Wild Wastes 4 -Ch16- (Patreon)

Moving at a distance eating jog Vince moved with as much conservation of energy as he could. He didn’t exaggerate his stride or let his arms windmill. His steps were always the exact same length, or at least, as much as he could manage considering they were running across open terrain.

South-west they’d gone since the moment Petra had dispatched them.

There was a body of water ahead of them that the colony was using as their source of drinking water. Otherwise they were deeply entrenched in the area.

Well known to the settlements around and generally left alone.

Though the lords of Espana and their despot had made several overtures to incorporate them. They had all been declined though politely.

To which the government had responded by sending armies at them. Which only ended up grinding out a number of deaths on both sides, gaining nothing, and losing resources.

Both sides, were quick to sign a white-peace and go back to the stalemate they had developed.

Or at least, that’d been the case on paper.

One of the reasons Petra was sending him off so rapidly was that the baron had sent some troops to reinforce an engagement down this way. That the Prime Minister, or so the title the baron had ascribed to the man, had sent troops to handle the ant colony.

Without handling them directly.

They were working to destroy the colony without engaging it directly.

Attempting to cause floods in the nest, dump poison into it, and lure other predators into the area. Unfortunately for the colony, the last of those had actually yielded results.

Land Wyrms, essentially Dragons without wings, were now preying on the colony. Attacking often in small groups.

Eating a good number of the ants, then retreating to their den. Led here from the northern border and all the way down to the colony originally.

Though I do wonder what they’re going to do when the Wyrms run out of ants to eat. Or if they suddenly lose their appetite for ants.

That or they considered it and just didn’t care.

“Up ahead!” called out Sam, swishing by him and then landing on his back. She’d found a way to hang onto his armor that supported her and didn’t bother him. “Hi there handsome. Going my way? I’m sure I can pay my way if you let me join your little caravan, though I’m short on coin. Whatever shall I do mister big bad scary ranger?”

Vince nearly tripped over himself and had to take an extra step to smooth out his gait.

“That was terrible,” laughed Blue from beside him. “But it worked so I can’t really fault it.”

“Right? I’m really getting a handle on this big lug of mine,” crowed Sam while reaching up with one hand to run it through the back of his hair. With how big she was, her little hanging position likely wouldn’t work on anyone other than Vince. “No one actually pursues him. You Dryads make a show of it then just fall to pieces and stick your rear end in the air. The Dragons do it, too.”

“They’re up ahead?” growled Vince, wanting to change the subject.

“Yes. Two Wyrms. They look like Greens but I’m not sure. They’re just… beasts… when compared to Dragons,” Sam noted. “There looks like there was two more but they’ve already left. There’s also a lot of dead ants. Most of them have clearly been eaten at but not all of them.

“Probably losses from fighting the Wyrms but couldn’t be devoured due to… well… fighting.”

With a nod of his head, Vince acknowledged that. It sounded about right.

“I want one,” declared Elizabeth running along his right side. She was wearing the same great coat as she always did. Right now she was wearing it correctly and it was buttoned from neck to knees. It covered her quite well unfortunately.

“Fine,” acquiesced Vince. “For the other I—”

“Zath and I want to try our hand at it. Supposedly a Land Wyrm is immune to magic. As well as elemental attacks and even venom,” requested Leila. “No one said anything about curses or death magic.”

“Okay. I’m going to step in the moment I think it needs to happen. Red will be my second,” commanded Vince.

“I’ll try to blind it with Elizabeth,” added Sam. Across her back was her ever present pack. It also had a medium-sized spear for her attached to it. Petra had been working on giving her some basic instruction with it.

Glancing over it looked like the Dragon wanted to argue with that but she didn’t. For whatever reason it felt like she wanted to prove herself by fighting the Land Wyrm on it’s own.

Maybe her Dragon is getting bitchy.

Taylor was a lot easier to handle and far less prickly after I told her I wanted her to sit in my vault. Maybe I could throw that at her?

I mean, I know I’m essentially proposing but… no, we’ll hang onto that. Not yet.

Too soon.

Much closer then he expected it to, the battle-lines resolved themselves.

They were running through a slight depression one moment and then over a rise he didn’t even realize they were on. Over it in seconds and everything was visible.

A line of ant-soldiers spread out amongst two different Land Wyrms. They were working with spears, shields, and swords to push them away from what was likely the entrance to the colony.

“Blue,see if you can’t go save a few,” he commanded and began peeling off to the side. There was a group of ants that looked to be treating comrades.”

“Of course!” Blue said happily and began heading off that way. Red and Vince were moving to the space between the wounded and where the battle was raging.

“Red things that they must defend. If the Land Wyrm gets into their hive… it would be the end. If Red were a predator, she would want to get into the nest to eat the young,” growled the Beastkin, running along beside him on all fours.

“True. I’d do the same,” Vince concurred.

