“Remember, in my world, the god or gods, if they exist, have been very hands-off.” I reminded her. “No one sees a god, so while the bible and… I think most religions agree… you shouldn’t have sex before you’re married… er, bound. But at least when I lived there, I think only one in every five females were virgins until they were bound… if I’m remembering the statistics right.”
Tavorwen had no words, and when she finally found them all she could do was shake her head. “Your world sounds like a strange and confusing place.”
We cuddled for a while, then dressed and emerged. Benavur almost immediately glued herself once again to my side and I realized I’d started to get used to her just always being there. It was as though she felt like if I ever wandered from her side, I’d disappear. It was kinda nice being so desired, and unlike the clingy girlfriends I’d had back home, she seemed capable of suppressing her clinginess when needed.
Brahim joined us in the common cavern in a short time with a map. He had marked the location of the hives on the map and we discussed which hives should be destroyed. The other thing that was marked on this map was twenty black squares, though most of them were marked out. The cities of the Wild Elves, I realized.
“Now, this hive here… this is the one that you destroyed,” Brahim stated, tapping one of the red marks that represented the hives. “If we must leave three still intact for the health of the plains, I believe that they should be this one, this one, and this one.”
The three he indicated were fairly near intact Wild Elf cities.
“Wouldn’t we want to clear out the ones near the remaining cities?” I asked.
“Leaving the hives near these cities will allow the Hratha to watch them and keep them pruned. The Orin and their allies live here. They have sufficient strength to watch the hive. This hive can be watched by the Setis and their allies. This last one can be watched by the Galar and their allies. Those Hratha and their allies have sufficient strength.” Brahim explained.
“And their allies?” I pressed.
“Well, we of the Vorith are the only clan to be on our own. We are too weak to be of any value to any of our kin.” Brahim admitted. “The Orin is the strongest Hratha, and the Drindir, the Frintheir, and the Mialkthar have submitted to them. They all dwell in the tunnels under Shiavir. The other Hratha are the same. The weak submit to the strong.”
This added some layers of complexity.
“Okay, so we’re leaving hives where they are most easily handled. I suppose that makes sense. But until the sword and my boots are done, we can’t make any moves.” I mused.
“Then it is a good thing I have finished your boots, Master.” Anbethir declared, tired but proud.
She walked in, weary to her bones, and handed me the boots.
I slipped them on, and there wasn’t any difference I could feel.
“The enchantment I laid is not always active, as I believe it will have some undesirable effects as well as those we need,” Anbethir explained. “The command word to activate it is ‘skirai’.”
Well, no time like the present.
“Skirai,” I commanded.
I almost fell over as I felt my feet lift from the ground like springs were released under my feet. I only rose an inch or two, but the feeling was very, VERY different.
“WO!” I breathed as I had to scramble to catch my balance.
It was like my boots were some kind of mix between spring-loaded shoes and roller skates. There was much less traction and I felt myself slip a bit, but once I got the hang of it, it wasn’t bad.
“Good work, young one.” Opheira declared, walking into the room.
“Skirai,” I repeated, and with some relief, my feet touched the ground again.
Six wild elf maidens, looking just as tired as Anbethir, walked in with the Elder.
“Well, our labor is complete. We believe we have constructed a blade that will emulate the Eternal Father’s weapon.” Opheira informed us. “Frenda, bring for the blade.”
One of the exhausted maidens walked forward and wordlessly placed what looked like a blade hilt on the table, before hurrying back to the rest of the maidens. The hilt was probably fourteen or fifteen inches long and gently curved, with a smooth cap, leather wrapping, and a small circular guard. The handle seemed to be bone or something like ivory and it was where the rune work was. The light in the cave wasn’t fabulous, but even in the faint light, I could see the divots and groves of runes through the handle wrapping.
“Well, see how it feels.” Opheira pushed me.
I picked up the handle. It was comfortable in my hand. It was long enough I could hold it two-handed easily.
“Master Thomas, the command to form or dismiss the blade is ‘Lour’, but you should be able to command it without speaking.” The maiden who had brought the blade forward explained shyly.
Lour? I thought.
