7.5 - Expansion (Patreon)

7.5 - Expansion

Taylor

As I focused and concentrated on trying to listen through my insects, filtering out the background noise of the waterfall and Scratch’s breathing. I felt… like I could almost vaguely make out something.

Unbidden, Antaa’s memories flowed once more into my mind. 

The fountains of Ka’shar are still. Listen, listen for the single droplet. You can feel it. Feel as it falls, as it displaces air, feel the ripples as it strikes the waters. Feel and understand that all senses are the font from whence all knowledge flows. Nothing is beyond your reach and thus, nothing is beyond the senses of your body. 

Listen.

Strip away the confines of flesh. Strip away crude matter, strip away distractions. Listen

I heard… footsteps.

The small shuffling steps of a child. I heard him before I saw him. Heard him before I should. The vibration of his steps translating clearly.

Like the lapping of the tide, I felt the sounds beginning to wash over me, through me, my mind expanding, my senses stretching out, being pulled away, I was-

“Oh. Umm… Hi!”

The high pitched voice, the nervous lilt, my eyes opened and my headache was pounding, noise and sound no longer a gentle lapping tide but a battering ram punching from every angle directly into my skull.

“Hi.” I mumbled miserably. 

“Ummm.” The kid was a tiefling boy, a mess of curly hair framed by horns, red skin, black sclera. He looked like he was seven, maybe six. “Are you ok?”

Cute kid.

I shook my head. “Headache… really, really bad headache.”

“Oh…Um. Can I help?”

“Shhh.” I pressed a finger to my lips. “Just… need quiet.”

The pounding pressure in my skull began to ebb away. I’m not sure if I was getting used to it or if I was subconsciously trying to shut off this new facet of my power because this sucked. 

Either way the pain… No… No, it was still terrible. 

“Oh. Okay.” The little boy whispered. “I’m Mirkon.” He continued, and held up his water canteen. “Should I bring you some water?”

“Water would be great.” I’m pretty sure he came here to fill it, and it was nice of him to offer. 

Mirkon smiled, happy and stood up to make his way down to the river to fetch the water.

I groaned, as he stepped out of earshot, laying flat on the ground and covering my eyes from the sun as I tried to ease the pain any way I could. Scratch whined and started fidgeting next to me. No no. Don’t-

-BARK-

I covered my ears and flinched away but it was useless, because my ears weren’t the problem. 

-BARK-

-BARK-

I felt Madison approaching before I heard her, extended senses or not. She was hard to miss. 

“Scratch!” 

Ow. Ow. Ow. Stop shouting. He’s right here and it sounds like you’re next to me…

“Scra- Oh! Tay, what’s wrong!?”

I pulled my hand free of my eye and again pressed a finger against my lips. Please please don’t be a bitch right now. I don’t think I have the physical coordination to punch anyone but I have spiders nearby and I will use them. 

But Madison didn’t scream, didn’t go and grab a cooking pot to smash it against its lid to make this truly unbearable; instead she approached slowly, like one would approach an animal you might spook. Her footsteps still felt like grenades going off and her voice, however soft, hurt. 

“Tay? Migraine?”

Should I say yes? Did this count? The Trio not knowing I could hear them when I wasn’t around could only be a good thing in terms of keeping me ahead of anything they might cook up. 

-BARK-

“Shh! Scratch Shh.” Madison hissed at the dog, apparently getting the memo. “No loud noises buddy.”

And with that I didn’t have the energy for it, didn’t have the bandwidth to fucking dance around a clever lie. 

“Noise.” Was my simple answer. “Just… Can hear… Everything.”

I could feel her confusion. “Hear… wait can you hear through your bugs now?”

I nodded, hissing. The myriad voices digging in like nails into my grey matter. 

Scratch whined and licked my cheek. I reached up and pet him. 

“I need aspirins.” I mumbled. Or for Shadowheart to knock me out.

I suddenly felt a cooling touch, almost like a balm against my head and the pain eased. I dared to open one eye, finding Madison with her hands glowing green like Shadowheart’s. 

Right… she knew at least a little healing now too.

I felt my stomach twist, conflicted at getting help from one of the Trio but like the lie before I didn’t have the energy for a grudge right now; the absence of pain was so very, very tempting. 

After a few seconds, the healing glow vanished and though the pain was still there it wasn’t crippling. 

“Thanks.” I mumbled. 

She nodded, smiling, seemingly pleased.

I just… lay there for a second. Staring up at the sky.

Maybe it was the pain loosening my tongue, maybe it was a side effect of the healing magic straight to the dome. But whatever the reason, I started talking. 

“What was so different?”

I could see out of my periphery that Madison was confused. I didn’t look at her, couldn’t bring myself to. If I did, I was gonna get even angrier.

“This is cruel. It’s unconscionable. We have to do something” I snorted, the pitch of my voice a crude mimic of her. “Why the fuck does some animal you’ve never even heard of, that might eat you for all you know, get that kind of reaction but me in that locker got a giggle and a high five?”

