Marvelous Cockatrice

I am comically frail. In my hands, the spade almost really seems like a sword. It truly is a wonder as to how I am not dead; I can't imagine how the previous owner of this body lived this long. Perhaps he was a secret master and in a desperate attempt to live longer, he sold all his wealth for an artifact that let him switch bodies with someone else.

'Hey Leon, is it possib-'

[No]

'You didn't let me fini-'

[It is not possible to switch bodies across dimensions]

'...'

'But what if yo-'

[No, it won't work, stop asking]

Going back to the uncomfortable silence as I shuffled across the forest floor. I had seen all kinds of creatures the last two hours and I am slowly reaching my limits for how much farther I can go.

'How much farther?'

[we are not even halfway there]

Oh fuck me, my knees felt like shit, my hands trembled from holding the spade and my arms burned with exertion every time I had to clear the way of vines with the spade.

"'J-Just a quick break" I mumbled

[Take your time]

'Thanks, I wi-'

[I was being sarcastic]

[Every second we waste, you inch closer to your age claiming you. It would not be a stretch to say that your next sleep may be your last]

This has got to be elder abuse. I was really in a sorry state, my only hope to quickly gain my strength back was the mana stone, which would cost me every bit of energy I had just to get it. If I fail and I am forced to rest, Leon may be right; my organs might really shut down for good.

"Kuuuueep"

Something that sounded like a chicken and a dying donkey could be heard just up ahead through the thick undergrowth.

'Is that a mana beast'

[most likely a Cockatrice]

'Are they powerful?'

[No, but with the state you are in, even an exposed root tripping might kill you. Play it safe, just go around its nest and hide]

'Fine'

Peering through the undergrowth to catch a quick glance there appeared to truly be some sort of monster with the head of a chicken and bat-like wings with many tears and scars covering its body. But what caught my vision lay under the cockatrice's fearsome talons. Three stunning eggs the size of my head were lying in a nest made of moss.

My stomach didn't even have the strength to growl rather an intense sensation of just how truly hungry I was washed over me.

[resist the temptation, if we spend any longer here you might just die before we even get there]

'If I do not get one of those eggs I will die of hunger'

[You exaggerate, stop messing around and focus on the task at hand, prioritize survival]

'No, this is how I will survive, or die on a full stomach'

[fool]

I slowly creeped out from the undergrowth with a small boulder intended for smashing the cockatrice's skull in.

[it is never gonna work, its skin is too thick for the rock to even make a gash]

'Whatever happened to your optimistic attitude?'

There truly is no more time for small talk now, at any moment now that cockatrice will turn its head and attack me. It's now or never. With as much strength as I could muster I heaved the rock toward the cockatrice's head.

With a loud crack, the rock shattered upon impact with the cockatrices' exposed scalp. Turning its head unfazed, the cockatrice looked at me with eyes full of pity.

A single talon flashed and nicked me on the chest before I could even react. Stumbling back I looked at the wound. There was some stone-like substance spreading on my skin getting bigger and bigger.

'Oh fuck me'

I was hoping I had plot armor

[...]

[that was pathetic]

The stone-like substance had now spread to my shoulders and my survival instincts kicked in. I started running as fast as I could across the forest floor hoping the cockatrice wouldn't follow. It didn't, it simply watched with mild curiosity as the stone-like substance had now reached my leg causing me to fall.

'Goodbye cruel world, I was hoping it wouldn't end this way, but I made my bed and now I have to sleep in it'

[You are so fucking dumb]

The substance had now spread to my neck. The cockatrice now seeing that I had been thoroughly subdued walked over to my body and dragged me next to the nest and put me in front of the eggs on a moss bed so that I would not shatter.

[It seems it will de-petrify you once the eggs hatch so it can feed its newborns right away. What an innovative and smart creature]

'Oh shut up'

My lips had long since petrified leaving me silent. I could only hear what was happening around me since I was facing the floor

[HAHAHHAHA, You really had the audacity, without second thought, to go against common sense and defeat a cockatrice with a rock? You serve as a reminder for how shallow the human intellect can truly be]

'It was a calculated risk'

[yes, but you are evidently terrible at math]

With nothing better to do while waiting for my fate I stared at the moss next to my face. So green and pretty, I bet it was soft too. If only I could feel the moss before I die, then I might just be able to perish a happy man.

I could feel soft vibrations coming from the moss bed, slight but evidently there.

'Is it just me or is the moss shaking?'

[yes, it is, most likely a bigger monster that has arrived with the purpose of eating the cockatrice's eggs]

The pebbles beside my face started to shake much more rapidly as the ground rumbled with every step the approaching monster took.

"Hsssssk"

I could hear the cockatrice attempt to warn the approaching monstrosity in an attempt to scare it off.

[How futile]

[Truly a shame, I quite liked this cockatrice]

The ground stopped rumbling; it seemed as though the monster was right next to us. Damn it! Why did that cockatrice have to lay us face down? With burning curiosity, I tried imagining what it looked like.

'Do you think it's a dragon?'

[No]

'What about a massive wolf'

[No]

'Maybe a ridiculously large snake?'

[No]

'What do you think it is?'

[By god, let me die in peace!]

Seconds passed as I waited for something to happen, rather, nothing did. Moments went by without sound, the jungle was silent in anticipation waiting and watching to see the fate of the cockatrice and its eggs.

I wonder what they are doing, maybe the bigger monster took pity on the Cockatrice after seeing it was a mother.

Then, without any warning, I was lifted into the air, held uncomfortably by hundreds of blade like teeth.

[Ingenious… It negotiated a trade with the predator to keep its eggs alive. What a magnificent beast!]

To think the Cockatrice would sell me out so quickly. Truly it has no honor.

We started moving fast, incredibly so, the jungle blurred around as we raced through the jungle, dashing through vine entanglements with ease, narrowly avoiding quicksand.

'I think we are in its mouth'

[No shit Sherlock, what made you think that, the teeth or the drool?]

'the smell'

Eventually, we arrived at what was most likely our destination. A huge cave opening that stretched for nearly a quarter mile wide and high. Clear evidence of bone scraps from various animals could be seen, as well as some miscellaneous armor and broken swords scattered throughout. But what terrified me most was what looked to be a mound of skulls close to thirty feet high, upon closer inspection all of them were human skulls, and some still had their helmets on. A bit so subtle foreshadowing of my fate if I can't find a way out of this.

[Look what you managed to get us into. If I had to make a guess, it's going to behead you and then eat your body. It will be a horrific watch, but I will look regardless to honor your memory]

'Don't you die with me?'

[yes, but my soul doesn't fragment till the last neuron in your brain stops firing. But considering how brain-dead you are that might be sooner than I realize]

'Hell is too good for you'

[Please, after your declaration of war, you and I are getting sent to Tartarus at least]

Maybe by some miracle, I will be spared from my terrible fate, maybe I will simply just wake up and I will pretend this never happened. Or maybe I will just die and then get tortured in Tartarus for millennia, hopefully not the latter.