The hiveling smelled terrible, to Dem’s sensitive nose, but the worst part was touching it. His spell, Understand Beast, required touch to work, and touching the the wrinkled dirty skin of the hiveling made Dem’s stomach turn. Graf held the beast’s arms as Dem grabbed it by the ankle. It was hurt and didn’t have much fight left in its sagging body, but Dem didn’t want to take any chances.

He hadn’t learned much at first. The hiveling, despite its beastfolk form, wasn’t exactly much of a talker or thinker. After some false starts, and confusion, Dem had to rely on simple yes or no questions. It had answered readily enough to those, at least. Each of his questions was sent mentally, through pictures mostly, with the intent of a question sent at the end. Understand Beast was could used for both direct communication and to send feelings.

The hivelings answers were unsatisfying, though they did address Sumisi’s most immediate worries.

There were no more hivelings nearby, so far as this hiveling knew. So at least this wasn’t some sort of hiveling migration.

Had it visited the northern human settlement? The answer was no.

Did it receive its wounds from humans? Answered no.

Were it’s wounds from other beasts as it came south? This one confused the hiveling as it gave both a yes and a no, so Dem clarified his question.

Did some of its wounds happen as it came south? The answer was yes, though not a very strong yes.

Did its wounds mostly happen north, in the True Wilds? Yes.

At this point in the question and answer session Officer Sumisi stopped Dem. Dem had been detailing the answers outloud for everyone to hear, which made her nervous, judging by her body anxious body language.

Sumisi cleared the area of other soldiers, but for her, Dem, Dem’s beasts, and the Sergeant. Then she gave Dem a warning.

“Tamer, you will now ask it about why it is this far south. Ask it about reasons it left the True Wilds. Ask it if was pushed out of its home by other tribes. Whatever answers it gives you, you will, of course, shares those with us, but then you are sworn to secrecy. I have already sent a runner for a Tower pact of secrecy, to ensure there will be a penalty for if you should speak about what you learn here.” Sumisi’s tone left Dem little room to wiggle, though he had no idea who he would tell about it.

He considered her words for a moment, and then spoke, “I will agree to your terms, but I would like the room within my oath to be able to tell my beasts and ask their input.”

In turn, Sumisi considered his request for a moment, “I agree, but they will also have to make an oath to the pact.”

“I agree, Officer. I will now ask your questions as best I can.”

Dem’s next series of questions were more complex and harder to answer yes or no to. Dem began to guess at reasons as to why the hiveling might have gone south. Lack of food? No. Did a powerful predator attack it? No. Disease? No. Was it exiled? No. Was it here because its hive was destroyed? The hiveling gave no response to this, perhaps because it did not know if its hive was still intact. Dem could sense the beastman’s fear over their temporary connection. It was obvious to Dem something drastic had happened. Was this thing what had Sumisi so spooked? Was this why she was so tight-lipped?

Finally, Dem decided to go with Sumisi’s most specific question. Did it leave the True Wilds because it was pushed here by another tribe? This was a.. yes, but a very weak one. Dem could only assume that other tribes had something to do with it, but weren’t the whole story.

This answer didn’t really satisfy any of the questions in Dem’s mind, and so before relating the hiveling’s answer to Sumisi and the sergeant, he asked a broader question.

What drove you south?

What Dem got back in response was a series of images. His fellow hivelings fleeing in every direction, being chased, and in some cases stepped on, by other beasts and beast folk. He could sense this wasn’t the root issue though, as the hiveling sent him one last image, of something large and terrible, like a towering black wave, that threatened to crash down the beastman’s hive. Dem couldn’t make out specifically what the hiveling feared, but rather could tell this image represent its fear of something powerful and unknown. What left Dem the most shaken was the rumbling of ground, that accompanied the image. Dem had never know the ground to rumble like that. He had heard of landslides and mudslides, but nothing like what he found in the hiveling’s image.

Dem let go of the ankle of the hiveling, and took a step back. He lost himself in thought at what he had seen. Graf stepped back as well, letting the hiveling sag further down.

