CHAPTER 19 PART 1 OF 2

A NEST OF COCKROACHES

Not long after hatching the Infiltrators, the atmosphere in the camp became tense and uncomfortable. Korah left to do something by herself in the forest, and soon the other Arachs began showing signs of agitation. When the Combat Spiders began threatening each other with their fighting stance Lucas was forced to separate the Infiltrators. They were hostile, even to him, but still followed his orders. He led them away from the camp and had them trail the party at a wide distance. They shared his Map skill, so it was easy to keep track of each other once they moved out.

With the Infiltrators at a safe distance, the mood of the camp picked up quickly. The Combat Spiders started climbing on top of Brawler, taking turns to ride as he did thudding laps around the clearing. Korah returned before long, having spent the twilight hours searching for herbs in the forest. She came laden with a massive pile of mint and what looked like wild onions.

“Lucas, can you get the new Arach to dig me a fire pit?”

“Try asking him yourself,” Lucas said, curious what would happen.

With a slightly awkward demeanour, Korah approached Digger. She made a coughing noise, in an apparent attempt to get its attention. It didn't move, but its Aura fluctuated slightly, mirroring Korah’s uncertainty. Lucas was not sure if his relationship with his spiders allowed him to understand their Auras better, or if he had better Aura reading ability in general, but Korah did not seem to realise that she had it’s attention. She positioned herself in front of it, and mimicked digging at the ground.

“Can you dig a hole for me? You can have some dinner too.”

The Arach got up, looked at Lucas as if to see if he objected, when he didn't, it started digging.

“They are smarter than they look.” Lucas said.

“A bit like you then.” Korah said, then proceeded to giggle at her own joke while skinning the deer they had sacrificed.

Lucas had recovered a Mana point by then, so he borrowed Korah’s healing Nexus and gave his team a physical, looking for any minor injuries. By the time he was satisfied Korah had gutted and quartered the entire deer, stuffed mint into the meat and had a fire blazing in a large pit. She then collected bits of rock and rubble and laid them amongst the coals. Korah built the fire up until it was roaring, while instructing Lucas to find even more rocks.

As was typical of his Scouts, they took him leaving the camp very seriously and began fanning out to scan for threats. Lucas was about to head back with about as many rocks as he could hold when one of the Scouts flashed a warning. It appeared on his Map as an orange dot, which did not indicate an enemy necessarily, but an unknown. Lucas immediately used Scry to get a look for himself.

A man was sitting cross legged in the branches of a tree, his back was very straight and his hands rested on his knees. He wore robes that were secured with a number of sashes to bring them into a tight fit around a lean, muscular body. That was already a striking and unusual image, but what stood out the most was the man’s Aura. It looked like he sat in the centre of a crystal ball. It was pure and clear, and gave the impression of unyielding hardness.

As with any other Aura, the man’s emotions could be seen. But they had a peculiar serenity to them. A normal person rarely had a ‘pure’ thought or emotion. They would normally be coloured with some degree of uncertainty or hesitation, often with minor contradictory elements. That’s just how human minds work, but not in this case. Lucas wasn't sure how it was possible, but it looked as if every thought or emotion within him was in absolute harmony with his intentions.

The emotions being displayed at the moment was disgust, as if he was looking at a nest of cockroaches, and wanted nothing more than to stomp on every last one. He was looking from the vantage of a slight rise in the terrain and had a good view of the clearing where Korah and the spiders waited in camp.

Lucas stayed in his Scry perspective to watch him for several minutes, until it became clear that he wasn't moving, then returned to camp with his rocks.

“Hey Korah, there is some weirdo watching us from up on that hill, hiding in a tree.”

“Oh?” Korah said, looking up from where she was stuffing the deer with mint and onions. She wiped her brow with a bloody hand as she asked;

“What kind of weirdo?”

“Well, he is wearing robes, has an Aura like polished crystal, and seems a bit like a judgemental asshole.”

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“That sounds like a Morgan.” Korah said, smiling as if he should get the joke. Lucas just blinked at her several times so she sighed and continued;

“The Morgans are a powerful Noble House from Votterdam.”

“Yeah well, I'm going to send an Infiltrator after him, seems like a good chance for a field test.”

