With Alson accompanying the others, the journey towards the Governor's district went smoothly. The wealthier citizens paid Miwah and Tamma no mind as Alson accompanied them. By the time they were at the front door to Chaston's office, the sun was well into setting. The sound of insects chirping became louder as the air became suddenly cool.

"You still got that thing on you, Tamma?" Alson asked as he put his hand on the door to the research building. The hunter took her pouch and unfastened the sting that kept it closed. She opened it a smidge and looked straight down.

"Yep, still in here. Still intact. For the most part.”

The guard wiped a bit of sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. "Good. Wouldn't want to go through all that again."

"I think with Tamma and I working together, we could handle getting another sample," Miwah replied. Alson smiled but shook his head while pulling the door open wider. “At least once our powers recharge.”

"I appreciate your sense of humor at a time like this."

"I got it from Tamma."

"Ah. That makes sense."

Tamma led the group down the long corridor towards Chaston's office. Once in front of the knocked three times.

"Tamma? Alson?" The researcher called out from behind door. There was the sound of a lock being used followed by a worried look from Chaston. He took off his glasses and using the jacket of his suit, wiped them clean before placing them back on his face. "You three being back so soon can only mean one thing."

Tamma took the pouch and handed it over to the researcher. "We found it inside a dead willow lion. It had this crazed look on its face. Big eyes. Open jaw. And its fur was sticking out all over the place."

"I see..." Chaston put one finger on his chin while the other hand held onto the bag, letting it twirl in the air in front of him as he eyed the outside of the pouch with scrutiny. "Seems as if this pouch is a bit... moist."

"As it crawled out of the willow lion's body, it tried to escape by climbing up a tree. Had to shoot it with an arrow to make sure it didn't get away."

"Ah. That explains the leaking." Chaston's face puckered as he turned away from the dripping pouch. "Come on inside. We can discuss things further." The researcher entered his office while keeping the bag that held the Insectus far from his body. Despite the hour, the interior of the office was well lit. Proper placing of candles and torches made it seem as if as though it could still be daytime outside. Now with more lighting, the contents of Chaston's office were clear.

Jars of various specimens cluttered the shelves of the office. On the wooden desk were books and pages, strewn all over the surface. The floor was covered in papers as well, making Chaston take each step carefully as he stepped further inside the door. The candles that kept the room lit continued to flicker, making the room flare between bight and dark.

"I apologize for the mess," Chaston said as he sat as his desk. He pulled out a metal tray from atop one of his shelves and placed it on the surface of the furniture. "I've been in here ever since you three left, trying to figure out as much as I could about this species in the meantime."

"No worries, Chaston," Tamma replied.

"I am sure Tamma has seen worse," Miwah remarked, only to receive a mean glare from the hunter as she and Alson entered inside the office.

"I hate to have my office in such a shape, but time is not something we can afford. The sooner we can verify what we have here, the better." Chaston opened the pouch up and flipped it upside down. The maggot's slid out of the pouch before splatting onto the metal surface of the tray, creating a plunk. Brown goop oozed out of the bottom while emitting a reeking scent that made the research turn his nose up.

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"Those things rot fast," Tamma said as she plugged her nostrils with one hand and waved away the putrid scent with the other. "Good thing I never opened up that jar that held the first one!"

"Perhaps I should take note of that later," Chaston said with a puckered face. "But we'll just have to bear through it now." The researcher leaned in closer to the deceased insect, only to gag as the scent travelled further into his nostrils. "On second thought. One of you light an incense for me. Should be some in the drawer next to the guest seat."

Alson darted over to indicated location and pulled out one of the incenses as instructed. He lit it using the lone candle on the researcher's desk. In seconds, the air smelled like a corpse buried in a field of spring roses. "That's... marginally better," Chaston said as he took of his jacket. He then rolled up the sleeves to his undershirt and pulled out a pair of long and sharp metal instruments from one of the drawers on his desk. "I assume this large hole through the center of the specimen indicates that it is dead?"

"I think so. It stopped moving once that arrow pinned it to the trunk of that willow tree."

"Good." Using his tools, he began to cut into the center of the creature with precision. "Now, what else can you tell me about your encounter with this?"

"There were more than one of them," Tamma began. "The willow lion that we pulled that one out of was already dead. And after it crawled out, a bunch of baby ones jumped out of the mouth. They spread out all across the forest."

"Disgusting," Chaston replied quietly. There was a brief silence as he made sure that the next incision was precise. As the metal cut through the soft flesh with a gentle zip. "I hope you three made sure that none of those smaller ones crawled onto you. Bringing them to Farrowport would already put a damper on our plans before we've even properly formulated one."

"We made sure that we were clear, sir," Alson said.

"Nice to know you three you have some common sense. Most people in Farrowport would have run straight home and brought the insects along with them."

"Wouldn't want that. But I'm thinking that Abbus Forest might be lost. After we got away from the baby insectus, the rest of the family started chasing us."

"The entire pack?" Chaston took a break from slicing into the specimen to look at the worry on Tamma's face.

The hunter nodded. "Yes sir. Sure seemed like it. Couldn't count every single one, but there were a lot. Chased us all the way to the edge of the forest. They all had the same crazed look as the dead one we came across. Messy and frayed fur. Big angry eyes. Open jaws with saliva dripping out."

"It's a miracle you three made it out unscathed."

"We managed to fend some of them off," Alson replied.

"Good thing you went with them. Things could have easily gotten worse without you there. I never would have been able to forgive myself if anything happened to you three. I already feel guilty for sending you three to do the job of the Farrowport Guard." With his cutting finished, the researcher laid his tools to the side. He moved over to his open book and began flipping through the pages. "But it really was my only option. There's no way I'd be able to convince the Governor to spare some men to investigate."

"And you know Alson here doesn't like adhering to the rules," Tamma said coyly, giving the guard a sly gaze from the side.

"Exactly. But back to the topic of the willow lions. What did you do with the bodies of the fallen animals?"

"We had to leave them there,” Tamma began. “We didn't want to stay around and get attacked by more animals or wait around long enough for those tiny bugs to start crawling out of the dead lion's mouths and creeping up on us.”

Chaston shook his head. "That's not good. I'm glad you're all right. But this encounter is indicative of troubling things to come. Willow lions are very mobile creatures. They could have easily spread the parasites to countless other species within the forest. Most likely already have if grizlewulfs have been infected as well."

"That means we'll have to resort to asking the Governor to send the correspondence for the Extermination Measure, doesn't it?" Alson required with hesitation.

The researcher nodded his head. "Yes. After my examination of the insides of this specimen and cross-referencing it with the diagram present in this journal, I can say for certain that this is the species that Farrowport should be worried about." He adjusted his glasses as he made his way to the other side of his room. "Of course, I would have assumed that by the details you told me. But with this sample in my possession, convincing the Governor should be somewhat easier."

"Are you going to talk to her now?" Miwah asked.

"Yes. I would like for you three to come along as well. I will need all of the witnesses I can get if I'm ever going to convince my aunt of such a drastic action." The research grabbed a large clear jar from his assortment of containers and brought it back to his desk. He unscrewed the top before cautiously lifting the bug's body with both hands. "It is not something that I can guarantee, even with undisputable evidence." Chaston lowered the remains of the Insectus into the jar and sealed it tight. "She should still be up in her quarters. If we're quick, we can make it there before she leaves."