Author note;

Thank you so much. I love getting positive comments. Very grateful for support from readers. Truly!

So the new update...

I believe I'm on track to be able to have the next sequel of the Monsterification Trilogy up before Monday. There are a few things unfinished. But those are mostly just the cover and a couple of small editing bits. Its 99% there. So I do believe it will be there up before Monday. 

If possible... fingers crossed... I hope to offer it cheaper on my own website than on Amazon. This part I'm not sure if its going to be ready in time. But that's where my hope is, for either this book or the next one. 

Hope to have another update for you all soon. :) 

I truly cannot underestimate telling you nice it is to get good comments from you readers. 

 

 

 

 

Dreamweaver Chapter 190

Shun point of view

We watched the albino dwarves and their half rabbit-kin friends scatter in all directions…

And then there’s that thing that is trying to eat them!

At least that’s what Mallory is describing because I can’t see that far. But I can trust her word on it. She’s getting ready to throw a boulder at that icky gross puss tentacle slime Chimera naga whatever the fudge you want to call it demon beast.

I’d woken her up on this, when it’d started so we could capitalize on this opportunity and seize the chance of something good possibly coming out of it.

Mallory like usual moved with great speed and agility with good balance.

“I’m amazed you can do this so well,” I said.

“Me too,” she chuckled.

“The dwarves are losing,” she said.

“Badly?” I followed up.

“Well they are pretty good at avoiding death kill moves but they won’t last long. Tough to say on an exact figure but they are definitely on the run,” she noted.

“Can you save them?” I asked.

“No promises. That thing is dangerous. I don’t even know what it is,” she said.

“Maybe you can just trick it and look for some sniping opportunities?” I asked.

“Maybe...but I don’t dare get closer.”

“Can you keep monitoring the situation please?” I asked.

“Yes master,” she cooed pleasantly, anxious to please me. She also did something unexpected in grabbing my hands and then placing them on her chest and boobs to force me to fondle them.

That didn’t feel good to hear the dwarves were losing. I didn’t know them, but dwarves were a force that was mostly positive and good even if they could be a bit tight about rules and territory. If they were in trouble then evil was winning too.

“Can you save them?” I asked.

“Why? They are freaking albino trash too. Plus you do realize what will happen if they catch us? Burned alive at the stake, is what will happen since it’s obvious neither of us is normal. And I kind of stick out with no clothes on,” she said.

“Just make sure they don’t see us and we’ll be fine,” I coached her.

“Got it.”

She’s right. But I can’t risk a mana intense spell like the summon box with the mana restrains on. And we’ve still not been able to get them off. And we can’t just bang and make loud noises trying to destroy them in the cavern either because there are so many heinous predators down here.

“Crap. But I want to see if we can work it out,” I pleaded.

“I don’t know master…this is just …it’s a lot asking me to always rough it for you down here. This place is dangerous. I can’t even relax for a minute to…” she started to say but I’m already trying to seduce her into it by playing with her nipples.

Her breath caught in her throat. She can’t even gasp. She likes it or she’s paralyzed by it. She seems to like nipple play a lot.

“….aaaaaaahhhh….” she whispered barely audible. Then right after that she caved in.

“Fine. But you owe me for this,” she said.

She hoists my legs and knees tighter around her as she moves us closer. It’s terribly frightening to not even know if we’re safe or not as she flies over ground so fast that if we tripped it would probably mess up our joints for life. That forces me to hold tighter around her chest, and in so doing I’m also touching her healthy looking breasts with permanently erect nipples. Ever since I’d been connected inside of her which makes squishing sounds but somehow I can’t ever pull out permanently either, she has permanently engorged nipples now too as a side effect of this demon take over merging thing too.

We keep moving closer to what sounds like death and combat.

“Don’t let them see us,” I whispered again. I need to make sure she understands this is life or death.

“I know. That’s the only way this will work,” she said.

Then I heard and felt her dip low enough to grab something while I hang on.

She throws it. Plus, dealing with the predator by surprise may help in it not noticing us. If we’ve done it right then it will think a sneaky rear dwarf guard had been really creative with earth magic.

Bam!

I heard a rock smash into something. Still there’s a chance it may have noticed us.

“My boulder throw shot smashed one of its…are they heads or tentacle appendages shaped like people? I’m not sure what the hell that thing is,” she said.

Then there’s the crying out of some huge inhuman sickly voiced beast that’s super high pitched. It sounds freaky and scary to hear that, and I’ve already heard a lot of scary shit in my time on this world. This still takes the cake on weird stuff we’d experienced on not just this world, but everything in my life so far.

“What the hell is that?!” I cried out.

