Year 21

When you first started messing around with Lisa, she was just like all the other young Dert girls that had started taking an interest in you when you started coming around a lot more. Just a bored girl that found you to be a spark of excitement in her backwards little village.

Lisa however, stood out mainly because she wasn't naïve or outright stupid like rest. (You still laugh about the one girl who thought she was going to force you into a crossbow wedding by having a child. Unfortunately for her, swallowing doesn't result in pregnancy.)

She managed to keep your interest and not in just a physical way. Before you realized it, you were in a relationship again. But it was nice since it allowed you a bit of escapism from your own prison like situation. (And certainly cheaper than going to Holgard whores)

While her father has threatened you with physical violence on several occasions (As many others have as well), you and her have always found places to meet. She always listens to whatever tales of "adventure" you have to tell her. Sometimes you make it sound more exciting than it really is, but she always enjoys them and asks many questions since it's like she's able to experience some of the excitement vicariously.

Lately though it's starting to look like your stories don't quite quell the restlessness that Lisa seems to have…

"Holgard? Oh you don't want to go there now. I think they're about to have a city wide riot or revolution or some shit." You say.
"Well that certainly sounds more interesting than having to milk cows all day." Lisa replies.
"You're also a lot less likely to get killed milking cows."
"Perhaps, but you still get to do interesting stuff all the time, what with you working for a wizard and all."
"I wouldn't exactly say I'm working for him. I think I've already confided to you about my situation as far as that goes."
"Yes I know and that's also a cause for me to worry about our future. It even causes me to have concerns about your feelings for me."
"Oh come on…you know how I feel about you."
"Do I? I sometimes get the impression that you probably wouldn't come around if you weren't tethered by the wizard's spell. I imagine we probably wouldn't have even met if it hadn't been the case. Am I wrong?"
"(Sigh) Well…yes IF Ral hadn't magically enslaved me, we probably wouldn't have met. But it happened and we DID meet AND I chose you to be with. I mean doesn't that count for something?"

Lisa doesn't answer right away; she just takes your hand and looks into your eyes.

"I know you probably do have feelings for me, but I also can't shake the feeling that I'm just a nice distraction from your situation, just as you're a nice distraction from mine. We're both prisoners of a sort, but the difference is my cage is of my own accord." Lisa says.
"What do you mean?" you ask.
"What I mean is I would like to leave this boring village, but the only thing that really holds me back is fear and the lack of any real skill to survive in the outside world, or at least the world you've described to me. And I know you can't be making it all up despite you probably wanting me to believe all those impossible feats you've done."

Lisa gives you a small hug and kisses you on the cheek, which causes you to embrace her a bit tighter than usual. You feel like she's saying goodbye to you right now, but that isn't the case.

"I'm obviously not going anywhere yet, but I'm just informing you that things need to change a bit at some point. I know we have fun together and I hope we continue to have fun together for many years to come, but don't take me for granted."

Lisa goes back to looking at the sky probably still thinking about wanting to leave her boring farm life behind her while you're thinking about how much of an idiot you've been for filling her head with tales of adventure.

You couldn't have just stuck with one of the dumb passive ones could you? Why the hell did you go for the independent thinker of the village?

Well it's done and to be honest it's that trait that made her more attractive anyway. It isn't like you can blame her for wanting to leave Dert. The place is duller than Teckleville ever was.

In any case, you aren't willing to risk losing Lisa even if she isn't likely to leave in the near future. You have to at least make the effort to keep her around. Your reasons are probably selfish, but she's also correct that you would miss her if she weren't in your life.

This would be a whole lot simpler if you weren't under Ral's spell. Maybe it's time for that situation to change. Of course even after all these years, you still have no idea of how to do that and Ral doesn't seem to be relenting anytime soon.

Of course you do have another option and that's going back to Isabella. Despite her invitation of coming back to see her at anytime, you never have for several reasons. Still, you have pondered it many times because you believe that if anyone knows how to break Ral's hold over you, it would be her and she'd probably be willing to help given how much she doesn't seem to like him.

