My head whipping back and forth as someone shook me awake wasn’t the greatest way to wake up. I rolled over and swatted away the offending hands then stopped, surprised I’d managed to sleep at all.

I fought to peel my eyes open against a mysterious bright light only to see Clyde standing over me. Irritation instantly rose in my chest in the form of a growl, not because he woke me up, but because he was shining a depths cursed lantern directly into my eyes.

“What do you want, Clyde?”

“Change, something weird. You’re going to want to go look for yourself.” The hate and defiance had left his eyes since our last confrontation, leaving his face a mask of indifference. A change I could get behind. Indifference always beat outright defiance in my book, me being the king of indifference, I would know.

His words were a lightning bolt that jolted me the rest of the way into wakefulness. I climbed to my feet, still in my armor. I’d pay for that, no doubt, in aches and pains for the whole day. I stretched some of offending muscles, trying to get the blood to flow, then followed Clyde out.

“Is the attack finally coming? Did they send out the Carvers?”

“I don’t know if we’re being attacked or not, you’ll have to speak to the Baron, I only heard it second hand. It seems the Ilfid have arrived after all, but they’re not doing anything. They just stand there.”

“From the north? From the entrance to the Labyrinth?”

“No, from the south.”

I stopped and looked at Clyde, trying to make sure he wasn’t messing with me. The only Ilfid I knew about to the south was the group that attacked the caravan, but they were on the other side of the grasslands we’d passed on our way. There couldn’t be that many hives nearby could there?

The Baron and Orleander already waited in the meeting room, to my eyes far too chipper for the hour. The Baron sweated nervously; a deer ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble but held in place by Orleander’s steadfast presence. I felt for the man, I really did but it would have been better if others didn’t have to act as the man’s spine for him,

“Good morning, Clyde filled me in. Let’s get going, I want to see this for myself. A bunch of Ilfid standing around not trying to enslave us makes me nervous. How many are there?”

“Hundreds,” Baron Palambre said. “And five Brutes.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. Five brutes.

“Shit. How many men do we have there? How close are they to town?”

“They were already positioned where they are when they were first noticed, a fair distance into the trees in the southern woods. A few squads of men at arms were called in immediately, while more are probably arriving as we speak.”

“Five Brutes. This could get ugly real quick. I can handle one on my own, Kan’on could another. Ms. Black could probably keep one busy for a while with her speed. That leaves three Brutes free to act, not to mention however many workers they have.”

Everybody followed me out as I made for the courtyard. Someone had already prepared horses, but I ignored them and walked over to Kan’on. I nudged him on the knee with my foot, trying to knock him out of his meditations.

The nudge startled him into awareness, but it took him a second to realize I was looming over him.

“Dash, your timing is so perfect I can imagine not a perfect moment passes that you can’t manage to ruin.”

“Ilfid have shown up. With five Brutes,” I said, leaving the most important thing out. I watched as his face and body language lit up with interest at the mention of the Brutes.

“They aren’t attacking and they’re coming from the south,” I continued.

That threw him, just like it had me. His face changed from interest, to confusion, then back to interest.

“You’re going to parlay then?”

“Parlay? Not damned likely. I’m going out there to see what they’re about, then wipe them off the face of the earth.”

“I told you this the other day, but the Ilfid are more than just slavers. In fact, they regularly visit us in the mountains to trade.”

“Do they trade with your school because they’re afraid that you’d wipe them out, or because the genuinely want to be friends? And while you’re playing best friends with them, they’re off snatching people from their homes.”

“You’re not wrong, but how are they different than any group of humans that go raiding? I don’t see you out there shaking your fist at them.”

“The reason you haven’t seen me shaking my fist at them is because we haven’t encountered any. Presumptuous of you, to assume you know me so well after only a handful of weeks on the road together.”

Having said that, I turned on my heel and marched back to the horses. I heard Kan’on sigh behind me.

“I’m coming, hold on. Someone please get me a mount,” Kan’on said.

We waited. It didn’t take long for the Baron’s men to bring out another animal, and just like that we set out, heading for the border of the southern forest.

