The Mimic in Monsterland

Len smirked when he saw his student absolutely ragdolling the Karibu while in his first monster form. “Looks like he didn’t slack off too much. Guess I can’t slack off either.” He looked down on where Jaren’s forces were. They were held back by the last line of monsters before the graveballs. Mostly weaker monsters but their numbers were staggering.

Len sent another strike at two more graveballs that got too close. He had to admit it, even he was running out of juice. If he could get just three minutes of uninterrupted focus, then this boss would be done for. If he had five, no allies would get burned in the process.

He threw a fireball at another graveball, but before the fire landed, a giant thorn pierced through its body, scattering its limbs. Len torched each one before they could reform. He saw Lirae, who winked at him when they made eye contact. He sighed. Beggars can’t be choosers.

He flew up to her. “I need five minutes.”

“We both know it's three.”

“A lot of soldiers…” but she interrupted him.

“Three.”

He nodded at her.

Len launched himself back into the area in front of the greater graveball. And knelt down and started gathering flames.

Lirae and her personal retinue followed after him and started holding back the waves of monsters. A cage of vines and flowers surrounded Len. The scent of the flowers blocked out the smell of the battlefield, helping him focus on the task at hand.

Each second crawled by. The cage hadn’t blocked the sounds of people dying around him but he kept his mind in check. Focusing solely on gathering power.

The ball of vines picked up the ground he sat on and moved him. He heard Jaren shout something. Must have made it. Late as usual.

Len pushed more and more heat into his hands, fire spreading across his whole body but condensing in his fingertips. He didn’t have the luxury of creating pillars and absorbing their flames like when he performed the burning. That’s why it took extra time to build up the flame. But he loved every second of it. He hadn’t gotten a chance to sit in his true heat in a while. And have a target for his power. A wicked grin showed up on his face.

“Time to consume.”

 

As soon as three minutes went by, the vines surrounding him opened up. He was positioned slightly off centered from the giant graveball. Closer to the side where Fennel and Liam were fighting. Did she do that on purpose?

He ignored the thought, now wasn’t the time. Focusing every bit of energy he gathered into his fingertip, he pointed at the graveball and fired.

A small beam shot out of his finger and entered the graveball. It punched through the gruesome beast's flesh. Nothing happened for a moment. Until one side of its body expanded, then another. Then finally, the flames erupted, tearing and scorching the beast apart. The flames flowed out of the beast’s carcass and flooded the battlefield.

Many raised their shields and wards, attempting to block the heat. And many failed. Len made sure the flames wouldn’t reach the medic stations, but those close to the boss would feel the brunt of it.

 

Len dropped to a knee when it finished, huffing and puffing.

“Need some help old man?” It was Jaren, who looked unaffected by what just happened.

“A quick pick-me-up would be nice.” One of Jaren’s head lieutenants, a blue scaled elf, rushed behind Len, putting a hand on his shoulder. Len felt the stamina recovery wash over him. He stopped him when his stamina recovered to 50%.

Len looked around, noticing the disappearance of a beautiful green elf. One who typically liked to gloat after helping with something like that.

“Where’d Lirae go?”

“The weed rushed off that way after your blast connected,” Jaren answered while pointing. Len’s eyes widened when he realized where he was pointing.

It was where Liam and Fennel were fighting.

Len sighed. “ Ah crap.”

 

——

 

“Are…wake?” “Get…p!” My mind whirled as I heard a voice yell at me. Wha? Stop shouting. My head was pounding for some reason. I couldn’t think straight whatsoever.

“Get…elp!”

Who shout? I opened my mouth and mumbled something I’m positive wasn’t coherent. Words just weren’t forming properly in my head.

My eyes fluttered open, but my vision was completely blurry. I saw motion. I’m pretty sure they were people and not monsters so that’s good. Maybe I managed to survive somehow.

Neat.

The last thing I remembered before passing out was the moose brigade standing in front of me. And a few flashes of me tearing apart a moose also entered my mind. Along with a really big bright light at some point. And Len’s warm flames too. Did Len save me again?