“You mean those nasty little things you made today? What did he do to deserve that? Do you think he is an enemy?” She asked.

“If he wasn't, he would come and say hello. As long as he insists on lurking in the bushes to spy on us like a creep I'm going to treat him like an enemy.”

“Fair enough,” said Korah, squatting down again to continue packing the deer with onions.

Rather than calling his Infiltrators into the camp, he went to them. They were huddled together, overlapping their vile and twisted Auras for support, as if the comparative normality of their surroundings had them under siege. Lucas felt a pang of guilt for having created something that could never escape the torment inherent in its design. He singled one out with his attention, it crept forward, compelled to obey despite how much it hated him.

He opened his Map again, where the Morgan warrior’s icon was still displayed. The orange dot had turned half way to red. That was a reflection of the Scout’s gradually worsening opinion of the human in question. His intended meaning was translated into his Map power by the red-orange dot blinking. The Infiltrator shared his Map ability. It understood immediately what was required of it and set off in that direction. Due to the fat reserves bloating its abdomen it was considerably slower than the Scouts. Lucas predicted it would be dark by the time it reached its target. That could work well, since it would probably need to wait for the man to sleep in order to get a chance to plant itself in his clothes or wherever.

When he got back to camp, Korah seemed finally satisfied with the level of seasoning done to the deer. The fire had burned through the easy fuel now, and was building up a bed of hot coal. She told Lucas to throw his collection of rocks in, then tossed the deer in by its hooves, followed by more rocks. On that she lit a new, smaller fire and in a few minutes the whole area was drenched in the smell of roasting meat. The Arachs began shuffling closer and closer to the pit.

Korah found herself two rocks and rolled them close to the flames. She then took off her armour, revealing worn travelling clothes made of dark green cotton and soft leather. From her pack she took out a tiny hammer and a handful of staples. She sat on one rock and used the other as an anvil to begin patching the many holes and cuts the armour had collected over the past couple of days. Lucas rolled his own rock over to the fire to sit near her.

“So, I'd like to be more useful in a fight. I mean, myself personally. Before I met you I was working on increasing my Strength and Agility… The ‘Gates of Power’ as you called them. I'd like to get both of them over 5, then I think I'd be a lot more useful.” Lucas said.

“Getting close to the fifth gate is a lot easier than getting through it. It gets very hard as you get close. Most people never make it.”

That sounded right by what Lucas had experienced, the closer to crossing the line he had got the harder it was to make progress. Despite all his effort after reaching 4, he had not managed it.

“I can help you,” Korah continued. “If we both still live after dealing with Caleb I'll show you what I know. I was trained by a master Druid. In this part of the world the Great Houses hold tightly to the secrets of passing the gates, but where I come from it’s different. The Druids will train any warrior with talent, as long as they demonstrate personal integrity also. Nobody wants a powerful fighter turning into an Afflicted.”

“Yea you mentioned that you come from somewhere else, is it far?” Lucas asked.

“Not from so far as you,” She said wryly. “To the east, a few weeks on foot, is a great river. Across it are my people. I’m a foreigner here. We have less Relics in the east, so life is simpler, and there are less people. There are many tribes, but mine is the largest. We are called the Goth, but the people here call us Gothii. My people and the people of this land were at war not long ago, perhaps ten years. I fought with the other warriors, but I do not consider anyone here to be my enemy.”

“Would they consider you an enemy? If we go to a city will they try to kill you?”

“I was at Votterdam not long before meeting you. They trade with various tribes that are close by, and nobody who cared could tell me apart from them.”

“I've heard about Votterdam, is it really big? How many people live there?” Lucas asked.

After thinking for a moment, Korah replied;

“Maybe a hundred thousand. But many of them do not live there. Merchants are always passing though, and farmers bring in their crops to sell. Many nearby towns were destroyed in the war, so there are many refugees also. I do not like that place much, everyone wants to get something out of you. What about your world, what is it like?” She asked.

“Well, my city has twenty times as many people as Votterdam, and it's considered quite a small city. My world is very different, in ways I could only begin to explain. There are no Auras or magic, no Nexus’, no Gates. People live safe and soft lives, at least in my part of the world. I'd never had to fight anything before I came here.”

“Sounds like a nice place, a place where people can be kind.” Korah said thoughtfully.