Chapter 50

Etson National Forest, Etson - 11:28 PM

Serranras disappeared not long after we reentered the forest. We followed the trail provided to us for around half an hour or so. The deeper we got, the more buzzing we heard around us as the Vespae patrolled the area. We weren’t near their main hive, that was about ten miles from our position, but the wasps were very wary of Serranras’ tree.

It was understandable from the perspective of a group hell bent on war. The hive was built at an old military bombing site that had been left neglected for many years now. A lot of the trees around it had been pruned to make sure none of the tests caught any on fire, but it was still surrounded by the Etson National Forest that Serranras controlled. Killing her would have been a waste, but suppressing her with threats of death so that she would keep people away from the hive was exactly their style.

In time, we dodged enough patrols to find the clearing containing the mother tree. It was an oak much larger than the trees in the rest of the forest, nearly as wide as a redwood through only about twice as tall as the next tree. Serranras stood next to it, her hand resting on the bark with a forlorn look. Beside her, two Vespae impaled with branches laid on the ground.

“We have been together for a long time,” she said as we approached. Her voice was sad and distant. I looked around, but said nothing. Instead, I began pulling out my implements of war and littered the ground with the remains of my fence spikes and Talspra’s traps.

“What do you need us to do?” Jeff asked. He had gone up to the Vespae and was poking at them with his rapier, but they were already dead.

“Soon, this mother tree will drop a seed containing the essence of this forest’s mother,” Serranras explained. She placed her forehead against the tree for a few seconds before walking away from it towards us. “This mother tree will be able to survive any damage that the wasps can bring to her, but the sapling that grows will need to be protected by these heroes. This sapling will be a beacon to the patrols of the intruders, but it will be up to these heroes to protect it.”

“These heroes will do all we can,” Kayla said. “Though, if it’s not too rude, could this forest’s mother perhaps use our names?”

Serranras looked at Kayla’s face carefully before lowering her eyes. “Perhaps this forest’s mother has been clinging too tightly to the old ways. If it pleases… Kayla, then this forest’s mother will regard these heroes individually.”

“If it’s uncomfortable, then you don’t have to,” Kayla responded, holding a hand up. “I just thought it might be easier if you were to call us by name instead of as a group.”

A soft smile tugged at Serranras’ lips. “Of course, this forest’s mother shouldn’t be treating the Kobold’s saviors in such a way. From here on, all four of you shall be considered apart from the forest as your own entities. Kayla, Jeff, Corwin, and Anthony.”

“Jeez, at least past vision me waited until we’ve reached a more intimate stage to ask her to call me by name,” I muttered in amusement. Kayla looked appalled and smacked me in the arm. I chortled.

“It is time,” Serranras said, reaching out for us.

A glowing green acorn fell from the mother tree and landed in Serranras’ outstretched hand. She grasped it and pulled it to her chest, closing her eyes. The dryad looked more serene and graceful in that moment than we would ever see again. With the backdrop of the tree and forest, the overly feminine figure, and the prayer-like posture, Serranras could easily have been the magnum opus of some renaissance painter.

“Get that box ready, Jeff,” I warned. It took him a second to register what I said, but he produced a wooden box about a foot and a half tall and set it on the ground next to him. I nodded; that would work fine.

Serranras sighed and looked up at us. “Thank you, all. This forest’s…” she stopped, looking around at the trees around us. “This tree mother is grateful for your assistance.” Kneeling down, she pushed the acorn into the ground. Like a ghost, she gradually began to fade away from our sight.

“Is she supposed to do that?” Jeff asked, concerned.

“Yeah, put the box over the seed,” I told him. He did so only moments before a sharp green light began to illuminate the ground underneath it. Under normal circumstances, it would be a light shining into the sky as a beacon for the Vespae to come investigate until the transfer was over. However, there was a very simple workaround.

“The hell was that?” he asked.

“That’s why we need to defend the sapling and why the Vespae would know there’s something going on,” I said.

“Are you telling me that this whole quest can be cheesed by putting a container over it?” Jeff asked seriously.

“Yeah, sometimes all you need to hide from military personnel is a cardboard box,” I said smugly. “Wood, in this case, but that’s just being pedantic. The seed’s going to grow to be about a Kobold’s height before the transfer finishes. If we had a taller box, then we could absolutely breeze through this depending on what time we showed up and whether or not patrols come to check in.”

