jackal-among-snakes-16091326
chapter-55

Staring at the great horde of immobile Lily Lurkers, Argrave first froze as his two companions did. His rationality took over, though, and he reached out to grab both of their hands. Galamon held a dagger, so Argrave settled for his wrist.

“Just back away slowly,” Argrave whispered. “They haven’t moved yet. No logical reason they will now, unless we do something dramatic.”

His calm words brought them out of their stupor, and both backed away further down the hall, led by Argrave. The mass of white and pink insects faded into darkness as the light of the spell illuminating them grew further away. The veins of the Amaranthine Heart slowly faded in the hallway behind them as they fizzled away. Once they were a comfortable distance away, Argrave released his grip.

“Hoo…” Argrave let out a breath of relief. “Damn. Forgot that bottle… That’s…” Argrave cast glances towards the darkness where he knew the room still was. “I feel like we still need some distance. Let’s go to the Archives once more.”

Both nodded without protest, and Argrave took the lead this time. He took the party to the stairs without issue, walking up two steps at a time. Once they reached the Archives again, Argrave led them into a room off to the side. He took off his satchel and placed it atop a table, leaning over it. His body was wracked with sweat. The other walked in shortly after, sitting to rest.

“Galamon,” Argrave called, not bothering to turn to look at him. “Were they all alive? Could you tell?”

“They looked dormant,” a low rasp answered. “Barely any heat. Slow moving. Alive, yes—but weakened. Some form of hibernation, probably. They seemed centralized around something. Thought it might be that Amaranthine Heart you spoke of, got worried.”

Argrave patted the satchel bag. “No. I got the Heart,” Argrave said.

“So your task is finished. We can leave,” Anneliese said.

Argrave slowly turned around and leaned on the stone table he’d placed his satchel bag on. “Yeah. I got what I needed. We can leave,” he said quietly.

Those words hung in the air for a bit. Everyone was clearly relieved, barring Argrave, who had a grim look about him.

“A lot more than I expected to see. We had a little bug boulder,” Argrave said. “I guess, in response to danger… or maybe to the end of autumn—the cold, you know… they all gathered around the queen of the colony. Then, come spring, they’ll become active again. By then, the poison will have soaked into the soil or evaporated or…” Argrave trailed off. “Then they’ll be back at the surface. No real damage done.”

Argrave could not help but think back to the time he’d been speaking to Dras regarding Mateth’s fate. The Patriarch offered him an easy out then, and the same thing came before him now—leave the village, claim the job was done, and with everything he needed in his pocket. Another settlement instead of a victory.

“Argrave,” Galamon said firmly. “You saw how many of them there were. We have what we came here for. No need to risk ourselves uselessly for some field of flowers.”

“You said yourself that these creatures would, at most, displace the villagers of White Edge,” Anneliese insisted, trying to persuade Argrave. “Think about this. Anything needed to kill such a large number of the creatures would be absolutely devastating. Widespread fire might warp the stone and cause the place to collapse—dangerous both to the surface and to us. A collapse alone would make all of the ground above come with it. The entire village of White Edge might sink.”

“But the problem exists, and it’ll keep existing. These things will expand, maybe even migrate, in search of food. Perhaps next time, it won’t be such a lightly populated area. We’re here. We have a chance now.” Argrave shook his head.

“Please don’t even consider this,” Anneliese said insistently. “How will you do this? Perhaps the same way you dealt with those druids—Galamon told me tales of that explosive gas you used on them. Or perhaps more poisons? Even if we are in an ancient alchemy lab, ingredients…” Anneliese trailed off. “Why are you smiling?”

Argrave looked over. “Relax. You make it sound like I have a complete extermination in mind.” Argrave kicked off the table he was leaning on. “Cut off a snake’s head, it still dies. It might writhe a bit, but it will. We kill the last member of the Lily Lurker royal family—the queen—and the colony will fall apart.”

Argrave paced about the room, waving his hands as he explained. “We tell the people of White Edge what transpired, teach them how to brew that poison for the next seasons... problem solved.”

“These things might be gathered around the queen—you said so yourself. It will be impossible to do as you say without triggering these creatures,” Galamon rebutted.

“You said you barely felt any heat from them?” Argrave pointed. When Galamon nodded, his grin widened. “It stands to reason their dormant state is only intensified by cold—that’s just the nature of metabolism and hibernation. Anneliese and I use some low-level ice magic on the bugs sparingly to send them deeper into sleep, we locate the queen, and then we dispatch it quickly.”

“Then they all go into a frenzy as we saw on the surface,” Anneliese countered.

Argrave nodded. “Might be. But this state that these creatures are in—if what I know of other animals is true, dormancy isn’t something they can just drop into and out of immediately. They have to regain their faculties, turn their body back on.”

“A lot of speculation,” Anneliese said.

“Hey,” Argrave raised both his hands. “We’ll just test this out. If this doesn’t work, I’ll call it quits.”

“I think this is stupid,” Galamon said simply.

“Worst case scenario, we all die,” Argrave said cheerily as he threw on his satchel once again. “Probably bound to happen eventually, anyway.”

“You’re great at raising morale,” Anneliese shot back.

“One of my myriad talents,” Argrave agreed with the elf’s sarcasm. He walked to the entrance, then stopped and turned on his heel. “Listen… if both of you wish to bravely run away, I’ll concede. This is, unfortunately, a democracy. I bring you with me because I value your opinions.”

“’Bring’ us, like we’re pets,” Galamon commented to Anneliese.

“You are his mule,” she said back after mulling her response over.

Argrave shook his head. “Do you have a better word for me? ‘Lead,’ or ‘guide,’ or ‘escort,’ perhaps?”

“’Lead’ works,” Galamon nodded, and Anneliese shortly after agreed. He gestured with his dagger to the hall beyond. “So lead on, foolish leader. I’ll follow.”

Argrave clicked his tongue a few times, then turned around and proceeded into the halls. All of the veins of the Amaranthine Heart had faded, but the dark halls seemed a little less eerie after their banter.