A breakfast of slime

In one fluid motion of his arms, the dark wizard prepared to cast a spell to free Keira the assassin from the green sludge that was starting to swallow her.

 

“Ignis!”  , the dark wizard bellowed in a voice that sounded like a dark incantation of some sort. He produced a stream of black fire from his outstretched hand and incinerated the creeping slime, and within a few moments, reduced it to ash.

“Are you ok?” the dark wizard asked Keira as he bent down to help her up.

“Huh?”

Then Vangz suddenly closed his eyes as though he was having a bad headache and replied menacingly, “Get your lazy self up and try to free your other friend.”

Keira sensed something weird in him. He was trying to help me like a real comrade, and then he acts so sadistic again, she thought. But this was not the time for idle thinking. Cool was slowly being devoured by another of the slimy creatures.

Being an assassin, Keira was competitive, and she wont let the dark wizard stole her kill of the day. As she got up, she wasted no time and like a swift wind, rushed towards the still sleeping jester and unsheathed two of her combat knives.

With amazing speed she slashed the flesh into half, slashed it again into quarters then into eights until the green blob was nothing but jelly-like splatters on the forest floor. A sensation of enthusiasm flowed through her body like lightning as she sheathed her blades. She hasn’t done this in years.

“Cool, wake up! Cool!” she shook the jester, but Cool remained in his own fairyland.

“That’s just great, a dumb, lazy jester and an overly proud and show-off assassin.” Snarled Vangz as he stood there, watching them.

Hearing this, Keira’s blood started to boil.

“Who do you think you are, huh? You devil of a man, thinking you’re so smart, just because you are a wizard, huh?” she said as she stood up and walked to face the dark wizard. “You think you’re so brave and so omnipotent, just because you’re trained in the arcane? You won’t stand one second in close-combat! You’re so mean. You’re so evil!” She continued shouting, poking the dark wizard with such force that he was actually leaning backwards.

“Heh.” The malicious smile on the wizard stood its spot as he gloated. “What’s next, a gigantic blob of slime to devour your little jester friend. Hahaha. Well I - -look out!” Vangz shouted as he suddenly forced Keira to bend her knees.

Splat!

As they both looked at the projectile that almost hit them, they saw a gigantic splatter of green goo that devoured a nearby boulder. And just as quickly, the slime started to melt the boulder.

“This isn’t good.” They said in unison.

Then the combined smell of rotting plant and corrosive liquid reached them.

The blanket of trees behind the sleeping jester began to bend forward as a humungous blob of green slime made its way towards Cool.

“Get him. Quick.” Vangz shouted. But Keira was already on the move. She hurried forward and dragged the jester just in time as the forty-foot long slime opened a hole in its body and revealed razor sharp appendages, ready to devour anything that comes near.

“What now?!” Keira asked the dark wizard in a rush of panic. She had never encountered anything this massive and dangerous in her life and as a master of blades, she knew that her knives would do little effect on the jelly-like monstrosity.

To her relief, the dark wizard was again raising his arms in preparation of a spell. She assumed that he was used encountering beasts like these. His dark eyes transfixed at his target, his palms now facing the blob of slime, he opened his mouth to pronounce another incantation . . .

But just as quickly, the green slime spat a colossal blob of corrosive goo to the dark wizard, knocking him over and covering him in a blanket of goo. And just like the boulder, it started to melt him.

“NOOO!” Keira’s shriek filled the opening in the forest.

“AAAAK!” screamed the startled Cool, now finally awake. He looked unbelievable merry for a moment but soon realized the presence of the gargantuan blob of killer slime that almost ate him for its breakfast. “Y-y-y-y-WHAT IS THAT??” He asked as though something was stuck on his throat.

“Questions later. Let’s split up. Vangz is down.” Keira felt her heart pounding in her chest.

“G-g-g-good!!” replied Cool as he crawled to the thick undergrowth of the forest.

As an assassin, Keira was used to following her instincts. And only one thing was running at her mind at the moment. Go as far way as possible. And with great agility she climbed up to the treetops, where she could see the slime from a better view and from there, formulate a counter-attack. Then she saw the monster’s weak spot, as it opened once again its horrible mouth to expose a vital and vulnerable area; the monster had a single internal organ, and obviously, its main weakness. And she will attack it from above. This was her plan.

As she looked back mournfully at the motionless and slowly decomposing corpse of the dark wizard, the tree where she was hiding shook violently as the giant blob started to corrode it. The blob could obviously track down its prey.

The assassin had no choice, the only opening was at the top, and she needs to stay on top, or else she would suffer the same fate as the dark wizard did. And like a hare on a wide meadow, she jumped from treetop to treetop, and every tree that she left behind bent forward as they got corroded.

