In the caves of Mount Theravia, where sunslight has never touched, there are colonies of thousands of creatures no bigger than a grain of sand. Morkermites are hivemind creatures that live in the darkest reaches of the world. They are sapient and are even capable of speech.

  While kind and even helpful to anyone they meet, they have instincts they are unable to control. The following is a first-hand account of an experience an adventurer had when they wandered too far into the dark when exploring a ruin.

  I was walking through when I heard a voice, it was ethereal and had a pronounced hum to it. It said hello and after a few seconds I said hello back, it warned me not to get closer and so I stayed where I was. It explained that while they were a species of pacifists, when they came into contact with warm blooded creatures they instinctively swarmed them, completely unable to control themselves.

  Apart from that one warning, the thing I spoke with seemed polite, knowledgeable and quite charming.

  - Excerpt from, Tiny but deadly - The bestiary of tiny things - Chapter 17 - Morkermites

  Chapter 90 - The Mayor of Sparksford

  He could finally see the mayor’s office only a few dozen meters away. He was about to teleport right to the doorstep when he noticed something strange: there was a wheezing sound coming from down a side alley. The noise didn’t sound at all human, but he went to investigate. It could have been a trap, but he had yet to meet an Other who didn’t just attack him guns blazing. For a people who were apparently even more technologically advanced than people from Earth, they seemed to severely lack any sort of subtly or strategy when it came to combat.

  Turning into the side alley, he spotted a huge dog lying on its side, panting heavily. As he approached, he realised it wasn’t a dog, but a wolf. Judging by the arrows lodged in its body, it was badly injured. With each inhale, it wheezed. With each exhale, it let out a pained, high-pitched whine.

  He wasn’t entirely sure what he should do. The injured wolf was probably a pet or a summons, but from which side, he wasn’t sure. It could have come from one of the residents of Sparksford, but it could have justas easily come from one of the Others.

  After a moment’s hesitation, he came to a decision; he laid his hands on the wolf’s flank and began to heal it. If it attacked, then he would deal with it; if it seemed friendly, then he’d done a good thing. He was increasingly worried about getting to the Mayor, but he couldn’t bring himself to just leave the poor animal to suffer.

  As he healed it, he ran his hand along the wolf’s body, trying to keep it calm as he pulled

  the arrows out and healed its final wounds.

  He hissed as he temporarily took on its pain. The wounds closed up, and the wolf’s breathing eased. After a few seconds, it rolled over and stood. It saw him and cocked its head to the side. It barked at him, walked in a circle, then nodded its head at him.

  He wasn’t sure what it was trying to communicate, so he stared at it bewildered. Then, it repeated its actions, and it clicked.

  “You want me to turn around, boy?” He asked the wolf.

  Hesitantly, he turned his back. He was confident that even if this were some strange ploy from the wolf, he would be able to tank whatever it could do to him long enough to respond.

  A voice he recognised came from behind him, “I am not a boy!”

  He spun and saw a partly clothed Nays. She was wearing a bra and underwear but not much else. A rush of relief flooded him, and he pulled her into a hug. “Nays! That was you!? I’m so glad you’re okay! Are you okay?”

  She hugged him back and was, of course, bright pink when they came apart; he blushed, too, as he realised he had hugged her while she was semi-naked. “Still haven’t quite managed to get all your clothes to transform with you, huh?”

  She pouted as she replied, “Yeah, well, the town was under attack, and I didn’t transform on purpose! I did get into a fight, though! But as you can probably guess, I lost. Thank you for saving me, by the way! It really hurt. Is it over? Are they all gone?”

  “I think so, but maybe try and stay hidden for a while just in case; I have to check on the Mayor.”

  Her eyes widend as he mentioned the Mayor, “I saw the Mayor. It was only for a second, but I saw someone taking him into his office. It looked like he was passed out.”

  “Crap. Okay, I have to go; I’ll try and find you later. Stay safe.” He said as he turned to leave.

  “Mason?” she called. He turned again and saw she was tearing up. She stepped up to him and hugged him again. “Thank you. I really thought I was going to die.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  He awkwardly patted her on her very naked back and said, “It’s okay, Nays, you’re safe now. I’m sorry to leve you but I need to go. I promise I’ll check on you later.” He gently let her go and stepped out of the alley.

  He was so glad that Nays was okay, along with Viv and Nina; she had been one of the people he had been most worried about. Even with all the death and destruction that the Others had brought to this town, it was good to know that at least his friends were safe, though if he had arrived even a few minutes later, he wasn’t sure if any of them would have made it.

  It had taken him far too long to reach the Mayor’s office, but now that he had, he was surprised to see Mayry sitting on the stone steps outside. When she spotted him, she shot to her feet and rushed over to him. There were tears in her eyes, and her cheeks were blotchy and red. She sobbed something into his shoulder, but he couldn’t understand. She pulled away for a moment and repeated, “My dad… I think he’s dying.

