And the Kobolds of Penrose Park
Turns out Penrose Park referred to a half dozen different parks in the now largely-abandoned city, all of them generally indistinguishable from the other. There were only so many variations of hills, fields of grass, and woodlands out there when viewed by the untrained eye, after all, and when winter came, the snow served to make things even more indistinguishable. Thankfully though, while the terrain itself was indistinguishable, the signs of vagrant kobolds inhabiting a place certainly wasn’t. Hidden behind pine trees bristling with icicles, both
Raven Hilde and Connie, their attire tragically ill-suited for the weather, could see their marks.
Large campfires were set around the interior of the parks, burning anything from snow-drenched evergreens to walls torn out of nearby buildings. In shabby cardboard boxes and tents, the kobolds sought warmth from the elements as much as they could. Normally, the creatures would have been inhabiting the basements of houses or the garages of apartment complexes, but with all the destruction of property recently, it was safer to brave the cold than to risk being crushed underneath ten stories worth of rubble. The scaled creatures, merely four foot in stature, shuddered underneath layers of sleeping bags while chewing at rats, squirrels, and American pizza. They were a group twenty strong, but in such conditions, only three of them really seemed to be working. One, dressed in a purple bathrobe with a plaid scarf as a belt, handed out fragments of magical coins to the vagrant kobolds for consumption, while two others, bearing axes and rippling, reptilian biceps, hauled over the carcass of a luxury car over, tearing into the hood to rip out the gas tank.
They hurled it into the campfire, but the plastic melted away to reveal that whatever gasoline had once been in there was long gone. A collective wave of disappointment washed over the other seventeen, before they huddled together closer, chewing at magical energy and rodents.
Having scouted out the area as a raven, Hilde returned to Connie and changed back to her normal form.
"Well they're not really bothering anybody. Just seem cold. Kind of hate to drive them out but they can't stay here. People will come back eventually and then we'll have a problem." She huddled under what cover her cape gave, which was only slightly helpful against the cold.
In her hiding spot behind the pines, Connie hugged her shivering body. Even though she was wearing her cold weather robe, the icy wind still seemed to cut right through her, chilling her to the bone. Her newest friend, Raven (or rather, Hildebell), had texted her about tagging along on a mission to remove some low-level monsters from one of Penrose’s numerous parks. Although somewhat reluctant, Connie knew that she could certainly use the experience. Since Mia was out on a mission from her Patron, she had left her a short note, before transforming and heading out into the winter night. For the most part, the monsters they’d be going up against didn’t appear
too threatening. She just wished it wasn’t so
cold…
“Y-Yeah…” Connie replied after Hildebell expressed her reluctance.
“I-I’d r-rather not k-kill a-any of t-them, i-if t-that’s okay… M-Maybe I c-can use m-my m-magic to s-scare them off?” she suggested.
“Oh! B-But, a-aren’t y-you f-freezing, H-Hildebell?” Connie asked, while casting a worried gaze over her friend’s skimpy attire.
“Y-You’re n-not w-wearing v-very m-much…”"I-I'll be fine." Nodding at the suggestion she peeked through the trees toward the fire.
"That might work. I feel like they'd just be back though once we've gone. All 'their' stuff is here." Considering the environment and what they were looking at fighting, it might be a good idea for her to summon something a little more adept to the cold. While her palette of spirits tended to consist of warriors, humans weren't the only warriors to fight on Midgard. A lesser Jötunn would be excellent if it came down to having to clear them out by force. Being higher tier though it would only mean one and for a shorter period of time.
"Maybe... if we set up some place warm elsewhere they'll go that way after we drive them out. Or we just trash all the stuff." Hilde had not expected for monsters to seem so pitiful or to feel sympathetic toward them. She'd expected to be all "Yeah, squash the monsters!"
“I l-like the f-first option,” Connie replied once Hilde had presented her suggestions.
“W-Wrecking their s-stuff seems k-kinda m-mean…””Okay. Let me see what I can find further outside the city.” She transmuted again and flew up to get a good view of the outside of the city. A decently forested area should work. Would have to start a fire or something though. Hm, this might require a bit more preparation than it first sounded. They might just have to run them off after all. Hilde relayed that information shortly thereafter.
