Bondsfungi: Chapters 29-30 (The Weirkey Chronicles) (Patreon)

We've had such a long string of chapters with fanart, it feels almost weird to go back to normal. Anyway, the chapters this week continue to ramp things up, so I can only apologize about the cliffhangers. I believe this will read smoothly when read all at once, but all of you are going to have to endure a little longer.

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Chapter 29

With every day, Fiyu felt increasing tensions between herself and the remainder of her group. She desperately wished to travel north in order to reunite with Friend Nauda, but many flatly refused, and all were unsympathetic except for Acquaintance Gethyrue. If she had been dishonest, it might have been easier to convince them, but she was obligated to tell her traveling companions that Friend Nauda was actually moving in their direction.

The problem, for both parties, was the death zone in between. Most regions of Slest she had seen were covered in gently rolling hills, with generous trees and shrubs. Not this one. A long stretch of land was desolate and flat, meaning that anyone who stepped into it was easily visible. It entirely lacked tunnels underneath as well, so every path across was dangerous.

Fiyu could sense every hive in the region if she fully focused her senses, but that didn't mean that she could untangle the conflict. One mound from the first colony might be next to a mound from the second, with only occasional fighting in between them. The entire region around the death zone seemed to be contested, with boundaries changing even during the time they waited. All she knew for certain was that two substantial armies camped on opposite sides of the desolate plain, ready for a war.

At midday, when Fiyu customarily investigated their surroundings, Friend Nauda was nowhere to be found. Fiyu tried again, cleared her mind, and double-checked her soulhome, all with a rising sense of panic. Surely it couldn't be...

"Nauda is missing!" Fiyu turned to the rest of the camp and made her announcement, but she only received a few glances in return, and outright scorn from the wild tribes soulcrafters. Perhaps that was to be expected, as Friend Nauda was not their relative or ally, but it still distressed her.

"You can't find her?" Acquaintance Gethyrue asked. The old woman was feeling better that day, sitting up beside her tent without bandages. "Are you sure she hasn't just moved outside your range?"

"No, she's only been moving in our direction. It would be impossible for her to leave, unless..." Fiyu sat down beside Acquaintance Gethyrue and pressed her hands together. "Please, do you have other methods of looking for her?"

"It's not the most sophisticated, but if you have an idea where she was previously, there is one way." Acquaintance Gethyrue pulled a metal ring from her soulhome, clearly a specialized armament. When cantae began to run through it, an image of the Slescan landscape lit up within the ring. "Now, controlling it is a bit tricky, but if you could sense any landmarks..."

Though it was frustrating not to control the image herself, Fiyu offered the information she had about Friend Nauda's last location and trajectory. Almost immediately, Acquaintance Gethyrue began running across conflicts, Authorities flashing through the air so quickly they barely appeared in her seeing device for a moment. Yet those battles were moving northward and there was no sign of Friend Nauda.

Another battle took place on the ground some distance to the west, involving humanoids and even Fithans. Fiyu searched this one much more thoroughly, but there was no sign of Friend Nauda. She shifted back, discouraged, while Acquaintance Gethyrue continued examining the scene.

"This one is causing trouble..." Acquaintance Gethyrue pulled back the view and winced. "It looks like forces are beginning to move into the empty zone. If the other side sees it, that conflict could spill over."

"What was that?" One of the House Crimson soulcrafters had been standing nearby and now whirled on them. "Are you saying the bug armies are moving? Will they sweep over us?"

"I'm not sure. I can only see a small fraction of the battlefield like this, but I'm trying to find out."

"Wait." Fiyu touched the armament with one finger while using her eyes to plead with Acquaintance Gethyrue. "I would like to test something. Nauda was traveling near Tythes. Did you see him?"

Acquaintance Gethyrue closed her eyes and put a hand to her stomach. "I'm not sure. He may have been in the battle between Authorities, but it's hard to track their movements."

"What if we assume that Nauda was traveling on her former course, but moved to avoid that battle? We didn't look over that area at all. Please, you must check. You must."

