Bloodcrete: Chapters 7-8 (The Weirkey Chronicles) (Patreon)

So much going on! But chapters continue.

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Chapter 7

House Blacksilver only had three Authority-tier soulcrafters, so a summons from one of them was serious business. After confirming that Krikree wouldn't cause any trouble in the complex, Theo made arrangements. He soon learned that Dhan had already been notified of his presence, so they would be meeting in the most secure chambers of Blacksilver headquarters.

Usually Theo was more focused on taking action than tracking local politics, so he wasn't very familiar with that part of the complex. He'd half-expected to be taken to the secure chambers where he'd once received a shipment of powerful sublime materials, but instead they went in a different direction, into the central compound.

Eventually he arrived in a circular chamber with a large diamond-shaped table in the center. Dhan sat there alone, his mask lying on the table in front of him. The Blacksilver Authority had discarded his emotional mask as well, letting the deep weariness in his eyes show. Despite that, Theo couldn't help but notice that there were three chairs on his side of the table, perhaps representing the three Authorities. The other sides of the table showed use as well, likely representing other aspects of the House.

"We need to talk." Dhan pulled himself fully upright and gestured vaguely at the other chairs. "Sit anywhere."

"Is this where House Blacksilver makes its decisions?" Theo asked as he took a seat.

"Yes, but not right now. This discussion is... informal." After a long pause, Dhan sat forward and met his gaze. "I want you to know that House Blacksilver still values your membership highly, and we consider the propaganda spread by the Order of the Deepest Blue to be ridiculous."

"Alright, get to the bad news."

"We haven't been able to acquire a Noveni weirkey for you or find an accessible gate, and both are likely to be impossible for now."

Theo folded his hands in his lap and tried not to let his irritation show. He might not be ready to ascend that day, but the moment was getting closer and he needed preparation time in Noven. Still... "Why?"

"The situation is complicated and involves local issues." Dhan sat back, staring down at his mask instead of toward Theo. "We know you aren't very interested in House politics. We've let that pass, since you have such a good chance of becoming Blacksilver's fourth Authority. But if you want to know why our resources are limited, you need to understand the overall context."

"It's not about the Order of the Deepest Blue? Before I went to Arbai, the others told me that was the primary obstacle."

"They're a cause, but not the ultimate one. One thing you likely don't know is that their presence in the city is dependent on House Crimson. They were originally thrown out due to unprovoked assaults on citizens, but they were quietly permitted to give a more sober presentation. Since then, their work has been massaged and backed by Crimson funds."

"I see." Theo sat back to think about that one. The change must have happened not long after they returned from Slest, which would mean that it might be related to internal House Crimson politics. It could be worthwhile to interrogate Tythes, if Nauda could arrange it. "Why are they doing that?"

"Not to make this a test, but do you have any ideas?"

"Does it have to do with the reason they were capturing so many wild tribes members last year?"

Dhan shifted uncomfortably. "Actually, we still don't fully understand what they were attempting to do there. No, we believe the reason is more prosaic. Bear in mind that Wiltur is one of only three Strongholds in the entire city..."

"The House of the Lost." Theo snapped his fingers as it all came together for him. "They're explicitly formed by outsiders, so the public anger must be hitting them hardest. If Wiltur could push them out, then the only other Stronghold would be from the House of Coin. They're not inclined to take sides, and they're bigger than one city, so they might withdraw and let him become the unquestioned leader."

"That was our analysis as well. House Crimson has been on a propaganda campaign ever since the Wargames, trying to show the other Ruling Cities that they've dealt with their internal problems. They want to prove that they're the stable option to control all of Norro Yorthin, and I don't think Wiltur's ambitions stop there. He's remarkably well-connected and well-funded."

"Is House Crimson the ultimate cause, or is there someone else? The Order of the Deepest Blue originated with depths Fithans, so how much do you know about them?"

"Unlikely, and not relevant to the present war," Dhan said. "It's true that this new movement is trying to push some depths Fithan city states into the war, but that's a matter for the long term."