We tore down the road, soon joined by one of the Baron’s men at arms to guide us, not that we needed it. You couldn’t miss them, the Ilfid, milling about under the cover of the trees as we approached the forest.

There was no rhyme or reason to their movements. I felt like there was purpose there, somewhere, but couldn’t understand it. Maybe it was their own messed way of preparing to attack and kill everything in sight, a ritualistic dance to the deep gods.

A fair number of men at arms had spread out in orderly ranks, though no more than one hundred. One-hundred men at arms wasn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things but drawing away that many fighters from the northern forest made me nervous.

One hundred might have been enough to take on a couple hundred Ilfid workers but throw in five Brutes as well and the situation became untenable. If a conflict happened, I would have to engage the Brutes, along with Kan’on and Ms. Black, since we were the only ones capable of keeping them occupied.

I always had a hard time remembering that the Ilfid that generally wreaked havoc on trade routes and small villages were of their worker caste. They weren’t bred for fighting but still managed to cause untold damage. The difference between their warrior caste and their workers was never more apparent than when seen side by side. The Brutes crouched among the trees, giant and unmoving, waiting for direction, while the workers scurried about, carrying out tasks according to some pattern only they could understand.

An odd party had planted themselves out in front of the chaos. A type of Ilfid I hadn’t seen before stood there, and island of clam in a sea of activity. He looked more robust than the workers but lacked the worker’s mobility. Its chitin was smoother and darker than the workers too. Same ugly face though.

I clenched my teeth at the sight of those than accompanied it, though. A human man, probably a slave, stood amongst the group. This is who Kan’on would have me parlay with?

The milling mass slowly ground to a halt, the silence even more unnerving than their chaotic activity had been. The odd Ilfid still hadn’t moved an inch.

“Anyone know what that one is? I’ve never seen one before,” I said.

“It’s a drone, a male Ilfid, which are rarely seen,” the Count said.

“Wait, you’re telling me that all the rest are female?”

“Yes, the only males are the drones. When the Ilfid decide to interact with the outside world in a way other than raiding, the drones are how they do it. They’re not exactly diplomats though. They have a weird role in the hive that includes helping the Queen produce offspring,” Kan’on interjected.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Kan’on’s opinion of the bugs was suspect, but I couldn’t deny his knowledge. That didn’t mean I would treat them exactly as they deserved though. If this turned hostile, I wouldn’t hesitate to cut the whole lot down, Kan’on or not.

Before I could say anything else, the drone spoke something to the slave in its odd clicking language. The man stepped forward and walked toward us until he was a couple dozen feet away, then stopped.

“The Consort wishes to speak with your leader.”

“Listen guy, the consort can wish whatever he wants. I’m more interested in the fact that a few more steps in this direction and you’re a free man, and yet there you are standing well out of reach,” I said.

“I am bound. It would mean my death.”

“Not to nit-pick, but it will probably be your death regardless. And bound how?”

“I am bound through our collective will. That is all that I’m permitted to say. The Consort wishes to speak to your leader.”

Bound through will? I dropped my senses into the Flow, search for signs of domination I’d come to recognize, but came up with nothing. I could sense a strange cloud of will and intent, but it touched all the Ilfid. There was nothing around the man to single him out in my view of the Flow.

I sat atop my horse, considering the man. He didn’t appear to be afraid, just tense from the situation. Shaking my head, I refocused on the situation at hand. What good could come of speaking with the savages? The end result would be the same. I’d stomp their depths taken faces into the ground like a good bug exterminator.

“Ardashir, don’t throw away an opportunity. We have other things to worry about, and if we can avoid getting our men killed by parlaying with the Ilfid, that is more men we have with which to fight the Inculids.” Orleander’s low voiced comment was a kick in the pants.

Again, I gritted my teeth. It wasn’t just me here, fighting off Ilfid. Taking charge of the situation in the town also mean that I had taken responsibility for all the people in it, including the men at arms. I fought my own instincts, looking back at the man.

