Annita had always loved otters. Their little eyes. The way they used their hands to hold things and interacted with their handlers. Yeah, they could be vicious in their natural habitats, but that was just nature. They were curious, intelligent, and had just the sweetest faces.

She was reconsidering this stance as she ran at the thing that was actively trying to swallow Rosalyn. The otter’s face had split open into a wide mouth rowed with the long teeth otters normally had, just way too many to be normal. As she ran, it finished opening its maw, large enough to fit Rosalyn lengthwise, and barreled towards the prone Druid. Its frog-like hind legs bulged as it pushed its mass, dragging leathery skin across the ice while its normally adorable front paws reached out towards its prey.

This one is going to give me nightmares. Annita thought.

Kat was closer to the creature. She raised her shield and lowered her head as she charged. A dull ring sounded as she made contact with the creature’s forearm, pushing as hard as she could to divert it.

It scrambled, trying to correct itself and get at Rosalyn, but Kat’s Stand Your Ground kept it from doing so. Letting out a high-pitched squeak that quickly morphed into a deep croak, it lunged away, disappearing into a pool of water before anyone else could get at it.

Ann was at Rosalyn’s side, helping her up the next moment. “You ok?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Took a good hit, but it moved me more than anything. Never seen something like that. Otter and frog? Looks like Bren wins part of the bet. I really don’t like how it didn’t even want to bite, just swallow. Oh, it’s not gone for long,” Rosalyn jabbered, nervous energy being channeled into talking as her eyes scanned the walls.

Following her gaze, Ann could now see the dark shape of the frog otter flitting back and forth outside the room. It seemed to be trying to find the best angle to get at them, swimming to and fro. For a moment it disappeared, swimming too far away from the walls for them to see.

A sudden splash and it had launched itself from one of the ceiling pools down at Kat. Taken completely by surprise, the Protector fell, driven to the ground as the Warped landed its full weight on her. Small paws and claws scrabbled at her leather armour and metal shoulders, to little effect. Then the thing got its hind legs under it and kicked.

Ann could hear the wind being driven from Kat’s lungs as the thing launched itself into the air off of her chest.

Whipping her revolver around, she took aim and put a smite enhanced bullet into its side. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to knock its bulk off course as it plummeted back down towards Kat.

Suddenly, shimmering light appeared between the two as Bren cast, but it was shattered instantly, barely slowing the creature down. There was a glint as Kat activated Reactive Defence, and the creature slammed down into her.

Ann heard Kat scream as something crunch beneath the weight of the Warped. Bren was already healing her, but Ann had to do something to allow their fighter the time to recover.

“Hey, ugly!” A great insult. Truly. One of the most inspired things she’d said. Fortunately, it got the Warped’s attention. Quickly, she dipped into Stoke the Flame, tapping her Desire reserves to piss the thing off even more. Snapping off another glowing purple bullet, she flicked it off with the hand holding her falchion.

The reaction was immediate. Large legs coiled under the thing’s long body and launched it at her. Stepping aside, she let it fly by, but not without getting a claw to the side of her head for her troubles. Cursing, feeling the welt forming beneath her armour, she spun to find that it had slipped into another pool.

“This thing is pissing me off,” Ann grunted, scanning for the next ambush.

“Aye, need tae feckin’ pin the bawbag down. Rosalyn, can ye snare it when it hits the ground?” Kat asked, having joined her in watching the sidelines. 

The group clustered in the middle of the room, with Bren and Rosalyn as close to the middle as possible. 

“Yes, I can. It might hit you, though. So just be ready for that.” Rosalyn warned.

“Danger o’ bein’ up close. No problem,” Kat chuckled to herself.

Another splash, again from above. Their party wheeled to put Kat and Ann up front, but before they had completed the turn, the Warped was gone again. It had jumped from one pool to another with incredible speed. A feint.

“It’s fucking with us,” Ann gasped, surprised the thing had the capacity to even think of a strategy like this.

