Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave watched atop a hill where the trees ended, fading into the lily fields beyond. In the far distance, he could see the entrance to the Lily Lurker’s cavern; the entrance was shaped like a canoe, and the earth looked recently overturned. Closest to the entrance, the lilies wilted, but as they grew further away, they turned a dark red hue.

Argrave knelt down with his left hand pressed against a tree for support as he watched what exactly was occurring. The lily lurkers romped about in the field without order, uprooting and flattening the red and white flowers carelessly. It was difficult to spot reason in their movements, but they did not stray too far from a single point.

The Lily Lurkers were about the size of a human head, though three tails on their back end made them seem quite large. Their body was colored much like an orchid mantis. They had six long legs that elevated them off the ground, and twinges of pink decorated their joints. Each bore a stinger on its back with an eerie-looking pink barb on the tip.

The other two of its three tails beside the stinger swayed back and forth as the Lily Lurkers roamed, vibrating and letting out a harsh noise similar to a rattlesnake. According to in-game lore Argrave recalled, their tails allowed them to communicate with each other. As it was now, Argrave felt it made them seem much greater in number than they were. The only thing that might have made him more uncomfortable was if they had wings.

“Jesus,” Argrave muttered into his hand as he watched. “Scorpions. Ants. Cicadas. Someone couldn’t make up their mind.”

“What was that?” asked Anneliese, her eyes closed as she used a druidic spell to scout out what exactly was happening. Above, her pigeon circled their swarm.

“Nothing,” Argrave said louder, not willing to turn his head away from the scene. Those stingers captured his attention. The Lily Lurkers moved far too fast for him to count them effectively. “What do you see?”

“I am unsure. There’s one in the center of their movement… looks unmoving. Dead, were I to guess.”

Argrave ran his hand over his mouth, pondering this. “I think… one of them must have died to the poison, let out pheromones. It’s agitated a bunch of them. These ones are searching for what happened. Ants do that, I read.”

“Pheromones?”

“Don’t ask me,” Argrave dismissed, lacking both confidence and a sufficient explanation. “I can’t exactly check my notes. Bugs don’t occupy my thoughts, and I wouldn’t spend any time reading about them. I prefer to pretend they don’t exist.”

Anneliese retracted the spell, and her pigeon flew back to the trees. “What should we do?”

“If you’ll notice, they’re staying near the corpse,” Argrave pointed out. “Maybe they don’t have ants in the snowscape that is Veiden, but if you’ve ever squished an ant near an anthill, they all freak out. They’re searching for danger. Once they’re certain there’s nothing, they’ll stop.”

came from nature documentaries. It was dodgy at best, and considering

should wait,” Anneliese finished

can only see this as an opportunity. Imagine them in the trees—or worse yet, in a cavern.” Argrave took one step

you doing?” she spoke urgently. “If this is how they react for one, imagine how they will react after many

then exhaled, laughing lightly. “You want some insights into my struggles?” Argrave hearkened back to their earlier conversation. “Feeling queasy right about now. Logically, I know this is the right thing to do. Figuring out how these creatures fight is quite

cannot believe we could take on those creatures. We don’t have the magic for that. Galamon isn’t even

from her grip. “If things go sour, I can call upon that. For now, I need to determine how these things act when confronted with

things' limitations, their simplicity. Use spells like the D-rank [Wind Wall] to block them; I doubt they have the capacity to understand and adapt to magic. Use some of the lightning magic you learned, or fire magic. Even if ice magic is more powerful because you’re a Veidimen, it will be too slow-moving

to swarm about. Their movements seemed to coincide with the roiling anxiety in his chest. He felt the wind shift, and he foolishly turned

good leader. The lesson from Mateth isn’t only that this world is ever-changing; it’s that I alone am not enough to deal with everything. The white fields faded behind them as they came to the red, and beyond that

as they approached. Argrave estimated they were about twenty. Feeling the distance was sufficient for good accuracy, Argrave stopped

first bug, and Argrave paid close attention to how the creature reacted. The lightning surged through its body and then spread through the ground and some close to it. The Lily Lurker spasmed for far longer than Argrave thought it might, and then its two quivering tails changed in pitch. This change was soon echoed

magic was much more effective than he thought it might be, and several

to Anneliese over the din of rattling, lacking the time to

He instinctively used [Wind Wall], and the creature slammed against it, splaying out ungracefully on the field. Anneliese finished it off with two quick

movement. As the remainder grew closer, Argrave continued to use lightning magic from behind the cover of his [Wind Wall], the spells passing through easily. The bulk of the insects, of which likely half remained, finally came close enough to the two of them. Argrave internally reminded himself of the purpose of this fight: to test their reactions. He was uncertain if insects would be afraid of fire as animals

stepped out of the cover of the [Wind Wall] and formed the only C-rank attack spell he knew; [Wargfire]. A great lupine jaw emerged from his hands after the matrix formed. The creatures barely seemed to see the fire until the gaping mouth came shut, catching two. Argrave fell behind the [Wind Wall]

wildly. It looked as though the insect was stinging itself, but Argrave knew such a notion was ridiculous. Despite the fire, the rest of the insects rushed forward, averse to but not afraid of the flames. The dry, wilted flowers were a natural

the insects were consumed by the flames which continued to spread in the ring of

Anneliese came to a stop and watched. The creatures writhed about, appearing in

concluded as he watched. “Started to get pretty scared, there. Fortunately, these

white to emerge and ruin the victory. Anneliese said nothing as she

Argrave looked back. “I told you it was

fire is lit in a cave, those inside most often suffocate, or the