Someone laid their hand on my back while I tried to get up. I rubbed my eyes a few times, trying to get my vision to clear. After a moment, I started feeling better. I saw my companion. It was the blonde short teenager who attacked me while I was in Tigris form.

“Wh..o” I paused my question due to the apparent desert that now resided in my throat. Seriously, it felt like I just downed an entire box of saltines.

I coughed. Pretty sure dust came out.

“Here.” The guy handed me a bag filled with liquid. I chugged it down without thinking. Probably should’ve asked what it was first. Need to stop blindly trusting people. Luckily, it was water.

“Thanks.” I said.

After the thirst was sated, I viewed the surroundings. The monsters had turned tail and were running back into the forest. It looked like a few other people were chasing after them and getting a few kills but nothing substantial. I looked back where the giant ball of limbs and flesh was. Nothing but scorched earth now. And a whole bunch of burnt flesh. Eww.

“Did Len do that?” I asked while pointing.

I looked back at the guy and he gave me a strange look. Like I said something really weird and out of pocket.

“You know Leonard Ainsworth?”

“Yeah, why?”

He opened his mouth like he was going to continue but something must have caught his gaze. He stood up and made an odd gesture. His left hand grabbed his right shoulder and he nodded toward someone I suppose. I turned to see who he was saluting(?).

My jaw dropped. A woman walked towards the teen and me, followed by three very tough and brutish soldiers. But it took me a moment to even register their existence.

The woman was clad in skin-tight green and white leather armor that showed off every curve of her body. And there were plenty. Her long bright amber hair was tied up in a Dutch braid. But I guess it's not called that on Kniyas. A Kniyan braid maybe. She wore a winning smile on her beautiful face as she sauntered up to the two of us.

She had to be one of the most gorgeous women I’d ever met. Even if her skin was slightly green. Maybe green is my color. Once she was close, I saw she had pointed ears, like the elves of fiction. Oh my god. An elf. An honest to goodness elf. And she is ridiculously hot. Are all elves here like this?

The blonde boy coughed while relaying a message to me. “Stand up already.” I was still a little too enraptured to fully comprehend his words but I stood up. Bit wobbly though. I winced as I felt every wound from the fight. Burns from the magic of the moose as well as a multitude of others. I almost shifted into log form right there, but a flash of better judgment told me it's probably not the best time to do that.

She walked right up to us and stopped. The elf lady examined the teen, giving him a once over and nodding. “Glad to see the Blines are raising their young ones well. I’m excited to hear what the Watchers say about your achievements in this raid.” Her smile beamed upon the boy. But his reaction wasn’t that of elation like mine probably would after a dime like her praised me. No, the teen looked to be hiding a fierce anxiety, his twitching hand he held behind his back betraying the facade.

After finishing her address to the shorty, her gaze landed on me. However, her face no longer wearing that radiant smile. Her glacier blue eyes bore into me while she frowned for a split second. The smile returned to her lips but it did not quite reach her eyes.

“What family bore such a strong fighter?” She asked, her eyes not leaving me for even a moment.

Shit, what do I say? Who even is she? What is happening? I covered my face and coughed, using my dry throat as a cover to give me a few precious seconds to come up with some bullshit.

“I have no family ma'am. They succumbed to a pack of jackanapes while I was young...” My voice cracked slightly at the end of my answer. One of her guards snorted in jest for a half second before shutting up. Her smile faltered again. Yeah, it sounded like garbage as it came out of my mouth.

“Well, that is a tragedy, isn’t it. No matter, are you a part of...,” the elf lady turned to the blonde, motioning with her hand.

“Fennel, Governor Lirae, ma’am.” His voice cracked harder than mine just had. She gave the teen a soft smile before continuing.

“Are you a part of Fennel’s squad?”

I felt a bead of sweat roll down my forehead. “No, miss umm governor, no I’m not. This is my first interaction with him.”

“Then, whose squad are you with?”

I swallowed. What should I say? Len told me we needed to stay away from the brass in Laurelhaven. Seems like I just ran into the freaking head honcho.