“It’s some kind of demon for sure. But everything down here is like being on a different planet,” she growled.

“How do you know?”

“It’s definitely a kind of predator and something unnatural. It’s like animals hearing wolves and coyotes for the first time. I see it as a predator and that’s what it smells like. It’s really bad,” she said.

But there’s no sign of the return of that thing, even though we keep our guard up. We also avoid the dwarves. They are too scared to chase or scout after it; so we know that they haven’t seen us either. But that may change after they go back for reinforcements.

She keeps us moving. We tried to avoid the sounds that seem the most dangerous while moving over rough black glassy terrain.

Mallory moves quick over and around as if she was born to run and fly over the ground. While running I can feel her silky hair brush against my face. It feels good.

We continue this way for long minutes. Then she throws more of those boulder things.

“Um…what’s going on?” I asked.

“We saved your precious…mutant dwarves and their inbred rabbit cousins? If that’s what you call them. But that thing is fast,” she said.

“Eh?”

“It would have slaughtered that whole party in seconds if we hadn’t intervened,” she said.

“What kind of demon do you think it was? Or do you have some guesses at least on the genus, or family of species that it came from?” I asked.

“I have no idea. And you get to know a lot of demon species as a vampire so that tells you something. But it’s not something you or I would want to meet up with again, I can promise you. And I’m afraid now it knows something else besides the dwarves is out here. We have no idea of there are more of things things and if they hunt individually or as a group. And if its like other critters it must have a tribe or clan too. So because you asked me to save them now we’ll be hunted too. Thanks for that,” she said sarcastically with her innocent sweet girl smile even though she’s not happy.

I don’t apologize. I did what I thought was right even though I’m sick of dwarves.

“And you are sure that the dwarves see us?” I asked.

“I’m sure. I made sure of that. But it was close. The guy we saved seemed to be some kind of veteran in status,” she answered back.

“There’s one more thing,” she seemed hesitant to say it.

“What?”

“It’s still alive,” she said.

…

What...how?

Think...what should I do? We can’t stay here with that thing here. And if we are too slow or even let it sneak up on us there’s no chance to survive it!

“And it shouldn’t be alive. Not many things can take my crushing smash skill,” she noted. It’s a bit intimidating when she talks about being able to crush living things while she’s holding onto me actually, now that I think about it.

Wow.

So far not many things could withstand a vampire’s smashing strength and I’d seen that several times already. She just wasn’t able to smash this dwarven science of strange origin on the mana inhibiting shackles. And I think she’d hit it more than once with direct hits.

“Where did it go?” I asked.

“That’s what I’m trying to find out. We’ve been following it for about a half hour. It will be hard to make it back to the albino dwarves’ town. I might be lost too,” she said.

Shit.

Well I am sick of dwarves actually…

Lost underground in pitch black darkness is really super bad. I can feel the air rushing passed us as I’m hanging onto Mallory as she carries me piggy back style, while the whole way I’m cringing afraid she’ll run into something or impale my head on something we run into.

For many minutes it continues this way while I try to keep my cool.

We keep making our way around.

Mallory finally stopped.

I waited patiently to see what she was doing.

“How do you keep from getting lost?” I asked voicing my concerns.

“Well that’s possible too actually,” she admitted casually.

“Really?”

“Well it’s something that could happen. But vampires don’t get lost easy underground. If we did there wouldn’t be any point to being darkness element creatures, keke,” she cackled.

“I guess that’s true,” I said.

“It’s probably good we’re out here farther away. Those dwarves will no doubt send out a huge extermination squad to subjugate that creature. So we better leave this area. If we stay near that area we’ll be caught,” she said.

“So where are we? Are we still in the Abyss Shaft or something else like a mine or something else now?” I asked.

Mallory looked around for a few minutes studying the area. “As near as I can tell we’re in some kind of big underground cavern that adjoins that Abyss shaft but isn’t technically part of it. Hang on. Quiet, a sec,” she said.

My heart began beating like crazy. There’s only one reason for her to want it quiet when she wants to talk and is being drawn in by my pheromone skill.

Mallory wants it quiet when there are predators near us.

She doesn’t say anything but suddenly has a sharp intake of breathing. Then she changes where she’s going. Now she’s suddenly she’s running back the way we came from. I couldn’t tell from the direction but from the jarring pull in the opposite direction.

“What are you doing? What’s going on?” I asked carefully.

“We’re being chased. These are two different ones, like the same species like that creature from before. But these seem bigger and stronger than it,” she said.

Carefully she’s describing them to me.

