Benjamin Vryce

When Nyx appeared in front of him, Benjamin felt relief. She was garbed in her war attire, and looked ready for battle. Giving her instructions he watched her move into a killing frenzy. Her expression was one of calm. Almost as if she wasn’t slaughtering kobolds by the dozen. There were still plenty of the little beasts left for him though.

He turned back to his own battle; the creatures were swarming them from all sides. Coming out of the darkness and into the light. Whenever he caught a glimpse of Nyx, he didn’t thing she even noticed the difference in the lighting. He started to work on his eyes, if she could see clearly than it was possible for him to as well.

Jade was still huddled against the wall, shooting from behind her shield. Tok stood over her, smashing the kobolds with heavy blows. He worked his way over to her, slashing with the King’s Blade. It was amazing how much more the sword amplified his strength, focusing it down to the sharp blade. He was able to cleave the poor creatures apart with out much effort. A good thing too considering how many of them there were.

Having freed Jade from those kobolds surrounding her, he turned back to check on Nyx. She was laughing as she slaughtered the creatures, but blood was flowing from her in waves. Benjamin knew she could regenerate, but he needed her fit. So, he poured more essence into her, hoping to keep her active a little longer to continue the slaughter.

That was all the attention he could spare for his newest creation, because he was surrounded. The wounds that he had received were beginning to pile up, and he didn’t know if his regeneration could keep pace. remembering how much stronger he had been when he enhanced his body with the dual essence, he empowered himself and Ice again. his body itched from the changes, but all he cared about were the claws and the added regeneration.

As his transformation finished and he began to rend the kobold bodies, he heard Nyx scream. He spared her a glance, hoping she wasn’t injured again. to see her going crazy on another batch of kobolds. That lasted all of a minute before a pair of kobolds as big as she was attacked her. These had to be the original pair, gifted to Shipwright from the Erlking.

The big guy had hydraulic pistons bolted into his arms and legs. That had to improve his strength quite a bit, though Benjamin suspected it hurt like hell. The other one, the female was even more messed up than the male. He was once again wrapped up in his own battles, ripping the smaller creatures to pieces with his newly enhanced strength.

He was pushing essence into Ice and Nyx at intervals, trying to keep them healing while they fought. He couldn’t watch them at all times so this was his best compromise. The ringing crash of metal on stone, pounded into his sensitive ears. He winced in pain, and looked around for the cause. Nyx had the big kobold by one of his hydraulic pistons, and was dragging him across the floor with great sweeping beats from her wings. The half demon woman was stabbing him repeatedly with her sword, while being stabbed in return.

He would have to address her pattern again; it was likely that he had overdone it when he added in the way the others fought. When the pair crashed into the wall, he sent her more healing essence. Checking on the others in the brief lull, the leader’s death had caused.

Ice was bigger and covered in spikes, ripping into the enemy with huge jaws. Jade was standing up again, firing out at the mass of bodies. Tok wasn’t by her side however, he spotted him engaged with the female leader. That was unexpected, Jade rarely took an offensive role once the battle began.

As the battle wound down, he could hear Nyx’s occasional screams. He saw her shake her head in confusion a few times as well. That settled it for him, she was being overwhelmed with memories from his old summons. He would work on that just as soon as he had a spare moment.

Ice had gone down, her bulk once again a disadvantage while fighting so many smaller opponents. He had tried to keep her going, but his essence wasn’t unlimited. In the end he prioritized Nyx’s healing over Ice’s, he loved the she wolf but she wasn’t doing as much damage and was costing him too much essence to maintain.

The battle nearly finished; Benjamin was relaxing when he saw Nyx making straight for Jade.

* * *

Jade Benz

It was bullshit, absolute bullshit. At first, she didn’t understand where the demon woman had come from. Thinking they might be closer to the rift than she thought. When she went on a murderous rampage while smiling sweetly at Vice however, she figured it out. he had taken the pattern from that murderous bitch demon queen, and made her even more badass.

She could have lived with that, maybe, but the next thing she saw was just too much. Vice turned into a massive white werewolf, no shit a werewolf. Long white fur, huge claws and massive teeth, the whole nine. Why was he always getting the cool stuff? She was with him the whole time, but she didn’t get any neat transformations or battle crazy demons.

She was getting left behind. She knew she was, and it was because she was hiding. She was hiding by the wall again, while Vice did all the real work. She was already pissed, now she was pissed at herself too. So, when the opening came to smash the other kobold leader, she took it. Ordering Tok to rush in and kill that one, before Benjamin could get all the essence for himself.

It was a close thing, healing him and keeping herself protected was all she could do. In the end however, he won. Stabbing the tentacle waving woman to death with his javelins, before slumping down in exhausted agony. He was so badly injured that he wasn’t even able to come to her aid, when the demoness came for her.

Thankfully, she stopped before Jade was forced to shoot her. Muttering something about not having scales, she turned away and looked around like she was lost before Benjamin ran up to her. He was reverting from the werewolf form he had taken, thank goodness for that. He was pretty sexy with his rippling muscles and those strong hands. Being covered in shaggy fur and having a mouth big enough to swallow a watermelon whole though, yea. That was just too much for Jade to handle.