Even though Dhan dismissed it, Theo wasn't ready to let go of the idea so quickly. Given the hatred between the two sides of Fithe, movements that crossed between them were rare, and he refused to believe that it was a coincidence. If he didn't have higher priorities, he would have been researching the matter himself.

The most likely cause was Vistgil, of course. All evidence so far suggested that he developed passive systems in order to eliminate visitors from Earth before they could become a threat to him. Theo wasn't sure how to square that with his own experience, but it was the best fit for the data. Once again, he wished that he could talk to the House of the Lost... if only he could be certain they weren't another trap laid by Vistgil.

"So..." Theo refocused on his primary goal and rearranged the political pieces. "You're saying that House Crimson wants to gain control of Norro Yorthin, and that likely includes economic control. So he's preventing the acquisition of important tools like weirkeys?"

"More or less," Dhan said. "It's all being done through proxies, so everything is unclear. The House of Coin knows more, but they'll only rarely work with us."

"But none of this is really your specialty, is it, Dhan? You're a soulcrafter first and foremost. Are any of the lesser Houses in the city likely to have someone ascend to Stronghold? Adding one or two more to the city would render Wiltur's schemes pretty well obsolete."

Dhan stared at him as if he'd said something foolish, and Theo stared back. Eventually the Authority spoke. "I think it's unlikely that anyone in Norro Yorthin will ascend soon enough to be politically relevant."

"Not even you? You've been an Authority for years, and we've helped you find valuable sublime materials like the dewfossil."

"Impossible, under present conditions. I've assembled some powerful sublime materials at my current tier, but when I made an attempt, I saw that it was likely to deal too much damage to my soulhome." Dhan sighed and ran a finger around the edge of his mask. "I may have reached my limit. The only materials that would allow me to ascend more cleanly are very rare, and I hope I don't need to tell you that House Crimson would prevent them from getting anywhere near Norro Yorthin."

Ascending to Stronghold hadn't been particularly difficult for Theo before, but he knew he had been soulcrafting with an unfair advantage. Still, surely there might be a way to help. It was a bitter irony that if he had a weirkey to Noven, he could solve the problem that prevented him from acquiring it. Regardless, it would be foolish to spend resources on Dhan when Blacksilver was just a medium-sized House in one city.

"All of that is beside the point." Dhan abruptly set his mask aside and turned his full attention to Theo. "I did not bring you here to apologize. Everything I have been explaining is leading up to the crisis of our present moment. What I'm about to tell you must not leave this room."

"Go ahead." Theo sat forward despite himself.

"I hope you recall that a guest from the continent of Tymetron died in the Chasm of Lamentations. They blamed the Ruling Cities, and it seems that they want to destroy us, but aren't willing to go to war across continents. Exactly why is unclear. But we have obtained intelligence that they placed an artifact of immense power somewhere in Norron. It is already summoning more demons, and by the end of the year there will be so many that they would overwhelm the continent."

Theo's eyebrows shot up. He'd never heard of a device like that, but Magnafor had been able to summon demons back on Tatian. Whatever method he had used, this sounded like the weaponized version of it. "Is that what's causing the demons the Order of the Deepest Blue is complaining about?"

"We don't think so: this increase should be localized to a specific region. But the problem is much bigger than a few demons. Don't jump ahead."

"Fine, then explain."

"The artifact was not placed randomly. It was planted in the Dustwind Plateaus, an unorganized region between the Ruling Cities and the Asplundat Movement, in order to lure both sides into conflict with one another." Dhan moved aside one of his papers to stab a point on a map of the continent. "House Crimson was one of the only organizations here to learn of this, and they are moving for reasons unknown. Worse, Wiltur may have informed the Order of the Deepest Blue. Even if this is unrelated, they're going to use this to recruit more followers. They may have already begun in the Asplundat Movement."

It was certainly messy, but... "What do you want me to do about it?"

