[Kara] Chapter 29: Ashfields (Patreon)

Angel supported Kara from the back as she charged towards the giant scorpions. Even more of them had shown up shortly after the first group was defeated with ease. But once again, this was going to be a relatively easy battle.

While each scorpion was large, about twice the size of the utlas bear, they weren’t strong. Even Angel could take on one of them on his own. Although he was pretty sure he would struggle with two. At most, he thought he could maybe deal with three of them.

Especially with the help of Zlo’tan’s crimson pole. It was a staff of sorts. Except far longer, which was probably to accommodate the minotaur’s size. But unlike most staffs Angel had seen, it didn’t have a crystal or a gem or a kind of medium at the very tip to enhance the spells that were cast through it.

And yet, Angel could feel his spells being enhanced as he wielded it to manipulate the earth around him. It was strange. He wondered if it was because of the material the staff was crafted from. It was made of wood, after all. And seeing anything made out of wood in the Xor-In Mountains was rare.

Or perhaps there was a kind of enchantment woven into the staff that empowered the user’s spellcasting to a certain degree.

All Angel knew was that Zlo’tan’s staff was vastly different from the Soulmaster’s machine’s staff. The latter offered no aid to the utlas bear in battle. He simply enjoyed swinging it around when he cast his spells, back when he was a mere cub.

But he was older now. It had been months since then, and he had grown up quite a bit, in addition to evolving. So while his age might have put him at the very edge of adolescence, he no longer thought of himself as the cub he once was.

He dropped the Soulmaster’s machine’s staff. The useless toy he had been carrying around. And he raised Zlo’tan’s weapon, creating a massive boulder. He thought of the time he spent together with the minotaur, before hurling the boulder towards a giant scorpion as Kara charged at it.

Angel fought on, even after he exhausted himself. Because he knew he had to grow up.

Because he knew he couldn’t be a cub any longer.

—--

After wiping out the third group of giant scorpions, Kara and Angel scouted ahead for another hour without finding any other monsters nearby, before returning to the group of survivors. They had already begun moving, so it didn’t take long to rejoin them.

Hayder led the front with Tashia at his side. The two of them rode atop their drakens. He spotted Kara and Angel, before greeting them.

“Did you discover anything on your scouting trip?” the Captain of the First Company asked.

“We found a few giant scorpions, but we didn’t find anything else,” Kara said with a shrug. “The Ashfields are also probably still a few miles away too, considering we didn’t see any cracks of lava coming out of the ground.”

Tashia produced a map and pointed past a plateau up ahead. “The Ashfields are at the other side of this canyon. And it will probably take us the full day to make it through the narrow valleys.”

“So we’ll set up camp right outside of the Ashfields for tonight.” Hayder nodded. “That way, everyone will be prepared to cross through that dangerous terrain the next day.”

Kara exchanged a glance with Angel. The two of them had heard a lot about the Ashfields, but they still didn’t know all that much about it. But their curiosity must have been plastered across their face as Hayder cleared his throat.

“You can speak with Architect Magus Uzbug if you have any questions about the Ashfield. It— she would be able to provide a better explanation about the terrain than the rest of us.”

The Captain of the First Company gestured at the ant-person trailing a few dozen feet behind them. She was walking forward almost apprehensively. Like she clearly didn’t want to go towards the Ashfields.

Kara thanked Hayder and approached the Architect Magus as Angel followed.

“Hey, Uzbug!” she called out, before pausing. “Or do I call you Architect Magus Uzbug? I feel like it would be a lot easier if I just called you by your name.”

Uzbug’s antennae twitched as she bowed her head back towards the human. I’d prefer if you called me by my name. I, too, find formalities to be a waste of time.

Kara smiled as she agreed, “Yeah, they’re lame as heck. Anyways, you’re from the Ashfields, aren’t you? Can you tell me more about them?”

The forminac hesitated for a moment. Or at least, she looked like she was reluctant to speak. Kara couldn’t quite read Uzbug’s facial expressions that well. But eventually, an answer came telepathically once again.

The Ashfields, as I believe you have been told, is a flat landscape with many active volcanoes. Most of them are relatively small, but they erupt relatively frequently, which makes the region incredibly dangerous for large groups to traverse or gather. Because of that, they are mainly inhabited by monsters.

“Like your kind, right?” Kara asked bluntly. “Uh, sorry if that sounds racist— or speciesist.”