It’s something out of a nightmare that makes no sense. It’s like darkness Chimeira soup fused species mixed with ‘slug’ version mermaids from some tentacle mutant centipede planet. She describes strange snake-like bodies that have…people embedded onto spines coming out of the snake’s back and spinal area. The one before had three women impaled onto spines in their um….yeah…not going to say it. But you can imagine it. But for that to be ‘stuck’ in there, for years means that it’s something weird maybe they grew so attached it’s like I don’t know…the tissue having bonded permanently or something? But although they resemble some masochistic spikes of living tissue, they also look torturous like something that would hurt like a spear impaling them.

These are definitely one of the weirdest creatures I’ve seen yet.

Unlike the description of the first one, the second one has five women impaled into its neck spines, but the third creature only has two. But different from the other two, the one with five slimy reptilian women impaled into is using the women’s feet as its own and it’s body is much thicker and longer with more mutations apparent in many strange ways. And the women seem to have become bald over time and are completely slimy and reptilian, almost like lizard men or troglodytes but with thick heavily muscled legs to support hauling around the huge snake body.

This is …so disgusting. It hurts my eyes to even look at this twisted and vile creature, that seems to live as if it were raised eating nuclear or toxic waste that ruined its appearance.

Could it be the Abyss shaft reaches hell? Or is there another reason they are down here?

It worries me also because from Mallory’s point of view it sounds disturbing and very disgusting too. I don’t want to be like that, but it sounds like how I’m connected to Mallory is similar and I feel very frightened by it.

I’m not turning into one of those am I? I feel sick inside thinking that thought.

Stop! Don’t flee!

The voice echoed in my head.

But that made me want to panic even more.

I almost let go of Mallory I was so surprised by it. The feeling of the voice in my head was crazy.

Is it telepathy?! No! If this is how you get a telepathic ability then I don’t want it at all!

I feel vaguely that the voice is coming from the creature with the five lizard like fallen women impaled into it. Disturbingly weird enough to is that the five voices echo with the telepathic voice and can be heard and felt while it speaks with what used to be beautiful women but are now lizard freaks. Somehow I felt that as the voice resonated in my head.

Stop! Pleasssseeee!

“Are you…OK?” Mallory asked me.

“What?”

“Are you OK?” she asked again.

“I…don’t know…I ….we have to get out of here. I don’t like this,” I said.

“I agree,” she whispered barely audible and sounding something like a mix of both fear and fascination in her tone at once.

So she didn’t hear the voice? Only I did?

Stop! Come back! You are like us!

The voice said again.

NO! I can’t accept that!

Stop!

I won’t evolve into some freaky human freak abomination thing. I won’t accept it.

Weee cann helppp yoU! Came the voice of the other one echoing after the first.

Somehow I don’t want to meet those things.

My panic and fear went up.

“Run!” I cried out to Mallory. Immediately Mallory picks up on that I’m terrified of whatever those things are. But I’m in agony now, mentally. Is that what the demon box is turning me into?

I can’t live like that. I can’t! I’d…no…

I can feel …stuff coming from the voices of the combined organisms chasing after me. That it’s parasitic is true, but it has a strange unreal quality about itself that seems bizarre and almost like etheric quality.

The two mutant human-snake-centipede things are gaining on us because they have more leg and ‘horsepower’ than Mallory does.

She tries to increase her pace. She’s forcing it, and I can feel her.

“Be careful. If you fall we’ll be injured,” I cautioned.

“I can’t help but be afraid. Vampires aren’t afraid of anything. But those freaks make me afraid. And I can’t explain why,” she said.

Come back! Weeee cannnn helppP!

The voice of the other came back at us.

Only we can teach you about true evolution. We are the children of the Keeper of Chaos. We live ever in the dark, far below where all other creatures dwell. Embrace your destiny! Embrace us!

The voice tried to invade my mind.

I tried to push back and keep it out. But there wasn’t any choice. It was too strong. I tried to keep my mind thinking of nothing that would reveal anything about myself to them but accidentally it probed deep enough to get a picture of Mallory’s beautiful face.

Damn it!

I feel soiled by it capturing a mental image of her face. And inevitably I accidentally let loose a tear drop.

“What? What happened?” Mallory said seeing I’m unhappy.

“It’s….trying to telepathically talk to me. It saw your face in my mind. I’m so sorry!” I cried out.

“It did what?!” Mallory cried out. She almost missed a step in surprise while carrying me away at high speed. Then she recovered.

Then she did something unexpected. She stopped in the middle of the path she was using to flee.

“What are you doing?! We have to keep running! I can’t meet them! No!” I cried out.

“We’ll see about that. If those fuckers are why we are permanently linked then we will face them head on,” Mallory said with amazing mental toughness.

She doesn’t understand. I can’t…I can’t accept such a fate. It’s too awful.

