This is deprecated content! Skip to Chapter 7: Expedition!
Skip unless you want to read extra content on the island (some of which, like the condition and events of the ship, have been changed).
MadMaxine
Hi everyone! This chapter was originally going to be chapter 7, but I wasn't sure about the necessity of the content and cut it. This means it it's just fluff, but I feel it is worth having the option.
I also want to warn that this chapter has only had a light pass for editing.
I placed the last of the palm fronds in place, using my lower set of arms to make sure they were secure. Finally, the roof of my temporary home was finished! I’d found a thicket to shelter in on top of the rock, but I was looking forward to having a solid roof over my head, even if all it had under it was a frame of logs. It hadn’t rained yet, but when it did, I’d be thankful for the shelter. Despite my resistance to heat, it seemed like I was only somewhat resistant to cold temperatures.
A week had passed since I erupted out of a volcano onto this island. I watched every day for a ship to come by, but hadn’t seen one yet. The island I could faintly see had shown no obvious signs of life either.
I searched the wreck again two days ago, but hadn’t turned up anything else of value. Although I did note a few doors and hinges I could use for my cabin. I’d thought about trying to repurpose the walls of the ship, but that place was creepy and I knew I could make something with logs that wouldn’t be hard to sleep in at night.
I’d only taken two attempts to get a solid frame!
I hadn’t dared venture off my peninsula for fear of encountering that beast from the first night. I’d tried to hunt small game, but without experience I’d had no luck so far.
Abby had known how to place a snare, but I’d never had any interest in that sort of thing, so I hadn’t learned. My experiments so far ended in complete failure, but I felt I was getting close to replicating what I had seen.
At the very least, I’d remembered enough of my schooling to put together the frame of a shack that I lovingly called a cabin. Four arms, a strong tail, and what were effectively knives on my fingers more than made up for a lack of tools. The fact that I could start a fire with my magic was not lost on me either.
I’d also tried to make sure to only eat fruits and tubers that I could identify or that other mammals ate, but my peninsula was lacking in variety and volume. Coconuts were thankfully plentiful, but I needed more than that. Soon, I’d need to venture further out, whether I wanted to or not. I was willing to bet there were fish in the bay, if I could figure out how to catch them.
Despite being a demon, I still needed to eat. Plus, the island was discovered by people at least once, so perhaps there was something else I could find.
With the roof finished, I headed off the rock to gather more trees for the cabin. I tried to cut trees in a way that thinned to surrounding forest rather than clear-cut an area. Obviously, I also avoided fruit trees.
For comfort reasons, I’d opted out of wearing the too-small clothing I’d found on the ship. Instead, I took other clothing I had found in worse shape and made a loose wrap for my chest and skirt for down below. My modesty was at least, from the most angles, preserved. I loved my new body, but I had reservations about going around naked.
In fact, this entire experience still seemed so surreal. I threw myself into my new nature and surviving. My body was rapidly getting more and more familiar, and I wanted to believe the comfort I felt in it wasn’t born out of necessity.
I would make myself comfortable here, await another ship, and try for that other island if I could manage to make something seaworthy.
After walking a bit, I picked a suitable tree I couldn’t identify, but seemed the same kind as the others I’d used. I bent down and held it steady with my upper two hands. I used the claws on my lower hands to gouge near the base of the tree.
I’d learned my claws were very, very sharp. I also learned that my strength was, quite frankly, absurd. On a whim, I’d tried to snap a palm tree off at the base. That was when I’d found out their roots were shallow. The tree had bent severely before pulling partially out of the ground and I lost all leverage.
I finished gouging the base of the tree I was currently downing and spun, slapping my tail against the trunk. With a sharp crack, the trunk fell to the ground. I bent to pick it up and barely had time to react to a crunch of twigs and a crushing of undergrowth behind me.
