Chrysalis

I’m not sure what I expected, honestly. Here in the base of Garralosh’s psyche, I kind of thought I’d be talking to a person. Instead, her mind is represented by an amorphous shifting mass that is at any one time part human, part crocodile, part Escher painting.

[I WILL KILL YOU.]

Good start!

[You do a lot of that. Killing I mean. Why do you have such a grudge against the people up here anyway?]

[THEY HURT ME.]

When she communicates, it’s like a psychic scream that punches into my mind with brute force. Unpleasant, to say the least.

[How the hell did a bunch of farmers and townsfolk hurt you? They could barely hurt me!]

[NOT THEM. OTHER’S. VENGEANCE.]

So.... To get back at the person who had chopped off her arm, she annihilated a kingdom full of innocent people. Yeesh.

[So, care to explain that dragging feeling I noticed in your memories?]

The second I mention it, her struggles double in intensity and my mind starts to ache under the strain of pinning her down.

[GET OUT OF MY HEAD!]

[No.]

Once again I’m able to master her, my will is superior. Neglecting her mental stats is proving to be a grievous error. I suspect the Karmodo has done a fair bit of mind magic on her and she doesn’t even remember it. I can only imagine the Lizard Wizard would have magnitudes for control and finesse than I do. I barely know what I’m doing!

[THE PULL. I EVOLVED TOO MUCH. TOO FAST. I WAS CALLED TO THE CENTER. OTHERS LIKE ME. ALL DEEPER.]

Called? By the System? Or something else?

[You don’t like remembering that you were human do you? Tried pretty damn hard to suppress it. Must have been part of what kept you... sane-ish. Even a cruddy life as a human was better than being a monster in the Dungeon I suppose.]

[DON’T WANT TO REMEMBER.]

of gone with the flow. The constant danger and the threat of death isn’t great, don’t get me wrong, but it’s nice to feel like I

[NO.]

You came to the

THEM AWAY.

’vacation from murder’, just kill, kill, kill. What about my colony then, huh? What about us? We

[KILLED MY CHILDREN.]

me first,

THEY ARE FOR

what sense? Wait, I’m not sure I

more than this. She’s super old! More than a century! Maybe even two! Where’s the accumulated wisdom of the ages? I suppose, if you

of instincts and emotions. There isn’t much left of the human

outside, at least, that’s how I understand it. I’ve been in Garralosh’s head for a minute or two but probably only a few seconds have passed on the outside. My goal is to try and bind her mind from her body, to trap her awareness here in this

exactly a glorious victory, but I’ll take what I can

weave of my spell continues. A cage. A prison of mind magic that will bind this weak mind from its decidedly not weak body. Mind magic is so damn

You were a human being at one stage. I get you felt like embracing your new

STAND IN MY

can.

[I’LL KILL THEM!]

[Yeesh. Back to this.]

I can feel my brains working that sweet, sweet mana with all the grace and dexterity they can summon. The cage is rapidly

of madness. [I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU. ALL OF THE INSECTS WILL BE CRUSHED BENEATH MY FEET. I WILL CONSUME THE HUMANS AND TURN THEM INTO MORE OF MY KIND. THEN I WILL DESCEND AND THERE WILL BE DEATH. I WILL SLAUGHTER EVERYTHING I SEE UNTIL I FIND

Whoa there!

with her assault she once again tried to break loose from my control but I hold on for dear life. My mind strains to the breaking point, the very fabric of my mind coming apart at the seams as her desperate insanity gives the beast new strength. We fight

Err.. The

SUFFERED, I WILL KILL THAT CREATURE A

her second life experience. One out of five stars, wouldn’t stay again. My

know you don’t want to remember, but I can’t help but be curious. My name’s Anthony, by the way. I’ve kept that name from my old life. May

of rage that is Garralosh’s mind as a response. Perhaps she would fly off the handle again, or go nuts in some other way. Instead, she grows still. I can feel her searching. Reaching back into memories she’d long forgotten she had. It’s

is ready to go! Finally!

BAM!

I the one that’s locked