Galactic High

That’s the last. Chiyo solemnly told Alora as the Eladrie witnessed the passing of the final victim, their husk barely recognisable as a once living being..

There were few words to be had as the group conducted their grim work. The rush of the fight had worn off, leaving only the heavy weight of exhaustion and the stench of decay in the air as they all went around the bodies, granting final mercy where it was needed while they checked the remains for whatever evidence or loot they could find, pocketing anything of value.

“Make sure you take as many pictures and videos as you can,” Nika told them. “Better people than us are going to need to know everything we can give them.”

“I’ve got the drones going around scanning on all bands, and you should have cameras attached to your packs as well as your commlinks,” Sephy confirmed, pausing at the sight of one particular body. The child was no older than ten, caught in the same horrifying web of fungal tendrils as the adults. The child’s eyes were open, staring vacantly at the sky, and the Skritta felt a lump in her throat as she knelt beside the small form. She found a stuffed animal clutched in the child’s arms, its fur matted and dirty. Without a word, Sephy gently closed the child’s eyes and placed the animal back in its grasp.

Chiyo focused on the cocoon, placing one of her hands on the thick membrane of the large obelisk-like structure, trying to work out what it was, and failing.

The nature of this thing… The Ilithii pondered aloud as she took a sample. I have never heard of something like this before! It is obvious that this thing was draining the life of the victims, but also sending something out by those large tendrils into the forest and into the astral realm. For what purpose?

Jack told them that something bad was waiting for him when he was planeshifted by the destruction of the cocoon, but using her astral sight Chiyo couldn’t work out what it was - the residual dark presence overloading her senses - but from what Jack had said there were severed tendrils that led into the distance, however the entity that confronted him wasn’t connected to them.

Blast it! I don’t have the answers! Chiyo cursed in frustration as she took a sample of the cocoon, pulling out a clean plastic bag and sealing it. The cocoon was protected well enough from small arms, but if it was growing anything within its rubbery confines, she couldn’t find any evidence of it.

As Jack moved among the bodies he felt a strange numbness creeping over him. His footsteps, normally so heavy, now seemed hollow, echoing faintly in the stillness that followed the battle. At this point he had seen death countless times before, but here surrounded by the twisted remains of so many innocent people, something felt different.

He paused beside a body, an older reptilian man with a weathered face and hands that indicated they were probably a farmer. The man’s eyes were wide open, staring sightlessly at the sky, his body half-consumed by the fungal growth.

Jack stared down for a long moment, knowing he should feel something. But there was nothing. In that moment his emotions were as much a shell as these victims. He knelt down and gently closed the reptilian’s eyes, then methodically examined their body, gently slipping a ring off their finger and a pendant from around their neck to place in a bag, though he left the simple knife that was firmly gripped in their hand, placing it on the their chest before standing and moving on to the next.

“So many…” Alora muttered under her breath as everybody finally returned to the centre of the clearing, though none of them had gone far or out of sight. “The evidence we found of people taken? Barely a drop in the pond compared to all of this! We knew locals were being taken, and the Zorn were running for a reason too, but it looks like a bunch of Klowns came this way as well and paid the price for it.”

“Now we know why the factions have been having some trouble finding remnants of the Klowns.” Nika sighed grimly.

“So what do we do with the bodies?” Jack asked. “Burning them is a risk. I didn’t want to use my flamethrower with the dried wood around us and cause a forest fire during the fight!”

“Far too many for me to bury them with the spell I used for the family back at the farmhouse.” Alora shook her head. “Perhaps Elysandra can do it now that this corruption has been purged? I wouldn’t want to leave it for any animals just in case.”

I think we should go back and leave it up to her, Chiyo replied. We’ve remained here far longer than we should have and I don’t want to tempt fate even more.

“She’s right,” Nika agreed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we were dangerously low on ammo.”

“Yep,” Jack confirmed. His heavy plasma rifle was fully out, though his sidearm hadn’t seen much use since the fight with the Redeemer.

“We need to go back and rest anyway,” Sephy pointed out. “We haven’t taken a proper break since the cabin. I don’t know how we’re still standing!”

