Chrysalis

"Are you alright, Granin?"

The old Shaper raised his head wearily to meet the concerned gaze of his youngest triad member. Torrinna Laksham gleamed in the darkness of the Shadow Realm, a product of the ore she'd been able to obtain to form her True Skin, an infused variant of Manganese she'd stumbled on by chance. He tried not to glance at the padded leather armour that covered her left leg. He should probably be grateful the warrior circle left her any of the precious material at all, but he couldn't help but feel bitter and suspect they'd ensured that she wouldn't have enough to form a whole skin. She was tough as nails though, more than willing to bear the shame of being incomplete in order to utilise the enhanced properties of the ore to enhance her Shaping. The Circle had high expectations of her, as did the cult.

"I'm fine," he muttered, waving away her concerns. "When you get to my age these jaunts in the Dungeon become more taxing on the system."

A pair of serious eyes looked down on him as he rested after his recent exertions. The confrontation between Balta and the monster had put everyone on edge. The creature appeared more than willing to try to get under the silver fool's skin and being a puffed up warrior, the glorious leader was unwilling to endure what he saw as an inferior creature's mocking. In the end, his own triad members had been forced to restrain the enraged warrior before he'd thrown himself upon the restrained monster in a blind rage. A ridiculous display for an esteemed member of the warrior Circle and a complete embarrassment for his family. Granin was hoping they'd settle for paying off the members of the delve to keep it quiet rather than resort to more … extreme measures. Not that the monster cared.

"I don't think I've ever seen a creature with such a low sense of self preservation," he burst out.

Laksham raised one stony eyebrow.

"You expected the candidate to cooperate after we chased it down and abducted it? I think he's being well behaved all things considered."

Granin was a little taken aback.

"Him? That sounds a little familiar. Have you been communicating with the specimen much, Laksham?"

He knew she'd been speaking to it via a mind bridge, as had Nium, the second of the triad, it was necessary that he himself not be the only one making contact with the creature. But now he began to suspect that they may have been speaking more than he assumed.

She shrugged.

contact with a proper candidate. You can't blame for

proper candidate yet. I'm not certain what the leadership is planning right now, this isn't the sort of action that we would normally take. I do know that the cult hasn't

really shouldn't refer to him as an it. You know as well as I do that he's a Sapient creature. He was

creatures from the Dungeon than most people, but there is still a certain level of caution that I recommend in you. They

always careful," Laksham stated, her gaze steady

with the young Shaper, he wouldn't win even if he tried. She was a stubborn as an actual rock, this one. It wasn't a problem, she was smart and cautious, he could trust her to make good decisions. It was the other Shaper in his triad

almost time to perform the healing

Granin groaned.

you handle it this time? I need to go find

was able to sense it out. At her age he hadn't been able to wield a fraction of that sort of skill. Pushing his misplaced jealousy aside, Granin moved back toward the rest of the group. They weren't far away, the warrior

a mind bridge to his fellow Shaper

the specimen told us

I keep asking, he's going to start denying even

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'He?' Granin grimaced.

All I want to know is that there isn't some creature out there plotting

He's not that stupid. This is a highly intelligent monster we have here, he

to limit your contact with the specimen

[What? Why?!]

too close to the