Green tents with a spike on each top could be seen in the distance. Figures were moving in and around them, and Solmirro continued forward without pause while the others followed.
Rilia: "Uh, are we just going to, walk in?"
Agoro: "Yep."
Rilia: "What if they attack us?"
Agoro: "They aren't infected anymore girl. Why would they do that?"
Rilia: ". . .Well, I don't know! It just feels wrong that were about to walk right into the Trai-"
Agoro clapped a hand over her mouth. "We're close enough to be heard. You might wanna watch what you say." And released her.
When they entered the camp, it felt like walking into a place devoid of energy and healthy life, and its inhabitants only reinforced the feeling.
She'd been told the Traitors were strong and large with the Infection, much larger than a normal mantis should be. Instead of calm intelligence there was wild savagery in their eyes, or at least, there used to be. Now their eyes shone with intelligence again, but also sadness. They reminded Rilia of something, but she couldn't remember what. And those eyes watched them come forward without a sound.
Bags of flesh hung down on them, wasted muscles unable to keep their skin up anymore. Permanent dark circles lined the undersides of all their eyes, and they moved with a muted energy. They looked like a great sickness had wracked and sucked the life out of their bodies. "Well that's backward." Agoro thought. "When the Infection started it made them big and strong, but when they were "cured", they became sickly and weak.
. . .Probably a lesson in there somewhere." His thoughts were halted when one of the mantis said: "Why have two Soul Scholar soldiers, an Army Ant warrior-" She cut off at Rilia, and said in a much softer voice: "And a mantis youth, come here?"
Solmirro: "That would be best discussed with your leaders. May I speak with them?"
She studied the soul warrior, her dark circles making her gaze seem more intense. Then she said: "Very well. I'll take you to him."
Solmirro inclined his head: "My thanks. May I trouble you for your name?"
". . . Fierla."
And she led them away from the camp and its sombre atmosphere. To Rilia it felt like stepping into bright sunshine from deep shadow. They didn't go far; Fierla stopping outside of a small alcove with music drifting out. "In here."
No one could tell, but Solmirro mentally steeled himself before he followed her in. Agoro and Rilia came after him and Balroulst waited outside.
Their leader wasn't special in looks, having the same wasted appearance as the rest. He was sitting on a bench and watching Alubra float by. Fierla said: "Quillyn, visitors have come to see you."
When he got up and turned around his dark eyes widened in surprise. He spoke in a level tenor voice: "Now why would a Soul Warrior, Army Ant warrior. . . And a mantis youth want to talk to me?"
Solmirro spent over half an hour explaining the current struggle facing Hallownest. Quillyn never interrupted, or asked a question. Aside from an occasional blink his eyes black lined eyes seemed an unwavering stare. And the stare grew very intense when Solmirro ended with: "And the reason I have told you all this, is because the we would ask you, to help us seal the Void back into its Abyss."
Quillyn: ". . . . . . . . . On the surface that seems to be a suicide mission. Is there anything deeper than that surface? How would we even reach the Basin, if the Void have overwhelmed the Fluke, and it's taking the whole Mantis Tribe and all the Soul Scholars combined to just hold them back? Many died when the Infection did. We are not the army you think we are."
Solmirro: "I am well aware of your numbers." His inflection implied he didn't believe the Traitors numbers were that reduced. "But you are still Mantis warriors are you not. You know the Tribe struggled only because they were taken by surprise. One of you, is worth 2 or 3 void creatures. My colleagues hold back the Void even when we're outnumbered 10 to 1. They are not invincible, they are not, unstoppable. And I mean to stop them if I have to drag every Tribe and Clan with me to do it!"
Quillyn: "Villages devasted by the Infection's death."
Solmirro's voice quieted down to its usual deep timbre. "No. Their populations haven't been affected. I believe the reason is you and the others accepted the Infection willingly, while they all fought to the end. It didn't have the control in their bodies that it did in yours."
Fierla looked at Agoro with heavy dislike for bringing up their acceptance of the Infection. But Quillyn's expression didn't change, unless perhaps his eyes looked even more tired.