By the time Dem was done digesting what the hiveling had sent, Sumisi was impatient and angry, waiting for Dem to come back to himself. She had even taken a step toward Dem, to rouse him, but Ina had shift her weight in a way that made it clear no one was to approach Dem. Sumisi tried to ignore the beastwoman’s interference, but did not approach Dem any closer. In this extra moment Ina had gained him, Dem considered not describing this last image to Sumisi. Something about it was a important and a secret, but he wanted to see her reaction to his words. His curiosity won over his fear.

It took him a few false starts, and moments where his words hung in the air, but eventually he related everything he had gotten in response his last couple question.

Sumisi listened intently, forgetting her previous anger. At the description of the sense of imminent disaster, where the ground had trembled, Sumisi had gone pale and by the end of Dem’s description, sweat had begun to accumulate on her face. In a tight voice, Sumisi had asked him a few more questions about the last image, as she did so she drew closer to Dem and the hiveling. Ina didn’t stop her now, but simply watched warily. As Dem answered Sumisi’s last question about the image, the Officer drew her sword and in one smooth, swift motion, plunged it into the hiveling, nearly decapitating it. Its brackish, dark blood splattered the Officier, Dem, and Dem’s beasts. Ina and Graf took defensive stances, though neither had moved to defend the hiveling. Dem was surprised certainly, but made no comment. He thought about asking what all this meant, but he assumed the Officer would have told him already if she going to. He tried anyway..

“Officer, what…”

Sumisi just shook her head at him, not saying anything and staring at the corpse of the beastman. Dem busied himself clean the blood off, to make the time productive, at least.

As Dem was casting cleaning spells, getting the blue-black blood off his clothing, a messenger arrived carrying a scroll case. In short order, Dem, Ina, and Graf had all made a pact not to reveal anything they had seen or learned here, by channeling a little of their Path into the document. When everything was finished, and the body was being disposed of, Sumisi still explained anything. She also wasn’t quite ready to leave him to his own devices.

Sumisi sighed heavily, and the let out a little laugh,“Now, we go to report to the commander. I think he will like you.” Her voice still had a shade of the earlier darkness in it, despite the playful tone she had used in her last sentence.

***

The commander had liked him, and so had someone else in the comander’s tent, far more than Dem would have liked.

When they had arrived outside the largest tent in the encampment, Dem had expected the commander was another woman like Sumisi, judging by her earlier tone, or perhaps the commander was some old man who hated Tamers. All Dem knew was to expect a trick or joke here, probably at his own expense. Instead, Dem had gotten his ass grabbed by a drunk, foppish-looking man, little more than his own age.

To gain entrance, Sumisi had sent in one of the two tall, handsome guards that had been standing outside the tent, into the tent to seek out the commander. After a while, no one had come out, and then Sumisi had sent the other guard in. Again, no one came out. After a while more of waiting, Sumisi had gone in herself, dragging Dem in, leaving Ina and Graf outside. Inside the dimly lit tent, Dem saw a small writing desk, several chairs, a table with maps. The guards who had entered were standing off to the side, looking confused and embarrassed, their gaze towards a wide cot with several bodies laying in a pile of blankets and spilled wine.

Officer Sumisi marched up to the cot and began to rifle through it, until finding the appropriate person, and dragging them out by an arm. The man she pulled from the pile was short, thickly muscled, and had some paunch around the middle. He was darkly bearded, and nearly as hairy as some beastman Dem had seen. He appeared to be drunk, and or otherwise incapacitated. It generally took a lot of alcohol, or very concentrated alcohol, to get a combat Classed adventurer drunk, and Dem supposed Classed soldiers were no different. Caius literally drank for half the day to maintain his perpetual stupor, and undoubtedly stole from the church coffers to afford it. This man was have been drinking something concentrated and potent because Dem saw no kegs or barrels nearby.

She then called over to Dem, “Do you have a restoration spell for our dear Commander here?”

Dem was still surprised when she had called the man the commander, despite the obviousness of the situation. He hurried over and channeled his Path into his spell. The spell was a slight bit more sluggish than what Dem was used to, probably due to his own cycles of debauchery. He needed to do some hunting, or perhaps spend some time with Ina to clear his head and sharpen his resolve.

