345: Crucial Mistake (Patreon)

‘Scale Vipers,’ came Serrin’s murmured ripples. ‘Dangerous foes, nightmarish fast and strong. Even Hornets avoid them. But they often guard treasures.’ He looked over, mandibles twisted in a way Nicolai now easily recognised as a smile, an excited one.

It was a new day and Serrin seemed to have put the sparring and the Dark Spirit out of mind, at least for now. Earlier, before they’d left, the Hornet had been sitting around for some time, deep in thought. Whatever he’d decided, Nicolai didn’t know. But either way, the faint tension between them had dissipated.

The pair of them were outside the Scale Viper cave. They stood by the gnarled trunk of the very same tree Nicolai had taken as a shooting position the last time he’d been here.

‘These particular ones are guarding the Shardache we need,’ he replied.

Serrin’s Soul flickered with surprise. ‘If they’re nesting around something that valuable… how many are there?’

Nicolai recalled his glimpse of the cave’s dim and muggy interior. ‘Perhaps three hundred. Mostly Tier 1’s but a good number of Tier 2’s, and some Tier 3’s.’

‘You want to try and steal from them? We can’t handle that!’

Nicolai smiled. ‘You said it. Stealing. We don’t have to fight them. We’ll have a look first, see if anything’s changed down there.’

He took Serrin to the same place he’d used before, the ground above the largest chamber in the cave. Using the Burrow Symbiote, he and Serrin sank into the ground. He was able to find the same path of earth through the stone, and soon enough they were nestled in the roof of the cave.

‘Useful Symbiote,’ whispered Serrin appreciatively. Nicolai was already looking out, gazing on the many, many Scale Vipers down below. It reminded him of crocodiles in the dry season, all packed into one tiny space of water, lying on top of one another. He felt Serrin’s Soul Sense join him.

‘Look at them all,’ came Serrin’s uneasy ripples. ‘I hope you’ve a good plan. I’ve seen what those things can do. I was with a raiding party that hunted a much smaller grouping of them. The leaders had it all worked out, but when they swarmed… all that fell apart. We lost half the Hornets.’

Nicolai flicked a glance at him. ‘I thought you refused to kill on behalf of them.’

‘I was younger, then. Often we went on hunting trips, clearing Spirit Beasts and rogue bugs from around the Hive. I was told they were monsters, a threat to our people. And from what I saw that seems to be true, many times we were attacked by Toothbearers or worse, and I see nothing wrong with fighting them. I had always suspected for other reasons, but only in the last months, when we began capturing humans who were no threat to us did the evil nature of my kind become so clear.’

‘Based on what you know of Scale Vipers, how do you think we might steal from them?’ Nicolai had a plan of his own, but he was interested in hearing what Serrin had to say.

‘I’m guessing… we can go around and get underneath them, then steal the Shardache from below?’

‘This Symbiote doesn’t go through rock, and it’s all rock down there.’

‘Yes but you have… devices, tools. Couldn’t one of your Soulless robots dig through?’

He nodded. ‘They could.’

‘What about noise? Those things will start and swarm at the slightest disturbance.’

‘It’ll be slow, but there are ways to tunnel quietly. The real problem is that they’ll notice when we cut a hole and pull one of those crystals into our tunnel… I need to see if there’s a way I can make them sleep deeper, as deeply as possible. If we can do that, this’ll be manageable.’

‘Poisoned food?’

‘I was thinking gas.’

‘Ahh.’ Serrin nodded. ‘You have some kind of special gas machine!’

‘No, but we can make one. But first we need to understand these creatures better. We need a test subject.’ He pondered. ‘I could probably create a few tranquillising venom’s, see about darting one… no, the scales are too strong. We’d have to lure one out then jump on it, stab with envenomed blades.’

‘Why don’t I just sting one?’

‘…That works.’

###

Luring a Scale Viper wasn’t difficult. The problem was luring just one Scale Viper. The ones lurking in the early section of the cave were eager to rush out in a vicious mob. After their first unsuccessful attempt, where Nicolai had left a deer corpse just outside in hopes of luring one, but instead lured a dozen, the next went even worse. The Scale Vipers were riled by that point and came in a veritable flood, seeming to sense something was off. Even a few Tier 2’s emerged, and their Soul Senses spread out in search.

Nicolai and Serrin ended up hunkered in a tree, Cloaked, Souls tightly Shelled, barely even breathing as they watched the Vipers prowl around the jungle below. They were beginning to turn back.

That was when the purple-glow figure of Serrin tensed. ‘Do you feel that?’ he ripple-whispered where his Soul Sense touched on Nicolai. ‘It’s just like that other time. The Scoundrels are making another try on you. They’re forming over there,’ added Serrin, pointing. The pair of them exchanged glances.

