CH 6.4: Botched Executions

Suddenly, my walking stick felt a lot heavier than it had a few seconds ago.

The beetlekin’s voice was muffled by the gag as he tried to say something, his eyes were a bit frantic, though that coulda been normal too for beetle type people. It’s not like I was a beetle doctor.

“I cannot recommend this course of action,” Waz said. “And I beg Her Highness to abstain from this rashness.”

Orb scoffed. “It is Her Highness’s choice of course, but practicing live combat should provide a more suitable Path, or perhaps even, an evolution to Her existing one.”

“This is not combat,” Waz said.

“It is close enough,” Orb answered.

“It is a violation of the Court’s Law,” Waz said. “The Queen’s Law. This action will have repercussions. The Kin will not be happy.”

Damn, it was getting heavy in here with the feud between Orb and Waz...but if this world was like a video game, then there were probably respawns too...So maybe, just maybe, this all didn’t really matter. Besides, that beetlekin was pretty nasty looking, and he had been doing that treason stuff that Orb mentioned. I would probably be alright doling out some punishment...Right?

“And this will get me a better Path?” I asked Orb.

“Most likely,” Orb said. “Though nothing is certain.”

Alright. Here goes.

I hefted my walking cane, walking past Orb, past Waz, past the very large spiders, until I hovered over the traitorous beetlekin, who was on his knees. I pretended my cane was a baseball bat, and the beetlekin’s head was the ball. But I had never played sports, so maybe that wasn’t the best example. Maybe if the cane was an axe? Yeah. That would be a better comparison, with the beetlekin’s head being a piece of wood to split.

Okay. Here goes.

“If Her Highness would carry out the sentence?” Orb said, Once I had been gripping and re-gripping my cane for a few minutes.

“Right…” I said, raising the cane over my head. “Here goes!”

I brought the cane down in a mighty swing using all my might, with a terrible roar...Smack! The cane reverberated in my hands, my hands stung, my elbows ached. I had missed the beetlekin’s head and had hit the ground instead.

“Torture on top of an unlawful execution,” Waz muttered.

“Practice makes perfect,” Orb said, a sly smile on her face. “Another attempt?”

Raising the cane up above my head, bringing it down with a two handed swing, another fearsome roar--Smack! This time the beetlekin groaned in pain. I missed his head, but I had got his chest, leaving his chitin skin cracked. Once more I swung, this time striking the beetlekin’s nose, or where his nose would be, if he had started with one. He groaned even louder. It sounded like he said, “Mercy Please.” But that was probably my imagination. Again I struck, and missed completely. It required several more attempts until the beetlekin went silent.

“Her Majesty will hear of this,” Waz said, exiting the room briskly.

Holy shit...As I stared at the lifeless body of the beetlekin, it started to set in. Had I actually killed someone? No. No way. Nuhuh. Several seconds later, the body disappeared in green motes of light.

“Did Her Highness receive any prompts regarding Paths?” Orb asked.

I didn’t see anything like that. When I noticed the body fading out of existence, I asked about it, but Orb gestured towards the fountain, where green flakes were reforming into a very familiar beetlekin, this time not bound nor gagged, and with many more glowing green fissures running across his chitinous skin.

“Ah, well, perhaps another attempt will do the trick?” Orb said.

Everything was happening fast, too fast for me really to get into the whole moral debate of right or wrong. And morals had always been boring anyways. What I did know, in that instant, is that striking the beetlekin down could potentially give me a better class (err--I mean Path); And that the beetlekin wouldn’t die permanently (which would absolve me of feeling bad for that shit anyways); And besides all that, the beetlekin deserved what was coming to him (for all the treason stuff). So before the beetlekin had more than a few seconds to realize where he was or what was happening, I stepped in and swung my cane, this time hitting his neck.

He fell to his knees with a gurgle, eyes widened, looking towards me, his mouth moving, trying to speak, but he only managed a gurgle. I lined up another blow, this time striking his head. He collapsed, and I hit him again for good measure. A few seconds later, his body disappeared once more, into pale green motes of light.