While Dem as casting his spell the pile of blankets began to move, but Dem ignored it, as he focused on his spell. Eventually the bleary eyed, head of a youngish man, popped out from under the blanket. The face was thing, and had high cheekbones with a mop of blonde curly hair. The unfocused eyes seemed to find Dem, and out of the corner of his eye Dem could see the man reach up to lay a grasping hand on Dem’s ass, giving it a firm squeeze. This set Dem’s teeth on edge, but he endured it so that his spell would finish properly. Once the spell was complete Dem spun around to slap the hand away, but the man had already fallen back to sleep, hanging limply off the edge of the cot. Dem sighed, and looked back toward the commander who was now opening his eyes.

The man spoke in a deep tone, “Oh, the Divinity above, I should drink less. Is it time to leave already? Sumisi? Where is Sumisi?”

Officer Sumisi was, of course, standing just to the side of the man, holding him up. Her face looked annoyed, her eyebrows down cast, and face wrinkled, but Dem could tell she wasn’t as furious as she might have been. Whether that was out of respect for the commander’s rank or because she was simply used to his ways, Dem did not know.

Sumisi responded by given the man a good shake and then standing him up. She pulled him to stand position effortlessly, showing both the passive strength of her Class and her experience with heavy, dead-weight drunks.

After taking a moment to steady himself, the commander gazed around the tent, finding Dem first. The bearded man’s eyes looking Dem up and down.

“Interesting. A messenger? Not bad..” The commander eyes did yet another pass of Dem, this time more slowly.

“Someone rich must want something from me to be able to afford a toy such as you! What do they want? Tell them we are leaving this very cycle. There isn’t time to do any favors.”

There was a cough at the commanders back, and his bushy eyebrows raised. He turned around to face Sumisi.

Sumisi spoke, facing the commander, a tone of annoyance unmistakable in her voice, “Ahem, Commander Paus-Paun, this is Tamer Demneh. We have something to speak to you about, and we will be ready to march out soon. I think-”

Before Sumisi could finish, the another head popped out of the blankets on the cot, this one had the face of a masculine-looking woman, dirty-blonde hair cut short. As she emerged from the cot, her smallish breasts bounced slightly. As she rose to her knees her actions sped up as her face took on a green color, and she proceeded to move the edge of the cot and vomit right on to Sumisi’s armoured footwear.

If Sumisi hadn’t been angry, she was clearly angry now. Sumisi grabbed the woman by the hair, after she finished spewing, and then slapped her across the face. The commander didn’t move to stop his vice-commander, but did have the clarity to look mildly ashamed.

Finally the beard man spoke up. “Ah, Sumisi don’t be so hard on your cousin. In fact, you should have joined us last night. It was quite the party. I’m sure one of us could have provided what you enjoy..”

The fury on Sumisi’s face lay unabated, and she looked like she might punch the commander, but after a quick moment, she contained her anger.

Through gritted teeth, she spoke again, “We have things to discuss. Send your Tent Sergeant and my useless cousin out. We have some new information about our destination. Tamer Demneh has communicated with a beastman from the north that arrived today. He is already making himself useful.”

Dem didn’t know if the latter emphasis on ‘useful’ was a compliment for him, or a indictment of the people in the tent.

The blonde man who had grabbed Dem earlier had woken up again, just in time to hear himself called ‘Tent Sergeant’. Dem wasn’t sure what a ‘Tent Sergeant’ was, but he assumed it had something to do with the time the man spent in the commander’s tent. The man sputtered and then cursed at Sumisi, to only receive a backhand from her in return. Sumisi then ordered the two guards to take the commander’s bedmates out of the tent. The commander found a camp chair to sit in, and sat down heavily, the chair creaked with his weight, but did not give way.

The bearded man gave a heavy sigh, and focused his dark eyes on Dem. He spoke then, in a weary tone, ignoring the still angry Sumisi standing off to his side.

“I am Commander Paus-Paun. Of the Nep Isles. So you are not a messenger, but a Beast Tamer? You are one of our conscripted guides then, a local. You bring me a message of a different kind. Let me hear it.”

Dem complied and told the tired-looking man everything he had learned from the hiveling, leaving nothing but his own thoughts out.