The ants defending the entrance made more sense now.

Defending out here they could gang up on a Land Wyrm and fight it more cleanly. If it managed to get into the hive, there’d be a lot fewer ants that could engage it at a time.

Elizabeth had stripped off her coat and let it fly off her, running nude straight at the Wyrm now. Roaring she leapt into the air and transformed into her glowing and shimmering draconic self.

With a few flaps of her wings she gained speed and momentum. Her legs drawing up close to her body as she sped right toward the target.

The Wyrm had noticed her and had given up on the ant it was trying to corner. Instead it focused on Elizabeth and her approach.

Slamming into it at full speed Elizabeth knocked it backward and tipped it over. Sending it rolling sideways.

It’d managed to grab hold of her as she went and had sunk it’s mouth around her upper shoulder. Rolling her along with it as it tumbled across the ground.

Damnit. She wanted to get this done so quickly that she put herself in harms way.

I guess this is the difference between a mature Dragon like Taylor and a new one, like Elizabeth.

Vince ran up to the ants as they watched the Dragon and Wyrm roll around on the ground. He unsheathed his sword and remained still, watching, ready to intercede.

“Red thinks she rushed it,” muttered Red as she came to squat next to him.

“She did,” agreed Vince.

Zathira and Leila were already moving toward the second one. They were launching spells at the beast, causing it to be considerably more distracted than it had been. While the magic didn’t seem to be doing much to it, it was doing enough just to break it’s focus.

The ants were quickly working to gain ground and weaken the monster. Spears and swords used to their best effect when the big Wyrm’s head and turned to look away from them.

Sam came over then, unable to do anything given the way Elizabeth had engaged with the enemy. For one reason or another, she’d let her emotions get the better of her.

Darting in she planted her spear right in the Wyrm’s eye and slipped across the bridge of it’s nose. Moving to the other side as it reflexively jerked away.

She ended up being forcefully ejected with the motion and gave her a great deal of space to get away from the Wyrm. Which apparently had been her goal.

Flipping over mid air she spun off and began to circle around behind the big creature.

Laughing, Red gave her head a shake, making her slightly wind-blown hair tremble.

“Red likes Sam a lot. Sam is becoming a good hunter,” complimented Red.

Looking back to Elizabeth Vince saw that she’d managed to break free of the Wyrm’s grasp, but there was a sizable bite left on her arm. One that was bathing her arm in blood down to her elbow.

Her wing also looked like it was slightly bent at a weird angle.

Probably when she slammed into it. Didn’t get her wings in soon enough.

The Wyrm had wounds on it as well though it didn’t seem any worse than Elizabeth. The two large beasts were eying one another.

Without warning the Wyrm lashed out and snatched up a dead ant. Crunching it up in it’s jaws it began running off, distancing Elizabeth quickly.

The Dragon was simply not able to catch it on the ground given it’s wounded arm. Nor could she pursue if her wing was damaged.

“Red, don’t belittle Elizabeth when she comes back,” requested Vince.

“Huh? Red wouldn’t. Red… has made mistakes. Red is likely the reason the Dryads were killed,” whispered the Beastkin with a shake of her head. “Red makes many mistakes but is learning. Learning from each.

“Red will be the perfect wife to you as a huntress. Bringer the ranger, Red the huntress. We will roam the wastes together.

“Until then, Red has much to learn and will… will strive to learn from her foolish actions. Red will make amends to the poor Dryads when they come back.”

A roar to the side caught Vince’s attention.

The Wyrm was currently trying to back away from the noose of ants it’d been locked into. Sam kept at it’s face, trying to get the other eye, while Leila and Zathira continued to distract and torment it.

There had to be something their magic was doing to it given that it was seemingly trying to avoid the spells. Being more than willing to dodge into ants, rather than be struck by the spellwork of the two.

The ants grew bold and began to climb up the sides and back of the Wyrm. Several of them going straight for it’s head and attacking it at the base of it’s neck.

“Identify yourselves to us!” demanded a voice from behind him. The language was of course Spanish.

Looking over his shoulder, Vince saw a group of ants standing there. Watching him with suspicious eyes.

Looking at them closely he found they were as different to Petra as he was to Leila.

They shared a similar body-type as Petra though they were all considerably smaller. Less in stature in size.

Where Petra could reach up to an incredible height when she pushed herself up, these ants look like they’d top out at six-foot.

They had smaller proportions to their bodies that made them look a bit like late teenagers on the verge of turning twenty. A body that wasn’t quite fully developed but not far off.

Their eyes were a bit bigger, their antennae were slimmer and far more delicate looking as well. Surprisingly, they also seemed to run the full range of hair and eye colors.

The armor they were wearing looked to be more hand made out of metallic ores. None of them wore armor that looked to be made of fallen companions and foes. Nor were their weapons anything special either.

