Bondsfungi: Chapters 25-26 (The Weirkey Chronicles) (Patreon)

If you didn't see on Discord, Runcible Technician made more fan renders, so I've put them here. ^-^

Meanwhile, there was also a post about NGM audiobooks. That's not going to be the most exciting process, but it will be moving forward. Good to have that done for fans of my earliest series.

All that said, we have chapters like normal. I hope you'll enjoy these!

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Chapter 25

When they at last reached the trees, Fiyu's head was a single throbbing mass of pain. She had been maintaining her stealth technique for days, at a larger circumference than usual, with less cooperative occupants. At times she had thought Friend Theo and Friend Nauda were too noisy, but they were Ichili born compared to the Fithan soulcrafters with her.

At the end of the day when she could relax her sphere, Fiyu wanted nothing but sleep. Yet she could never rest so easily, not when she needed to take care of the others. Their group had expanded to two members of House Crimson and two soulcrafters from the wild tribes. All had agreed to band together to survive, which was sensible, but at times Fiyu questioned their intentions.

She desperately longed for Relative Guchiro to find her. Her dreams were filled with terrible visions of him being consumed in Adversary Wiltur's crimson beam. It was not unreasonable to expect him to take considerable time to search all of Slest for her, but the waiting was miserable.

"Fiyu, there are those beetles again..." It was one of the Crimson soulcrafters, so she pushed herself to investigate.

"These are not intelligent," Fiyu said quietly as soon as she saw the animals. "You should note the ridges on their upper shell. They will eat our food if they can, but otherwise they are harmless."

The soulcrafter thanked her, but the true thanks would have been leaving her to rest. It was better to have them looking to her for guidance instead of acting recklessly alone, but that meant they had to consult her about every minute detail. Every member of their group frustrated her, with one heavy exception.

Since she had already forced herself to rise again, Fiyu advanced to the first tent they had put up in camp. She was so exhausted that she didn't follow ordinary privacy rituals, merely poking her head in. Acquaintance Gethyrue had taken off her outer shirt in order to apply healing to her arm and stomach again. Though her arm was no longer burned black, Fiyu could feel the hole in her stomach, and the older woman's body still twinged in constant pain.

"Please don't mind me, girl," Acquaintance Gethyrue said. "You have enough to handle yourself."

"Is there truly nothing I can do for you?" Fiyu asked. Immediately the older woman gave a broad smile.

"You've helped more than enough. See how much better my burns are?"

As far as Fiyu understood Fithan society, that would ordinarily be a dismissal: it was a lie, but not intended to deceive her, only to make her accept the end of the interaction. But Fithan culture could still be rather confusing, and Fiyu believed there was a deeper sadness in the elder's eyes. She pretended to be strong even when she did not wish to be. So Fiyu forced herself to ask again.

"I do not understand why you are focusing on your burns. Is the injury to your stomach healed?"

Immediately Acquaintance Gethyrue smiled sadly. Instead of telling more strong lies, she pulled away the cloth band that surrounded her waist. It appeared to be a token of fashion, cinching her robes tighter, but it obscured the bloody cloth underneath. The fresh blood stains would have made the injury obvious even to someone without Fiyu's senses.

"Do you believe the injury will be... mortal?" Fiyu didn't want to ask, but having an Authority along with them, even a weakened one, made a critical difference in their plans.

"I'm not sure, if I must be truthful. The most insidious threat was a small material hidden within the flames, designed to burrow into the weakened target and kill them. It's more than I expected Roker to think of, so he must have had help." Acquaintance Gethyrue chuckled without humor. "They intended to kill my nephew, so they used a weapon that I would not be able to heal. Thus it is a threat to me as well."

"Would it be possible for us to extract the material?"

"Not unless you have an Authority available. Your relative, perhaps, but if he couldn't track our path into Slest by now, he doesn't know our location."

Fiyu was still not sure how she felt, telling Acquaintance Gethyrue about Relative Guchiro. She did not like to reveal information unnecessarily, but she feared that if he returned, there could well be another battle. After having come so agonizingly close, she could not accept another such mistake.

"So there is truly nothing I can do for you?" Fiyu asked. She said it in the strange sense of other worlds, a question that implied emotion instead of a query. So she was surprised when Acquaintance Gethyrue actually answered.

"There is one thing. When we passed that beetle mound earlier, I noticed that they produced a number of materials. The probability is low... but there is a chance that they have a form of sublime honey. It would not cure my wound, but it could fight back the infection."