I whirled just in time to catch a familiar feline beast mid-pounce. My heels and tail dug into the ground. Surprising both of us. I managed to stop the thing’s charge. Unsure what to do, I pushed it with all four arms and it tumbled back before quickly landing on its feet.
The cat-like beast roared at me, showing a mouth full of sharp teeth. I called on my magic and fire lit up on my hands, horns, and tail tip.
I couldn’t risk throwing fire everywhere. This close to my home, I didn’t want to risk starting a fire that’d burn down my food sources. I’d not seen any rain since I arrived and the plants beneath my feet were dry.
I saw the muscles of the beast’s hindquarters tense a moment before the pounce. I braced with my upper forearms and raked the flaming claws on my lower hands along its belly. This thing was tough, but I still managed deep cuts.
Heavier than I was, the monster’s weight forced me back. My tail planted on the ground behind me and kinked painfully, just barely holding me back from toppling over.
Before I could think of my next move, jaws flashed toward my face. I couldn’t move to cover myself in time. My horns saved my eyes, but the cat-like beast’s sharp teeth ripped into my face and throat.
I tried to scream, but what came out instead was a horrifying gurgle. Heedless of the consequences, I yanked on my magic and pulled my mana into a massive wall of fire that washed over the beast.
It roared and tumbled off me, the smell of singed fur filling the air. I stumbled back and clutched at the ragged remains of my throat and jaw. Blood ran freely from the terrible wound and burned the groundcover below.
Shock was quickly eclipsed by anger.
I’d done nothing but defend myself! I even stayed out of its way and hadn’t hunted any of the boars that were probably its main food source!
I bent my anger to my own needs and kept pace as we circled each other again. Small fires dotted the clearing around us.
My fire had clearly injured the monster. Its underside was scorched and covered in deep gashes. This time, when I saw the tensing of muscles, I moved first.
I kicked out to a side and pushed off back with my other leg and tail to crash into the beast’s side midair. We tumbled to the ground, but this time I was on top of it. Heedless of my own injuries, I held it with my lower arms, legs, and tail, while I slashed at it with my other pair of arms.
The beast flailed its own claws at me and tried to break free. Somehow, my strength held, and I kept it in place while I tore again and again at its underbelly.
The cat-like monster had bent its head to shield its neck, but I wasn’t even interested. With my own magic I heated my claws until the air around them bent and distorted. Through fur, skin, muscle, and ribs, my hands tore with terrifying efficiency. Flesh sizzled as it parted under my onslaught.
The smell of viscera filled the air and I realized with a start that the beast’s struggles had stopped. Under me, intestines and unidentifiable burned bits, stained my legs and the charred ground beneath us.
I was breathing heavily, and my cheeks were wet from tears. Shakily, I stood up from the disemboweled carcass. I took in the sight and my stomach turned for a moment. I looked away and bent over to vomit, but the feeling had passed.
Perhaps a normal demon would be okay with a sight like this, but I certainly wasn’t. I needed to be anywhere but here. Still clutching my ruined face, though the bleeding had stopped, I tore through the trees and ran out onto the beach.
I made it to the edge of the water and fell to my knees. A calm wave from the bay washed over part of my legs. I stared out toward the vast blue for a long time.
The tide was coming in. When a wave soaked my top, I shook myself out of my stupor and stood up. Inside, I was still a wreck, but my body seemed to be fine, if a bit tired from mana depletion and very hungry.
I had felt my face put itself back together. I didn’t have to find a tidepool to know that I’d not bear a single scar.
I’d completely forgotten what I aimed to do today. Now, all I wanted was to find food and go to sleep. What I’d done was in self-defense, but the brutality of the act had gotten to me. I’d seen animals slaughtered before, but they weren’t disemboweled until after they’d been killed and bled as cleanly as possible.
I had to respect what I was: A demon. Perhaps even a strong demon. I didn’t know if what I fought was a magical beast or a demon itself, but unless I was wrong in my memory, demons were hardly able to be hurt by anything that wasn’t magical. And that thing had definitely had no trouble hurting me.