Just how unique was the soldier-ants in my neck of the woods? Petra seems… very different.

From what he could tell, those in front of him were all male.

“We asked you who you were,” stated another ant.

“Answer us, who are you to our colony?” asked a third.

Huh. No ‘this one’ but a community wide royal we? Curious.

“I’m Vince. The lord of Yosemite. My duchess was just installed in Corune,” explained Vince. “And I’ve come to speak with the red-wood ant colony.”

Collective heads were turned to one another, then back to him.

“Uh… take me to your leader?” he tried instead.

Once again the heads came together and then looked back to him.

“We will convey your wish to our queen and us,” said one of the ants.

“Yeah,” Vince murmured then looked to one side. Blue had abandoned her efforts with the ants and was not tending to Elizabeth who wasn’t far behind him.

A very downtrodden looking and naked Elizabeth. Her great coat held between her hands as she stared at the grass in front of herself.

She did glance up once and caught him watching her. Her face turned a deep scarlet color and her eyes whipped back down.

He knew for a fact she wasn’t ashamed of her nakedness, but her poor combat prowess in this fight. She’d fought a Wyrm to a draw that’d already been fighting before she arrived.

One could even argue that perhaps she lost, all things considered.

Zathira and Leila were on their way back to him. Chatting hapilly between one another. Sam was fluttering between them looking quite proud of herself.

“You three did well,” said Vince in English. He saw no reason to give away information if he didn’t have to. The ants could wonder at what he was saying.

“Thank you!” squeaked Sam who promptly sparked off toward him like a lightning bolt. She fluttered directly in front of him, her arms dangling down in front of herself and holding her spear. She was grinning at him and looking rather sprightly and cute. “Say it again! Say it again and I’ll use my mouth to show you how appreciative I am. My tongue… my lips. Say it again, Vince.”

Blinking, Vince took a breath and then grinned.

“You three did well, and you came at that Wyrm in a very impressive way, Sam,” he got out, suddenly wanting very much to get some alone time with Sam.

“Well! What can I do other than carry out with my promise,” announced the Fae. She lifted up a hand and pointed to her mouth. “I’m very appreciative of your praise, Vince. Thank you so much for noticing my efforts. I simply cannot begin to express how much it means to me.

“There, I showed how with my mouth. I made sure to emphasize it particularly well and enunciated it perfectly with my lips and tongue.”

“You’re terrible,” Leila got out with a bout of laughter.

“Ah, my poor grove-husband. I’ll take care of you later. I’m not Sam but I’m sure I can hit any needs you have,” promised Blue.

Sam watched him with a playful smile with her tongue stuck out between her teeth. Her eyes were glowing with mirth.

She made a small spin in the air, stashed her spear into it’s place, and darted in next to him.

“Fret not, I’ll give you everything in time. We’re just in the playful flirting, dating stage,” she promised and then bit his ear rather roughly. Only to zoom away before he could grab her.

Slipping away she went over and landed on Zathira’s coils. Crossing one leg over the other and watching Vince imperiously.

Grinning at the situation, Vince shook his head and looked back to the ants. They were all staring at him in a similar way. They weren’t very bright looking and had a hollowness to them.

As if they really were a drone and little better.

Actually… maybe that’s exactly what it is.

Petra, for better or worse, never was part of the collective. Not in the same way.

Maybe even the way she speaks identifies herself to that. A special soldier-ant that the world almost lost.

“Are there any weird ants in your colony?” asked Vince to the closest ant. “Any of the royal progeny speak a bit oddly. A little strangely.

“Like they weren’t as well suited to the colony maybe? Like they didn’t quite belong but they did because they were an ant?”

“We don’t know?” said two ants at the same time as a third simply shook their head. “We are only us and have no knowledge of the we that is the royal family.”

Right.

Drones.

“Ah, hello?” called a feminine voice.

Looking to the speaker, Vince found a red-wood ant sticking up from the burrow. She looked just like all the other ants though had the upper-body of a woman, rather than a man.

“Oh, would you be the guests come to see us?” asked the woman with a warm smile. She looked to be older now that he could see her more closely. Perhaps in her late forties with brown-hair that was starting to grey at the temples.

There were lines at her eyes and mouth that spoke to smiles, laughter, and care.

“Indeed. My name is Vince. I’ve come to speak with your queen,” Vince summarized. “I’d like to speak to her about our two countries.”

And bring you all into the fold.

Either through murdering your queen and installing a princess, or simply talking the queen into it.

“Wonderful! We welcome you of course. There’s so few people who come to see us with kindness. We’ve been at war for so long,” the woman prattled amicably. “Oh, don’t let us stall to you up. We should bring you down to see our daughter. We’re waiting for you of course.

“Don’t mind the soldiers. The we of their caste have work to do and we would speak to you otherwise.”

Suddenly I miss the way Petra talks.

This is annoying already.