"I will investigate." Fiyu hastened from the tent, glad to be given a clear mission at last.

The journey back to the mound was tiresome, but the task itself was not so difficult. Fiyu manifested a stealth sphere around herself and then simply walked inside. Just as her relative had told her, the inhabitants of Slest relied heavily on their sense of smell. It would perhaps have been troublesome for her as a novice, but her stealth technique had long since developed beyond such weaknesses.

After investigating all of the tunnels, stepping aside from the beetles when necessary, Fiyu discovered several stores. Many appeared to be food or eggs, which she left alone. But deep beneath the mound, she finally discovered a room that contained cantae-generating materials.

Fortunately, one of them appeared to be a type of sublime honey. Fiyu took all of it that she could carry, then examined the others. Most were relatively ordinary materials, suitable for the soldier ants that she saw frequently but not for most soulcrafters. However, there was a pale green skull with enormous mandibles that immediately reminded her of Friend Nauda's materials. Fiyu took both and departed the mound.

Along the way, she could not help but think about House Crimson again. At first, the idea of relatives being at war had been traumatizing, but she had learned that Fithans did not view relatives in the Ichili way. They were related by blood and blood alone. Their conflicts were sad, but they were not fundamentally betrayals because there was nothing to betray.

"Gethyrue?" Fiyu peered into the tent again, only to find Acquaintance Gethyrue lying on her back. There was sweat on her face, and she often flinched in pain. Yet when Fiyu drew closer, the old woman's eyes opened.

"There you are... and it seems you found it after all."

"I have done what I could." Fiyu offered her the sublime honey, which Acquaintance Gethyrue expertly applied to her wound. Following that, she entered her soulhome with the honey in hand, apparently to mirror the process internally. Soon enough she returned, her eyes more unfocused than before.

"You are a kind girl. I wish that Tythes wouldn't toy with you." Acquaintance Gethyrue reached out as if to touch her, then pulled her hand back to her stomach. "I have made my peace with myself and calmed my spirit. If I die, my soul should be stable enough to leave behind a sublime legacy."

"Truly? I had thought..."

"I've failed in some things, but not all. No, I think the attack is far enough in the past that I can pass some of my work along. If I do, you must take up all the materials. Don't let House Crimson take them, the vultures. I'm sorry to put this onto you."

Fiyu wanted to examine the woman's injury again, but wouldn't be so rude as to touch her. Instead she found a clean cloth, dampened it, and set it on the older woman's forehead. There was no need to touch her to feel the heat of a fever. This seemed to rouse her, so Fiyu dared to ask her next questions.

"Did the honey help your wound? Or was it only preparation for death?"

"It relieved some of the pain, and I may pull through yet." Acquaintance Gethyrue shook her head slowly, dislodging the cloth. "Remember what I said. Take the materials to Tythes. And... some of them should belong to you, for your kindness. You're a resourceful girl, you just need to take charge..."

The older woman lapsed into delirium and Fiyu could only sit beside her, wishing that she could do more to help. This was not the first time Acquaintance Gethyrue's condition had worsened, but it felt more serious than the previous incidents. There was little that Fiyu could do, since by far the best healer in their group was the one suffering.

Accepting that she could do no more, Fiyu went to her tent. None of the others had put it up for her, so she fumbled through the motions herself. In the end, when she crawled into a safely enclosed space, she should have fallen asleep immediately, yet she remained awake.

She wanted Relative Guchiro, yes, but she also longed for her friends. Thoughts of lifemates were completely impossible at that moment, she just wanted Friend Nauda and Friend Theo sleeping in the same tent, breathing the same air. Somehow in thinking of them she drifted into the comforting darkness.

All too soon, the morning invaded. The Fithans did so little to keep out the oppressive light. Fiyu struggled up, realizing that she had forgotten to remove her mask. It had marked deep creases in her face, but that did not matter. Even a little sleep had refreshed her, and she was determined to do what Acquaintance Gethyrue had advised. She needed to take proactive steps to plan their next movements.

After dealing with the problems of her fellow travelers, Fiyu moved away from all of them and knelt down on the ground. She stilled her cantae entirely, focusing instead on her sensory chamber. No, that alone would be insufficient.

