Chapter 3
The Symbiote awoke in the dimly lit room. Its host still deep in slumber, something was wrong, but it couldn't tell what. It did not want to disturb the host's slumber, but it had the urge to investigate. So it began to seep through her skin, enveloping her in its inky black form. Within a moment she could be mistaken for a shadow, then the features set in. The cracks forming in its skin through the emerald shaped hole in its chest. The hole and the jagged cracks in the symbiote's glistening skin emitted an ethereal white glow that illuminated the room. The cracks ended at its claws, which glowed with the same soft ghostly tone. As did its long, sharp incisors. And the jagged spiral that formed from the cracks where a set of eyes would normally lay for any other creature. The host did not wake from the light.
The Symbiote began to move, to rise from the bed. Its movements were sloppy, sluggish. It carried the host's slumbering weight with each movement as it rose to its feet. A long, crimson tongue slithered from its mouth to lick the air like a snake, that's when the Symbiote realised what was wrong. Smoke, fire. Its tongue flicked and whipped around the air until it found the direction the smell was coming from, it was being pushed in through the gentle breeze outside. The window. And from the window an orange glow not unlike The Symbiote's white luminescence was noticeable. Embers.
The creature stumbled its way to the window, the host stirred but didn't awaken. It reached the window and followed the smell and the orange embers. Finding a small town in the near distance. The buildings being ravished by the tongues of hell, a primal fear resonated in the creature. Its kind always feared the flames.
The host began to stir, disturbed by the smell and the Symbiote's own fear. She woke to find herself standing by the window and draped in both shadow and light. It returned control of her body and she nearly collapsed from the sudden weight of her own body and the shock of what she had woken up to. "WHAT'S GOING ON!?" She screamed, but no sound escaped the creature's mouth. But then it spoke and there was sound.
"Something's wrong." Its voice was exactly as she remembered in her head. The deep, distorted, monstrous version of her own voice. This time was different for it was actually speaking, and she felt a strange sensation in her throat as it did. As if it were using her own vocal cords to speak. In fact she felt strange all over. A strange, wet heat covered her body, it wasn't uncomfortable. But the feeling of the Symbiote's biomass enveloping her skin, interworking with her muscles and bones. She felt its long tongue as if it were her own, and she could feel the air on its skin. Almost as if they were one entity. She looked down at their hands and saw the ghostly hue emanating from the cracks and veins ending in bright white claws. She remembered this form well, she saw it in the mirror hours ago. And now they were one, just as it said they were.
"Lydia!" She heard its voice again, felt that strange feeling in her throat again, followed by the sound and sensation of its sharp teeth snapping together. That snapped her out of her stupor long enough to notice what it was trying to show her. She could feel the scent of smoke on her tongue, carried by the wind. She noticed the wilting embers that accompanied it, and she noticed the faint hue from the window. She quickly rose to her feet, feeling both heavier and stronger in their combined form. She was also bigger, her arms and legs longer, and she had much more muscle mass than she had seen on almost anyone. Her new height disoriented her for a moment, but she collected herself and peered through the window and saw it. The town ablaze.
Her mind reeled with horror and incomprehension. what had happened? Who or what could have caused such a disaster? She prayed she was dreaming but her newly heightened senses made her nightmare all the more real.
"What's going on?" Her breath shuddered as she spoke. Her voice coming slightly Distorted but still easily recognisable as her own.
"Unsure."
"Should we help them? Would we even reach them in time for it to matter?" She felt the Symbiote's unease secondhand at her words. It was afraid.
"Together we are beyond many things, but fire isn't something I can shrug off."
she took a deep, wet breath and their lips formed a comforting smile. "It's ok. We'll be careful. I just... I can't sleep idly when we have the power to help." Anothe deep breath, she wasn't sure if she was trying to steady the Symbiote's nerves or her own. "And besides, like you said. This world is ours now, so it belongs to us. And that means we have to take care of it." She rose to their full height and took comfort in the power this new form provided. The Symbiote seemed to find a similar comfort, whether it was in her words of her own emotions she couldn't tell. It took control of the body and launched them from the window, she screamed before they landed on all 4's with a heavy thud. Within an instant it was rushing towards the town, using their long arms to run like a beast on all 4's. But no beast had ever moved so fast, at least no beast she had ever known. She could feel the strength, the speed as they cut through the wind, the taste of the air on their tongue and the feel of the wind on their inky skin. They'd arrive at the town in no time, and they'd make sure that the suffering was kept to a minimum.