Quillyn: "Even if we can do it, you are still asking many of us to die."
Solmirro: "I've heard from several sources that an honorable death. . . is all the mantis here wish for now."
"Well that was blunt." Agoro thought to himself.
Quillyn's black lined black eyes met Solmirro's pure white, blazing orbs. Then he gave a tired laugh. "You have done your research. I knew as soon you asked I would say yes."
Solmirro: "Will the others follow you?"
Quillyn: "What do you think Fierla?"
Fierla looked at her hands, heavily wrinkled and bagged. "To the death."
Quillyn: "When do we leave?"
Fierla led Agoro and Rilia out and away while the other two started talking of the logistics that would be involved. Balroulst still remained behind. As they were walking she said: "So why has an army ant come here? I thought all they cared about was their march."
Agoro: "Most of them. About one in one million leave the ranks for something else." He was not joking.
Fierla: "Fluke, that few? Is it hard to leave?"
Agoro: "No. It's more they don't wanna leave." He recited: "To die, and live. To take, and give. To breathe, and kill. We must, we will. . ." He exhaled: "There's more, but to be honest, I don't wanna talk about it."
They walked in silence, back into the heavy atmosphere of the camp. The mantis kept there distance, not really looking at them. Fierla led them to a dead fire with some moss cushioned seats around it.
After everyone had sat down, Fierla took a deep breath and said: "May I ask you something?" He nodded. ". . .Why has a youth from the village come here." She looked at Rilia. "Why have you come here?" Rilia didn't say anything for a bit, and Fierla asked Agoro: "Is she refusing to talk with Traitors?" There was no accusation in her voice, but a sad acceptance mixed with regret.
Rilia: "No, I'm not."
Fierla: ". . . Then why?"
Rilia: "You heard Solmirro. You're the most logical choice to fight the Darkness."
Fierla: "Even if you agree with that, you didn't have to come. You could've gone back to the village, and had a happier life. But now there's a good chance you'll be cast out too. Why would you do that?"
Again Rilia was silent for awhile, until she said in a quiet voice: "When it was first suggested, I reacted like most in the Tribe would. But then a bug I really admire and respect (it took Agoro's best efforts not to smile at that), told me that anyone can change. And they also told me what happened with Dahlia." Fierla gave a start at the name. ". . . I believe you deserve another chance, and if the lord's banish me, my life wasn't the best there anyway." While it may have been true, she choked on the last word, and Fierla knew the Village meant a lot to Rilia.
The older mantis stared at the ground for awhile, then said: ". . . Then I hope we don't let you down." They looked at each other for several seconds until Fierla stood up. "Food will be brought shortly. You can rest here until then, or you can rejoin your leader. They'll be eating soon too. If you need anything, please ask." And she walked away without looking back.
Agoro looked at the dead pit as if flames were still dancing in it, watching Rilia from the corner of his eye. She was also looking into the pit, with an almost sick expression on her face.
"You alright?" He asked.
Rilia snapped up like he'd startled her, and said: "Huh?"
"Are you okay?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, I guess."
"Then why did you look so sick just now?"
She blew air out of her mouth, and said: "I was thinking about my father."
Agoro thought: "Why would you waste time doing that?" But he said: "Oh. You know, I never found out his name." He left the implied question hang there.
Rilia: "It's Senlarre. But he goes by Sen. Why did you want to know."
So I have a name when I ask who I'm gonna pound into the ground. "Just curious. . . . There anything you wanna talk about?"
"No. Just dreading going back."
"Yea. I've been there."
"Agoro, can I ask you something?"
He got a feeling she was about to ask a very personal question, so he said: "Okay?"
"What was the Army like?"
Oh, not quite where I thought she was gonna aim. "Huh. Well, I don't really know how to describe it. It's not like anything in Hallownest. The culture, the bugs, just the way everyone thinks isn't like anything you've ever seen."
"What did you do there?"
"I was a eggsitter." He said it in the most matter of fact tone he could muster. Rilia snorted, and replied: "Those eggs must have been some fighters."
"Oh absolutely. Every night I feared I was gonna be eaten as I watched them do nothing."