“O-Oh… O-Okay…” Connie replied, sounding a little downcast. Her heart ached for the poor creatures. It wasn’t
their fault they didn’t have any place else to stay. Still, they couldn’t remain
here, so…
“I r-really h-hate h-having to do t-this…” Connie would say, before focusing her magic into a large nightmare pulse. She tried not to make it very strong, but it would still have a very wide spread, covering the entire kobold camp. It would hopefully cause each of the cowardly creatures to see something particularly frightening, perhaps a natural predator, which would prompt them to flee the park and never return.
Hilde’s sweep of the area around her turned up a tragic fact: the area that the kobolds were in
had indeed been a decently forested area...until they began to clear up the area to create living space and cutting down trees for firewood. Evidence of this was everywhere, dozens of stumps of trees that were repurposed as tables or chairs while stacks of wood were piled atop each other haphazardly. While there were more patches of greenery around and beyond, especially in the area where they had once fought Aighorost, it wouldn’t be a farfetched thought to think that relocating the kobolds somewhere else would result in the same outcome.
Connie’s nightmare magic seeped out soon after, invisible to the untrained eye but undoubtedly potent as the nightmare pulse washed over the group of kobolds. As one, they stiffened, looking out to the west before their purple-robed leader screeched out in a voice that could have shattered glass. Immediately, the group sprung into action, grabbing sticks, branches, whatever they could get their hands on and tossing it into the main bonfire. The smallest of them sat closest to the stoked flames, while the larger ones cuddled the smaller ones, locking together into tightly-packed group around the bonfire. There they laid, limbs tucked in and head tucked down, bracing for a devastating blizzard that...wasn’t actually coming.
“U-Umm… T-That w-wasn’t r-really the r-reaction I was h-hoping for…” Connie said with notable disappointment.
“I, uh, g-guess we c-could t-try to f-frighten them w-with one of your s-spirits,” she suggested to her friend.
“D-Do you t-think that might w-work?”Having checked twice now, there didn’t look to be a peaceful solution. Perhaps Oros had a point in how she behaved. Probably even more passive than the twins even. Bleh.
”I think we may be trying too hard. They’re monsters and if we don’t get rid of them then they’ll just make a mess somewhere else.” Raising up her head she watched as they huddled.
”Sorry Connie. We have to do this the old fashion way.” Back up she went, teleporting this time.
Instantly above the kobold, as Hilde dropped she waved her staff.
”Come young Jötunn! Walk Midgard once more and help us rid the land of these beasts.” For the uninitiated, Jötunn were beings that came in many shapes and sizes. In this case she would draw one that most would call a frost giants of Norse mythology. Such creatures could easily stand 20 feet tall. Hilde of course was not adept enough to call on a behemoth of such size, but that did not matter. Even a juvenile would easily be twice the height of the kobold and strong enough to boot. Big, stocky and with a tough hide it was built for battle. Hilde lighted on its broad shoulder as it formed and crashed into the ball of kobold.
Two seconds to react wasn’t a lot of time, but with Hilde announcing her presence and the general quiet of the world around them, the kobolds scrambled, scattering as a ‘giant’ crashed down into the center of the mob. A wet crunch and a wheezing squeal sounded underneath, a particularly small kobold with a cloak stitched of doggie sweaters gasping out blood and teeth as they were crushed underfoot.
The kobold leader, springing back up onto his feet, regarded the threat swiftly, before barking out orders that sent the rest scrambling. Three leathered kobolds took the smaller ones away, scrambling away between disorderly rows of tents and shanties, while the nine that remained hefted up whatever weapons they could. Axes, tire irons, baseball bats, crowbars, and butcher knives, surrounding the strange creature and the human that stood atop it. The kobold leader pulled out a Walther P99 out of his robe, pointing it at Hilde and aggressively shrieking at her, making wild gesticulations with his free hand.
Whatever he meant though, was lost to human ears.
The sound was sickening to hear and it sent an additional shiver down Hilde’s spine. She dare not look at what she’d just crushed for fear it would steal her resolve. Clearing monsters was one of the primary jobs of a magical girl, and if she couldn’t manage that then she might as well have never been selected. A frost giant could be considered a monster, but summoned under her control as a warrier it wasn’t the same.
