Beasts, Not Men [2]

Luna led Liam and Noona out of the southern pass of the Valley. Liam had packed his bag heavily with all the food he had planted and grown, as well as his skins and precious vice aka pipe.

They traveled through thickly wooded land for days, the flora amazed Liam. The trees were all different from what he was used to and he saw many unique plants. Giant leafy fronds, thin metallic looking needles that would launch themselves if one got too close, and trees that were so big around they made the giant redwoods of California look tiny. Each time he came across these massive trees it would take several minutes to circumvent its huge trunk.

Eventually Luna stopped and held her finger to her lips, then pointed. As Liam looked forward into the jungle he saw a small rodent that was wriggling as if it was suffering the worst torture. It was a chipmunk and Liam had a quick 'rescue rangers' theme song pop into his head before he realized the problem.

The chipmunk stayed in the state of panic and kept wriggling, but there was nothing attacking it. After a few minutes a slight creak from a tree branch could be heard. A small shadow cast over the shaded woodland floor before a large hawk snatched the chipmunk off the ground.

However, just like a Shakespearian comedic tragedy, things did not play out the way the hawk intended. As it pulled the chipmunk into its' vice-like grip and flew into the air, a long green tendril seemed to be uprooted from the earth in the back of the chipmunk.

Liam watched dumbfounded as the tendril yanked hard and the hawk lost its direction and altitude, plummeting to the ground with the chipmunk between its talons. As it fell to the ground, a low rumble sounded and the earth…rose up.

A massive green maw appeared out of the ground, easily large enough to swallow a person whole. The maw snapped tightly around the chipmunk and hawk before receding into the ground.

A few moments later Liam felt some strange energy in the air and saw a rich brown light spread over the ground. The ground smoothed out and the chipmunk appeared again on the surface of the hard packed dirt.

Luna sighed and relaxed, "That's a Vile Plume, it's a vicious monster that can use both Bulwark and Glamour genes to bait in it's prey. Now that it's eaten, we should be safe to pass by it. Before, if we got within 30 yards it would have changed its' illusion to something to bait us to wait for it to attack."

<Who's that Pok- Damn it!>

Liam squashed Noona and nodded silently. This was no time for levity. These creatures had never existed in his experience, and it gave a cold realization to him to witness. The world had changed so much that he couldn't even trust seeing an animal in front of him. In consternation, Liam focused his eyes and decided to unleash all of his visual spectrum.

The chipmunk in front of him, as well as the ground within 30 yards of it glowed lightly with a red light. Under infrared vision he could witness the earth elemental energy. As he looked lower into the ground Liam noticed a bright purple plant about fifteen feet below the surface of the earth. 'Hrm? It looks like ultraviolet can pick out the main body below the ground...I wonder...'

Liam suddenly asked Luna, "Are these… Vile Plumes…known for having a core?"

Luna answered without thinking, "Of course, it's pretty potent too from what I know, but you need a massive team and plenty of knowledge of how to hunt them to gather the cores."

"Cores? It has multiple?" Liam's eyes showed something that anyone from the past would have understood to mean anticipation for the hunt, but innocent Luna was oblivious.

"Yes, it has a Bulwark Core near its roots, and a Glamour core in its petals, why?" Luna was casually explaining the anatomy of the dangerous plant when she realized Liam had disappeared from beside her.

Panicked, Luna looked around, only to see to her horror, that Liam was standing over the chipmunk. Before she could shout, Liam casually lifted his foot and stomped the chipmunk into a meat paste.

Luna was stunned. She watched as the ground shook again in front of her, and a giant orifice appeared out of the ground. Luna couldn't help but notice the concentration on Liam's face as the plant gourd swallowed him whole. He didn't look scared in the slightest.

Soon, Luna understood why. A screech resounded through the jungle as the ground trembled violently. Luna watched in disbelief as the dirt vanished into non-existence and the sight of what was occurring 'underground' became apparent to her.

Liam was still in the middle of an upside-down bulging plant gullet. But, sticking out of the top of this strange inverted bell, she could see a metallic sheen through one of the petals. Before she could register what was going on, another metallic sheen appeared through the root stalk of the Vile Plume.

With a final shudder, the bell of the carnivorous plant relaxed and Liam came into view. His entire body was covered in mucus and blood. The corrosive effects of the plant's acid was clearly effective on him. If it had been only a minute longer he would be nothing more than bones floating in the gastric juices of this monster.

Liam shook his body suddenly, flicking sizzling acid all over before he reached down and plucked a rich brown stone the size of a ping-pong ball out of one of the roots. He held it in his hand, and like a cheap street magician, the stone vanished within his palm.

He then pulled his sword out of the gourd he had stabbed earlier and reached his hand inside. When he pulled a core out shimmering with the multi-colored radiance of Glamour, Luna finally picked her jaw up and spoke.

"Why did you do that! There was no reason to be so risky and you could have died, plus you didn't even warn me, you could have used my help if you had just…" As Luna went on her rant, her voice trailed off and vanished. He had performed perfectly. He hadn't needed her help. Why was she berating him when he was so much stronger than her?

Liam seemed to be aware of the inner turmoil of Luna and said with a smirk, "Here you go. Fifty fifty split of the spoils. If I hadn't learned the weaknesses of it from you, it would have been far harder for me to manage to conquer such a strange creature. Besides, this core is Glamour based right? It makes sense that you use it."

Luna didn't know if she should laugh or cry. How could a man be so thoughtful about her, yet so thoughtless to his own situation? She lamented as she watched the damaged skin slough off his shoulders and arms. Instead of fawning over his injuries though, she stoically spoke up and said, "This will be useful to me, and if you think it's right I take it then I shall."

Unfortunately, her straight forward response couldn't cover her blush. Just as she received the glowing stone from Liam's hand, as if it was some omniscient being's voice that could tortuously read her every thought, Noona's voice sounded.

<No need to be so touched. He knew he would be fine and this would be helpful to you. He only wants the best for his wom-> Only to be interrupted by a smack.

'What was Noona going to say? Am I his…surely not…I'm looking into this too much. We are just travel companions and he wants the strongest party he can have. That's all.'

Luna's tumultuous inner world gradually calmed down as she focused and began to absorb the Glamour within the stone. Unlike the Ipili core, this was pure Glamour. Her body felt enriched, and she jubilantly smiled as she saw the last vestiges of the Ipili taint disappear from her tail. She had saved months of recovery with this moment.

Feeling fully revitalized, Luna smiled a radiant smile and skipped over to Liam full of gratefulness. "Thank you, that was so helpful! I really needed…" Before she could continue her thought, Luna watched as Liam's body suddenly became covered in earth.

As she watched, Liam shook his head in disdain. Then the earth fell from his body and more earth formed in smaller shapes. This repeated itself a few times until finally…it looked as though Liam's entire body was covered in mottled brown scales.

"How do I look? Would you think I was an Ipili?" Liam interrupted Luna's shock with a question.

"Huh? Ye…y-y-you! What did you do? Yes it looks like an Ipili!" Luna spoke in consternation.

"Good, then I have a disguise to travel the world. A little bit of Bulwark mixed with the Aura of Conquest can work wonders."