Nicolai had come up with a plan for this exact moment. He’d been hoping the Scoundrel’s would make a try for him. They needed to get them out of the way before they attempted the heist. A bunch of Blood Hunters showing up while they were attempting to cut out Shardache, surrounded by sleeping Scale Vipers, would be a serious problem. He’d worried they might even have given up. The fact they’d stuck around to try again was very, very good.

It was the crucial mistake which would see them dead.

###

Serrin, invisible, passed the Blood Hunters by. A cluster of four figures, formed from red energy. They were pressing through the jungle, toward where he’d left Nicolai. The man said he could hold their attention, and Serrin believed him.

With an effort of will he shifted his view toward the Spiritual, and the spirit wire connecting to the Blood Hunters became visible. With them still alive the wires were, too, shifting through the air with their movements. That only made them easier to follow, and Serrin’s wings blurred as he sped onwards.

Already he could hear the sounds of gunshots from behind, feel the ripples of Symbiotes. Nicolai had said he would make little effort to kill them, just running and using the odd ineffective attack, encouraging the Scoundrels to stay still as they manned the Blood Hunters.

Soon the sound of fighting had faded, and Serrin flew through the jungle. This wasn’t an active area and his flight was quiet.

Less than an hour later, he’d found them. Serrin stared into a clearing, where he saw four humans sitting cross-legged. There was some kind of ritual protection around them, which dimmed their forms and made them slip from his eyes. If it weren’t for the spirit wire leading right here, he might’ve overlooked them. He recognised this as a method of avoiding attention from the beasts of the jungle.

Over his armour he was wearing what Nicolai called a “tactical harness.” It was simple but quite useful, basically a vest with a bunch of pockets and pouches. From that he pulled a device. Nicolai had called it a radio transmitter. It was very simply made, almost suspiciously so. Effectively just a box with a lid. When he lifted the lid a large red button was revealed.

He pressed the button and gazed at it expectantly, but there was no sign of the “radio waves” Nicolai said it would create. He thumbed it once again, but still nothing. Shrugging, he decided they must be invisible.

He looked to the Scoundrels, wary. Nicolai had said they might be able to detect the radio waves. But so far, none of them had reacted.

But soon they showed reactions of a different kind. The Scoundrels, who’d been sitting meditatively, began to start and straighten, waking as though from a daze.

###

‘What the hell were you doing?’ Max snarled at Wu. ‘We almost had him, then you went and got caught out!’

‘You were meant to be pinning him,’ the man growled back. ‘How’d he get out from that tree, that’s what I want to know!’

‘Boys, boys,’ said Dakota. ‘Settle down. We messed up, but overall…’ She gave him a pointed look.

He nodded. ‘Yeah. We got a shot at this. This guy’s not so tough as we worried, and he’s lost his friend.’

‘But where to?’ asked Lin, frowning. She’d been the most worried about the idea of Hornets.

Max shrugged. ‘Who knows. Who cares. Point is, they’re not together, and now we’ve had a chance to send the Blood Hunters at him properly, our boy’s not so tough after all.’ He smiled at the memory, the figure running and hiding. ‘We almost got him a few times there, eh?’

The others nodded. They’d managed to break the target’s shields a few times. Each time, the guy had somehow managed to slip away in time to regenerate them… but they could all feel it, tantalisingly close. The certainty that if they kept this up, one of these times he’d trip up and they’d catch him.

‘Still, let’s not get sloppy. We’ll relocate, just in case.’

The Scoundrels packed up and got moving, with far less hurry and in a far better mood than the last time.

Entirely unaware of the invisible Hornet drifting along in their wake, curious eyes fastened on their backs.

###

Serrin had gradually come closer and closer, and was now able to hear their voices. He knew a little of the human language. One of them, at least, Shenran. With that he was able to comprehend one half of the conversation.

The humans seemed in good spirits. The more he watched them, the more they reminded him of the ones he’d briefly befriended. The dark haired woman looked so similar to Jing. The gruff way the leader-type talked reminded him of Poyang, who’d always been telling the others to stay hopeful, that they’d get through it… that Serrin would get them free.

Uncertainty slowed his wingbeats. He knew what Nicolai would do when he arrived. Was that wrong? These were enemies, assassins who were here with the sole purpose of killing his friend.

But even so, might there be another way? Could they be reasoned with?

With these thoughts swirling through his mind, he barely noticed the passing of time and was taken entirely by surprise when a voice spoke in ripples.