Noises and gestures made by the kobold meaningless her focus went to the gun being brandished. Magical girl aside, even an ordinary firearm like that would probably hurt someone like Hilde pretty bad. Its exact capabilities were unknown to her as guns really weren’t her thing. Still, she couldn’t afford to get hit. One blink and she be standing aside, hand on the P99. A second blink and she would take the weapon away with her, appearing several feet away if she managed to keep hold of it. She obviously had never used or even held a gun before. So for the moment she had no intention of attempting to fire the thing.
The frost giant would move to do its own thing. Snagging one of the larger half burned logs from the fire, it pulled it free and slung it at a couple of the smaller creatures that were standing closer to one another. A deep grunt would escape as it charged forward. It’s goal was to reach one of the shanties and take one of the supports as a club for itself. If one of the kobolds got in the way it would simply try and go through them. Each step was heard and felt from the thump of its large feet.
Connie gave a horrified gasp at the sight of the frost giant crushing the small kobold. This wasn’t what she had hoped for. She’d never wanted any of them to die. But it clearly couldn’t be helped. Even as most of the creatures fled, ten remained, including what was apparently their leader. They would surely all be slaughtered by the mighty frost giant, but perhaps…
Drawing on the power bestowed upon her by the Lord of Nightmares, Connie conjured another nightmare pulse, this one considerably more powerful than the first. Focusing on the remaining kobolds, she sent it surging towards them. Although somewhat reluctant to do so, it was her hope that whatever terrifying thing was manifested would frighten the creatures enough that they would finally break and run, thus sparing them from the frost giant’s wrath. Of course, when tapping into such potent fears there was always a danger that whatever was conjured by the spell would actually take physical form, but Connie hoped that if it did so, Hilde’s frost giant would be able to take care of it.
Hilde had taken one step less than what she should have. The magical girl had surprised all the kobolds by suddenly appearing in front of the leader, and it was all too easy to place a hand upon the gun. But she hadn’t actually taken the gun out of the kobold’s hands before teleporting away. Hilde looked in her hands, and saw that they were empty.
The Walther P99, still grasped tightly in the kobold leader’s hand, was racked, aimed, an-
A shriek sounded from the kobold closest to Connie as her nightmare magic sank its talons into their psyche. Sharing the same nightmare, the rest of the kobolds began to panic as well, scrambling away from an unseen assailant even as the frost giant pounded through the camps to wrench a thin but stiff branch out from one of the many shanties in the area. The kobolds, against this nightmare threat, dissolved into a disorderly mess, none of the lizardmen having any clue as to what they were supposed to do. Trapped between flight and fight, they somehow ended up doing both, scrambling about and swinging at the air.
The purple-robed kobold snarled, then shot his handgun skywards, barking out orders and gesticulating once more. The kobolds froze for just a moment, and then split off into two groups of five, one dealing with a non-existent threat while the other dealt with the magical girl that summoned both threats: Hilde.
The two muscular kobolds from before hefted their axes on their shoulders, dashing at the frost giant and threatening with their very presence, while two less manly kobolds hefted up green-glass bottles that sloshed a yellow liquid instead, tossing them at Hilde. In the back, the kobold leader had both hands on his gun, ready both for the girl’s teleportation and for any opportunity to get a clean shot.
Realizing the mistake she’d made, Hilde took steps back further into the snow. The giant was taking up most of her focus at the moment but she could still make use of her magic for smaller things. Indistinct spirits circled around her in a flurry of snow and purple wisp, expanding out and obscuring vision. Three of the spirits flew out of the torrent and weaved around toward the kobold leader. They had a vague resemblance to translucent human heads. Screeching they had little physical impact that they could inflict on the kobolds, however they carried the chill of winter in their wake. Being non corporeal they could also draw fire if the leader were to aim a few at them. The spirits would react to such attacks, but actually be unharmed and would continue to chill the air. After several seconds they would dissipate.
Not forgetting the bottles having been thrown, Helde would use the cover to become a raven and fly out of the area where they would land. She didn’t really want them seeing that she could become a bird so she would stay low and try to keep the cloud in the way before bearing up and back.
The weapon that the giant managed to get was nothing special, but usable. That however would not be the only part of the shelter the creature would attempt to use. Using its strength it would heft the roof up and wrench some or all of it loose as a makeshift shield. Hilde was going to have to make note to pick more readily armed spirits in the future. The axe wielding kobolds would find that the giant seemingly had no fear and would stand its ground. It did not charge in though, instead reading to defend itself for them to make the first move.