They'd soon arrive at the burning town. The heat at the flames licked at their skin and Lydia could feel the symbiote's discomfort. She could feel its skin rippling and trying to shrink away from the fire. She felt it too as if its skin were her own. Just as she could feel their combined muscles moving as they ran. Her body wasn't used to running in such an unnatural way, but the symbiote took the brunt of the burden. So she merely felt some discomfort. Now they were both experiencing intense discomfort from the broiling air. She didn't have any trouble breathing despite the smoke, in fact she couldn't feel herself taking any breaths at all. She could feel the air on their skin, and she could feel the oxygen brushing against the walls of her lungs. She couldn't understand what was happening, she was confused and unnerved. But she couldn't worry about that right now, they needed to get people away from the calamity.
The Symbiote flicked their tongue around and whatever it had for ears focused, working in tandem with her own sensory organs to further heighten their sensory awareness. They searched past the smell of smoke and burning wood, past the sound of crackling flames and passing wind. All of which now seemed so potent she wanted to close it all off, but she steeled herself as she had done so many times before. The Symbiote had its own set of emotions, albeit more simple ones. It was afraid of the surrounding flames, it was increasingly uncertain as to whether it should stay. And most of all it was focused on her, on what she wanted it to do. When she steeled her nerves it did the same, and its focused turned on its task of finding anyone in need of their help.
It wasn't long before they picked up the very faint smell of sweat and blood. As well as the almost imperceptible sound of whimpering, it was close. They moved in unsteady unison, their movements jittery and unnatural. The heat on their skin was overwhelming, the Symbiote's skin shrinking into itself and rippling unsteadily as if in heavy discomfort or even...
"are you alright?" She spoke out as they followed the scent through the burning buildings and charring stone, the air swirling in the heat and making everything seem unsteady or ever changing. The charring stone and burning hay, a horse stable must be nearby. The horses likely long gone by now. The scent led them to what looks to be the remains of a bakery, the wooden roof and tables being gnawed at by the ever hungry flames. That's when she noticed something else, most of the outside decorations looked smashed and splintered, the stone beneath it a chaotic scrambling mess even with the swirling air surrounding the flames. Fire didn't cause that kind of damage, and fire didn't spread this wide, it should've been under control long before it became a town wide calamity. Which could only mean this wasn't an accident. This was intentional, and that thought made her blood boil with and intensity matching the flames that now engulfed the bakery she stood before.
They reached forward and oily black tendrils emerged from their arms. Slithering around for purchase on the smouldering debris that trapped whoever was inside. They could find none that the Symbiote's heat sensitive body could withstand. Both of them now growing frustrated at being stopped so easily. The Symbiote's frustration was more focused on the matter at hand however, and it seized total control of the body, its tendrils now whipping at the debris in rapid almost unseeable lashes. The debris, already damaged by the flames, broke easily. The Symbiote hissed loudly with each strike, she could feel its searing pain not just from proximity to such overwhelming heat but from its tendrils lashing at the flames themselves, slapping the broken debris away from the entrance. Within moments the entrance was clear, and they stepped inside.
The heat was even worse now, both Lydia and the Symbiote were having trouble pushing through it. She was starting to sweat profusely from within the protective layer of the Symbiote. Her mind fogging up with the heat, her focus only being kept by her concern for the person inside. But also by the rage at her earlier revelation of the town's attack. She wanted to find whoever did this and send their soul back to join the Primordium. But she continued onward. They had returned their tongue within their mouth, the fleshy appendage no longer being able to withstand such sweltering conditions. It didn't take long to find the Bakery's owner, tied up and barely conscious behind the counter. Even through the swirling air they noticed glistening sweat and tears. They grabbed him by the ropes with one hand, effortlessly lifting him off the likely now broiling floor and quickly left the bakery.
They gently set the baker down on the floor and sliced through the rope. He stirred and saw them, even too weak to move the expression of terror was evident. But Lydia tried not to let it bother her, he didn't need to be grateful. He was saved by what to him must look like a monster, they must look terrifying in the flames and ever distorting air and smoke. She took control of the body and put some distance between them, a small comfort but all she could offer. For a moment it seemed to calm him however slightly, then his eyes shifted and his terror returned. This time not at her.
The Symbiote noticed the shadow first, wrenching control of the body and whipping around to strike the figure behind them. Their lack of unison in their movements causing a lag in their movements. Within an instant they were met with an all too familiar force, and they were aloft.
