Page 374 of Light Leech

I ignored him, took another, and stabbed it next to the other two. I fell to a knee as my leg lost its strength.

“Spread the light throughout your body or this will be in vain.”

I did as commanded. I stabbed one into my shoulder. Another into my other thigh. Another into my calf, then the other calf. Another into my hip. I crawled over to retrieve more. My body held onto consciousness despite my desire to fall into a numbing sleep.

Shoulder. Bicep. Trapezius. Back. Calf. Forearm.

The agony was blinding. All I could see was white.

White faded to violet, to indigo, then to a vibrant green.

The light-spears retracted into my body. My vision returned with a vivid aura of enlightened clarity. Every sense followed with similar amplification, then increased with exponential fury.

Zhu snorted in triumph. It felt akin to the animated mindshows I had seen where a hero laughed in glory after a charged transformation.

I stood, sloughing off the spears as my skin pushed them out and the wounds sealed themselves.

I was no glowing god, but I saw in the glimmering hope of my fellow boatmates’ eyes that they could sense a change in my aura.

Their awe came to an abrupt halt as the orca-mech smashed its head into the base of the boat, tearing a massive hole in the back that filled with wine.

The rowers scrambled towards the front of the boat as the back started to sink. The spearmen continued to throw to no avail as the orca retreated. They turned to me as they waited for the next attack. I didn’t let fear of failure overcome me this time. I saw light reflecting on metallic tentacles under the wine’s surface. The faint outline of the animal’s head moved closer to the surface.

I jumped.

I felt nothing and despite ascending, I dared not open my eyes in the wine.

The beast not only touched me but wrapped its tentacles around my chest and squeezed. I grabbed onto it and tried to match its fury.

It did not care how I felt. Whatever hunger or hatred drove it continued as it pulled me towards its head and bit into my side.

I lost my breath as I screamed but managed to keep the wine out of my lungs.

Zeg! What now?

“Give it your light, ascended one.”

I twisted, punching its face with delayed strength under the wine. Had I been an unmodified human, I would have been torn to pieces already. Despite my Bite’s reinforcement, I felt the flesh of my skin tear and my ribs crack.

“Focus! Don’t fight it. Connect to it.”

I unclenched my fist and grabbed onto something metallic on its head. I ran my fingers down it, recognizing it as one of the cognitive bands that helped advance its sentience, if it held to the same principles as Finians. I tightened my grip and let the light drain from me. I felt the current travel from my Bite, down my fingers, and into the cybernetics. Though my eyes were closed, I saw a flash of green light through my eyelids.

Something spoke into my mind using the same method as Zhu, though this voice was lighter and lacked the ancient formality that he spoke with. It was that of a frightened girl. “Who are you? What is this? What do you want?”

“Stop attacking,” I told her.

“Why?”

I pushed more light into her and felt the resistance wane. “What do you want?”

“To get you out of here.” I’m sure there was something better I could have said that didn’t feel like the words a cheesy hero would say to an imprisoned monster in a children’s mindshow, but it did the trick.

The tentacles moved me onto its back and it surfaced. She surfaced. I held onto the tentacles on her side and worked my legs into a semi-comfortable position. I whipped my hair to the side and wiped my face as I took in the air still stained with the wine’s aroma.

My boatmates dropped their spears. The rowers stopped their panicked scrambling to look at me, despite the sinking boat.

“Tell the other orca to stop attacking.”