"We need someone to investigate more carefully, but we can't spare any of our Authorities. Some of our civilian leaders even believe that this is all a ruse to draw away as many soulcrafters as possible. Thus..."

"You want me to investigate on my own."

Dhan nodded and said nothing.

Theo folded his arms and considered all the variables. Entering such a situation was unquestionably a risk, but it could also lead to significant rewards. What ultimately convinced him was the fact that this was all tied to the pressure on the House of the Lost. If Theo could resolve this situation, he might be able to earn their trust, and he needed their information even more than he needed power.

"I'll consider it," Theo said, "but my usual companions are gone and not likely to return in time. If you wanted Fiyu's stealth technique, it's unavailable."

"No, we asked you in particular." Dhan abruptly rose to his feet and settled his mask over his face. "I believe that most of the others are underestimating how many forces are involved in this conflict. We're missing something. You have traveled among many of the Nine Worlds... perhaps even more than I have. We need someone who can find the truth."

"Then I'll do what I can."

Theo doubted he would gain anything by prolonging his stay in Norro Yorthin, so he only took a few days to prepare. He was beginning to run short of lesser materials, such as sublime glues and craftgems, so he purchased enough for all the remaining soulcrafting he needed to do before ascension. Between his deferred Blacksilver salary and his petalfilter income, he had more than enough.

Briefly he wondered if it was a mistake to allow excess money to accumulate. He didn't have a fortune, but he could buy a stake in something like the mushroom farm or another business. After only a little thought, Theo rejected that path. If Vistgil or another powerful opponent ever found him, all of his purchases could be destroyed instantly. The only things it made sense to invest in were his own strength and his allies.

Perhaps his most important asset was Krikree, who was insistent about not remaining. There weren't really any other Ruler-tier soulcrafters willing to come with him, so he wasn't about to refuse. She actually had earned a few merits from her work with the farmers, so he helped her spend them on a spear from the Blacksilver armory. Now she had two weapons that weren't Slest constructs, at least. He'd have used his money to buy more for her, but she seemed unclear on what she actually wanted.

Otherwise, he simply prepared for the potential journey. Most important, he visited Navim - only half of his windows were finished, but that was enough for now. Other than restocking a few supplies, the main thing he wanted was the sleigh - neither of the others had taken it, so he might as well. All of that done, he left before the crack of dawn to meet Dhan in the courtyard.

"Scout!" Krikree popped up from the sleigh as he sat down. He'd tried to explain the situation to her, likely with limited success.

"Yes," Theo agreed, "but we need to wait for Dhan."

"Dhan-prince outside. Says bring sleigh beetle."

It turned out she was correct. Dhan had two weirkeys ready to move them across the continent, so apparently House Blacksilver was taking this extremely seriously. When the world untwisted itself, Theo saw they had arrived in a new region.

They floated above what struck him as islands at first, before he realized that they were plateaus. A constant dust storm flowed around them, a brighter red than the majority of Fithe. Some of that dust stained the edges of the plateaus, but the centers were occupied by farms, and perhaps even buildings in the distance.

"The Dustwind Plateaus are marginal land," Dhan explained as they descended, "but not unoccupied. Blacksilver has occasionally traded with the people who live here, as they are too independent to join any faction. We worry that any conflict here would do great harm to them, but our primary concern is the balance of war."

Theo nodded. "You'd better orient me."

"South of here, roughly where the dust storms end, are the nearest Ruling Cities. To the north," Dhan swung his arm in case there was any confusion, "the Asplundat Movement's domain lies just beyond the horizon. We don't know the exact location of the demonic artifact, and it remains possible that it's misinformation. That's why we need you to learn more."

"Is our presence here legal? Or will the Asplundat Movement be patrolling like they were before?"

"Actually, it's worse than I knew several days ago. Since then, we've learned that the Asplundat Movement has begun expelling outsiders from their lands, and they may have executed others. It appears they truly believe that these new demons are caused by outsiders."

"So they're definitely going to be here."