Once more, out of the periphery of my vision I saw Madison’s mouth fall open, an ‘Oh’ of realization there. 

“I…” She squirmed. “I’m sorry.”

“That doesn’t answer my question!” I didn’t mean to snap, it just came out, and my own voice made the pain start to pound inside my skull again. I winced, hissing with my hand against my temple. “Fuck…”

Madison was looking down at the floor. “I… I don’t have an answer.”

I figured she wouldn’t… because there was no answer. No answer that made it right, no answer that even made it understandable.

A fucking animal got more consideration than me. And there was no fucking answer!

“Whatever.” I mumbled. Stupid to bring it up. 

I moved to stand, and the pain made itself known again, along with the vertigo, leaving me hunched over and groaning.

Madison stood, her hand almost touching my shoulder before she stopped. “Lets… Lets get you up to Shadowheart.”

That sounded like a fantastic idea. 

“Sure, lets just wait for Mirkon.”

“Who?”

“Tiefling kid.” I answered. “Offered to bring me water. He should be-”

I trailed off.

Now that I cared to notice, or, more specifically now that my head didn’t feel like it was locked in a vice, the boy was just… standing at the water’s edge?

And the singing I was hearing wasn’t coming from Alfira… it was coming from the water?

“Tay?”

"Something's wrong.” 

Madison looked around. “Is this like… gonna become a pattern or-?”

I started walking, making my way down to the river’s edge and Mirkon.

The singing was becoming clearer now.

“Mirkon!” I called down to the boy, wincing at the sound of my own voice. “Mirkon!”

The boy didn’t move, I know he could hear me, and the feeling of something being wrong doubled.

I wasn’t walking anymore, I was running down the hill towards the boy who started to wade into the shores.

He was ankle deep by the time I reached him.

I grabbed hold of the back of his shirt, pulling him, hard. “Mirkon!”

The small boy looked at me, his smile vacant, his eyes empty. “Can’t you hear it, I need to reach it. The singing is so beautiful.”

I could hear it, in fact, it sounded like it was coming from every direction.

But I could hear other things too, other things that were disrupting the song, breaking it apart, distracting me.

“Tay-”

I turned around, Scratch started barking, snarling, the dogs hackles were raised and Madison was looking to the dog and then up to the sky, eyes going wide. “TAY!” She pointed as a shadow fell over me. 

I looked up.

“I’LL RIP OUT YOUR THROAT!” Something screeched at me as it dove out of the sky. 

—

Sophia

They let the blue, frilly dumbass in. The gate grounding down to close behind him and the guy almost immediately started chattering everyone’s ears off, recounting his “Daring escape” through the Goblin hordes. And oh yeah. This guy was gonna get on her last fucking ner-“OW FUCK!” Sophia shrieked, something biting the back of her neck hard. Her hand whipped out behind her, crushing the buy with a single swat, then another bit her in the back of the knee. 

“AHH- What th-” She stopped herself from the reflexive swat, her body freezing, the bug frantically biting over and over again.

—

Taylor

The thing that swooped out of the sky looked like a cross between a woman and a vulture, feet like talons, hands with claws. She was practically naked, just a few strings and bits of bone. I grabbed Mirkon and leapt back, narrowly avoiding the claw swipe before I threw Mirkon as hard as I could. “Take him!!” I screamed, Madison scrambling down to grab hold of the still stupefied boy and beginning to run as I turned towards the… Harpie? I have to assume that’s what this is, its the only name I’ve got for it.

The thing swiped again, claws going for my face, I fell back, tripped really, my back hitting the rocks of the bluffs before using it to bounce back and strike with a straight kick that caught the flying vulture woman in the chest, knocking her back.

The swarm was already beginning to buzz and come alive in the grove, every insect in my range quickly converging, every one I had tagged was being stung in a hasty call for help as I gave my swarm one order get here now!

Overhead I started to blanket the skies above me. I wasn’t sure how many were up in the sky. The harpy in front of me had small flies and gnats over her limbs, the memory of how the Spider Queen’s nervous system had forewarned me of her movements inspiring the quick, improvised idea to read her own movements.

Madison was running, Mirkon in her arms and I felt something break through the swarm overhead to dive for her. 

“MADISON!” 

My warning made her turn, looking back, eyes going wide before she screamed and ducked, her body shielding Mirkon as a second harpy slashed across her back with a spray of red. 

I heard her scream, running to make it to her side as Scratch, snarling and barking, lunged, its teeth biting into flesh as it ripped and tore at a howling harpie that kicked at him with its talons, wings flapping to get into the air. 

Then, the harpy I was fighting tried to attack me from behind. 

I didn’t have time, to waste.

So… I let instinct take over.

My hands were bathed in baleful green flames and I moved without physically seeing where the swipe was coming from, leaping off of the side of the stone bluff to my right to practically cartwheel over her head to land behind her.

As I descended, I grabbed both her wings.