I forced myself to walk back to the clearing where we had fought. Smoke rose from the area and I’d need to try to put out any fires I’d started.
When I arrived, several places were still smoldering, but the fires had largely burned themselves out. The smell of death hung heavy in the air. Holding back my revulsion, I walked to the corpse.
Scavengers had hardly touched the thing. I cleared away the plants near the body, then burned it entirely to ash. I didn’t want a trophy. I wanted to move on.
***
After I killed the feline monster, I had a few weeks of peace. During this time, I mostly finished a one-room cabin before I realized I’d made the walls too weak and had to disassemble it and start over, aiming for a two-room design. I’d planted seeds of some kind of tuber, but had no idea if they’d grow.
I’d also managed to trap my first small animals, but shifted quickly to hunting and fishing. A single boar would last me quite a while, and the sea had plenty to provide once I learned how to use my speed and a wooden spear to catch fish.
To pass the time, and also to keep myself safe, I started to train myself and really figure out what I could do. I’d seen most of the limits of my magic, though I could make my flames even hotter than I already had at extreme cost.
My physical strength was frightening. I didn’t have an adequate way to measure, but I found that if I used both pairs of arms so the tree didn’t get pulled over, I could snap trees at least as thick as one of said arms. I couldn’t crush most of the rocks I tried unless they already had a crack or a break.
Despite this, I had little trouble managing my strength and rarely used more force than I intended. I suspected this was for the same reason seven limbs came as naturally to me as four.
What I did have to practice, however, was fine motor control when all my fingers were covered in blades. I could use my glamour, but I just didn’t feel comfortable while it was active.
Speaking of my glamour, I’d explored a little bit with the strange magic. I had no idea where my extra bits went, but they weren’t comfortable wherever they were. I felt behind me and to the sides and had no evidence of a tail or additional arms despite the fact that I still felt them…somewhere. I hoped this meant that the strange illusion would be enough to hide me. I knew I’d need to keep my glamour active if I was ever rescued, but I didn’t like that fact.
Besides my magic, I’d explored the island a bit more. Thankfully, I hadn’t fought any, but that cat thing wasn’t the only monster here. I counted at least four others, including a bird of some sort whose territory was the closest to my own. Sadly, I hadn’t found any further sign of the island being inhabited by people.
I hoped I’d taken the place of the beast I killed, but worried that sort of peace wouldn’t hold for long.
***
As it turned out, I was right that the peace wouldn’t hold. Over the past months, I had fought and killed the bird monster and some kind of giant water lizard. They’d encroached into my small territory and had made their intentions clear by going after my food sources.
The many fights against those two had been brutal, but I had learned a lot. I fought best up close, where my extra limbs could give me an advantage and I could best utilize my insane strength. My fire gave me a surprise at any range, but couldn’t carry force behind the heat and flames.
I also regenerated all the damage I’d taken so far, but severe injuries were a major drain on my magic. The lizard had surprised me while I was out fishing and nearly taken one of my arms.
I wanted to raft to the other island. I’d hoped the lizard’s territory had been my bay, but I was wrong. That was how I found myself in a dark tidal cave opposite the bay from my rock, fighting a monstrous dark blue eel. Bastard had crushed my first sad attempt at a raft.
From how the overgrown eel also crushed rocks with its jaw, I knew I needed to dodge that bite. On top of the jaws, it also had magic and shot lightning whenever I got close to its vulnerable bits.
My claws dug into the rock to keep myself out of the water. The eel came and went through several holes in the walls and floor of the cavern.
I’d gotten lucky with the bird and downed it early, but I needed a weapon for this fight. Or a strategy. The cave was too stable to collapse, and I couldn’t fight in its den against its own magic.
Hurt and tired, I scrambled for the exit, and barely made it past the snapping jaws. I was worse for wear, but unfortunately, the monster was too patient to try to chase me out of its advantage.
