded, wanting to secure a bit more safety. "They have the ability to generate a portal as well."

The shaman studied me. "Very interesting ability. It works between dungeon floors." It didn't seem much of a question, but there was a slight tone to the words.

I nodded again. 

"That you passed a trial and gathered a rather uniquely powerful ability. I would say that in itself the ability has indications of a divine blessing." She studied me.

"Shaman," the guard interrupted her as if knowing where she was going.

The old lady silenced him with a kind of cold glare associated with grandmothers. She didn’t have the same shaggy mane of hair, but rather a plain tawney fur on her ears and her plain tail. It could be they were both the same tribe. "Please don't interrupt again.”

She turned back to us. “What I'm saying is that you are very interesting, as are your people. The woman behind you is a shaman of a rare tribe known as the Spirit Tigers. They were once quite powerful, having a high number of shamans throughout their clan. Though now their numbers are less than a hundred of their oldest and most powerful members still clinging to authority. I can't help but wonder if my own clan would benefit greatly from having one of their shamans added to our number.

“Not to mention the value she would have to them. They would do many things to see their blood continued." The woman was being circumspect, but that didn’t stop my blood from running cold.

Felin frowned. "I have my own clan and family to return to.”

“The ones worshiping... what exactly was it? The dungeon?" Disgust filled the older shaman’s words before she continued. “The goddess Niko is the only god that Nekorians should worship. That you'd grace another with your thoughts and prayers may have already tainted you beyond correction," the shaman pursed her lips. "And I think the best way for that is for you to take a mate amongst the Leomatis clan. Perhaps, through your new mate, you will better understand what it truly means to be a Nekorian. And of course, hopefully, you'll provide progeny that have a predisposition to being shamans. Your tribe seems to pump them out as easy as breathing.”

Felin's eyes went wide with her words, and I could see the moment that Felin seriously considered running. When she tensed, the guard shifted with her as if he would cut her off.

"So," I said, cutting through the moment of tension, "your solution is to take her away from me and what? Try and fold her into your tribe to align with The Spirit Tigers?"

The old shaman gave me a placating smile. "I'm glad you understand and can repeat what I said in simple terms. It seems humans may not be dumb apes after all, or perhaps now that you've become a demon, your brain is working at least a little better."

The veil of civility was firmly peeled off the older shaman. Though she kept up the rhetoric.

"You must understand, hearing that there is a Nekorian that doesn't know of our goddess Neko is a travesty amongst my people. It would be sad if she were an ordinary Nekorian. However, for her to be a shaman, it is, I would say, unconscionable of me to let it simply go. She must be re-educated, and she must be brought back into the fold of Nekorians. Perhaps when all of this is done, she will then be able to help us bridge the gap between us and these others of our kind that have been lost to us through the turbulence of the dungeon."

I had to hold back a serious eye roll. This woman was really drunk on power. But there was no passion behind her words. It was... sophistry.

"Please, spare me the theatrics. Just tell me what you intend to do." I was done with this discussion.

"Well, you'll be imprisoned. And she seems to have feelings for you that we can leverage. Should she disobey, you will pay the prices. Should you try and escape, she’ll suffer. That should get her to follow our directions long enough for the new lessons to stick and keep you from using that portal ability of yours to escape.” The elder shaman stated.

"I will not," Felin growled.

"You will follow. Or he'll have his legs broken," she gestured at me.

I could see Felin hesitate, which meant the Shaman could too.

"I understand. You don't believe I will follow through on my words. I wouldn't be a good leader if I didn't." She smiled at the male Nekorian in the room.

And the savage glee in his grin made my heart jump.

He grabbed Felin and firmly shoved her out of the way. The lion braced his sword across his chest as he barreled into me and shoved me back.

I used Shadow Ambush as he followed up with a swing, melting into my own shadow and popping out of his to dodge the attack.

A moment later, my feet were suddenly locked in a patch of ice, the older Shaman still having motes of magic dancing off of her fingers before the Nekorian spun back around. That vicious grin on his face only grew wider as he saw my predicament and went straight for my legs.

I held a hand down and activated [Absorb] to melt away the shackles on my feet. The ice vanished, and I jumped in the air the next, before twisting and kicking off the surprised Nekorian's chest and launching myself over to Felin.

I grabbed her and the two of us went down together, falling to the ground. I quickly attempted to activate [Portal] to get us out of here.