With a scream both hollow boned limbs snapped like match sticks, the Harpie howled and screeched, falling to the ground and twisting, writhing her mouth open and her screams starting and stopping in abject agony

Four more began to descend from the skies, breaking through the insect cover- How many were there!?

Madison was trying to crawl away with just one arm, the other holding onto Mirkon still, her cheeks were wet with tears and Scratch was standing over her, still snarling with teeth bared.

That’s when the Phase spiders arrived. 

Five of the teleporting creatures emerged from thin air and pounced on the harpy that had attacked Madison, fangs biting, limbs stabbing, the monster was practically ripped apart in an arachnid frenzy. 

I ran for Madison, trying to pull away the necrotic, harmful energies and refocus them into healing ones, 

That’s when the four others converged around us. 

One, with a fanciful feather headdress began to sing.

The song hit me like a punch to the face.

It was all I could hear, all I could sense, the world went to shadow and blackness, every one of my five senses focusing solely on that beautiful song.

And then, a shadow phased arrow punched straight through the Harpy’s throat.

“GOT ENOUGH SINGING, WINGED BITCHES BACK HOME! SO NO THANKS YA FUCKING CUNT!”

Sophia emerged from the top of the hill, bow and arrow at the ready.

The last three hesitated, realizing the fight was no longer in their favor no matter how hungry they were.

And then- Durge.

With a crack of lighting and Thunder the Dragonborn charged out of the Grove, hands wreathed in snapping forks of electricity, red eyes narrowed, taking in the scene quickly.

He didn’t need an explanation. 

“Hess, grab the boy, Hebert, you take Madison. I’ll handle the rest.”

Like hell.

My five Phase spiders jumped again, teleporting to each of the remaining three.

Durge charged in

I… I went to Madison.

Sophia was already there looking at Madison with wide eyes. Her voice was a hiss. “Fuck.”

“Get Mirkon!” I shouted running up the hill.

The singing stopped, and Mirkon’s cloudy eyes seemed to have cleared up, he started to scream, crying, panicking. Sophia grabbed hold of him, carrying him and the boy hugged her like she was the only safe thing in the world before she started to run back.

More people were coming now. Wyll, Lae’zel in particular, the Druids sensing the disturbance. 

I grabbed Madison.

“Tay…” She whimpered. “Tay it hurts…” 

Her left shoulder blade was a mess of torn flesh and oozing red. She probably couldn’t move her arm at all.

“Don’t worry.” I said for lack of anything better to say. “It looks worse than it is.” I hoped that was true.

I reached for her other arm. Durge  and the spiders becoming a teleporting, lighting wreathed dervish of violence behind me as I lifted Madison up and began to get her back to the Grove proper. 

Sophia ran back, apparently having deposited Mirkon with the druids relative safety before she grabbed Madison’s other side. “Fucking hell, can’t you do whatever hands and heal people now!?”

“Give me a fucking second!” I snapped at her. “This isn’t exactly muscle memory for me!”

“Figure it out!”

We crossed the ‘boundary’ I’d mentally marked between the Grove and the bluffs, letting Madison go and fully allowing Sophia to hold her up before I tried again to focus.

Green flames were replaced by gentle, purifying energies, as I stepped around and behind Madison to the wounded spot.

In my minds eye I could see where Madison’s energies could be released, refocused. My fingers touched along her spine, and again at the base of her neck, five digits caging the wound and closing as if to seal it.

And Madison’s flesh began to reknit right in front of me. 

The pained, hissing breaths eased, her hunched posture straightening bit by bit.

Sophia set her down, Madison was still crying as I stood over her.

Wyll and Lae’zel joined us.

“What happened!?” Wyll demanded.

“Some flying bitches by the beach… river… -whatever the fuck- nicked Madison. Durge is fighting what’s left.”

Lae’zel moved to march past us and join the Dragonborn.

“No need.” I breathed as Durge grabbed hold of the last Harpie by the neck and with a crunch I was almost sure I could hear from here, crushed her slender throat. “He’s almost done.” 

I looked to Madison, crouching beside her. “Shadowheart’s almost here.”

She moved her arm, sniffling. “It… It feels better.”

“She’ll look at you.” I said. “Or Halsin.” I was an amateur. They weren’t.

And that’s when Durge came back.

The Dragonborn was coated in blood.

“Fuckin christ.” Sophia mumbled as she saw him. “You go theater psycho on them too!?”

I looked at her oddly, we all did.

The hell was she talking about?

“ALRIGHT WHO THE HELL IS FUCKIN WITH MY-” Karlach, who came roaring down the hill, quite literally ablaze and axe in hand stopped as she looked at everyone.

She seemed to take in the scene and then looked at at Durge. “You didn’t leave me any?”

The Dragonborn shook his head. “Not a one.”

Karlach looked at Madison and then at me before looking back to Durge. “Good.”

There are roughly 2-3 more chapters in arc 7 by my estimate. Next chapter is gonna have quite a few important character moments to build inter-team dynamics and trust both with the girls and the natives of Faerun :D