Chapter 25 - Swarm

Everyone packed up with the sunrise.

As Erik stepped outside, the morning sun did its best to grace the valley with its light through the bleak clouds. But it seemed like a lost cause.

They first stopped by the large building again so that Erik could raise another minion.

“Amazing,” Endur exclaimed as he watched the skeleton rise to its feet.

Erik smirked, proud of himself. He was starting to see many uses for his Undead.

But that said, they were weak and could easily be destroyed by even the weakest of his peers. He had also noticed several other downsides aside from their lack of strength. For one, he was entirely reliant on there being human remains nearby to raise as Undead. Without them, his Talent was useless, at least as far as he knew.

Which brought him to his next task.

As unpleasant as it was to carry around, he carefully packed and stored a skeleton in his bag. He also had each of his minions carry the remains of an extra skeleton. He had even considered marshaling the others to do so, but they had their hands full with their own luggage, and judging by the looks they were giving him, he doubted they would agree anyway.

“Let’s move. It will take us a few hours to get there,” Thrane said.

Everyone set out through the decaying forest.

They needed to reach the stream that Erik had followed on his first day. That stream led up into the mountains, passing close to the mines.

Based on the villagers’ descriptions, the water source was in the same region as the entrance to the mines. He guessed that the same water source had seeped through the rock, eventually making its way into the mines where he had filled his waterskin from.

Today's trek would be even more difficult as they had nearly run out of water. They practically had only a gulp left for each of them.

A few hours later, as they followed the stream through the forest, Erik’s thoughts wandered—and not about anything positive. For some reason, the swamp and forest seemed more rotten, the light bleaker, and the soil darker.

Maybe I’m just too tired of this place and imagining things.

Then, the truth unfolded before him.

As they reached the part of the foothills where they were supposed to start the incline toward the mine, he heard it. At first, the buzzing was as light as a breeze. But it grew louder as they got closer. And when they cleared the forest’s edge, he saw it.

In the distance, where the mountains should have been, there was only the swarm—a sea of mosquitoes. It had made its way down and now covered even the foothills.

Countless infernal insects buzzed around, swelling and contracting as if they were one large organism.

“By Nelum…” Erik whispered.

It wasn’t his imagination. The swarm was casting a shadow over the valley, making everything seem bleaker.

The sight up close was bone-chilling.

They were all frozen in place, afraid that at any moment they would attract the insects. It took them a while to relax a little—well… as much as one could in such a situation.

It seemed as if the flying abominations could not see them.

Upon closer inspection, Erik could just make out a barely visible dark haze between the insects. They never left its embrace. On the very rare occasions when one did—it exploded into a gory mess.

The dark haze slowly moved downward, spreading inch by inch. And with it, the swarm’s territory expanded.

“You’re up,” Thrane said, turning to him.

“Right. Which way is the water source? What does it look like? Give me as many details as you can.”

“If we were able to follow the stream, it would pass by the entrance to the mines and continue until it’s two-thirds of the way up the mountain. There’s a small clearing with a pond from which it originates. That is the source. The farther down the water goes, the more polluted it becomes.”

Erik nodded. “Give me some room.”

He had his skeletons drop off the remains they carried some distance away, far enough that it would be a while before the swarm swallowed that area.

The others retreated toward the forest, and Erik started testing a few things.

First, he needed to ensure they could enter the swarm, survive, and return. So far, he was only speculating that they could.

Second, he needed to ensure that the skeletons understood what it meant to follow the stream. Then, they had to be able to identify a pond. And finally, they needed to be capable of filling up the waterskins and bringing them back.

So Erik started on the first part. He ordered them to go into the swarm and come back. The three minions stepped forward without hesitation and disappeared into the sea of insects. After a dozen heartbeats, they reemerged completely fine.

The second part was trickier. He went back into the forest, following the stream to a place where it had deviated and created a few ponds. He then moved even farther away and tasked his minions with following the stream until they found a pond. They were then to dip a rock he had given each of them into the water and return it to him.

This hadn’t gone as smoothly. The minions kept dipping rocks into what was simply the widest part of the stream. It took him a while, but he explained that it needed to be a pond.

Then, they started dipping the rocks into puddles near the stream. And after even more explanations, they finally understood what he wanted and executed the task correctly. He proceeded to reinforce the concept, ensuring they understood what they were supposed to do. After running a few more tests, he was finally satisfied.

Grinning broadly, his lip cracked. His throat was parched. He couldn’t remember being this thirsty. All this moving around had only expedited his own need for water.

However, above everything else, Erik learned something vital—his minions could learn. This opened up possibilities he hadn’t even considered.

At one point, the others had grown curious and came to observe him.

“What in the name of Nelum are you doing?” the annoying villager butted in.

“Ensuring that my helpers know what to do,” Erik replied.

“You didn’t even know if they could?” the older man exclaimed incredulously.

“Well, I do now,” Erik said.