The others had begun to argue, but Fiyu ignored all of them and focused on the vision of the battlefield. Just when she was beginning to despair, she caught a glimpse of blond hair: it was Friend Nauda! They needed to sweep back and catch up to her, because she was running wildly, carrying a large bundle. She staggered as if she had been on the run for several days, and wider searching revealed that there was a group of Slescans pursuing her.

Then Fiyu realized the worst of it: Friend Nauda was running directly toward the death zone. It might appear to be a relief to her after the uneven ground, but she would be visible to multiple hives in range. In her current state, she couldn't possibly survive. Fiyu didn't want to take her eyes away from the armament, but forced herself to look at Acquaintance Gethyrue.

"Gethyrue, we must help her!"

"There's no time!" One of the other Crimson soulcrafters pushed Fiyu and she gasped. "We need to retreat before they overrun us. At least to the hill with those beetles, that's always been a safer region."

Acquaintance Gethyrue looked between them briefly, closed her eyes, and finally spoke quietly. "All of you can retreat to the beetle mound. Fiyu, I'll go with you to rescue your friend."

"Oh, thank you!" Fiyu hastened closer to her, willing to be carried if necessary, but Acquaintance Gethyrue lifted them both in a sphere of cantae. They floated briefly, provoking anger from some of the others, before they streaked along the ground.

As they went, Fiyu carefully spread her stealth technique around them. It was difficult to hide an Authority's power, but Acquaintance Gethyrue was more subtle than most. Also, when Fiyu examined her cantae carefully, it flowed fitfully. This journey was no doubt costing her... but it was for the sake of Friend Nauda.

Once they began crossing over the death zone, Fiyu examined their surroundings carefully for Slescan movement. There were indeed forces advancing, but the closest groups to Friend Nauda were still those pursuing her. Strangely, they seemed to be sweeping their path methodically, as if they couldn't sense her, but surely she would be visible once she left her coverage. Now that she was closer, Fiyu could sense her friend again, needing to push through a layer of filmy cantae surrounding her.

When they drew near enough, Fiyu finally searched with her eyes as well. There, Friend Nauda! She was still staggering forward, occasionally looking over her shoulder. Fiyu had only a few moments to examine her before they swept down and the bubble enclosed her.

"Nauda!" Fiyu hastened to her so that she would not be alarmed.

"Fiyu?" Her friend stared at her, shock giving way to relief.

Fiyu was so overcome with emotion that she wanted to step forward and take her friend's hands, even though that would not be appropriate. The choice was taken from her due to the fact that Friend Nauda was carrying an enormous egg with a dense Slescan body inside. It was an irrelevant detail, but because it drew her attention, Friend Nauda lifted it carefully.

"It's a long story," she said, "but I need to take this to safety and the bugs after me want it. Can they smell through your stealth technique?"

"Do not fear, Nauda. Even if they saw you disappear, if we move they will not be able to find us."

Beside them, Acquaintance Gethyrue had dropped to her knees, blood visibly staining the front of her robes by her stomach. She took a deep breath and rose to her feet unsteadily. Clearly, flying back was not an option, but they still needed to move. Fiyu carried the egg for Friend Nauda, while she offered support to Acquaintance Gethyrue.

"I couldn't draw the egg into my soulhome," Friend Nauda said. "At least, when I tried I was afraid that it would kill the queen inside. Right, that's a queen egg. I don't think she's close to hatching, but she must have too much of a soul to be supported in my soulhome."

"I will protect the egg, Nauda. But tell me, were you traveling with Tythes?"

"Yeah, and he actually got me involved in this. He's not coming to rescue us, so I say we don't worry about him. Do you have a place to rest safely? I've been on the run for days."

"We have a camp along with four other soulcrafters. On the other side of this empty region, it is considerably more peaceful."

Just reuniting with one of her companions left Fiyu much encouraged, and she believed that it was reasonable to hope that they would be able to escape safely. Behind them, she noted that there were groups of Slescans and Fithans entering the death zone, but they should be unable to detect her presence.

Then she felt a Ruler's cantae begin to blast across the landscape. She identified the source as a species she had not seen before, squat with heavy legs and a jagged horn on its head. Whatever its nature, it was casting out a line of cantae in a vast rolling wave. It rolled over the landscape harmlessly and there was no time to do anything but reinforce the sphere hiding them.