You focus on Lisa

You made one deal with a powerful being and it didn't go well. No need to do it twice, especially with a vampire. At best you'd probably be a pawn in whatever plans she has.

Your fate is currently sealed and you can't do much to change it, but maybe you can at least help Lisa achieve some of her goals.

"Lisa, how serious are you about leaving this place?" you ask.
"What do you mean?" she responds.
"I mean could you leave right now if you had to?"
"…um…well not right now…I mean I'd have to gather up some things at least and I don't have much money. Like none actually."
"That doesn't matter. In fact forget about money right now, I'm asking could you leave soon, if you had to?"

Lisa wasn't actually expecting this line of questioning, and it's obvious she feels pressured, but if she's serious about her desires, you need to know.

"I… I mean yeah I guess I could if I had to." She says.
"Good. I want you to go home and get everything you think you're going to need, but don't over pack. Meet me here tomorrow morning and we'll set off for Holgard." You say.
"What really?"
"Yes, really. You said you wanted to see it, so I'll take you there. You're not having second thoughts already are you?"
"Well, I just…I dunno. I feel like this would be a one way trip for me. If I disappeared from Dert for as long as its going to take us to get to Holgard, I get the impression I might not be welcome back home anymore. Then where would I be?"
"I thought as much, which is why I'm going to give you some of my money to get you started. Don't worry, I got enough of it, I can always get more and it's not really doing me much good anyway. However, I'm also going to teach you my own trade."
"Thievery? I dunno…I mean I want to leave Dert, but I'm not sure if I have it in me to do what you do."
"Sure you do. Look, just think about everything I said. If you don't like the idea at all then you don't have to meet me here in the morning. If we get to Holgard and decide you don't want to do what I do, I'm sure we can find something else. My point is, I don't know if I'm ever going to be free of Ral's spell, but I can at least help you achieve your goals in my limited way because I really do love you."

Well nothing like going all in even if you aren't entirely sure…

Of course now that you've said this to Lisa she's so touched by your crossing that final line of feelings, she immediately hugs and kisses you and probably also ready to go all in with travelling to Holgard even if she was still nervous about it.

Of course now YOU'RE nervous about all this!

You return to Ral's gathering up most of your money stash. You didn't really realize just how much you had managed to acquire. Even spending it on whores and carousing didn't really put as much of a dent in it as you thought. Which is good since you'd prefer to put Lisa up some place that isn't a complete shithole when you get to Holgard.

Besides the place being a city of cutthroats and thieves, you're more concerned about the rising tensions going on there. There is the very real danger of a revolution of sorts going on there, but that will have to be something to deal with when it happens.

You half expect Ral to suddenly ask you to go perform some risky task, but he doesn't. In fact Ral hasn't asked you to do anything lately, he hasn't even been on your ass about cleaning his home or fetching roots or flowers for whatever reason. He's been locked in his lab for a couple weeks at least now, which is fine by you since that gives you a bit of time to get Lisa settled in Holgard.

The next day you meet up with Lisa who is definitely ready to go. She seems much more confidant about this than she was yesterday.

She's a little worried about getting accosted on the way to Holgard, due to the stories she's heard about bandits, and to be honest you are too given how much money you're travelling with along with a pretty young girl, but you surprisingly never encounter a single soul.

When you finally reach Holgard, you end up having to bribe a guard a hefty sum just so he doesn't fuck with you both, so you pretty much get robbed anyway. It's still not too bad and you have more than enough to set up Lisa at some place to stay.

Lisa is overwhelmed by the size of Holgard and she looks like a clueless berk as she looks around at every little thing. Many times you have to keep a close eye on her, just to make sure she doesn't wander too far and get herself kidnapped or something similar.

Eventually you make it to a place called the Sterling Silver. It's one of the better inns that isn't a complete criminal haven and still some place that you're currently able to afford.

After getting a bit settled, Lisa's still eager to explore the city, though you really have to sit her down and stress the danger of this place.

