Poisoned Rationality

I was falling.

That was not hard to figure out.

What was hard was figuring out what to do about it.

<Nyx! Ria!> Stella shouted, sounding very worried.

“Shapeshift!” Ria exclaimed. “Use the devil leopard’s claws!”

Good idea, I thought, quickly following her advice and giving myself large, sharp claws. I quickly stuck them to the sheer rock walls, stopping my fall.

“Now I’m stuck,” I muttered. A loud screech distracted me from my thoughts and I looked up to see the huge moorwing diving toward me.

<Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Stella murmured, repeating over and over.

I leaped to the side, gripping tightly to the stone as the flying beast slammed into the cliff face, shaking everything around it. I grimaced and started trying to climb back to the path, until the smaller moorbugs began swarming me again.

I let go with one hand and began slashing wildly with my claws and tails, keeping them away from me, until once again the moorwing dove.

This time, I dropped down, hooking my claws into the side of the flying creature as I did so. It screeched again, painfully loud this close up, before launching into the sky.

It swung around and around, trying to shake me off its body. I dug my claws into its thick hide, keeping hold as it spiraled through the sky.

“Stupid bug!” I growled, using my talon-tipped toes to claw into its back. “Fuck you!”

“If you use [Consume], you can gain its wings!” Ria said frantically. “At least, I hope so.”

It’s the only option we have, I thought. Focusing the inky-black energy into my arms, I used the skill.

Tentacles of void lashed out into the air. My hair exploded outward, forming dark tendrils that spiked into anything they could reach. The swarm of moorbugs were skewered by the wild spikes, creating a cloud of dark blue mist from their blood.

A dark gash opened across the front of my body, whirling teeth and blades and spines striking out. Thin, whiplike tendrils curled around the moorwing, strangling it.

The beast screeched wildly, thrashing about as its wings stilled and we plummeted out of the sky.

“Die!” I growled, my voice echoing strangely with the void energy lacing my body.

The moorwing let out one final scream as the wire-thin tendrils squeezing its body cut into its skin. In one final burst of energy, it was pulled into my body.

You have killed a [Level 34 Moorwing]!

Level Up!

Level Up!

Then I was falling.

Concentrating on my ability, I brought forth the image of the fluttering wings of the beast.

Something exploded out of my back and I swooped out if free fall into a glide.

Flapping the new wings, I launched high into the sky. The air rushing through my new appendages felt surprisingly nice.

Looping around in a spiral, I slowly rose higher and higher until I was above even the canyon.

It was so pretty.

<Don’t forget about the caravan,> Stella reminded me. <Ari’s waiting for you.> Nodding, I turned and dove toward the end of the dark line, where the doors were.

As I approached, I saw the cloud of moorbugs still swarming the entrance. Focusing, I saw Sarya and Seth both fighting them off. Sarya saw me flying up high and waved. I waved back before shooing her away.

She nodded and backed off, pulling Seth back while pointing up at me. The man nodded as well, moving away from the door.

As I fell, I focused more energy into my hands. Coating my body in void, I shot through the cloud of remaining moorbugs, tendrils shooting off of me and cutting through them.

As I impacted the rocky ground of the tunnel, my wings flared out around me, stopping my momentum.

I stood there, breathing heavily. My vision was starting to turn red slightly and I was growling.

“Nyx!” Ria shouted at me. “Calm down! You’re entering a bloodlust.”

I shook my head more, looking up at the sound of footsteps at the door.

Ariana ran out, stopping as she caught sight of me. Her eyes widened and she ran over to me.

The moment her arms wrapped around me, the tension in my body washed away and I relaxed.

“You’re okay now,” She murmured into my ear. I nodded, shaking slightly.

“Okay, what the heck was that?” Seth demanded, striding over. I winced and Ariana held out her palm and shook her head.

“Give her a minute,” My girlfriend told the warrior.

“Sorry, no,” He said. “I am the defender of our caravan. Tell me.” I shook harder and Ariana pulled me closer.

“Shut up,” She spat, tail lashing. “The more you demand the worse she’s going to get.”

“Tell me-,” Seth started again, before Ariana interrupted.

“I said shut up!” She shouted, growling. The sky darkened momentarily and a loud thundercrack echoed through the canyon. Seth finally went silent, taking a step back.

<What was that?> Stella murmured quietly. Ria shushed her, and the two of them fell silent.

Sarya stepped over to me, putting another arm around my hunched form. Slowly, my wings turned black before dissolving into mist.

After another minute of breathing, I finally stood up straight.

“Are you alright?” Ariana murmured, looking into my eyes. I nodded, leaning into her shoulder. She then looked over to Seth. “Okay, what did you want?”

“What was that fight?” He asked. “I know that was not regular magic.”

“It’s void,” I answered, voice shaking. His eyes widened, and I realized he already knew what it was. “I consumed the moorwing and used its wings to fly back up. During that, though, I think I overused my powers, and it was messing with my head.”

“But you’re fine now,” Ariana murmured, pulling me against her. “You’re okay.” I nodded, nuzzling against her.

“Alright, I’m going to want a better explanation later,” Seth said, sighing deeply. “For now, we need to go back to the caravan.”

The four of us went through the small door. Seth told some of the people manning the door that we were all good, and they nodded.

We then hurried back to the caravan. Seth joined back up with the front wagon, and the rest of us hopped onto the second one.

After half a minute, the caravans began moving.

“Everything alright?” Nat asked me. “You look tired.”

“I’m fine,” I told her. “I am tired, though.”

“It’s fine, you can rest,” Ariana said, patting my head. I smiled and leaned onto her shoulder.

“Nap well,” Nat said, grinning. I grinned back before closing my eyes and sleeping.