17) Sharper than a Serpent’s tooth. [ Death potion #9 ]

  The Earth Snake was a constrictor, not a viper. But at Level six, it was now large enough that, fully stretched out, the Snake would be longer than the Skeleton was tall.

  By quite a bit, actually.

  But while my scaly Summons still had fangs, they weren’t actually venomous. Which is why the little glass bottle with a skull shaped glass stopper holding the strange, clear fluid inside of it that the Snake was now holding in its mouth had seemed like a good alternative to naturally venomous fangs.

  I had noticed in passing the bottle resting in the thick padding inside a red lacquered box with a tarnished cut copper decorative covering quite some time ago. But only recently had I remembered its existence and had gone looking for it again after the last of my recent invaders had left my home.

  Both the box and the bottle inside it had been unlabeled. So after getting the Skeleton to dig it out of the back of a drawer, and opening the box for Viola’s inspection, I had asked the Fairy if it was some kind of poison, such as the skull shaped stopper would suggest.

  Viola had slowly blinked at the bottle filled with interlocked layers as if it had been filled with sharp sided bubbles all pressed snugly together, before she shrugged and held her hand out toward the bottle as she cast one of her spells.

  “What’s that?”

  After a moment, the Fairy had glared at the bottle still nestled in its padding, then demanded, “What’s that?”

  The third time she asked, Viola had yelled her question. “What’s that! Aw, come on!... Stupid spell. Why won’t you work?”

  Finally, the Fairy flew over to flop down on the shelf next to my Core with her arms crossed. “Stupid fractal goop. All I’m getting is ‘Glass bottle. Sealed.’ When I try to find out what it is. That stuff is blocking the spell somehow.”

  Leaning one of her elbows on top of my Core, the Fairy complained. “It might be poison, but how are we going to figure that out?”

  Well...

  Licking up and swallowing a small droplet of the strange, clear fluid instantly turned one of my Dire Roach into a puff of displaced magic. While stabbing another Roach with a thin metal spike that had been dipped in the fluid, and had the handle wrapped in a rag to give the Skeleton a better grip, made the punctured Roach slowly move around in a disoriented way for a moment before it too poofed.

  While Viola had then demanded that I “Do it again! Do it again!” neither of us was sure what the odd fluid was doing, but it was definitely doing something deadly.

  What else could you ask of a poison?

  While we had only used a small amount of the fluid, the Roaches themselves had been fairly small. So I had no idea how much of the poison would be needed to kill a Goblin sized being.

  So the Snake had the entire vial clutched inside of its mouth, readied to be bitten between my Summon’s teeth just before it sprang out to sink its teeth into whatever body part a certain Tamer put within the Snake’s reach.

  “Steal my pot, will you?”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Of course, first, I had to get the Tamer up to the top of the shaft from the drains, which was deeper inside my Domain than I liked anyone to be. But it was where I could get to my enemy.

  And now, exactly as I had planned, regardless of what Viola might claim, I now knew about the Tamer backup plan in the form of the Goblin’s living chair monster.

  Thus, my failure to get the Tamer with the Undine was no failure at all. It had been a probe, meaning that the Goblin getting away was definitely not his win but mine.

  And yes, I was going to keep telling myself that.

  In the outer hall, Viola went flying back from the snapping jaws of one of the Lizards, as the other reptile tore the Spider apart in a poof of orangish red freed magic.

  -Viola. Fall back to the top of the stairs.-

  The Fairy circled around the Lizard as it turned in place, waiting for the chance to leap upwards for another chance to bite at Viola. “Not a chance, Fella. I got him right where I want him.”

  Hrmmm… It might be useful to kill at least one more of the Lizards, since the Tamer had paid a deposit on them. But then he might chicken out on coming up the shaft.

  As I pondered how to get Viola to fall back, the Fairy abruptly appeared in the air near my Core, cursing as she looked over her body. “Ow! That scaly boy got a hold of me, and was just holding on to me in his jaws instead of biting down.” Viola thrust out her chin as she gave my Core a narrow eyed look. “That Pit bound Goblin was trying to capture me. Again!” She crossed her arms. “That Perv.”

  Torb was trying to steal from me, again… Now I hope that the poison didn’t just kill him, but that it also hurt.

  My Fairy fluttered over to pat my Core. “It’s alright, Fell, he didn’t get me.”

  The Ratling had lost some ground inside the shaft due to the Roaches, but were silently still silently pulling and trying to stab at the Skeleton inside the tight, crowded quarters inside the shaft when suddenly... they all just relaxed.

  And the Ralting, my Skeleton, and all of the Roaches, fell down the shaft. All of them at once.

  Oh, I guess that is one solution. Clever Goblin.

  As the pile of fallen combatants hit the walkway that ran along the drainage channel below the shaft, several of the Ratlings tumbled out of the pile into the slowly moving channel. While others sprawled out helplessly, pinned underneath the pile of bodies.

  But several of the ones on the top, and a few others who had been standing around clear of the falling bodies, all began to work together to pull my Skeleton free of the pile, and hold him securely in the grips of dozens of Ratling hands.

  Or would it be their paws? I checked. Thumbs, I was going to go with calling them hands then.

  Other Ratlings set to work stomping on the remaining Roaches.

  Forced down onto their knees, still struggling, the Skeletons looked up as the one eyed older Ratling, who was now standing well away from his Boar mount with his club raised above his head in both hands.

  Then the gray muzzled Ratling swung his ornately carved club down. Bones cracked, and vanished into my familiar orangish red mist, but this time, none of my Magic from Summoning the Skeleton came back to me.

  “...Wait?”

  Instead, my Magic seemed to spread out thinly, before beginning to slowly drift away to where a green, glowing eyed Goblin sat on his chair.

  A chair which, for the moment, was only doing chair things like sitting still.

  The Tamer’s entire lower face was covered in dark blood, which seemed to have leaked out of his nose, eyes, and ears. The Goblin’s skin has gone the color of boiled peas, and he was both sweating and breathing heavily.

  Sitting in his living chair, the Tamer grinned through blood stained teeth. “No Hax for you this time, Fell, the Witch’s work is stronger than your little tricks. I got Merit for killing that one.”

  “...What?”

  My magic hadn’t come back, even when my Skeleton had died inside my Domain.

  “My Magic didn’t come back!” Viola laid her hand on top of my Core. “Fell?”

  This is… Wrong. Not impossible, in fact, this is normal, but it’s not supposed to work like that for ME!

  Getting my Magic back when my Summons are killed in my Domain is my edge. My special move. It's supposed to be the big thing that lets me win.

  ...Pit.

  The Goblin, leaning back in his chair, gestured for the living furniture to begin walking forward on its four stumpy legs.

  Now, none of the Goblin’s creatures, or his own eyes, were glowing anymore.

  The Tamer had been taking direct control of all of his minions. Puppeting each of their motions, all at once. Doing so had, by his bloody face, cost him something. In fact, it looked like it had cost the Goblin a lot.

  It had also gotten him a true kill, one that had cost me Magic. Not that I didn’t still have plenty, but if I lost my invested Magic every time that Ratling killed one of my Summons with that clue…

  It would be bad.

  But, at least now, the Tamer was finally moving forward.

  Torb was sending most of his Ratlings up the shaft first, but he was moving up to follow them.

  Right into my Domain.

  “I got you now… Fairynaper.”

  Time for the Earth Snake to make his marks.