"And it gets worse." Dhan gestured to the west, though it looked the same as every other direction. "It's obscured by the dust storms, but there is a depths Fithan city state off the coast. The Ruling Cities are concerned that they might join the Asplundat Movement. The more allies they gather, the more likely they begin the war early."

Theo sighed. "Any other bad news?"

"We still... I still believe you're the best member of Blacksilver for this task. But if-"

"Not everyone agrees?"

Dhan took a slow breath and his hand ran along the edge of his mask. When he spoke, his voice was much lower. "Do you understand the political ramifications of which sublime materials you choose?"

Theo folded his arms and frowned. "Explain."

"Some argue that attaining higher tiers requires gathering materials from many worlds. Others believe that it is nobler to build one's soulhome from Fithe alone. The latter is a true Fithan, whereas the former is a mutt ashamed of their home. In a city with multiple gates, and political forces on the other side who could easily reach into Fithan politics, this is more important than an outsider like you might realize."

That was news to Theo, though he realized that he might have caught some hints now that he thought about it. He'd never given much thought to it simply because it was so difficult to ascend beyond Authority using materials from only a single world. But as an element of politics, he could understand it... his eyes wandered to Dhan's mask and Theo realized that the political element might not be the most important part after all.

"When I was a young man stalled at Ruler, I traveled Ichil for some time. I grew stronger during that time, but I wasn't able to ascend... and it stained my honor in my House more than I had expected." Dhan paused, fingers tight along the edge of his mask, then he shrugged the issue aside. "It doesn't matter now. I joined Blacksilver when it was a weaker organization because it would accept anyone. I hope that you understand the value in that."

"Not in the same way," Theo said, "but I do. Does that mean that some in the House don't approve of us?"

"It's never as extreme as some Houses, but traditionalists like Karchibol are concerned about the House being subverted by other worlds. They want Blacksilver to help the poorest Fithans first... but I think you can understand the rest. The rise of you and your companions is very welcome militarily, but less so politically."

"So they're watching us, and if we make any mistake that seems like it could harm Blacksilver, they'd exploit it. Does that relate to the bad news you were about to give?"

Dhan nodded and extended a hand. "If you're discovered, we will deny your involvement to avoid the fallout. For that reason, I'd like to take your identification slates now."

Since there wasn't really a choice, Theo handed over his. Krikree, who had been listening blankly up to that point, copied him. Dhan slipped both into his soulhome and began to fly away, only to pause and look back.

"I'm sorry this has become so complicated. If you really can manage this, House Blacksilver will be in your debt. I will personally make sure that we get you that weirkey." Then he was gone, and Theo was committed.

The weirkey to Noven was starting to look further away all the time. If only he could stumble across a gate there, he would be able to ascend, and likely help Nauda and Fiyu reach Authority as well. For that matter, he was extremely curious to investigate another of his old companions: Eratius had been a Noveni prince, so information about him couldn't be erased so easily. There might be critical answers in his history.

"Sleigh beetle!" Krikree announced. She poked him with the butt of her new spear. "Theo-sister get sleigh beetle. Scout! Scout!"

She had the right idea, in the end. No choice but to deal with this first.

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Chapter 8

Nauda stared down at the obnoxious little compass, wondering if this could all be an elaborate prank. She wouldn't put it beyond Tythes, either as part of a misdirection scheme or purely for the sake of aggravating her. Allegedly the different needles measured cantae in different ways, and she thought she had grasped the basics, but she didn't feel even slightly closer to tracking a weirkey.

Setting it aside, Nauda instead stared out the window at the Slescan landscape below. It was all ordinary enough, it just looked different from this height. They had been flying inside one of the giant artificial beetles for some time, allegedly zeroing in on their destination.

For the hundredth time, Nauda glanced over her shoulder at the room. She could never get comfortable here, in part because she didn't like being treated as Slescan royalty and in part because the chamber was filled with strange chitinous objects she didn't fully understand. They might have purposes she hadn't been able to determine, or they might simply be status symbols, because Queen Yeshir's chamber had even more of them. Nauda almost wished she could have a smaller room, but she did like her window.