I thought back to the wrecked raft. I’d been caught by surprise, but if I was expecting the attack…
***
Another week and my sacrificial raft was good to go. I’d finished a fence around my cabin and garden, and would take any salvage from this to try to make an outhouse. During all this time, I’d not seen a single ship. Looking toward the southern horizon, which my rock was thankfully facing, had become second nature to me.
I’d also gotten to experience a rainstorm on the island and I was very glad I’d rebuilt my cabin to be sturdier. Even sheltered from the wind, most of the roof had been torn off.
Down on the cove’s beach, I pushed the shoddy collection of logs off from the shore and paddled toward the nearest seamount. I carefully kept all my limbs out of the water. Carefully, I watched the water around me with my sharp eyes. The damn thing’s color blended in, but so long as I could see a sandy bottom, the clear, calm waters of the bay would let me see it coming.
I’d expected the eel to be fast, but the speed at which it moved without disturbing the shallow water was astounding. I barely had time to kick off the raft before it was torn to splinters below me.
This time, however, I was prepared. I pulled on my magic, and came back down so hot the water boiled on contact with my skin. If I wasn’t already naked, my clothing would have burned to ash in an instant.
I landed by the eel’s head and latched on with white-hot claws. The monster writhed and unleashed a shock that locked my muscles up. Unlucky for it, all four of my arms were already latched on and burning away.
The eel writhed and more and more lightning coursed through me. I blacked out in rapid bursts, but managed to bend my body around the neck and push my hands deeper. Flesh charred around them as my unresponsive lungs started to burn.
I pushed my limbs deeper into charred flesh until I sank up to the elbows. Then, pushing against screaming muscles, I twisted and jerked as hard as I could.
The motion forced the air from my tired lungs. Blackness sank in through the corners of my flickering vision.
Snap!
The monster’s magic stopped in an instant. The blue eel’s nearly severed head flopped limply to one side. Still rigid, I sank to the bottom, tail first onto the sand. My lungs burned. I needed working limbs.
My regeneration accelerated, and the remainder of my magic drained away rapidly. My limbs loosened enough to move and I kicked off the bottom with all my might.
Only two or three times my height deep, my head and torso both breached the surface. I sucked in a breath before falling under again. I’d mostly learned to swim here on the island while foraging or fishing in the shallows. As such, my tail played a big role, and I quickly started to move the thickly muscled limb and kick upward.
I surfaced again and looked for the pieces of my raft. I found half a log and grabbed it with two arms. Exhausted, I turned toward shore and kicked my way back in with the tide.
***
I tried to raft to the other island one more time after I killed the eel. What looked like calm seas turned out to have a wicked current and I barely managed to make it back to my island. I had almost been swept away from both landmasses out to open water to the northeast.
I had to walk along the alien black rock landscape created by lava flows, carrying my damaged raft. Near the jungle’s edge, I caught a glimpse of a massive lizard sunning itself much further up the slope. I’d only noticed it because the motion of the flames along its spine caught the corner of my eye. By sheer luck, it hadn’t noticed the big red demon lady carrying a raft over her head.
I’d won every fight so far through both my magic and my physical strength. A fight with something immune, or at least heavily resistant to, my fire, was not something I wanted to take.
Thankfully, it was on the other side of the island in a place I had no interest in exploring. Hopefully, we could both have our halves of this place and be at peace.
With a sinking feeling, I realized I’d probably be stuck on this island for a while. Given the bay had a shipwreck, people had at least been near here. Some day someone would come by again.
My heart clenched. I thought about my sister the rest of the walk back home. I hoped I could make it back in time to be there for her.
I set the raft remains by the nearly finished outhouse, and walked into my cabin to rest. I looked at the day marks on the wall and sighed, laying back on my bed of leaves.
I didn’t know how long it’d take, but one day, I’d get off this island and get my closure.