For a moment, I thought we were actually in the clear. Using the momentum of our roll, I had hoped to escape through the portal. However, I hadn't expected the shaman to be so fast.

The second the portal ability activated, she appeared like a wraith beside me, her staff smashing down on my legs with enough force to instantly shatter both of them into a dozen pieces.

The pain was so intense that my ability, mid-cast, was snuffed out. The forming portal broke apart, and the magic twinkled away.

"I did warn you. If you used that portal, you wouldn't have the legs to walk through it," the shaman's tone was absolute as she stood lording over me. She turned to Felin. "And I think I've proven my point well enough to you. You disobey, he will be punished." She said the words slowly, like she was speaking to a child. 

Now, she glanced back at the other Nekorian. "If you will kindly remove this human pretending to be a demon from my residence, then I can begin the education of our newest shaman. Should he disappear, then so will she and he’ll never find her again." She gestured to the other Nekorian, who stooped low and picked me up, roughly bouncing my broken legs on the ground, making me hiss in pain.

I held back any further noise, refusing to give him the satisfaction.

He grinned, showing off his over-large canines at me. "Stand up," he said. Of course, we both knew I couldn't. But that didn't stop him, as he dragged me to my feet like he expected me to, putting my feet on the ground, then letting go.

Instinct kicked in, and I tried to push my feet against the ground and stand. But when I put pressure down, parts of my legs that don’t normally move shifted around. The painful grinding threatened to rip a scream from my throat. It was even worse when I fell and landed on my knees as the stabbing pain redoubled.

The grim reality of my present situation overshadowed everything else. It settled over me like the cold night air with nowhere for shelter.

The male Nekorian grunted. "If you don't walk on your own, I will have to drag you," he grinned.

“Why?” I ground out.

“She represents too much value.” The lion said. “Sowing our tribe with her blue stripes, we can pull one of the most powerful tribes to our side. The struggle for power within the dungeon is never ending. She’s a valuable resource.”

It sickened me and I could only imagine how Felin felt to find her lost people only to be considered a ‘resource’.

"We both know how this ends. Just get it over with," I said, pulling myself up onto my elbows. "I bet you're the kind of person that, even as an adult, still plays with his food. Do you still have fun pretending that your food is other animals and biting their heads off? I bet you do," I said, clicking my tongue. 

I wasn't making things easier for myself, but there was a slight satisfaction in pissing him off even further.

He grabbed me by the collar and dragged me, running my face along the ground. 

"Shut up," he growled, storming away. "You've brainwashed one of our shamans. That you're still allowed to stay alive to motivate her is lucky enough. You don't need any of your limbs to live."

This Nekorian had a serious bone to pick with me. It was like that first assumption that I had somehow brainwashed Felin had set a bias against me that would just simply not go away. That, or he was proving something by continuing to say it aloud, especially as he exited the building with me in tow.

The other Nekorians could probably hear him and he was just setting the stage for them to have full authority over Felin.

I looked back over my shoulder to try and get one more glance at her, hoping I could give her a nod of reassurance.

She was probably feeling terrible just about now. When they learned I wasn't a demon, the mood of the encounter had changed quickly, and Felin had been the one to spill the beans. I didn't have much time to dwell on any of that though, as my face was being dragged through the dirt. 

Other Nekorians stood around watching. Several were pointing out my treatment, but none seemed interested in helping. The Nekorian brought me to a building before he opened the door and threw me inside. 

"Pray I don't have a reason to come visit again. Though let's be honest, I probably will. I'm going to enjoy it. I hope you know that," he said, a malicious grin on his face as the door closed behind him. 

I rolled over to see I was in the same house that I had just freed Alice from minutes ago. I chuckled. After they had just seen my ability, they left me in here all on my own.

They probably expected me to run. That might be the smart thing to do.

I reached into my CID, and pulled out a healing potion that I quickly chugged before bringing out a stick to bite down on as my body attempted to heal itself. The process was incredibly painful and reinforced the thought I had to run back to Earth right away.

Instead, I activated [Portal] opening straight back to the kitchen of the visitors' building at Haylon. The second I opened up the portal, Crinson came through, her whip out and lashing along the ground. 

"Trouble?" she asked, before turning her eyes down to see me. Even if I wasn't still wounded, the state of my clothes and the way I was laying told her enough. Red sparks jumped furiously out of Crinson's eyes as she growled, "Who do I get to kill?"