In a strange world as a Doppelganger

Chapter 39 - Man on a Vine

Watching the last of the skunks fall it also hits me that I'm not really familiar with where I am. Of course, it's not too far away from where I started the chase but the tugging, adventurous feeling inside me wells up and ushers me to explore more. I probably shouldn't as I've emptied all but the last of my reservoir of more potent magic. At the same time though I can feel it within me that I'm more than two thirds of the way to the next level. If I stayed up all night hunting, I might be able to do it before dawn, given that nothing big comes unannounced out of the dark.

I move back to the tree where I had perched, bringing all the dead skunks with me. If I leave them here it might draw predators and taking them back to the village for salvaging and butchering would cost me the rest of the night. Vera would probably be mad with me if she'd find out I'd left dead animals like this. Torn between a new friendship and my own personal progress, I choose me. An innate drive tells me I'll be better off on my own anyway and there's a sad comfort in it. Almost nostalgic, the feeling of relying on myself before others.

I keep heading off, farther from the goblin settlement, the act of making an active choice of leaving things behind driving me ever forward. That's not to say I'll never go back there. Most likely I'll return in a day or two, but I have the need to go my own way right now. Like when I first woke up in this forest, I need to explore my surroundings and myself, on my own.

Lost in thought, walking along a game-trail, my goblin ears snap to as there's a sound coming from up ahead. A slow shambling sound, something fairly heavy is moving clumsily in my direction. Rather than hiding I steel myself and wait for whatever it is to come into view. Calmly I await whatever it might be, letting magic swirl faintly in my palms. Breaking through some bushes I see a figure enter my visual range in the dark. Walking on two legs, a humanoid body steps closer. On closer inspection something is definitely off. Where the eyes would be I see some sort of flowers, the muscles of the limbs look long since atrophied and have been replaced by leafy vines. For a fraction of a moment, I feel something plead to my inner being. No time to ponder, I hold my hand up and release the magic I'd been holding back.

Even though the creature seems slow and propelled forward by some strange plant-like machinations my magic does not manage to strike true. The magic that coalesces into cold energy and shoots out barely catches its shoulder and has no effect. Now aware of my presence the corpse manipulated by plants comes slowly towards me, shakily moving its legs across the foliage. Luckily it is so slow that I have the time to charge up to one more spell before I need to consider repositioning. Turned toward me and coming closer it makes for a much easier target and the ice hits square in its chest. The vines inside it grow slower and in turn makes the whole body more sluggish. Opportunities like this will not go unspoiled. I am starting to realize that the cold spell I use also has the effect on slowing things down when I get a good hit in. Ducking away behind a young sapling I feel something tug at my foot and see to my horror that the ground around the walking corpse is covered in snaking vines that come out of the body. I do a quick roll even further away and throw another bout of frigid magic against it but this time vines reach up from the ground and block. The figure reaches an arm up and vines shoot out toward me, tearing the arm from its socket and a mouldy hand comes much too close for my liking. The hard bones slam into my solar plexus and I nearly lose my breath. A hit like that would have easily taken me out when I was level zero. While it hard it's not only its walking that's slow but it also needs a moment to pull back after that hit. Twice I swipe with magically imbued claws but the first one strikes dead bones and the second whiffs through the air with no purchase. Nothing better to do so a grab my knife and swing it in a wide arch, hoping to at least keep the thing at bay. The knife goes in between its ribs and all the vines suddenly quiver and rush out of the body in a hurry. My knife has hit something akin to a core, a pulsing green and brown bundle of roots. Slithering away like dozens of snakes through the bushes the vine pulls back from the direction it came. The now limp carcass falls over and crumbles into pieces. It was being held together by the vines and the core attached to the tip of my knife reminds me of a heart. No clothes or trinkets can be found on the body. I think I've found my prey. Whatever those vines came from, I won't go back to the village until I find it and destroy it.