There is no need to apologize. I take no offense to that. But you are correct. The Ashfields are mainly inhabited by forminacs such as I. In fact, I grew up in those lands, before I was cast out.

Uzbug lowered her head. Her mandibles clicked together almost in frustration. Or perhaps it was in sadness. Kara still couldn’t quite read the forminac at all.

“Why exactly were you cast out?” It might have been an inappropriate question, but Kara was intrigued by it, so she asked it anyways.

There are many hives, Uzbug began to explain. And while my hive was not the largest of the hives, my queen was one of the most temperamental, regularly waging war on the other hives over petty disputes.

Kara was puzzled by that. “I thought you guys were monsters. How do you wage war against each other?”

I understand why you find it surprising. As you are aware, most forminacs are unintelligent workers or soldiers who serve their queen. But all the queens are highly intelligent. They are their own unique individuals with their own personal identities.

“So were you a queen?” Kara asked, looking Uzbug once over. “I mean, you are a unique individual with your own personal identity. So this is a case of you being an exiled queen?”

The Architect Magus shook her head. I am a worker forminac. And I have no aspirations of becoming a queen. Unfortunately, my queen still sent her soldiers to kill me, so I had no choice but to flee.

Kara snapped her fingers together, thinking she understood the situation. “But you’re intelligent and have your own personal identity— so your queen felt threatened by your presence in the hive?”

That would have been the more pragmatic decision. But as I mentioned, my queen was a temperamental individual. She wanted me dead for another reason. A far more superficial reason. Uzbug seemed to sigh.

“And that is?” Kara asked. And even Angel seemed interested to hear the explanation.

Uzbug placed one of her four hands to her chest. She looked down at herself, and her thoughts conveyed a sense of spite with them.

Because I am a worker forminac, and all workers such as I are designated to be male, even if there is no distinction between our physiology and a queen’s. We are all capable of laying eggs, although only she is allowed to lay them.

“Wait…” Kara’s eyes widened as she understood what happened. “Are you saying that—”

Uzbug nodded. One day, I decided to designate myself as a female instead. And because of that, my queen sent her soldiers after me.

Kara pursed her lips. “Oh.”

The Architect Magus raised her head as she faced the direction of the Ashfields. While I do not know what spurred me to make that change to my designation, it caused me to gain my own identity, and I fled my hive before I could be killed.

Even though Kara previously struggled to read Uzbug’s facial expressions, she had no difficulty in interpreting the emotions the forminac felt at this moment. It was an emotion that was redolent to what the human herself had felt before.

So Kara remained silent as Uzbug continued, speaking melancholically.

Before that, I was an ordinary worker forminac. I did not think. I only obeyed. And a part of me wishes to return to that life.

“But you’re not wanted by your hive,” Kara said knowingly.

That is right. Uzbug’s mandibles pressed together tightly. But I know I will never be accepted for my identity. Even though all I did was think freely once for myself. I will never be able to return.

She lowered her head, before looking up as Kara placed a hand on her carapaced back. Angel nuzzled his head against one of her four arms too. Her antennae lifted up curiously as she looked at the human and the utlas bear.

“I’m sorry to hear about that,” that was all Kara could say.

And Uzbug spread her mandibles apart like a small smile. Your sentiment is appreciated. But it appears I have sidetracked myself. As I was saying, the Ashfields are…

—--

The main dangers of the Ashfields came from the numerous hives of forminacs that were scattered through the barren landscape. As long as the survivors of Alyona stayed away from the hives and the volcanoes, they would mostly make it through unscathed.

Or at the very least, that was what Hayder hoped.

There was no guarantee that the survivors of Alyona would be able to make it through the Ashfields without accidentally running into a hive. At the very least, they would be able to stay clear from all known active volcanoes.

Still, the captains of all the remaining companies worked together with Uzbug to draft out a path that they believed could keep them safe throughout their trek. It would result in them spending an extra two days traversing the Ashfields, because they wouldn’t be traveling in an exact straight line. However, considering the travel time was already going to be a week, an extra two days didn’t make a significant difference, if it ensured as little risk as possible.

But not everyone shared the same sentiment as the Captain of the First Company. As the survivors settled down for the night right before the Ashfields, there were already a plethora of discordant voices.

Those who disagreed with risking their lives making their way through such dangerous terrain.

“Storms above, why do we even have to cross the Ashfields?” a dark elf asked.

