Hearing this, Samuel’s heart skipped a beat. He stepped forward, bowing his head slightly as he ventured to speak. "Your honor, Zyra has not yet awakened the Scorpion bloodline. If it skipped her entirely, then using the boy as bait might be as useless as...."
Before Samuel could finish, Logan let out a low, dangerous laugh that sent a shiver down the spines of everyone present.
"Strange that she did not awaken, is it not?" Logan’s lips curled into a cruel sneer. "It doesn’t matter. If the bloodline skipped her, then she will simply have to birth as many offspring for me as possible until the Scorpion lineage awakens anew in one her descendants. Not all Scorpion women awaken, but she is different. That bright red blossom was not fake; I checked it myself when she was a child."
Samuel felt a cold sweat break out on his back, but he dared not utter another word of dissent. His mind was in a state of panic. On one hand, he was hoping these young masters of other clans were not dead, on the other, he was wondering if he could win against Logan in a fight. If push came to shove, to save his own life, he would do whatever it could.
Mayor Logan waved his hand dismissively, his eyes narrowing as an afterthought struck him. "Bring Job Scorpion and his family along as well. Clean up the bodies here, don’t leave any loose ends." Turning his chilling gaze back onto Samuel, Logan commanded, "Gather every discreet soldier and hunter this village has to offer. We will turn this region upside down. Search for Zyra Scorpion until she is found alive!"
*******
The heavy fog of unconsciousness slowly lifted, but the very first thing that welcomed Zyra back to the land of the living was a searing, white-hot flash of agony.
"Ah... what the..."
Zyra’s spine arched like a frightened cat. She gasped, clutching at her lower left arm. The pain was so sharp it felt like someone was actively using her wrist as a cutting board. She let out a loud, pathetic moan, completely miserable.
Grrrrr...
An answering growl echoed from the shadows of the rocks nearby.
Zyra’s eyes snapped wide open. The suffocating darkness of the cliff side was gone, replaced by a blinding, unforgiving glare. Judging by the oppressive humidity and the way the sun was baking her skin, it was probably right around noon.
How long was I out? she wondered, blinking away the crust in her eyes. A day? Two? Did I die?
For a wild, hopeful second, Zyra wondered if she had successfully triggered a third rebirth. But as her vision cleared, those hopes died a swift, brutal death.
She was sprawling at the edge of a dense, terrifying jungle. Twisted, mutated trees with bark that looked suspiciously like smiling faces loomed over her, and jagged black rocks poked at her ribs. These black rocks could not be found anywhere else save for the country she lived in.
"Great. Still in the Jersey republic," she muttered. Still, as she looked up at the towering cliff she had tumbled down, a wave of profound relief washed over her. "I am so glad I didn’t turn into a human pancake." She stretched her hand and pinched her thighs, moving her toes as well. "Not disabled either." That was also a relief. Jumping off a cliff had been very risky. Death was not the only outcome, paralysis, a coma and other side effects had to be considered.
Her saving grace was currently crushed beneath her, her massive, overstuffed travel bag. She had packed it to the brim. It had acted as a makeshift cushion and had ironically become a safety measure that had actually saved her life.
Attempting to sit up, she accidentally shifted her left arm. Another wave of agonizing pain shot up her shoulder.
"Ow! Ow, ow, ow! Okay, moving is bad. " She whimpered, panting heavily.
[Ding! I would strongly advise against moving that hand, Host.]
Zyra froze. The voice was a bit familiar. It vibrated directly inside the walls of her skull, crisp and entirely unbothered by her suffering.
"Who’s there?!" Zyra barked, spinning her head around so fast her neck popped. "Show yourself! I have a very angry deadly half-life beast and I’m not afraid to use it! It has killed before...it has a taste for blood and so do I."
Suddenly, her vision flickered. A glowing, semi-transparent virtual screen materialized right in her head. Floating in the center of the screen was a stylized, glowing digital avatar of a little green snake with large eyes that was hovering in the air.... the exact likeness of her half-life beast. Just cuter.
[Initialization complete. Greetings, Host. I am the Beast Bonding System. Work ID: 8700. Call me Beauty.]
Zyra blinked. She rubbed her eyes with her good hand, but the glowing screen remained stubbornly fixed in her line of sight. "A... a what? A system? Call you Beauty! Am I hallucinating from blood loss? Is this a concussion?"
[You are perfectly sane, Host. I am a system, a being from a highly evolved world. My function is to assist you in cultivating a perfect bond with your half-life beasts through earning resonance points. The deeper your bond, the deeper your control over beasts will become. And one day, you will become the queen of beasts, ruling a thousand beasts.]
Zyra winced, her face twisting into a mask of deep skepticism. "Listen, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but Soul maidens can only have two beasts. I am not a Soul maiden, and my snake is a common green snake. It’s practically a garden horse with eyes and some poison. Forget being queen, I may not even be able to become a servant."
Beauty twirled. [Host, with a deeper bond, it will evolve to become bigger, more lethal and powerful. By saving you from an attack, a soul bond was forged voluntarily and shared survival was activated. However, due to your current lack of synchronization, your Resonance points are a measly 1% and so is your bond.]
Hans! The name triggered a flood of memories. Zyra remembered the terror, the suffocating grip, and the desperate cry for help that had torn from her throat. Her little snake had answered. It had bitten Hans, releasing a venom so potent it had brought him down in seconds.
"Wait, the snake, where is it?" Zyra panicked, looking down at her bare wrist. The snake wasn’t wrapped around her arm like usual.
She scanned the dirt and spotted it a foot away. The little green snake was coiled tightly on a flat rock, its tiny body trembling violently as it let out a faint, pitiful hissing sound. It sounded like a leaking tire, completely miserable.
"Hey... what’s wrong with you?" Zyra asked, a sudden spike of anxiety overtaking her own pain. She dragged herself closer on her knees. "Don’t die on me now, we just survived a fall, and we have this system thing. I promise, I won’t let you be roasted and eaten in this life. Just don’t die on me."
They had already bonded. If it died, her own soul would be injured. Wouldn’t that be a waste of her rebirth?