BabaVader
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Chapter 315 Second Expedition
🕑 Added 2023-05-20 19:41:56 +0000 UTCAuthor's note:
I got another one done! It takes a while, huh? At least the quality really improved. I'm shooting for one per week, now, but sometimes getting feedback from my writing group takes a while. This was done on Wednesday, without the editing.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
Cheers!
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The next morning was rainy. Which was a problem since I wanted to use the tawny owl to carry the first Ethereal Bloom out into the taint to build a checkpoint. But even just making my way to the border would end up with the wings being too soaked to fly. At least it was not a huge storm so I could maybe try using the deer if the bark-kin had my bags ready. The problem with that was that I did not even want to leave the little hollow I was using as a nest for my main body so I had no way to ask. Stupid weather.
I grumbled a little more but eventually decided to just swap to the deer. [Distant Dreaming] activated and I fell asleep only to wake up in a different spot. The deer was resting at the edge of the silverwood forest with the two birds in the trees above. I tested its muscles and felt a painful pull on the left foreleg. With a grunt, I got up and spotted a protruding root that had pushed into the muscles. I carefully stretched and the pain quickly dissipated.
Looking around, nobody was near but I could hear some voices from further towards the town. My ears flicked as they came closer. That was Elder Leaf’s voice, right? But she was not alone today. I decided to take a few steps to get used to having four legs again. My practice had paid off and I quickly got back into it. It was still weird to see my nose twitching as the wind turned and the smell of people reached it through the rain.
I took a look at the already dug-up Ethereal Bloom still in the leaf-bag to carry it into the tainted land. It was still healthy and I could not spot any issues with it, and I was hoping it would stay like that. I wanted to set out as soon as the rain stopped.
The steps finally reached me and I stopped in my examination to look up. Elder Leaf stood there with another two bark-kin by her side. One looked a bit like a birch, covered in white bark with black stripes while the other was a little reddish. Whatever that tree was supposed to be. Both of them were carrying large piles of green folded in their arms.
Elder Leaf looked me over.
“Hero Fio?”, she asked and I nodded.
“Wonderful. We have finished some basic designs for your bags. Will you let us see how they fit?”
I nodded again and stepped away from the bag I had made to give them some space. The birch guy walked up and together with Elder Leaf they carefully unfolded the bundle. It turned out to be shaped a little like a saddlebag with a few crisscrossing vines holding them together. The vines went on my back which let the two bags drop down at my sides. They reached far enough forward that I could easily get to them by just turning my neck, and it looked like there were flaps in front held closed by a simple stick. I tried pulling on it and the flap opened up.
“As you can see, Hero Fio, we have prepared it to let you use it with that form. There is a loose layer in the bottom which you can pull on to drag all of the contents out at once.”
She tapped a loose vine hanging below the bags.
“And this one can be bound around the stomach to hold the bags in place. Is this sufficient?”
I nodded, making her smile.
“And then we have this one for your air-bound form.”
She took the other pile of leaves that was still on birch guy’s arms and unfolded what looked like a reversed parachute. Though it also had a string going up through the middle.
“If you simply drop this on the ground you will be able to pull on this string to pick it back up while losing the contents. Elder Bloom assured me that a simple dropping of one of his Blooms will be enough to fend off the taint. What do you think?”
I took a closer look but could not really find a fault with their work. The leaves looked strong and more like cloth if I was honest. However they had done this, it was good work. My only worry was how they held up in taint.
I nudged the bags still on my back and then pointed at the Ethereal Blooms just beyond the trees.
“You… wish to use them?”
Well, I wanted to test them but that was close enough so I gave her a nod.
She took the birch guy and together they dug up two Ethereal Blooms close to the tree line and put them into my saddlebags with enough soil. Elder Leaf also tied the vine around my stomach before double-checking everything. It held up to her inspections and she gave me a nod.
“You are good to go, Hero Fio. Thank you for all you do for us.”
I rolled my eyes and walked over to my pile of things. It was a matter of moments to put on the silverwood hoof-protectors I built for the deer and then I was off.
Crossing the roots that spanned the chasm was a little more treacherous with hooves compared to wings but I managed. As I was making my way closer to the Tainted Land, I poked Catori.
“I’m going out to plant some Ethereal Blooms. Do you have time?”