Before I could spin any more caca, the beautiful yet somewhat terrifying green elf lady began to chuckle. Everyone standing around didn’t know what exactly to make of this. Even her guards looked surprised by the elf’s sudden outburst. This must be out of line with her normal behavior.

She spoke up once she had finished laughing. Her icy gaze turned fierce as she looked back at me.

“Don’t bother answering, I have no want for more of your pathetic tales, feral whelp.” The atmosphere changed as soon as she said the word feral. Each of her guards raised their weapons. Well most of them, the one that snorted earlier raised his claws. Which honestly, looked a little silly.

“Hold.” She commanded. The elf moved closer to me, then circled around me. Her hand lightly touched my shoulder. I got goosebumps at her touch and even felt somewhat giddy at the touch. Strange considering how anxious I was right now. Man I hope this doesn’t awaken anything in me.

“I know who you are, or I have an idea. I believe you are Leonard’s little pet. The one he thought to hide from me. But there is an issue; you might also be just another feral beast attracted to the bloodshed.”

“I don’t know about pet…” her hands wrapped around my face. I felt her nails dig into my cheeks. “SILENCE! I don’t recall giving even a modicum of permission for you to speak.” Her nails dug further into my skin, puncturing slightly. I tried to move my hands to get her off me, but her guards were on me in an instant, weapons aimed at my throat.

“Governor Lirae, please stop!” The blonde teen, who was a head below everyone here, spoke up.

“Ma’am, I don’t know of this one’s origins. I can’t attest to his allegiances.” He closed his eyes, and nodded lightly. Likely building up some confidence to continue. “But I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, the actions of this one man saved hundreds of lives today. My squad included. Hell, myself included. That’s not the actions of any feral I’ve ever heard of.”

The elf’s glare stayed on me even during the teen's speech. They closed slowly. Her grip loosened and I felt the stinging wounds on my face. She motioned with her head and the guards lowered their weapons. I looked over to my small savior, poor guy was trembling.

She heaved a hefty sigh. She walked over to the short teen, placing a hand on his head. “Return to your squad. Now.” Her voice was softer but still held a stern edge to them. The teen glanced over at me and then back to her. He did the weird salute once more and ran off.

She turned her head up and looked off in the direction of the giant crater. “Not yet Ainsworth.” I followed her eyes and saw a group of people making their way here.

With a snap of her fingers, an odd sensation of movement slithered around my shoulder. Moving from my shoulder, down my back and eventually across my whole body. I looked down and saw a mass of green vines wrapping around me. I tried to move but it was futile. Before I even had a chance to react, the vines covered my whole being and tightened. I couldn’t budge an inch. Only my head was left out of the mass.

The elf lady walked back over to me and knelt down. “Um, is this necessary?” I asked.

She smiled at me with that fake grin, then moved her hand over my face. A vine grew around my head and stuffed itself in my mouth. My teeth chewed on the earthy plant. Yeah that tracks.

“Now hush, the grown ups have some talking to do.”

She stood up and snapped her fingers again. A root shot out of the ground underneath her and formed itself into a seat and a small table shape. She sat down and one of her guards came with a cup and a bag filled with some sort of drink. He poured her a drink. She sipped from the cup before the group arrived.

A wave of relief washed over me when I saw Len at the front of the group, along with a massive bald man in armor covered in blood. Len made eye contact with me for a moment and gave me a slight nod before focusing on the woman.

However, she must have noticed the interaction as she smiled and turned to the guard closest to me. “Take him away.”

Giving the same salute the young man had earlier, the clawed guard hoisted me on his shoulder and walked off. I wiggled a little in protest. Poor decision. The vines tightened and squeezed more air out of my lungs. I stared at Len with eyes wide open. The large man next to Len spoke with the elf and Len took the opportunity to casually look over at me. He moved his mouth. What?

He moved his mouth more deliberately, seemingly trying to mouth something at me.

Break out. I think that's what he was trying to convey. How?

Len turned back to the conversation in front of him. The vines gave me one last good squeeze before I passed out.