Chapter 25 - Kill Ten Hordelings (Part Eleven).

Neeka saw Søren and the others stirring from their slumber and gave them a few minutes to sort themselves out. She brought up the mission log and checked the status.

Defeat the Hordeling Monarch

A Hordeling Monarch is attempting to gain control of a Resurrection Shard in the Mourning Cave. Stop her before it's too late for Caisleán. A monarch that gains control of a Resurrection Shard can convert it into a Hordeling Den and spawn an endless horde of Hordelings.

0 / 1 Hordeling Monarch slain

0 / 6 Hordeling slain

7 / 13 Hordeling Spawn slain

Rewards

• 100 TEK

• 3 settlement build points

• [Uncommon] engram

The numbers had changed again and that worried her. Even without the conversion of the shard, the Monarch was still producing a significant number of hordelings. The Gods don't make this easy do they? she thought to herself. She rose from the crouched position she had kept most of the night. No other hordelings had crept out of the caverns during the rest of her lengthy watch. She desperately wanted to ask Søren more information about the expanded interface that continued to trouble her, but the monarch was of greater concern.

"Sehro. We go. One hour," Neeka said. "I go to rest." She then unrolled a simple roll of thick cloth, unfolded one side and curled up beneath it.

Søren rose to his feet as Neeka mentioned something about an hour to Sehro and then laid down to rest. He went and checked on Ihza and Hari. He could see in the group status on the left, that Hari's health bar had reached a little over the halfway point to being full. Hari seemed to be breathing easier as well.

"I see you Ihza," he said to the archer. She opened her mouth slightly and hissed in greeting. Søren knelt down next to Hari and peeled the bindings away. The wounds had begun to close and were only slightly pink around the edges. Hari stirred and tried to sit up. Ihza hissed and pressed down on Hari's shoulders, letting a stream of the Fuerven tongue spill out of her mouth. Hari responded, but a bit more slowly.

A notification in Søren's interface popped up.

Congratulations Traveler! Your fluency with Fuerven has increased to [Fuerven - Intermediate]. You can now carry on limited conversations and discuss personal details. Complex concepts are difficult to grasp still. Continued immersion into the language will advance your knowledge and fluency of the language and its use.

"Need to clean wounds Hari," Søren said to the wounded warrior. He grabbed the still white satchel and pulled out a handful of supplies. The wounds only required a change of bandages and a bit of the antibiotic ointment. "Good as new." Søren rose, shouldered his pack, and moved to help break down the camp. Ihza and Strik assisted and the hour Neeka had asked for passed quickly. Hari rose and worked through a series of stretches with Ihza after the packs had been filled and readied. Neeka woke, packed her belongings, and set them aside at the entrance to the Mourning Cave.

"We not need these below," she said to the others gathered around the entrance to the cave. "The horde grows. Must move fast. Sehro, Ihza, hang back. Hari, Sur... Søren, guard sides. Strik and I will take point. Søren," she said putting both eyes on him. "Eyes up."

Søren nodded, remembering his first encounter with the hordelings after the Tutorial. Neeka spoke a Word and the light grew within the blade of her crystal spear. She motioned Strik forward and entered into the cave. Søren and Hari entered after, followed by Ihza and Sehro. Both had their bows ready and arrows nocked. Neeka led the group through the winding caverns and past the two hordelings she had slain in the night. Sehro nodded appreciatively to Neeka while Søren examined the bodies.

"Thank you Neeka, for watching. Guarding," Søren said gesturing at the dead hordelings. Neeka hissed at Søren and he shut up with an amused smile on his face. He was used to that sound. She had used it many times on the way out of these same caves. He brought out the dagger to increase the light in the dark cavern. He noticed Neeka's curious glance at the dagger and it wasn't the first time he'd caught her looking at it. Tying the knot, he guessed. That is what I did that she does not understand. It felt like the right thing to do at the time.