This is deprecated content! Skip to Chapter 7: Expedition!
Skip unless you want to read extra content on the island (some of which, like the condition and events of the ship, have been changed).
MadMaxine
Hi everyone! This chapter was originally going to be chapter 7, but I wasn't sure about the necessity of the content and cut it. This means it it's just fluff, but I feel it is worth having the option.
I also want to warn that this chapter has only had a light pass for editing.
I placed the last of the palm fronds in place, using my lower set of arms to make sure they were secure. Finally, the roof of my temporary home was finished! I’d found a thicket to shelter in on top of the rock, but I was looking forward to having a solid roof over my head, even if all it had under it was a frame of logs. It hadn’t rained yet, but when it did, I’d be thankful for the shelter. Despite my resistance to heat, it seemed like I was only somewhat resistant to cold temperatures.
A week had passed since I erupted out of a volcano onto this island. I watched every day for a ship to come by, but hadn’t seen one yet. The island I could faintly see had shown no obvious signs of life either.
I searched the wreck again two days ago, but hadn’t turned up anything else of value. Although I did note a few doors and hinges I could use for my cabin. I’d thought about trying to repurpose the walls of the ship, but that place was creepy and I knew I could make something with logs that wouldn’t be hard to sleep in at night.
I’d only taken two attempts to get a solid frame!
I hadn’t dared venture off my peninsula for fear of encountering that beast from the first night. I’d tried to hunt small game, but without experience I’d had no luck so far.
Abby had known how to place a snare, but I’d never had any interest in that sort of thing, so I hadn’t learned. My experiments so far ended in complete failure, but I felt I was getting close to replicating what I had seen.
At the very least, I’d remembered enough of my schooling to put together the frame of a shack that I lovingly called a cabin. Four arms, a strong tail, and what were effectively knives on my fingers more than made up for a lack of tools. The fact that I could start a fire with my magic was not lost on me either.
I’d also tried to make sure to only eat fruits and tubers that I could identify or that other mammals ate, but my peninsula was lacking in variety and volume. Coconuts were thankfully plentiful, but I needed more than that. Soon, I’d need to venture further out, whether I wanted to or not. I was willing to bet there were fish in the bay, if I could figure out how to catch them.
Despite being a demon, I still needed to eat. Plus, the island was discovered by people at least once, so perhaps there was something else I could find.
With the roof finished, I headed off the rock to gather more trees for the cabin. I tried to cut trees in a way that thinned to surrounding forest rather than clear-cut an area. Obviously, I also avoided fruit trees.
For comfort reasons, I’d opted out of wearing the too-small clothing I’d found on the ship. Instead, I took other clothing I had found in worse shape and made a loose wrap for my chest and skirt for down below. My modesty was at least, from the most angles, preserved. I loved my new body, but I had reservations about going around naked.
In fact, this entire experience still seemed so surreal. I threw myself into my new nature and surviving. My body was rapidly getting more and more familiar, and I wanted to believe the comfort I felt in it wasn’t born out of necessity.
I would make myself comfortable here, await another ship, and try for that other island if I could manage to make something seaworthy.
After walking a bit, I picked a suitable tree I couldn’t identify, but seemed the same kind as the others I’d used. I bent down and held it steady with my upper two hands. I used the claws on my lower hands to gouge near the base of the tree.
I’d learned my claws were very, very sharp. I also learned that my strength was, quite frankly, absurd. On a whim, I’d tried to snap a palm tree off at the base. That was when I’d found out their roots were shallow. The tree had bent severely before pulling partially out of the ground and I lost all leverage.
I finished gouging the base of the tree I was currently downing and spun, slapping my tail against the trunk. With a sharp crack, the trunk fell to the ground. I bent to pick it up and barely had time to react to a crunch of twigs and a crushing of undergrowth behind me.
