A Salamander, but Mighty

POV: Dyenna

What happened?

Dyenna was floating in nothingness, as if her body had lost all weight and was drifting in a black and endless ocean, far from any grasp of reality available.

I am dead? Yet I remember eating the heart of that ascended monster but after that…

She felt her eyes open, yet she did not see; she raised her hands to touch her face and realized that it was there, though it didn't look like her face at all but rather the face of the drakafyr she fought and killed.

"Damn you! What did you do to me?!?" She thundered furiously at nothing, receiving only the reverberation of her own voice coming from every direction and with such force that her ears started ringing, “nff!!”

Dyenna attempted to take control of the situation, but she was only a small mortal immersed in the infinite ocean of existence, where superior forces manifested themselves, beyond the understanding of even the wisest and most erudite of all mortals. Her mind keept drifting within that place without time and logic...wandering far away, unable to understand if that condition would end up lasting forever or not, and what 'forever' meant in a place that seemed to all intents and purposes to not possess a definition of time.

Then a burst of purple, pink and red lightning tore the 'sky' above her; other flashes appeared covering her entire field of vision and extending in every direction, before her eyes appeared a creature that could not be described in any way known to man; it was an enormous entity, a chaotic, slimy mass of limbs that twisted and uncurled spasmodically in every direction.

Dyenna felt completely enveloped by that entity; she laughed, cried, screamed and slapped herself when faced with the realization of how pathetic, small and insignificant the life of any being was in the face of such uncontrollable and ancient power. The stars lit up in flashes of golden light, worlds of black clay took shape from cosmic nothingness. Entities, distorted beings, writhed among themselves and dragged themselves across those worlds like worms on the earth.

It didn't take long for that vortex of madness to infect her too, beginning to twist her and violate her mind with invisible tentacles until she managed to free herself from all those images, pushing them out of her head before the madness of the incomprehensible could consume her.

Dyenna opened her eyes: she was lying on a bed, her body had been bandaged and above her was the plastered wooden ceiling of a house that she assumed belonged to Seltipont. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, and there was no way to tell by looking around; next to her, sitting next to the bed, was Shalotte. The leporan had one arm bent to be used as a pillow while with the other hand she held one of hers, it seemed that she was sleeping soundly.

Dyenna raised her free hand and looked at it: it wasn't a monstrous hand, it was her hand, with manicured nails and delicate, white skin. She breathed a sigh of relief and caressed the leporan's ears, she woke up almost instantly.

- - -

POV: Shalotte

She was sleeping heavily but without dreaming anything, too emotionally exhausted to be able to rest in a relaxed manner; when someone touched her head, the information took only a fraction of a second to register in her brain, which made her eyes widen and her back straighten like lightning. Shalotte fluttered her long eyelashes a few times to bring the room into focus... and realize that the person who had caressed her was her lady.

“Dyenna! Are you awake!" The leporan took the human's hands with both hands, “I'm so happy! When we found you you were comatose and remained unconscious for two days!”

Dyenna still seemed a little confused from her long sleep, but able to understand what she was telling her, as she raised her eyebrows when she was told she had been asleep for two days. “I'm so hungry…” she said, moving her eyes to the rest of the room, “are we in Seltipont?”

Shalotte nodded, “yes, but… there is a problem,” she pursed her lips, “your identity has been discovered and an escort party sent by your noble father is coming here to take you home.”

“I thought so,” Dyenna replied with a snort, “then we'll leave early, time to get dressed and eat something,” she said with a delicate smile.

At this point there is no way to outrun them, nothing short of literally growing a pair of wings will allow us to avoid being reached by them, she thought, worried not so much about the repercussions that the affair could have on her if Dyenna had not been able to take responsibility for their escape from the castle but rather for the dishonor that could have fallen on her family... or even worse, given that the king had the reputation of being merciless in his justice.

Dyenna started to get up, but Shalotte pushed her to stay in bed, “wait! Your wounds have been treated, but I don't think you're fully healed yet! Sit down, I'll go find something to eat!”

Shalotte left the room, they were in the mayor's mansion, who after having worked hard to look for the fighters who had not returned had offered to host the only survivor until she woke up, also taking into account her importance as a future queen of the kingdom. The leporan was heading towards the kitchens when she met Semth, who was also heading to the same place.

“Shalotte,” the man nodded to her, “you have finally separated yourself from your lady!” he exclaimed with a hint of a smile, “so I have to imagine that she woke up?”

Semth didn't have to wait for a response: the leporan's bright, lively gaze told him everything.

“I'm glad to hear it,” he said, “I think we're going to the same place. Shall we talk a little while we walk?”

"I'd love that!"

So, as the two started walking again, the mayor began to speak, "tell me... did she by any chance tell you anything about what happened in that clearing with the ascended monster?"

Shalotte shook her head, “she is very hungry and eager to leave to avoid being taken back to Khalrinda, I guess she will tell me about it later!”

“Mh,” Semth rubbed his chin, “I ask because my men and I found some very strange scenery in the combat zone.”

“W-what do you mean??” The leporan swallowed.

“You see, when we arrived at the combat area we also found the bodies of the ascended monster and the two beastkins who had fought with her. The first died due to the power of the ascended monster, but the second was killed from behind by his own weapon.” The man glanced outside, surveying the landscape outside a large window, “but even more: the ascended monster's chest had been carved out and her heart had been taken out.”