With some bowing and ‘master’ing Vice finally sent her away and approached her. He looked exhausted, like he would drop at any moment. He looked into her with new, big blue beautiful eyes. He wasn’t getting off the hook that easily though.

“Ok, Vice.” She started, trying to stay calm. “I know I’m not the best teammate there is, but why do you get all the good stuff? The clothes are nice, don’t get me wrong, but damn man.” she ran her fingers through her hair as she spoke.

“you’ve had bugs, squirrels, wolves, goblins, and bigger bugs. Now, you got the damn demon noblewoman? She looks all sexy too, what... you doll her up to be more like your green girlie?” Jade knew that had been too much before she said it, but she had been on a roll and couldn’t stop.

She saw the pain flashing in his eyes, and wanted to leave it be. she couldn’t though, she had spent weeks trapped in her own head, being tortured by her past. Weeks more, with no one to talk with but Tok, who couldn’t even talk back. She had had enough of it, she was getting the next one.

“I’m sorry Vice, that was too much. But I get the next one, that guy over there.” She pointed to the biggest kobold. “He has a pattern, don’t he? It’s always the big ones. I call dibs on that one. Tok, bring that one over here will ya.” She called out to the ogre, who was only now getting back to his feet. he complied with her request however, lumbering over to pick up the body.

“Jade, listen” Benjamin said. “I’m sorry, ok, I should have told you about Nyx. There was just a lot going on and…but the important thing is, souls have limits, ok. You…” he was cut off when Jade stomped her foot.

“No, Vice. I don’t want to hear it. I am getting this pattern, end of story. You can have the girl, add her to your harem. If there are limit’s I’ll figure it out as I go. Shit you did it, so can I.” she said, not wanting to hear anymore from him right now. “Get that out for me, will you?” she said shamelessly, once Tok dropped the body off at her feet.

“Jade listen, please.” he tried again. “I’ll get it for you but you have to understand, if you don’t have room, it will force its way into your soul. You will have to make room for it, you might have to give up your equipment, or even Tok.”

That brought her up short for a second, before she realized that she could get rid of that damned gargoyle if that was the case. Her determination only grew. When he pulled the pattern out of the big lizard’s head, she reached for it greedily.

“Stop. That belongs to the Lord Shipwright and…” the stupid chicken had just shown up. She hadn’t seen him since the fighting started. He had probably gone and hid, and here he was now wanting her loot. Before he could finish, she raised her essence pistol and tried to shoot the little bastard.

Her bolt impacted some kind of force shield, and failed to injure the chicken. Still, he shut up. looking down at him with anger, she almost told Tok to stomp on him. She knew Vice would be pissed though, so she didn’t.

“Jade, reconsider…”

“Too late, wolf boy.” She said, and absorbed the pattern.

When the kobold entered her soul, she new almost instantly that she might have been a little too hasty. She hadn’t been able to see it before, but now it was obvious. There was a transparent bubble around her meditation chair, in her void space. It was like standing inside a blown-up balloon.

The outlines of Tok and the gargoyle took up most of the balloon’s surface, her essence pistol and clothes filling in the rest. When the kobold, tried to take up residence on her soul there wasn’t any room to spare. Jade groaned in pain, as its shadowy outline began to pry up the patterns already clinging to her soul.

They didn’t want to come away however, so as it pulled the fabric of her being was being torn away. Vice hadn’t been kidding, this was agony. She ground her teeth against the pain and pushed back against the invading pattern. It was no use however, again like Vice said, she would have to make room for it.

How had she never seen this big ass dome in her void space before? She had spent months in here since she left earth, yet it had been totally invisible. Jade looked at the surface of her soul, fully three quarters of it was taken up by the gargoyle. Tok and her equipment took up the remaining quarter. From the size of the new pattern, she could make room by giving up either Tok or her gear.

“Nope, not happening.” She said flatly, turning instead to the gargoyle’s imprint. Gathering herself together she focused on peeling the outline of the rock demon from herself.

After gripping and pulling at it with all her might for endless seconds, she realized that it wasn’t going to budge. Shit, there had to be a way to make this work. Gathering her creation essence, she tried again. the essence didn’t want to grip the chaos produced pattern, it just slipped off with each attempt.

The kobold’s outline must have caught on to what she was trying to do, because it started prying at the gargoyle. With the added help she was making progress, with a sudden burst of inspiration she got Tok’s outline to help too.

The effort was draining her white core really quickly, and inevitably her concentration slipped. The black chaotic essence began funneling into her glowing white essence strand, and entered the three patterns battling for space on her soul.

“Oh, shit!” she cried out, as the essence combined. She hadn’t tried to control the chaos essence at all, since she had absorbed it. Leaving it to cycle, ignored around her creation core. The ring it formed, reminded her of the rings around the planet Saturn. Now, it was flooding her soul, the gargoyle’s chaotic pattern, and the creation patterns the horny dude had made.

Anxiety began to crawl into her mind, as she watched the three struggling patterns. Now flush with combined essence, they were slowly merging together.