By the time Ryan had to drop the Portal more than half the line of carts still remained and about half the members of the Guild had stayed behind. Lizzy, who was busy co-ordinating the industrious activity that was encompassing the lodge, addressed Ryan as soon as he dropped the Portal.
“Ryan, could you be back in about an hour to an hour and a half so that we can send back some of the unloaded carts? We still have non-critical resources that haven’t been loaded and I’d prefer to scour the place clean before we leave it for good.”
“Sure thing Liz, provided that we’ve dealt with the mopane flies by then.” he answered. William, Celeste, Miguel and Linda were already waiting on him so with that he moved to join the group. After asking his brother where the rest was at he got informed that Carmen and Mike, quote unquote, “Didn’t see the need to go traipsing through the bush unnecessarily.” His brother sounded peeved when he relayed their words and then added. “Carmen is fine, the close confines limit her usefulness but I wouldn’t mind Mike being there if we stumble on another larger threat. Anyway, I okayed it since he’ll be busy helping the Guild set up here and it can’t hurt to have a tank here if needed.” Just as Ryan thought William was done he grumbled on. “I just don’t like the way he put it.”
Ryan realised that William wasn’t happy with what lay ahead. Bulky as he was and with his shield to boot it made sense that he didn’t look forward to moving through the thick riverine bush that was their target location. It couldn’t be helped however, as the group needed a tank in case they stumbled over a previously unknown threat. It couldn’t be helped as unlike Miguel and Ryan, Celeste and Linda wouldn’t be able to easily escape through the bush if needed. So, with his brother still grumbling along directly behind him Ryan led his little line of ducklings into the bush.
Ryan was astonished at how inept people could be when moving through terrain that, to him, barely was a challenge when, half an hour later, they still hadn’t reached the clearing where Fury, Miguel and he had nearly met their end. If he remembered correctly, it had taken the three of them barely ten minutes to reach it. They were getting close now and Ryan reassured himself for the umpteenth time that Linda could make their Energy Shield impermeable to the bugs and their toxic fumes.
They wouldn’t be able to breathe either but that was fine. Celeste should be able to deal with the swarm quickly. As he stepped into the clearing Ryan saw the hazy shape of the swarms buzzing under the trees on the opposite side. He stopped and observed, and then, disgusted with himself that he hadn’t noticed the clear warning signs that the variety of mummified remains of smaller animals presented the last time he was here, moved aside. With William in the lead they moved across the clearing and as soon as the swarm started buzzing towards the group Ryan felt his Shield become tangible, clingy. The strange silky sensation and absolute lack of sound was uncanny and Ryan remembered to hold his breath. Linda had repeatedly stressed that she could only manipulate the Shield to this extent if the bearer allowed it and even instinctive rejection when they tried to breathe through the Shield and found themselves unable would be sufficient to shatter her fragile control.
They continued moving forward and were soon encompassed by the cloud which cast a pall of shadow over the clearing. Celeste asked them to stand still and Ryan felt the swarm’s confusion. With no molecule of moisture or scent escaping from their presence the swarm had focused on the movement and they must have become like rocks in its perception. A ripple went through the world and dense steam instantly occluded everything Ryan could see. He remained stock still, as discussed, and tried to reconcile what his eyes were telling him with the absolute lack of correspondent information from the rest of his senses. He should feel charbroiled by the clearly scalding steam slowly thinning as the slight wind pushed it away but only felt the ethereal silky sensation of his Shield clinging to his skin.
As the clearing became visible once more Ryan beheld a surreal scene. Glistening moisture had condensed on every surface within a radius that clearly extended past the boundary of the clearing and tracers of steam were streaming from every exposed leaf or blade of grass visible. The mummified corpses and the trunks of the surrounding trees showed the slightest hints of char. No trace remained of the swarm that had previously occluded their vision. The area had been flash boiled instantly.