"Yes, you've told me all this before in your past tales to me and on the journey here. I'm not stupid." Lisa says.
"I didn't say you were, but whether you want to hear it or not, you're out of your element and you need know how to survive here. I don't mind telling you I'm going to be severely worried about you all the time now. (Sigh) Well let's get started."

You spend the next two days attempting to teach Lisa the basics of thievery. She's not exactly a natural at it, but fortunately there are so many thieves in the city, you're never in serious trouble with the law as soon as you both manage to run immediately from the area.

Though you're more concerned with your activity calling attention to the Thieves' Guild or worse, the Ebony Claw Syndicate. You've been fortunate enough to avoid their attention, but Lisa's clumsy attempts might start doing that.

And of course the bigger problem is you're not exactly going to be around to hold Lisa's hand all the time, since even if Ral isn't sending you on some forsaken mission, you still have return there just so you aren't suffering from the geas affects.

Lisa keeps trying to reassure you that she'll be fine, but you feel better leaving her your flintlock just so she isn't completely defenseless.

Lacking any more to do, you take your leave and can only hope she doesn't get killed or worse on her first night alone in this place.

You return to Ral's in a few days and it's the same thing, he's still locked in his lab. It would be too much to hope that he's dead, but you can still hear faint sounds on the other side of the lab door.

You go to sleep and then as soon as you wake up, you immediately head back to Holgard again. When you arrive this time, you have to wait around for Lisa since she isn't at her room. Eventually she shows up and you're hugging her as soon as she walks in the door of the inn. She's happy to see you too, but keeps telling you not to worry so much about her.

This routine goes on for weeks, you arrive in Holgard, are relieved to see Lisa's still alive, try to teach her the art of thievery and then head back to Ral's. Occasionally it's broken up by Ral leaving notes telling you to grab various ingrediants for him and just leaving them by the lab door.

In the meantime, the situation in Holgard is getting worse. The Baron's guards have been executing dissidents in the streets and there are rumors that the folks behind this dissident movement aren't much better than the fat ass who runs this city, but then that's hardly surprising.

The Ebony Claws and the Thieves' Guild have also been engaging in direct confrontation with each other.

Strangely despite all this, Lisa isn't exactly concerned. Another week passes and you come to understand why.

"You've been just flat out mugging people?!" you say.
"Mostly." She says.
"Wha…when?"
"About a month ago when I realized I'm rubbish at the whole sneaking about thing. Look, I know it's something you're good at, but it's just not me. I really tried several times, but I kept messing up and nearly getting myself killed in the process. In fact it was when one of the shopkeepers actually caught me and I was forced to pull out the flintlock to stop him from doing any harm to me. Since I had him at my mercy, I just robbed him at gunpoint while I was at it. Then I realized, I should have been doing that to begin with."

You have to say, while you knew Lisa was attracted to the bad, you didn't expect her to go this route. No wonder she isn't worried about the current state of the city.

"…why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, because you seemed so happy trying to teach me about what you do. Besides, some of it I still use. Lock picking is always handy. You seem upset, are you disappointed I'm not doing what you do?"
"I actually don't care about that so much that I'm really concerned that your actions might start attracting attention and I don't mean the guards. You could very well be robbing merchants or people under the protection of the ECS and if they find out, it's not going to be good. I'd wager the only reason why you're getting away with it is because you've been lucky with your targets or the ECS is so caught up in their own shit with the Guild that they're in conflict with."
"Well, maybe I should join the ECS, then it won't be an issue."

You have no words. Well you do, it's just it takes you awhile to gather them.

"Have you gone completely barmy?! Even I wouldn't join the ECS! They're a group of utterly ruthless killers and don't tolerate fuck ups. I mean sure I'm not exactly in a position of casting moral judgment, but they're just fucking cruel. Not to mention, I'm fairly certain they're all caught up in Fel worship, making them religious fanatics on top of everything else. I'd join the Guild before them, and I wouldn't join the Guild mainly because I'm fairly certain they're not going to be around much longer." You exclaim.
"Well I guess I'm just going to have to be more careful. You need to relax, you're all tense. You come to me and I'll make it better."