  ***

  They walked in together. The building, while unaffected by the attack, seemed darker than the last time he had been there.

  Mayry had been trying to coordinate rescuing survivors, setting up a perimeter and trying to find out exactly what had happened but had rushed over to see her father the moment she had heard that he had been hurt. She had already been inside to see him, but he had been asleep, and the healer who had been watching over him had ushered her out frantically insisting that he needed his rest.

  The healer frowned at them as they entered and stepped towards them. Mason expected to be kicked out, but instead, she beckoned them to a seating area so they could talk.

  She looked increasingly worried. She stared at them for a few seconds as if trying to figure out how she was going to say what she needed to say before deciding to just jump right in to it. “My healing ability works by accelerating the body’s own healing capabilities while also giving it a bit of an extra kick. For example, I would likely be able to regrow someone’s hand but not their arm.”

  “I..” Mayry started to speak, but with a look of sadness and regret, the healer lifted a finger and kept talking.

  She continued, “I’m telling you this because I need you to understand me when I tell you my ability is not working on your father. Whatever those people did to him, it has left his body unable to heal as it usually would. His injuries are significant, and healing potions are only slowing the inevitable at this point. I’m sorry.”

  Mason didn’t know how to react. How had the Others managed to hurt someone who used to be an actual divinity? He felt like he should say something or do something to help Mayry through this moment, but nothing came to him. He felt frozen. He didn’t really feel anything, just kind of numb.

  Mayry stood, “Can we see him?”

  “Of course.” The healer said, surprised. She had probably expected a greater reaction from them, but if Mayry felt anything like he did, he understood why she was acting so calm.

  “Mason, do you think your healing might work?” she whispered to him as they walked. “Or maybe the elixir?”

  Of course! The shock of hearing about the Mayor had blindsided him into forgetting he could heal people. He whispered back, “It’s never not worked before, so maybe?” Was this why she was so calm? It wasn’t just the numbness that he felt; she still had hope that he could save her father. No pressure.

  What the healer had said replayed in his head, ‘Whatever those people did to him, it has left his body unable to heal.’ What if that effect got transferred to him? If it messed up his HP regeneration, it would severely cripple him if he needed to fight. Every time he had used the ability on a magical affliction, something crappy had happened. He would try the Pana Elixir first. If that didn’t work, he’d risk using Sacrificial Healing, only because it was for Mayry.

  They walked into a dark room to see the Mayor propped up on the couch. He looked bad.

  He was reminded of when he visited his grandma in the hospital during her final few days of life, She had been pale and hardly looked like herself. He’d had no idea what to say or what to do; he just sat there feeling the aura of death that was looming over everyone.

  “Mayry!” he said weakly, attempting to push himself up higher on the couch. “You came?” I was worried something had happened to you, too.”

  “Hey, Dad, I’m here.” She managed to say while doing her best to hold back tears. “We’re going to try and see if we can help you.” She looked over at Mason expectantly.

  He stepped forward, “Do you remember much about what happened? Do you know what they did to you?”

  Mayry frowned slightly at him but didn’t say anything more.

  The Mayor replied with the air of someone who had just taken some pretty strong painkillers. He was coherent but definitely wasn’t acting like he usually did.

  “Err, yes. From what I’d heard, the attackers from the other world… they had appeared in the centre of town and, at first, had just asked questions but when passersby ignored them, they became enraged. They stopped one of the guards and demanded to see the person in charge of the town. When the guard told them that I was likely busy, they shot some sort of explosive into the clothier’s shop.” He let out a cough and, once he had caught his breath, continued. “I have various ways of knowing when certain types enter the town, so I was already on my way; I got there just as they were threatening some people. Once they saw me, they demanded to know what had happened to two of their number who had gone missing. They were probably talking about that crazy woman, Gael? That we fought. I told them I didn’t know what they were talking about.” He paused talking and looked off into nothingness for a few seconds before shaking his head slightly and continuing.

  Mason asked, “What happened then? You’re a full Demon. How could they possibly of hurt you this bad?”

  “I… I don’t really remember much else of what happened. It was all a blur. I know that they attacked me, and I fought badly, killing one of them, but after the fight with Gael, I was already weakened. The four of them must have hit me with something pretty powerful. I only managed to get away because some Hunters showed up and distracted them. I ran when I should have stayed and fought. And now my town is in ruin.” A single tear fell down the Mayor’s cheek; It glistened and had a faint glow as it fell.

  Mayry looked over at Mason, “It’s okay, Dad, we’ll rebuild. We’re going to help you get better. Isn’t that right, Mason?” She gave him a pointed look, and he stood up from his chair.

  He walked over and put an arm on her shoulder. “I’ll do whatever I can. We found an elixir that might help. Otherwise, we’ll think of something else,” he said uncertainly.