NBB3 - chapter 27: The feeding hole

Solus was barely conscious. They were deep in the cave now, and it was warm and dark. His vision switched between black and purple as if his night vision was turning on and off. Blurry, angular shapes moved from left to right in a steady, swirling pattern.

It took him a while to figure out he was the thing moving and that he was hanging upside down from the ceiling—tentacles wrapped around him tightly.

He took a slow and groggy look around and saw dozens of wrapped-up bodies dangling from more tentacles all around him. Most appeared to have arms and legs, although it was hard to tell bundled up in black tentacles as they were. Far at the back of the cave was a hulking bone-white skeletal monstrosity with a barrel chest and two overly long arms bound to the sides of the cave wall. Its head, adorned with a tall mohawk of bone spikes, was slumped down on its chest, which consisted of interlocking ribs so tightly wound there were no holes.

I need to get out, Solus thought, and he attempted to angle his claws towards the tentacles. It was useless. The bindings were so tight he couldn't move at all. The only thing his effort got him was a gently swaying motion that made him nauseous. After a few moments, it stopped, and he felt even more drained than before, his thoughts fuzzy. It reminded him of something that had happened long ago, when Scathia had held him, draining away his-

Bile, those things are draining my mana, he thought as the memory came back in a momentary clarity.

It took him a lot of effort to resist trying to struggle again. Instead, he took a long and deep breath, noting an odd smell. After a few moments, he remembered that his status window had made a noise before, and he called it up.

> Error!

> Constant mana-drain in progress

Useless, Solus thought as he growled.

The tentacles absorbed most of the sound. However, some got through, and a soft wheeze came from somewhere further away in the cave.

"Stop growling, you brain-dead piece of rotting Kaot flesh. I'm trying to sleep!" a harsh, feminine, and familiar voice snapped.

Solus froze, then without thinking, started swaying his body, trying to turn it in the direction of the voice. After a few movements, his wrapped up body slung in the right direction, and he saw a web of tentacles connected to the walls, ground, and ceiling. In the middle hung a slightly familiar figure, her head the only thing not bundled up. Although he hadn't seen her since she was a zombie, the sharp lines of the face and the short copper hair together with the voice made it undeniable, no matter how incredible it was.

"Vingria," Solus whispered.

Two bright orange eyes, set in a pale yellow face, snapped open, piercing into his as hope appeared in them.

"What? Who are you? Wait… you are a- A shadow stalker? No… similar though," Vingria rattled as the hope faded from her eyes. "Did Drys finally send someone? Or are you another of Scathia's filth?"

Solus couldn't stop himself from grinning, and instead of speaking, he projected his voice beside her head, attempting to make it resemble his own as much as possible.

"Don't you recognize me? Why do I have to keep freeing you from entrapment all the time?"

Vingria's mouth fell open, two angular and gleaming incisors poking out from under her upper lip. "Solus?" she whispered.

"Where is Norg?" Solus asked, looking around. "Is he here too?"

"Now you care?" Vingria hissed. "You leave us, don't contact us for such a long time, and then you show up, and-" Vingria's mouth widened, and she roared, spittle flying everywhere. "He thought you were ended, lost somewhere in the middle of that planet. He searched and searched, dragging me along, getting more and more depressed!"

Solus was quiet as he listened to her continue cursing and roaring for a while before he interrupted her. He felt bad but also angry that she wouldn't tell him where Norg was.

"I was asleep and only just woke up," he said. "Now, where is Norg?"

"Sleep? Who would believe that?" Vingria grunted, then her head fell forward as much as it could, and she sighed. "They took him many, many days ago… I think. It's hard to keep track of time here."

"Who? Those piles of sludge?"

Vingria sniffed and nodded.

"Kaots, but nasty things… instead of ending what they capture, they tie them up and constantly drain their mana. They come here and unbind us when we grow too weak, a dozen standing guard. Then they tie us back up after we get some strength back. Norg acted weaker than he was and tried to break free... "Vingria sighed.

"I warned him, but he wouldn't listen, that wyrm-brained fool. They easily captured him and dragged him away. I tried to help, but they never release two at the same time."

Solus was quiet for a while, then looked around. He had to get out of here and see where they brought Norg, then find a way to get a mana-core. But first, he needed to get rid of the bindings.

"How long till they come again?" he asked.

