The day dragged on into the afternoon as I experimented with my new bodies. I have found that to shift into something specific I have to make a conscious effort to think about what I want to be. The kobold forms into existence with all of my gear, however none of the gear other than clothing is adjusted for my size. The last of my major findings is that I can’t change between forms on the go, I have to shift into my floating consciousness, and then shift again into a different form, which sends me back to my sanctum each time. Perhaps I'll be able to change that with an attribute somewhere down the line, however for now I'll just have to deal with the inconvenience. Seemingly at random I’m prodded by Onyx over the bond so I open the connection. I hadn’t known he was back in range yet, assuming that he was still assisting Rennie’s party.
“My Lord, thank you for your immediate attention. How much do you know of first aid for the soft-shell clansmen?” As I hear his words my stomach drops and does a backflip before I can answer. I never was the best at combat first aid, having to retake my SABC and TC3 courses multiple times.
“Who is hurt, and how bad is the damage?” I say making sure my voice is calm and steady.
“The disagreeable tall one is suffering from some form of venom or poison and is missing about half of a leg. The female is unconscious after losing a lot of blood. And the inquisitive tall one is unconscious after taking a club to the head along with a deep bite wound to the shoulder.” I am admittedly rather taken aback by Onyx’s bluntness and somewhat blasé attitude while telling me, but I do my best to ignore it for the moment.
“How far from home are you all?” Is my final question as I spawn into my human form, making my way out of my sanctum and out into the courtyard.
“Not far, but dragging them is slow going, we should be back in a few hours.”
“Are you able to send up a signal to let more ants know where you are?” There is a pause over the connection as Onyx mulls over the question.
“Yes, however being at the edge of our territory, it could draw unwanted attention from other colony workers, or worse, attention from that evolved colony that had sieged us before.” Before answering I materialize a copy of the map I had received from Rennie the day prior and send a mental signal through the dungeon for ten volunteers to meet me at the courtyard. Almost immediately I was surrounded by a small gathering of workers who were idly chattering at each other and feeling the air with their antenna.
“Send up a signal, I'm having a group of ants head your way right now,” I tell Onyx as I unfold the map, mentally drawing a straight line from my mountain to the marking Rennie had made, noting the location of the willow tree they were looking for.
“Right away my lord.” is all he says before cutting the connection, leaving me alone with my thoughts once again. I direct the search and rescue team in the direction of the tree and they all drop their heads while clacking their mandibles once before spreading their wings and soaring into the air, the swarm of ants bobbing and weaving around each other as they find their bearings before shooting off into the distance over the trees at record speeds. The buzzing drone of their wings is gone almost as soon as it starts and I’m standing by myself in the courtyard. I look up into the sparse clouds with their pale green backdrop for only a moment before heading down into the dungeon once more.
I clear out a decent sized room across from the storage room, then fill it out with a pair of chairs by the door, a countertop along the right wall, and on the adjacent wall I form a row of three beds. Instead of the furs I had used for the entrance room and my personal bed, I decided to use clean eggshell colored hemp sheets with a wool blanket giving the room an overall ‘clean’ look. Separating the beds with a slidable hemp curtain I finish off my little triage room with the Celtic design and details over the walls and on the furniture. I decided at the last minute to stock the counter with an assortment of neatly folded bandages, a couple jugs of water with accompanying cups, and a stack of crutches leaning in the corner. I don't have any actual medicine so that will have to do for now.
As I'm finishing up I feel a group of ants and people entering my domain, except they are in the air instead of walking. Jogging up the steps into the courtyard and then to the lip of the bowl, I'm treated to the sight of a coordinated group of ants airlifting three bodies over the trees. In total there are three ants per body, and on the lead body is Scout, who looks about as tired as an ant is able to.
The group slowly and carefully lands, setting the bodies down before picking them up and carrying them down into the dungeon. I suppose they decided to take the injured by air because it was faster, while Marvik and Rennie are still walking along with Onyx and what's left of his entourage. On the way down the stairs, Evaren’s bow had caught itself in the doorway and I had to help the ants get it unstuck. I ended up carrying her the rest of the way, remarking to myself how light she was before putting her down in the first bed. Hearing mumbling and a grunt from behind me, Erb was in the process of waking up, just in time for me to grab him by the arm and help him to his feet before leading him to his bed in the middle of the three. Then finally the ants managed to get Darnell into his bed without me needing to help.
“Where's… where’s Rennie and Marv?” I hear from behind me as I look over Darnells missing leg
“Still on their way here, I’d guess about an hour away, the ants flew you three here because it was faster than walking.” I say as I turn to face the middle aged man. Something is different about him though. “Where are your glasses?” I ask. Erb puts a hand up to his face before scrunching his brow in confusion.
“I don’t know… I must have dropped them when I got clubbed.” He pulls his hand away and looks over at me before squinting and blinking a few times.
“Well, just rest for now. I need to take stock of everyone's injuries. Can you tell me what happened up to the point you were knocked out?”