Connie watched as half of the remaining kobolds broke off to engage whatever nightmare adversary her magic had conjured in the creatures’ minds, while the other five set themselves against Hilde and her frost giant. This was not what she had expected, not by a long shot. These kobolds were far more courageous than she had initially imagined. After a moment’s thought, she realized that this unnatural bravery was most likely due to their leader’s influence. If she could just manage to truly frighten
him… Retrieving the Eye of Fear from the folds of her robe, Connie gazed into the mystic artifact in an attempt to glean some knowledge of exactly what terrified the purple-robed creature the most. She never liked doing this, as whatever terrible thing she found would ultimately end up terrifying her as well, but for the sake of her friend, and the kobolds themselves, she had to try…
With the frost giant on the defensive and the axe-kobolds just vaguely threatening it, that particular fight had dissolved into a non-violent showdown, one side waiting for the other to make the first real move. On the other hand, after some failed attempts at hitting at nothing, the group of five kobolds that were tasked with striking at a nightmare realized that it wasn’t much but an illusion either and quickly ran to circle the frost giant as well, increasing the amount of people committed to the vaguely pathetic standoff. The bottle-throwers, on the other hand, were packing up snowballs now, their bottles of urine having been lost in the torrent of spiritual energies that none wanted to encroach upon. With their enemy shrouded, they could only help their leader by tossing snowballs at the spirits that rushed at him, which appeared to be illusory as well.
In that case then, was the frost giant too, in some way, shape or form, an illusion? Sighting his target and squaring himself off, the kobold leader shot the giant in the foot, where the shield wouldn’t so easily cover. That monster
had appeared out of nowhere, after all. Who’s to say there wasn’t another layer of deception here?
Connie, meanwhile, was pulled into the power of her mystic artifact, the Eye of Fear drawing her into its kaleidoscope of macabre terrors. Through the darkness, she began to see, no, feel something. The dampness of the air, the stench of sewage, the coldness of brick and moss. Goblins chattering happily alongside kobolds, as a river of refuse trickled down beside the two. A bonfire in a barrel, crackling bright. The yellow fat of sewered rats, popping and cracking in the heat. Something slithering by in the corner of her eye.
The vision changed.
Screams and fire, a walls of stone covered by scaled tendrils as a maw brimming with tombstone teeth rotated with the shrieking of a blender. Everything was mixed in, pounded and pulverized into indistinguishable sludge. The goblins ran and ran, scrambling into crevices, hiding holes. The kobolds ran further, farther, too large to fit. A group of sixty, picked off by the monstrosity of mouths and fingers. Gunpowder ignited, burst, to no effect. Traps, pitfalls, rockfalls, scattered with no efficacy. They scrambled away, all of them, stumbling over each other until…
A ladder. Upwards. Daylight. Silence.
The vision ended.
It was right about now that Hilde wished she had more physical prowess. Her problem was more likely that she didn’t know what she was doing when confronted with a group. The spirit she’d summoned was getting surrounded as the illusions were apparently being ignored. She considered dismissing the giant when it was shot to make them believe that perhaps everything was fake, but that may or may not help them. Probably should have fought numbers with numbers from the beginning. Too late now. The giant flinched at getting shot but remained standing. Neither side apparently moving meant they were both waiting for the other to make a mistake. Very well.
It was clear that the others were taking orders from the leader. Too many of them had surrounded the giant at this point though for him to break away. Having the superior reach the giant would advance to the right and take a mighty swing at the kobolds on that side. The branch whistled through the air.
Connie gasped repeatedly as she tried to catch her breath. She was still quite shaken up after experiencing the horrible vision her mystic artifact had provided, but she knew that now was not the time to give in to her fear. Her friend needed her, and so too did the kobolds. At least, if any of the remaining creatures wished to survive the night. Shuddering briefly, Connie took a deep breath and focused on the horrific creature the Eye of Fear had shown her. Gathering her magic once more, she fired a third nightmare pulse at the remaining kobolds, making particularly sure to hit their leader. With any luck, they would break and run, without the creature manifesting physically. If it did, she could only hope that her friend would be able to deal with it…
A cry of terror, followed by another, as the kobolds stopped, a couple of them battered away by the frost giant’s swing but more of them paralyzed by a creature that only they could see. One dropped their weapon, then another, and soon they scrambled away, tripping over themselves to retreat, abandoning all their possessions in their terrified flight. Only the purple-robed kobold, frozen stiff, remained. His arms fell to his side, his eyes dead.
