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[color=2cc785]"Fear me, you insectsssss."[/color]

[color=888888] -Salbjörg of the Deep[/color]
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[color=2cc785]"I doubt you would forget your own name."[/color] And if Sal could read minds, she would probably disagree with going for a shorter version of that name. The only way she could see someone doing that would be if the name was being written. In particular, with a device that made writing special characters a pain in the rear. Like if you had some runestones with letters on them, and touching the runestones with the letter on them caused them to appear on a magical glass tablet. That would be the only case she could see for someone shortening their name. But she couldn’t read minds, so none of this actually happened.

Sal had not been sure what to make of Schnupfen. It wasn’t clear if his comment regarding names was aimed at Muste exclusively or Sal as well. If he had intended to include her, and why wouldn’t you try, then he was openly rejecting her suggestion. Such defiant behavior was uncouth. The alternative was he chose not to acknowledge her suggestion. Neither of those were particularly flattering, but she did appreciate that Schnupfen had the common sense to back away from everyone before making such rude remarks. Should this factor into how she rated him? She was unsure.

The antics of the goblins were observed, but none of it appeared to interest Sal. She raised an eyebrow once their exchange came to an end. At the very least, she felt confident in her original assessment on the furry assistant. While her form paled in comparison to more majestic creatures (like herself) she was dutiful if nothing else. She had earned her secretary title if nothing else.

But the Oracle was about to steal the show. While clearly not as attractive as Sal, it exuded power and authority. Sal was good at keeping her emotions in check and gave no outward hints that she was impressed. But on the inside she was deeply fascinated by what all the grandstanding would lead to. Her mouth unhinged slightly as he invoked the lord’s judgment on the goblin, and Sal felt the punishment was sufficient for the crime. It wasn’t until the massive creature thrust its ethereal fingers at everyone who had given a name that her cool exterior began to crack. Her mouth opened further, her chest swelled when "four" was called out and the divine finger was pointing straight into her soul. She found herself holding her breath as a single dice was rolled across the floor. Shortly afterwards, a name had been decided. While it hadn’t been the one she had chosen, it was difficult to argue with the results. Time was short, there was no time to debate, and the dice did not play favorites. Perhaps her name was too good for Kleine. Maybe she was only a six. But if there was someone in this room that was a ten, it might be the Oracle.

[color=2cc785]"Kleine the Illusion…"[/color] Salbjörg appreciated that the name was trivial for her to pronounce if nothing else. Next came more understanding, but not the time to reflect on it. Schnupfen had something of a meltdown and began shouting orders, or maybe suggestions. Entertaining any of that was far beneath her, as she had another, far more pressing problem to deal with. 

Even though Salbjörg had pulled herself off of the cold floor, her body wasn’t getting warmer. After considering it for a moment, the reason for this became obvious. Her body wasn’t generating its own heat. She rubbed her hands together to build friction, but that wasn’t going to be enough.

[color=2cc785]"Hmmm…"[/color] Sal’s eyes locked onto Zoppy. She reached for the goblin and picked her up with one hand. The sleeping green skin was emitting heat, and didn’t look like she was going to protest too much if she was moved slightly. Salbjörg cradled her other arm and placed Zoppy in it, gently leaning her head on her cleavage. Yes, this seemed to be working. She could feel her bones sucking up the goblin’s heat and found the current arrangement agreeable. 

Once she was set up, she looked back at the screen to see what was going on. It seemed like Schnupfen, in addition to being whiney and rude, was also kind of useless against such a weak intruder. Her initial assessment of him had been too high. He was a solid three. 

[color=2cc785]"Do whatever you like."[/color] She told the others with a dismissive wave of her hand. [color=2cc785]"[i]I’ll[/i] be back before long."[/color] And then Sal went to meet their opposition, heat blanket in tow. 

…

…

…

Maybe she should have asked for directions, but Salbjörg found the path ahead to be simple enough to navigate. Any time she entered a new room, there was always exactly one entrance to another room ahead of her, which made locating her prey that much easier. It was disappointing the threat was so weak, but that just presented an opportunity to experiment. In particular, Sal wanted to demonstrate her presentation. 

She could see him now. A silhouette that looked similar to what Kleine had shown them. Immediately she changed how she walked. Her hips swung wide, her steps were firm and slow. The sound of each step would carry into the next room, and it was having the desired effect. The boy had stopped his advance and held out his sword, quivering just a bit in his shaky hand. Sal was looking straight over his head where a worthy adventurer’s eyes might be. When she stepped past the threshold of the passageway, she cast out her hand, and fragments of her bone placard circled around her. Their clicking and clacking filled the room with noise. Her eyes swiftly dropped to the boy, causing him to hop backwards. He swallowed hard. A ghost was intangible, but there was no doubt that this monster could hurt the boy if she wanted to.