"They inspected me when they brought you in. I don't expect them soon," Vingria said with a weary sigh. "How is Skulltown? Did Drys finally capture Scathia? And why are you in that body?"

"Scathia is still running around," Solus said as he closed his eyes. "And the body is a long story. I'll tell you later. Now be quiet. I need to find a way free of these bindings."

"Unless you are a lot stronger than you look, you won't be able to!"

Solus ignored Vingria's comment and called up his status window, looking at the attributes.

Name: UNKNOWN

Age: 12

Sex: Cell divider

Race: Uridimmu

Type: advanced

Class: -

Strength: 15/18

Constitution: 12/14

Dexterity: 21/23

Endurance: 40/44

Intelligence: 6/6

Mana-field: 211/840

Physical density: 720/930

Skills: -

Inscriptions: 1/2

Mana generation: 10

He was surprised when he saw how much some of the values had increased, then he saw his mana-field, and felt like biting something. It was lower than he remembered, and just then, it ticked down another value.

No time, he thought as he ignored the values besides the inscription count.

He had one slot left, meaning he had to find a skill that would allow him to break free of these tentacles. He opened the list of skills and started scanning through, quickly filtering away anything that increased his bone-spikes. The tentacles seemed impervious to any type of physical damage, or at least to what he would be able to dish out. No, what he wanted was something else.

Eventually, he narrowed it down to two potential candidates, each not guaranteed to work but better than anything else he could find in such a short timeframe.

> Rank A Skill. Uridimmu's howl: A sound that will haunt whoever hears it. This vibrating scream isn't that loud, but it will rupture the eardrum of anything within a hundred yards as well as shatter any glass, reinforced or otherwise, in the immediate area. Warning: Usage of this skill in populated areas will result in the termination of the minion and a fine to the summoner.

> Rank B Skill. Shadow jump: Using the mana in the manafield, the minion will turn into a dark energy form that moves forward twenty feet while passing through most normal materials. Be warned, although this is one of the few ways of passing through solid rock, this heavily drains the minions' mana field, and sustained use is not encouraged. If the minion ends inside something, it will likely be destroyed.

Solus frowned. Although he liked the howl skill, and he thought he could probably use it as an offensive tool against those Sludgies, he couldn't get rid of the image of his barbs. They had pierced the tentacles, which had regenerated without much effort. Although Shadow Jump was only rank B and came with some nasty side effects, he had a better feeling with the option. Besides, with so many wrapped-up bundles around him, the drain on his mana field was easily remedied.

Reading them one more time, he grunted and selected the Shadow Jump skill. His small mana-field appeared around him, unhampered by the tentacles, and a new inscription formed on the last free area. The entire cavern was suddenly brightly lit, and Solus saw it was bigger than he had thought. Parts that had looked like walls were hole-filled and showed that the caverns stretched on behind them.

"What are you doing," Vingria hissed.

"Trying to get us out of here," Solus replied as he looked around. If those Sludgies came back before he was ready, he'd be in big trouble.

Luck seemed to be on his side, however, and the process finished without any trouble. As soon as the new inscription finished, he made his mana-field disappear. The cave returned to its almost dark silence, and Solus focused on the new skill as he became aware of its existence. It still surprised him how simple using a new skill was after he'd learned it.

He looked around for a place with open space, then triggered the skill. He felt his entire body shift, all sense of feeling leaving him. Almost at the same time, it looked like a cluster of purple crystals shot towards him. He reappeared a split second later and slammed into the crystal.

Right. I move, not the crystal, he thought as he staggered upright. His body was heavy, and his mind clouded, his thoughts coming slow and unsteadily.

"Great. You're free," Vingria whispered, sounding annoyed. "Now what?"

Solus looked up, wondering why she sounded so angry. He understood she was annoyed that he hadn't been there, but didn't they have bigger troubles now? He blinked when he saw how high up she was. It had looked close when he was still hanging at roughly the same height, but now that he stood on four paws, he couldn't even reach her if he jumped. Not that he was even going to try that.

"How do those things unbind you when they come here?" Solus whispered.

"They just draw those tentacles back into their bodies, as if they are eating them," Vingria growled.

Eating? Solus thought, gaping at Vingria.

He knew what it was, but how did she? Suddenly he remembered the nice smelling stuff on the table in the Goliaths tower. It had been food! Since when did undead eat? And what?