I whirled just in time to catch a familiar feline beast mid-pounce. My heels and tail dug into the ground. Surprising both of us. I managed to stop the thing’s charge. Unsure what to do, I pushed it with all four arms and it tumbled back before quickly landing on its feet.
The cat-like beast roared at me, showing a mouth full of sharp teeth. I called on my magic and fire lit up on my hands, horns, and tail tip.
I couldn’t risk throwing fire everywhere. This close to my home, I didn’t want to risk starting a fire that’d burn down my food sources. I’d not seen any rain since I arrived and the plants beneath my feet were dry.
I saw the muscles of the beast’s hindquarters tense a moment before the pounce. I braced with my upper forearms and raked the flaming claws on my lower hands along its belly. This thing was tough, but I still managed deep cuts.
Heavier than I was, the monster’s weight forced me back. My tail planted on the ground behind me and kinked painfully, just barely holding me back from toppling over.
Before I could think of my next move, jaws flashed toward my face. I couldn’t move to cover myself in time. My horns saved my eyes, but the cat-like beast’s sharp teeth ripped into my face and throat.
I tried to scream, but what came out instead was a horrifying gurgle. Heedless of the consequences, I yanked on my magic and pulled my mana into a massive wall of fire that washed over the beast.
It roared and tumbled off me, the smell of singed fur filling the air. I stumbled back and clutched at the ragged remains of my throat and jaw. Blood ran freely from the terrible wound and burned the groundcover below.
Shock was quickly eclipsed by anger.
I’d done nothing but defend myself! I even stayed out of its way and hadn’t hunted any of the boars that were probably its main food source!
I bent my anger to my own needs and kept pace as we circled each other again. Small fires dotted the clearing around us.
My fire had clearly injured the monster. Its underside was scorched and covered in deep gashes. This time, when I saw the tensing of muscles, I moved first.
I kicked out to a side and pushed off back with my other leg and tail to crash into the beast’s side midair. We tumbled to the ground, but this time I was on top of it. Heedless of my own injuries, I held it with my lower arms, legs, and tail, while I slashed at it with my other pair of arms.
The beast flailed its own claws at me and tried to break free. Somehow, my strength held, and I kept it in place while I tore again and again at its underbelly.
The cat-like monster had bent its head to shield its neck, but I wasn’t even interested. With my own magic I heated my claws until the air around them bent and distorted. Through fur, skin, muscle, and ribs, my hands tore with terrifying efficiency. Flesh sizzled as it parted under my onslaught.
The smell of viscera filled the air and I realized with a start that the beast’s struggles had stopped. Under me, intestines and unidentifiable burned bits, stained my legs and the charred ground beneath us.
I was breathing heavily, and my cheeks were wet from tears. Shakily, I stood up from the disemboweled carcass. I took in the sight and my stomach turned for a moment. I looked away and bent over to vomit, but the feeling had passed.
Perhaps a normal demon would be okay with a sight like this, but I certainly wasn’t. I needed to be anywhere but here. Still clutching my ruined face, though the bleeding had stopped, I tore through the trees and ran out onto the beach.
I made it to the edge of the water and fell to my knees. A calm wave from the bay washed over part of my legs. I stared out toward the vast blue for a long time.
The tide was coming in. When a wave soaked my top, I shook myself out of my stupor and stood up. Inside, I was still a wreck, but my body seemed to be fine, if a bit tired from mana depletion and very hungry.
I had felt my face put itself back together. I didn’t have to find a tidepool to know that I’d not bear a single scar.
I’d completely forgotten what I aimed to do today. Now, all I wanted was to find food and go to sleep. What I’d done was in self-defense, but the brutality of the act had gotten to me. I’d seen animals slaughtered before, but they weren’t disemboweled until after they’d been killed and bled as cleanly as possible.
I had to respect what I was: A demon. Perhaps even a strong demon. I didn’t know if what I fought was a magical beast or a demon itself, but unless I was wrong in my memory, demons were hardly able to be hurt by anything that wasn’t magical. And that thing had definitely had no trouble hurting me.