Mentally the one with five women captured into its body is too strong. Its mental strength is amplified by each of the five…creepy lizard women stuck into it.

I don’t like this…

In seconds both of those things chasing us will be upon us.

“No! We have to run!” I cried out.

Kess’ahr point of view

“Stay together, move quickly,” I said.

As we’d regrouped and proceeded to flee I discovered that we had lost another guy, killed by that strange monster as it fled but we hadn’t seen it in time. And another got his arm clipped off by it’s massive teeth, without having even known he was bleeding to death until one of the others told him so.

So we’re down to fifteen people that can fight, and one that can’t fight. And another that’s questionable…

“Trying…my bad knee…” the same guy who shouldn’t even be out here moans.

The others are trying to keep up too. But we can’t slow down. We know that thing was fast, strong, and super smart.

We’ve been circling back around a different way back to Deep City. It’s our only option.

We also can only hope it won’t follow us back, given how terrible it will be if we bring it back.

“How far is it to the Gauntlet?” one of them asked.

“Still a few miles,” the team leader said with a defeated and scared voice. He’s barely holding it together. In fact, I think all of them are.

“Why can’t we just go down the main path to Deep City? We should go right back as fast as we can!” one of them protested while we’re still climbing over the roughest part of the terrain on the alternate route.

“Nope. We go to the Gauntlet according to Deep City Military Doctrine,” I said with finality.

The Gauntlet really is the best idea yet.

“What’s the Gauntlet?” one guy asked.

The others look at him like he’s stupid. And he is stupid. Everyone knows what the Gauntlet is.

“Um you were supposed to know that before becoming part of the Guard,” the vice team lead said.

“Yeah, yeah, but they train us so hard there isn’t time for everything,” he said. There’s something fishy about what he just said. I might have to investigate him for bribery. There’s no way he couldn’t know what that is.

“The Gauntlet is a giant set of killing traps to discourage things from following us back to the city. It’s the military doctrine that if something doesn’t know where the city actually is and or if we encounter something we’ve never encountered before that we discourage them from coming back to it at all costs and go there instead until it or us is dead and gone. If they don’t know where our city is then they can’t invade it. And we can’t risk giving something the location easily that can track us,” the vice team lead said.

“But what if it already knows where the city is? What then? What if we’re wasting time with not giving out a warning in time?” the same troublemaker said again, trying to question authority.

This guy again...

“We should go right back with no delay!” he cried out, looking to the others to support him. I’m surprised he’s a full albino dwarf and not a half rabbit-kin, the way his traitorous trying to save himself talk is going.

We keep moving in a line, trying to go quickly but there’s always the fear that thing will be back any second.

“We should…” he tried again.

“Shut up. That’s an order! The Gauntlet and its Doctrine exists for a reason! It was created by the greatest dwarven general to have ever lived! He knew the dangers down here and how to survive where no other dwarven city has ever managed to survive this deep under the earth! His doctrine is why we still survive! Do not question it!” the team leader barked.

Good. He should have put discipline in his men from the beginning.

Although to be fair, we live in the scariest part of the world. There are still things we discover down here every year that would even frighten dragons. For them to have the courage to do this job everyday as much as they have means I need to remember they are still trying. And they’ve done a lot just to get this far.

“We maintain course for the Gauntlet’s Box!” the team leader said. Then he clapped me on the shoulder looking for morale. “Isn’t that right Kess’ahr?” he said.

I nodded. “The Gauntlet’s Box is our only chance.”

I don’t like the Gauntlet either, but I’ve used it before. It does save lives but it’s tricky to deal with and almost as scary as that beast that just fled from us. But sometimes those who haven’t been keeping up on training get injured in it. I’ve seen people lose arms and hands to it all the time. And if you neglect your training, then you don’t collect a pension as a military soldier or adventurer.

I flinched. Losing a pension is worse than facing the Guantlet’s Cube, or the Gauntlet for short, actually.

Without wording it, I hope these guys have done their training. There are technically four giant obsidian cubes strategically located at certain distances from Deep City, which are all giant Gauntlets to lure pursuers through into murder traps. Inside each cube are dozens of rooms for killing predators that chase us like prey through a series of mazes. The mazes then let out with a secret tunnel exit that is supposed to help put distance between us and anything pursuing us, to cut us off from being tracked.

And all of the guards are supposed to have the mazes memorized and timing to get through all the traps. But even though I know that’s what’s required to test and place as a Guard member, I worry. This group has all taken shortcuts this whole time. If that’s the case then…they probably haven’t been preparing for Gauntlet runs properly either.

Will they even survive going into the Gauntlet?