As the barrier came into view, I found two kexids standing on the other side. For the most part, their clothes were in tatters, and while it was slightly hard to tell, they looked tired.

On our side of things, there was only Rock, who was busy trying to stare holes in the kexids’ heads. Apparently some of the fighters from Drawgin had seen the kexids arriving and had tried to amass a party to fight them off, but thankfully, Rock had deescalated everything. While he hadn’t been awake for my chat with the gods, I had at least given him the summary while walking back from the dungeon. He knew the kexids weren’t supposed to be a problem anymore.

That didn’t, however, mean he was rolling out the red carpet for them. I couldn’t tell if it was due to the two shadows we’d lost on our expedition into the deadlands, or if he was just feeling extra grumpy today.

I mean, he just died, and now he’s glowing. Wonder if he has trouble sleeping like that.

The vibrant cracks in his skin were still radiating light, a fact he seemed none too happy about.

Thanks to him, however, an accidental fight wasn’t an issue. It was a lucky break, as everyone in the city knew the kexids as mindless monsters. A good while back, I’d opted to remove the disorientation spell that surrounded the city — it didn’t seem needed, and it would have been a giant hassle when the fighters arrived. The barrier, though, I’d left, and I was glad I had. Had there not been a barrier and they’d just shown up, things could have gotten ugly.

No, in this case the problem was something entirely different.

“So, Amak, level with me. Why exactly am I here? You said they don’t speak Common? What am I supposed to do about that?”

Apparently, there was a bit of a language barrier. Neither Amak nor Rock spoke kexid. Unfortunately, I was fairly confident it wasn’t a skill I’d picked up in the last four months either.

The shadow simply shrugged. “Rock seemed to be convinced you could deal with this. Something about ‘pulling it out of your ass’ because you had a chat with their god.”

I sighed. In some sense, I almost wondered if he would be right. It would be strange for Hexaura to have me deal with all of her worshippers without giving me the means to do so.

Could be one of those crystals, actually. Like, some sort of ‘kexid language pack’. I was right about to fish them out and take a look when I got into ear-range of the two kexids. A cheery voice sounded out from across the barrier.

“Edgar, do you think this is a new architectural fad? It looks like all the little human houses are missing roofs! I was rather certain that was a must for them — they do love their little roofs, after all — but it looks like they’ve gone with a rather minimalist approach! Quaint!”

Um. Sounds like Common to me?

The speaker was a good foot taller than the kexids I recalled seeing, and proportionately wider as well. On top of that, their chitin was significantly brighter as well, though what that signified, I couldn’t say. Of the two, the speaker had considerably less tarnished clothing — a chitin-tight wrap, of sorts, which had a mummy-esque look to it — managing to look as if they had not just been sleeping underground for centuries.

I shot the speaker with God’s Eye, curious to see any more information.

Hive Queen Aval’Kethrid: Level 23 Mind of the Depths, 600/600hp

Noted. Apparently she’s a queen? I was having some difficulty figuring out gender here, but in this case, my skill came to the rescue.

It was a very good thing that things hadn’t come to blows, though. The fighters might have had some powerhouses, but she was at the very least leagues above any of the shadows I’d seen.

“Um. Amak. Is she not just speaking Common?” I started walking over to the barrier, hoping to sort some of this out.

In response, I received a particularly strange stare. “Not any dialect I am aware of, at the very least.”

I frowned. I did just hear her, right?

As if to reassure me, the hive queen spoked once more.

“Oh! Edgar! Do you think this is some big surprise? Maybe they cast a sleep spell on all of us and moved us out of the city so they could debut their new renovations! That must be why there’s so few of them — they’re all hiding! And this is the surprise welcoming party! Yes, I’m sure that’s it.”

Edgar, in this case, appeared to be a significantly shorter kexid, of perhaps only five feet. His clothes, unlike his queen’s, were practically scraps. Also unlike his queen, he said not a word.

As I at last neared the barrier, Rock acknowledged me with a grunt. For their part, the two kexids shifted their attention to me, growing silent.

“Um. Hi there?” If I could understand them, I would hope that they could understand me.

On hearing my voice, Aval’Kethrid pumped her arms into the sky. “Oh, hello there! I was beginning to grow a bit worried, deary; for some reason, these fellows don’t seem to speak Common! Well, that’s no problem now is it? Love what you’ve all done with the place. I’m ready for a tour!”

It was hard to decide what had me more confused: that she seemed to think no one could speak Common, or that I was her tour guide for the newly-renovated Emer’Thalis.