Stepping into her soulhome, Fiyu carefully removed the window that Friend Theo had helped her soulcraft, when they had just met. It and the curtain were still precious to her, so she set them aside with reverence. Instead she placed the larger curved window that she had created with Ally Navim, setting it firmly into the wall and sealing the entire construction together. She would raise sensory defenses again, but for the moment she wanted perfect vision.

Fiyu exhaled until her lungs were empty, then she breathed in the world. Her senses expanded in all directions, through the empty sky and the tunnel-ridden ground. It was further than she had ever extended herself before, and when it was done she gasped for breath.

Friend Nauda was here. Many leagues away, but she was close enough to barely be felt. Fiyu knew that she might be deceiving herself and pushed on anyway. She believed that Unknown Tythes had been present as well, which made it more likely. If only there had not been so many complications, Fiyu might have been heartened by the revelation.

Instead she returned to Acquaintance Gethyrue's tent. The older woman was already putting away her bedding, much livelier than she had been the previous day. She saw her approach and smiled.

"You seem more determined, girl."

"I believe that I have found your relative, and also one of my companions." Fiyu regretted leading with that statement and lowered her head sadly. "But I fear that it will not be easy to reach them. It seems that this region is split between two great forces that are at war. Not only many insects, but soulcrafters as well."

"Is that so?" Acquaintance Gethyrue closed her eyes and wavered for a moment, then nodded. "I can't feel them anymore, but I did think there might have been unfamiliar Authorities fighting."

"I do not know of local affairs or why they are fighting. However, it appears that the line along which their wars are fought is to our north. We must brave it if we are to reunite with others."

"And, let me guess, both our companions are sitting on the other side of the front?"

Fiyu shook her head slowly. "They are traveling directly into the center."

-

Chapter 26

Theo woke up to an insect sleeping on his chest, antennae bouncing against his face, and wondered just what was going on with his life. Krikree's sleep patterns were irregular, but no matter where she started, she usually ended up cramming herself into whatever part of the sleigh he occupied. He'd wanted to gain enough information about Slest to form a plan and ended up as part of a "hive" with unknown rules.

He carefully sat up and moved Krikree. When she was unconscious, she was completely insensate, so he could have been less gentle. Once he deposited her in the bottom of the sleigh, she squirmed and wiggled her arms before drawing all six limbs up against her body and going still again. After watching her a brief moment, Theo pulled a blanket from his storage room and laid it over her.

The Slescan dawn around him rendered the world in neon blue. For a few eerie moments as the sun peeked over the horizon, it entirely transformed the landscape. Theo supposed that it was beautiful, but it was also guaranteed to wake him up.

Not far from the sleigh, Kathina sat keeping watch. When he walked out to stand beside her, she yawned and slowly got to her feet. "All clear tonight. More of those soldier ants arrived, so I think we might be running out of time. Figure things out with your pet bug, alright?"

"I'll do what I can," Theo said. He saw that she'd pulled out a cooking pot and there was still something simmering within. "Breakfast?"

"Don't get used to it, but I made extra in case we move today. Now I'm going to take a nap."

Kathina left him to stand guard, which most days meant uninterrupted soulcrafting. Theo ate a little of the food while he organized his work mentally, checked the pit just in case something had changed, and then stepped into his soulhome.

As had become his routine, he began by chiseling densecrest into bricks. It was by far the most time-consuming element of soulcrafting he needed to do, so he spaced it out among all his other work and activities. One brick at a time, he was completing his third floor, chambers finishing more quickly because later rooms required fewer new walls. At the moment he had completed seven chambers, leaving only two remaining: just three walls and two ceilings.

He considered this progress to be validation of his overall strategy of focusing on material acquisition first and leaving the grunt work for later. Yes, he hadn't reached his potential earlier, but now he was thrown into a resource scarce environment like Slest and it wasn't slowing his progress at all. There was still months of work he could do before requiring new sublime resources.

Unfortunately, since he had no solid endgame plan, it could actually be months. He thought that the most likely path to leaving Slest would be Fiyu's relative, with the second most likely a rescue attempt from Blacksilver. But if neither occurred... could he ascend to Authority in this place? Most likely yes, but it would probably stunt his future soulcrafting unless he altered the fundamental variables.

How far those could be altered was still an open question. He'd made great progress with Krikree, but learning more only revealed how inhospitable Slest was. When they'd finally found the pit, with its potential for worthwhile sublime materials, he'd decided that they should stay as long as it took, since it would be more profitable than searching for allies who could be leagues away.