"Okay, okay, what were you really."
"A soldier, what do you think?"
"But you must have been some kind of commander, or captain, with your skill."
The questions were approaching places he didn't want to go, so took a deep smell with his antennae and said: "Well what do you know! The food's done. Beat you to it!" But before he could move some mantis brought wooden plates with steaming food on them. He couldn't tell what it was, but it tasted good.
Agoro: "What is this?"
Mantis: "Maskfly basted in Queen's Thorn sap, then roasted for an hour."
Rilia knew he was avoiding answering her, and didn't push it further. They had eaten in silence for a few minutes, when an older black eyed mantis came up. He was nervous as he asked: "I'm sorry to trouble you, but I was wondering if you knew of a youth named Roxlaw in the Village?"
Agoro: "I know a warrior named Roxlaw, why?"
The mantis said to himself in a sad voice: "A warrior? She grew out of her wings, and I didn't even see her do it." (To them) "Well, uh, Roxlaw is. . . my daughter. And I was wondering if you knew how she's doing?" His eyes had a pleading look in them. He was desperate to find what he'd missed in her life.
Agoro: "She's doing fine. She's a very respected warrior. A bit of a fireball, but she was one of the first picked to guard the door against the Void. . . . Can I say, I would be proud of her if she was my daughter."
Tears were forming in the mantis's eyes, and he said in a strained voice: "Thank you. Very much." As he left, his head was bowed, and shoulders stooped.
Rilia voice was quiet with shock. "I never knew family's were split like that. I always thought they left or stayed together."
Agoro: "No one ever told you?"
Rilia: "We never talk about it! It's really looked down on to even mention the-" She remembered where she was and lowered her voice to a whisper. "The Traitors."
Agoro shook his head. "Aspid spit, your tribe REALLY needs to work on its history lessons." And he went to get more food.
Rilia thought about the mantis, and wondered what other warriors had parents that left, or parents with children that left. And she stayed deep in those thought until Fierla shook her on the shoulder. "Come on young one, I'll show you to your tent."
Rilia looked around, and Agoro wasn't anywhere to be seen. She asked Fierla where he went.
Fierla: "He's resting his tent. You should too. You're coming with us as we gather the rest of the Mantis from the Gardens tomorrow."
Rilia: "How many are there?"
Fierla: "Almost five hundred."
Rilia stopped short and said: "That's almost as much as the Village! How are there so many of you?!"
Fierla never stopped walking as she talked. "How does the population increase in the Village? We didn't stop propagating, and for whatever reason the Infection increased fertility. Probably something to do with how it boosted all bodily functions except intelligence. And conveniently, because I despise talking about my past, here is your tent." Her voice was level and calm, but there was bite to it.
Rilia: ". . . I'm- I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."
Fierla: "(sigh) Don't worry about it. Your past will always be there, whether or not it's good. And if it's not, well life's a drag right?"
Rilia: "Yea. It is. Sleepwell, see you tomorrow."
Fierla: ". . . Rilia, thank you again. You probably haven't realized since we all look like death, but you being here made a lot of us really happy. Sleepwell." She walked away before Rilia could say anything. And it was awhile, before she could fall asleep."
Quillyn and Solmirro had halted their talks of strategy and logistics for the night, so they could resume in the morning with fresh minds. But as they made to leave, a mantis stepped into the alcove.
"Quillyn, I need to tell you something."
And they motioned for him to come closer. He did so, and his eyes got very wide as they whispered in his ear.
"I understand. I'll think on what to do. Get a good rest. We'll be very busy from now on."
They inclined their head in a short bow, and walked away.
"Has something happened?"
Quillyn turned around to Solmirro, seeming to consider his words before speaking.
"There's a. . . complication."
". . .What is it?"
"I was just told something my mantis overheard at supper. Your army ant asked your mantis youth what her father's name was, and she replied 'Senlarre'."
"And why is this a problem?"
"If it's the Senlarre I know. . . he was Fierla's mate."
Now Solmirro's blazing white eyes went wide with surprise. "Did they have any children before she left?"
"One. Fierla is Rilia's mother."
~To be continued~