Again she watched the compass, waiting for a major change. The most frustrating thing was that she was allegedly the most capable of finding it. All the variables surrounding weirkeys could only be navigated by someone with extensive experience on other worlds - or so Tythes claimed - and she had traveled unusually far for a Ruler. Allegedly only someone familiar with the process could train her in how to use the compass. If Fiyu's relative or one of the Blacksilver Authorities would just return, they could hunt it down much more quickly, but Tythes implied there might not be time to wait for their visit.

That left her figuring out everything based on a few rough lessons, which were especially frustrating because everyone implied the process should be intuitive. One thing she was sure of: the largest hand on the compass had never once moved, and allegedly should once they got into range of a weirkey. Nauda set it up so the largest hand was touching her leg and returned to soulcrafting. If she had no choice but to go on this weirkey hunt, at least she could continue her rebuilding.

Inside her soulhome, Nauda walked into her life tower and examined her works in progress. This was the only one of the three towers where she had completely built her overall structure. Her heartoak had reached its full height and, after some careful pruning, had adjusted to its appropriate width. Though it was still thickening, it was already emitting plenty of cantae.

What needed work were all of her other materials. The throbbing heart on the first floor had integrated fully, but her healing still wasn't as fast as she had hoped. No solution for that yet. She had far more thoughts about the jars of honey hung from the boughs on her second floor. The hive she had given the beetles had produced enough honey for her to begin her healing training, but her potential would be limited until she found an internal counterpart to the hive and sublime bees.

What she planned to have in the tree on her third floor, she still wasn't sure. Nauda climbed up the side of the tree, its bark eagerly straining to form handholds, and examined the rest. She could do without ladders, so she'd used her best Tatian wood to form two circular mezzanines, and she was proud of that work. They divided the unusually tall room into rough sections, which simplified cantae flow a little, and more importantly they offered her more floor space.

The lower mezzanine, really her partial second floor, was going to contain her Nine Worlds Feast. Most of her original foods had been lost when her soulhome collapsed, but she'd gathered powerful sublime food from Slest and decent replacements for Fithe. If she divided the ring into nine sections, she could support an impressively large feast.

Moving onto her higher mezzanine, Nauda returned to work on plinths and other support structures for future sublime materials. Even if she was only a battlefield healer, she would need some enhancing materials to operate effectively. Perhaps she should move the sublime honey up to the third floor to mix with them? But when what would fill her second floor? Good questions for Theo, when she saw him again.

Just after the needle twitched against Nauda's leg, she heard her door opening. She had enough time to withdraw from her soulhome before Yeshir swept inside, and that was fortunate, because the queen rarely wanted to wait for her.

"We've nearly arrived," Yeshir told her curtly. "We will take you to the site, but after that you must find your way on your own."

"Thank you." Nauda figured that she should start with politeness if she was going to get anywhere at all. "I was hoping that you could leave me more scouts, or ideally someone with any experience finding weirkeys."

"You will not find such things in my domain, because they do not benefit us. But Tythes-mate assured me that you will be able to master the task, so we will leave you to it. You have a method to contact the members of your foreign hive, yes? Inform them of your location once you have acquired your goal."

"But the region we might need to scout could be-"

"That reminds me: I will not send any scouts along with you. Ants can be bred in great numbers, but anyone capable of true soulcrafting will be too valuable in the wars to come."

Worse than Nauda had hoped, roughly what she had expected. She knew that it would be pointless to argue - the Slescan royalty might be intelligent, but they could be more closed-minded than Krikree. Instead she just sought information. "And the weirkey itself wouldn't be valuable to you?"

"Slest is our home. There are some hives," Yeshir twitched her antenna the way a human might have sniffed, "that take pride in gathering a royal guard from many worlds. But that was not my mother's way, nor my grandmother's. We are queens of Slest, not other worlds. Tythes-mate is more than enough foreign flavor."