A troll agreed, “Hmph, these lands are too dangerous for us.”

“Wouldn’t it be safer if we stayed here?” someone else said.

It wasn’t the majority sentiment. However, some even thought that there was no reason to flee any longer.

“If the nightmares were chasing after us, they’d have caught up by now.”

“That’s right—”

“What are you talking about? We’d be leaving ourselves for dead if we stay behind!”

“Perhaps we should have gone ahead when we had the chance. Storms above, we might be through the Ashfields by now…”

There were also those who regretted not leaving the camp the day before— when they had the chance to leave along with the thirteenth company and a handful of troll tribes and orc clans. But fortunately, most of the survivors were content with listening to Hayder.

They didn’t mind following the Twenty Companies of Alyona that had kept them safe for all those years prior. Although… there weren't even twenty of them any longer. Still, most of the survivors felt safe following along with the soldiers that remained, despite the growing discontent.

Unfortunately, if left unchecked, the discontentment could fester even further. It was particularly worrying with how the number of orcs, trolls, and minotaurs now seemed to equal the number of dark elves too. Even though the orc clans had joined the fighting in Alyona, most of their noncombatants stayed back at the upper tunnels. Meanwhile, most of the dark elves were in the main city, making them easy targets to be slaughtered once the nightmares broke through the barrier.

But Hayder didn’t even know what he could do to placate the survivors. He had no concrete plan of action other than to survive and make it through the Ashfields.

He didn’t know what to do after that.

“If only Dark Lord Koros was here…” Hayder whispered as he finally settled down for the night. The twin moons were at the very top of the sable dome overhead, indicating that he was barely going to get a few hours of sleep once again. “I’m not the Dark Lord… I don’t know what to do…”

—--

Kurg sat in a tent as night fell over the encampment. He sat in a gathering with other members of his clan— mostly seniors, and a handful of juniors too. Even though he was still recovering from the injuries he sustained back during the destruction of Alyona, he forced himself to attend this meeting.

Because now that he was officially the Elder of the Swordtooth Clan, he had duties and responsibilities, which if he shirked, he’d be viewed as weak. So he sat there, even as Healer Ghak applied an ointment on his skin.

He winced, but she reassured him, “This will help your manacore be restored to its natural state. And the rest of your injuries should recover when that happens.”

“Thank you, Healer Ghak.” Kurg nodded at her, and she drew back.

She was the only female orc gathered in this meeting. The rest were the strongest men of the clan. Even Kurg’s mother and his sister weren’t allowed to attend.

It was a notion Kurg found ridiculous, but he had no say over it. That was how their customs worked.

“Elder Kurg,” one of the orcs, Junior Rakgu, said, bowing his head. “Many of our clansmen are worried about traveling through the Ashfields so slowly. They believe that traveling with haste is the key to surviving such a treacherous landscape.”

A few of the other orcs nodded in agreement. Kurg rubbed his chin in consideration. And another orc piped up.

“We should gather up the rest of the orc clans— leave at dawn on our own. We do not need these dark elves.”

Kurg pursed his lips. He didn’t like that plan, and he was just about to reject it, when a familiar face harrumphed.

“Our best course of action would have been to have left with the Windseye Clan a day ago.” It was Senior Olarg who spoke up. He was one of the strongest warriors in the Swordtooth Clan. And he had been Klogg’s right hand man. “Unfortunately for us, Elder Kurg here was too weak to join them. So we all had to pay for his mistake.”

There was a surfeit of voices. A few of them were outraged at the clearly crass statement directed towards Kurg. But others seemed to agree with the sentiment.

Kurg narrowed his eyes. He wanted to rebuke Olarg— the two had never liked each other. But as the new Elder of the Swordtooth Clan, Kurg wasn’t going to try to make enemies right now. He was trying to keep them united.

“Then what do you suggest, Senior Olarg?” Kurg asked as he folded his arms across his chest.

“What do I suggest?” Olarg snorted. “I suggest we solve the bloody problem at its root.”

The arguments stopped, and the gathered orcs exchanged a curious glance. Even Kurg wanted to know what the Senior of the Swordtooth Clan had to say. So he leaned forward.

And Olarg sneered.

“I suggest we need a new leader— one who isn’t so weak like you. Otherwise, we will forever be dragged down by your weakness.”

That immediately resulted in even more outraged shouting. And the divide was clear. Most of the juniors were on Kurg’s side, demanding that Olarg retract his statements. However, many of the seniors remained steadfast with Olarg.