“Ambush predator,” Rosalyn explained. “Not like the snowcats. This one wants to tire us out. Make us nervous and make mistakes. Any weakness and it’ll be on us.”

“Vexing,” Bren grumbled. “How about we give it an opening and bait it out?”

“Ye volunteerin’?” Kat asked, watching the shadow of the otter as it changed directions in the water faster than it should have been able to.

“Yes. Please keep somewhat close. I won’t be able to take a hit like you did,” Bren confirmed, a grim look on his face.

“We’ll try. Go on,” Kat said, waving him off with her shield hand.

Slowly, Bren walked forward, edging closer to a pool. The frog otter noticed instantly, changing course and disappearing into the dark water. A moment. Two. A third. Bren was almost at the edge of the water before a splash came from a pool to his side. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ Novᴇl_Fire(.)net

“Shit!” Bren cried as he was pushed forward, down, and into the pool.

“BREN!” Kat screamed, rushing forward.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Ann yelled as she matched her pace.

Rosalyn just moved with them on instinct. 

Kat didn’t even wait to see what was going on and dove in after her brother, only taking her sword.

Ann dropped her revolver and followed suit. The water was frigid and dark. She could see back to the room, light spilling out of where the pools formed exits they could escape to.

Bren was about twenty feet away from them, spun upside down and harried by the Warped. It swam with all the grace of its otter half, and tore at Bren with sharp claws and teeth. Blood clouded the water, both the creature’s and Bren’s, as he scored a hit with his knife. Without the strength or dexterity to back up the swing, however, it was a minor wound that quickly healed.

Kat and Ann reached him together, grabbing hold of his robes and pulling him back as they desperately swam toward the nearest pool of light.

A stream of bubbles rushed past as the Warped kicked Ann in the side, sending her floating and off course. She let Bren go, leaving Kat to drag him back to the relative safety of the cavern.

Twisting, she looked around desperately for the creature. Her body felt heavy, her legs sluggish and her tail not moving how she was used to. A dark figure appeared to her left, and she barely had time to extend her claws before the thing hit her again. She was more prepared this time, and twisted in the water to avoid the worst of the impact, but she still felt like she’d bruised a rib. As she did, she sunk her claws into the creature’s hide, hanging on for dear life, and securing her hold with another Smite.

Another strange chirp-croak vibrated through the water as the Warped tried to shake off Ann’s grip. She clung doggedly on, feeling her fingers burning with the effort. Her lungs were aching, breath quickly leaving her as she hoped the Warped would make for the cave.

Another croak reverberated through the water and the Warped turned. Seems like Ann’s prayers were heard as she saw the light of an entrance growing before her. Letting go of her grip, she let the thing splash through the entrance ahead, before following after it.

She had no way of knowing which way was up at the moment and had to climb out of the water, back on to the slick, smooth ice, gasping for air.

It took a couple moments of gasping before she heard the commotion of the others fighting nearby. It looked like the frog otter had tried to make another escape, but had been caught by Rosalyn’s Entanglement. The Warped strained at thorny vines that cut into its hide and held it still. It didn’t do any damage, but the things frustration was clear in its erratic movements.

Kat was nearby with Bren. The Healer looked incredible for someone who’d been on the business end of the Warped’s claws moments ago. Kat was breathing heavily, but looked relatively unharmed. 

Rosalyn, in the meantime, was splitting her focus between keeping the Entanglement up and skewering the Warped with Thorns. As her hands and staff wove patterns in the air, magic rippling from them like heat waves, an arc of lightning struck the creature, the smell of burning flesh and fur filling the room.

“Oh ew!” Rosalyn squeaked, wrinkling her nose at the stench. “Ann, now’s the time to get at it! Kat needs another moment, c’mon!”

Spurred by her words, Ann dug the claws on her feet into the ice and darted toward the Warped. Her revolver was still on the other side of the room, so she stuck to her falchion. A slash took a chunk off the side of the Warped’s left leg. Skin fell away to reveal a thick layer of yellowish fat and red muscle. The flesh squirmed underneath, giving Ann the unfortunate close up view of how the Warped healed themselves. Muscles twisted, the nodules of fat wriggling as it snaked here and there.