When the line of cantae swept over them, Fiyu felt her stealth sphere crumble away and gasped in shock. She restored it as quickly as possible, but the wave of cantae slowed, then reversed. With Acquaintance Gethyrue moving so slowly, it was impossible to dodge. The wave swept back and forth over her, eating away at her technique until they were laid bare in the middle of the death zone.

"We need to run." Acquaintance Gethyrue tried to lift into the air but collapsed back to her knees. Nauda got a better grip under her shoulder and supported her as they ran.

Yet, no matter their speed, being visible in the middle of the empty zone was a death sentence. Fiyu was unable to overcome the technique-consuming wave... until suddenly it vanished. She searched back and discovered several Fithans hacking at the Slescan that produced the wave. There were more running after them, one in the lead throwing himself forward on bursts of cantae. 

He arrived before she could recover, skidding to a halt just beside them. "We took out the bug," he said tersely, "can you get us to the other side?"

"Yes, I can." Fiyu smiled, grateful that her luck had finally changed.

"Good. My name is Issak."

-

Chapter 30

Issak couldn't believe his luck. The huge lines of bugs had stumped him, since they might all swarm his group, and some of the others had been getting impatient. After the disaster with the monster, they were more willing than ever to challenge his leadership.

Finding not one but two city dwellers with stealth techniques was just what he needed, and he thanked the strength of his luck that he'd had an opportunity to save both of them. As they got all the way across the empty plain to the trees on the other side, he realized that he was past the worst of it. The question was just how much he could wring from this encounter.

The slender foreign beauty known as Fiyu was the one getting them through, but she would also be the biggest problem. Even if she had only reached the second stage of strength, her ability to go invisible was unacceptable. He wouldn't live with someone who could cut his throat without even challenging him to a fight. Fortunately, the task of hiding his entire tribe within her sphere seemed to be draining her, so she would be weakened by the time they reached safely.

Her closest ally was also from another world, yet barely felt like a soulcrafter at all. Stunning and curvaceous, but given her lack of power Issak set her out of mind. There were much larger threats among the other soulcrafters in their group.

All of them met on the other side, some distance from the increasing fighting among the bugs but not nearly far enough for his liking. The other members of the group included two tribesmen, who stared at his group with shame, and two city dwellers with decent soul fortresses. Strangely, all of them deferred to Fiyu, perhaps because she held the threat of sudden assassination over them.

There was one strange factor: the old woman had actually reached the fourth stage of power. Ordinarily he would consider her the biggest threat, but she was suffering from an injury that left her so weak she fell unconscious as soon as they returned. Issak thought about killing her and decided that it would be better to respect her, to help convince the city dwellers of his intentions. If he could manipulate her, he might even be able to use her to control the others.

Of course, this Fiyu had already taken control of the old woman's care. She had only reached the second stage, he was fairly sure of it, but she was definitely the largest threat.

"This is a good place." Essan approached him as soon as they had enough space to be alone, gesturing around to the bluff and the nearby bug mound. "We can take food from the weak bugs, and we're shielded from the rest."

"Not far enough," Issak said. "We riled up all the bugs behind us, and there's no telling how far they'll spread. There are weak bugs everywhere. I say we deal with the city dwellers, then head east to find our new kingdom."

"What are you doing about the city dwellers?"

"I'm not letting you ruin this plan too. Shut up and obey."

Essan growled at him, but fell back. Issak began moving among his tribe, giving a few commands to prepare for the next step. With Rebkha backing his plan, he had everything he needed. They would rely on him for the important negotiations, and no matter how they ended, once the threats were gone he would be in control.

Everything was coming together. Now he just needed to get Fiyu alone.

~ ~ ~

After so long alone or with Tythes, Nauda was relieved to finally be in a group again. Of course Fiyu was the most reassuring, but it was just more pleasant to have an active camp around her. When she was honest with herself, she had to admit that it didn't matter that many were from the wild tribes - she just enjoyed the buzz of community.

