Symbiote Knight Ch. 6

Chapter Six: Different Menu 

“Aberration? Fuck!” Hull spat as her long fingers dug into Cassian’s shoulder, dragging him upright. Cassian couldn’t breathe, the gnawing pain in his stomach was so intense. All around him the others were lying panting in exhaustion, the tendrils of metal having receded down their throats. There was a flush to their faces, sweat beading along their brows as they struggled to recover from their first feeding. 

“Have to get him to the anchor. Get Major Leary and get a team to lead us there. Hull, you and two others, will escort us through to the anchor. The rest of your squad will take the knights back up to the ship.” 

“Us, ma’am?” 

“Yes, us. Me, you, Halston, two of your men and Cassian. We go with Major Leary to the anchor.” 

“Not happening. You and Halston go back to the ship with the rest. I’ll escort the pretty boy to the anchor.” 

“He’s in my command and I will see this through, Sergeant.” Veronica’s trademark smile had evaporated and instead she looked angry as she stared at the sergeant. Hull matched her glare for a moment before bowing her head. 

“Forester, get everyone back to the ship. Dunlap and Grevis, you’re with me.” Hull’s orders only took a second or three to be completed as the seven remaining soldiers grabbed the future knights and hauled them to their feet before dragging them toward the swaying ropes. Cassian watched as an addled henri was taken away, her head bobbing back and forth as she tried to get her focus back. 

“Ma’am, stay back and let Leary and his men do their job. Please.” 

“Understood, Sergeant.” 

“Alright, let’s get this shit wagon moving. Grevis you’re in front, Dunlap you have drag, Halston carry the kid.” Cassian was shoved into the bigger man’s arms and Halost quickly looped Cassian’s arm over his shoulder while supporting his weight. Cassian grunted a thanks to him even as the world grew small and narrow around him. The pain emanating from his stomach was consuming him, a vast void that sucked forth everything that he was and could be.

“He’s looking bad. We’re going to have to move quickly,” Veronica said somewhere in front of Cassian. His world had shrank just to the spot of warmth that was Halston on his side and the Hunger. 

Time passed. Words and sounds a blur about him as he continued to exist, holding tight to the core tenets of his life. The memories of his past filling him with a rage and vitriol that refused to be consumed by the aching emptiness inside of him. 

The first time he had felt the sting of leather across the back of his thighs. The squall of pain that had tore his throat while he was surrounded by hoots of laughter.

Rotting food that had stuck in his mouth and throat. Coating himself in garbage to try to stay warm. Hot chills that had made him sweat in the rain as his body shook violently. 

Hairy Harold. Iron tinged blood in his mouth as he ate for the first time in days food that he hadn’t pulled out of the gutter. A bobbing body riding down the wide storm drain channels on the edge of the city. 

Hardwood batons, smashing his hands and gut and back. The biting barks of watchmen as they stole whatever he had on him. The looks of hatred and loathing and disgust as he clung to the shadowy edges of society. 

Sharp stone in his fist as he hit Marget, her body going limp and falling to his feet. The quiet of the others as they stared at him. Cold mana coins pressed into his hand as they paid him. The sneering looks of the shopkeepers even as they paid him.

Finding the man who had whipped him. Potent perfumes and colognes mingling in a sea of odorous camouflage. The feeling of power when he had returned the favor, when he stood tall and unbroken. 

Henri’s steely gaze the first time they met. How she hadn’t flinched from him. Her soft hand in his as she shook his hand like an equal. 

Acceptable. 

The pain dulled away and Cassian looked about himself. Shouted commands were ringing out as steel met flesh. A burst of heat washed over him and the shrill shriek of something burrowed into his ear. 

“You still with us, Cassian?” Veronica asked. The most he could do was try to nod, his neck weak and limp while his head was so heavy.

“We’re almost there, you just need to hold out a bit more. Finishing off the last of the wee beasties.” 

Seconds passed, or maybe it was hours. The world faded out again until he drifted on his river of nightmares. More fights. More hungry nights. Cold and wet and angry. 

“Here you go, boy. Eat up.” The hunger changed from a directionless vortex to almost a hound, sitting and eager, drool escaping its jowls. The pain changed, bursting outward and there were startled shouts and one stifled scream around him. It was like a pressure had burst forth and there was a relief as Cassian went limp for a moment as the absence of pain felt like ecstasy.

Hot broth on a cold night. The first sip of a cold drink on a hot day or a hearty meal after a day's labor. It was the closest Cassian could compare too. Energy jolted him and he could feel his body moving as if it was far and away from him. The effects of a puppet master on their puppet. 

“That’s better. Sorry for eating you, I was hungry.”

“Who are you?” 

“Inside voice, you’ll look like a real idiot if you talk outloud to me all the time.”

Just think? 

“There you go. I knew you could do it!” There was a fake joviality to the creature’s tone, a mocking laugh in its voice.

“Now, the next part is going to be not the greatest for you. Your body isn’t, well let’s say it could use some work. Work that I’m doing for you. You just have to survive.” 