It took a moment for Lydia to recover, her head was spinning, she felt pain all over. Whether it was hers she couldn't tell. She could only process the foul taste of smoke on her... their tongue. That's right, it wasn't just hers anymore was it? She shared her body with someone else now. She vaguely remembered slamming into something. And that's something crumbling under the force of whatever had hit them. She couldn't muster any sort of emotional response, she could only process the heat, their combined pain, the sweat on her skin beneath her second skin. The increasingly clear cacophony of the flames that continued to engulf the buildings around them. The sting of embers and the scrape of sharp stone fragments as they met their skin. She was coming to her senses. She felt the symbiote raising them to their feet, she tried to ignore the pain and work her muscles in unison with its own to move as one body. It was difficult, each movement was slow, sluggish and painful. But they rose to their feet and looked at the sight before them.
a water fountain lay smashed in front of them. The fragments laying at their feet. Her head felt smashed too, she could barely process the pain through the disorientation. What she could process however was the rippling of the Symbiote as it moved both its own skin and the flesh that intertwined with her own. The pain started to fade with each moment and she quickly came to her own senses. She realised it was healing her, she felt cracks and sharp pains from her skull and jaw, she was sure the bones had been crushed. But within a moment she was fine. They were on their feet. And they were furious.
They looked past the fountain, past the smoke and the flames back to where they were before. The Baker was there, still laying prone on the hard floor, and looming over him was a figure they both recognised, and one Lydia feared. A troll raider.
It stood over the man wielding a large sledgehammer. Too large for any human to wield. It stood over the baker's helpless body and stared directly at him, they couldn't see any facial expressions from either party, the smoke and swirling air clouded their view. But what they couldn't miss was the troll swiftly lifting the sledgehammer and bringing it down on the innocent man's head. They heard the scream cut off by a sickening crunch and Lydia could feel the tears well in her eyes at the sight. A thousand questions flew through her mind. Why did it do that, why did he deserve that? What were they doing here? Why did they attack this town? That wasn't their usual MO. Then memories of the attack in the woods flashed in their shared minds. And one last sickening question crossed her mind. Did I do this?
Was her actions that day what provoked them? She weeped at the thought, the very idea that her selfish desperation for stress relief brought the destruction of an entire town. If she had just obeyed the restrictions, If she had just found better methods to deal with her stress and rage. If she had been better, would that man have died tonight? The thought turned her rage onto herself, now torn between the monster who so casually killed an innocent man, whose group turned this town into an inferno. And herself for letting this all come to fruition.
The troll lifted the now headless man up with one hand and turned to face them, displaying the corpse as if taunting or warning them. Before casually tossing it aside into the ever consuming flames, that tore at her heartstrings. The rage and guilt reaching their breaking point as she witnessed this act.
The Symbiote however didn't care for the dead man, it didn't care for the town or the people within. It didn't care about how cruel an act it just watched. It cared about the threat in front of it, the threat that had attacked them, that had hurt them. It felt Lydia's pain secondhand both physical and emotional, it couldn't make sense of any of it. The only thing it could somewhat understand was rage, but her rage was directed at both herself and the threat. That confused the creature, it didn't know what to do. But it wanted to help its host. Wanted to deal with the threat in front of them. It didn't understand the overwhelmingly complex nature of human emotions, it didn't understand how to deal with them, so it returned to what it knew. Rage, rage at the threat in front of them, it tapped into her rage. Amplifying and directing it. Feeding on it, its own strength multiplying with their combined focus and goal. Their minds and bodies more in sync than ever before, Lydia felt what the Symbiote was doing, what it was feeling. She was already so overwhelmed by her own breakdown she couldn't even imagine any other way forward. So she let it merge with her further, they both felt the unity and welcomed it. The Symbiote's skin, already shifting from the churning heat, extended and branched out into several tendrils of varying sizes, all sharp and lashing around violently.
They moved in near perfect unison, driven by adrenaline and hatred. They crossed the distance in an instant, a clawed hand shifting and sharpening into a single intensely glowing blade. The blade that quickly felt the warmth of the troll's heart, the thickness of its spine before emerging from the other end. They saw the troll's face contort with rage, fear and agony before the beast fell limp. They returned the favour by callously tossing it into the flames before letting out an ear piercing roar, a mix of high and low pitches, tones and too many emotions to handle. They were both overwhelmed and had reached the breaking point, now they couldn't hold back anymore.
Within moments they saw more trolls following the sound. They welcomed that fact, they needed this. And they were going to enjoy it.