She took only a moment to respond.
“I’m here. Oh, you’re using the deer?”
I made my point of view pan the sky.
“With this rain? Yes. Absolutely.”
“Good call. Though it doesn’t look too bad for the falcon…”
“It’s a little weak to carry the bag I made.”
“Fair. I’ll pay attention so you have nothing to worry about.”
With that, I was ready for the second trip into the Tainted Land. Being much closer right from the beginning made it feel a lot more dangerous. The last trip had not been all that bad aside from the final encounter. Now, I felt myself looking around nervously at every corner. Until I realized that the deer had a much better nose than the tawny owl. I was smelling the taint and it was making me nervous.
I found it difficult to relay the emotion to Catori since it was not truly my own but that of a body I was not fully attuned with. The smell was a sort of stinging stink, slightly painful but mostly just unpleasant. Not vomit-inducing as she suggested but clearly harmful. I was not sure if deer could even vomit. The only saving grace was the sweet scent the Ethereal Blooms on my back were giving off.
After only two hours or so, I decided I was deep enough. I found a slightly elevated position in sight of the silverwood forest and pulled on the first latch. With a little bit of effort, the first Ethereal Bloom came out of its bag and dropped onto the ground. It stood a little tilted. I made sure it had a clear connection to the tainted ground through the soil I had carried along.
Satisfied, I decided to make another short trip further in. Another elevation one hour later and I had dropped off the second Ethereal Bloom. I decided to call it there and made my way back. The first ‘outpost’ had already grown out from the mound of normal soil. The Ethereal Bloom had spread a small circle of clean ground about one meter in radius. There were a few shrivelling remains of tainted fibre that disintegrated with a simple poke. I was quite happy with the result.
Catori felt a little distracted on my way back but I left her to whatever she was doing. It was only a short walk back, right? What could go wrong?
And just when I thought that, one of those disgusting swarms of tainted ‘insects’ burst out of a pulsing orb of tainted sludge only six metres in front of me.
I shot off to the side. The swarm was airborne but not all that fast. Still, I had to run a large circle around it only to be accosted by another one coming from the other side. When I made to run in between them, a tendril rose with a slurping sound and slapped in my direction. Shit.
“Shit!”, Catori cried in my mind, “Sorry. Get out of there!”
“I’m trying. Where to?”
“Just go back to the checkpoint.”
I turned around and rushed back. Luckily, I was only a few dozen metres away.
“What’s going on?”, Catori asked.
“No clue. Those things weren’t there when I arrived.”
“Maybe the Ethereal Blooms were keeping them from coming out.”
I jumped to clear the last few steps and almost slid out of the tiny area of safety. A look around showed the things still coming at me.
“Should I keep going or just hope?”
“… I don’t know.”
“Damn it.”
The two glowing clouds of purple insects buzzed loudly as they came closer. I did not have much time to make a decision. I pressed my stomach to the ground and made myself as small as possible. The Bloom would have to be strong enough. The swarms got closer and their buzzing increased in volume. I stared them down. Sadly, they had no eyes I could meet, so there was no way they could fear me.
Then they arrived at the circle of clear ground.
The first few tainted things simply fizzled and turned into dust. As more and more of them entered the circle, they turned into a veritable rain of bursting black powder. I closed my eyes to protect them. The buzzing got quieter and quieter until it disappeared completely. I did not feel any pain so I was probably fine.
“You good?”, Catori asked.
“I think so.”
I waited another minute for anything else to happen. Then I opened my eyes only to start blinking rapidly. A bunch of unpleasant dust had gotten into them. I managed to look around and saw that the swarms were completely gone. The tendril still waved around in the distance. At least it was anchored to the ground. Something that large would have likely been able to harm me before the Ethereal Bloom’s aura could kill it.
I felt a little exhausted but decided to just try again. This time, I took a slightly roundabout route and managed to avoid any more swarms. Mostly. There was one more scare where another tendril popped up but by that point, I was almost back to the safety of Elder Bloom’s fields.
“Did you notice anything that might have triggered the swarms?”, I asked Catori.
“No. We’ll have to take a look from the air, I think. Maybe something’ll become obvious but right now… I have no idea.”
“Hmm… Maybe I should only plant one Ethereal Bloom per trip? At least when I’m using the deer.”
“That might be a solution.”