“Unbelievable! Are we seriously going to trust this guy?” the man grumbled under his breath.

There was one final part that needed to be tested, but it would only become apparent once the skeletons were in the middle of the task. What would happen as they got farther from Erik? Would they still function? Would they still execute their orders?

“All set. Let’s start with a single waterskin each.”

Erik looked them over to ensure everything was ready. Pleased, he nodded.

“Go,” Erik ordered.

The three Draugr turned toward the haze of insects and marched forward, entering the swarm without hesitation, following the stream.

It wasn’t long before they completely disappeared from view.

Time passed agonizingly slowly as everyone waited to see what would happen.

Erik couldn’t see them, but he could sense their general location. The three steadily made their way up the mountain, and after some time, they stopped.

They must have reached the water source. The distance seems right.

This also confirmed that he could feel where his minions were, at least at this distance. Although, the sensation was becoming a little hazy. After a while, he could tell they were making their way back.

However, the others didn’t know what was going on, prompting more comments from the annoying villager.

“What’s taking so long? Have your vile creations abandoned you?”

Erik just rolled his eyes. He knew where his skeletons were, but there was no reason to let others know the extent of his capabilities.

“It will work. Wait for it.”

The others also looked impatient, and tensions were getting high due to the thirst. And he, too, felt himself getting more irritable. But he couldn't afford to get distracted.

Finally, just as the others were growing even more impatient, they saw three pairs of glowing teal eyes. Erik’s Draugr emerged from the swarm, whole and without injuries. They stopped in front of him and held out their hands, bloated waterskins dangling from their grips.

Erik took one, opened it, and smelled the water. There was no foul odor. He swished a mouthful—the water was fresh and clean.

A broad grin spread across his face.

The others joined him, taking turns drinking greedily.

“I’ll be damned. You actually came through on what you promised,” the annoying villager said in surprise.

The others also expressed their approval.

After that, Erik set about directing his Draugr, and they departed on another journey.

“Let’s move further into the forest and set up camp there. We’ve already had to move once,” Thrane suggested.

They were all about to do just that, until a little rascal stood stock still, staring at the swarm with a determined expression. Fully outfitted in his spiderweb armor, everyone immediately knew what he wanted to do.

“Don’t even think about it!” Thrane shouted.

The boy, already shaking, said, “But I have to!”

“No, you are not! This is too dangerous! How am I supposed to explain myself to your parents if something happens to you?”

“But—”

“No buts! That’s final!”

“I’ll do it,” Erik said.

“What?” They all exclaimed in surprise.

“It will be fine. If this works, it might prove useful.”

“Are you sure?” Endur asked.

“Yes, I am. As long as it can be adjusted to my size.”

The boy grinned widely. “You won’t regret it! And it definitely can.”

After some time, Erik was fully outfitted in the spiderweb armor, and the others watched as he neared the swarm, step by step. He had been confident earlier, but as he approached the infernal insects, he started to question his own sanity.

Just a small dip.

He stopped when he was an arm’s length away from the swirling haze. The mosquitoes still did not react to him, only mindlessly flying about. Cautiously, he extended his hand, dipping just the tip of his gauntlet for a heartbeat before pulling back. Nothing happened. He tried again, holding it in longer. Still no reaction from the insects.

Slowly, he submerged his whole hand, then his arm. Finally, he took a step inside the haze.

The insects flew around him, avoiding him as if he were a tree. He took another step, and the mosquitoes parted before him as he moved.

Incredible!

Excited but not wanting to test his luck, he stepped back out of the swarm.

He turned and headed toward the others while removing the barbute.

“It works.”

“YES!” Endur shouted.

“Wow! Would you look at that… your parents would be proud,” Thrane said with a smile.

The others congratulated him, and the kid rambled on about the armor and its various aspects. Erik took it off and handed it back to the boy.

Things calmed down after that as they settled into camp, waiting for his minions to complete their task.

However, a problem occurred. At one point, Erik felt two of his Undead disappear—just as they were supposedly filling up the waterskins.

Alarmed, he shot up, focusing on his senses, trying to locate them. But they were gone.

He shifted his attention entirely to his last remaining Undead. It had not disappeared or even deviated from its path.

Erik was on edge the entire time, waiting to see what would happen. But after a while, his minion emerged like normal from the swarm.

He rushed forward and examined it closely. However, there was nothing unusual about it.

Strange, he thought.

He came to a tentative conclusion. He wasn’t completely sure, but he speculated that his Undead could not remain permanently raised—and would collapse on their own after some time.

He grimaced.

Another weakness.

He then proceeded to raise two more from the skeletal remains he had brought. It took him a bit of time to teach the new ones what to do, but soon, they too were off on their water collection duty.

The three Draugr went back and forth, filling waterskins throughout the afternoon.

By the end, they had almost filled them all. Just as the group was waiting for the last expedition of the Undead to return before camping in for the night, a voice rang out from the forest.

“Well, well, well… what do we have here?”