Monster Girl Uprising

“Alexis and Galiena, you’re the most experienced commanders here, how would you recommend we go about this?” Maia asked.

“You overestimate my command skills.” Galiena said quickly. “I mostly worked solo or under the guidance of someone else. I only commanded others outside of battle. Sylvie would likely be better than me in choosing how to divide our forces.”

“Yeah, but you’re the most experienced fighter here, and know monster girls the best.” Sylvie pointed out. “That’s worth a lot.”

“I will offer my advice if I have any, but do not expect much from me.” Galiena said. “Whatever the case, we do not have time to debate this right now. Alexis, thoughts?”

“My gut is telling me that we’re going to want to hold out within the temple.” Alexis said, looking around the chamber they were in. “It’s filled with chokepoints that we can use, and the goddesses’ power will be strongest here. I don’t know how much that matters, though.”

“If Katrina was truly pushing for victory here, it would not matter in the slightest.” Galiena said. “I do not believe this to be the case, as the ‘game’ has yet to properly begin.”

“I see. Sylvie, can you go scout the area?” Alexis asked. “I’d like to know what we’re up against.”

“On it.” Sylvie replied, then headed out the front entrance.

“Galiena, would you go look for alternate entrances to this place?” Alexis asked. “I want to make sure we won’t be attacked from behind.

“That I can do.” Galiena replied. “If the temple has not changed since my time, there will not be any, so I will be back soon.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight’s feature match, the tutorial boss!” Katrina’s overdramatic voice rang out from nowhere. “For our home team tonight, you know them, they bore you, the kind of people you’d never want to invite to parties, Maia and the Killjoys!”

“What in the world…?” Alexis said, her hand straying to her sword as she frowned. “We should probably just ignore her. I think she’s just trying to mess with our heads.”

“I hate it when she does this.” Galiena growled. “Yes, she is just trying to mess with our heads.”

“That I am!” Katrina admitted. “But I’m not just messing with your heads; I’d rather not fall asleep from your boring performance, so I have to do something to keep myself awake!” She cleared her throat theatrically before continuing. “And for our away team, raised from birth to be my champion, the woman for whom the bar has been pushed lower and lower and yet still can’t manage to clear it, we have Anya and the Rejects!

“Tonight’s match is winner take all, a clash of truly mediocre proportions, so go ahead and touch that dial, this is one fight you won’t be sad to miss! Analyst Aira, can we have your not-so-expert opinion on who is going to come out victorious?”

A few seconds later, Aira’s dejected voice became audible. “Of course, we have faith that Maia’s team will –”

There was a sickening wet crunch and a cry of pain. “Ah-ah-ah, it wouldn’t do for the announcer to not use the team’s proper title!” Katrina said cheerfully. “You may call them either Maia and the Killjoys or just the Killjoys, and failure to do so will result in another limb being removed. You can have them back when this farce of a battle is over, mkay?”

“Y-Yes, Kat…yes, Mistress.” Aira choked out, the pain clearly evident in her voice. “It…it is our belief that Maia and the Killjoys will win. May I have a word with them that I believe will make this battle m-more interesting?”

“Oh, showing initiative for once in your pathetic existence?” Katrina asked. “Go ahead, surprise me.”

“Everyone, don’t…don’t worry about collateral damage. That…that temple is unimportant. Just live.”

Maia gripped her spear so hard she would have been worried it would snap, were it not for the fact that the goddesses themselves had made it. “Alexis, you’re in charge.” She hissed, eyes turning towards the front entrance. “I can’t think straight right now. Can I just go and back up Sylvie?”

“No.” Alexis said. “I understand your anger, but you’re one of our trump cards at the moment and we need you here. Go with Emily and hold the front door until we have a better idea of what we’re up against.”

Maia bit back an argument and stalked towards the entrance, spear at the ready. As foreboding as the atmosphere inside the temple was getting, outside was even worse. A thick fog had rolled in from out of nowhere, dramatically cutting visibility, and the sounds of thunder could be heard from above.

Sylvie touched down next to Maia. “I’m not seeing much through all of this.” She said. “Bur…what Katrina said, Anya…do you really think she was…” Sylvie trailed off, and it took a second, but Maia eventually understood what she was getting at.