“Woof!” Dante agreed, the ‘dog’ letting out a wide yawn.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Alora nodded wearily. “We’re done here.”

As the group headed back, their steps were heavy with exhaustion. The battle was over, but the weight of what they had witnessed lingered in the air like a foul stench. The forest around them was unnaturally quiet as they slowly trekked back to the shrine. No birdsong, no rustling of leaves, just the faint crunch of their boots against the underbrush. The mist that had once cloaked the area had dissipated, taking with it the hallucinations and the eerie sense of dread, but the memory of the things they had seen still clung to them.

While it had taken them scant minutes to cleave their way through the dark clearing before, it took much longer for them to get back. Though they encountered nothing, they were spent, simply putting one foot in front of the other until finally the shrine loomed ahead of them. The familiar sight was a small comfort, but it was enough to give them the last wind they all needed to cross the threshold.

Elysandra met them at the entrance, her expression softening as she saw them all return alive. For the moment she said nothing, nodding in silent understanding as she beckoned them to follow her, leading them past the smashed huts and armoury. The ground shifted under their feet to fill in the trenches and steady their steps as they walked towards a dugout at the back.

The chamber beneath was small, with walls adorned with vines and moss to keep it warm and furnished with comfortable seats made of reeds that they happily sat down on. Their backpacks were set aside against one of the walls, and as they relaxed for the first time in a while. A Twigspawn brought a tray of wooden cups, while another brought a pot of steaming liquid.

“Well….” Elysandra began as she motioned for the group to take a cup and pour out the liquid for themselves, though Jack noticed there wasn’t a cup for the druid themselves. “It appears that you were successful in disrupting the corruption plaguing this land, at least for now. Thank you, all of you, on behalf of myself, on behalf of my Circle and on behalf of nature itself.”

“You are welcome.” Alora nodded respectfully, allowing the tension the druid was clearly feeling to die down. “We are glad to have been of assistance.”

Jack took a sip of the tea, finding it quite bitter and medicinal, but was thankful for the hot liquid as it warmed his bones. He didn’t even care that he scalded his tongue…

Jack, are you alright? Chiyo asked him. You’re looking ill…

“I’m just feeling a bit shitty,” the human admitted.

“The tea will help,” Elysandra told them. “It’ll perk you up for a bit.”

“That’s good, we definitely need that.” Nika nodded with a sigh, taking a good swig, having had the sense to blow on it to cool it down first.

“Some sleep would be good too, we’ve barely had any since the boat,” Sephy pointed out. “A few hours at the ranger cabin, but we’ve been running and gunning since.”

“That’s why I’ve brought you here. You can sleep for as long as you need, and I’ll keep watch.” The druid smiled kindly. “The orbital plate should finish passing over us soon.”

“What about you?” Jack asked curiously. “You’ve been doing this for God knows how long. You should sleep and I can keep watch?”

Elysandra chuckled slightly under her breath, and a strange expression passed over her face. “I wouldn’t worry about me. I shall be fine, a few more hours won’t be a problem at all, though I shall be glad to see daylight once again.”

Very well, some rest shall do us good, Chiyo agreed. And I believe we are ahead of schedule too…

“Yeah, well getting chased by a bunch of ugly-ass fungus monsters has a habit of making the miles!” Nika chuckled. “We’re not even at the start of the second day so we’re here way earlier than we expected to be.”

“When we’re up we can have a look at your tech and see if we get a signal out with what works.” Sephy shrugged. “Since the enemy seems to have fucked off for a while, there probably aren’t any magical effects blocking it any more.”

“Sounds good.” Alora nodded. “With luck, the River Giants will still be at the Corvin Outpost and we can let them know we’re alright.”

“You are pressed for time?” Elysandra asked them, confused. “Has Kaldra insisted on that?”

No, we just want to get back in time for school, Chiyo clarified.

“School!? After making it here and fighting this corruption, that’s what you’re worried about?!” Elysandra asked with a befuddled look. “What the fuck!?”

“Okay, you have a good point.” Jack snorted in amusement. “But we still want to get back before Monday….I mean, whatever the start of the school week is called?”