I forced myself to walk back to the clearing where we had fought. Smoke rose from the area and I’d need to try to put out any fires I’d started.
When I arrived, several places were still smoldering, but the fires had largely burned themselves out. The smell of death hung heavy in the air. Holding back my revulsion, I walked to the corpse.
Scavengers had hardly touched the thing. I cleared away the plants near the body, then burned it entirely to ash. I didn’t want a trophy. I wanted to move on.
***
After I killed the feline monster, I had a few weeks of peace. During this time, I mostly finished a one-room cabin before I realized I’d made the walls too weak and had to disassemble it and start over, aiming for a two-room design. I’d planted seeds of some kind of tuber, but had no idea if they’d grow.
I’d also managed to trap my first small animals, but shifted quickly to hunting and fishing. A single boar would last me quite a while, and the sea had plenty to provide once I learned how to use my speed and a wooden spear to catch fish.
To pass the time, and also to keep myself safe, I started to train myself and really figure out what I could do. I’d seen most of the limits of my magic, though I could make my flames even hotter than I already had at extreme cost.
My physical strength was frightening. I didn’t have an adequate way to measure, but I found that if I used both pairs of arms so the tree didn’t get pulled over, I could snap trees at least as thick as one of said arms. I couldn’t crush most of the rocks I tried unless they already had a crack or a break.
Despite this, I had little trouble managing my strength and rarely used more force than I intended. I suspected this was for the same reason seven limbs came as naturally to me as four.
What I did have to practice, however, was fine motor control when all my fingers were covered in blades. I could use my glamour, but I just didn’t feel comfortable while it was active.
Speaking of my glamour, I’d explored a little bit with the strange magic. I had no idea where my extra bits went, but they weren’t comfortable wherever they were. I felt behind me and to the sides and had no evidence of a tail or additional arms despite the fact that I still felt them…somewhere. I hoped this meant that the strange illusion would be enough to hide me. I knew I’d need to keep my glamour active if I was ever rescued, but I didn’t like that fact.
Besides my magic, I’d explored the island a bit more. Thankfully, I hadn’t fought any, but that cat thing wasn’t the only monster here. I counted at least four others, including a bird of some sort whose territory was the closest to my own. Sadly, I hadn’t found any further sign of the island being inhabited by people.
I hoped I’d taken the place of the beast I killed, but worried that sort of peace wouldn’t hold for long.
***
As it turned out, I was right that the peace wouldn’t hold. Over the past months, I had fought and killed the bird monster and some kind of giant water lizard. They’d encroached into my small territory and had made their intentions clear by going after my food sources.
The many fights against those two had been brutal, but I had learned a lot. I fought best up close, where my extra limbs could give me an advantage and I could best utilize my insane strength. My fire gave me a surprise at any range, but couldn’t carry force behind the heat and flames.
I also regenerated all the damage I’d taken so far, but severe injuries were a major drain on my magic. The lizard had surprised me while I was out fishing and nearly taken one of my arms.
I wanted to raft to the other island. I’d hoped the lizard’s territory had been my bay, but I was wrong. That was how I found myself in a dark tidal cave opposite the bay from my rock, fighting a monstrous dark blue eel. Bastard had crushed my first sad attempt at a raft.
From how the overgrown eel also crushed rocks with its jaw, I knew I needed to dodge that bite. On top of the jaws, it also had magic and shot lightning whenever I got close to its vulnerable bits.
My claws dug into the rock to keep myself out of the water. The eel came and went through several holes in the walls and floor of the cavern.
I’d gotten lucky with the bird and downed it early, but I needed a weapon for this fight. Or a strategy. The cave was too stable to collapse, and I couldn’t fight in its den against its own magic.
Hurt and tired, I scrambled for the exit, and barely made it past the snapping jaws. I was worse for wear, but unfortunately, the monster was too patient to try to chase me out of its advantage.