The group crept quietly from the first hall in the caverns, a natural room full of stalagmites and columns, reaching up from the ground to the ceiling. The shadows cast by Neeka's spear and Søren's dagger twisted and crawled on the walls across different formations of stone. Two shadows moved unlike the others. A Hordeling and a Spawn crept closer. The slightest scrape of their chitin on stone gave Neeka and Sehro the only warning they needed. Neeka's spear flew through the air pinning the Hordeling Spawn to the wall. Sehro's first arrow pierced the membrane between two pieces of chitin on the larger of the two. It screeched in pain and lost its footing, tumbling to the floor. Sehro's second arrow skipped off the chitin as the hordeling fell.

Søren dashed forwards and stabbed down into its weak underbelly as an arrow from Ihza sunk into a gap of the chitin armor. The group made short work of the larger creature and continued deeper into the caverns.

*ding* 8 / 13 Hordeling Spawn slain.

*ding* 1 / 6 Hordeling slain.

The dying screeches alerted other hordelings deeper within the cavern. Neeka hid behind one of the columns near the exit from the cavern to deeper below. Hari took up a spot on the other side. Sehro and Ihza fell back and tapped toe-claws on the stone, luring the hordelings past the two hidden Fuerven. Strik took up a position between the tunnel and Ihza. Søren hung back with Ihza to be out of the way. Four Spawn and a Hordeling charged into the main hall past Neeka and Hari.

Neeka struck out from the shadows with her spear, dealing a critical sneak attack against the Hordeling and slaying it instantly. Hari's axe-spear descended from above his head and chopped deep into the nearest spawn. Dark blue blood and gout of white ichor sprayed out from the wound. Strik moved forward and finished off that same spawn, driving his spear into the large wound. Ihza struck another with two arrows as it crossed the room. Sehro put two more arrows into it as well. The spawn slid to a stop in the middle of the group and ceased to move. The last two Hordeling Spawns spun around, talons slashing through the air to ward off any attacks.

Søren ran forward and shouted loudly to get the attention of the hordelings. He was immediately forced to roll to one side to avoid an adrenaline fueled talon strike that bit heavily into the stone floor, chipping it. Neeka struck while the hordeling was distracted and her sneak attack pierced it deeply, deflating it like an overfull wineskin struck by a dagger. The other spawn remaining attacked Strik, the serrated talon flaying open a gash along his already wounded leg. He fell back, red blood splashing across the stone in contrast with the blue blood of the hordelings.

Hari shouldered his way past Strik and chopped down on the hordeling, severing a talon and cutting deep into the chitin shell. The axe-spear stuck fast in the shell. Hari grunted in pain as his wounds sent a shock through him. He gripped the haft of his weapon with claws, pinning the hordeling in place. It's small legs scrabbled on the blood slicked stone, trying to find purchase to allow it to escape. Neeka slid in behind it and stabbed downward into the Hordeling Spawn's back. A final screech marked the end of its life.

*ding* 12 / 13 Hordeling Spawn slain.

*ding* 2 / 6 Hordeling slain.

"Five minutes. Rest. Recover. We move and finish," Neeka said sharply. Søren nodded and went to Strik, pulling off the white satchel he had looted from the Gateway station in the skies above. He dressed the wounds on Strik's legs and checked Hari's again, tightening a loose bandage that had slipped slightly. Sehro and Ihza dismembered the dead hordelings, removing their talons and setting them off to the side in a pile. Søren joined Neeka at the cavern exit as he dismissed a notification that his first aid skill had increased to Copper III, increasing the healing bonus and disease resistance to ten percent.

Neeka pushed the party deeper into the caverns, keeping her spear held high and to the side to illuminate the short, narrow passages that split off from the main tunnel. She was surprised at how quickly the others had adapted to the abrupt and violent actions required when dealing with hordelings. To hesitate was to die. She checked the time remaining on the mission log. Only a couple hours and it would take at least an hour to reach the chamber below. It was not a short journey for her people when one passed.