Once he'd crafted as many bricks as he could at high quality, Theo set them aside and returned to his storage room. These days, it was just as often a workroom. He made another effort at knapping the voidflint, but though his skills had vastly increased, it still managed to cut his hands. So far all his work had only produced a few shards, which wouldn't be enough for a chamber. Giving up for the time being, Theo flicked his blood into the singularity in his central chamber, washed off his hands in the heavywater, and headed out to the experimental garden.

Recently he'd created a small bed of sublime soil that he'd acquired in one of the beetle mounds and tried growing the grizzleroot within it. The soil wasn't a very powerful material, but since he was making no progress with its growth, he figured that he might as well experiment.

This was the moment of truth. Theo reached down to the first of the three buds and pulled it from the soil... only to find that it had only grown a few inches. Another failure. He sighed and placed it back into the soil, though he had little hope for significant progress.

The second bud had been a slightly different experiment: he had been watering it with heavywater from his bathing chamber instead of standard sublime water purchased in Fithe. This one had grown almost twice as much as the first, but he couldn't afford to waste such a potent sublime material growing a plant. Had it grown more because the heavywater was a more powerful material, or because it had come from within his soulhome?

For the third experiment, he'd tried something wilder: wrapping the roots around a tornadogem from his speed chamber. Ordinarily sublime plants required the same food as ordinary ones, but there was always an outside chance that it could feed off cantae directly. A long shot worth trying...

Nothing. Theo lifted the root up to his face and looked for the slightest signs of growth.

"Just what do you want?" he asked the dangling root. It still seemed to match his soulhome excellently, and he could make it take different shapes or merge with other materials with the slightest application of his will. But it refused to grow quickly, so he presumed that it was lacking the right nutrients.

So far, only sublime liquids had had much effect in his experiments. He'd tried to use some of the goo-like foods that the local Slescans ate, but the grizzleroot had rejected all of them. Holding the root in his hands, it coursed with life, but when in the soil it begrudgingly refused to grow.

Even if he figured out the grizzleroot, he still wasn't sure how he was going to integrate it into his soulhome. The fact that it had failed to synergize with the tornadogem meant that it might not serve as a good strengthening chamber. It could effectively strengthen the integrity of his soulhome, but where could it go? One common use of sublime plants was growing over the exterior walls, absorbing excess cantae and defending during times of stress like ascensions, but having the grizzleroot all over his walls would ruin the pure white exterior he'd crafted.

Theo knew he wasn't going to think of a solution by banging his head against the problem. He left his soulhome and instead walked to examine the pit. As Kathina had said, there were a few more of the soldier caste ants, so he couldn't get close as easily, but he knew what he would see.

According to Krikree, the muddy pit could produce some of the most valuable sublime materials available. She didn't know much about their exact natures, because those materials were restricted to queens, princes, and royal guards. But she did know some about their harvesting, and specifically the dangers involved.

The pheromones wafting out of the pit were still largely [Wait] and [All Clear] signals. Stealing the materials was more difficult because all the workers and soldiers would go into a frenzy if the [All Clear] pheromones dropped off too much. It was like a base where guards checked in by radio every few seconds, rendering a stealthy attack impossible. The fact that they put so much more effort into the pit than into many of their hives was a sign of how much they valued the materials.

Even as he watched, some of the soldier ants tossed beetles down over the edge, where they would tumble into the pit at the bottom. Theo shook his head and went back to his position, returning to soulcrafting. His mind hadn't fully recovered, but he could craft a few more bricks.

After only two more, he heard a skittering behind him. Krikree headed straight for his back as if she was going to climb over him, then hesitated and shifted to the side. She muttered "soulcrafting" to herself and then sat down in her usual position. He knew from experience that she would just sit there watching him for as long as it took.

Given her patience, he pushed himself until he actually made an error, cracking a brick in half. He really was close to his limits, then. Since he had some margin for error, Theo tossed the densecrest fragments into his singularity and then emerged from his soulhome to face her.

"Krikree awake," she announced. "Ivo-sister awake."

Right, she had started that about a week ago. After repeating "Ivo-what" ad nauseam, she had begun calling him "Ivo-sister". Though he hadn't bothered to ask her about it yet, it seemed like a positive title and she didn't cower before him as she did with "Kathina-queen".

"Food?" Krikree pointed at the pot eagerly. "Krikree food?"