Eventually, her meadow was turned into a death trap, as she approached the edge of a cliff. There were only a dozen of trees left, but the beast never opened its mouth. She needs to get it open first before lunging a death strike.

The dozen of trees slowly became scarce. Ten trees left. Five. Three trees left. She could already see the rocky bottom of the cliff, and it looks like she didn’t have any choice left.

Leon, I need you now, she silently whispered as she closed her eyes. Is this the end of her journey? No. I must find Leon. I must. I must find my husband. I must. I must. I - - -

The final tree where she planted her foot started to shake. The blob increased it size from consuming everything in its path as it left a smoking trail of burning plant and earth. She could barely see the weak spot due to the increase in size. This is it. Now or never. I’ll plunge my blade and… Leon, I love you.

She prepared to jump. An attack from above, this is the only way. Maybe the force would be able to drive her blade deep enough. If she slays the monster, she would have to continue on her quest. If she dies, she died fighting for her love.

“Heyya, slimey! I finally found you!! Eat this!!”

Keira turned her attention to the source of the high-pitched shouting.

Cool the jester reappeared from the thick bushes, just below the tree where Keira desperately waited for a chance to attack. He was holding a flask of clear blue liquid and threw it to the gigantic blob.

As the container broke open to the slime’s green body and it’s contains splattered to its corrosive skin it suddenly became rigid. The slime’s smooth green body became motionless; the blob seemed petrified.

Joy flooded Keira, as she watched in wonder. She had seen this blue liquid once, Leon had demonstrated its purpose at his lecture. . .

“Ladies and gentlemen, I call this potion, Liquishard.” Leon Seneca poured the same blue liquid on a goblin-test subject and it froze in time. His wife, together with all the nobles, stood in awe and gave him a wave of applause…

This event flashed in Keira’s mind as she looked at the stationary blob before her.

“Hey, Seneca, stopped dreaming, now will you?! I just produced an illusion of me, and this monstrosity went for it instead. Gave me time to muster my energy. I’m such a genius. ” a familiar voice yanked her daydreaming. It was more like a grunt from a sadistic mouth.

Yes, Vangz the dark wizard reappeared, opposite from where Cool the jester sprouted. He seemed fine except for a few minor cuts and burns. And he was already emanating a lot of powerful dark aura. Without further ado, with the same evil incantation-voice, he bellowed, “Occhio…Ignis!”,

A colossal orb of concentrated dark mana shot from his hands with a force of a huge cannon and it hit the green slime straight on. The wizard slumped on his knees from exhaustion as shards of frozen slime flew hundreds of feet in the air and inflicting enough damage to blast the monster’s frontal anatomy, exposing its still palpitating internal organ.

“Hurry! Before it regenerates again!” the dark wizard ordered Keira.

The assassin, leapt gracefully in the air, just in time as the final tree bent forward and fell to the endless pit below.

. . .Fly like the leaves in the air, dance with the wind. Strike the earth with judgement’s fury, this is the first waltz of the assassin . . .

Keira felt it again, the sensation of being able to fly like leaves in the air as she fingered the hilt of her blade and pulled it with grace. Like stars in the morning sun, her knives shone as bright. She opened her eyes to the target, locked her sights, and with inhuman speed swooped down on the beast’s weak spot; like an eagle’s talon catching its prey, her blades found their target with perfect precision.

Her foot felt ground before the first leaf had fallen and the beast stood rigid, perplexed.

It never knew what hit it.

Then with a sickening sound, it produced a growl. Its frozen body puffed and with one massive spasm, exploded into a million pieces.

As they stood up and smiled in a wave of victory, a shower of harmless goo covered them from head to toe.

“We made it…together.” Keira faced the other two.

She walked towards Cool and gave him a friendly hug. Cool the jester obliged and gave her a slime-covered hug in return.

Then she walked towards the dark wizard slowly and she could feel her feet swaying and losing her balance.

“Came here to gloat?” asked the dark wizard, who looked extremely smug, covered in green slime.

“You. . .were. . .amazing.” said the assassin. She looked like she was intoxicated with ale. “Hot spring. . .would be. . .nice. . .wizzy.” she added.

Then out of extreme exhaustion, her knees gave away and she fainted. Vangz was able to catch her just in time.

“She was tired. Did you see her moves?” Cool asked in his merry voice.

“Yeah, I recognize the moves. She was taught by a master assassin.” Came Vangz’ reply.

Her father was more than that. Cool thought, and just smiled like a child. “I know a nearby spring! We could all wash ourselves there.”

“Lead the way. What does she eat, huh? She’s so heavy.” Vangz grunted as he lifted the assassin and followed the jester.

“Maybe she’s just full of love.” The jester said merrily as he started walking.

Love. Is that what makes me. . .weak? And for the first time, the sadistic voice inside the dark wizard remained silent.