The roads were oddly empty this time around, not a soul to be found on the muddy roads towards the capital. Rain soaked the ground and clouds blotted out the sun, casting a gloomy glow on the land below. All in all it was a rather dreary morning, quite fitting of my mood following our loss. But there was hope. Hope to find a way down these roads that would fix our problems sooner than later.
Yet that hope seemed to fade with each passing hour as the roads yielded no new travelers. I was hoping for stragglers, merchants, or even some soldiers to combat, but they were simply empty. Maybe they had blocked transportation because of our heightened activity, or they were taking a day off because mud and carriage don't go together, but either way we were all starving. We only find some relief when, days later, we come to the forest that marks the halfway point between the four-way fork by our old home and the path split by the capital.
It's not nearly as large as the forest of Ellinia, but it's large enough for everyone to find something to snack on. Insects, small vermin, birds, nothing too filling, but enough to hold us for the next leg of the trip. Whatever food we could find was shared amongst the whole, enough so that everyone got an equal amount.
But on the note of finding food….well my children did stumble upon a prime opportunity when they found that we weren't the only ones trying to find refuge in the forest.
***
It's late in the evening when a group of humans enter the forest. They all seem very disorganized, cocky, rowdy, and mendacious. They looked nothing like the normal merchants, travelers, or soldiers we'd come across in the past. No, they looked more free, baring their skin more than usual with their leather pieces of clothing.
There are twenty-four of them, who, despite their appearances, work together efficiently to set up a makeshift camp away from the paved road through the forest. They laugh in a rather haughty way as they work, yelling about how much freedom they had now that all the patrols are gone.
My children’s mouths were watering at the prospect of fresh human meat, but I held them back while I eavesdropped on the humans’ banter. Apparently the activity on the road had decreased significantly in reaction to our heightened activity. It was a letdown for all the merchants and a big deal among these humans.
They were a bunch of thieves, bandits if you will, who were now much more free to do as they wished. Less activity meant less patrols, and so they were expanding their “territory” in the absence of authority. Unfortunately for them, they were intruding on my territory. I don't know what made them think I wasn't a threat, but I…we would show them why the patrol count had gone down.
It goes without saying, but the careless humans who wore less armor and made a lot of ruckus were easy prey, save for the biggest man that I presume to be their leader. Big square shoulders, a hairy, barely clothed chest, a bit of a belly, but not so large that I would consider him fat. If anything he just looks like he eats very well. Long unruly and wrinkly black hair, and a lot of scars all over his body. His skin was almost as brown as tree bark, and he's clearly been in the sun for a long time. His toned muscles would provide plenty of meat.
Aside from their leader, the rest looked pretty crude and simple. No big swords or axes to pierce my children's shells, no shields, no armor, and most importantly, no one lying in wait for an ambush. All in all, easy pickings. Looks like we were going to have a free meal for the first time in a while.
***
As predicted, the humans are only able to put up a very pitiful resistance. So much that my eldest children let the younglings take turns picking off the humans who can’t escape. After all, they were prepared to rob humans, not fight monsters. Aside from their leader that I gave the command to spare, the rest of the merry little group are reduced to bones.
When all is done my daughters bring the burly man to me, all tied up and on his knees.
"Oh, gamore... aren't you a hard one to look at?" He says, out of breath. He's obviously tired from defending himself, but at the same time rather calm given the circumstances.
《I've heard worse. Beauty is subjective. I, for one, think my children look far better than any of you humans. But that's enough from me. What are you doing in my territory? And so poorly equipped at that.》
"Oh fuck, you can speak directly into my mind. Well ain't that a surprise. Now why would a monster such as yourself want to know about something like that?”
《Human behavior interests me. I have to know what I'm up against before I am forced to wage war against it.》
He snickers at my remark and spits some blood to the side.
“Sounds like you're preparing to fight against the Knights of Wyn. Good luck with that. They say their leader, Godfrey, has never been bested before in his life. If you wanted some help with that, you shoulda asked us instead of killing off my friends and family! Ya ugly crooked insect.”
《With our level of awareness, you wouldn’t stand a chance against these Knights that you know so well. Not that I plan on fighting them either. I don't have the patience to force an answer out of you, so I'll make this quick.
What’s the situation in the kingdom? Why did they set the forest alight? You’re a bandit, you should be knowledgeable about these kinds of things.》
“Hah, you’re a feisty one. The kingdom is on the edge thanks to you. They didn’t believe the lad who warned them about the situation in the village all those weeks ago. Now they're taking mesauses above and beyond what they’d do to keep us in line. They've got their eye out for you, that’s for sure. They were flushing you out of the forest so you couldn’t hide. They’ve long figured out that you’re intelligent and in need of food. We all do. It won’t be long before you all starve and your head is served to the king on a platter.”
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《Your threats are empty, like your head. You know the kingdom won’t make any sudden moves. I can feel it. They’re too cautious aren’t they? Biding their time rather than attack while we’re weak. They’re staying on defense simply because they can.》
“You, you can read my mind too huh? You’re every bit as dangerous as the lad made you out to be. Ah, but it matters not. Barek will put you down long before you get the chance to meet the Knights.”
