The heqet hoisted me high in the air, dangling me from one of its many tentacles.
“They’re so much tastier if you terrify them first…” it babbled to itself. “I’ll start by dissolving your itsy-bitsy fingers and then slowly gobble you up. You should be happy! You and I will become one.” The woman half laughed while the eyeball-frog half reached out toward me with a thick, wart-covered tongue.
This is it. I…I’m really going to die this time.
As the tongue wrapped around me, my arms and legs began to melt. It didn’t just hurt, it burned, but I was too exhausted to even scream.
“Mmm, so fragile. But don’t worry. My slime is a powerful acid, but it’s also a powerful healing salve. It will never let you drop below 1 HP—you’ll remain conscious even as your brain is turned to ooze. Isn’t that deliciously terrifying?”
Just before my eyeballs started to melt away, I saw Lunaère flying toward us holding the longsword I’d given up on.
“Don’t you know it’s rude to disturb people while they’re eating? Get lost! Barrier Magic Level 16: Charybdis,” said the heqet, and a magic circle appeared along with a dome of water that enclosed us. “Now my little morsel, I’ve blocked off this area with a shield of water. It consumes lots of my magic, but such is the price of privacy. You’re such a rare meal for me, and I’m going to savor you in peace—”
Through my dimming vision I saw a sword tear through the curtain of water, and then the barrier exploded into a shower of mist. Charybdis was broken. Lunaère hovered on the other side of the falling barrier, sword in hand.
“Your constant interruptions are unforgivable, lich girl!” The heqet’s woman face twisted into a demonic mask as she turned to face Lunaère. “What is the meaning of this? You’ve spoiled my appetite, and for this transgression, there can be no reconci—”
“I think we’re finished here,” said Lunaère, and a vertical line of energy split open the heqet’s body. Slime oozed from the wide gash.
“I-impossible…” the heqet croaked as she slumped to the slime-covered floor. “Charybdis is the perfect defense. Y-you even penetrated my thick skin? How could a tiny crumb like you destroy the Queen of Toads?!”
As the heqet’s life drained away, the tentacle’s grip released and I fell. My body was shapeless after being dissolved by the digestive juices, and I was sure that I’d be dead as soon as I splattered against the floor. Luckily, Lunaère swooped down and caught me.
Catching me meant she also got covered in the digestive acid. She stood there stiffly, holding me in silence for a few moments. My vision was still a mess, but instead of her usual blank expression, I was pretty sure she looked annoyed.
One of Lunaère’s Retrograde spells later, my body had reformed, allowing me to escape death for the second time that day.
“Thanks again.” I said, bowing as I sank to the floor. “I was in serious trouble there.”
“You’re not welcome. I only came back to see how you were—to watch you suffer. What were you thinking? You would be dead now if heqets didn’t play with their food.” said Lunaère quickly. Though her expression was blank, I could tell she was ticked off.
“I, uh…couldn’t pull the sword out of the floor.”
“What do you mean? I barely stuck it in.”
Slicing toad monsters in half with a single swing must seem normal to her. I realized Lunaère had no idea how ridiculously powerful she was.
“Why didn’t you call me when you couldn’t pull it out? What kind of pathetic fool thinks they can fight a heqet unarmed?”
“Well, to be honest, I wanted to ask you for more help, but you’d already flown away. And…I was a bit worried you’d eat me or something if I pushed my luck.”
“Liches don’t eat humans. That’s an offensive suggestion.”
“N-no, I mean…argh. I’m really sorry! It’s just that I’m an idiot!” I backpedaled, but then Lunaère’s eyes sparkled and she placed her hand over her mouth.
“Well—there are some liches that eat humans…”
I knew it!
When I cringed away from her, Lunaère shook her shoulders and opened her eyes wide.
“I’m not that kind of lich!” she huffed, even though she tried to keep her expression neutral. “Listen, if you managed to make it this far down, you should be capable of crawling your way back out. Stop messing around, take this sword and those items, and go back to the surface.”
Lunaère passed me the longsword, which I gratefully accepted. Then the weight of the sword slammed me to the ground the instant she released her grip, breaking my arm and shattering my chin on the goo-soaked flagstones. As I faded from consciousness in a pool of blood, teeth, and toad acid, I saw Lunaère’s emotionless face staring down at me.
“Retrograde.”
Once my face was back in one piece, I bowed in front of Lunaère.
“I probably should have explained this before, but…I didn’t fight my way down here,” I said. “Someone transported me directly to this floor.”
“Are you serious?” She sounded surprised, and I thought maybe I saw a tiny expression creep across her face, just for a moment. “Impossible. There’s no way to jump between floors with magic. This place is a containment site for monsters, sealed off by an impenetrable barrier since the Age of the Gods.”
Well, Naiarotop was a god—even if they were only a Lower God. If there was an Age of the Gods, then they’d be the ones with the magic to get around the barrier.
“Actually…I was sent here from another world by someone who claimed to be a god.” I knew it sounded far-fetched, and she probably wouldn’t believe me. But of all the things I’d met in Locklore, this scary, human-hating lich seemed like the nicest person so far.