And Kurg saw this. Even as the arguments went on throughout the night. But perhaps it was because of his inexperience, he didn’t know what to do.

—--

“So these are the Ashfields,” Kara whistled as she swept her gaze over the gray landscape.

The next morning came quickly, but this time around, both Kara and Angel were able to get a better night’s sleep. Perhaps it was because they were more removed from the destruction of Alyona, instead of still reeling over what had happened. Or maybe it could have been because of their little hunting session yesterday.

It seemed to ease both their minds. Which was a strange thing to say. But that was what they were most used to— not death and destruction, but surviving and thriving.

For Kara, at the very least, she felt like she progressed closer towards her goal, and that was comforting. While her dragonsoul still wasn’t nearly ready for ascension, it was getting close. She could feel it.

Shaking her head, she focused on the Ashfields that were spreading out ahead of her. The land was dead, empty of life. There were very few plants— let alone vegetation— growing around the cracked earth. And it was not like the region was covered in rocks, completely inhospitable to life.

The landscape was mostly composed of a black soil. Unfortunately, due to the volcanic activity in the area, no grass could grow here. So there was nothing green as far as Kara could see.

There were the occasional husk of a dead tree standing around, and a handful of boulders covering the landscape. But otherwise, it was mostly hills and small mountains.

Kara spotted an active volcano in the far distance. It must have erupted a day or two ago, and rivers of lava ran down its sides, lighting up the horizon with an orange glow, even though the sunrise was coming from the other direction.

“This place doesn’t seem that dangerous,” Kara said as she turned to Angel.

He nodded in agreement. The two of them were used to the deepest depths of the Xor-In Mountains, where the landscape was unpredictable, and there could be monsters lurking in any corner. The fact that the region here was relatively flat made it so they could see any threats coming from a mile away.

“The dangerous part about the Ashfields is that you don’t know when a monster would strike,” a voice said behind her.

She glanced back to face a familiar elf boy.

“It’s good to see you, Caius.” She smiled at him as he slung his bow around his back. “Feeling better?”

“I feel as good as I can be. Which is still pretty shit. But… it’s good enough to protect myself from most monsters.” Caius grinned back at her.

And Kara rolled her eyes. “So what did you mean by ‘not knowing when a monster would strike’? Because I feel like I’d easily spot most monsters before they got close.”

The group of survivors began to make their way down into the Ashfields. Hayder led the way with his soldiers, and the other companies stuck to the sides, keeping anyone from going too far astray.

“The problem is the monsters of the Ashfields aren’t like most monsters. They have learned to adapt to these lands. So they’ll either be blending in with the natural environment, or they’ll strike from…” Caius gestured at the dark soil.

Kara nodded, remembering what Uzbug told her. “From underground, like the forminacs.”

“That’s right,” the elf said as he drew a pair of daggers from his sides. “That is why it is best we be prepared for anything at all times.”

“Yeah… wait, are those the Blink Blades?” Kara gaped at the ornate pair of daggers he held.

He chuckled as the silver and gray surfaces of the weapons glinted under the sun’s light. “They are. I never returned them to the vault. Good thing, too. Otherwise, they’d probably be forever lost by now.”

Kara scratched the back of her head. “Well, I guess it turned out for the better…”

She looked him up and down, before realizing that he only had a small pouch hanging from his belt. Most of his items and belongings weren’t with him— including the Helmet of Alyona.

“Hey, what happened to your other things? I remember you had a bunch of clothes and trinkets back in your tent…” Kara frowned.

Angel was flummoxed by it too. But Caius just patted his pouch.

“I keep most of my items here,” the elf said simply. “It’s a Travel Satchel. It’s a magical artifact that’s able to carry a lot more than it appears to hold.”

“Seriously?” Kara was amazed by it. “How much did it cost you to buy? I want one too.”

Caius shrugged. “It depends on the quality of it. This was quite cheap— a few gold coins— since it’s meant to be a lightweight bag. But there are massive Bags of Storage too, which can hold an entire armory of weapons inside.”

Kara paused, before glaring at him. “A few gold coins is not cheap.”

“It is cheap compared to the price of some artifacts out there.”

She didn’t want to hear how expensive these supposed other artifacts could be. The fact that a small pouch that was enchanted to carry more things could cost over a thousand times more than the price of a meal seemed asinine to her.

