Her face was a twisted thing of rage, her monstrous eyes glowed with her wrath as she whipped her arm forward, urging it to snake around the Ugroth’s throat. The titanic reptile froze, surprised by the strange way her tentacle-like arm moved. It tried to pull itself free only for the Behemoth to strike it again on the head. It staggered, the force of the blow transferring through the stone plates enough to set the creature reeling. Teyva retracted her chain, leaping off the ground and pulling herself towards the monster, and landed on the back of its neck. She raised her free hand up and cast [Simple Shift], her fingers extending and distorting into foot-long blade-like talons. She snarled and dug them into the bare skin between the plates on the back of its head, securing herself. From close range, she cast [Mind Trap] only for it to resist.

She scowled and decided to try something else. She grabbed hold of the sheaf of mana that had been wrapped around her body and tugged on it, pushing it down on the Ugroth. The Four had described this act as taboo, but she’d remembered feeling so defenseless under the pressure. She snarled and pushed down with all her might, shoving the flood of will into the creature's head before trying her [Mind Trap] again. This time, the creature’s eyes dilated and it stumbled where it stood.

As it entered a delirious stupor she felt a coldness take hold of her blood. “I’ve been doing what I have to do.” She growled, turning her savage glare on the Lich. “You just sit there and watch, that seems to be the only thing you’re good at.”

She turned her eyes on the creature beneath her, “As for this poor guy, his time’s just about up,” Her tone dripping with bloodlust. She hated him, she hated Paraklytus and everything he had to say. The chill worked its way through her veins even faster, soothing her mind and making everything seem sharper, clearer. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, if she was being honest with herself she would admit she liked it.

She dug her nails in deeper as the creature roused from its stupor. She checked its health, it had dropped to thirty-five percent, thirty-four, thirty-three. Its first reaction was to rumble something in its throat only for its eyes to widen as nothing happened. Silenced by her aura, oppressed by her mana, and cowed by her fury it was all it could do but to flail about, trying to buck Teyva off only to instead tighten the chain’s grip around its throat, fresh blood spilling onto the floor as it pushed itself down to thirty percent health. Teyva cast Paraklytus a cold glare and cast [Coldsnap]. In an instant, the creature’s body began to freeze, its entire form covered in a sheet of frost as a foul smell permeated the room. Its insides rotted in an instant. She ripped her claws out and whipped the blood off of them, pulling herself off the desiccated beast that did not even have enough time to shudder out one last breath.

She turned towards the Lich and leveled him with a cold stare, “Go. Away.”

The Lich raised his head a bit higher, staring at her with that implacably sinister grin. “You do not have much longer to go to see your friends. Follow your senses and they will guide you.”

With that, he vanished into nothing more than a thin haze. Teyva’s shoulders heaved as she tried to catch her breath. She turned back to look in the direction of the Ugroth and saw the Behemoth staring at her in awe. Even the mockeries were all eyes, clustered on top of the corpse of the mini-boss. She walked over to the body and stared at the wounds she’d inflicted with her bare hands. Her lip twitched. She talked a big game but she wondered at the casual cruelty of it all. She’d barely given the thing a chance to fight back. Her eyes traced over the remains, had she really done all this on her own? She looked down at her hands and then ran her fingers through her hair.

Her lips thinned again and she kicked the body, pulling up the loot prompt. “If that’s what it takes,” She muttered.

You have acquired: [Ugroth Tyrant Scales] Crafting Material, Rare Rarity x5

The near-impenetrable scales of an Ugroth Tyrant, made from the walls of an ancient labyrinth.

You have acquired: [Aspect Shard] x1

She called her darlings back into her satchel and looked up at the Behemoth that had been eyeing her with caution ever since she’d returned. She reached out to touch him and he flinched. She frowned and turned to face him, looking up into his face. “I would never, ever hurt you, dearie,” She crooned, holding out her still trembling hands, “Come here, let momma hug you. It’s okay. Momma is pretty scary when she’s mad, isn’t she?”

The mighty creature knelt down and she placed her hands on his cheeks, resting her forehead against his chin. “There you go, good boy. I’m sorry I scared you.”