Starday, Chiyo corrected with a giggle.

“Very well, but you will at least rest here?” Elysandra asked, and saw Alora nod.

“And charge our ammo with Dante around,” Sephy added. “We brought extra and we still almost ran out!”

“Woof!” Dante barked happily on hearing his name.

“Good.” The Druid nodded. “Perhaps while you finish this pot of brew you’ll be willing to answer some questions for me?”

“Of course.” Alora nodded.

“You were sent here by my son?” She asked with a frown. “I take it because he thought I was dead and wanted some of my belongings?”

“Yes,” Nika answered for the group. “You had been out of contact and so had the local Corvin Enterprises outpost. Our primary objective was to investigate what was going on here and give him some closure for what happened to you, and he had assumed you were dead. If we could provide any useful information for Corvin Enterprises, we were to get a bonus.”

“Well, you’ve probably got that covered.” The druid nodded. “What items did Kaldra want?”

He specifically mentioned a Bone Pendant, Chiyo spoke up, and Elysandra rolled her eyes. He mentioned a bonus for other keepsakes you have, but nothing specific.

“Truly?” The Druid raised her eyebrows. “He didn’t ask you to pick my body clean for anything of value? Not my ring, not my staff?”

“Nah, but he was offering a good deal for the pendant,” Sephy told her.

“I knew he wanted the pendant. It was something I would tell him as a child - a promise that he would one day receive it from me.” The druid chuckled sadly as she put a hand to her face. “Sometimes I wish he could have remained that way…”

“Maybe that’s the reason why he asked for it specifically, to honour his past rather than claim it for greed or any other reason” Jack pointed out. “He didn’t tell us what the pendant did, only that it was of sentimental value and tied to his bloodline…”

“It is.” Elysandra nodded. “It’s a Druidic family heirloom passed from parent to child. Nature runs deep in our family, after all, and it has changed hands many times.

“It could be that he was intentionally vague as to hide its true value from us,” Alora pointed out. “Especially if it has such a history.”

“Perhaps.” Elysandra sighed. “But its properties are hardly unique. Working for Corvin Enterprises in the position he is, I wouldn't be surprised if he had items of equivalent or greater power. He probably just wanted to spite me one last time…”

“No.” Jack shook his head, remembering the meeting with Kaldra as everyone looked at him. “I don’t think that was his motivation. Based on what he said, he assumed you were dead. He told us specifically to investigate what happened to you to give him closure, and if we found your body, to bury you in the druidic tradition. He wouldn’t have said that if he didn’t care. He mentioned your pendant at the end and told us he’d trade well for it. Instead of spite, maybe he just wanted a keepsafe, or something to remember you by.”

“I…” Elysandra began, but then closed her mouth.

“He also told us he sent you and your Circle some equipment to stay in touch?” Alora added, realising that Jack was right. “Is that true?”

“It is.” The druid sighed as she buried her face in her hands. “We did remain in minimal contact, but it was never warm. I had never approved of him throwing his lot in with Corvin Enterprises, and always thought it was an act of betrayal, but now I realise I just couldn’t let him go, and he needed to go his own way. I’ve let my foolish stubbornness ruin us…”

“It’s not too late.” Jack told her with a sympathetic tone. “You can still talk to him.”

“Yes.” Elysandra nodded, a look of determination on her face. “I should be proud of him for what he’s accomplished. Thank you, everyone. You’ve given me much to think about.”

She motioned to a Twigspawn to remove the crockery and stood up.

“You need to rest. I’ll see you in the morning. We can conclude our business, and then I shall see to your departure.” The druid smiled, before turning around and leaving.

“You don’t need to tell me twice.” Nika shrugged. “Sephy?”

“Yep, setting sensors.” The Skritta nodded as she quickly moved to the entrance.

I take it we’re all feeling terrible? Chiyo asked rhetorically, to the nods of everybody.

“I’ll use whatever healing magic I can once I recharge,” Alora announced.

“I have some charges on my Ring of Lesser Restoration, too.” Jack yawned, a move that quickly gave way to heavy shivers as his body dropped, forcing him to hold himself up with one of his hands.