This… might be a little rough. For some reason, I’d been expecting the kexids to show up with at least a hazy idea of what had happened to them, but if anything, the queen seemed to think this was just another ordinary day.

As for the language barrier, had I learned some sort of language skill?

This is what I get for napping instead of going through my notifications, huh? Maybe Hex had zapped kexid-speak into my head or something.

Well, no point in getting hung up on it right now.

“Right… A tour.” This was going to be kind of unpleasant. “Look, I really don’t know how to tell you this, but-”

“Oh!” she screamed, cutting me off. “But where are my manners? Hello, deary, my name is Aval’Kethrid. Ava for short. And before we start the tour, you wouldn’t happen to have prepared refreshments would you? For whatever reason, we seem to be absolutely famished. I do hate to impose, but I scarcely think I could handle the full tour like this!”

Not even sure where to start with that, I turned to Amak. “She thinks we’re here to give her a tour… and she’s hungry.”

The shadow looked like he wanted to ask me about my newfound language skills, but seemed to think better of it. “Are you positive that they’re not here to harm us in any way? It would be a rather large decision to let them into the city.”

It would be a risk considering her level, but how could I keep them out? Not only were they apparently starving out there, but they had a far better claim to Emer’Thalis than I did. True, they’d mainly lived beneath the city, but I was hardly going to keep them out of what was practically their own home.

Plus, there’s only two of them. If they went on some sort of rampage, I’m sure the fighters, or at least Elphaea could handle it. Right?

“They shouldn’t be? I’m going to let them in.” I pulled up the settlement interface, making my way to the barrier settings.

“If they prove to be hostile, I will show no mercy,” Rock supplied, helpfully. He did lose the fight against Ephesis, and kind of was losing the fight against the shades before that. Wonder if he’s feeling a little touchy about his fighting skills.

Well, he’d get over it, hopefully.

Based on a rather prodigious frown from Amak, I could tell what he thought about me letting the kexids in just like that, but he didn’t try to stop me, either. Whether that was because he trusted me, or he too didn’t like the thought of just leaving them there, I couldn’t say.

A few moments later, the kexids had access to the city.

“I guess, follow me and we can chat over food?”

Ava pumped her arms into the sky once more. “Delightful!”

After a few discreet inquiries into what kexids ate, a large amount of spider meat was hastily cooked up for them. I was momentarily worried that they’d have some sort of no-insects diet considering their outward appearance, but it seemed as though I’d been off the mark there.

Not wanting to suddenly bring them in front of the shadows or fighters without warning, we’d opted to sit in a random ruin a distance off from the main area. Amak and I sat across from the queen, while Rock stood a distance off, staring at the pair with a stony face. When at last presented with her food, Aval’Kethrid was elated.

“Perfect! Now if you’ll just excuse me for a second…” She rubbed her arms together, staring down her food as if it would run away on her.

Then, she opened her mandible wide, and she started screaming.

With both of her claws, she tore into the meat, shoving entire claw-fuls into her gullet where the food disappeared at an unbelievable rate. Somehow, she managed to chew and swallow it without ever stopping her screaming.

Is this… a kexid thing? I watched on, vaguely horrified but unable to tear my eyes away.

Just seems to be her though… Edgar, sitting to the queen’s side, ate at a snail’s pace, slowly nibbling on his food.

If nothing else, the performance only lasted a brief while, as her food was gone in a matter of moments. The screaming stopped, and she returned to her previous composure. Flecks of food covered the area about her mouth.

Rock, Amak, and I all silently stared at her.

“A lovely meal, dearies. You have my thanks.” As if noticing her own state, she brought her claw up to her mouth, wiping off some of the food that covered it. “Heavens, I’ve made a tad of a mess, haven’t I? Ah well, no matter. Edgar should have some more time to eat, but then it’s time for the tour, is it not?”

All right. Just going to move past that.

“Um. About that. Have you… have you talked with any of the other kexids?” They couldn’t all be as clueless as the queen, could they be?

“Oh, heavens, yes! They’ve all had terrible nightmares; you wouldn’t believe it. Something about spears of light and boiling blood. Very doom and gloom. And they say there’s a large number of us missing! Well, that’s no worry dear; I’m sure they’re just still sleeping, or perhaps they’ve already made it back to Kesser’Thalis.”

I resisted the urge to massage my temples and instead opted to translate her words for the others’ benefits.

“Eh. Just say ‘they’re dead,’ and get it over with,” Rock offered. “I’d do it if I could speak your weird kexid tongue.”