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Ryan felt the intangible grip of his Shield release and took a cautious breath. He had volunteered to test for the poison of the swarm as he and Miguel, unlike the others, had a resistance to it. The air was clear, fresh. Scents of the bush intruded from upwind and he couldn’t smell any trace of the poison. An overlay of sterility impressed itself on his understanding of the scents present and Ryan realised that Celeste had basically sterilised the area, at least superficially.
“All clear.” Ryan sent to the party chat. The gasps of the group taking their first breath in too long a time told him that Linda had dropped the Shields. He turned around to Celeste and asked: “What was that?”
The leggy blonde answered calmly. “It’s a spell I developed. It basically hyper-exites the air molecules in a sphere around me, instantly raising the temperature of the air to several hundred degrees Celsius. It’s a pulse and the heated air basically then vaporises moisture it is in contact with. Surface layers of organic material that contains moisture also ablate. It’s not very effective yet as the air loses most of its Energy to heat liquids to a lesser degree, I called it Flashpoint. I mostly use it to sterilise stuff but it’s a fantastic bug killer too.”
“Yeah. I can see that.” Ryan grinned. “Anyway, I suggest I scout the surrounding area for more of those mopane flies. You guys stay here in the clearing for now.”
Ryan didn’t find any more swarms of Desiccator Bees in the area but plenty of sign that they had killed near every animal that encroached on their territory that had a diameter of a couple of hundred metres. He carefully approached a smaller swarm of mopane flies he spotted from the edge of the desiccated graveyard but Identify told him that they were simply identified as Swift Bees and with a far lower average level than the swarm that had nearly killed him. After two hours circling the area he was spent, not physically, but the cloying heat of the thick bush had him sweating buckets and the near exclusive focus on his sense of hearing was draining. He had found another few swarms of the flies but none were Identified as the Desiccator type. He had kept the party updated on his progress and eventually decided to make his way back to the clearing.
As Ryan approached the clearing he heard the group chatting quietly. They were discussing the likelihood that the swarm was an outlier mutation and what steps the Guild should take in future to safeguard against similar threats. Ryan listened while he came closer and Miguel piped up as the first to hear his approach. “Ryan’s nearly here. Let’s grab our gear and get ready to head back. I’m hungry, I’m thirsty and I’m icky. Hope they’ve managed to set up showers already.”
As soon as they reached the lodge Liz called him over to a line of empty carts. With a sharp whistle she called some people together that sprinted to take up the harnesses of the carts. “You’re late.” She told him. “I know it couldn’t be helped but would you please open a Portal so we can get on with the move?”
“Sure.” Ryan said. “Could someone get me a camp chair so I can rest my legs?”
Another whistle from Liz had someone bring him a camp chair into which Ryan settled in relief while spinning up the Portal. As soon as the ethereal plane coalesced and opened into a window to the Fortress the line of carters started rushing through at a sprint, carts bouncing wildly behind them.
“What’s the rush?” Ryan turned to Liz to ask in consternation.
“We’ve had reports from Resolute’s pickets that a larger force is mobilising in the capital and heading east. From what they reported it’s the army and it looks like they’ll be evacuating the City. Resolute is evacuating to a fallback position towards Okahandja and we’re rushing to clear out the fortress. No sense in leaving anything behind so we need to speed up. We’ll also have a group of Resolute joining us here to set up a extra base at the NWR resort. Drop the Portal once the last cart is through and open again on my say so, will you?”
Ryan spent the rest of the day intermittently opening Portal and cultivating energy in between while the majority of the Guild rushed through anything that could feasibly be moved from the fortress. Equipment, gear, resources, the solar installation, furniture and all kinds of odds and ends flowed through his Portals. To his amazement they even moved their vegetable beds and herb garden through on several box carts.
By the end of the day Ryan could see that the repeated drainage and refill his core was subjected to was a fantastic exercise. He hadn’t taken the time to look at his Character Sheet to check up on his gains but whenever he entered his poomsae driven cultivation after dropping Portal he could see that his core was becoming denser and larger, the flow rate of his channels faster. Several notifications impinged on his single minded focus during the day and he remembered that he had a few pending since he gained his toxin resistance but he wanted to approach what was likely to be an extensive set with a clear mind after a good night’s rest.