She stood there, blood-soaked and motionless, it was a pleasant, calming feeling being still, and she needed that after the recent events. Her life turn upside down and she fell quickly.

Drip.

That’s it, she thought. Rock bottom. She had been betrayed, tortured, executed, played by the mad god, changed and employed by it. Without lead or hint where to start and without knowing… the deadline. It terrified her, the game just started and she was already losing.

Drip.

A moment of clarity in the ocean of madness. The rush of adrenalin slowly died down as she became relaxed, but she had no time to waste. The fire was already weak, she had to feed it or be blind till morning.

Drip.

And also clean herself. The blood was already cold, she didn’t feel it, she knew it was from experience. She bent a little, the pain shocked her to cramp from the hit she just got before. She fell to her knees and fought against the agony, silently.

Drip.

A minute passed by or so. As she reached the fire crawling on all four and fed it. The blood dried on her skin and started to slowly to peel down in chunks. The pain didn’t fade. Crawled back to the spellcaster and searched him. Potions, that’s what she needed, or at least some kind of painkiller before the pain kills her.

Luck was on her side, yet she felt lucky. A small pouch, inside some labelled vials. That was enough, it had to be. Opened the first one that said anything health related and blindly trusted its content. The taste was unfamiliar, either it was a bad-grade potion or she just drunk poison. She couldn’t keep it together, she had to laugh. She did it without a sound.

Nothing happened, she drank the potion yet there was an effect. She tossed away the pouch and leaned against the tree next to the elf. “And they say Dullahan doesn’t exist, yet I sit right before one. The headless horseman.” There was no voice she just gaped the words despite that she felt she just told the joke of her life and laughed again.

The lack of moving and support helped with the pain as time passed, while she eyed her only companions, the corpses. A short wand with a small piece of a bright blue gem at it tip caught her eyes. Hunger, it reminded her. She felt the instinct that talked to her, while she eyed the candy-like gem. It must be a cruel joke, she giggled as took the wand.

The wand was crude and cheap, no enchanting rune of any kind. It reminded her what it was like in the beginning, when the world seemed to be full of wonders in her eyes while she joined her first party. She took the candy and throw the stick into the fire. “I must be mad.” she said it without a voice and put the gem into her mouth.

She played with the blue stone in her mouth and out of curiosity she bit it. A small piece of candy, her mind didn’t trick her. Its sweet taste was wonderful, her tastebuds exploded, as she ground it into smaller pieces, its taste became more instance. It was a small piece of heaven, joy just radiated from the smile on her face, until the gem lasted.

Until it lasted. The fire was flickering again, but she felt like she just fed it a few minutes ago. She got up and put some more on it. Something was missing, like a distant memory as she ran her hand down on the place where the sword hit her, thinking about what was missing. It had to be a joke she thought, the pain was gone, and she felt alright. A small piece of sapphire wort more than a dozen health potions. This was a shocking discovery and an unpleasant one as well.

The pain freed money grinder, had no more obstacle in front of her to get going with her well out thought improvised plan. Clean body and loot corpses.

She felt young again, it was like looting from bandits and thugs while competing for low-level village quests, but the well-trained hand and her immense body strength didn’t give nostalgia a proper time it deserved, within minutes she stood before three naked headless corpses in the blood-soaked grass.

Naked. It ran through her mind and as she looked down. She was naked. Unfortunately, nobody alive was there to unravel the myth that it is possible for a gargoyle to blush. May the future generation find luck this kind.

She was not sure to be proud or embarrassed by her body. The raw power and resistance were narcotic, the power of youth as she described it, while the problem still stood, that he became a she. A minute past as she just stared at herself by looking down, and become ashamed of it and looked away. Hard truth it could not be denied, and she had no power to solve this, unless a mason is capable such a task without killing her there was little to no chance to change, and she wasn’t even sure it was possible.

Not much what she had collected from the want to be rich by grinding down the poor gem-gargoyle party. A few flasks, an intact small keg, blood-soaked clothes and leather armour, a lint-free robe, mace, longsword and of course a coin pouch. It was not much by any standard, but still more than nothing.

With the little water she had from the flasks she decided to clean herself and the centaur’s armour, since nothing else seemed to fit better.

As the water poured down on her, resolving the blood, she followed it with her hand down, slowly passing by her breasts down after her abs to the nethery parts as her hand caught up with the flow of water she closed her thighs enclosing her hand between them. The shock-like bliss caught her off guard, she bitten her lips, dropping the flask from her other hand to the ground and taking a handful of her own breast. The sensation was unknown to her, she felt her legs weak, to keep herself, she pressed her back against a tree and slowly lowered herself to the ground. Her hand slipped and reached deeper into the flesh like softer parts. The motion was natural as she massaged her inner part in accelerated paste while groped a handful of her breast like a stress ball. The build-up was too fast, the climax was unexpected, her eyes rolled back, her thigh stiffed locking her hand in place.

The fire was flickering again, the sky started to brighten, she got up, the recent pleasure was new for her, but the shame, the loss of dignity that followed made her feel guilty. It felt good and she wished it didn’t. The fire lost its meaning as time passed and the cleaning continued.

The shadows of the trees were visible and the campfire became a pile of ash by the time she was ready. Makeshift skirt out of the robes, the centaurs leather armour, a coin pouch on her side hanging on the belt next to the vials. She felt like a rundown grey jester with slightly blood tainted clothes. She took the small keg under her shoulders. Wondering if hunger or thirst ever going to creep on her again.

It was a nightmare, it had to be, nothing else would make sense. The world pulled a big one on her and it filled her with rage. It didn’t even surprise her at this point she felt anger, she lost every skill she had. No more calm mind or any useful tricks. A large part of her life was just gone with the smoke.

The cracking of the small keg could be heard as she stiffened her arm, while she shouted in her mind [Status] over and over again, it mattered little, it was the same every time she called for her [Status].

Classes Gem-Gargoyle 1.51 Warrior 1.07 Perks Titles Race-related Hero Ageless Peace in solitude Poison immunity Racebound Resilience of stone

It just made things worse, as she had to train a group of greenhorns soon. Let alone finding them would be a challenge, but now helping them train seemed Impossible.

She stood still for a while on the forest path without realising it, like a safe space it felt for her, it slowly calmed her rage. Then she was on her way again, not knowing where the path would lead.

As the sun reached its peak between the clouds, the shadows were small and lacked in detail. The forest became sparse as the bushes claimed the view. The path seemed endless.

She had little to do and didn’t felt tired. Questions started to rush her. Why didn’t she have a voice? What other gems taste like? What made her body resistant to the sword but become soft to touch? What the outsiders will look like or where to find them? Why she had the hero title? Why didn’t she have to breath? Will she bleed gem-glitter once a month? And the list went on without aim just to fill the time she had, to hide her depression.