At this point Lisa starts making overtures of affection. You're not exactly in the mood due to your worry, but Lisa soon gets you in the mood with enough effort. It's at least enough to put it out of your mind for awhile.

When you leave Lisa this time, you take solace in the fact that she at least has learned how to survive in her own way and it didn't involve whoring.

However, when you return to Ral's this time, you've got new concerns. Ral is actually waiting for you.

"Finally back. Glad to see you adhere to the bare minimum of what is required of you." Ral says.
"What's going on?" you ask.
"What's going on, is you're not around nearly as much as you should be. I know you think because I'm locked away in my lab most of the time that that means you can just do whatever, but I remind you that you're supposed to be upkeeping this place. Look at all this dust!"
"Apologies, but you didn't say anything about that on your notes to me."
"I shouldn't NEED to tell you! And I also shouldn't have to be leaving notes for you in the first place! It's fucking inconvenient. If I wasn't actually busy with something really important I'd just make your tether even shorter, but I can see that's not really going to solve the issue. You're obviously pre-occupied with something else with as much time as you've been spending away from here. Let me guess, a girl?"
"Well, yeah."
"(Sigh) If I was a vindictive sort, I suppose I could do all sorts of things to cause you pain, but there's really no good reason for that and I can see that our own relationship has hit a wall with this new development. So I'm going to offer you another deal. I'll release the geas after you go on one last mission for me."
"…what?"
"You heard correctly. One more mission and then you get your freedom. I trust this sounds good to you?"
"Yeah! I mean there's no catch is there? Like I'm free, but I have the head of a chicken and goat legs or something right?"
"Ha ha! You sure have a funny imagination. But no, once you do this mission, you'll be completely free to live your life and you'll never have to deal with me ever again."
"Great! So what needs to be done?"
"I need you to bring back the heart of a Wazia."
"Wait, don't they live in the Cloudpeak Mountains?"
"Yes, they also eat trolls and manticores."
"But I'm no warrior! You know that! That's suicide!"
"Oh I'm sending Tych with you, he can help."
"What's Tych going to do, sparkle in its face?"
"I dunno, you'll have to work it out with him on various tactics to employ."
"The Cloudpeak Mountains are also practically on the other side of the continent! Are you going to teleport me there like last time?"
"Oh yes, and I'm going to personally equip you for this assignment, so no need to worry about getting winter gear or whatever else you need for the cold. In fact, the cold won't even be an issue at all."
"That better be one warm coat."
"Oh you won't ever need a coat again, after what I'm going to do. Stand still."

Before you even get a "wha…" out Ral taps you in the head and you're instantly paralyzed and fall to the floor. You don't even feel pain, you don't feel anything at all actually.

"Now, I need to start on your transformation…where did I put my stiletto again…"

You don't know what Ral is doing to you. You don't even know how much time passes. You aren't even really aware of your surroundings. It's like you're in a trance and everything has gone blank in your mind.

You time passes...

Year 23

"HHHHHHHHHH!" you gasp as you suddenly sit up from a table.

Cold air emanates from your mouth though you don't feel very cold. You don't feel much of anything except a mild sense of panic and confusion. You briefly look at body which is completely naked and see that you are now a pale blue coloring.

You look around the room and see a lot of lab equipment, books, and other alchemy related items. Ral stands by watching you. Tych is also hovering near him dressed in who looks to be very tiny winter clothing for him.

"See, told you he'd survive." Ral remarks and then makes a note on a piece of parchment.
"Oh joy, I get to go with him now." Tych says.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME?!" you shout. You'd probably get up and attack Ral, but apparently the geas is still in effect.

Ral strokes his beard and frowns a bit before answering you.

