Chapter 15: Return to Lighthaven
Slate and Shale made it back to Lighthaven later than they had planned because they were both loathe to return to the village. For Shale's part, she had lived her whole life within the bounds of the forest, and her only foray into the world beyond had ended prematurely. While she understood the importance of the map, she still had a difficult time returning to the place that had plagued her with so many bad memories.
Slate, on the other hand, had wanted to spend more time seeing the outside world while Merus had a chance to do the bureaucratic work that Slate loathed so much. Neither of them would admit it to the other out loud, but they had also enjoyed the time they had spent with one another. Something about the Scourgemind made them feel more interconnected than ever before. It was one thing to tacitly accept the bonds that a combination and circumstance and opportunity had placed on them, but it was quite another for those bonds to be indelibly marked on their minds and hearts.
Their every thought and feeling was on display for the other. It didn't feel intrusive. Conversely, it felt like a hearth on an icy winter evening. It was home. When the subject came up between them, Shale had joked that the Scourgemind was what communion with the forest had always wanted to be and after having experienced both, Slate could only agree. Slate casually brought up the fact that once their first clutch hatched, they would be able to significantly add to the Scourgemind.
While he was excited for the tactical and political ramifications that the Scourgemind would give them, Shale couldn't help but think about their children. The idea of children had been something that she never thought would be in her future. She wondered whether the Scourglings would have their own individual personalities? Or would they be similar to the drones in a hive, merely weapons for them to position as necessary? Slate didn't have an answer. Nothing from Lucidus or the system itself had hinted to either possibility.
Regrettably, at least to them, they arrived late in the afternoon the day after they had departed. They knew they had arrived when they reached a large clearing in the center of the forest. Slate took the opportunity to study the small village. He hadn't taken the chance earlier, too focused on testing the capabilities of his new evolution.
The entire village looked more like a compound than anything the wood elves had lived in before. Gone were the unearthly woodland paths and towering trees. It faced the East and with the sun high in the sky, all of the buildings Lighthaven shone with a brilliant opalescent hue. The giant stone pyramid was situated at the very end of the village. It dominated the landscape and towered over the trees around it. Slate hadn't been able to tell from the inside, but the pyramid resembled the Aztec Pyramid of the Sun—minus the steps—rather than an Egyptian one. He supposed that was appropriate considering who his deity was.
Just in front of the pyramid was a vast marshaling ground. It was approximately the same size as the pyramid in square footage, and Slate figured that the village would have to grow much larger before the population could ever hope to fill it, much less their standing army.
Lining either side of the marshaling ground were long barracks made from the same shining marble as the pyramid. They were four stories tall aboveground with two that extended below. Each barrack was almost entirely self-contained as the two floors below ground seemed designed to be dedicated to the various trades that supported an army. There were facilities for blacksmiths, bowyers, woodworkers, fletchers, leatherworkers, alchemists, enchanters and an assortment of others that Slate couldn't recognize.
Unfortunately, the forges remained cold, and the facilities remained unused as the Guardians were uninterested in performing their own trades. They hunted for food, trained, and protected the eggs that were ensconced within the hatchery in the pyramid. Slate knew they were going to have to acquire a workforce and soon or they wouldn't be able to survive much less thrive. No nation could be wholly composed of warriors, the rules of commerce and markets, simply wouldn't allow it.
Outside of the three buildings and the farms that surrounded them, there wasn't anything else. There wasn't even a wall, ditch, or palisade to defend the buildings as was typical in feudal societies where constant combat was a way of life. Calling it, a village was a stretch, but it had the potential to be something grander. There was plenty of space with the barracks with enough room left over to fit five times the current number of Guardians.
Slate sighed out loud and made his way towards the pyramid in the distance and Shale dutifully strode beside him sharing his reluctance. On the walk over, they passed groups of hunting parties heading the opposite way. All of them gave the two a greeting and bowed lowly at the waist until they passed by. Slate was used to the deference of his troops, but the amount of bowing and scraping amongst the Guardians made him uncomfortable. He didn't correct them, it would be useless to. They had a religious fervor that wouldn't be stifled with a mere suggestion. He would need to ask Merus to develop rules of protocol. He didn't want Guardians bowing all the time. It could be potentially deadly if they were on a battlefield.
To find something to do, Slate decided to pull up his status and choose to pick the minor mutation he had earned from reaching level 25. His choices wouldn't just affect his own body, but according to the description of his major evolution, it would change the entire leadership caste of the Scourge. That meant it would transform Shale too, so he asked for her opinion.
Well, we both have plenty of utility and offensive ability. His Consort mused. What we have in the offense, we lack in defense. Especially when it comes to magical attacks. Luckily we haven't had to deal with a serious opponent because we have been able to ambush them, but that won't always be the case.
