The Oracle Paths

It was only possible because the defense systems of the massive Floating Island had long been deactivated.

The Digestor could have spawned anywhere, but chance had it that it was born precisely at the junction where the Aether waves emitted by these three powerful Evolvers intersected.

An amorphous mass, silver and partially translucent, trickled down from an invisible singularity about a meter off the ground and streamed out into a long, sticky stem that stretched out to plop to the ground. A puddle resembling a large drop of water contaminated with heavy metals spread quickly, then suddenly condensed, manifesting all the embryonic stages of an alien fetus in fast forward.

Less than a second later, a vaguely humanoid, genderless, and faceless creature appeared before the stunned survivor of the Krynnis race. This abomination was no bigger than a tamarin and had no fangs or teeth to harm him. It only reached him at mid-calf, yet the alien was overcome with a cold shiver of horror that made his hair stand on end.

"N'rakth, by the void of space, what the skrell is this?" The Krynnis alien blurted out, losing his composure for the first time.

His bracelet told him that this thing was indeed a Rank 0 Digestor, but his soldier's instinct, honed by years of risking his life, urged him to flee as fast as his legs could carry him!

As if awakening to the fact that the involuntary cry of the Evolver was meant for him, the newborn Digestor tilted its head adorably in his direction. If it were a Krynnis toddler or a pet, this cuteness might have touched him.

"Shrri?"

Sadly, not this time. When this harmless-looking, tiny Digestor fixed its attention on him and let out a small, piercing cry of inquiry, the alien, who prided himself on having unshakeable composure, felt his resolve crumble as a warm stream of liquid betrayed his unsteady nerves and flooded his suit.

He had just peed himself.

This realization shocked the alien even more than the deaths of all those Oracle Guardians and his people. His mind had not yet grasped the horror of the thing standing a few meters away from him, but his body was much more honest.

At that moment, his mind was in a dilemma.

'What am I supposed to do in this situation? Run away?'

His reptilian brain was insisting that he escape from here as fast as possible, but the rational and lucid part of his gray matter was vociferously telling him not to move a muscle. Torn between his two urgent impulses, the veteran soldier found himself frozen in place, ultimately favoring the second option.

In reality, he was just in a state of shock. Like a mouse ceasing to struggle after being cornered by a cat, fear had paralyzed his limbs. His mind was perfectly alert and awake, but his body no longer obeyed him.

This instinct saved him. Temporarily. After a few seconds, the Rank 0 Digestor lost interest in him and finally noticed the three dead Evolvers standing in a triangle around him.

The moment the limited-intelligence, silver creature laid its eyes upon them, a thunderous surge of rapture reverberated through its cells.

Food! Eat them!

If its cells could speak, that's what they would have said.

To a newborn Digestor, these three Evolver corpses were the epitome of culinary perfection - a succulent feast that promised to sate its insatiable hunger, imbuing it with power and vitality. The corpses hummed with an irresistible energy, their very essence pulsing with an otherworldly force that drew the baby Digestor in like a moth to a flame.

Disregarding the Krynnis alien completely, the Rank 0 Digestor lunged forward like a newborn human, testing its unsteady legs as it made its way towards one of the three glowing corpses that shone like stars through the haze of its Aether Sight.

"Shrrri!!!"

As the Rank 0 Digestor approached the towering Evolver corpse, its body hummed with anticipation, and its once featureless face split open to reveal a small, razor-sharp maw. With a twitch of its jaw, the creature tested its newfound ability to chew, the movement fluid and instinctual. In an instant, delicate, translucent teeth sprouted from its gums like blooming flowers, reminiscent of the sharp, efficient dentition of a dolphin.

Feeling properly armed to enjoy its first meal, the alien opened its mouth wide. Much too wide.

The Krynnis soldier, who had already thought he had witnessed the worst atrocities imaginable, was utterly unprepared for the sight that greeted him. As he watched the small, seemingly harmless head of the Digestor expand and stretch, the gaping maw now spanning over thirty centimeters, a wave of paralyzing terror surged through him, threatening to buckle his knees and send him reeling to the ground.

With an excited and impatient snap of its jaws, the little Digestor bit down on the tibia of its prey.

CLANG!

Its teeth and jaw broke immediately. To even entertain the notion of taking a bite out of an entity as formidable as an Oracle Overseer, let alone its impenetrable armor, was the height of madness.

Yet, faced with this failure and searing pain, the creature displayed no panic or dissatisfaction. Quite the contrary.

"Shriii!!!"

Giving up on using its teeth, it scrambled up the corpse of its prey like an agile chimpanzee. Then, a long, translucent tongue very "human-like" pointed out of its mouth, and like a kitten in front of its bowl of milk, it began to lick the exposed face of its prey.

Slurp!

One lick was enough.

Like all those Digestors clinging like leeches to the Oracle Cubes to extract the Aether emitted by their Aether Cores, the rest of the small Digestor's body also pressed against its prey's face as if trying to merge with it. Its translucent body quickly inflated like a balloon, and a bright silver light shone from its entrails.

"Shrrri!"

Pop!

Just before it exploded, the body of the Rank 0 Digestor detached automatically and fell to the ground as an amorphous mass in full mutation.