"Well I made you better for one thing. You don't have to ever worry about the cold ever again."
"I can't fucking feel anything! Everything is a numb sensation!"
"Hmm, yes, I thought that might happen. A minor drawback I assure you. You are now practically cold personified. Your body now magically produces cold around you. Even I can feel it from here. Seriously, you could stand naked on top of the Cloudpeak Mountains now and never freeze to death. You'll also find that you're a little slower than you were, though you're also probably a little stronger as well so it all evens out. Unexpected side effect. In any case, we should probably get you ready for your task. As ready as you are, I doubt you want to go naked."

You might not be able to do anything against Ral, but that doesn't stop you from getting pissed and start yelling at him about your situation. When he mentions more than a year has passed, you even start to destroy his equipment until he stops you with some sort of hold spell.

After a few more warnings about you continuing to getting an attitude with him, Ral finally gets on with explaining your task.

He says he's teleporting you to a plateau in the Cloudpeak Mountains. From there he says Tych will lead the way. Apparently in the year he was experimenting on you, he was also having Tych locate a wazia lair in that area.

Other than your regular clothes, he enchants your short sword so it will be more effective in combat, and then hands you one of those rare repeating crossbows and a quiver of bolts.

"I hope you know how to use one of these." Ral remarks.
"I'm more familiar with flintlocks, but I imagine this is probably easier seeing as this is one of the state of the art crossbows. These repeating ones are rare and expensive. Didn't know you kept up on technological advances though." You say.
"Why wouldn't I? Just because I don't have any use for it, doesn't mean I don't see the utility of it for the unwashed masses. I figure between that and your enchanted weapon, you should be more than prepared. Your pack is over there. Has some food and climbing gear in it. Should be more than enough to help you."

You go over and get your pack; Tych is hovering by it, looking just as miserable as you feel right now.

"The pair of you ready, I trust?" Ral asks.
"I guess." You say.
"Tych is magically tied to me, so there is no need for fairy circles or any other places of power this time. You just need to very close to him for the transportation to work on you, along with him making the appropriate signal so I can pull him back here, I trust you remember was that was Tych?"
"Yes, Ral." Tych responds in a defeated manner and flies onto your shoulder.
"Good, I expect you'll be successful like last time and just think, you'll be a free man afterwards, so you have plenty of motivation."

Without another word, Ral waves his hands a bit and your eyes are met with a bright light, followed by more bright light, though this is of the natural kind.

You look and see that your surroundings are that of a flat icy, snowy landscape with mountains and hills nearby and the sun shining overhead. There isn't a soul around though save for Tych who instantly gets off of you.

"Fuck, you're not much warmer than this horrible landscape. So much for using you for extra warmth." Tych says.
"I can't feel much of anything. I mean I can sense the wind blowing, but there's just a dull cool feeling. It's not unpleasant, but it isn't pleasant either." You respond.
"Well, Ral did experiment on you. I have to say, I'll be glad when this mission is over with, because I've had enough of freezing my fucking wings off here. Scouting around for large hostile monsters in the snow and cold isn't my idea of a good time. I'd rather be in the fucking jar."
"I don't understand why he needs us to do this anyway. I mean he's a fucking powerful wizard, couldn't he have done this himself a lot easier?"
"Of course he could have, but he's a fucking sadist. Why else would he make you into some slave boy and then turn you into a freak and keep me in a damn jar, play teleportation snap back with me for the past year and also have me scout around this icy wasteland?"
"How long has that been going on?"
"Oh a little after he put you in that trance and started cutting into you and doing who knows what else. Ral's experiments on you might have been done sooner if he hadn't gotten distracted with other things. He keeps trying to make greater strides in teleportation spells and I think he's planning on making a portal next. Of course he needs to test shit so he uses me as a fucking canary and then snaps me back home when he thinks enough time has passed. Makes me physically ill every time he does it. Those first few months I puked on every trip."

Tych fixes his little fur hat before continuing.

"And in these last few months? I've teleported back and forth to this fucking place looking for a wazia like I'm some great monster hunter! I don't want to fucking do this! My instinct is to fly AWAY from really big ravenous monsters, not seek them out!"
"Trust me, I don't want to be here either."
"At least you're free after all this! I'm not. Even if the wazia kills you, you'll still be doing better than me, but I don't think that will be the case, check you pack. You'll find something better than what Ral supplied you with."