Two Hordelings struck at the party halfway through the winding tunnel. The first launched itself from a crevice in the wall, striking at Neeka, who jammed the tip of her spear into its eyeless face and shoved it to the side. Hari chopped down on the Hordeling, carving part of its shell free and severing numerous legs. The second Hordeling waited until Sehro and Ihza let down their guard and it dropped from the ceiling. One talon ripped into Ihza's shoulder, slicing it open.

The impact with Ihza knocked it off balance and caused its other talon to miss Sehro. Søren spun around and triggered his quickdraw perk and shot the Hordeling with the pulse plasma pistol. The bolt burned through its body killing it instantly. Neeka and Hari alternated attacking and defending, frustrating the Hordeling that could not get past the reach of their weapons. Strik darted in from behind Hari, jabbing to keep the Hordeling off balance. The creature didn't last but a few heartbeats more after the initial assault.

*ding* 4 / 6 Hordeling slain.

Søren checked the charge status of the plasma pistol. Still have twenty shots left. Should be more than enough for the Monarch. Neeka and Hari checked on Ihza's wounded shoulder and shared a grim look.

"Ihza, you must fall back. Wait for us. At the entrance," Neeka said to her. Søren could see the protest in Ihza's eyes, but she held her tongue and just coughed an acknowledgement of Neeka's words. "Søren, tend to her wounds, yes?"

Søren nodded and cleaned and dressed Ihza's wound. Numerous scales had been sheared off and the skin and muscle below split deeply to the shoulder bone. She could barely lift her arm more than a few centimeters before hissing in pain.

"Søren, watch Hari. Keep safe," Ihza asked Søren. She handed her bow and a quiver full of arrows to him.

"I will," he said and nodded without thinking. He coughed acknowledgement to Ihza.

"Thank you." Ihza shared a long look with Hari, touched foreheads with him, and then headed away from the group to make the trip back to the surface. She was about to be swallowed up by the darkness when Søren chased after her.

"Ihza! Wait!" he shouted. Søren quickly untied the strand of wire he'd been using as a belt and offered it to Ihza, along with the crystal dagger that still glowed brightly. Ihza smiled in the Fuerven way, mouth slightly ajar and a quiet hiss. Søren helped tie the belt around her waist and adjusted the sheath to her unwounded side.

"Good luck Søren." Ihza lowered her head slightly and left. The rest of the group watched as she ascended the winding tunnel, watching the light from the dagger vanish around a bend. Neeka pushed the group onward and down towards the funerary chamber. Twenty minutes later with no further attacks, they arrived at the entrance to the chamber.

The funerary chamber was changed significantly from its prior appearance less than a day earlier. A sharp, acrid scent permeated the area and the temperature had risen significantly. Thick strands and mounds of quivering flesh covered the walls and columns of the cavern. The platform that held the resurrection shard had a massive mound of pulsating sacs and dripping orifices sitting upon it. The ground was covered with a thick mat of vein like lines snaking this way and that. The remaining two Hordelings, twice as large as the others, and the last Hordeling Spawn perched on top of the mound, vomiting chewed up dead animals into a churning orifice lined with triangular shaped shards of bone and chitin.

The two hordelings and the spawn turned and screeched at the intruders. The Monarch's mound quivered and pushed out a liquid filled sac with a sickening squelching sound. The Hordeling Spawn inside the sac pierced the caul from the inside, chewing its way out. The acrid, vinegar smell grew even stronger as the cloudy liquid inside spilled across the floor. The hordelings tiny mewling cry was joined by the screeches of the other Hordelings as they bounded down the side of the mound to attack.

Defeat the Hordeling Monarch

A Hordeling Monarch is attempting to gain control of a Resurrection Shard in the Mourning Cave. Stop her before it's too late for Caisleán. A monarch that gains control of a Resurrection Shard can convert it into a Hordeling Den and spawn an endless horde of Hordelings.

0 / 1 Hordeling Monarch slain

4 / 6 Hordeling slain

12 / 14 Hordeling Spawn slain

Rewards

• 100 TEK

• 3 settlement build points

• [Uncommon] engram