“Damn, you must have come down with something!” Nika cursed as she moved to help him move off his chair and lie down.

“I’ll be alright…” Jack groaned. “It’s just a cold…”

I doubt it. We’ve probably all come down with something, but you’re the worst off by far! Chiyo shook her head. Not only were you exposed to the elements worse than we were, you also must have inhaled a lot of spores when you destroyed the cocoon. Alora, do you have anything?

“Not for disease.” Alora shook her head, cursing that she didn’t think to prepare for such a thing. “I have healing magic that should keep us going.”

“I can tough it out.” Jack sighed as he collapsed down on the hard earth, not even bothering to try and find a good spot or unfurl the hammocks out of the bags. “I’ll just sleep it off, then we can hopefully fix comms here and be on our way.”

“Here’s hoping,” Sephy agreed as she returned. “Sensors are set. I can’t believe Elysandra’s up for keeping watch after everything she’s been through!”

“She has the Twigspawn and her connection to nature.” Alora shrugged as she let out a big yawn. “And I’m not going to argue. The past few hours have been way too intense, but we should all be proud of ourselves for what we just pulled off.”

“Damn right.” Nika nodded, groaning with effort as she reached for their bags to fetch some blankets. “And the moment we get a chance to relax all the aches and pains hit home!” She chuckled.

It is what it is, Chiyo agreed. But no more talk. Let’s try to rest.

Sleep did not come easy to them. Though they were all exhausted, they remained restless as the horrors they had faced were not so easily shaken. Hours passed in silence, broken only by the occasional cough from Jack, whose condition worsened as the night wore on. He groaned in his sleep, his fever spiking, his skin clammy and pale, and his body shaking in cold sweats. The others were barely any better as they tossed and turned, unable to rest.

When they woke it was daylight once again, and though they all still felt tired and weary, they knew full well that any further attempts to sleep would be pointless.

Jack was in even worse shape than before, his body protesting as he forced himself up, and though Alora performed a quick healing prayer to offer some relief, it was clear that Jack’s illness was too deeply set for any quick fix they had on hand.

“We’ll get through this,” Sephy tiredly spoke, trying to cheer everyone up as they stiffly climbed out of the hollow to greet the warmth of daylight. “The worst part is over right? Bad guys are dealt with, just gotta extract!”

“It’s a long trip!” Nika tiredly snorted in amusement before rummaging in her bag. “Everyone eat a power bar. I know none of us are feeling hungry, but it’ll be good to get something down.”

“Agreed.” Alora nodded, rubbing her eyes. “It’ll be slower getting back and we’ll need the energy.”

“Good morning!” Elysandra called over to them from where she was sat on the stone steps leading to the inner shrine. “Probably not the best rest you’ve had, but you needed it regardless.”

We won’t argue that. Chiyo nodded. If you have anything else that can help us keep our strength up, that would be appreciated. Otherwise we shall take a look at your communications suite and then be on our way. We have quite a journey back.

“Don’t worry about that.” Elysandra shook her head. “The trip back I mean. The corruption will return, and the right people need to be made aware of the threat.”

“You can count on us,” Alora declared with everyone nodding their heads in agreement. “We can inform the Temple of Hope when we get back, though gods know there’s already been enough chaos recently without a new threat to worry about.”

“I still have some friends in the Greenwardens closer to the city, they will help too.” Elysandra nodded. “Enough at the Temple of Hope to spread the word. I prepared some letters while you were sleeping.”

“You’re not coming with us?” Sephy asked curiously. “You said the bad guys are coming back, don’t you want to close up shop here while you can?”

“It’s complicated.” Elysandra sighed. “But right now I would appreciate your assistance with the communications suite. I don’t know if it can be repaired, let alone how.”

“Not a problem, we’ll take a look at it.” Nika confirmed. “Jack, we’re probably gonna need your gauntlets for this one!”

The shrine’s communications suite looked like a relic even to Jack, tucked away under a thick shelter of leaves and brambles to keep the rain away, in a section that looked like a quarantine zone for anything tech. An antenna of some kind had been knocked over, and there were deep gouges in the control panels that didn’t exactly fill Jack with confidence that this could be fixed.