"Then, if I find the weirkey, I won't owe you any payment?"

"Your service is sufficient. The only payment we truly desire from you would be meat."

The queen spoke so casually that Nauda wasn't certain if she had heard correctly. "Meat? Don't you have that here?"

"In small quantities," Queen Yeshir said, as if that should be obvious. "Other worlds are filled with more delicious meals, of many types. Didn't you notice how eager the lowest soldiers were to devour your enemies? They may not have much sense for flavor, but they can taste the value."

Slescans didn't lick their lips - most of them didn't have tongues, or lips for that matter - but Nauda got a very similar sensation from the queen at that moment. She automatically defaulted to a neutral Tatian smile, pretending that she didn't understand or didn't care. How likely was it that Yeshir and the others had eaten intelligent life? Going alone didn't seem so unfortunate any longer.

Before the conversation could follow that path further, Queen Yeshir stepped up to the window. "There," she announced. "We have almost arrived, and will leave you soon."

"Not without explaining what to expect," Nauda said. She didn't think this was all a scheme to kill her off, since there were so many easier ways, but she had to put her foot down somewhere. "Exactly what is this place where you're so confident there will be an unclaimed weirkey?"

"Look and you will see. But since you do not know our world, I will explain."

When she peered through the window, Nauda finally caught sight of their destination. There was no real doubt, once she spotted it. What she had thought was a region of hills grew into a series of spires. They reminded her of the beetle mounds, formed from the bluish earth, but that was like comparing a child's toy house to a city.

Each mound stretched nearly vertically, taller than any building she had seen on Tatian or Fithe. Some stood straight and polished, while others seemed to be several mounds lumped together, their tops ending at different points. Though they used the same lumpy shapes as other hives she had seen, these formed swirling patterns.

Other mounds were large enough to be comparable to towns, but none of them compared to this. When Nauda tried to estimate the size of the entire city and how many bugs it could house, her mind faltered. Considering all the tunnels, this place might have been even larger than Norro Yorthin.

Nothing moved. No matter where she looked, not a single antenna emerged. Even as they flew over the city, her pheromone senses remained silent.

"This was once a termite city," Yeshir explained. "You have not met them. They are a hostile species, organized and unwilling to cooperate. They cannot be controlled like the beetles, so they must be exterminated. This place was turned into a charnel house in my grandmother's time, marked with pheromones so powerful that no one would dare return for generations."

"Is..." Nauda paused to take a better breath. "Is that going to be a problem for the soldiers following me?"

"They should still obey you, because you carry the scent of the royal guard."

"And you think the termites left a weirkey behind?"

"Everything valuable to Slescans was taken," Yeshir said, "but the irrelevant was abandoned with them. The weirkey would not have decayed, so you only need to follow your compass to find it."

Nauda did see that the largest needle had been shifting, so if she understood correctly, there really was a weirkey in the region. But she had been planning to navigate the surface, not three-dimensional tunnels. This was going to be an ordeal, and she wasn't as confident as Yeshir that no one else had moved in.

In any case, it was too late to back out. Nauda was placed on the ground with exactly thirty-six of the army ants. No scouts or other species at all. She had to wonder whether the reason was that they didn't care about her, or that they weren't willing to take the risk. Even though the spires seemed completely dead around her, Nauda couldn't help but imagine bugs pouring out of the tunnels to eat her.

This was the most alone she had been in a long time. Technically she had her signals: small discs of sublime materials that were paired, so that damaging one would damage the other, even in another world. She had one to signal Fiyu and another for the Blacksilver Authorities, so technically she could call them. But it had been stressed that she should only use the signals for times of great urgency, so she was a world away from anyone who could talk to her.

For the first day, Nauda only kept an eye on the compass as she found a place to camp. If this search wouldn't be over quickly, then sustainability was more important than speed. She had more than enough food for herself, but the ants would eat through her supply of leafpuller goo in days. They'd landed in a broad space between columns, not so far from the unclaimed territory beyond.