“Fine. For now, at least, I am the leader. If the Consort or whatever wants to speak with me, he can come to me.”

The man immediately bowed and shuffled backward before walking back to speak to the drone. To my surprise, the drone didn’t hesitate in the slightest before stepping forward, walking steadily towards me accompanied by the slave.

They stopped at about the same distance the man had stopped previously. The drone spoke some words in his own language, a series of hisses and clicks, and some sounds that didn’t have an easy description. The slave waited patiently for him to finish before turning to us.

“On behalf of the Queen, the Consort wishes to declare a temporary alliance against The Collective.”

I sat there, stunned. So, it was true then, however the Inculid had arrived at the new Labyrinth entrance, they really had ruffled some feathers on their way through. What did it mean that the Ilfid had attacked us not a few days ago? Was it an attempt to gain resources to fight off the incursion? They were a known quantity in the area, only ever emerging for smash and grab raids, never pitched battles.

“Your hive attacked me not three days ago. Why would I ally with you? Other than almost certain betrayal, what do I gain?”

The slave spent a few moments translating what I had said and listening to the drone’s response. The sounds coming out of the slave’s mouth were nothing like those from the drone. Still incomprehensible, not resembling the bug-like sounds of the drone, yet apparently understood regardless.

For his part, the drone didn’t seem to have any particular reaction to the news that I had been attacked. No doubt it was a cultural thing, making and breaking alliance. Kan’on would know more about them, maybe he should have been the one to do the speaking.

“You are mistaken. The only hive raiding the surface within a week’s journey was destroyed by The Collective no more than a week ago. Those you fought were the remains, those unbound. Similarly, our hive has taken heavy losses. The Queen will not live much longer, sacrificing too much. We will be unbound, and wish to use our last remaining days as a hive to seek retribution against The Collective”

Bound… unbound. These words had meaning that I didn’t quite understand but seemed significant to them. Moreover, the man’s demeanor told me that he considered himself a subordinate, but there was no sign of how I would expect a slave to act.

An alliance though? It seemed far too risky. Regardless of the state of their hive, they were desperate and desperate meant unpredictable. The last thing I needed was hundreds of unpredictable combatants running around a town that was already on high alert, with defenseless townsfolk ripe for the picking. However, if the severity of the Inculid presence was as bad as my gut told me, then we’d need more fighters than we had. Was that enough to rationalize an alliance?

I turned to Kan’on and asked, “What do you think? You know how I feel. I don’t trust myself to make this decision on my own. Orleander? Palambre?”

“I say to make the alliance, but with eyes open to the potential consequences,” Orleander said, Palambre nodding along with him.

“The Brutes are a force multiplier. Now that we know they are within our reach, we cannot afford to let them go, regardless of what your feelings are.” It didn’t surprise me that Kan’on thought in terms of conflict first. That was the kick I needed.

I considered the man in front of me, looked at his face, his posture, looking for… anything. Other than the obvious difference in species, to my senses he looked remarkably like the other Ilfid around him. A suspicion formed in my mind as I let my senses roam through the currents, trying to pierce the cloud that occluded them.

“What does it mean to be bound?” I asked the slave.

The man turned to the drone to translate but received a sharp response. A wave of activity shot away from the drone through the crowd in the distance, then all immediately returned to stillness. An argument followed, but between the wave and the argument, my suspicion was all but confirmed. Finally, the man turned back to me.

“To be bound to the Queen means to be bound to the hive.”

My companions stirred, but I only nodded.

“Do the Ilfid eat people?”

“The hive does what is necessary to survive. Sometimes that necessitates sacrifice of the bound.”

“And if they choose to eat you, is it worth being bound when they’re chewing on your bones?”

“The hive survives. We all understand what is necessary.”

“Does the hive sacrifice the bound equally, or are human’s first on the menu?”

“The bound are all equal under the Queen.”

“Are you an Ilfid?”

“I am bound, we are one.”