Fiyu wanted to stay with her at all times, but they were both beset by obligations. The House Crimson soulcrafters debated retreating further from the lines or reinforcing their present position, while the wild tribes settled in as a defensive line.

With vastly more mouths to feed, many wanted to go steal food from the nearby mound of leafpuller bugs. It might be misplaced guilt, but Nauda wanted to start off on a better foot with this hive, especially if they would be nearby for some time. So, when no one objected too hard, she headed out to attempt to negotiate.

When she drew close, she made sure that there were only the harmless leafpuller bugs. After confirming there were no more dangerous species - Fiyu called the most common "soldier ants" - Nauda stepped near the boundaries of their mound. It might be a foolish attempt, but her conversations with Fiyu had affirmed her belief that most of the bugs were reasonably intelligent. 

Several emerged to trundle in her direction, befuddled for a while before they attempted to horn her away from their mound. Nauda carefully removed one of the globules of food she'd taken before and set it down in front of them.

They reacted immediately, scuttling between the globule and her as if confused. After some time, the bugs grabbed the blob of food and pulled it into the nearest tunnel. Nauda waited, wondering if she had just given up food for no reason, but they soon emerged with a globule of their own. The leafpullers set it down, pulled back, and then watched almost motionless.

This blob seemed to be larger than hers, and Nauda had no idea how to interpret that. It seemed like an exchange of gifts and they might believe that she represented another mound. That was just guessing, but it was better than starting by stealing their food.

"Thank you." She spoke even though they didn't react to her words, then picked up the globule and retreated while facing them. Since none of the others knew that she'd carried a store of food with her, she could tell them she took this and hopefully hold them off long enough to establish good relations with the leafpullers.

On her way back, Nauda pondered their next step. She was immensely relieved to have found Fiyu and their total soulcrafting strength had increased, but that could be a problem. If they got everything in order before Tythes returned, she might be able to-

Nauda caught sight of Fiyu away from camp, kneeling to extend her senses. Issak stood behind her.

She leapt on instinct, even before he started to act. He moved with shocking speed, drawing up a powerful lance of cantae aimed at Fiyu's back. Of course she sensed it and began to rise, but Issak was a Ruler and had clearly planned to backstab her from the beginning.

Just as the lance left his fingers, Nauda hurtled in between them, catching the side with the prongs of her staff. Yet, in the instant they made contact, Nauda realized that it was going to overwhelm her. There was no time to think or analyze the situation beyond that, she just threw her body in front of Fiyu.

Pain slammed through her torso and Nauda staggered, nearly falling. She looked back and saw Fiyu, startled but unharmed. Good. On instinct Nauda looked internally and was pleased to see that her shielding wall hadn't even been scratched by the lance of cantae.

When she looked down, she stared at the hole in her stomach. Nauda tried to turn back to Fiyu but crumpled into darkness.

~ ~ ~

Just how had the other foreigner been able to absorb his lance? As Issak rushed back to camp, he still couldn't figure it out. She had barely felt like a soulcrafter at all, and his cantae should have torn right through her. Somehow she had misdirected and mostly absorbed the brunt of the damage, even if it would probably kill her.

There was no time to think about that. Issak called to his tribe to attack, but several of the city dwellers put up a shield around the old woman's tent. He shouted for them all to ignore her and move on, saying that they had all they needed.

Somehow it was actually true. Rebkha had recruited the two tribesmen that had been with the group and Essan had stolen a large portion of their supplies. Issak pretended that he had planned every detail and that they were leaving with everything they needed. As they ran over the hills, leaving behind the worst of the violence, he almost convinced himself.

When one of them asked about Fiyu, Issak told the man to shut up and tried not to think about the way her eyeless head had turned toward him.

No one pursued them and the tribe gradually slowed to a sustainable pace. Their numbers had increased and they had enough supplies to live a little more comfortably. He still needed to watch for Rebkha or Essan trying to undermine his leadership, but he was equal to the task. Now that there were no foreigners, he could control the tribe.

They had left behind the lands of monsters, both bug and human. When they reached a new hive and exterminated the inhabitants, Issak could finally breathe a sigh of relief.