At that moment, I was decidedly happy that he could not speak the language, though having all of this fall on me wasn’t something I was thrilled about.

“Right… How do I put this? Ava, there was an… attack on the city. There was no renovation. The buildings all got destroyed.”

Baby steps. I’d work my way from here to the whole “you’ve been sleeping for countless years and your god is on vacation,” bit.

Aval’Kethrid simply flicked a dismissive claw in my direction. “Yes, yes. Edgar isn’t this delightful? They’ve invented an entire theme for their little rework. What is it that you humans do in a situation like this? Something with your eyeballs? Ah! That’s it. A wink is it not? A shame I lack the requisite eyelids, but we can pretend, can’t we?” She jerked her head to the side, as if to simulate the movement. “Ohhh, the city was under attack, was it? Wink, wink.”

My mouth was nearly hanging open, not sure what I’d need to say to get through to her. “No, listen. I’m being serious here. There was a major-”

The queen made a sharp clacking noise, quickly cutting me off. “Of course, deary, no need to belabor the point. I believe you. Although if there isn’t a full tour, perhaps we’d be excused? I could use a nap after that meal, and my bed is waiting for me.”

I winced. Well, if nothing else, seeing the state of her home will probably get the point through. I updated the others on what was happening, this time prompting a question from Amak.

“Before we simply let them loose, would you ask them where all the other kexids are? Should we be expecting more? I’m not sure we can feed too many. We’ll also want to speak to everyone else to let them know not to attack if they see kexids roaming about.”

I relayed the question over to Ava who chuckled in response. “Oh, silly me! Of course, you were probably hoping to give the tour to all of us at once. Well, we all woke up starving for some reason. Haven’t the foggiest of why. There wasn’t any food nearby, so I sent almost all of them into the forest. I was itching to get back to my city, so I made an ant-line here, so to speak. I’m sure they’ll be here eventually once they’re not quite as hungry.”

Strange. I imagined Hex’s spell must have maintained their organs and kept them fed in some way, even if just with mana. Then again, they hadn’t eaten in centuries. They were bound to be a little peckish, at the very least.

I delivered the news to the others casually.

In return, their eyes nearly bulged out of their heads. Amak placed a hand on my shoulder, gripping it tightly.

“Use Diplomatic Visit on Rock.”

Huh? “Where’s this coming from? You know we only get to do that once per month, right?” My settlement ability allowed me to teleport a single person from Emer’Thalis to another nearby settlement. What was possibly so urgent that he wanted me to use it now?

This time, it was Rock who spoke up. “Girl, by your own admission, there are now hundreds — maybe thousands — of kexids roaming around the forest, going on hunting sprees and killing every animal in sight. And none of the shadows know they’re friendly.”

My mouth curved into a wide O as I pictured the scene. And they can’t even communicate with one another to deescalate things. This could be… bad.

But wait. “I thought we had long range communication in place. Hasn’t anyone called the Elder to tell him what happened?” This had never been an issue before, after all.

Amak fixed me with a deep frown. “Yes, we did. We were using Hartha’s Mouth of the Forest skill for that.”

Oof. Right. Hartha who was currently… not around.

So from the Elder’s perspective, the sky in the deadlands would have magically cleared up, the kexids would be swarming the forest, and whenever he tried to contact Hartha, the skill would fail.

“Okay, yup. Someone should probably speak to him. Rock, you ready?” I was glad the commander had been selected for this. As much as it was a good cause, I already felt like I had too many things on my plate right now.

He grunted an affirmation, and with that, I activated my ability.

One moment he was there; the next, he wasn’t.

After a brief pause, Amak spoke up.

“Hmm. Perhaps that was hastily done. On second thought, maybe we should have sent you? They won’t have anyone who can talk with the kexids.”

We both frowned.

Well, too late now. And in any case, I was sure Rock would figure something out. He was the commander for a reason, after all.

“Deary,” Ava chimed. “You’ve all been chatting for a while now, and suddenly the large one just disappeared. Everything okay over there?”

I sighed. I need a vacation.

After briefly talking it over with Amak, we decided to end things there. Hopefully the queen would figure everything out when faced with the state of Kesser’Thalis, and then we could talk again afterwards.

I told her how to find me if she needed to, and that was that. The two of them, seeming to know where to head despite the state of the city, left us, and Amak and I soon parted ways as well. For his part, he had to alert the city to its new inhabitants.

For my part, it was finally time to read some notifications.