"Yeah, help yourself." He waved her toward it and smiled when she began devouring what remained with all four hands. In the earlier days she had been hesitant about eating, as if she expected to go a long time without food. Fortunately, as their communication improved and she grew more comfortable, there had been less need to mind her.

Once she'd finished eating, Krikree sat back on her lower four limbs and began cleaning her antennae. Theo leaned in and decided to begin the day's session. "Krikree, we need to talk about the exact military capacity of the colony."

"Krikree scout!" She froze in position except for her antennae trembling eagerly.

"No, this isn't actually about scouting. I need to test your past knowledge. How many soldiers does the colony have?"

"What region?" Krikree asked. "Central hive? Satellite hive? Beetle farm? What, what?"

"I mean the whole thing, all of the Blue-Red-Blue colony combined. I'm hoping for a military hierarchy." When she cocked her head at him strangely, Theo decided that he needed to take a different approach. He found a stick and began drawing a circle on a sufficiently empty stretch of dirt. "Say that this is a single average hive. And these little dots are the workers, you follow? I need you to help me make enough dots. Particularly the proportion of worker caste to the soldier caste."

Krikree stared down at his drawing, then declared "Not!" and began making random scratches in the ground.

"Okay, never mind that. Do you not understand symbols?"

"Symbols what?"

"Let me try this..." He pulled some paper and pencils from his soulhome and made a little sketch with the faces of the three of them. "This is Kathina at the top, like a queen, then the two of us here. Do you understand?"

"Kathina-queen. Ivo-sister. Krikree." She answered quickly enough, but she was staring at him, not the paper. Still, he did his best to draw an organizational chart that represented his understanding so far.

"We have the queen at the top, maybe with a prince. Then there are lesser queens, leading different species. Then we have all the soldiers and workers, but do they have their own ranks? Do they all answer to the ruling roles, or are they divided into separate organizations?"

He offered the paper and pencil to her, which Krikree took carefully. Unfortunately, she then began turning the paper around in all four of her hands, staring at it as if at an alien object. If she saw the lines, she didn't seem to grasp that they represented anything. That was always the problem: soul translation let them communicate easily about simple subjects, but the meaning could still get lost along the way.

Sighing, Theo stared out toward the pit and wondered what else he could try. Maybe he was using too much abstraction. From what he had seen of the hives, their lives were extremely concrete, even their words taking the form of tangible pheromones.

A crunching sound distracted him and he turned in time to see Krikree shove the rest of the paper into her mouth. She chewed for a time and then said "Not food!"

"Fine, we'll try something else." Theo grabbed one of the pebbles that littered the landscape and set it down on the cleared space. "Let's say this is you. This is Krikree, understand?"

"Not!" Krikree stared at the pebble as if expecting it to change, her antennae leaning forward.

Theo groaned and wondered if it was time to give up. They had advanced in some ways, but too many conversations ended up like this. He got the distinct impression that the higher castes were more human-like, so the question was if it was possible to contact them without violence. Once again, he was beginning to question if this really constituted a plan...

"Not Ivo-sister!" Krikree suddenly thrust a pebble at his face, then set it down beside the other one. "Not Krikree and not Ivo-sister. Chkchkchk."

He'd never heard the odd chittering sound that she made at the end, which completely slipped through soul translation. As always, Krikree's face revealed nothing about her feelings. Yet, the way her antennae were waggling back and forth... was that a laugh? Theo chuckled and searched around for a larger rock.

"Okay, say that this is Kathina-queen..."

Using physical objects as representations proved to be the key. Pulling into use an increasingly large number of items from around the camp, Theo gradually got a stronger understanding for how the local colonies were organized. He was still unclear on some of the social roles, but fortunately tiers of soulcrafting were relatively objective, so there was nothing that could be miscommunicated.

Beneath the queen and other potential Authorities, the only truly powerful members of a colony appeared to be the royal guard. In the case of Blue-Red-Blue colony, that meant eight Ruler tier soulcrafters spread across their entire territory. Some of the lesser members of the hive might be dangerous enough to be a threat to a Ruler, but they had stunted soulhomes and no further potential. Beneath them, there were hundreds of soldier castes like Krikree, not organized into groups beyond the specific roles and commands they had been given. Then several thousand in the worker caste, though they didn't seem to distinguish strongly between the workers and non-intelligent beasts in their service.