“Anthony, I can’t help but notice that this box is smaller than a Kobold. Did you, perhaps, bring a box that works better?” Kayla asked.

“I did not, Kayla. In fact, I want to get caught. I just don’t want to get caught immediately,” I said with a smile. “There’s a skill book I want from the quest boss. It’s not often that something lines up with my Warmind stats, so I’m going to jump at the chance. Once the sapling outgrows the box, then the-“

Something flashed in the corner of my vision. I Lifted one of my fence spikes as my eyes snapped to it. A Vespae was flying into the clearing, but stopped the moment it saw us standing near its dead comrades. I Pushed the javelin towards it, skewering it in the face. It fell to the ground and I looked back at the Mills.

“Then the real tower defense game starts," I finished. Kayla and Jeff stared at the fallen Vespae in shock before looking around the clearing. “We’ve probably got a few minutes more,” I told them. “Kayla, could you change into one of them? Grab one of the spears and ‘hold us hostage’ if you would. Then we wouldn’t need to worry about any of them tattling on us since you have things under control.”

“Uh, sure,” Kayla said. Once again, Kayla closed her eyes and muttered a few words under her breath. The air around her shimmered and she emerged as a yellow and black wasp-human hybrid. I moved to sit on top of the box as she grabbed one of the spears. “Just point it at you two?”

“Yeah, just in case there’s any stragglers,” I said, watching as Corwin started sniffing Kayla. Deciding everything was fine, he laid down at her feet and rolled over to expose his belly. She reached down to give him a good tummy rub. “They’ll want to help you before they think to go get help, that’s just how the Vespae are. It’s in their instincts to fight and be ornery.”

“Gotcha,” Kayla said, straightening herself and raising the spear so that it was aimed at us. “I felt weird the first time I used this illusion, and I feel weird now. I feel like I don’t move right.”

“And that’s why I warned you about not fooling the bosses of the Vespae. At least, I thought I warned you about that. Did I? Doesn’t matter. Either way, Part of the Crowd does make it so your illusion is accurate, but it’s not perfect. As you level it up the mimicry becomes better and better. Once you hit level ten, you can either choose to use an illusion or actually transform.”

Kayla clicked her tongue. “And what about that weird feeling that this isn’t really the proper time for a casual conversation about my abilities?”

I shrugged. “That one’s all in your head, too. We can fall silent if you prefer and pass the time in our own heads, but I end up talking to myself if things go too quietly for too long.”

“Listening to Anthony talk to himself for an indeterminate amount of time might be fun,” Jeff offered. “Who knows what’s really going on inside that head of his?”

Sighing, Kayla shook her head. "I suppose-" She stopped early as her eyes shifted behind me and Corwin began growling. Her grip on the spear tightened. “Stay, Corwin. You two put your hands up.”

Jeff and I did as instructed as the sounds of wings buzzing reached our ears. I slowly shifted so that I could see the Vespae approaching. It was three more regular soldiers. They landed close behind us and began running to close the gap.

The lead Vespae opened his mouth and began shouting a garbled mess of raspy nonsensical sounds. They didn’t slow down, they were looking to skewer us on sight. Leaving the one going after Jeff, I Lifted and Pushed one of the spikes on the ground towards the one on my left, and did it again to the one on my right. Both Vespae found spikes push through their chests, come out the other side from the force, and collapsed in a heap.

The swordsman had no problem with his. In one clean motion he ducked around the thrust of the wasp warrior’s spear and pulled his rapier. It pierced the shoulders easily, causing the Vespae to drop its spear and honey to spill out of the wounds, before Jeff went for the kill and skewered it through the head. It was the perfect height to go in from below the mouth, and Jeff used its body to wipe clean his blade before returning it to his belt.

Kayla looked around before finally relaxing. “They seem really easy to kill,” she noted. “Is it just me or are they pretty weak?”

“Weak is subjective,” I said with a shrug as I turned to face Kayla again. “Most of their stats are going to be somewhere between six and nine, so higher than most people even at this stage. The problem with these standard soldiers is that there’s a ton of them. Maybe not right now, but when we attack the hive you’re going to see it.”

“I’m guessing we’d have a taste of it without the box on top of the sapling?” Kayla asked.

“You got it. They’d be attracted to this place like a bug to a zapper.”

“How come I didn’t get any points for killing it?” Jeff asked, swiping at the air in front of him.

“Defense type quests like this one wait until you’re all done to divvy up the points,” I explained. “So instead of five points here, ten points there, you’re going to get them all at once the quest is over.”