Not figuratively, not metaphorically, but literally.
Before Connie and Raven’s eyes, a tendril of a pulsating green-brown extended outwards from the kobold’s chest as his own form seemed to shrivel up, shrinking like a juice box in a child’s hands. The tendril grew, extending further and further, until it formed a spherical, egg-like shape as well, bulging veins thrumming against a translucent shell that cracked open to reveal a mouth of tombstone teeth. They ground together with the roar of a chainsaw, as more tendrils popped out of bubbling boils upon the egg’s surface, spearing into the backs of the kobolds and sucking in more substance, more nightmarish substance for itself. What shrivelled remains were tossed into the grinder-maw, scales and skin turned to dust in seconds, half the kobolds turning to nutrition in the blink of an eye.
Five more remained though, running haphazardly away. If Connie and Raven wanted to retreat now, this was their cue.
What the... where had that come from? The kobolds fleeing as others of their kind were ground up, Hilde took the opportunity to get some distance and teleport back over to Connie. The frost giant would disappear and some of the magic used to form it would return to the girl.
"Is that you? Should I be seeing it if it is?" She would peek around a tree to keep and eye on the thing.
“I-I’m s-sorry!” Connie stammered.
“I d-didn’t k-know w-what else t-to do! I s-saw h-how t-their l-leader w-was m-making them s-stay, s-so I t-tried to f-find s-something t-that he was a-afraid of, a-and, u-umm, w-well… I’m r-really s-sorry…” she trailed off as she nervously peeked around the tree to take a quick look at the monstrosity she’d inadvertently unleashed.
“C-Can y-you, u-umm, t-try to k-kill it w-with o-one of your s-spirits, H-Hilde?” she asked her friend plaintively.
Hilde would try and get a better idea of the thing that was now in the kobold encampment. Mainly if something in particular might perhaps harm it over throwing swords or what have you.
The kobolds, exposed out in the open with no convenient tunnels to turn down into, had no place to escape. One by one by one, they were speared and devoured, the horrifying creature becoming more substantial with every new prey. It sank down once the last of them were devoured, before the egg itself began hardening, the translucent shell turning opaque as tendrils near the base of the profane creation drove itself deep into the earth.
And then, very faintly, Hilde could hear the sound of snow turning to fog, melting and then evaporating in the area around the egg.
That didn’t sound good.
”Connie, stay hidden.” Hilde took to the skies again to get an aerial view. It should be easier to see from overhead even with the snow melting. This thing spawned from nowhere. Maybe it had some spirit like aspect to it that she could take advantage of using her own magic. That was just a hope given it looks like it had some tombstone looking teeth.
From a bird’s eye view, Hilde could see that the air around the strange shell was wavering, heat emanating from it and causing the snow to evaporate. The egg looked to be inactive now, but with the snow gone, she could see that the grass underneath was withering, while the earth seemed to be sucked dry of all its moisture. A drumbeat, a heartbeat, began to pound from within the nightmare-spawned sphere, and at the very base, the spirit mage could see that more tendrils, slimmer than the ones that had speared those kobolds, were extending out. They entwined with each other, solidifying into rope-like roots that surged deeper underground.
Strangely enough, or perhaps expectedly enough though, her spirit magic couldn’t sense it at all. This creation was soulless, empty on the inside, but whether that was because of its magical origins or because of its nature was a question that Hilde couldn’t easily answer.
Okay. So the thing was heating up and looked like an egg. That meant it was incubating right? So they just needed to disrupt that. That sounded about as good as any plan at the moment. Landing outside the reach of the tendrils she began spawning more of the frigid spirits from before. Not having the giant to take up her magical output she could create dozens of them. Circling around the egg they began to change the flow of the air and suck in more of the winter’s chill. It might just slow the thing down. Then again with time and effort she might be able to freeze the thing. She wasn’t really sure.