《This Barek, he isn’t a knight is he?》
“You want to ask about Barek after you’ve slaughtered all of us? It’s too late for you. The Bandit King, Barek, will stomp you and your colony out with ease. We are…or were just a small squad compared to the rest of our camp. Nobody messes with the Bandit King. Nobody messes with his crew. He will find you, he will kill you. Mark my words. There's a reason why we're still around, even when the Knights of Wyn are here." I recognize that title. Were the bandits from the village connecting with these?
《One man will make no difference in the grand scheme of things. I'm not scared of your Barek or his lackeys. No one talks me down. As a matter of fact, I'll make sure to tell the Bandit King your last words to his face.》
“Haha, I'll see you in hell bitch. It's the only place you and your damned children will go when this is over. You'll regret this. You'll regret it all.”
Just like that, my children swarm him, everyone trying to get a bite out of the well-fed human. The strange thing about this one though is that he had the resilience to hold the same facial expression even when being torn apart by my hundreds of children. He just kept staring at me with a snark smile. Even when it was just his face, his expression never changed till the end.
Looks like I had another party I'd have to deal with to make any progress in my campaign. Their "Bandit King" had to be quite dangerous if the humans just let him be, but he couldn't be that bad if they were restricted by patrols and the like. At least these bandits lacked a master tracker. All the more reason to make sure we never stayed in the same place for too long.
Speaking of which, this forest had nothing more to offer aside from a few hours of rest for a few hundred of my children to molt. A rather large batch of just over three hundred, not that it would change our situation. We had stripped it bare of whatever food we could find, and we pushed forward to the split in the road in search of something new. The left yielded the capital, perhaps the right would yield something we could make use of as well?
***
Wrong. A few days onto the road we found another city, except that this one was somehow better protected than the capital. Walls that touched the sky, a drawbridge, and a paved, stony road replaced the dirt from here on out. Just dozens of diligent guards and heavy armaments pointed in our direction. From the outside, it looked like more of a fortress than a city to reside in. One look and anyone could tell that attacking them was a bad idea.
There were no travelers waiting outside for us to hunt. No leverage to make use of. Just us and a wall.
I considered developing a plan to attack, but I couldn't see this ending in anything close to a positive gain. Blatant trading of lives for food wasn't an option. After all, in my opinion, one of our lives was just as much as a human's, if not more.
It was upsetting, but this entire trip was a waste. There was nothing here that we could make use of. No humans to eat, no opportunities for a home, no foliage to harvest from. I'd at least settle for a place to stay, but this was almost as devastating as our loss a few days ago. I know it was in our nature as insects, but I'd hate to live in tunnels for the rest of my life.
We were left with few options. Going back to join the other group to tackle the mountain together seemed impractical now. They should have been at the mountain already or on their way back to the fork. Our best course of action was to meet up with them. Maybe they had some success on the mountain; any information would be valuable at this point. The idea of grouping up and attacking a human settlement for food was starting to seem like the only viable option.
***
As we began the trek back to the fork, the need for food became more evident than ever before when my children began to eat whatever they could, the nearby vegetation serving as nothing but a temporary filler. Grass wasn't a preference of mine, but I too partook of the foliage to calm my hunger. It wasn't one of my “triggers” like peppermint, but all of us regurgitated half-digested grass a few hours after consumption.
Fruit was tolerable, but straight vegetation didn't sit right with any of our stomachs. But it did serve its purpose as a temporary filling. It was a horrible way to keep oneself fed, eating and then throwing back up not long after just to stay “full,” but what choice did we have?
Heading back to group up and attack the humans to fill our empty stomachs seemed to be the course of action…until we got an unexpected visit.
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The "Bandit King"
Barek, known to the public as the "Bandit King" is the self appointed leader of all the bandits that inhabit Wyn. Rather than operate independently, bandits under Barek live and work together as if they were one big family. They reside in a large camp far from any city, one that few know the whereabouts of . A majority of their income comes from thievery, but they also practice agriculture. Those who lack the talent or skill to become a bandit instead practice homesteading. Despite their influence on the roads, the kingdom has never made any major moves against them. No one knows why, but most speculate that they pay the kingdom a tax.
Expedition A(North/Led by Kyraa)
Directs: 0 Type A(Wasp): 0 Type B(Beetle): 0 Type C(Spider): 0 Type Z(Larvae): 0 Indirects: 1350 Type A(Wasp): 205 Type B(Beetle): 164 Type C(Spider): 72 Type Z(Larvae): 909
Expedition B(Northwest/Led by Sole Surviving Daughter)
Directs: 1 Type A(Wasp): 0 Type B(Beetle): 1 Type C(Spider): 0 Type Z(Larvae): 0 Indirects: 1350 Type A(Wasp): 55 Type B(Beetle): 57 Type C(Spider): 27 Type Z(Larvae): 1,211
Mountain Exploration Team
Directs: 3 Type A(Wasp): 0 Type B(Beetle): 0 Type C(Spider): 3 Indirects: 130 Type A(Wasp): 65 Type B(Beetle): 45 Type C(Spider): 20