“That’s dumb,” Jeff said with a frown. “What if I needed a few more points to increase a stat or skill? What if I could, right now, upgrade my constitution in order to better survive the quest? There was no warning, I could be dying right now because of it.”

“Are you actually only a few points away from increasing one of your stats, honey?” Kayla asked. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Yes,” he said, pouting. If he had any issues with his wife imitating one of the Vespae, he didn’t seem to show it. “I’m going to try to get it up so I don’t waste Anthony’s super antidote.”

“While I appreciate the sentiment, it’s fine,” I said with a smile. “I mean you should absolutely pump your constitution stat up as high as you can because that’s, you know, how you survive, but you don’t have to do it for the sake of saving me a single item. Besides, it’s worth it to help a friend.”

“Grumble.”

“Jeff, did you just say grumble?” I asked. Kayla chuckled as Jeff repeated himself, and I shook my head. The box I sat on shifted slightly. “Whatever. Either way, until something else shows up, I guess it would be prudent to warn you about something.”

Both Kayla and Jeff perked up at that statement, looking at me with rapt attention. “What’s up, psychic boy?”

“The quest boss is kind of a big deal,” I said, crossing my arms. “I’m not going to have you guys fight him, but instead protect the sapling. Some of them will attack the big mother tree, but by the time that happens they won’t be able to do enough damage to stop the transfer. Kayla, you should be fine with both your moxie stat and Mercurial Mind pulling double duty, but Jeff… It’s okay to run away.”

I could see the confusion on his face. “It’s okay to run away?” he repeated.

“Yeah. I didn’t think about it because I’m not one to fall for these kinds of petty tricks, but when the quest boss appears you’re going to feel a strong inclination to run away. I’m telling you now that it’s okay, and don’t worry about it if you do.”

“I’m not abandoning you two,” Jeff said, crossing his arms. “Strong inclination or not, whatever that means, I’m not running.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” I said with a thin-lipped smile. “Because it’s time to summon the quest boss.”

I slid off of the box and watched as it tilted into the air. Lifting it revealed a sapling that stood about two feet tall. It had grown quickly, but it still had a few feet to go before it was ready for transportation. By all accounts, it appeared healthy aside from the radioactive green light that permeated every inch of it. The light shot into the air to take the form of a tall cylinder.

“Okay, it’s really unfair that they turn it into a literal spotlight,” Kayla scoffed.

“That’s the name of the game, Kayla,” I said. “And we should be feeling it any moment now.”

“Feeling what?” she asked.

A sudden chill blanketed the area, bringing with it a sense of deep oppression that settled into our bones. A tingle shot down my spine as my instincts began screaming at me to flee. The feeling spiked and then settled down as I took a breath. Even with my wisdom stat helping me keep my calm, I could feel my Regression Imbalance flaring up at the sudden fight or flight response. My hands flexed on their own; strong enough to hold bread, probably not strong enough to hold a weapon, but that’s okay.

“What the fuck is that?” Kayla asked. I turned to see her with her arms wrapped around herself. She was shivering, but it seemed to be going away. Corwin hid behind her, whining. Jeff’s reaction was one that I didn’t expect to happen, though I had hoped for it. He had pulled his rapier and was standing in front of Kayla, having correctly deduced which direction the feeling was coming from. I could see the fear in his eyes and the sweat that involuntarily sprang from his brow, but he stood in front of his wife as a protector. A smirk passed my lips; perhaps he’d get a class better suited for him than Needle Lancer.

I looked back at Kayla. “Remember at the very beginning how Seraphim said that there would be monsters, some native to our world and some that are not?”

“Yeah…”

“This is one of those ones that aren’t,” I said as I pulled the Tuskgutter Ghost’s tusk from my inventory. It was heavy and hard to hold in my hand, but I used Lift to make it a little easier. I pointed it in the direction that Jeff was staring in. A black form that seemed to draw in any light around it was walking through the trees at a determined, yet leisurely, pace. The droning of Vespae wings started to fill the clearing all around us, too.

“What is it?”

“A truly terrible abomination of nature,” I said as I placed the box back on top of the sapling. It didn’t fully cover it, but it was still an adequate shield. The Dealer had told me all about the insects these creatures were based on after I had asked in a previous run, and they were nasty. “That right there is a Vespae molded in the image of a Ghost Mantis Wasp. And yes, it is as horrible as it sounds.”