“The others had finished the extermination, killed all the goblins camped at the tree, along with a troll that was allied with them. Darnell had taken a particularly nasty poisoned arrow to the leg before the main fight, and I had withdrawn to tend to his injury. In the end, we had to amputate because the poison caused necrosis of the affected area and we weren't able to fully neutralize it. After burning the bodies we set out to return to the town and when we stopped to rest and change Darnell’s bandages we were ambushed by a stray patrol of goblins that were returning to the camp we had just destroyed. Not even the ants noticed so they must have spotted us a ways prior and were stalking us. Evaren took an arrow to the neck or shoulder, I couldn't really tell, before we could react I was attacked by one of the goblins, took a club to the side of the head.” I nod along as I listen to him recount what happened. I had assumed all three injuries happened at the same time but I guess Darnell has had it pretty rough for most of the day.
“That matches up pretty much exactly with what Onyx told me.” I say, nodding again as I attempt to think of a solution.
“I thought Onyx was still with Rennie and Marv?” Erb says as he looks over to Evaren in the bed to his right.
“Long distance telepathy,” I say as I also look over at Evaren, there is an alarming amount of dried blood down her shoulder, arm, and side. “I don't know the exact range but we can reach out to each other a fairly large distance away.” Erb lets out an amused huff.
“Well, that's convenient.” As he says this he winces and lifts the bandage on his shoulder before tilting his head to get as good a look as he can. “One of the little bastards bit me while I was out?” His tone is incredulous as he straightens out his neck and shrugs off his coat before laying back completely to try and get comfortable. We exchanged small talk for a bit as I cleaned everyone's injuries before changing the bandages, then returning to Evaren I tried whipping off the majority of the dried blood I could see. Sooner than I had expected the rest of my ants and the last two members of the party entered my domain, so turning to Erb I informed him which seemed to ease some tension I hadn't noticed he had, before I left the triage room and made my way up to the courtyard to wait for them.
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“How are they?” Rennie asks as we shake hands.
“Stable and resting, Erb is the only one awake right now.” I answer before turning to Marvik and shaking his hand as well.
“Thanks fer’ the reinforcements Laddie, I’unt know if we’d have been able ta’ pull through tha’ scuffle otherwise.”
“Don’t thank me, that was Onyx’s plan.” The hobbit and dwarf both turn to Onyx who seems to revel in the praise for a moment before saluting and scurrying down the hole in the courtyard. The three of us make our way into the dungeon where they follow me to the triage room. Exchanging greetings with Erb before checking on the other two members and eventually sitting down, I decide to go with a plan I'd been mulling over for a while now.
“I think I know how to help all of you, just try not to get too excited when you see it.” I didn’t get to hear their reaction because I had dematerialized into my sanctum and my attention was elsewhere. I prod the connection to Vesh who answers almost immediately.
“Can I get your help with something?” I ask. and there's a momentary pause.
“Yes, do you need me to come to you?”
“Yeah, I'm going to need you to carry something for me, see you soon.” I cut the connection to Vesh and open one with Cardinal to explain the plan. To say the least, she is not particularly excited for it and soon I can feel a bustle through the dungeon where almost all the ants who aren't resting or tending to young have congregated in the rooms and hallway around the triage room. When I ask her what she’s doing, all I get back in reply is “Taking precautions”. Knowing I won't be able to get her to not stress over the situation I just close the connection and reform my avatar. Shortly after I explained how to unlock the Medallion door to Vesh, she was soon standing in my sanctum dripping wet as it seemed she was going for a swim when I contacted her. Waiting for whatever it is I have planned for her, she gently bounces in place while looking around at my chambers, the necklace I made for her bobbing along to her movements.
I begin by removing the protective cage around my core, gently lowering the pillar, and then unseating it from its form-fitted mold in the pedestal.
“I need you to grab my core and follow me. If anything bad happens, run like your life depends on it and take the core into the cave with your siblings. Oh and please do not drop it, my life is literally in your hands.” She seemed unsure and maybe slightly flustered at my request until I got to the part about not dropping it where she seemed to have a tiny panic attack before carefully wrapping her hands around the crystal and gently pulling it to her chest where she clutched it firmly. From the moment she started to move it my entire world began spinning violently and I had to kneel down to not fall over.
“A-are you alright Lance?” she says as she grips the crystal a little tighter.
“Yeah, just give me a moment.” I say as I breathe heavily trying to catch my breath and straighten out my vision. Finally standing, I'm still very dizzy and wobbly, I begin walking out of the sanctum where we are greeted by Cardinal and Onyx. Vesh hides behind me, peeking out at the two ants whose heads come up to her clavicle.
“I still think this is a very, very, poorly thought out idea.” Cardinal states before moving out of the way to let us pass.
“I know, but if it's us versus the world, I'd like to get as much of the world on our side as possible before anything particularly bad happens.” Cardinal doesn't say anything back but projects the equivalent of a frown before looking at Vesh. She nods once before I continue walking, the kobold hot on my heels and the two royals following suit. I can practically feel how nervous Vesh is so before we leave Cardinal’s chamber I turn around and kneel down in front of her. The dizziness has turned to queasiness at this point and my breathing is still somewhat laborious.