Audrey's nerves had calmed down significantly since the troll stopped moving. Its body lay lifeless and burning in the middle of the room. Most of the drunkards were now scared sober, the goblins now terrified and tightly huddled in an isolated corner of the room sweating bullets. Dave was undoing the ropes, he himself sweating. But his face showed no signs of fear except the slight shakiness in his smile, it was clear that smile wasn't for his sake. But for the others. Audrey had begun using the breathing rituals Lydia so often used, and she was starting to understand why her friend was often so insistent on their effectiveness. It was the only thing keeping her from screaming. She looked over to the goblins, unsure of what to do, unsure if she could trust them. They were slaves sure but she knew well that loyalty could be brainwashed into someone, could become hardwired. But seeing their expressions of fear, confusion, exhaustion and in the faces of some acceptance. She couldn't bring herself to close her heart. She had to do something, to take charge. "Listen up!" She called out. The pub went silent and all eyes were on her, her nerves were still wracked but she had to push herself forward. "Dave, you get these buzzed bastards to safety, I'll get the goblins out of here."
the reactions varied. The drunks looked between her and the goblins with uncertainty, the goblins looked bewildered, some perked their pointed ears as if they couldn't believe what they'd heard. Others looked hopeful, some scared. Everyone was on edge, even Dave. "Are you sure you can trust them?" One of them spoke out. She nodded but didn't truly believe her own conviction. David stood up with a look of newfound determination and nodded in response, before leading the human patrons out of the building.
She looked to the Goblins, all of whom looked a mix of frail, hopeful and terrified. She understood and gestured for them to follow as she carefully left the building.
The outside was sweltering. She could barely believe things had gotten this bad, the goblins looked around with what almost looked like remorse. She knew why, the trolls likely had them help commit this atrocity. She tried to avoid the areas where the flames grew dense as she stayed low to the ground and led her group out of the town. She could barely see more than a short distance in front of her thanks to the heat and the smoke. She was having trouble breathing too, barely able to tolerate the air below the smoke. The Goblins seemed to be suffering the same dilemma, but they pushed forward...
and within minutes came face to face with 3 enraged trolls.
the group started backing away as the trolls noticed them. This was it, they were all going to die. They backed up until they were cornered between the trolls and the flames swallowing the buildings. Audrey stared death in the face in one final act of defiance as the lead troll raised its mace to snuff them all out.
Before it was swiftly dragged into the shadows of the smoke. Its headless body returning to view a moment later. A roar could be felt in the distance from her very bones, the sound merging with the roar of the inferno. A faint white hue, almost like a ghost becomes noticeable in the smoke, nobody moves, breaths are bare and quiet. The white grows larger as it takes a more human shape, whatever killed that troll... it's nothing they've seen before. Tendrils cut through the smoke violently and a head with glowing white teeth and a similarly glowing jagged spiral for eyes emits the same roar. Its inky black skin and lashing tendrils all slick with blood, Audrey didn't want to know who it belonged to.
The monster charged forward with preternatural speed, its focus purely on the trolls, they were the bigger threat. It ripped them apart mercilessly, with seemingly no effort. All while still emitting that ever cascading bellow. More trolls cut through the smoke to avenge the puddles that were once their brethren, Audrey had only one thought. Run.
She and the Goblins weaved through the smoke and fire, through the trolls that once seemed unbeatable, and the gore the monster reduced them to. It never stopped roaring, never stopped screeching and bellowing. Tendrils lashed violently at each new foe as it cut them down, fed on them. In what felt like mere moments the trolls that had turned this town into a blazing beacon of tragedy had been all but eradicated. The monster's roars now sounded vaguely like laughter, and then it noticed them. It turned to them slowly, its form looked like a shadow wrapped in thin light, void given form. And it clambered towards them with drooling maw and expressionless malice.
Audrey and the goblins were now back to backing away from the threat, this one now seeming even more hopeless than the trolls had ever been. Its tendrils slowed down, now instead of whipping violently they just expanded its already frightful form. It leered closer as Audrey scrambled for a way to protect her and the group. In a desperate move, she grabbed a piece of burning wood and thrashed it around at the space between her and the monster. It backed up, seemingly frightened. She felt a small pang of hope. Before it was quickly destroyed when a thin tendril whipped and knocked the torch from her hand.
Several more tendrils emerged and wrapped around her torso, neck and arms. It wrenched her towards its face, jaws opened. She held her feet to its chest in a futile effort to keep away from its glowing sharp teeth. She screamed, and it froze.
Its head pulled back, as if trying to examine her through the swirling air and thick smoke, its grip loosened, its head tilted. And it spoke in a voice she knew all too well.
"Audrey..?"