“Nevvie, Darus, can you accompany me?” Yosel called two of his fellows who happened to pass him by.
“Oh, sure… where to?” Asked Nevvie.
“You’re going to show him the smoke thing?” Said Darus, looking at the soldier. “I guess you don’t really trust this smoke thing?”
“I suppose it’s fair to show him what the problem is, since they agree to take us in. Anyone would hardly believe it if they heard it just through someone’s words… it’s not something anyone has ever imagined, after all…” Yosel wrapped his arm around Darus’ shoulder, establishing a telepathy network with him.
What is it?
Watch your mouth. We don’t want to piss him off.
Why? Is it that they actually don’t want to give us shelter? Said Nevvie, apparently joining in already.
The mayor refused, for some reason. It’s actually the soldier — I think it’s the city army — that wills to give us shelter.
Wait… what?!
Yes… that’s exactly what happened… that’s why he asked us to keep it quiet. This is actually not legally authorised, but we don’t have any other choices…
Why? I mean…
He said that he didn’t know, dude.
I mean, okay, we don’t know yet, but, like, they’re supposed to give us shelter, right? It’s under an emergency situation…
That’s the problem. I reminded the mayor about that, literally in front of his face. It’s like he didn’t care about it at all.
And even more, Is it really safe to go there, then…? It’s suspicious, however you put it…
I agree with her. The soldier didn’t explain it to you at all?
He said that it’s a long story, and we don’t have a lot of time. I trust that Hertica can deal with that, one way or another.
“Is it that dangerous…?” asked the soldier.
You’re leaving the… evacuation, on the hand of… her?
What about it?
What about it…?! She sides with the rebels…
And? It’s not like we’re guiding the rebels to Therset right now — if anything, the actual rebel is in Strail right now, holding those infected people…
Seems like he’s not doing a good job for it…
Concur. But we’re not dealing with him, or any of them rebels. I doubt that she would, what, intentionally causing everyone else to die?
It’s just that… we’ll never know what she might have planned…
We don’t have time nor energy for this. It’s not like it’s only the three of us who were against the rebels — the others came along with them, too. They will be able to handle it, if it comes to the worst.
Fair… but… just ensuring… this is not you changing your mind, do you…?
“Best to bring your friends along if you’re going out this late. It’s just common sense.” said Yosel. “You’re free to bring along your friends, of course. I think they’ll be doubtful about this smoke, as well.”
“No need. They’ll be able to see it through me.” said the soldier.
“Okay… suit yourself.” shrugged Yosel. “Come on. I’ll show you.”
He then walked forward, in the direction where they came from. The soldier, Nevvie, and Darus followed along.
He replied to Darus’ question, with quite a cold tone. Don’t be ridiculous.
I’m just asking. It’s not like I actually doubt you.
There’s a limit to doubt, Darus. Just because you feel like it, doesn’t mean that I actually change my mind about the rebels and those who side with them.
Yeah, I agree with Yosel. We have a bigger problem to deal with. And you’re putting it quite too rough, you know…
Considering that there were no cliffs or hills around the forest, Yosel, as well as the soldier and his fellows, had to climb on the top of the tree, possibly a red cedar tree. It was about eighty metres from the ground, allowing them to see far away without any obstruction, although, as a consequence, they felt a bit of cold from the blowing wind.
They were about eighty metres above the ground, but from what they could see, the smoke, which now actually looked like a massive sandstorm in the shape of fog, easily towered the trees they were in, multiplied by five in estimation. The width was no joke either: it ranged about hundreds of kilometres, if not a thousand kilometres already. In the midst of the darkness, it was a bit difficult for them to spot the smoke, although they could handle that with an enhancement spell on their eyes. The one thing that didn’t really scare them was the speed of the smoke’s dust-storm-like movement, which was possibly one metre per second, and even then, it didn’t really calm them.
“Okay… that looks a bit intimidating…” admitted the soldier.
“It’d be far more than ‘a bit intimidating’ if you were there…” said Nevvie. “You see that a lot of soldiers stationed in Strail didn’t make it to come with us, and that’s for a good reason…”
“And you didn’t exactly know why this happened in the first place…?”