At least, he was fairly confident in the numbers. Krikree seemed to find the idea of representing everyone as rocks to be endlessly entertaining, letting out more "Chkchkchk" sounds and waggling her antennae with each new development.

What was clearer was that there were two major colonies at war. Krikree insisted that the Gray-Blue-Gold colony was bad, but he strongly suspected that was just her conditioning. Apparently both colonies had young queens who wanted to control the entire region, with the balance between them based on many different factors that were unclear to him.

One of them seemed obvious enough: Krikree's Queen Ahyona had taken a new Authority-tier consort and intended to press her claim after she'd born a child. The timing appeared to be a matter of some discussion, and Theo found himself wondering if it was possible for the insects to emit pheromone rumors. Insects from Earth didn't have the brain capacity, but here...

"Krikree, who did you discuss all this with?" So far, attempts to ask her about her society beyond hierarchy had failed, but he decided to push. "Did you have other sisters in the soldier caste?"

"All soldier caste sisters," Krikree answered quickly, but she did so in her stiff seated position, so he thought that might be the hive dogma.

"But do you... I don't know, spend time together? It sounds like you talk about the queen when she isn't present. Are there sisters from your hive that you miss? Did we... kill any of them when we found you?"

She stared at him unblinkingly for a time, then answered slowly. "All sisters eat together, sleep together. Nest is warm and safe. But most do not like Krikree." Abruptly Krikree skittered forward, partially climbing his shoulder and tapping her antennae against his face. "Not like Ivo-sister. Krikree glad to find new colony."

Theo smiled at her and wondered if she understood the expression. He had no antennae to respond with and wasn't sure exactly what step to take. Before he could make any decision, he felt something move in their direction and all thought of idle chatter vanished.

"We have humans incoming," Theo called as he rose to his feet. Kathina sat up in the sleigh, swords in hand, while Krikree scrambled back to grab all her spears.

It was two of the Fithan barbarians, slowly making their way around the pit and giving the soldier ants a wide berth. The man was long-haired and displaying his Ruler cantae clearly, while the woman had shorter hair and wore a heavy club across her back. Given their movements, it seemed obvious that they had seen Theo and the others and were coming to intercept.

"More trouble than they're worth, if you ask me," Kathina said as she walked up beside him. At least she'd put her swords away for the discussion.

"But we could use a few more fighters, if we're really going to try to steal the sublime materials." Theo folded his arms and watched them approaching. "If they wanted to attack us, I don't think they'd show themselves like this."

"Unless they plan to kill us in our sleep. But fine, if they're offering a truce, we can cooperate. If your pet is right about the sublime materials, I suppose there will be enough to share."

"Enemies!" Krikree helpfully pointed to the figures approaching.

"No, we just agreed we're talking to them. Only attack if they attack us."

"Yes, Kathina-queen!" Krikree immediately prostrated herself again, though she kept her grip on all her spears.

There was no more time, because the barbarians were finally within range. Thankfully they didn't shout, which might have alerted the soldier ants, but waited until they stood face to face. The man thumped his chest and spoke first.

"My name is Issak. This is Rebkha. I was your enemy in the normal world, but here, we need to stick together."

"I'm Kathina of the House of Coin," she said. "I don't suppose that you have a way back to Fithe?"

"No one will come for us. We will survive or die based on our own strength." Issak gestured out to the pit. "The bugs are guarding strong materials, aren't they? We saw you had already subjugated one of them, but you haven't attacked. If we work together, can we split the spoils?"

"Only if you cooperate," Theo said. "The pit is dangerous because it has so many guards."

That was fudging the truth, leading Kathina to shoot him a glance. He barely met her gaze, hoping his meaning was clear enough in his eyes. Though he wasn't sure about barbarian customs, something in their manner troubled him. Best to keep information from them until he could be sure.

"A fair warning," Issak said. He stepped closer and spoke in a low voice. "We will also offer you one: we fled another group of tribesmen. They would not work with you, and if they follow us, they may be aggressive. You must be wary of them."

"Thanks for telling us." The way Kathina smiled as she spoke, he thought she was suspicious now too. Maybe these two barbarians just wanted to use them to fight their kin, but there was likely something else going on.

Controlling information was going to be important, which could be a problem. Theo turned to Krikree, who was still watching them suspiciously. "Krikree, these two are members of Blue-Red-Blue now. Don't attack them, guard them. Do you understand?"

"Krikree obey!" Her black and green eyes stared into his and Theo could only hope that she comprehended what he meant.