I sat in silence. If the slave… no, the Ilfid in front of me spoke the truth, I’d been operating under wrong assumptions for a long time. The Ilfid were different, alien, as much of what rose from the depths was. So the man wasn’t a slave, but that didn’t excuse any of the other behavior I’d seen over my long years in the world. Throughout history Ilfid had raided, pillaged, and ate their way through entire regions.

I sighed and tried not to slump in the saddle. It was clear I had to reevaluate my stance on the savages, yet fiery rebellion rose in my chest at the thought. When tragedy struck my life into shambles, when the Deep God had risen, destroying my home and family, the Ilfid had been the ones to lead the charge. The Ilfid murdered my people and their families. The Ilfid took my retainers and friends as slaves, at the behest of the Deep God.

The depths damned bugs in front of me brought my life tumbling down around me in a fiery catastrophe. Not alone though.

I took a shaky breath and let it out slowly.

“How many of you are there?”

“What you see here is all that remain, save the Queen who has chosen to remain in the layers beneath.”

In my mind, I waffled back and forth, even though I knew what the decision had to be. I clenched my teeth, then slumped in resignation. I had responsibilities now, at least temporarily.

“I accept your offer of alliance. Let’s negotiate the terms.”

###

As I rode back to the Baron’s estate, watching the men at arms trickle away back to their squads, I reflected on my decision to put Kan’on in charge of the Ilfid. In the end, the bugs hadn’t made any requests or demands with one exception; that I use them to our best advantage to fight and kill the Inculid. I could get onboard with that. It seemed like they fully expected to die, down to the very last one of them. I could get onboard with that too.

From what I gathered, being unbound from a Queen once bound led to a slow, boring death, for their ability to make decisions slowly faded away into lethargy. The tradeoff for being bound, even for humans, was inclusion in their collective consciousness, the ability to share information throughout the hive, among other things I didn’t really understand. What I did understand was that it wasn’t anything like the Inculids. No mind control.

I jerked my thoughts away from the Ilfid. Thinking about them so much dredged up memories again and again that I wished to remain buried. The biggest boon here, if a boon existed in this mess, were the Brutes. As Kan’on had said, they were a force multiplier, and since Kan’on had been their advocate, I placed him in charge.

I laughed at the look on his face when I’d told him. The aloof and immaculate sword sage, put in charge of a bunch of bugs. I had no way to compel him to obey and to be fair he had no skin in the game, but he hadn’t argued against my decision.

Arriving at the estate, I sequestered myself in my cozy room. I reached for my cubby and pulled out a flask, took a few sips, then put it away. Just enough to keep the fire in my stomach going. Since the curse had silenced itself, the urge to resort to drink had mostly disappeared. The unfortunate side effect being that if I wasn’t drinking to drown out the curse, I also wasn’t drowning out old, unwanted memories. That was a dangerous way to think about it. Best to be careful.

By accepting the alliance with the Ilfid, I feared that I’d betrayed my family’s memory, but the fire of rage in my heart hadn’t been stoked in a long time, only embers remained. I feared even more that I’d betrayed myself by allowing my family’s memory and their death fade so much that the rage wouldn’t even come.

I sat in the silent, dark room, contemplating my decisions, contemplating the curse. The implications of the curse’s silence meant that it hadn’t been a mindless evil placed upon me to drive me mad but reacted to my decisions. What if I’d made different decisions? How would my life be different now?

Rehashing every decision I’d ever made where the curse had reacted by pushing me out, making me leave, breaking connections, didn’t reveal any deep truths. The only conclusion that I could come to, the only common thread that I could identify, was that in the end I didn’t really give a damn about any of those places, any of those people. They were so much chaff in comparison to my own bitterness and my own anger.

The only real conclusion to make, based on the available evidence, was that the trigger to the curse was my own selfishness. My selfishness is what caused the tragedy, despite the fact that I followed my King’s orders. My selfishness prevented me from seeing beyond my own emotional blinders. My selfishness was what triggered the curse to drive me away from everything I’d come to love.

The decision to stay and help the people of this town, despite gaining nothing for myself and risking everything I had, such as it was, is what silenced the curse.

Selflessness silenced the curse.