Slate decided to play devil's advocate and rapped on his own scaled hide with a knuckle. The motion caused a hollow thumping noise. We have pretty tough skin as it is. There hasn't been anything in the wild that has been able to damage it thus far.
You're not wrong. Shale replied. However, our scales are soft and pliant. They resemble an insect's outer shell rather than genuine reptile scales. This means we're more resistant cutting attacks rather than blunt or piercing attacks. Generally, in combat with another sentient, those are the two most effective types of attacks and the most commonly used. Cutting blows, which our hide is adept at defending at, aren't common strategies.
Slate noted that Shale had clearly given it more thought than he had. He supposed that was appropriate since she was the experienced warrior and he the politician. After giving her opinion, Shale remained quiet, allowing him the time to consider her words. He appreciated her insight. He had never grown up in a world where the denizens fought each other with medieval weaponry.
In his world, you simply had to shoot your enemies from a distance. The thought made him jerk with inspiration. He remembered reading when the military in his world had considered using a type of ceramic armor that consisted of multiple plates layered on top of each other like scales.
When a round impacted against the armor, some of the scales would crack and shatter. The effect dispersed the force of the bullet without damaging the integrity of the entire armor. His current flesh resembled scales, but it didn't actually serve the same purpose. Instead, it was large pieces of keratin armor stitched together using connective tissues. Slate wondered if he could replace it with scales instead.
He quickly perused through the list of minor evolutions until he found what he was looking for: Scaled Hide. He focused until a description formed.
Scaled Hide: this mutation evolves the natural scale armor of the Scourge. This is accomplished by increasing the thickness of the scales, overlapping them, and making each scale harder so that they crack under pressure rather than bending. Scales at striking points like the knees, elbows, and knuckles have been further augmented to protect the user during battle. At its lowest levels, cutting damage still poses a threat, but this mutation can be further evolved to have stronger defense, ablative effects, magic absorbing properties, and
more.
Slate figured the evolution would be perfect in shoring up his defenses. Better yet, if this mutation passed to his progeny, a question he still wasn't sure of, then when it was combined with Scourge Shield, it would make them much harder to kill. The Scourge leaders didn't have the time nor the desire to continuously churn out new members of the Scourge. Instead, they felt their time was better spent painting their names in history with their enemy's blood. It was essential to them that the members of the Scourge be as hardy as possible. Their lives were infinitely precious.
He confirmed his choice and felt the familiar tingling cover his body. Slate opened his eyes as the sensation had stopped. He had involuntarily closed them to resist the impulse to scratch his itching hide. He took a moment to study his changed form and was pleased with what he saw. The first thing he noticed was that he was more humanly proportioned than he was before.
The first and most substantial change was that he no longer had the paper-thin scales from before. Instead, it was an actually armored hide that covered his entire body with small, overlapping golden scales. Slate could immediately feel it was much heavier than his previous flesh. Even slight movements took more effort and were slower than the rapid movements of his previous figure
The scales on his limbs and back were much more substantial and thicker, resembling multilayered plates of armor. On his hands, feet, and torso, the scales were more finely made and looked more like medieval chainmail rather than plate armor. Slate still had all of the sensitivity in his talons and claws as before, and his long, bladed tail still had the same dexterity as before. Running his hands along his scales, he could feel the same sandpaper quality they previously had. The outer edges of his body were rougher than the scales located along his neck, chest, abdomen, and groin. Those had a soft and silky quality that he admired.
Some of his bone structure had changed to support the new weight. He could no longer get away with a svelte chest and narrow hips. He had a robust and humanoid ribcage. The bone there was thick and dense, protecting his vital organs from damage. He hadn't realized how vulnerable his torso had been before. He studied his waist and noticed that mas more proportionate as well and he wondered why. His previous body had small hips because he didn't need all of the digestive organs that humans possessed because he subsisted off an entirely liquid diet. Now they were more substantial to support the weightier upper body.
As he thought that a roiling heat game from his gut that generated heat throughout his entire body. It was like having heartburn if it was possible to have such a thing. He was confused at the sensation. He abruptly felt the heat roil in his stomach and come surging up his throat. He felt like he was going to throw up. He fell to his knees and placed his hands on the ground, reading to barf up whatever was making him feel like shit.
He opened his mouth to hurl, and smokeless, white flames shot out in a torrent and charred the ground. Surprised, Slate clamped down on his and swallowed down the intense fire. He pulled up his status to see what was happening. He had two new entries within his mutations sections.
The new entry under biodefense was already expected, but the fire under bioweapon was a complete surprise. Slate focused on it until a description formed.