Meanwhile, Connie huddled in her hiding place behind the trees, occasionally peaking around to see how her friend was faring. This was
her fault. She knew that with dreadful certainty. She had only wanted to make the kobolds flee, to keep them from getting killed… But it had all been for nothing, and now, a terrible monstrosity had been unleashed upon the world…
If… If only I had been stronger… the anguished girl lamented.
Maybe I could have controlled it… Made it stop, before it… Before it… she shuddered as the kobolds’ horrific deaths replayed in her mind. Holding her head in her hands she started to sob bitterly.
“W-Why m-me?! W-Why d-did I have to g-get this h-horrible p-power?! I-I’m n-not… I-I’m n-not s-strong enough t-to c-control it!” she whimpered.
“I-I’ll n-never be s-strong enough…” But you are, Empress, a voice sounded in her mind.
You are. Connie instantly recognized it as the voice of her Patron, the Lord of Nightmares. She had never thought, never
dared, to ask before, but perhaps it could help…
“I-I’m s-sorry f-for a-asking, b-but h-how? I-I’m s-so s-scared! I-It w-was b-bad enough in t-that v-vision, b-but now t-that it’s r-real…” YOU ARE THE EMPRESS OF NIGHTMARES!!! her Patron boomed.
Think, Empress! How do you suppose it remains in this world? Who is giving it life? That’s right… Connie realized.
All the kobolds are dead… There shouldn’t be anything left to fuel its existence… It should have disappeared… Unless...! she gasped with sudden understanding.
“M-Me! W-When I s-saw that v-vision, I g-got scared too! T-That’s why it’s s-still here! I-It’s drawing its p-power f-from me!” Yes, Empress… Very good… the Lord of Nightmares commended.
Now you know what you must do. Put away the coward’s heart, and become the ruler I’ve chosen you to be. That creature is your creation, command it as the Empress you are. “B-But…!” No… The Lord of Nightmares is right… Only I can do this. I have to become stronger… Connie resolved with newfound determination.
I will become stronger! No more hiding! My friend is in trouble, and I’m going to save her!And in that moment of beautiful resolve, Connie felt something wet slither around her ankle. A tendril of flesh, bubbling up as it gained more mass! Tiny pinpricks of pain shot into her foot, ankle, calf, and more of the earth around her ruptured. Lethargy and numbness began to weigh down on her, both her blood and magical energy being drawn in by the tentacle molded around her leg. And it was growing.
She was the source of power for the nightmare she had spawned, and now, it would seek to secure her.
In the distance, Hilde’s magic seemed to definitely be making the area around the egg colder. Snow that once turned to vapour condensed once more, damp dew settling over the aberrant egg’s surface, where it transitioned between frost and dewdrops over and over. No tangible effects manifested, however, and from her own vantage point, the egg appeared to be dormant still, unmoving and unreactive, merely
growing.
Nothing, really? Alright let’s see about this then. The smaller spirits would begin to coalesce together at the base of the egg, concentrating the cold to an extreme and working to freeze the inky roots that anchored it to the ground. This thing needed to be dislodged from whatever it was trying to do.
Clearly Hilde wasn't taking this seriously enough and letting things just happen. That summed up her for the most part actually. “Oh no, let me just try this little thing and, eh.” With that in mind she would keep the freezing up while drawing on more of her magic to summon another giant, this one armed. In its hands was a great hammer. The head was massive and probably weighed as much as a smart car. Against small targets it would not be an ideal weapon, but for something this large it should work. The warrior would close in hefting its boulder smashing implement. Coming in with a wide swing the creature would slam the side of the egg with straight blunt force.
“Eeek!” Connie yelped as the tendril wrapped itself around her lower leg. In addition to the admittedly minor pain, she felt as though all her strength was being sucked out of her. She began to feel tired, no, utterly exhausted, and she found herself seriously contemplating simply lying down and taking a nap. This was terrible! She had just mustered the courage to go and save her friend, and now
she was the one who needed saving! She really
was worthless…
A part of her, a very
large part, if we’re being honest, wanted to close her eyes and keep them closed forever. Or, rather, she wanted to open them, and prove that everything she had gone through over these past few months had merely been a dream, some horrible nightmare that she had finally awakened from. Nothing good had come from being a magical girl, only pain, suffering, and disappointment. For her, and now, for
others as well… But, no… That wasn’t really true, was it? Yes, there had been some unpleasantness, a
lot of unpleasantness, but there had also been good things as well. She had made new friends,
lots of new friends, and for their sake, she couldn’t give up now.