Once she confirmed the ants could forage, Nauda set up a basic shelter beside one of the smallest mounds. She explored the interior, just in case. The good news was that it appeared completely abandoned, and there was little junk remaining to distract her in her search. The bad news was that the tunnels in the mound extended underground, likely across the entire city.

While she made preparations, Nauda tried to get some sense out of her compass. The needles were moving more rapidly now, so at least she was getting some feedback, but she wasn't sure how to interpret the information. Another problem to deal with.

After several days, Nauda was just beginning to feel like she had a strong grasp of her environment. That lasted about an hour before she stumbled across a beetle mound. They didn't look exactly like her leafpullers, but she saw them pushing balls of the material the towers were built from. It seemed like their mound had been placed so that they could process that material.

When she walked closer to investigate, ants swarmed from the mound.

"Wait!" Nauda shouted at them even though she knew it wouldn't do any good, then the battle was joined.

Her own ants fought back instinctively, and for a moment the sides clashed. Nauda caught one of the ants with her staff and swept it through the others, intending to turn the tide. It turned out not to matter: there were fewer enemy ants than her own company, and they seemed smaller and weaker. The battle ended in minutes with only injuries on her side.

It would have been nice if they could have questioned the prisoners, but of course her ants had no mercy. She had to yell at them to prevent them from attacking the beetles, who huddled in their tunnels. Thankfully her ants obeyed and returned to cluster around her.

"Not so abandoned after all," Nauda said to no one in particular. She had hoped that one of the beetles would speak up perfectly clearly, but she was ignored. "Well, I guess it's time to try my healing. You. Come here."

The ant she commanded limped forward. Nauda bent down beside it and took the injured leg in both hands gently. She had utilized her sublime honey several times, including on wounds she'd caused herself, but this would be a much better test. It felt strange to draw cantae from her soulhome in such soft waves instead of for an offensive technique, but she stuck to her training and tried to mend the damaged limb.

To her surprise, it didn't take very long. When she set the leg down, it seemed stable, if weak. Nauda grinned up at the ant... which regarded her with no expression whatsoever, then moved away.

"I'm humbled by your gratitude." Her words got no response whatsoever, but another injured ant crawled forward to be healed.

Of course they could understand the benefit to themselves, if nothing else. The ants finally acknowledged her now that they needed something. Nauda had wanted to use her healing on someone important to her, like Fiyu or Theo, or at least some of the friendly beetles. She told herself that at least she was getting a lot of low pressure practice this way.

By the time she was finished, she had been able to heal all but two limbs. She certainly couldn't restore those that had been bitten off, so she would have to hope that was good enough. This might have been a small colony, but she imagined that other groups had made their way into the abandoned city as well.

The entire time she worked, the beetles just watched them. Nauda gave her ants one more command to stay, then approached. One of the beetles had a wound on its side, presumably taken during the battle. It flinched when she approached, but submitted to her touch. Up close she saw the differences from the beetles she knew, and she thought their faces were much less cute. Still, they seemed harmless.

While she was struggling to heal the larger wound, another beetle approached her from the side. Nauda gripped her staff just in case, but it stopped some distance away.

[Symbiote?] it asked. Nauda doubted they could read her expression, but she couldn't help but smile.

"Yes. Symbiote." She focused on her signal scents as she tapped herself with one hand, then the injured beetle. "Heal."

[Beetle-friend. Smell.]

That puzzled her briefly. She wondered if her own hive of beetles had marked her in some way. These were two very different hives, but judging from the way these beetles reacted to the ants, the lot of beetles might be the same everywhere. Perhaps this would be a step in the right direction.

By the time Nauda had finished with the wound, more beetles had gathered around her to stare curiously. It would have been awkward if she'd failed to heal the gash, but she managed it well enough. There was less hesitance in their signalscents, and her ants had remained at a distance obediently... she was getting somewhere.

"Hello." Nauda stood up to address the entire hive. "I need to ask you some questions."