‘Good job.’ A glance behind revealed a purple-glowing figure drifting toward him. Serrin had been trying to think of some argument but so far nothing had come to mind. ‘I’ll move on them. You go above, and be ready to chase. When some die, others will run. Chase them and finish them off.’ Just like that, four humans were slated for execution. Already Nicolai was moving to put his words into action.

‘Wait!’ Serrin hissed.

The purple figure looked back. ‘Yes?’

‘Can’t we… talk to them? Maybe… maybe something can be worked out?’

Nicolai was silent for a time. He floated closer, reached out, and a hand landed on Serrin’s shoulder. ‘Your kindness is… laudable, but as I told you, humans are a varied bunch. These ones are not your friends, least of all mine. They are assassins who have bought the right to hunt me—an investment they hunger to recoup. Just as bad, they have seen my base and the machines within it. They will be eager to take them, or to sell on the information.’

‘So it’s all about money?’

‘Yes.’

This was clearly intended to strike the conversation dead, but Serrin wouldn’t be dissuaded so easily. ‘But in that case, you can just buy them off!’ He declared. ‘If they won’t give up because they spent money to hunt you… you can just pay them that money!’

The helmeted head tilted in a way that conveyed vast disappointment, that suggested he was the most naive of fools.

‘If one of your brothers wanted to steal from you, and came after you for what you had… and you, wanting to avoid harming him, simply gave him what he wanted…. what would happen the next time you had something he wanted?’

Serrin knew the answer. In his days as a stingless, before the Queen had taken interest in him, he’d been targeted many times. ‘He would keep coming after me until I defeated him.’ For a moment he was silent, but thinking on that further he rallied. ‘But once I proved I could defeat him, he would give up, and even seek to befriend me!’

‘An honest friendship? I think not. But that’s another matter. What if, in this case, he has gambled away his money, betting that you will die soon, and so long as you live, he cannot get his money back.’

A dull bloom of anger rose within Serrin. ‘I know what you’re doing. Twisting words until your point is the only reasonable one.’

The purple figure shrugged, cast a glance through the trees at the Scoundrels. They were getting further away, but they’d have to get much further to stop Nicolai catching them.

‘I don’t need to do much twisting. What I describe is effectively the same as our current situation.’

‘You’re saying the only option is to kill them.’

Nicolai drifted closer. ‘There is no world in which they and I can coexist. They saw my base. They are here to kill me. I told you before, our path is not an easy one. If we’re going to survive and escape the clutches of your mother… we will have to sacrifice. And we will have enemies, and must fight unhesitatingly against them. You agreed to work with me, not against me.’

Serrin had no answer. Nicolai was right, or at least he could find no argument against him. He didn’t want to kill, but if you had no choice… what other option was there? And in truth, he was fine with killing those who he knew were entirely deserving. Many Hornets fell into that category, though even then he wouldn’t kill them unless given no other choice.

Was Nicolai right? Was there no choice? They hadn’t even tried talking to them. Serrin shifted, unhappy. ‘So they deserve death, in your eyes?’

‘I am no one to judge whether others are deserving of death. If there was no need to kill them, I would not do so. But they are my enemies. It is as simple as that.’

‘But still… what if—‘

‘Do you know the way back to base?’

‘What?’ he thought for a moment. ‘Yes, but—‘

‘Then go.’ The ripples were delivered dismissively, Nicolai already turning away.

He bristled. ‘Wait. No! You need me to watch your back.’

The purple figure looked back to him and he saw the shape of the helmet. ‘Have you forgotten the result of our spar? You are not qualified to watch my back.’

Serrin flinched, a surge of emotion rising through him. ‘I…’ he began, only to trail off. Nicolai was right.

Always Serrin had had one thing, a pillar which he could cling to. His skill in combat. He knew he was skilled. The most skilled in the Hive, in fact. Hearing Nicolai, the only one he’d ever considered his equal in raw martial skill, say he wasn’t qualified… it felt worse than when the man had stabbed him.

‘Return to base, Serrin. Wait for me there.’

Such a weight of disappointment he felt at those words. ‘But what if they scatter, like you said?’ he managed, knowing he was flailing.

‘Then what? Will you help me kill them?’

‘I…’

‘They won’t escape. Return to base.’

‘But…’

The helmet of purple light gazed at him, and at that moment Serrin felt as though the man he stood across from was cold and empty as the Soulless machines that manned his base, and knew that he was speaking only pitiless truth.

‘Fine, I… fine.’ Serrin beat his wings slow and drifted away. After a moment he looked back. And saw, through the trees, the purple figure, watching him. Waiting for him to leave so it could begin. He turned and left.