I almost dropped the blade as it formed. It was straight-bladed and the weight of the energy blade was surprising. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle, and handle easily, but I guess I had just thought that a light blade would be… weightless. Nope.
Despite not being weightless, the blade was easy to work with. It swung easily and was easy to manipulate. I was able to see how it could in fact pass through the dirt and rock and emerge without disturbing the substances. That didn’t stop me from feeling like a fucking Jedi.
“Alright, well… the plan is ready. Everything’s been made. All that’s left to do is to do it.” I declared, then looked over the map. “Well, this hive is the next closest. I guess it’s queen is my target.”
There were plenty of objections when I put my foot down, the only one who’d be coming with me was Mavrin, and she was only coming because she was the one who could cast the invisibility spell that would let me into the hive. It helped too that Mavrin’s hiersver, with some reservations, accepted both of us as riders.
“This is incredibly dangerous, Master.” Tavorwen cautioned as we settled on top of the great bird. “If anything goes wrong, there won’t be anyone there to help you.”
“Well, then if the worst happens, I’ll be the only one to die,” I replied.
None of my Matrons liked that, but the bottom line was there was no safe way to do this. I was a warrior and I wasn’t about to hide behind the elves that had joined themselves to me.
The Wild Elves opened the stable doors and Mavrin guided her hiersver out and into the sky. The warmth that radiated from the hiersver was pleasant and comfortable. The wind rushing around us was exhilarating. I enjoyed the feeling, trying to not let my impending assassination mission set the mood. Mavrin could clearly feel the weight that she carried, being responsible for the magic that would cloak my presence. We rode in silence as I cast my mind back to all my training. My stealth and survival training gave me tools, but I was mostly in uncharted territory. I wouldn’t be clearing buildings, I’d be clearing what I was guessing was effectively a giant ant nest.
“Master… what if they detect you? What if my magic is insufficient?” Mavrin worried as the hive came into sight.
“Well, with luck, we’ll figure that out pretty quickly and I can get out and you can pick me back up and we’ll get out of here,” I told her. “Otherwise, get out of here. I’ll do my best to get out.”
I could feel her discomfort with the idea, but I think she knew as well as I did that this was our best bet.
“Drop me on top of the structure,” I instructed.
Mavrin looked over her shoulder at me and began guiding her hiersver down, then turned and began weaving her fingers and quietly speaking the words of magic. I still couldn’t pick words out of the chanting, though I knew it was a language and I should be picking it up. She finished and reached back, putting a hand on my chest.
It was the strangest thing, going invisible. I could see my hands, but I could also see through them. It was like the light was being duplicated, I was able to see the actual light, but I was the only one able to see that. Then there was light that was created to form the illusion I wasn’t there, and I could see that too. It was bizarre.
“Gods keep you, Master.” Mavrin prayed and swooped down above the enormous termite mound.
“Skirai,” I uttered and I felt a tingle on my feet as the boots engaged.
I dropped off the bird and felt the spongy air under my feet catch me as I landed on top of the structure. A gaping hole led into the hive below. Without my headband, I would have been blind going in, but with it, I hoped to be able to see a little.
It was incredibly dark, entering the hive, and the smell was almost enough to make you gag. Almost immediately, the invisibility was put to the test as a red kaneg soldier skittered down the passage toward me. With some trepidation, I realized I would have to crouch under it and step out between the hind legs and the butt body segment. I crouched and the kaneg walked right above me. I managed the step and its tail went past. Only at the last second did I remember the antenna-like tails and hug the wall until the beast was gone.
That could have gone worse, I thought.
The lower I got, the wider the caves got, making stealthing through easier. There must have been nearly a hundred of these massive bugs crawling around, and that made it quite difficult. Speed was the enemy of stealth, but if I stayed too long I would eventually be detected, so I wanted out of there as soon as possible.
Luckily, the magic of my headband did let me see just enough. It wasn’t night vision, but it was good enough. After a short time, I had the epiphany that the workers carrying food would be going to either a storage area or to the queen to feed her. I followed the stream of kanegs carrying antelope-looking carcasses, or other chunks of meat or slime. Brahim had said the way to know the queen from the others was she was the only one to have wings, so when I found the queen I knew I was right.