Kyle took another moment to reflect. Despite the tenor of C.H.A.D.D.’s voice showing no change, he could feel the genuine concern and worry behind the words. A big part of Kyle wanted to reject the notion outright, assure his companion that he’d never be left behind. He wanted to; but he couldn’t. While he’d never simply abandon C.H.A.D.D., if Kyle got into situations that were too dangerous, he wouldn’t knowingly drag the drone into a scenario where it wouldn’t be able to survive.
“I’m not going to just leave you behind, C.H.A.D.D. We are a team. We’re going to find a method, somehow, to make sure you keep up. If that means a hardware upgrade, we’ll do it. If that means a software update, we’ll figure it out. If it means taking a trip to get you more essences, we’ll get it booked. Like I said, we’re a team.”
[THANK YOU, DR. MAYHEW.]
“You’re welcome, C.H.A.D.D.”
Kyle felt that there was more the drone wanted to discuss, but after another few moments of silence, he clambered on top of the thick tree branch and stretched. “Well, we’re already near the canopy. How about we head to the top and see what the world looks like from above?”
Without waiting for C.H.A.D.D. to respond, Kyle grabbed the rough bark of the tree and began to scale it. Between gaps in the bark and the tree limbs themselves, he had no problem finding handholds. As he climbed, however, a creeping sense of unease began to build. Soon, he placed it. The biodiversity he’d come to expect, the general sounds of the forest, were gone.
Soon, the culprits became clear. Dozens more stranglevines dotted the branches as he ascended. As he watched, one exploded toward the ground, retracting a moment later with a large, frog-like beast wrapped in its clutches. A moment later, a storm of vines lashed toward him. “Well, you said you wanted to study them, C.H.A.D.D.” Kyle said. “It looks like you’re about to get some hands-on experience.”
Vines bound him from all sides, then withered just as quickly as C.H.A.D.D. greedily drank in their energy with the help of Parasitic Resonance. The lashing tendrils slowed their ascent, and Kyle quickly realized that something about these plants was odd. The vines themselves rotted and fell quickly, but with each that they absorbed, a husk remained stubbornly attached to the tree branches. A quick use of Identify showed Kyle that there was still something lying dormant within these husks, though it wasn’t a concept with which he was familiar.
Still, C.H.A.D.D. seemed satisfied with its gains, and Kyle decided not to investigate further. Knowing now how common the stranglevines were to the upper reaches of the jungle, they’d have no problems at all continuing their study as they traveled.
Finally, after breaking through another cluster of the carnivorous vines, Kyle found himself staring out at a lush sea of green. A gentle wind tousled the treetops, giving the impression of waves across the expanse of the jungle. At the very limit of where he could see, Kyle could barely make out a thinning of the trees, marking the edge of this biome, and where the second leg of his journey would continue. He had no idea if shrikes were commonly seen outside the jungle, and a part of him was sorely tempted to do a little more hunting before leaving for the hills and the designated neutral territory.
I’m as bad as C.H.A.D.D., Kyle thought wistfully, jumping from limb to limb toward his destination. Both he and the drone had a drive to take advantage of opportunities when they came up, and Kyle would be lying to himself if he thought C.H.A.D.D. didn’t pick this particular habit up from him. So, he resisted the temptation to stop when the drone noted 2 more shrike nests along their journey, simply ensuring they were marked on the map before continuing onward.
Suddenly, Kyle caught a subtle movement out of the corner of his eye. At first, he thought it a trick of the wind, but then he saw it again; a tree moving out of sync with the others. No, trees. Kyles eyes widened as he started to realize the scope of what he was looking at. The treetops concealed a shadow that took up an entire swathe of the jungle, easily 500 meters across. It glid beneath the canopy, moving slowly as the trees slightly echoed its passing with their movements.
If the size wasn’t enough, the whisper of power Kyle felt as he stared made it clear: whatever this being was, it was a C Grade. A shiver ran up his spine at the thought, and he fought to push down the rising panic. There was no guarantee the creature, whatever it was, was even hostile. And, blessedly, its trajectory was taking it the opposite direction of Kyle and C.H.A.D.D.
Though they were moving somewhat slower than they were on the ground, the duo nevertheless made good time as they dashed and leapt through the treetops. There was no way he wanted to lose sight of the slow-moving shadow, and the thought of it being directly overhead was a discomforting one. Better to stay in the trees, Kyle thought.
A unique advantage to this mode of travel was the way it gave perspective to the world around them. Far to the south, Kyle could see a single, dominant tree towering over the canopy. To the north, he could make out a clearing and the gentle sparkling of blue water through the trees.
He wondered what else he may have missed, and resolved to spend more time in the treetops as he completed his work. Kyle knew that there was plenty waiting for him at the Hub when he returned, and taking every opportunity when they were presented was important. Opportunities to explore a planet like this before all the bureaucracy set in were rare, even if they didn’t find anything on Er’Mithren that would prove to be key to their progress.
Kyle and C.H.A.D.D. descended back to the road shortly before arriving at the walled settlement at the edge of the forest, Jell’or. They approached the gate checkpoint with nonchalance, Kyle already having his credentials on display. So, when the guard called out to him, he was surprised.
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“Halt! Who goes there?” The goblin’s voice was shrill, almost a squeak.
“I’m Courier Kyle Mayhew, sent by the Council of Er’Mithren to make a delivery beyond your borders. I was set to arrive tomorrow, but I’ve made good time.” Kyle looked to the top of the wall, barely making out a green, bald head peering down from the battlement.
“Never heard of you! Go away!”
“I have business in the village,” Kyle said.
“You’re not on today’s list,” the goblin replied. “So either scram, or try again when you are.”
