Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 55

Staring at the great horde of immobile Lily Lurkers, Argrave first froze as his two companions did. His rationality took over, though, and he reached out to grab both of their hands. Galamon held a dagger, so Argrave settled for his wrist.

“Just back away slowly,” Argrave whispered. “They haven’t moved yet. No logical reason they will now, unless we do something dramatic.”

His calm words brought them out of their stupor, and both backed away further down the hall, led by Argrave. The mass of white and pink insects faded into darkness as the light of the spell illuminating them grew further away. The veins of the Amaranthine Heart slowly faded in the hallway behind them as they fizzled away. Once they were a comfortable distance away, Argrave released his grip.

“Hoo…” Argrave let out a breath of relief. “Damn. Forgot that bottle… That’s…” Argrave cast glances towards the darkness where he knew the room still was. “I feel like we still need some distance. Let’s go to the Archives once more.”

Both nodded without protest, and Argrave took the lead this time. He took the party to the stairs without issue, walking up two steps at a time. Once they reached the Archives again, Argrave led them into a room off to the side. He took off his satchel and placed it atop a table, leaning over it. His body was wracked with sweat. The other walked in shortly after, sitting to rest.

“Galamon,” Argrave called, not bothering to turn to look at him. “Were they all alive? Could you tell?”

“They looked dormant,” a low rasp answered. “Barely any heat. Slow moving. Alive, yes—but weakened. Some form of hibernation, probably. They seemed centralized around something. Thought it might be that Amaranthine Heart you spoke of, got worried.”

Argrave patted the satchel bag. “No. I got the Heart,” Argrave said.

“So your task is finished. We can leave,” Anneliese said.

Argrave slowly turned around and leaned on the stone table he’d placed his satchel bag on. “Yeah. I got what I needed. We can leave,” he said quietly.

Those words hung in the air for a bit. Everyone was clearly relieved, barring Argrave, who had a grim look about him.

“A lot more than I expected to see. We had a little bug boulder,” Argrave said. “I guess, in response to danger… or maybe to the end of autumn—the cold, you know… they all gathered around the queen of the colony. Then, come spring, they’ll become active again. By then, the poison will have soaked into the soil or evaporated or…” Argrave trailed off. “Then they’ll be back at the surface. No real damage done.”

Argrave could not help but think back to the time he’d been speaking to Dras regarding Mateth’s fate. The Patriarch offered him an easy out then, and the same thing came before him now—leave the village, claim the job was done, and with everything he needed in his pocket. Another settlement instead of a victory.

“Argrave,” Galamon said firmly. “You saw how many of them there were. We have what we came here for. No need to risk ourselves uselessly for some field of flowers.”

“You said yourself that these creatures would, at most, displace the villagers of White Edge,” Anneliese insisted, trying to persuade Argrave. “Think about this. Anything needed to kill such a large number of the creatures would be absolutely devastating. Widespread fire might warp the stone and cause the place to collapse—dangerous both to the surface and to us. A collapse alone would make all of the ground above come with it. The entire village of White Edge might sink.”

“But the problem exists, and it’ll keep existing. These things will expand, maybe even migrate, in search of food. Perhaps next time, it won’t be such a lightly populated area. We’re here. We have a chance now.” Argrave shook his head.

“Please don’t even consider this,” Anneliese said insistently. “How will you do this? Perhaps the same way you dealt with those druids—Galamon told me tales of that explosive gas you used on them. Or perhaps more poisons? Even if we are in an ancient alchemy lab, ingredients…” Anneliese trailed off. “Why are you smiling?”

“Cut off a snake’s head, it still dies. It

tell the people of White Edge what transpired, teach them how to brew that poison for the

It will be

intensified by cold—that’s just the nature of metabolism and hibernation. Anneliese and I use some low-level

all go into a frenzy as we saw on

know of other animals is true, dormancy isn’t something they can just drop into and out of immediately. They

of

hands. “We’ll just test this out. If

think this is

said cheerily as he threw on his satchel once again. “Probably bound to happen

at raising morale,” Anneliese shot

elf’s sarcasm. He walked to the entrance, then stopped and turned on his heel. “Listen… if both of you wish to bravely run away, I’ll concede. This is, unfortunately, a democracy. I bring you with

we’re pets,”

his mule,” she said

have a better word for

agreed. He gestured with his dagger to the hall beyond. “So lead on, foolish leader. I’ll

veins of the Amaranthine Heart had faded, but the dark halls seemed a little less

#####

when returning to the site where the Lily Lurkers rested

the walk was much more difficult than talking the

not actively moving. He heard none of the rattling. Indeed, it was difficult to tell they were even alive. Galamon spoke up from just behind

elven vampire whispered.

“Maybe you could… go get your bow?”

I cannot even see

walked away from the mass of Lily Lurkers, retrieving the bottle half-full of black liquid in the room the Amaranthine Heart had once been. The black liquid was the pure mana collected by the Amaranthine Heart. The liquid was somewhat dense, but none of it stuck to the glass. Argrave wiped clean the bottle’s neck with a cloth

feeling spread across his body,

the bottle. Argrave handed it over. “Don’t drink too much. It’ll kill you in

spell that twirled about her head and lit her surroundings. She took a drink, recoiling at the taste

a few moments, shock registered on her face. “It really is… pure magic.” She stepped towards Argrave, holding the bottle up. “Argrave, this is… this is something the world has never

took it back from her. “We’ll

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