“But… I guess even back on Earth, some people would spend that amount of money on bags that did nothing special…” Kara muttered under her breath.

Caius blinked at her. “Did you say something—”

He opened his mouth, but he was quickly interrupted by shouts coming from up ahead. Hayder’s draken had come to a halt as a monstrous tree pulled itself from the ground and began attacking him.

The nearby soldiers rushed to intercept it as Kara and Caius looked on from a distance.

“Hey, I know that— I fought a bunch of those a while back. I call them fake trees.” Kara watched as the monster was quickly felled by the overwhelming number of soldiers.

Caius folded his arms, staring as a mage burned the wooden remains of the monster. “Those are called deceit whompers. As I’m sure you know, they disguise themselves as regular trees with fruits in a barren region, to draw in unsuspecting animals, monsters, or people towards them.”

“Well, I prefer my name for it to yours.” Kara grinned at him. “Mine is far more accurate.”

The group of survivors continued to make their way through the Ashfields as the sun crawled its way through the gray dome overhead. Perhaps it was because of all the ash and smoke in the air from the volcanic eruptions in the area, but it almost looked like there was a layer of haze coating the landscape, creating this effect of an overcast sky.

Kara knew that Hayder had mapped out a route that would have likely kept them away from most dangers. He had told her about his plan without any reluctance. Ever since the destruction of Alyona, the two of them no longer clashed with one another any longer.

They got along rather well. While they weren’t friends, they cooperated with each other. Hayder didn’t really question her goals or intentions as long as she was helping out the survivors.

Right now though, Kara wasn’t going around hunting monsters. Because if she accidentally ran into a hive of forminacs, she didn’t think she was going to escape alive. So she stuck with the group and helped them deal with any monster threats that showed up.

But they had mostly only run into other fake trees so far.

“Watch out for the deceit whompers!” a soldier shouted in the distance, further towards the back of the group.

And Kara rushed forward. She didn’t waste any time, clawing through the fake tree with ease. It collapsed as its wooden husk burned amongst the black soil.

“You’re too excited to get into a fight,” Caius said as he strode up to her. “You literally ran five hundred feet to get to the scene before the soldiers could deal with it.”

“I’m just trying to prevent any casualties, you know?” Kara replied with a smirk.

“You’re so obviously lying,” the elf snorted back.

Angel smiled from the side as he watched the two of them trade quips, his mood mostly returning to what it was before the destruction of Alyona.

The three of them made their way back towards the front of the group of survivors as they crested up a small hill. But when Hayder and a handful of soldiers reached the top, they immediately shouted for everyone to stop.

Kara and Caius exchanged a glance as Hayder came to a halt, surveying something that was at the other side of the hill.

“What happened?” Kara asked as she rushed up the hill next to the Captain of the First Company.

Caius and Angel trailed after her. She paused when she saw what was waiting at the bottom of the base of the hill. Her eyes went wide.

She saw the corpses. The piles of bodies. There were also the remains of a handful of broken tents and snuffed out campfires. It looked like a camp had been set up here, before it was attacked.

“Those are…?” Kara gaped at the bloodied bodies.

“Soldiers from Karwan’s company,” Hayder answered simply. “And some of the orcs and the trolls that had left with him.”

Kara turned to the captain in shock. “Wait, are you saying they were all slaughtered?”

It was Caius who answered, “No, not all of them. It seems they were attacked while setting up camp for the night. They must’ve escaped, but they were unprepared, so they must’ve taken some casualties before they fled.”

“I… see.” Kara nodded as she surveyed the corpses. There were maybe a few thousand dead at most. Which was still a lot, but still a fraction of the group that had gone on ahead. “But what could’ve attacked them?”

Hayder gritted his teeth together. “The bodies weren’t taken away to be eaten, nor were they burnt. Which rules out most of the monsters in the Ashfields. And considering that it must have been a large enough group of monsters to kill these many people…”

He took in a deep breath and turned towards Kara.

“That means we must be near a forminac hive—” he started.

But he was interrupted by a scream coming from the back of the group. Kara, Hayder, Caius, and Angel spun around as the side of a nearby hill exploded, before pouring with giant ants. Hundreds of them at once. And they made no sound aside from their clicking footfalls as they rushed towards the group of survivors.

Kara stepped forward as her body blazed with a golden fire, and Hayder shouted.

“We are under attack!”

Author's Notes:

4.5k words. Thanks for reading :)

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