Wanderlust Beastkin, Beauty and the Beastkin-Chapter 90: Within the Darkness

Lirit’s Perspective

I screamed over and over for help until my voice was hoarse and I was dizzy from exhaustion. How could this have happened to me? Everything had been going so well. I mean, he hadn’t accepted my mating mark yet, but I would have eventually worn him down, but this, I was devastated. I never imagined that he would actually leave me alone down here. He had thought, after screaming, then crying, and finally having a coughing fit, I lay down on the small cot he’d thrown down and the blankets. He thought he was being funny, throwing down the blankets covered in aphrodisiac flowers. I had refused to use them before, but after a while, I wrapped them around myself like a cocoon and shivered within them until my body heated up. It was freezing down here. It was bone-chilling cold, the kind of cold that got into your bones and made them ache. It was also wet down here; the consistent dripping from the ceiling and echoing down the fathomless depth of the hall was nearly enough to drive the mind into paranoia.

I got up from the cot and gracefully made my way to one of the sconces, gripping it firmly while clutching the mana whip in my other hand, all while backing up to the cot without even glancing back. I was staring into the darkness so intensely that my eyes began to ache and dry out since I hardly let myself blink. The moment my heel touched the cot, I gently lowered myself back onto it and searched for some random bits of hay, cloth, and pieces of a broken chair that had been kicked into the hole. I gathered them into a neat pile, ensuring it was far from anything I wanted to keep, then wrapped the long metal chains around the pile to create a little enclosure. After that, I set the pile ablaze. Soon, it was warmer, and I could see deeper into the shadows.

Why did my dad have to be a dreaded red aura male, increasing my chances of being born a red aura female? Why did I have to be a red aura female with absolutely no magic? My beast form is utterly useless, too. I’m a golden oriole beastkin, a tiny bird with no magic and no real way to defend myself. The only redeeming quality I have is that I can fly, but I can’t even do that right now because Kai has plucked out half of my feathers. My beast form is about the size of my head; I might as well be a snack delivery service. It’s just so humiliating. Not a goddess, not a Legendary species, just a tiny and insignificant golden oriole. How did I end up in this mortifying situation? All thanks to my useless father, Bill. I was absolutely mortified during my first shift. The only silver lining was that Elara and Perla were nowhere in sight when it happened. It had all been so quiet after I glowed with golden light and then shifted for the first time. It hadn’t hurt at all. Perla had clearly been a drama queen. I still had no idea what she shifted into, but it was clearly something hideous that they didn’t want anyone to see, like an eel beastkin or a stinkbug beastkin.

I waited and waited, but seriously, no one showed up. Like, how is it possible that no one came when the whole cabin was literally engulfed in flames, and I had Helio on standby just in case General Kai escaped? Was he already off chasing him? I mean, that could be it, and I guess I’m thankful he’s on the case, but honestly, all I wanted was to be rescued from this total dungeon nightmare. Speaking of dungeons, this hole isn’t really an entrance or an exit; it’s just a pit that leads to the dungeon. So, it was clearly meant to be a dead end, which means there are actual escape routes somewhere in this dungeon. Dungeons always have ways in and out, you know? They’re alive, and the universe has this rule that every dungeon must have an entrance and an exit, just like all living beings do.

I peered down the expansive hallway, into the pitch black. I could see a bit further now that I had the fire lit, but at the end of my line of sight, the hallway took a sharp left, and obviously, I couldn’t see what was around that corner. I was feeling a bit anxious because, like, I’m just a red aura beastkin, and my beast is basically a tiny weakling. I blame my father. Why did he have to be a red aura beastkin male? Who has eggs with a red aura beastkin anyway? They’re only good for servant males at the most! My mom just had to decide to have eggs with him, disgusting. There’s nothing I can do about it, and it’s clear that no one is coming to rescue me. For all I know, the exit could be just around that corner, and how embarrassing would it be if I found that out weeks later?

I glanced around and stuffed the cloth bag with everything Kai tossed down to me that I thought I might need. Then, I wrapped the blanket around myself and secured the bag to my back. I was brimming with indignation, but I had to suppress my anger and pride for now to escape this place. At least he had the courtesy to send down some supplies and a weapon. It showed that my taste in men wasn’t entirely misguided. Still, it was the bare minimum; he should have helped me up, and he would definitely pay for this injustice. I was still torn between whether to kill him or Perla; either way, I wasn’t about to let her have him.

Maybe Helio would reclaim him by the time I managed to get out of here. That orange snake beastkin was something else. Initially, I wasn’t a fan of his orange hair, but after he cleaned up, I realized he was actually quite handsome. The orange took on a more fiery hue; it looked like it was glowing in the light, long and smooth with a bit of wave to it. Bright yellow eyes with slitted pupils, intense gaze, pointed ears with multiple piercings, retractable long fangs, deadly venom, tall, toned, confident, dangerously alluring, like a shadow deity. When he wants to, he can extend his long fangs, flickering orange light around his eyes, elongate his nails into sharp claws, and wield lava! He’s the ultimate sexy bad boy type, and the more I get to know him, the more I crave his presence.

Helio has a companion he travels and works with, but I haven’t had the opportunity to speak with him. I only caught a glimpse; he was another snake beastkin, with long fire-red hair and mismatched eyes, one red and the other turquoise. I was tempted to approach him; his looks were utterly captivating. He had the pointy ears and piercings, tall and toned like Helio, but when I attempted to get closer, he sent me a look filled with such hatred in his intense and breathtaking eyes that I was frozen in place, unable to take even a single step forward. He seemed like an otherworldly being.

All of that isn’t important right now, though what I really need is to get the shadow realm out of here!

The walls were dripping some sort of green fluid.

"Drip."

"Drip."

"Drip...slurp!"

I halted my steps and peered at the source of that bizarre sound. I scrunched my face in bewilderment at the odd green blob of goo, and then my eyes grew wide as it wobbled and jiggled. Then it quivered, and a hole appeared in the gooey mass. The hole pressed against a fragment of a broken metal chair leg lying on the floor. Then it slurped up the metal leg as if it were a strand of spaghetti. I observed as the metal leg began to dissolve within the blob, being absorbed completely. Then it hit me that this wasn’t just some random goo, but one of those monsters that dwell in a shadow realm dungeon. I cautiously stepped back from the creature while it was munching, but it slowly turned its body towards me as I retreated and giggled, then bounced towards me just once. That was more than enough motivation for me to dash down the tunnel.

From behind, I heard a repetitive squishing and thumping sound as the monster bounced after me. It occasionally stopped, and then there was a slurping sound. I glanced back and saw that the creature was steadily getting larger after it slurped down something else, and it was steadily pursuing me.

"Stop following me! I am not going to become part of a slime monster!" I gasped for air and sped up to the point that my lungs started burning, but the monster picked up speed too.

"Go away!"