It’s the rebel’s fault.
Well, yeah, but, this is not something we can say simply out of probability and nothing more. We’ll have to tell him the context, as well… “We thought that it had something to do with a rebel. But the exact details of it, we don’t know. We only know that the rebel got into a battle against the kingdom’s army.” said Yosel.
“I see… Strail… there’s a laboratory in the city, right?”
“Yes. We suspect that the smoke came from there. But how exactly, again, we don’t know…”
“And it… infects people…? Turning them… crazy…?”
“ ‘Sexually aroused’ is the word. Literally.” said Nevvie.
“Imagine your wife hungry for you on your bed, if you have a wife. Now multiply that by a thousand times, because that’s what happens when you get infected by the smoke.” added Darus.
“Speaking of that, have any of you seen anyone else around the smoke?” asked Yosel.
“No… not as far as I can see…” said Nevvie, looking in their vicinity.
The soldier, on the other hand, pointed far away on their left, and said, “I spotted two people, quite far away. They… oh, my… they’re having sex right now… and in the middle of the forest…”
“See? We’ve been telling you the truth.” said Darus.
“Wait, are you sure? How could you tell?” said Yosel, following where his finger pointed. He couldn’t see that far, and what he saw instead was the trees instead.
“How could I tell…? Well, I suppose that I can see further than you do, is all I can say…” said the soldier instead.
“So you’re saying that you’re more capable than us…” said Yosel.
“I suppose… I mean, I’ve been through a lot of training myself to be a kingdom’s soldier, which is something obvious… what about it…?”
“Nothing. It’s just impressive, is all.” said Yosel.
“Are they naked? Or they still have their clothes on them?” asked Nevvie.
“Still… no, wait, they look to be torn…” answered the soldier.
“Now imagine thousands of people like that going after you, because you’re not infected yet, and they’re pushed to satisfy their urge on you. That’s how horrific it is.” added Darus.
“So you get infected by breathing the smoke in?” asked the soldier.
“I think it’s more contagious than that. Even having contact with the smoke by your skin is enough.” said Yosel. “As well as having contact with one of the infected.”
“What kind of contact? Normal or otherwise?”
“Both, duh, as long as you get in contact with them,” said Darus.
“How long does it take to infect you?”
“Immediately, that we’re certain about.” said Yosel.
“Not even a minute…?” frowned the soldier. Now, understanding the gravity of it, grave concern was expressed on his face. “What of the smoke itself? Can we blow it off?”
“That we’re not exactly sure… I was hoping that you would be able to handle that part…”
The soldier started, a bit startled, “Handle that part? How would I…?”
“I’m sorry, I misspoke. I mean, I was hoping that we could ask for your advice about the smoke itself.” rephrased Yosel quickly. “Maybe your city can cast wind strong enough to blow the smoke away from the city, or maybe you decide to evacuate the city as well — whatever it is, we’ll leave that decision to you. That was what we were hoping for.”
The soldier then said nothing before sighing, as he pondered in silence. Yosel automatically thought that he was actually conversing with his fellow soldiers through their own telepathy network.
But as he thought so, he was reminded of Hertica, and lots of survivors from Strail, heading toward Therset. Hertica… how is it on your end…?
So far so good… but we’re vigilant anyway, don’t worry. Said Hertica.
It took some time, considering that they all couldn’t move fast. But eventually, the city was on their sights. She looked at the crowd, like a never-ending train. They all looked relieved and happy seeing a safe place for them to finally rest, but they managed to keep their voices low, as previously agreed. As far as she could watch around, there were no more attacks from wild beasts, nor the purple smoke and those people infected by the smoke in their vicinity.
This soldier can see with enhancement further than we could do. Said Yosel. I don’t want to scare you, but it’s not impossible that they’re more than we all can handle…
She rolled her eyes. Seeing that he finished speaking and left his words hanging in the air, she replied, So what other choices do you think we have here? Escape? With hundreds, all exhausted and wounded? Of course.