She had to tear her eyes away before she puked. Focusing on stabbing now, more than cutting, she twisted to the right as a kick sailed past her, the wind from the movement not quite moving her sodden fur and hair. Taking advantage, she dug her sword into the thing’s knee and pushed another Smite into it.

The Warped chirped with surprise and pain, the high pitch noise hurting Ann’s ears as it writhed. Fast, but not durable, she noted. She set about it, cutting the tendons in the back of its legs, letting her skills increase her damage from its flanks and rear. Kat joined her shortly, taking the Warped’s attention from the fore and hacking away at its face.

Another two spires of thorny vines hit the sides of the creature, and torrents of blood began to pour out of it, staining the ice red.

Kat scored the killing blow, driving her sword through the Warped’s brain. Apparently, it was hard to heal from that, since it did continue to struggle for a moment, but quickly collapsed.

A silver notification appeared, indicating a level up. Ann sighed, dismissing it for the moment. There were more important things to check on. She walked over to Bren, who had knelt on the floor, head hung as he huffed. “You ok? You scared the shit outta me,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I will be fine. Honestly, that frightened me quite a bit as well,” the man admitted shakily. “I think I’ll do without swimming for a good while, thank you very mu-!” his sentence was cut off as Kat dragged him into a bear hug.

“Don’t ye feckin’ scare me like that again, ye manky git. I swear on me mum an’ Orenous’ arse that I’ll kill ye if ye do,” she whispered, holding him as close as she could.

Bren’s face was a mask of shock, before his look softened, returning the hug. “I would never plan on it, Katlyn.” He patted her back, holding her as much as she held him. After a moment, Kat broke free, wiping her face.

“Sorry. Just, aye, that,” she mumbled to the other two.

“No, no. I get it,” Rosalyn said, nodding understandingly. “If I had a brother, I’d totally freak out if he almost died like that. Not like I do, but I get the feeling. We should probably figure out how to warm up though. Being in the water then in this cold isn’t good for anyone, even those of us with skills to help with the cold. Need to dry off as fast as we can. I picked up some sticks and stuff along the way, so we can get something started. We might want to move… that, though,” she said, pointing to the corpse of the Warped.

“Eugh, yeah,” Kat grunted, getting to her feet. “Help me out?”

The girls got to work moving the body, while Bren set about setting up the fire. Soon enough, they had it dumped into one of the pools and gathered by the fire. The ice, surprisingly, didn’t start to melt at the heat, and just behaved like a normal floor. “Magic ice, huh? Nice,” Ann grunted as she sat, back to the fire so her tail could dry out.

“That was surprisingly vicious for something that was not a Guardian,” Bren spoke up, putting his hands to the flames. “Though eliminating it will earn us a good amount of gold. Not to mention the level I received.”

“Oh, so it wasn’t just me?” Ann asked. 

Kat and Rosalyn nodded, indicating their advancement as well. Kat was busy shivering and trying to warm up, and Rosalyn was helping dry her off with a blanket.

“Just an even level, though. At least stat increases are important,” Ann said, flicking her window open and adding her two points of Dexterity, bringing it up to an even 30.

“Thirty Intellect!” Rosalyn cheered, making her own selections.

“Same fer me Tenacity,” Kat said with a self-satisfied grin.

“Just more Intellect on my part as well,” Bren said softly, eyes returning to focus on the flames.

“So, what’s the plan now?” Ann asked, turning around after shaking her tail out. “I’m kinda wiped after that fight. I could use a rest.”

“As could I,” Bren admitted. “Not quite ready to throw myself back into life or death quite yet.”

“How ‘bout we take a rest ‘ere,” Kat suggested. “Rosalyn an’ I can take watch while ye two nap.”

“Sounds good to me,” Rosalyn said, stretching and standing back up. “Shame we didn’t bring one of those Scuttlefish. I would have liked to look at how its skeletal structure worked with an endo and exoskeletal creature mixing.” The woman sighed, clearly a little put out.