Before Kyle could react, the goblin disappeared, leaving him standing awkwardly in front of the city gate. This is not what I expected, Kyle thought, processing. He was confident that, if he wanted to, he could easily climb the gate, or otherwise enter the city. There was supposed to be lodging set up, and with his pace of travel he expected that word had been passed along.
Either Kyle had grossly miscalculated, or something odd was afoot. Stepping out of sight of the wall, he asked the drone, “C.H.A.D.D., can you get me a picture of what’s going on?”
[CERTAINLY, DR. MAYHEW.]
Jell’Or was not a particularly large city, and Kyle was able to get around the forested portion of the perimeter in a little under an hour. He opted not to go into the clearing beyond, but this was plenty for C.H.A.D.D. to work with. From what the drone showed him, it didn’t look good. Nearly 100 awakened goblins patrolled the streets, and it looked like some sort of martial law had been enacted. There were no children playing, no people going about their business.
While that would have been cause for concern on its own, C.H.A.D.D. also showed what looked like a large group of unawakened goblins and trolls gathered in a cluster near the city center. They were chained, and from what the drone reported, many were showing signs of injury.
Satisfied they had enough to go on, Kyle sighed as he sat down, cross-legged. There were 2 distinct options before him, and he didn’t particularly care for either of them. The first, and simplest, was to bypass Jell’Or entirely. Contacts here were supposed to help direct him toward the meeting point, but he already had the coordinates. It wouldn’t be much effort to go on his own, even if it meant spending the night outside the city. Of course, that meant leaving ostensibly innocent people in harm’s way, which never sat well with him.
The second choice would be to force the issue and enter the city directly. He might be able to help the people inside, and he was confident that the awakened goblins C.H.A.D.D. spotted were far from being powerful enough to do him any real harm. Even in those numbers, E Grades just weren’t very threatening to him. No, the real threat would depend on what faction was involved in this bizarre incident. If Kyle was to get involved, he could very easily undermine his position as a neutral party.
The longer he thought about it, the clearer the answer became. Discounting the possibility of a truly random attack, the events in Jell’Or felt clearly tied to his mission. So, rather than get involved, the safest choice was to ignore it. If it was a ploy by the Er’Mithren Council, Kyle doubted they would actually harm their own citizens.
The Resistance, by contrast, would find a hard time leveraging their hold on the town if Kyle was nowhere to be found. And it’s not like either faction could blame him for leaving; the city watch sent him away, after all. While it would have been nice to get a little sleep in a comfortable bed, it just wasn’t in the cards. He rose with a stretch, taking some dried rations from the C.H.A.D.D. pack.
[ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO LEAVE THEM, DR. MAYHEW?]
“I think they’re probably safer if we just leave,” Kyle said. “I find it hard to believe that something like this would happen randomly as soon as we get ahead of schedule. Better that we stay neutral.”
[IF YOU BELIEVE THAT THEY WILL BE BETTER OFF…]
“I do. Come on, let’s keep moving. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can find you more stranglevines.”
[I SUPPOSE WE DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE BUT TO PRESS ONWARD.]
~~~
“Very interesting.” A group of goblins, ogres, and trolls looked over a detailed map of the region, where a single dot once again began to move. “He is different than we were led to believe.”
“From what I can tell, he simply looks to be eager to complete his delivery and get paid,” a rumbling, masculine voice retorted.
“The per diem was quite generous, do you think he realized that this was his last comfortable stop in our lands? Our research indicates that he wouldn’t leave funds untapped for the sake of expedience. The limited dossier we received indicates he lacks powerful backing and financing. There has to be something we’re missing.”
A goblin voice piped up next, its tone thoughtful. “His actions seem incongruent; he risks his life to face a shrike nest, but doesn’t blink twice at a town clearly in some sort of peril. His motivations are not purely altruistic, but neither do they seem entirely self-serving. We should tread carefully.”
The masculine voice snorted. “You don’t think he’d really side with the hag, do you? That is, if she’ll even see him.”
“One way or another, that won’t be an issue. While this Courier may be less predictable, D’Oilellat is certainly a known quantity. Either she’ll open the package herself, or she’ll react after one of her men opens the package, and Mayhew will be forced to deal with her either way. Both sets of circumstances are acceptable.”
“Then why does your voice shake, Pall’Eth?” This voice was the angry rasp of an aged troll, the oldest member on the Council.
“Because regardless of what happens to D’Oilellat, I am having a hard time predicting an outcome where the Courier dies. Which means that, for us, our victory could have very real consequences.”
“Speak plainly,” the troll woman demanded.
“It matters very little, given that events have been set in motion. But, should Mayhew survive, it would be prudent to have a plan in place so that we don’t earn his ire. The collateral damage alone could be immense if he isn’t handled properly,” Pall’Eth said.
“What of his backers? Surely, they will take issue with his demise, whether it’s by our hand or the hag’s?” The masculine voice posited, more thoughtful than before.
“Our contacts in the Verdant Republic have confirmed that he has no true affiliation with them. My understanding is that he’s effectively a wandering mercenary. Should he meet his end, time will move forward unimpeded.”
“What about his kin?” Asked the raspy troll. “Surely, there are some who may seek vengeance?”
“None, from what our sources can gather,” Pall’Eth said. Their research had been extensive, if brief, and their plans were still sound. Still, Pall’Eth couldn’t help but feel a creeping fear as they talked.
There was a surety in the Courier’s movements, a confidence that his instincts screamed was well deserved. Research had uncovered mixed reviews about Kyle’s performance in his Practicum and other jobs, but one note stood out more than anything else, making Pall’Eth wary. After all, what could this human have done to earn a title like Onyx Warrior?