Dragon of the Eldritch Chapter 3 Preview

Koneko groaned as she awoke. Her head throbbed, her lips and mouth felt dry and rough, and her magic felt like it was burning just from keeping her ears, tail, and wings hidden away. In essense, her entire being was in agony, as if she had been ripped apart and stitched back together.

'Was any thing missing?'

It was an odd question to ask herself, but she focused on the pain to check. Pain was good, if only because it meant that whatever was hurting was still there. Her fingers were all there, and she was fairly sure her toes were accounted for. And as she begrudgingly moved her limbs, she determinted that her arms and legs were whole if sore. She couldn't feel any intense pain or wetness she would assume came with any part of her torso being destroyed. Her head was a given.

It was there, right?

Yes, it had to be, she could feel her cat ears wanting to poke out. But her hands drifted open, feeling the skull just to make sure it was ALL there. Mercifully, it was.

She would have sighed in relief if it didn't feel like shredding glass through her lungs.

"Koneko! You're awake!"

Her head pounded in protest, looking over at the blond, bipedal creature.

Kiba. His name was Kiba.

"The president was worried, we found you passed out in front of the club house," Kiba stated as he knelt down next to her in concern. "Do you need anything?"

Koneko wasn't sure what she really needed, but knew that Kiba wouldn't be able to give it back. Or fix it. Whatever it was, it was gone or broken. Or both. Still, there was something else. "Wa-water," she rasped out.

Kiba nodded and turned to leave to collect the requested liquid.

Koneko felt herself becoming more acclimated and aware. She was in the club house, on one of the couches. She was home, she was safe. Her eyes drank in the familiar setting that she felt she was appreciating for the first time: the soft lights of the candles, the rich color of the wooden walls, the tentacle reaching over the top of the couch tow-

Koneko instantly shot up, a death grip on the couch as her searched wildly for the tentacle and its source. But she found nothing, which did little to ease the blood pounding through her veins. Her eyes slowly, reluctantly calmed down as she looked downward to see if- if what she saw had been real, if it touched her.

She swallowed numbly as she found just one piece of evidence on her person. Not a drip of slime or a rip in her clothing, but a piece of notebook paper sticking out of the corset of her uniform. With shaking hands, she reached forth to pull it out.

The folded parchment weighed far too heavy in her hand for its lack of content. Still, with dreadful curiousity, she unfolded the paper and began to read.

"Shirone"

How Did They Know That Name?! The question echoed in her mind with growing fear in her heart. Was her sister somehow involved in this? If so, that was worrisome. If not, that raised more questions.

"Shirone,

I hope you're feeling better. I fixed you up the best I could for now. The exestiential horror and hullucinations will fade away by the end of the month.

Tell your master to watch who she lets her pets wander around.

Madam Yi

PS: Nagns suna U'ftft naka xuia unsu a las ru' kungur."