And boy was a very apt descriptor for the intruder, as they were a child. He wore the simple clothes of a commoner. Dirty whites and patchwork brown covered his outfit. He had a small pouch on one hip, and a sword in the other. Or perhaps calling it a club would be more accurate, as it was a wooden sword. The boy wore no armor, and one of his leather shoes had pulled apart enough to reveal his toes. Despite his disheveled appearance, the boy had bright, golden hair that tumbled down his shoulders. He was no higher than a seven now, but over time his beauty could mature. Sal grinned, which further unsettled the boy. 

[color=2cc785]"You’re awfully loud."[/color] She flicked her tongue. [color=2cc785]"And you look lossssssst."[/color] The intention was to scare, so Salbjörg did not mind sounding the part of a monster. [color=2cc785]"Do you want to go back home?"[/color] 

[b][color=ffffff]"I-I’m not lost! Why does everyone say that? I-I’m just-"[/color][/b]

[color=2cc785]"Sssssscared?"[/color] Sal "assisted" him. Her smile only widened. 

[b][color=ffffff]"I… just don’t understand why you’re cradling a goblin?"[/color][/b] Her eyes flicked down to the goblin she was cradling against her chest. [b][color=ffffff]"Like, is that your baby? Did you adopt it? Is that something monsters do?"[/color][/b]

With a long, tired groan, the snake woman raised her head. [color=2cc785]"You asssssk too many quessssstionssssss. Let me fix that."[/color] 

The bone fragments converged into a single chaotic mass, which formed into a bowl when she took hold of it. The boy shifted on his feet as she moved the bowl to her lips. Sal bit down and her fangs deployed a stream of thick, green fluid. The bowl then folded in on itself. At first it seemed malleable like wet clay, but then it started to snap and shatter with each fragment coated in her venom. Then with the flick of her hand, the bone mass turned into several dozen needles, which soared towards their target from every direction. The boy winced, raised his sword, but many of them slipped past his defences. And then he let out a blood curdling shout.

[b][color=ffffff]"Owch!"[/color][/b] 

Despite most of the bone needles hitting their mark, few of them managed to peirce his skin. After the attack, he pulled one of them out of his neck and examined it. [b][color=ffffff]"Was that it?"[/color][/b] 

Salbjörg groaned again, but this time she bared her teeth. [color=2cc785]"That was jussssst to ssssssssoften you up!"[/color]

Running in high heels is hard, but the upside to having ridiculously long legs is that you don’t have to move them that fast to cover a lot of distance. She stomped her way over to the boy, but he didn’t look as intimidated as he did a moment ago. His wooden sword came up just as she attempted to stomp him into the ground. But no matter how much she leaned into her foot, the child’s arms didn’t so much as buckle under the pressure. They just stared at each other with a steely gaze. Then with an annoyed sigh, the child shoved her and she tumbled onto her back. This damn, cold floor again. At least she had something warm to hold onto this time. 

Actually, two things. 

She rolled Zoppy onto the floor before lunging at the boy. She was able to grab a hold of his shirt and pull at him, but he wouldn’t budge from his spot. It was as if she was wrestling with a pillar, and was only capable of pulling herself around her target. The boy was starting to look more irritated than anything else as the giant snake woman climbed all over him. She tried to choke him out, dislocate his arm, but none of it was very effective. Eventually the boy pulled one of the bone needles out of his neck and thrust it between Salbjörg’s ribs. 

[color=2cc785]"Graahhhhh!"[/color]

She immediately let go of the boy and fell to the ground. She rolled from side to side to try and dissipate the pain, and finally managed to pull the bone pin out of her torso. What was this boy? Was he the chosen one? Some long lost hero? He couldn’t have been normal. She didn’t have much more time to think about it before he swung his sword down at her. Sal managed to pull herself out of the way before it slammed into the ground. Even if it didn’t have much effect on the stone floor, Sal had an idea such an attack would have broken her leg. In fact, she was pretty sure that the simple stab wound she received shattered one of her ribs. At least she assumed that was why breathing and moving was painful now.

[color=2cc785]"Reinforcementssssss!"[/color] Salbjörg called out as she stumbled back the way she came. They just had to delay him long enough. Her poison would take care of him before long. Yes, she had done enough. The others could try pulling their weight now. She had practically finished him off for them.

…

Had she taken something into the last room with her? She couldn’t remember, but the dungeon was starting to feel a lot colder now that she didn’t have it…