“Well it’s not as bad as it looks.” Sephy shrugged, her sharp eyes scanning the wires. “But it’s not good either. Most of these wires are buggered, but we can probably cannibalise and reroute them to get a signal out.”

“Yeah, it’s a hybrid system designed for multiple functions.” Nika nodded. “Good thing we only need it for one.”

“Uh…okay?” Jack asked, looking confused. “What can I do?”

“Muscle!” Sephy said with a smirk. “You’re going to be pulling a few panels off and helping reroute the power, then connecting a bunch of wires!”

“Before we do that there’s probably a power source at the district wall,” Nika pointed out. “We should unplug it before we go nuts on this thing.”

“I can handle that!” Jack grinned despite his lethargy, heading to the back of the shelter and pulling the plug…

“Alright, let’s see what we can work with!” Sephy sighed about twenty minutes later as Jack plugged the system back in. The ancient machine buzzed loudly, shaking for a moment before the flickering screen stabilised and the main console’s display sparked to life.

“Good! What do we have?” Alora called out as she, Chiyo and Dante had followed Elysandra back to the armoury, the druid insistent that they take some more items back with them both as a reward and to deny them to the enemy should they return.

“Well, we can broadcast a signal at least…” Sephy muttered under her breath, checking the diagnostics.

“Can you reach Kaldra?” Elysandra asked, and the Skritta shook her head.

“It’s too weak for that distance. We have a beacon for them to hone in on at least, so if they boosted on their end they could contact us, but in the meantime we could try and contact somewhere closer?”

“Try it.” The druid confirmed.

“Scanning…” Sephy nodded, waiting for a few moments. “Alright, we’ve got one active comms signal within range. Saved as the Corvin Outpost.”

Excellent! Chiyo sighed with relief. Perhaps the River Giants are still there and fixed something up on their end or some reinforcements arrived!

“Let’s find out!” Alora smiled. “Sephy, make the call.”

“On it.” Sephy grinned, and tapped several commands into the console. A soft hum filled the room as the connection stabilised, and soon a crackling static came through the speaker.

“Corvin Outpost, do you copy?” Sephy asked clearly into the microphone.

For several seconds, there was only static, and then a clear, nasally voice responded. “...Copy, receiving. Who’s this?”

The voice on the other end sounded unfamiliar to them, but it was more than that. Something about the voice was off, sounding nothing at all like the River Giants that were at the Outpost when they left, and it sounded far too calm, casual and detached. Alarm bells ran in everyone’s minds as the group exchanged uneasy glances at the reply.

Something was very, very wrong…

Alora held her hand out to Sephy, motioning for the microphone, and the Skritta was all too happy to let the Eladrie have at it.

“Thank goodness there’s somebody still out here!” Alora replied, with false cheer in her tone. “Hope you have a warm ship to spare for us when we head over to you! What’s your status?”

There was a pause. “Everything’s fine here,” the voice replied in a smooth, practised manner. “Just some routine maintenance and cleanup. We have a ship that will wait for you. You’re clear to return whenever you’re ready.”

We didn’t tell them we were returning to the Outpost, only that we were heading there! Chiyo spoke up in alarm. It’s an ambush!

“Great!” Alora replied to the unknown recipient, her voice betraying none of her tension. “We still have some business to conclude and the rains have made the terrain a bit tricky, so we should be there in about two days.”

“Very well, Miss Glenphyranix,” the voice replied, with just the faintest hint of a sneer. “We all hope to see you and your friends very soon…”

As soon as the connection was cut, the tension in the room snapped like a bowstring.

“Oh fuck!” Nika cursed. “They know we know! They have to!”

“We can’t go back. Not that way.” Alora let out a deep breath as she calmed her nerves

Jack crossed his arms, muscles tensing. "So what’s the plan? Do we take them on or head in the opposite direction?"

We’re in no position to fight, Chiyo warned. We run.

“I can help with that.” Elysandra nodded firmly. “Follow me.”