109 Dwarves and Volcanoes. (1/2)
The morning chill felt through the ruined town would have bothered lesser insects. Unevolved ones. But the swarm that was responsible for the devastation that decimated Florida was not made up of lesser insects.
The soft, unkempt dirt roads that crisscrossed and connected the buildings within the tiny community of Florida were busy and more well-traveled now than ever. But the feet that strode over them were not human or dwarf feet. They were the feet of gigantic, evolved, and sapient insects.
The town was no longer silent. The droning sound of insects skittering and flying over the town filled it with noise, a sort of dull and maddening noise. The noise was dull but deafening since the town was now populated by thousands of insects.
The air smelled of blood, death, and decaying corpses. It also smelled of the nauseating venom that the bees, even the thraies, used in the massacre they inflicted on the Floridians. The venom Althos' worshipers used induced paralysis, and it also numbed the pain receptors in the body. Those who felt its sting died painlessly, aside from the pain they felt when first stung by an Althonian.
Bees and the eerily human-like thraies were far from the only creatures wandering the town. Ants, and their relatives: the myremekes wandered the streets as well. As did enormous wasps. The insects, not always friendly towards each other or even themselves, did not bother each other. They weren't freely communing, but they weren't aggressive towards each other. It was a strange, unnatural sight.
And far from the town of Florida, silent observers were keenly aware of the unnatural nature of it all. Silent, terrified observers. One of them, a half-elf with wide green eyes, looked to his commander. His commander was a human on a horse. Both the man and his horse were dressed in light armor. The human and the half-elf had binoculars in their hands and scared looks on their faces.
”Insects... But ones unlike anything I've ever seen...” Muttered the mounted man. His voice was quiet, and his underling noticed the fearful tremble in it. There was a look of fear in his jade eyes. His underling, the half-elf, studied him carefully. And then he asked his superior officer a question.
”Do you think this is the work of a druid? If it's someone like me...” The half-elf asked, wondering aloud if there was a member of his species and class who was powerful enough to command the insectoid swarm that had destroyed Florida.
The mounted human shook his head. The half-elf stopped speaking, unsurprised by his superior's response. Neither of the military-men had ever heard of anything even remotely powerful enough to command a swarm of evolved insects of that size.
”Come. We should get back to Midas.” The human told his underling, before dismounting the horse and motioning for the half-elf to come and get on. They were egalitarian and took turns riding their shared mount.
Far away from them, within the boundaries of Florida, one of the thraies turned in their direction. He was aware of them but said nothing. All of the human-like creatures, thraie and myrmekes alike were well-aware of the two humanoids. They only stayed their collective hand because their order was to destroy Florida. Not anyone or anything outside of the small settlement.
After a few moments, the bee-man looked to his comrades and went to join them. Each insect had more important things to do than gawk at strangers.
________________________________________________
An hour after Florida fell I found myself standing in a royal chamber that dwarfed the chambers belonging to Rachel. It was also more inhabited.
I was surrounded by dwarfs. All of them wore either heavy-looking metallic armor or ornate robes denoting their status as high-ranking government officials. The dwarf in the most ornate looking robes was King Abel. He was a tall member of his race, standing just under one and a half meters tall.
He wore purple robes, which were unnecessarily dark given the fact that we were in a nearly lightless chamber belonging to the monarch of a subterranean monarchy. I had just finished telling him and his closest advisors, the other dwarfs that were around Rachel, Amaris and I, about my life so far.
The cabal shared knowing looks, furtive glances, and concerned body-language and I could tell even with a glance they were communicating in some way. I studied them for a moment, focused on those in robes more so than those in armor, and came to suspect that this wasn't telepathy. Eventually, I spoke up and shattered the tense silence that had overtaken the room.
”Will someone please share their thoughts with me? I can only read so much of one's mind, I'd rather us just... talk to each other.” I said, annoyed with the subtleties of the politics I had allowed myself into.
When I was done speaking, one of the heavily-armored guards turned to me and lifted the sword he held. I turned to him and sighed. There was a look of anger in his eyes, and he was tense, his hands tightly gripping the sword and shield they held onto.
”You can read our minds?” He asked equal parts angrily and defensively. I sighed at the soldier, unsurprised that he was reacting that way.
”Yes I can. Now please put the weapon down. I am no enemy of yours, and if I was then that sword and shield wouldn't be enough to stop me.” I told the warrior, speaking honestly. The dwarf kept his tools up and looked around at his companions. When his fellow warriors gently encouraged him to put his weapons down, he reluctantly sighed and did as they suggested he do.
”Tsk...” The dwarf guard hissed, glaring at me angrily. Out of curiosity, I did scan his surface thoughts, but they contained nothing of interest to me. More than anything else he was jealous of the fact that both Amaris and Rachel were close to me, as far as he could tell.
Shortly after the guard and I exchanged words the dwarven king, Abel, cleared his throat and looked at Rachel, and then at me. He had deep brown eyes, and the fullest beard I had ever seen. There had been a twinkle in his eyes as he had listened to my story, and there was unexpected energy about him given that he was faking being sick and had sloth as his personal vice.
”Althos!” He said, speaking loudly after he and I locked eyes for a few moments. His voice was loud, far louder than I would have expected.
”First, allow me to express my gratitude. You have done much for this kingdom, far more than you appear to realize. Freeing Rachel from the lecherous and ambitious desires of my rival, Duke Dagwood, was an act of great kindness and mercy on your part. And now, trusting us with the information you've shared...” The king said, speaking rather regally of the events of the past hour.