“Vesh, this is Cardinal, and her mate Onyx. These are the friends I was talking about earlier when we made our contract. They won’t hurt you and neither will their children, I promise.” Vesh turns around as well and shifts her weight back and forth between her feet. Onyx bows his head towards her in a courteous nod, and Cardinal takes a step forward, tapping her antenna to the top of Vesh’s head. In reply, Vesh eases her grip on my core and pulls it away from her chest showing Cardinal, who for her part, taps some more and uses her two forward graspers to close Vesh’s hands around the core after inspecting it. Patting her hand gently for good measure before taking a step backward to stand with Onyx again.
Feeling the tension slip back into more or less normal levels and satisfied with the outcome I stand back up and make my way out into the hallway straightening myself up as best I can so I don’t look like I’m on the verge of puking from motion sickness. I’m greeted by a veritable sea of worker ants who part for us as we pass, closing the gap after we make it through until we get to the triage room which is free of ants.
“Boy, am I glad ta’ see ya’ laddie. We were gettin' a wee bit anxious fer' the number of ants waitin' outside.” Marvik says to me as we enter the room.
“Sorry about that, Cardinal thought a little bit more security was necessary for what’s coming next.” I say, trying my best to keep the sheepish grin from forming on my lips.
“And what exactly is happening next if I may ask?” Says Erb from his bed. Both Erb and Marvik have their attention on me, but I can see Rennie has spotted Vesh behind me past the doorway and was eyeing the orange glow behind her hands.
“Is that what I think it is?” Rennie says. I’m not quite sure if he meant to say it out loud but regardless, it caught the attention of both other awake occupants who followed his gaze to Vesh. Erb’s eyes widen and he scrambles to find his notebook in his coat which is neatly folded under his head like a pillow. Marvik just sits in silence with a contemplative look on his features. I step forward out of the doorway and into the room proper where I gesture for Vesh to enter as well. I can see she is being cautious but with Cardinal and Onyx right behind her, she seems more confident than earlier at least.
“Rennie, would you mind helping me?” I ask and it must take a moment to process because he doesn’t answer for a full ten or so seconds.
“What? Oh, uh yes?”
“This is going to sound strange but… with how much motion sickness I'm dealing with I can't do it. Can you hold Evaren’s mouth open?" Rennie blinks a few times as he stares at me.
“What?” The exasperation in his voice is teetering dangerously on being incredulous. I sigh as I look over to my royals standing shoulder to shoulder in the doorway. Then back to Vesh.
“Do you remember that attunement Erb asked me about, but I didn’t want to talk about it?”
“Yes, but I don’t see the relevance.”
“That attunement,” I gesture for Vesh to show them my core, and my ants all tense visibly. “Is purified liquid mana that accumulates inside my core. If any of you were to drink it-” I don’t get to finish my sentence because Erb had cut me off in his excitement.
“It would jumpstart the body’s healing factor. Among a plethora of other beneficial things.” he yelled this loud enough to hurt and was seemingly having issues writing his notes. If I had to guess I'd say he probably has a severe concussion. Rennie looks back and forth between Evaren and the core for a moment before finally sighing
“Fine I’ll hold her mouth open, but I swear to the gods if she wakes up while I’m holding her face you're going to be the one explaining it.” He says, but it’s more humorous than angry, I think. Contacting Vesh over our bond I instruct her how to hold my core over Evaren’s mouth while I make a small wooden box next to the bed for her to stand on.
I have to focus on my core, thinking about the feeling of wringing out a cloth, soon enough a small bead of silver liquid forms on its bottom, it shines brilliantly however there’s no reflection of anything that can be seen on its surface, just clean pure silver. The bead grows in size, forming a droplet then finally after it’s heavy enough, it drops away from the crystal making a perfect sphere as it falls seemingly slower than it should. It takes a full three seconds for the droplet to traverse the distance between my core and Evaren.
The moment it loses contact with my core the air in the dungeon feels energized, like there’s an ever present static threatening to summon down a bolt of lightning until it lands in Evaren’s mouth and the static dissipates as fast as it had arrived. I didn’t have long to feel it, and I’m not quite sure how I was able to feel it, maybe because it was a part of me. That single droplet of liquid mana was equivalent to 80 points of mana.
Erb was too awestruck to scribble his notes as Vesh stepped away along with Rennie. We watched and waited until Evaren bolted upright in her bed wide eyed with a crazed look on her face. Struggling to catch her breath she looks around and seems to almost vibrate in her bed for a moment before trying to speak but it comes out as a dry raspy sound. Marvin stands and pours her a cup of water, handing it over before sitting back down and she’s finally able to make out some words.
“When did we get back to the dungeon? And why do I feel amazing?” She asks, the confusion clear in her voice. We all take a moment to explain everything that has happened since their arrival by ant airlift and how she had been healed. Vesh retreated to the foot of the bed as I approached and began to remove the bandages around Evaren’s neck, revealing a fresh pink scar that looked about as healthy as a scar could. Happy with the results I moved on to Darnell at the other side of the room, and the process repeated.