Ann shuffled herself over to the wall, setting down her bedroll and curling up on it, closing her eyes. Bren had done similar and sat beside Kat, head resting on her shoulder as he drifted off.

Kat and Rosalyn kept quiet conversation for the duration the two slept, mostly trading stories of Warped they’d run into. Rosalyn took particular interest in the freak they’d run into before encountering Ann. It wasn’t like anything she’d ever heard of, and the Druid seemed genuinely upset she didn’t get to see the horror herself.

After a time, Ann woke and stretched, claws extending habitually and scraping against the ice. Something soft and warm was snuggled up next to her, and looking down, she saw Rosalyn had sidled up to her while she slept. Smiling, she stroked the woolen hair that tumbled between the Druid’s horns. “I’m up,” she said softly.

“Yeah, I could tell,” Rosalyn whispered back. “Kat and Bren looked so comfy I wanted someone to lean against too, so, uh, yeah. Guess this is what happened.”

“Hey, you won’t hear me complaining,” Ann giggled, pulling Rosalyn closer. “Seriously, no need to be nervous about it. I like having you this close.”

“Oh good, ‘cause I like it too,” Rosalyn murmured, nuzzling into Ann’s side. “You’re so warm and big. Just so comfortable, despite the whole wolf thing. It feels nice.”

“Hey, Rosalyn?” Ann whispered, lowering her head just shy of the top of Rosalyn’s.

The woman turned to see what she wanted and was instead met with a soft kiss on the lips. Her eyes went wide for a moment, before closing and melting into Ann’s lips.

Ann deepened the kiss slightly, tongue slipping out between her lips to request access to Rosalyn’s. She readily accepted, her breath hitching, and Ann got her first proper taste of the woman. She tasted fresh. Like a mountain breeze, with a hint of ozone. It was a strange taste that made her tongue tingle and her body shudder. Pulling back, she pressed her forehead to Rosalyn’s, letting the woman’s horns hold her in place.

“You taste really nice,” Ann whispered as she watched the Druid.

“Mmmm,” was the only response she got. Rosalyn still hadn’t opened her eyes, she was so lost in the kiss. Slowly, she came back to reality, hazel eyes fluttering open to meet Ann’s green pools. “So do you. Though I’m not sure if that’s just ‘cause I like you,” she admitted, head trying to lower as she embarrassed herself.

“I’m not really sure why,” Ann said, leaning back and pulling Rosalyn on top of her, letting the smaller woman snuggle on top of her. “For some reason I’m able to get a sense of someone from how they taste. It was like that with Kat, too. She tastes like the earth and the trees. Natural, steady, firm. You taste like the mountains, and a hint of a storm. Fresh and clear, but dangerous at the same time.”

“Mmm,” Rosalyn mumbled from where she lay. “Sounds really nice. Wish I could say what you taste like, but all I can say is that it tastes like you.”

“Eh, that’s good enough for me,” Ann laughed, running her hand down Rosalyn’s back, gently stroking the woman’s hair. “Maybe Orenous can help with that if we ask nicely next time she pops up.”

“That’d be fun. Both to meet her and to find out what that’s like,” Rosalyn hummed. She turned, burying her face between Ann’s breasts, taking a deep breath. “Though I can tell you one thing,” she said. “You smell like sweat.”

Laughing, Ann pushed her off, sitting up. “Yeah, I probably reek. Even after taking a dip with that thing. Eugh, that might have made it worse. Sorry for subjecting you to that.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Hazard of the trade and all,” Rosalyn giggled as she sat up.

“Ye two’re gettin’ along nicely,” Kat commented, grinning at them from a few feet away.

Bren was rousing himself, blinking sleep from his eyes as he sat up. “Time to move on?”

“Aye. Take yer time. Somethin’ tells me this one’s gonna be a bit longer than most,” Kat said, eyeing the singular exit to the room.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep