Vol. 3, Ch. 120: Fragile Alliance
Neska...you have to stay determined... no matter what. Stay alive.
Mom...you have to let me go. It's okay to let go. Let the long dark come.
I can't. I can't, knowing what I know. You will not suffer the fate meant for me. My lasting gift to this world will be one of creation. I am not giving up on it. I am not giving up on you. Never.
...Then, if you're not ready to let this world go...
...Neither am I.
“Neska, wake up! Wake up, someone's coming!”
Neska jolted awake, snapping her lower snakelike half to a coiled, readied state. Her whole body tensed, and she drew power into her hands, channeling dual [Mana Bolts], looking for a threat in range.
It wasn't Risha rousing her. It was Juni, mousey-eyed and mousey-eared, peering at her face and shaking her. "Come on, get up!"
The camp was in chaos. All the awakened and humanoid students had holed up in the cover of nearby trees and the wagons. Neska saw lanterns rattling further down the travel road, where they had set up to rest a short distance away, out of the immediate line of sight in a small hollow between two hills and dense forest on either side.
She peered out into the expanse, her serpentine body coiled as she spotted Brent off to her right, a bow in hand and one of her alchemical venom arrows set on the string, searching for a target. He used the wagon siding as a way to steady his body, keeping his aim perfectly aligned on ith the small dirt path they’d come in on.
Syra, the water elementa needed no ranged weapon and had water frothing around her humanoid body; her anemone-like hair bristled in agitation. Juni stood next to her, stone spikes jutting from her body and forming a thin defensive coating of rock to protect her vitals.
“What are we up against?” Neska asked, never taking her eye off the trees leading up to the main road.
“Don’t know. Corvin got the whole camp roused in thirty seconds,” Juni whispered, ears flattened against her head. “Glad to see you’re a light sleeper in the field. I can’t wake you with anything short of an alchemical grenade going off nearby when we’re in the dorm.”
“That’s not true.” It probably was, though. She was still a creature of habit and occasionally caught naps hiding in the rafters of their dorm room. For some reason, draping off surfaces at high vantage points, as she used to when she was an ordinary snake, felt natural.
Juni’d almost died from adrenaline shock the first time she peered up to see Neska looming down at her, wearing a fanged grin. Now she always checked above her head when she entered.
The lanterns on the road grew brighter. Whoever was out there was not being subtle. “Monsters don’t use lanterns,” Neska whispered.
“Not most of them,” Brent grumbled, body still taut and his amber eyes carrying a faint glow. He sniffed the air with his wolflike muzzle, frowning. “Humanoids. They’re upwind of us. I think they know we’re here already.”
“Then it’s not the main threat,” she concluded. She racked her brains for ideas. Who would be out here in the wilderness in force? Maybe the Valos military, but shouldn’t they already be securing the hive and taking inventory?
She whirled around, looked at the hillside, letting her focus blur and sliding into her thermal vision. She spotted the heat signatures of several humanoids approaching, weapons drawn, moving slowly.
She threw out her [Woven Root Hex] to ensnare them; within a second, wooden roots and hardy vines pinned several in place with the grasping plants. She was about to fire off her [Mana Bolts], but hesitated as she heard other people closing in with clanking boots and shifting metal plating.
She realized the disadvantage they were in. “People all around. But not hostile. I think.”
She scuttled over to one of the figures, letting the mana bolt glow brighter, but not aimed for firing. It was an impromptu light source, and she peered with scorn at the figure closest to them, struggling to pull the roots off of them and cutting through the first set with a dagger so sharp it passed through the wooden root like it was made of soft butter.
The uniforms gave it away who they were. “Seekers, friendlies in the open,” the man called out. He wasn’t the only one, as Corvin and the other instructors waved their hands, lowering their weapons.
“A bit jumpy, Neska?” Hadley called out, the female archer sprinting to their position and realizing there was no immediate danger. “Oh, I take that back. Hi, zealots. We’re with the Academy, if it wasn’t blazingly obvious.”
The seeker gazed up from their staggered position, grunting. “Apologies, we were sent to scout out the camp. Someone didn't inform us that you were still this far north. We happened upon the camp and assumed the worst: bandits or vagabonds.”
“You assumed incorrectly,” Neska said, a hissing undercurrent to her words. She folded her arms across her chest, and with a small wave of her hand, the roots shrivelled back into the earth. She’d prefer to keep them pinned longer, given her long list of reasons to distrust them, but they also had the numerical advantage.
The seeker brushed off the shavings of wood and stowed his weapon. “Corporal William. My commanding officer will want to talk to the Academy staff about the hive. Our forward teams were embedded with the Valosian border patrol and had a lot of questions.”
“Might I suggest that you consider not stalking friendlies in the dead of the night?” Jurik growled, the scarred veteran not wanting to grant this man any slack.
The man didn’t flinch. “I carried out the orders I was given. We weren’t a hundred percent sure.” It was the closest to an apology Neska figured they would receive for this interrupted rest. “Who’s in charge?”
“Technically me. Lieutenant Jurik, special operations,” Jurik introduced. “And my associates,” he added, introducing them in turn.
The man’s expression softened, and Neska saw the faintest hint of a smile. “Hey, I do recognize your name. You were one of the men who put a giant hole into the mountainside at Karpati pass, and crushed a bunch of monsters with an icy avalanche?”
“I can’t take credit for a damn foolish idea that nearly wiped us and the monsters out,” Jurik said, shrugging softly. Neska splayed her hands for explanation. “It was a while ago. I was angrier and less scarred then.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen you angry, Jurik,” Neska countered, her snout creasing in amusement. The remaining seekers joined the others around the camp. The ones from the road rode in at a slow pace, with several men on horseback.
"I save my anger for the monsters," he answered. The stern look he gave the seekers was almost as potent as a basilisk's petrifying gaze.
Among the seekers approaching was one she despised; one whom Neska had never wanted to see again. “Take a look at who that is,” she said, gesturing to the one on horseback approaching. This man bore a commander’s helmet, with a visor shaped like a wolf's snarling jaws.
“Seeker Templar Ortholo, all is secured,” William said, with the familiar officer leering at him from atop his mount. “False alarm. No Varadur here, just Academy members."
But the new arrival wasn’t listening to the corporal. Ortholo peered down at Neska, who raised her body higher to examine him at the same height. The man narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the lamia before him, arms folded. Adding to the intimidation was a very agitated coatyl familiar wrapped around her neck, hissing and snapping her jaw at the seeker.
“Well, Well. I thought I recognized the lieutenant and the subordinates. I didn’t recognize you, Neska,” he said, a smug expression crossing his face. “You evolved into a lamia? A most unexpected turn.”
“It really wasn’t. How have things been? Find any more villagers to throw baseless accusations at and burn them alive because they won’t bend the knee?” Neska said, tempering her tone. Jurik’s jaw clenched tightly, but he said nothing to stop her. At least, this time.
Ortholo chuckled in a mocking tone. “No, I’m more focused on the actual foes of Valos. Word had reached me of a certain lamia that was new to campus and had an altercation with another group of Seekers. That must have been you.”
“I also burned down half of a monstrous wasp hive. I’ve been busy.” She stared at the man with an unblinking gaze, tongue flicking in and out at a measured beat. Sweat, salt, tobacco, and just a hint of roast boar; likely his evening meal, lingered about him.
He pointed at her head. “What’s with the hat? Awakened don’t typically wear anything more than the mandatory uniforms.”
“I’m not allowed to be fashionable?” she asked innocently. The last thing she needed was for him to ask more questions she had no interest in answering. “I like being a trend setter. There’s going to be a day when we’re not fighting the Varadur like our lives depend on it. Hat making and other fashionable accessories are a good pastime.”
If Trevor tried any harder not to laugh, his whole head might split in two, she noted. The poor wizard didn’t have any heads up on the Seekers, or why she hated this man on principle. “Seeker Ortholo, we’ve been through a substantial ordeal, and are exhausted," Neska emphasized.
“And on the way back to the academy for mandated rest and recovery,” Jurik said, finally intervening. She felt his timing was quite intentional, and he subtly stepped beside Neska. “Perhaps your efforts are warranted somewhere important, such as corpse disposal and intelligence assessments of the mine and the instance core?”
“They would be, if I didn’t have questions about how, exactly, a relatively young group of low-experience Awakened managed to destroy an Instance core with no casualties."
“One dead. Ten wounded.” Neska’s gaze fell upon the wrapped-up form of Corvin’s student in the back of one of the wagons, embalmed and chilled by Noricatu, the arctic bird’s specialty power. She said it would preserve the body better, and Neska was inclined to believe her.
One casualty still felt like far too many, and almost everyone had been injured to varying extents. Even Trevor hadn’t been able to avoid being stung by the wasps twice, and she could only imagine how terrible the pain must have been without venom resistance.
She shifted her gaze back to the Seeker. “We took losses, Seeker Ortholo. Every loss hurts.”
The man’s gaze flickered for a second as he glanced at her peers, then shrugged. “I am no stranger to losses, Miss Neska. We live in uncertain times, and no one knows when their time will be up. I have questions for you, specifically.”
“We have to have a post-battle report prepared upon arrival at the academy. You can get your answers at the same time as everyone else will,” she said, trying to keep the thinnest veil of diplomacy going. She would never cede the moral high ground, and certainly not to this killer in red fatigues.
The man gazed at Jurik, arms folded and looking severe, then at Hadley, hand tapping on the pommel of her short blade out of habit. He smirked softly as if he found this amusing. “Well, then. I look forward to hearing about it. I may have some follow-up questions, considering our ongoing investigation into the failed assassination plot at the academy. I heard a lamia was involved…was that you, too?”
“She was busy chasing a naga across campus with dozens of witnesses. We have leads we’re working on,” Jurik interjected. “Can you have your men stop intimidating our students and wait until our return to campus? We have a long trek ahead of us tomorrow, and this is the witching hour, after all.”
Neska let out a soft cackle, then clasped her hand over her snout, embarrassed. Juni stifled a snicker, and Brent wore a leering grin. Don’t you even dare try to make a joke, She thought as she glared at them.
The seeker looked amused. “Well, then. I look forward to our discussion. I think there will be many things we can talk about in due time. There are other events I have an inquiry about.”
He signalled his men, who slowly began to mount onto their steeds and proceed back to the main road. Corvin didn’t exhale until they were out of sight, and his body visibly sagged.
“Damn Seekers. What's got them so stirred up?”
“We stopped that guy from making examples of a few innocent villagers who were allegedly hiding an escaped Awakened from the campus,” Juni answered flatly, beating Neska to the detail. “He’s a very reprehensible human being.”
“Also a good Seeker, unfortunately,” Corvin said, exhaling through his teeth. “I’ll try to make sure his inquiry has to pass through so much procedural tape that he gives up in frustration. Meantime, get some sleep, everyone. I’ll finish up the night watch. Jurik, you’re with me. Hadley, get some rest.”
“I’m fine,” she shrugged.
“We also need to save your wit for the daylight hours,” Corvin said dryly, and glanced at Neska. “I’m beginning to understand just how much attention you attract, Neska. Not all of it good."
“If only I could shed this attention like I can my scales,” she sighed. She frowned as she examined her list of available evolutions and witch powers, having been thinking of it after learning of her three-level jump.
A new one had been highlighted on her list after hitting level 15, one she’d been debating for a while.
This last fight convinced her it was needed. “Actually, I may be shedding a lot of scales in the near future. I need someone to collect them and study them. For arcanistry.”
Corvin groaned. “Of course, it’s going to get stranger before it becomes normal for me.”
The next day brought a modicim of respite to the group on the road back to the academy. The dense forests and hills gave way to the sparser trees and fields of the valley. Small villages and clusters of buildings made of lumber and brick began to line the roadway. Farmhands harvested grain in the field, sweat set upon their brows and barren backs, tanned by the summer sun.
All night, even with snugs from her three best friends, she still couldn’t shake that damn Seeker out of her head. Was it too much to ask to keep a low profile?
You, low profile, Neska? You’re a spell-casting lamia with the strangest power set this side of Galwein.Thank you for the vote of confidence, Vivi, Neska sighed contentedly, watching as little kids approached the caravan of Awakened students. Most of them were bright-eyed and awestruck by the collection of Awakened with them.
Noricatu and Kasfew flew above, soaring casually to avoid the gathering crowd. Neska had a feeling that Kasfew thought it was beneath him to talk to the commoners. Now, he could make that claim literally as he soared above, and did small loops in the air with Noricatu following him with a trail of icy particles melting in the sun.
If anything, the firebird’s mood had soured ever since the death of one of his teammates. The large lad was being transported to the academy for burial, and Corvin explained it was traditional for the academy to hold a service for anyone who fell in battle.
She’d never been to a funeral before. Or, if she had…those memories were still buried deep, just like that spark of power inside her that had sprung up where her mana core should be. That was one of many things bothering her, and the Seeker was the one who pushed her mood to make her feel a little distant.
A girl no older than five or six tried to pull at Brent’s wolven tail, and he played along, pretending to do dog tricks with a grin on his face. The girl squealed in delight, then soon ran off with the other children as their parents scolded them to return to their studies.
“Is this what this is like?” Trevor rode in the wagon next to Neska, and she turned her head to look at the young mage, puzzled.
“What is what like?”
“What it’s like to not live in fear or always think in the back of your head that doom approaches at any given hour.” Trevor smiled contentedly as he sent out a small illusory bird that soared over two of the children’s heads before spreading apart in glittering motes of light that faded into the air.