You take off you pack and at the top you find a clear bottle of something dark green. It feels slightly warm even to you.

"What the hell is this? Looks like some sort of poison." You say.
"And you would be correct. It's greenfire from the plant of the same name. They're normally only found in the Sotakian swamp and even then they're rare. In any case, Ral had it lying around his lab and while you two were talking I took the opportunity to lug it into your pack. Hey, I'm stronger than I look, especially with all the hardship I've had to endure." Tych explains.
"So…what's it do exactly?"
"It's not called greenfire for nothing. It gets in your blood and makes you feel like your blood and innards are on fire. The effects are pretty quick though you're in excruciating pain before you die.
"Okay, so I should just dip my bolts into this to bring down the beast a lot easier."
"Hah! Are you kidding? Even with this poison, I doubt very seriously that you'll be able to kill it before it kills you. I take it you've never even seen a wazia."
"Nope, just know them by stories."
"Well I didn't know anything about them at all, but after seeing one, I can tell you that the stories don't do them justice."
"Then what the hell are you suggesting then?"
"Nothing, I'm just telling you that your odds aren't good."

You've practically been asleep an entire year and this is the situation you've awoken to. You've been magically altered and thrust into a bad situation and now you have to put up with an obnoxious sprite on top of everything else.

"Tych, just take me to the fucking lair." You say.
"Alright, alright, no need to snap at me, plivik." Tych responds.
"I know what that means, you little shit."
"Oh yeah, you do…well let's just get on with it then like you said."

You begin to follow Tych. Every now and then you reflexively wrap your cloak around yourself in order to stay warm, but then you also remember you don't really have that problem anymore. It wouldn't help anyway; you still feel a numb coolness no matter what you do since that sensation is coming from within your body as opposed to the external reasons.

You suppose this condition is beneficial out here in a place like this, but you can't imagine going through the rest of your life like this. After all this is over, you're going to have to seek out a way to reverse or cure it, if it's even possible. You wonder if that's what Ral has planned for you. He "frees" you, but in exchange for changing you back to normal, you have to undergo some sort of servitude again.

You really wish you just let the mob back in Teckleville kill you at this point, with any luck maybe the wazia will.

You travel in the freezing mountainous terrain for two days. (At some point during all this you take the opportunity to poison your bolts) Even with your immunity to the cold, it's still a treacherous journey given that you're no mountain climber. Tych has lead you through to the path of least resistance to the lair and fortunately it isn't actually very high up, in fact it's actually at a lower altitude than where you originally teleported in.

"Let me guess, it's in this large sloping dark cave." You say to Tych.
"Got it right in one. I saw it entering here a few times and judging by the large pile of bones out here, I'd say it's definitely a permanent home for it. Well I'll wait out here. If you aren't out within a day, I can safely assume you've met your demise." Tych says.
"Wait, how the hell am I going to see in there? Despite my magical alteration, I don't have dark vision unfortunately. I need you to come with me and sparkle a bit so I have some light."
"What? That wasn't part of the plan. I go in and start sparkling and I'm going to be a target since it'll see me first!"
"Yeah, but you're also a small target that can fly all over the place. It's not like it's going to go after you if it can get a target on the ground that's shooting bolts at it a lot easier."

Tych REALLY isn't keen on this idea, but given that he wants to be out of this situation as much as you do, he relents.

"Alright, fine. But only because you're probably right about the wazia going after you and the fact that despite everything, you've dealt pretty straight with me. I still remember when you didn't rat me out to Ral about the last time we worked together…wait…you hear that?" Tych suddenly says mid sentence.
"Shit, is it the wazia?" you ask, not hearing the sounds other than the wind, but readying your crossbow.
"No, if it was that, we'd already be fucked. It's a small whine. You don't hear it? It's coming from over there."