Wait, wait, wait, what are you going to do to me? I don’t want you doing anything to me.

“If I’m stuck in this meat wagon, I want it to function properly and that’s going to take some fixing. I’d tell you what I’m fixing but you don’t have the education or the intelligence to completely understand what I will be doing.” 

Try me. 

“First I will be working on increasing the muscle fiber in your body while also increasing dermal strength. Lowering your caloric intake by increasing the efficiency of your metabolism. Reinforcing the joints, strengthening ligaments and tendons. Increase bone density. Clean out the horrendous amount of bacteria in your gut and fix that biome. What were you eating, never mind, I just looked through your memories. You’re going to be very hungry for the next few days for regular food, tell our servants that we are going to require sustenance rich in iron, calcium, minerals, and assorted vitamins.” 

What?

“You become big and strong and tough. Need much food.” 

You're a prick. 

“You’re just dumb, I will have to simplify the primary display for you. There, done. The work on your brain would be better if you’re asleep. Get back to that floating tub of sticks and eat a lot and then go to sleep. When you wake up I should be finishing up and we can have a better conversation.” 

Cassian’s eyes opened and he was staring up at the strange sky. Veronica and Halston were peering down at him with worried looks while soldiers stood in a circle around them.

“You’re alive!” Veronica shouted, her eyebrows climbing her forehead as she looked shocked.

“Barely,” Cassian croaked. Halston offered him a hand and Cassian accepted it as he was pulled to his feet. His stomach was incredibly sore, almost as if he had taken a beating. His free hand ran over his middle and he felt wet and torn clothing. Looking down he took in his shredded attire. 

“Did…did it come out of my stomach?”

“Yes. Quite strange. Bishop did say it entered you through there rather than your respiratory system. Did it wake up?” Veronica asked. 

“Yeah. He’s a bit of an asshole. Told me to tell our servants to prepare me a feast,” Cassian muttered, still a bit dazed from what had happened.

Hull’s head whipped around as did Major Leary’s, both of them looking a mix of horrified and affronted. Halston just scowled a bit while Veronica threw her head back and laughed from her gut.

“One of those then. Can never tell what type of personality you're going to get with them when they implant. Aberrations generally tend to be a bit more conceited in general.” 

“Let’s get back to the ship and on our way out of here. Without the anchor the rift will begin to collapse, ma’am” Major Leary stated. His men didn’t wait for Veronica’s permission, just tightening up their formation and beginning to walk away. Halston kept a hand on Cassian’s shoulder, keeping him steady as they walked back toward the ship.

Cassian finally got to see the full scope of the rift and his eyes widened as he looked down at the corpses decorating the hills of blue grass. No more of the small little wiggling tubular monsters. These were quadrupeds of flesh colored muscle. Spikes running down their backs and jagged teeth jutting from their mouths like an armory of daggers.

A large nine foot long corpse lay slumped on a hill close by, a black scorch covering half of its chest. A half dozen legs on each side and a tail that ended in a spear long stinger. Its face was covered in eyes and the mouth gaped open had green tinged saliva dripping out of it. One of the soldiers, Grevis maybe, saw him looking and leaned in to whisper to him. 

“That’s the big rift monster. Small rifts like these only have one, maybe two of those. They eat the mana just like your symbiotes do and can grow pretty big. When they finally eat everything and finally consume the anchor, they leave the rift and keep hunting. At least these small one’s. The big one’s are a whole different animal. Whole cities out there that can take weeks to explore.” 

“These are small monsters?”

“Oh, yeah. Major Leary killed that one with a single blast of a rifle. The big rifts you can fly your ship into and the monsters require cannon barrages or knight and mages working together to bring ‘em down. Nasty business, but the loot is good.” 

“What type of loot?”

“Ohhhh, you’re one of those. Don’t worry, you’ll find out more when everyone gets the introduction speech.  Can’t be spoiling Ms. Veronica’s speech now, can I?” 

“Who is Veronica? She’s not a noble, but everyone is scraping and bowing like she is.” 

“That’s her story to tell, not his,” Halston cut in suddenly, having been mute the entire conversation. Grevis recoiled as if had been struck and his face was instantly pale as they continued their march toward the ships. 

The sky was darkening and Cassian felt like there was a fading of the world. As if the air grew thinner and his steps bounced easier as the world lost its grip on him. The blue grass wilted gray and drooped as they hastened their steps toward the ship. 

“Veronica first, then the Major and two knights. The rest after,” Hull snapped out orders and the Major didn’t bother to contradict her. Veronica snorted in annoyance but broke into a trot when they got in sight of the dangling ropes. A half dozen soldiers stood around the ropes and they straightened when they saw the group coming toward them.

Halston pulled him harder as they started to jog and finally break into a full sprint as the grass dissolved into goop. Veronica leapt and grabbed a rope and moved with speed. Major Leary was right behind her and while not as athletic he still got up the rope with practiced speed. 

Halston physically lifted and shoved Cassian toward the ropes. The tacky rope was easy to grip and Cassian started climbing even as his arms shook under the strain, his body still weak from its ordeal.