“How… how disgusting! Who would ever do something like that if not a madman??”

“Dyenna was lying next to the ascended monster, covered in blood.”

Semth needed no further explanation for Shalotte to reach the most obvious conclusions: Dyenna killed one of her party members and had eaten the heart of the ascended monster. The leporan was so horrified that she felt the food she hadn't yet eaten boiling in her stomach.

This is absurd! Why on earth would my kind lady do such a thing?? She thought, unable to answer immediately, there must be another explanation, something we are not seeing because we are too hasty on reaching conclusions.

“M-maybe the ascended monster used the beastkin’s weapon to kill him before my lady could land the fatal blow on her,” Shalotte said after those few seconds of hesitation.

“And who tore open the chest of the ascended monster and took the heart?”

It wasn't her! It wasn't her! IT WASN'T HER!

“The monster had a special Feat which consisted of exploding her heart to cause some damage to her enemies, perhaps as a last resort to be able to kill her enemy before dying.”

“I've never heard of the existence of a Feat like that…” the man replied.

“Well you don't know all the Feats given by the system to this world!” Shalotte trilled in her sweet, slightly squeaky voice, fists clenched at her sides.

Semth opened his eyes wide, “woah! Please, calm down..." he said, accompanying the words with a gesture with both hands, "maybe there are other explanations, you're right, but sometimes the most obvious is also the most correct."

“She… she's a kind-hearted person,” Shalotte said, trying to stop the shaking of her fists, “she's only making this trip because she wants to make sure her sister is safe and so she can protect her. In this case, the most obvious explanation is also the incorrect one.”

“Okay, then… talk to her about what happened and listen to her story, keeping in mind what I told you,” Semth said, “and here we are at the kitchen.”

"...Ok I will. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.”

. . .

Not even two hours passed from when Dyenna woke up to when the two left again, leaving the village after gifting the generous reward for killing the ascended to Seltipont in order to finance the repairs. They had kept a good supply of goods and potions in case of need, although Shalotte knew in her heart that they would not reach their destination before being reached by the soldiers sent by the king of Heliolite.

“Um… Dyenna?” Shalotte said hesitantly.

"Yes my dear?" Dyenna turned her head towards the leporan, smiling sweetly at her, “if there is something that is bothering you, feel free to talk about it… I don't want there to be any secrets between us.”

Did you really kill a person by hitting them from behind? Why would you ever want to eat the heart of an ascended monster? Shalotte pursed her lips, she was terrified of the possible answers, “the… the soldiers sent by your father will be upon us soon, p-probably before the evening. I don't think we'll be able to outrun them this time."

Dyenna giggled, “oh, really? I don't think so!"

"How come?"

“You see… by fighting against the ascended monster and killing it, the gods have decided to reward my feat by granting me the power of the Second Awakening!” She exclaimed with a voice full of enthusiasm, "I only hope that my companions have also received a reward for their heroic sacrifice, wherever they are now beyond the veil..." she added, lowering her voice and looking towards the feet of the leporan.

Shalotte quickly intervened, hugging the human, “you did your best! Unfortunately, no one is able to save everyone, not even the gods!” She exclaimed, holding her gently, “I'm happy that you survived, and that you achieved the Second Awakening.”

Dyenna hugged the leporan in turn, nestling with her chin on her shoulder, "thank you... they were very experienced fighters, it was a shame that their fate brought them to this." Dyenna remained close to Shalotte, her breasts and lean abdomen pressed against hers, “is there anything else that worries you? Is everything okay now?”

“Um…” Shalotte became thoughtful; her heart began to hammer hard in her chest, her cheeks turned red and she folded her long ears behind her head, “c-can I have a k-kiss?”

Dyenna didn't answer her, instead, she raised her face and brought it closer to that of the leporan, who closed her eyes and opened her lips slightly. Their warm breaths mixed a moment before their lips touched, at first a light touch, a simple and soft brushing that gave shivers to the leporan, then the kiss became more passionate, enough to steal her breath. Shalotte felt the other's tongue on her mouth and timidly returned the attentions with her own tongue, while without realizing it, she was tightening her nails on the human's shoulders.

“Ahn…”

Shalotte made a moan of protest when Dyenna distanced her lips from hers, that kiss had lasted too short, she wanted it to last longer, much longer. “you're very cute, my dear,” Dyenna whispered to her, she too was out of breath, “any more questions?”

Kiss me! Kiss me more! Shalotte bowed her head, shaking it a few times, “n-no, no other questions.”

Dyenna winked at her and with all the calm in the world separated from her, “now I will use the powers of my new class. I need some space."

The human moved at least three meters away before stopping and closing her eyes. Shalotte watched her take a deep breath and when the human reopened her eyes her irises had turned red like blood; her body began to deform and change color and appearance, all accompanied by unpleasant sounds of tearing flesh and breaking bones. The leporan remained petrified while where Dyenna had been a moment before, there was now a blue drakafyr, but still with red eyes.

Shalotte felt a shiver in her short tail that raised her fur, “D-Dyenna? Are you OK?"

The big monster nodded, she was fine, the clothes she was wearing... a little less so, those were in tatters on the ground along with the rest of the equipment. Dyenna lowered herself to the ground and spread her wings to invite the leporan to climb onto her back, which she promptly did.

Moments later the human-turned-dragon spread her wings and took flight, a dark shadow covering the land in the direction of Stanbroodge.