Opening her eyes, and fixing her gaze firmly on the tentacle clinging to her, Connie knelt down and took hold of it with both hands. Squeezing it tightly, far more tightly than it was squeezing her, she dug her fingers deep into its slimy flesh. It felt disgusting, to be sure, but Connie pushed through her discomfort. She could
do this. She
had to. A dark aura of amethyst energy began to surround her, and the gem upon her forehead glowed brightly, as she poured all her mystic power into the tendril. It surged with the force of a pressure hose, until it had filled the entirety of the horrific monstrosity she had brought into existence.
“A-All right, you m-monster!” Connie shouted at the creature with all the strength she could muster.
“I c-created you, so y-you’re g-gonna do as I say! I just w-wanted you to s-scare them off, b-but you had to go and k-kill them! Y-You’ve caused enough trouble, so I’m s-sending you back where you c-came from! ‘C-Cause I am the E-Empress of Nightmares, and you will obey me!” With that, Connie reversed the flow of her power. Now, she was sucking the mystical energy back into herself, with all the force of a quantum singularity. Predictably, the creature tried to resist, but Connie was having none of it. When it struggled to free itself, spikes of nightmare magic drove ever deeper into the very fiber of its being. Its opponent was no longer a pitiful frightened girl. Connie’s fear had given way to a new emotion:
anger. Because of her, the kobolds had died horrible deaths, and she refused to allow anyone else to suffer their fate. The monstrosity growing before her may have been mighty, but it was just a monster, and
she was The Empress of Nightmares.
It didn’t stand a chance.
The tendrils climbed up further, desperate to sap in more energy from its creator than the creator could from it, but each needle that pricked into Connie’s flesh only formed another avenue for her to recall her own magic. The monster, no matter how terrifying, how destructive, was but a phantom of a dreamer’s fitful night. Like smoke, the tendrils that had climbed up over the Empress of Nightmare’s body dissipated, while the egg seemed to lose its substance as well.
Hilde’s giant swung its hammer down, and egg, silent and no longer releasing heat, burst into shadowy gas as well. No resistance, nor reaction. The park now, was empty, bereft of all but the signs of the monsters that once inhabited this wretched place.
It was over.
The giant’s foe suddenly vanishing left it swinging into nothing and impacting the ground. It looked around for a moment, almost disappointed that it had been brought in to fight only to lose its quarry.
”Eh?” Hilde would look around for anything that might indicate where it went. Maybe Connie ran out of magic or something, or the smack just knocked it back out of reality.
Turning her attention to her friend she would run over.
”Hey Connie, are you alright?” She would yell while still keeping an eye out.
“H-Hilde?” Connie asked with some confusion. She was still a little stunned by what she had just accomplished, and so it took her a moment to fully refocus herself on what her friend was asking.
“Y-Yeah… I-I t-think so…” her voice trailed off, before she gave a sudden gasp.
“Oh my gosh! H-Hildebell! Y-You’re okay!” she exclaimed happily as she leapt to her feet and embraced her friend.
“I did it! I r-really did it! I s-stopped the monster! I-I m-made it go away! Oh, gosh! I c-can’t wait to tell Mia! Oh, b-but you were really cool, too!” she continued, being far too excited to even stop for a breath.
“Y-You made that s-scary giant thing, a-and all those other things, and, oh gosh, d-did y-you want to come home with me and t-tell Mia about it?! S-She makes r-really yummy hot chocolate!” Connie added, while bouncing up and down with glee.
“W-We could h-have some together!”Well, they accomplished the goal in perhaps the most inefficient and potentially disastrous way possible. But the job was done. With the threat confirmed gone she dismissed the sulking giant and other spirits. Putting her hands on her head she let out a baited sigh.
"Well, I'm glad you were able to get control of your magic. I think we both still have a lot to learn about this business." It would be a bit before her adrenalin would come down, but already she was beginning to notice the cold again. Shivering and holding Connie close she would agree happily.
"Yeah, we have q-quite a story. And hot chocolate sounds amazing right now! I'm freezing, hang on while I get us out of here." Gripping Connie's hand she would look off in the direction of "home" and teleport them off. Damn winter.
FaithfulMuse
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LimeTime966
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