The great beast reached out and wrapped its arms around her, giving her a tight squeeze that popped her back just a bit. She grunted and pat its side, “Okay, okay, I love you too sweetie, please let mommy go, that hurts!”

It released her and she let out a breath, the heat finally leaving her skin. She hadn’t been that angry in a long time. She frowned, though, thinking about what the Lich had to say. He hadn’t been wrong about most of it. He’d only scratched the surface of the endless parade of foolish behaviors and mistakes that she’d left behind her as she marched her way through Orum. It wasn’t fair. She’d done what she had to do, she didn’t know what she was doing in the beginning. Rani was messing with her head! She dragged herself towards the exit, her expression growing darker. What was she supposed to do?

“Damn that bastard,” Teyva muttered, checking her prompts.

LEVEL UP!

You are now Level 9

You have 15 (3 Base + 12 Racial) attribute points to spend.

You must rest for at least one hour to use your attribute points.

An Aspect Shard has been added to your inventory.

You have gained a Respawn.

You may unlock one ability per aspect at this level.

Your control limit for [Create Mockery] has increased to 90.

What should have been a moment of elation and excitement had instead become a punctuation mark at the end of what had just happened. She read over the details, the usual fare for a level up, and cleared out the window. She would nap later, she still had some stamina to burn and she fully intended to get as far as she could before she took another break. She figured that Paraklytus was at the very least telling her the truth about her destination, regardless of his intentions. She knew she couldn’t beat him normally but she figured the guy had to have some kind of weakness. There was also the matter of her Aspect Shards. She had two now and she could use them right away, but she decided it would be better to consult Nephral a little before going forward.

She winced at the thought. She knew it was the right thing to do but it still felt like it was Paraklytus weaseling his way into her head. She’d had just about enough of people playing with her mind as it was. That was why she was here! She wanted to be her own person, she wasn’t Teyva Rani’s puppet, she wasn’t the Cycle’s little hero, and she was most certainly not one of Paraklytus’ students to mold however he wished. Who did he think he was, anyway? Trying to lecture her when all he did was sit there in his little cubicle and play with his toys all day. He had all that power and he did nothing with it. If he thought he was so great he’d go out there and use it to do something great. That’s what Teyva would do.

“Would I though?” She muttered.

Teyva paused, stopping in mid-step, and frowned. She turned to look up at the Behemoth who looked down at her with concern in his eyes. Here she was walking around with this big guy and all she wanted out of life was to take it easy. She just wanted people out of her head and to stop forcing her to do whatever they wanted. What was wrong with that? Why did she have to do anything for anyone else? That one thought gave her pause. That wasn’t like her. What about Azrael? What about Nephral? Elat too. There were people out there worth doing things for. She stepped over to the nearest wall and leaned against it, running her fingers through her hair and trying to settle her thoughts.

Who the hell was she to lecture Paraklytus anyway? Sure, he didn’t have much of a right either but in reality, they were both in pretty much the same boat. She clicked her tongue and crossed her arms. She needed time to think. She looked down the hallway that Paraklytus had been guarding. Somewhere down there she’d run into her friends, she had a good feeling. What would she say when she saw them? How would she feel? Relieved? She pressed her back against the wall a bit more firmly and closed her eyes. Not only that but she’d teased on the edge of breaking a taboo that the Azar seemed to take very seriously.

“What the hell am I doing?” She muttered, “What have I been doing?”

Running in circles, that’s what, she thought to herself. She slid down the wall and hung her head, trying to work through everything the Lich had said. She had to come up with a response for when she saw him next. What was she supposed to say? He was right. She was wasting everything she was capable of and she had no idea what she was going to do with herself once she got out of here. “That’s okay though, isn’t it? I don’t have to know what I’m going to do with my life. Nobody has a real answer for that. I’ve only been here, what, a month?”

She sighed, “What’s his angle anyway?” She mumbled, calling up Queenie and playing with her. “What do you think?”

The little creature’s eyes opened and stared at her, it sent her the feeling of thoughtfulness but nothing really in the way of answers. She smiled, “I’ve got a lot to think about, don’t I?”