Vingria was still glaring at him, and he shoved the distracting thoughts to the back of his mind for later. Inspecting the base of the tendrils, he saw they stuck to the purple crystals almost as if they were part of it. A soft purple glow emanated from the connection spot, and on a hunch, he turned on his mana-overlay.

A burst of bright purple energy flashed brightly, and he dodged back, squinting as he looked at the crystal. Dense purple mana swirled through it, most brilliant at the spots where tendrils attached to its smooth surface. A constant stream came from higher, and as he followed it, he saw it pulsed with orange mana at the spot closest to Vingria. As it flowed through, it turned into the deep purple that disappeared into the crystal ground. Curious, he gazed down, lowering his head. The purple light seemed stronger deep in the crystal surface, almost as if it was being sucked there.

"What's wrong?"

Solus looked up. Vingria was examining him with scrunched-up eyes.

"Nothing," he said absently.

He carefully looked around the room again. Most of the tendrils fed angry red mana into the crystals, and he presumed that came from Kaots. The massive, horned skeleton wasn't glowing, and neither were the tentacles that had bound him. He wondered what color his mana was as he looked at his legs. A thin layer of swirling black and red mana surrounded his paws, and as he looked, he somehow felt annoyed. The color seemed… wrong. Pushing away the distaste, he looked at Vingria.

"Do you have any idea where they brought Norg?" he asked.

"Of course, I always go and look where he is," Vingria snapped, then took a shallow breath before hissing. "No, I have no idea. Now get me out of here so we can find him!"

Solus shook his head as he examined her. "I can't get you out," he finally said. "I'll go and look for Norg and see if I can free him. Perhaps together we can-"

"Useless, just like before," Vingria interrupted him. "Why didn't you just keep that old body of yours? It was better to look at and a whole lot more powerful!"

"I still have it, but it can't move," Solus shot back. He felt the desire to jump and bite her in the leg grow stronger. Either the anger gave him some more energy, or his mana-regeneration had kicked in because he felt slightly better. Ignoring Vingria, he snuck away, heading in a random direction.

"You better not forget me," Vingria's voice echoed around his head.

I'll think about it, Solus thought as he snuck between the towering crystals.

It took him at least half an hour to reach the end of the cave, passing large numbers of wrapped-up figures. The further he went from where he had left Vingria, the weaker the mana the figures generated became, and when he reached what looked to be the end of the cavern, most were dull and dark. He noticed slight bits of dust and debris, something he hadn't seen before, and the whole area gave him an abandoned feeling.

The cave continued on each side, and he tried to determine which way he should go. There was no difference, though, just more purple crystals. Annoyed, he turned left, sticking close to the walls. Slinking, ducking, and sometimes even climbing across crystals, he followed the wall.

When the ambient purple light from the crystals faded and everything turned into a hue of red, he noticed a slight tingle in his paws.

Now what, he thought as he looked at the ground.

The crystal was dark here, almost black, and only a spark of energy showed deep below. He was about to move on when he saw another spark drift in from the depths, then a third. They slowly rose. Straight at him?

Solusjumped to the side and hissed when the small specs followed him. His spikes shivered as a whole cloud of tiny purple mana specs appeared deep in the ground and surged towards him.

Not interested to find out what they were, he ran forward while looking at the ground. The purple energy cloud kept following him, easily keeping up. Getting worried and sped up, climbing across a cracked crystal that had snapped off and toppled across some smaller ones, creating a bridge. As he reached the edge, he was about to jump off when he saw that the cloud had stopped and was now hovering in place as bits of it drifted away to the sides.

Faster than it had arrived, the cloud dispersed until only one or two of the tiny specs remained, floating to one side, then the other. Almost as if they were-

Searching! Something is down there, Solus thought as his hairs stood on end.

He backed away from the edge of the cracked crystal and looked at the two small specs drifting around.

Why couldn't they find him?

He looked around, noting how all the other crystals were glowing and connected to the ground. Not the one he was on. It was separated, only leaning against the others. Perhaps whatever it was couldn't find him if he wasn't on the connected crystals?

Looking around, he realized there were many more cracked crystals in this area. One was jammed into the side of the wall, almost as if it was thrown into it by some giant.

Something was fighting here, Solus mused.