“Corrupted since a young age? I think it’s likely. Remember how I mentioned how off she looked the first time I saw her?”

Sylvie started. “You’re right.” She said. “I…was she going to be a good person?”

“By your standards? Who knows.” Katrina said. “It was my first time trying something like that, and I don’t know if I got unlucky with the person I picked or if my Blessing just doesn’t take well to bodies that aren’t sexually mature. Frankly, despite the lesser up-front cost, it’s more worth it to use people who are older. At least then I can ensure they’ll take to it well or will at least deal emotional damage to their enemies.”

“And you’re telling us this why?” Sylvie asked.

“Because it doesn’t matter?” Katrina replied, as if it was obvious. “It’s not like you Lesser Beings can do anything about it, and I wouldn’t want you to think me stupid when I let you ‘cure’ her.”

“You’re going to let us cure someone you’ve raised from childhood to be your champion?” Maia said doubtfully. “Isn’t that a waste of power or whatever?”

Katrina snorted derisively. “I see you still don’t understand the position I’m in. I have power to spare, and I used less on her than I did on even Bernard. She’s a pretty poor tool, so I figured it would be interesting to see what her mental state will be after my touch is removed.”

“So, you’re admitting you’re going to lose here, then?” Emily asked, walking over to Maia.

“This is the tutorial boss. If you lost here, then this game wouldn’t be worth playing. The real question is how many of you they’ll manage to pick off, if any. Anyway, the talking is starting to bore me, so I’m sending them in now. Have fun!”

“So, did you manage to see anything before it got so foggy?” Maia asked.

“We’re looking at undead, Anya and a few witches, and a bunch of monsters I’ve never seen before.” Sylvie replied. “Nasty-looking ones, too, not like the ones we’ve seen on the way here.”

“Alright.” Maia replied. “Go let Alexis know, I’ve put her in charge.”

‘Got it.” Sylvie said, dashing into the temple.

“Emily, what does the powerup the goddesses gave you do?” Maia asked, squinting into the fog in front of her. “Just in case it’s important to me right now.”

“Just gives me much finer control of my form.” Emily replied. “Temperature, shape, consistency…that sort of stuff. And I think an overall physical boost as well? Not a huge one, though. Nothing you should need to keep in mind while fighting.”

“Got it.” Maia said. She paused for a moment as she studied the fog, then launched a spell towards a flash of movement. The spell cut through the fog and she was rewarded with the sight of a zombie erupting in holy fire, burning away the fog around for a moment before it consumed the body entirely. And while Maia was happy to see that the spell was significantly more effective than it had been in the past, she was less happy to see what had been hiding in the fog behind the zombie; not one, but two of the same type of monster they had fought back in the old monster girl capital.

“What…what are those?” Minerva asked in a small voice.

“Manticores, by the looks of it.” Galiena said calmly. “Queen Maia, Alexis sent the two of us to reinforce your position. Do you have experience in fighting manticores?”

“We fought one right before meeting you.” Maia replied. “Minerva, these are the kind of monster I was telling you about before, when you asked what was ‘really nasty’ by Deepwood standards. Stay cautious, they’re not anything like the monsters we’ve fought since you’ve joined us.”

“I…I can tell.” Minerva squeaked.

“Calm yourself. They may look intimidating, but they are not our match.” Galiena said, stepping forward. She took a deep breath and placed her hands together, almost as if in prayer, then went completely still. A moment later, all of her fingerbones erupted outwards, growing in size and length before detaching themselves into ten long spears that hovered gently in the air around her.

“Woah.” Minerva breathed.

“This is why I was called the Bone Tyrant.” Galiena said. “My mastery of bones outstripped all others.”

Maia shot a glance at Galiena’s hands, which looked completely normal.

“Of course they are fine.” Galiena said, raising an eyebrow. “You just saw me manipulate the size of these fingerbones, that should not come as a surprise. It is a skill that few boneshifters can truly manage, and it helps alleviate the problem of needing corpses to properly utilize our abilities without injuring ourselves. And no, it does not hurt. The body of a boneshifter is made for such things.”

She stepped forward, eyes locking on to a spot in the darkness. “I will handle one of these manticores. The three of you should be more than capable of defeating the other. Draw its ire with your attacks, and it will ignore me. Do not leave your posts, or something will seize the opportunity to enter the temple.”