“I don’t know. I can’t picture a time when I haven’t been planning, running, or training. I hope there was a time when I lived carefree,” she answered. Even she was uncertain of what it was like. "We'll get times like that back, eventually. One battle at a time."
These children didn’t fear the Awakened. They looked at them with admiration. One boy tried to climb her tail, and she politely told him he was too heavy and that she wasn’t a horse.
He walked alongside her, even as his father scolded him to finish his chores. “What’s it like without legs?”
“Huh?”
“I’ve been watching. You flex your body left and right. Is it difficult?”
She tapped her chin for a moment, considering how to answer. “It’s all I’ve known. I can’t picture a life with legs. Oh, but goodness, it would make stairs easier,” she said with a hissing chuckle.
“Could you grow some? I hear the monsters can start looking like us. Like those two birds above us,” he said, pointing to Kasfew, currently fuming when Noricatu had hit him in the head with a snowball she’d conjured. Neska laughed when she saw snow stuck to his feathers on his face, and he gave her a leer of contempt.
Neska pondered it for a moment on how to answer the child. The idea that she could ever be human again felt foreign. “It is true that we change. When I was in my previous form, I had no arms. But I remembered them from my life before. The weight of an apple in my hand. The heft of a bow, drawn tight and held steady with an arrow aimed at a target.”
“So you remember legs, then?”
“Not as well.” She had considered examining the full list of possible evolutions from the various textbooks in the library, but there was no guarantee she’d receive any particular one. Vivi had warned her it was heavily tied to Ability choices and Titles. Her choices could lead her to one or many possible evolutions. “Oh, but to run across a field and play tag…maybe it would be worth it?”
“Legs are worth it,” Juni laughed, currently walking on all fours, as it was somewhat difficult for her to walk on her hind legs indefinitely. “They come highly recommended. Neska here has all this body that hogs the bed!”
“Does not.”
“It does! Legs present a more compact package, and a harder-to-hit target!”
“I can leap pretty high with my coiled muscles,” Neska said slyly. “Imagine if I ever grow wings.”
“Yeah, keep dreaming,” Juni snorted.
“Well, I mean, there are Syrens,” Syra proposed.
“Did you make a pun on your name?’ Juni asked, squinting at her.
“No. They’re like lamias with wings. Oh, and they like to attract sailors and cause ships to crash against the shore. Nasty things,” Syra shuddered. “That was before the Varadur. I dare not imagine what a few extra evolutions would do for them. Probably nothing good for us.”
Okay. Maybe she should put wings and legs on her ‘could be nice to have’ list of evolutions to consider. She had others she was prioritizing.
The children soon ran back to their fields and parents, giggling as they waved farewell to the Academy students. Soon, Neska could see the familiar profile of Rivilat Academy in contrast to the bright blue sky.
“Home, sweet home,” Brent breathed, sounding confident. “What do you plan on doing first, Trevor?”
The boy glanced at his uniform and sighed. “Scraping the bug guts off my clothes and armor, for one. The second thing I’m doing is preserving all these bug carapaces and venom sacs we’ve appropriated from the mine. And that core.”
Neska blinked. “The core?”
“Gods, Kasfew mentioned it to me. Do you have it?” Trevor insisted.
“Yeah, but let’s review it on campus. I think it might become an item of interest to the higher-ups,” Jurik cautioned, now riding beside the group. “Neska, how did you convince the queen to just…tear it out of her body?”
“I didn’t.” Neska glanced at the academy, not willing to look Jurik in the eye as she spoke. “She chose that of her own volition. Her last dying act, designating me to enact…I don’t know, vengeance? Maybe? Can an insectoid have a sense for what is just versus what isn’t?”
One more question added to her growing list of questions she had no answers for. Yet. “I don’t want to talk about it until we’ve cleaned up and rested for a day in a real bed. I think I’m spoiled now, just a little bit.”
“I think a clean bed is the least they can do for us,” Juni assured her. “But Trevor, could you make us some bug armor?”
“I could. Even better would be to use that core; in the hands of an expert, one could create immensely powerful artifacts, armor, or weapons. But they would never hand it to me. People would kill for a fully intact core."
Neska was a little disappointed. They did have some mana crystal samples and the carapace, plus more samples of the goblin boomsticks–of which she still had several stored safely in her [Dimensional Stomach], and she would separate the components once she got to a proper lab bench.
Even in rest, there would be a lot to do.
When they got to the gate, the guard presence had doubled. And the Valosians looked grim. Jurik rode up, concerned. “What’s with the increased watch?”
“There was another attack.”
Neska let out a trailing hiss. Wonderful. No rest for the weary, then.