Cleansing Fire: The Heritor of the Lord of Light has historically been blessed with the ability to use Cleansing Fire. In this form, ambient mana is distilled within a mana conversion organ into a flammable liquid that ignites when exposed to the air. The fire is naturally blessed by the Lord of Light and has properties that work to remove corrupting influences. As a result, the Heritor is unable to use any other forms of elemental magic besides fire.
As Slate read the description, he cursed out loud. Not only had he traded mobility and utility for defense, but he had limited his magical options. The only magic he had known prior to now was communion. That had largely been replaced by his ability to use the Scourgemind. He could still use the spell as it wasn't from one particular element or another, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of loss at the changes.
He looked over to see how Shale had progressed with her changes and opened his mouth in awe. She was magnificent. They both resembled bipedal komodo dragons—where his form was bulky and armored—her body was svelte and sensual. Her silver scales reflected scintillating rainbows that made her look like a living jewel. She did a small twirl, showing off her form and causing her deadly tail to whip through the air. The motion made Slate stumble backward from his spot on the ground and amble to his feet to dodge the sharp blade.
She flashed him a teasing grin as she checked his expression for a response. What do you think? She asked cheekily.
Slate was honest. Grow a pair of wings, and you'd be a true Mother of Dragons. His voice was tinged with obvious affection and awe.
Good. Shale beamed. The Consort was pleased with the epithet even if she didn't know its source. Let's go meet Merus. She took off into a run on all fours that brought her quickly to the center of the marshaling ground.
Slate lumbered after her, feeling like a running bear rather than the sylphlike predator that Shale resembled. The heaving weight from his scales felt like he was a linebacker looking for something to tackle through. Shale quickly made it to the entrance to the pyramid before him, and by the time he reached her, he felt tired from the run. He simply wasn't used to carrying around this amount of weight. He resolved to pick some kind of enhanced musculature the next time he had a minor evolution available. He wasn't suited to a scouting mission anymore.
Shale waited just long enough for Slate to arrive before standing and using an arm to wave the doors open to their home. They entered the temple together, talons clicking loudly on the polished marble floors. They noticed petitioners within the temple, praying to Lucidus. The worshippers saw the Scourge leaders simultaneously.
Expressions of awe crossed the worshipper's faces as they hurriedly bowed with whispered "Lady Consort" and "Lord Heritor." as the two awkwardly circled around them to reach the staircase set into the plinth of the statue.
They descended the steps hurriedly to avoid the awkward gazes of the Guardians in the temple. As they walked into their personal compound, they noticed that Guardians had been posted in regular intervals throughout the series of rooms. Slate supposed that Sumnu had taken his task to heart. He was interested to know what the former chieftain had come up with. The sentries hadn't bowed or said a word, merely nodded to them and watched the corridors with hard-eyed stares.
This was something, Slate had been used to from his time in public office, but it was a new experience for Shale, and he had to stop her from thanking every set of sentries they passed. When they got to the throne room, they found Merus hard at work in his customary seat at one of the council tables that lined the room.
He glanced up as they walked through the door and stared open-mouthed without saying anything. Slate could practically feel Shale preening but decided not to ruin her moment. After a few seconds, Merus realized he was being rude. He stood up and gave a slight bow.
"My Lord and Lady," he began, "Welcome home, did something happen to bring you back so soon?"
Slate gestured for him to sit back down. "No, just the opposite actually." He replied. "We collected good intel and came back with a gift." He waved Shale over, and she presented a rolled-up hide to Merus. They were both excited to see what the Guardian Governor's reaction would be.
With a curious expression, he rolled-open the hide on the table and studied it for a few moments. A few emotions warred for supremacy across his face before settling on joy. "This is great! He exclaimed. This will allow us to start sending out real scouting parties!"
Both members of the Scourge smiled with toothy maws. "Of course." Slate replied smoothly. They were both excited to see what the hatching of their first clutch would bring. "Did anything happen for the short time we were away?" Slate questioned.
Merus paused for a second, thinking. "Actually yes, Heritor. I found something that you should probabl
y take a look at. I've been keeping it nearby until you arrived and I could hand it off to you."
"Okay." Slate said slowly. "What is so important that you would want to keep it safe?" Merus dug around in his pocket before presenting him a small copy of the temple they were currently within carved from blue crystal. "It's this Slate. You wouldn't believe the power it has." He held it up, turning it slowly so that Slate could see the entirety of the small object.
"I found it locked away in a vault down here. We're still discovering rooms in this structure. It looks like this place was meant to be your palace for a long time. There are even places that look like they' were purposefully left blank or empty to allow further upgrades." He took a deep breath before thrusting the small pyramid at Slate. "I think that this is the reason, but I can't be sure until you use it. It gives me a message from the system saying that it can only be used by Lighthaven's Heritor.
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