With that, she dashed off, one spear on each of her sides morphing into a large wall and covering her as she moved. Maia watched her for only a second before turning her attention back to the increasingly indistinct shapes of the manticores in the fog that was slowly beginning to reclaim the area that Maia’s spell had burnt away.

She launched another spell at one of them, prompting a roar from the manticore as it staggered from the impact. The fog in an area around it was burnt away once again, providing a clear view as the manticore rushed towards them, leaving behind a pack of zombies that had been following after it.

Emily stepped out in front of Maia and launched a glob of lava at the manticore, redirecting its attention once again as it sought to deal with the new threat. “I’ll keep it from getting to you two. You can dish out the damage, right?”

“Got it.” Maia said, shifting her spear into a bow and arrow. “Minerva, shout if you see a new enemy coming, and take care of any small fry that get too close.”

Maia hadn’t used a bow in quite some time, it simply wasn’t economical to make arrows that could pierce the hide of Deepwood creatures, but years of training took over and she carefully aimed at the manticore’s head. She waited for the moment it opened its mouth to breathe fire then fired, a whoosh of air accompanying the arrow as it accelerated unnaturally fast before piercing the manticore’s mouth, punching a clean hole through the creature’s jaw before burying itself in the ground beyond.

“That’s got quite a bit more oomph to it than I thought it would.” Maia said appreciatively, nocking another arrow as the manticore roared in pain. She hesitated for a moment as a thought struck her, then focused intently on channeling magic into the arrow. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew that if she just tried then she could…

An inky blackness gathered around the tip of the arrow as she imbued it with the weakening power of dark magic. This time, she didn’t wait and fired straight at where she assumed the manticore’s brain was. This arrow didn’t seem to have as much kick as the other, perhaps a consequence of the magic imbuement, but nonetheless it lodged itself firmly into the manticore’s skull, and the manticore immediately slowed.

Emily seized the opportunity, rushing forward and bringing her axe down on the creature’s neck. The axe flared brightly and there was a sizzling hiss, then Emily yanked it out, leaving behind a horribly burnt gash. The manticore wobbled in place for a moment, then was felled by one more arrow from Maia.

Now that she knew what she was looking for, she could sense it; when firing ‘normally’, some of her magic was leaking into the bow, granting it the unnatural speed and power that it had demonstrated. She was sure she could withdraw even that if she focused, but put the thought of experimentation to the side. The horde of zombies was already closing in, and now was not the time to try new things out.

There was a screech from the direction Galiena had gone, followed by an uncomfortable squelching sound and the clacking of bones. A few moments later, what appeared to be the entire skeleton of a manticore burst out of the mist and rammed into the zombies that had been shuffling along behind the manticore Maia had been fighting. It bit and tore into them, paying no mind to their attacks as the weapons gouged out small chunks of bone. A moment later Galiena followed, spears of bone flying out and stabbing into zombies.

“She’s…she’s the real deal.” Minerva whispered in an awed tone. “Part of me had always wondered if she wasn’t really the Bone Tyrant, and was just using the name, but…not anymore.”

“It’s a bit more than I thought she was going to be capable of.” Maia admitted. “I’m glad she’s on our side.”

An explosion from behind them shook the ground, and Maia hesitated, unsure if she should resist the urge to check on the others. In the end, however, Minerva solved that dilemma. “I’ll go see what’s going on!” She volunteered. “You three keep this area secure!”

“Thank you, Minerva.” Maia said, turning her attention back to the fight and lobbing a spell at one of the zombies. “Let us know if we need to go assist.”

Minerva hurried off, and Maia continued to support the skeleton of the manticore as it dismantled the approaching undead. As she did, her thoughts began to race, thinking about what might be out there; she hadn’t actually seen any witches or monsters other than the manticores, were they the ones attacking the back of the temple? Was it a mistake to send just Minerva to go help? What if Minerva got injured and couldn’t make it back? Or what if that attack just a distraction to lure Maia away from the front?

She grit her teeth, forcefully pushing those thoughts to the side so she could focus back in on the fight in front of her. She’d just have to believe in the abilities of those in the rear, and trust that if things really were dire, Alexis would send someone to get her. Until then, all she could do was hold the line.