Matthew's entire being felt strange and disconnected, his arms felt like string and his legs like blocks of stone.
The maw opened itself to swallow his soul, its core was a dizzying wave of colors. It was a hypnotizing dance.
This would be the end, he had seen the maw kill things before. First it would drain a wave of translucent colors from the body, then your skin would fly off your bones like wet clay.
It would only ever steal a soul after its stringy tentacle had touched the target.
This was the first clue Matthew had on how to defeat it.
If he could somehow resist the enthrallment then he could find an opening. He had thought long and hard on this matter.
The final plan was to not let it touch him. He instead allowed the maw to believe it had won.
The discarded bottle a couple metres away had held resin. His left arm was coated in it, creating a barrier between him and everything else.
And in his right hand was a knife.
A defiant roar shook his body from lethargy as he sprung up and jumped right into the mouth of death.
The core of the maw blinded him as he tightened his grip on the knife.
His previously numb hand became strong and steady. He stabbed right into the center of the Maw.
The brilliant core exploded in a storm of lights.
As the colors overwhelmed his sight he fainted.
——
Three hours later Stella, Gareth and the rest of the crew were following the trail of destruction the Maw always left.
"The explosion probably shocked everything in the forest," Stella explained.
Gareth's face paled, "Save our asses though, all the thralls froze after the blast went off."
Holly studied the road sized trail left by the monstrosity shivering, "Are we sure it's dead, if Matthew killed it why hasn't he returned."
"You should have stayed with Mable if this scares you that much, lord knows she needs you right now," Gareth complained.
"All the thralls were released from its control and its smaller bodies collapsed. There are other reasons Matthew may not be back."
Holly glared at him, stuffing her hands into her blue hoodie. "You should have stayed with her, if you're so worried."
Stella grimaced as they bickered, she didn't want to imagine those other reasons.
Her eyes studied the ancient forest, she brushed aside huge leaves carefully and watched for danger.
They hopped over a fallen tree and found a clearing, Stella's eyes widened. "Matthew!"
He was in the middle of a river of rotten flesh, in a perfect circle. The about four metres of clean space separated him from the dead monster's remains.
The dead meat was flowing down hill opening a space through which they could walk through and only be shin high in rot.
After carrying Matthew out of the circle of rot, Stella examined him looking for possible points of trauma and checking his overall health.
She exhaled, "He's good, just unconscious and a little raw from the heat of the explosion."
Everyone relaxed, grins spreading as they took in the carnage and remains of the Pale maw.
Stella looked at Matthew's tanned skin and his unruly beard, wondering how he had even managed to push the monster so far.
Gareth sat beside him smiling softly, "Thank you so much man, you're unreal."
"Thank you," Matthew replied suddenly.
Everyone jumped as his eyes opened, a peaceful almost detached look in them.
Stella grinned, "Crazy bastard, how'd you do it?"
"It was a lot," Matthew said, his eyebrow raised as he looked into empty space. "New armament?"
Gareth's eyes lit up, "Yeah i wanted to ask you about that, sometime after the Maw was defeated we each got a skill. Mostly fair ranks but i got a rare and Mable got an armament and a rare"
Matthew gritted his teeth, flexing his toes and fingers, letting out a disappointed breath.
"Well that's nice, is the pulley system still up. I seemed to have taken a lot of mental damage."
They carried Matthew back to the waterfall, the whole trip was agonizing.
The numb weakness of his body, all those people touching him and the existential horror of the possibility he would never move on his own again.
The damage was severe, he could barely speak coherently sometimes and his thoughts were scattered and fleeting.
His memory and perception of the world were scattered.
All he could see was the treeline as they carried him, but sometimes his vision would lag and suddenly speed up making him dizzy.
Or shapes would become more abstract and hard to understand.
Frankly he didn't understand what was happening or being said half the time. He would start to panic as he realised for the tenth time he was being carried by someone or body parts would go completely haywire when he tried to move them.
He had received the armament, but opted not to choose a skill just yet as he could barely put together a proper thought.
It was frankly the worst thing that had ever happened to him.
He swore to himself that all skills of stat cards he picked from now on would combat mental damage, then he forgot the oath two seconds later.
He rambled incoherent nonsense most of the time and hoped he wouldn't reveal any secrets.
After an agonizing return to the White temple, he was laid against the cold stones and given a headrest.
Stella ran her hand through his hair, her emerald green eyes were helpless and sad. A weak smile masked her anguish.
"I don't know how to help, whatever those mind controlling plants did hit harder than a truck." She muttered.
A husky voice said from across her, "You don't need to do anything. Now he has to rely on himself."
He fell asleep listening to them talk, the cold bliss of darkness and dreams of when he had full control of his body.
——
It was a nice dream—he was walking his sister to school. She wore her little red uniform and he had on a suit of similar color.
They spoke about so many meaningless things, yet remembering it felt good.
Suddenly Noa, his little sister, turned to him. "Are you a good person Mat?"
He froze, suddenly he wasn't a twelve year old boy in a white shirt and a bright red suit.
He was a scattered twenty-two year man in a fading black suit and a pale blue shirt.
He looked into his sister's dazzling blue eyes, then he turned his head down studying his shoes.
"Why'd you ask?"
Noa gripped his hand a bit tighter, "I threw away my friend's teddy, she takes the little thing about and the others always make fun of us."
Her eyes grew tearful and her voice shook, "She cries so much and I didn't mean to hurt her. I was just helping us."
Matthew knelt beside her, placed his hands on her little shoulders, "Why don't we buy her a new one?"
"Really?"
"I have some money saved up, we'll drop by the mall and pick up one just like hers."
"Should I tell her I threw away her teddy?" she asked, wiping her tears. "Do you think she'll be angry at me?"
Matthew almost told her not to tell her friend anything. He paused a small blossom of shame forming in his heart, he smiled.
"You be sincere with her, let her take her time and I'm sure she'll forgive you someday."
The dream broke, the serenity and peace disappearing immediately.
Instead he felt his skin sing with pain and a horrible itching spread over him.
——
He opened his eyes and immediately had a brain blast of everything that had happened after he beat the Maw.
A groan escaped him as his mind seemed to catch up to reality.
Stella jumped, "Matthew! Oh my god, are you alright?"
He nodded, struggling to sit up and holding his head in his hands as his brain pulsed with heat and pain. He let out a stressful breath, eyes rolling as he tried moving his fingers and waved his arms.
"Well, at least i'm getting better."
Stella stared dumbfounded as a smile began to creep onto her lips. "There's something wrong with you."
Matthew grinned madly, "You don't know the half of it."
They spoke about his condition a little, then a tall and broad shoulder young man walked up smiling.
Matthew eyed the smiling boy, his brown fluffy hair and stormy grey eyes. He extended a hand for Matthew to shake.
"Hey, nice to finally meet you. The name's Parker."