“And this time?” Orb asked.

Still, no prompts, nor floating boxes of text to be seen.

“How will I know if I’m offered a Path change?” I asked. “And how do I check my status again?”

“For the first question, it will be obvious,” Orb answered. “And for the second--” She was interrupted as the beetlekin reformed. “Once more?” She asked.

Before I could strike the beetlekin down, he fell to his knees, crying out, “Mercy! I beg, have mercy! My wife...My brother...I’m not a Traitor! Let me see the Queen! She’ll know the truth of it. Please!”

“Die with dignity,” Orb said, scorn apparent in her voice. “If Her Highness will continue?”

I nodded and stepped up with the cane once more.

“No!” The beetlekin shouted, scrambling away from me, heading towards the door.

“Restrain him,” Orb said.

The spiders leapt forward as silk shot from their spinnerets, the silk sticking to his legs and arms as he thrashed. The beetlekin scratched at the ground, digging into the moss and dirt, digging far faster than I thought should have been possible, since he only used his arms and legs, and those were bound together.

“If Her Highness will continue?” Orb said once again. “Before he escapes too far into the ground, as his kind is wont to do.”

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, or something like that. I jumped forward, wailing on the poor guy, over and over again. And eventually, he stopped thrashing.

A new Path opens before you:

Botched Executioner

Executions aren’t always clean, and never when you’re responsible. Strike fear into the hearts of friends and foes alike with public displays of murder.

No Path slots are available. Would you like to replace Walking Stick: Rank I (4%)?

“Oh!” I said. “I got something…” I started reading through the text. It didn’t sound like a good choice. In fact, it sounded like a bad choice. An awful one, really. I read it outloud to Orb.

“Hm,” she said. “I had hoped for something more...useful.”

“Should I take it?” I asked. I didn’t think so, but I wanted to hear what she thought first.

“I would not,” she said. “Afterall, once Her Highness departs the Upper Realm, there may be few opportunities to exercise this Path. At least without a more relevant striking Path first.”

“Ah,” I said. “Then ‘No,’ I do not want to replace my Path.” I spoke aloud, for the benefit of Orb and the prompting system.

The prompt disappeared from my vision.

One thing I hadn’t noticed immediately, distracted by the prompt, was that the beetlekin’s body hadn’t disappeared into green motes. Instead it lingered, unmoving, but somehow changing. It took me a bit to realize what was happening, but once I saw it, it was obvious.

The green fissures were growing, deepening, and branching off, all throughout his skin. They brightened as well, giving off a glow. And as they spread, they made a continuous cracking sound, which grew louder, until it sounded like a glacier breaking away. The fissures across the beetlekin exploded in a shower of sparks. When the light disappeared, there, on the ground, there were several small green crystals, all uncut and uneven. The beetlekin’s body had disappeared, replaced by the gems.

Orb bent and retrieved the crystals, putting them in a pouch. “Waste not,” Orb said, glancing my way.

I noticed that the beetlekin hadn’t respawned like he normally would have.

“Where is he?” I asked, watching the fountain, or shrine, or whatever you wanted to call it, expectantly. “Shouldn’t he have rezzed by now?”

“Hm?” Orb asked, following my gaze. “No,” she said. “Her Highness executed him, remember?”

“No, I mean, why didn’t he come back this time?” I said. I thought that Orb must have known what I meant.

“He is dead,” Orb answered, sounding confused, almost as though I had forgotten the entire affair. I didn’t appreciate that attitude. I wasn’t an idiot, at least most of the time. No, scratch that--I was never an idiot, and Fuck you Orb for implying that I was. I glared at her, about to say something, but she beat me to it. “Perhaps in another Season his soul may return?” Orb said.

Just then, Waz returned, flanked by two Ant Guards, and followed by a mob of insect dudes, similar to the ones I saw working at the base of the Heart-tree, beetlekin, earwig-people, and other mud dwellers. They chittered angrily, demandingly. There were more guards in the mob, holding them back.

“Her Majesty requires Her Highness at once,” Waz announced, glaring all the while at Orb.