Chapter 229: What Happened…?

With great glee, Malachi smiled as he took in the sight of the new and menacing creature that he had created in front of him.

This was his first time ever attaching an animal to his hive before, and he could see what Tsath meant about seeing them as beautiful irregardless of what they turned into.

I mean, how could anyone ever be afraid of this cute little guy?

To the best possible description, Malachi had created a hybrid creature that seemed to resemble a mix of a crocodile and a bear.

It had a huge, bulky body that was covered in rugged, dark scales more stringent than armor.

It's thighs, shoulder muscles, and face were all covered in swarthy looking dark fur.

The face on the creature had narrowed considerably, but it's snout was still lined to the brim with six inch teeth that looked like they could have put a hole in the truck with minimal effort.

Rows and rows of jagged spines ran along it's powerful back and down it's eight foot long tail.

When it stood on all four of it's pillar-like legs, it was nearly tall enough to look Malachi directly in the eye with virtually no difference in level.

"You're such a cute little guy..." Mal said happily as he scratched the small fluffy ears of the new friend he'd created.

*Thwack!*

The creature raised a solid and powerful paw to knock Malachi clear into the water behind them.

*snort*

Malachi surfaced once again and spit out a mouthful of near-stagnant water with a grimace.

"Cute little girl... my bad."

He crawled out of the water and shook himself dry before walking back towards his new friend.

Placing his hands back on her head, he gave her a few apologetic pats that she really seemed to be pleased with.

"This is the first time I've seen you smile in like four days."

Looking over his shoulder, Malachi found his two best friends in the world leaning against a tree and giving him sad yet happy smiles.

He gave them only a moment's glance before inevitably turning back to his new friend who had the bulk of his attention.

"I knew it... you both followed me out here because you were worried."

"Is that so bad?"

"Even the girls are saying that you have been a bit less chatty ever since you found out about... you know."

"I just don't know what to say." He said honestly.

"Something, anything would be nice."

Malachi stared into the glowing white eyes of his first hived creature and wracked his mind for something to say.

"I feel like... the past five years have all been so pointless. My parents... everyone else who has been lost.. they died because the gods wanted to play a game."

No matter how much Malachi grew to love Nyx, he had never for one second forgotten about the parents who had given birth to him.

For seventeen years they were his absolute everything.

And then when they died... he could not even stop to grieve.

His sister had things that she needed, and he took it upon himself to provide them and fill in for their absence the best that he could.

But he damaged himself in the process more than he realized.

"Shh!"

Aisha's eyes took on a somewhat dreamy look that would have made Malachi sick if he'd been watching.

"S-She was just relentless and she chased after me methodically without giving me any time to get my bearings. I screamed, I begged, I cried but she just kept whispering to me in that sweet voice and encouraging me to-"

"LOLO!"

Understanding what was being asked in an instant, the hybrid crocodile wrapped her tail around Aisha's upper body and casually tossed her into the water around them.

Immensely relieved, Mal gave her a few congratulatory pats on the head for being such a good girl.

"Hey! I was listening to that!" Serana complained.

"Have some sympathy, Serana! How would you like it if I talked about sex with your mom in front of you?"

"I think I've grown numb because it actually doesn't bother me all that much anymore."

"Christ."Malachi had never felt like his open affection would come back to bite him in the butt in such a manner as this one.

"Actually, I have questions about that too now that I think about it."

"Oh god."

"Mom's always been pretty lazy, so is she a pillow princess?"

"Serana.."

"And since you're all doing stuff together at night, are the other girls laying their hands on my mommy too?"

"Lolo."

"KYAA!!"

Once again, Lolo displayed a remarkable ability to follow orders as she hurled Serana off her back without a second thought.

It just so happened that at this point Aisha was finally crawling back onto the beast, and it was easy to see that she wasn't appreciative of her sudden ejection.

"Enjoy your swim?"

"This is only around half as wet as your mom had me!"

"LOLO-"

"Wait!"

A small buzzing sound came from Aisha's flooded pockets and she hurriedly fished out a damp communicator.

"It's me. What's the matter?"

Serana finally swam back over to Lolo just in time to hear the frantic rambling of one of their guild members who'd endeavored on a particularly faraway expedition.

She wasn't sure if she had too much lingering water in her ears or not but she knew that she couldn't have heard what was said correctly.

And apparently, Aisha shared the same sentiment.

"Slow down, Mel. I need you to confirm... you were attacked by what??"

"Trolls!! Just outside of Wyoming! They came out of nowhere and grabbed our whole group before- KYAAA!!"

Immediately, the hearts of all three travelers sank to the bottom of their shoes as they understandably feared the worst.

"""Melanie!"""