As soon as the last of the specs of mana vanished, he chose another snapped-off crystal, a hundred feet away. The ground in between was littered with small pieces of broken crystal, and he jumped down, trying not to step into them. His paws slid slightly on the ground, shrieks coming from his nails, and he flinched but kept his attention on the ground below his feet. It was still dark, and as he rushed towards the toppled crystal, it stayed that way until he was a few steps away. Then, two specs of mana drifted in from below, making a beeline towards him.

He scrambled up the slippery side of the crystal, and as his last paw lifted from the ground, the mana specs stopped moving. After an almost confused looking moment, they drifted left and right as before they finally disappeared deep into the crystal rock.

I was right, Solus thought as he began pondering. It had taken time before the entity had detected him after he began wandering, but less so now. There were no problems when he had been in the area with heavy mana. Perhaps the mana kept the things away or made him harder to detect. Either way, he had better head back. He looked around and began plotting a path between the broken crystals, back to the lit area.

Half an hour later, he reached the end of the damaged area, standing atop the last of the crystals. Ahead of him was an undamaged and softly glowing area before him. He still hadn't seen the exit, and he was starting to worry. Whatever it was that was moving through the crystals gave him a bad feeling. He looked for a way further, but after backtracking and trying a few different routes, he found none closer than the first. That left two options. Forward or back.

It's not like I can stay here, he thought as he grit his teeth.

He took a deep breath, jumped forward, and raced across the ground, trying hard to minimize his contact with the crystal. Seconds turned to minutes, and the specs still didn't appear.

He continued forward, but when nothing happened, he slowed down. The specs hadn't appeared yet, and if he continued like this, he might run into those Kaots. He kept his eyes on the ground, ready to sprint away if need be, but the odd mana specs remained gone. As time passed, he stopped looking.

The crystals and glow made everything look the same, and he lost track of how long he walked.

A soft ticking sound made his ears shiver.

He cocked his head, trying to angle his ears to find where it was coming from. It seemed to echo from up ahead, and he continued forward, noticing that he was approaching another cavern wall. The sound grew in intensity, going from a soft ticking to a clanging as he closed in on the source.

As Solus moved beneath a crystal overhang, he got a clear view of what was beyond and stopped in his tracks. Ahead of him was a corridor leading away from the cavern. Smaller crystals seemed to grow from its sides and ceiling. The clanging sound, almost deafening by now, came from inside.

He took a quick look around but saw nothing but more purple crystals and snuck forward. As he snuck through, he saw that the corridor was a hundred feet long, with a dull red light at the end of it. The corridor became more narrow towards the end, and it became harder to avoid the sharp crystals. Between squeezing through the crystals, and the loud noise, Solus felt a headache rise.

When he finally reached the exit, he saw broken and shattered crystals everywhere and a smaller cave beyond. A massive, semi-transparent wall divided the cave, and behind it stood a shadowy figure, aggressively striking at the wall. Deep scratches and cracks covered the barrier, and pulverized crystal hung in the air, making it even harder to see what was behind it. The best Solus could make out was that it roughly resembled a regular undead, two arms, two legs, and a head. But beyond that, it was hard to say.

Taking a peek around, Solus saw no other exits or other beings. The whole thing reeked of a prison.

Why aren't they draining this one? he thought as he examined the figure.

Could it be Norg? He didn't think so. The figure seemed bulkier and much taller.

The clanging stopped so suddenly that it seemed to continue for a moment longer in Solus' head.

"Dw&*f$*()"

A muted, deep, and rumbling voice came from the other side of the wall, speaking in a language Solus hadn't heard before. Confused, he kept quiet.

"Lk&*(asdf!" the voice came again, louder and more aggressive this time.

Solus stepped forward, heading towards the wall. If the thing could get out, it would have long since done so.

"Can you speak in another language?" Solus asked, wondering if the thing was an AI from another world.

It was quiet, then a startled shout came.

"*&KJ%^&"

It still sounded like AI-speak to Solus, and he couldn't understand any of it. After a few more attempts, he was about to leave when a soft ping came from his status window. He pulled it up, and his eyes widened.

> An unknown language has been detected

> Continue listening to complete a translation matrix

> Attempts at responses will increase the speed of the translation

> Current progress: 1%

Looking back at the corridor and remembering the massive cavern with no sight of an exit, Solus shrugged and sat down on the ground.

"I guess I am going to be here for a while," he said. "Let's see how much you can talk before you get tired of it."