I thought back to the wrecked raft. I’d been caught by surprise, but if I was expecting the attack…
***
Another week and my sacrificial raft was good to go. I’d finished a fence around my cabin and garden, and would take any salvage from this to try to make an outhouse. During all this time, I’d not seen a single ship. Looking toward the southern horizon, which my rock was thankfully facing, had become second nature to me.
I’d also gotten to experience a rainstorm on the island and I was very glad I’d rebuilt my cabin to be sturdier. Even sheltered from the wind, most of the roof had been torn off.
Down on the cove’s beach, I pushed the shoddy collection of logs off from the shore and paddled toward the nearest seamount. I carefully kept all my limbs out of the water. Carefully, I watched the water around me with my sharp eyes. The damn thing’s color blended in, but so long as I could see a sandy bottom, the clear, calm waters of the bay would let me see it coming.
I’d expected the eel to be fast, but the speed at which it moved without disturbing the shallow water was astounding. I barely had time to kick off the raft before it was torn to splinters below me.
This time, however, I was prepared. I pulled on my magic, and came back down so hot the water boiled on contact with my skin. If I wasn’t already naked, my clothing would have burned to ash in an instant.
I landed by the eel’s head and latched on with white-hot claws. The monster writhed and unleashed a shock that locked my muscles up. Unlucky for it, all four of my arms were already latched on and burning away.
The eel writhed and more and more lightning coursed through me. I blacked out in rapid bursts, but managed to bend my body around the neck and push my hands deeper. Flesh charred around them as my unresponsive lungs started to burn.
I pushed my limbs deeper into charred flesh until I sank up to the elbows. Then, pushing against screaming muscles, I twisted and jerked as hard as I could.
The motion forced the air from my tired lungs. Blackness sank in through the corners of my flickering vision.
Snap!
The monster’s magic stopped in an instant. The blue eel’s nearly severed head flopped limply to one side. Still rigid, I sank to the bottom, tail first onto the sand. My lungs burned. I needed working limbs.
My regeneration accelerated, and the remainder of my magic drained away rapidly. My limbs loosened enough to move and I kicked off the bottom with all my might.
Only two or three times my height deep, my head and torso both breached the surface. I sucked in a breath before falling under again. I’d mostly learned to swim here on the island while foraging or fishing in the shallows. As such, my tail played a big role, and I quickly started to move the thickly muscled limb and kick upward.
I surfaced again and looked for the pieces of my raft. I found half a log and grabbed it with two arms. Exhausted, I turned toward shore and kicked my way back in with the tide.
***
I tried to raft to the other island one more time after I killed the eel. What looked like calm seas turned out to have a wicked current and I barely managed to make it back to my island. I had almost been swept away from both landmasses out to open water to the northeast.
I had to walk along the alien black rock landscape created by lava flows, carrying my damaged raft. Near the jungle’s edge, I caught a glimpse of a massive lizard sunning itself much further up the slope. I’d only noticed it because the motion of the flames along its spine caught the corner of my eye. By sheer luck, it hadn’t noticed the big red demon lady carrying a raft over her head.
I’d won every fight so far through both my magic and my physical strength. A fight with something immune, or at least heavily resistant to, my fire, was not something I wanted to take.
Thankfully, it was on the other side of the island in a place I had no interest in exploring. Hopefully, we could both have our halves of this place and be at peace.
With a sinking feeling, I realized I’d probably be stuck on this island for a while. Given the bay had a shipwreck, people had at least been near here. Some day someone would come by again.
My heart clenched. I thought about my sister the rest of the walk back home. I hoped I could make it back in time to be there for her.
I set the raft remains by the nearly finished outhouse, and walked into my cabin to rest. I looked at the day marks on the wall and sighed, laying back on my bed of leaves.
I didn’t know how long it’d take, but one day, I’d get off this island and get my closure.