Tych points over to a group of rocks and large bones. (and then he flies behind you). You now hear the sounds too, and with your crossbow ready and slowly move towards where they're coming from.

Whatever is making the noise can't be that big since rock and bone pile isn't very large either, when you finally walk around it, you see what is making the noise.

A small feline creature with an odd-looking face making pitiful whimpers. It looks up at you and backs up and raising its tail, which looks like it has small spikes on it. It attempts to growl a bit, but it's obvious the beast is frightened. As it stands right now, the pair of you are both ready to shoot.

"Shit, that's a manticore." Tych says and takes cover behind you again.
"What? That? I thought they were much bigger." You say.
"It's a cub, plivik. Still, I wouldn't want to get shot by one of those spikes."
"Well that must mean its mother is nearby. Are you sure you got the right lair?"
"Yes, I'm sure! Its mother probably got eaten by the wazia and somehow it managed to escape. Hey, you know we could use this."
"What do you mean?"
"Wazias pretty much eat anything thrown at them. If you poisoned this cub, you could toss it at the wazia who would inevitably consume it and the poison would work even better. At the very least it would cause the creature so much pain it would slow it down giving you a chance to shoot it a lot more with bolts."

You look at the manticore, which is still looking pretty pitiful, but still also in a fighting position. You aren't sure if you'll be quick enough to shoot him before he shoots you.

You shoot the manticore

Tych's plan has merit and would make your task easier. Also you'd probably be putting this beast out of its misery given that its mother died and will likely get eaten by the wazia anyway. Might as well put it to good use.

You pull the trigger of your crossbow and hit the manticore, but unfortunately it's not a fatal shot and you only hit it in between its front limb and chest. It makes an odd combination of a roaring whine and flings its barbs at you.

You're not quick enough to dodge completely and get hit in the leg. While your condition makes you number to pain, it doesn't make it disappear completely. You curse, fall down and from your prone position quickly fire the remainder of you bolt clip at the manticore blindly. You get lucky and some of those actually hit the creature causing it to make a final howl before dying.

As you're attempting pull manticore barbs out of your leg, Tych appears again now that all the danger is over with.

"Thought you were usually quicker than that." Tych sniffs.
"Gimme a fucking break, I've been incapacitated for a year, not to mention this new condition I have is fucking up my reflexes. Shit…" you say looking at the new holes in your leg.
"Well at least you got your bait now."
"Yeah, I guess so. Let's get on with this"

You limp over to the dead manticore cub and reclaim your bolts before picking up its carcass. You then enter the cave with Tych barely following ahead of you. He's flying as high as he can which provides just enough light for you to not break your neck walking around the cave.

As you were travelling here earlier, Tych was telling you a bit about wazias. He mentioned that they resembled very large moles with a huge gaping maw where the face would be. The mole comparison doesn't sound very threatening, but he also said that it has a very tough hide and layers of fat, which is why Tych doesn't think your bolts, would be as effective as they might otherwise be.

Hopefully this poisoned manticore body will help. You suppose you'll find out.

You start to hear loud sounds, you can't see anything yet, but you have to be getting closer.

The loud sounds soon become rumbles and then Tych suddenly shouts to you.

"Shit, it's digging under you! Get the hell out of there!"

Tych begins flying back towards the exit and you do likewise as the rumbling is nearly right under you. In your haste, you drop the manticore body, hoping that maybe the creature will pop up to eat it.

It would be hard enough to keep up with Tych under normal circumstances, but thanks you're your leg wounds, you're attempting the impossible. You end up stumbling and tripping in the decreasing light that he's giving off as he flits away.

Your verbal commands of getting Tych to stop have no effect and soon, he's gotten so far ahead of you, you're left in the dark causing you to completely fall over as you continue to trip over shit.

You don't have time to get back up when the rumbling is now coming from right underneath you.

You never even see the beast, you just feel yourself sinking into the ground and then several sharp teeth, crushing, piercing and cutting your body whole. The only consolation is it happened so quick that you didn't even feel it.