That’s not what I mean… I’m just saying that it’s not going to be easy…
None of this is easy. Let’s just focus on what we can do, and for fuck’s sake, do me a favor and stop being pessimistic. Said Hertica firmly. I’m tired of it, and it’s not helping either of us.
Before he intended to leave the conversation, she quickly added, Tell me about how it is in your end. Does the soldier believe what we said?
Yes. I mean, he’s seeing the infected people himself. He said that he could share what he’s seeing to his fellow soldiers, whatever that actually means. I suppose that’s one less problem for us to deal with…
That’s good to hear. I gotta go. There’s a soldier coming from the city.
As she said, a soldier floated over the walls, and quickly floated toward Hertica, since she was the one leading them toward the city. She saw that the soldier riding on what she recalled, if she wasn’t mistaken, was a skyboard. She couldn’t tell what it was made of, but she could see that it was quite as thin as an ordinary book, but wide enough to carry at least three people.
As much as she felt annoyed by Yosel’s pessimism, she couldn’t deny that what he said had a point, good enough to be her concern she couldn’t refute, all thanks to his worry, as they conversed. Her mind recalled what he said regarding the soldier’s skills, and as she saw the other incoming soldier, with a skyboard, the one feeling she perceived right away was, quite surprisingly, that of intimidation. They could probably storm us to death in a minute, and no one would know it… she thought to herself.
She approached Hertica, and spoke, “You’re all from Strail?”
“Yes…” was all she could respond with.
“Aight. Follow the signs. And remember to keep it low.” said the soldier, about to leave.
“Wait…” called Hertica immediately. “Tell me what’s going on here… why won’t the mayor let us in…?”
“It’s a bit of a long story. But it won’t be a problem to you people.”
And before Hertica asked further, the soldier already left her, going up, way further than she could reach, and dropped something as she guided them. It appeared to be stakes, about a metre long, puncturing into the ground and glowing in the dark. It wasn’t strong, but it was enough to form into a trail of light for everyone to see and follow, although each stake was set quite distant with another. Soon, she saw that the soldier dropped enough stakes to lead them into the city, not straight to the entrance, but around the city, toward the opposite of the entrance. It took her less than half a minute to set the stakes for guiding them, before she eventually went back into the city.
Never mind that… she already went back… said Hertica to Yosel.
Who?
The soldier that just came to me. She just set the stakes to guide us around the city, and went back in.
Wait… what…?
Yeah, literally. They’re not escorting us whatsoever at all. I asked what’s going on with them, and she just said that it’s a long story, before she left.
Yosel didn’t immediately reply. In the meantime, people around her were excited; it didn’t seem like they had an ounce of question or suspicion toward the soldier or the city. They walked following the stakes with excitement and vigour, albeit slowly. It didn’t ease her mind, although she understood that they were tired, possibly beyond imagination.
How far is the next closest city…?
The next closest… replied Hertica, a bit confused at the beginning. The next closest city would be… wait a minute… you don’t mean…?
We probably have to consider it…
They won’t do it. They’re already tired, and the next closest city is at least seven hours away, unless people in Therset are willing to give us a ride to get to Greenbit. And even that would take, like, hours away. They will definitely not do it. We have to stick to this city, and hope for the best…
How can you still say to hope for the best?
Hertica sighed heavily. Because we literally can’t get to the next closest city, Yosel. Don’t you get that? Can you literally ask these people to continue walking to Greenbit?
What she received instead was no response. She knew that it was being silent on his end, not hanging up the line, like what he previously did to her. Nevertheless, it sounded somewhat similar to what he did, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes and sighed heavily again; there was a thought in her mind to actually leave the line for a while as he did, before she swiped the temptation under the rug, and proceeded to Therset.
But surprisingly, he continued, I’ll try to talk to my friends about this. I know that it’s unlikely, and that you’re right. I just can’t help but think that this is a bad idea, no matter that we don’t have any other choices… they won’t even talk to us, and we still have this damn smoke and those infected people to deal with. None of this feels safe… can you understand what I’m saying…?
Yes… sighed Hertica. Don’t worry — I get what you’re saying.
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