The vegetation around us grew denser and more vibrant, while I became increasingly sure that we were heading away from the exit. In theory that knowledge would’ve been helpful, but no matter how I tried to adjust my course it didn’t seem to help.

Elmidath narrowed her eyes, looking intently at the changing plant life. “Are you sure you this is the right way?”

“Not in the slightest.”

The forest opened up ahead of me and I felt a glimmer of hope, which was immediately crushed when I saw that it was just another clearing. A swarm of insects writhed among the moss, a thousand myriad forms jockeying for position. At first it seemed like some sort of insectile war, but upon further reflection I realized they were working together toward some common goal.

It was unclear as to what that may be, as from what I could tell they just seemed to be moving the moss around or perhaps consuming it. Elmidath stopped behind me, looking every bit as confused and disappointed as I was. “We are definitely lost.”

“It is starting to look that way. Well, I imagine they’ll find us sooner or later.” I wasn’t quite sure if that was really consolation or not. If they wanted to talk then great, but if they only showed up again to kill us for trespassing then I would much prefer they didn’t find us.

“We never should have come to this awful place, nothing good can come of it.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ve been over this. It all might turn out fine still, have a little faith.”

“You’re making it more than a little difficult to do so.”

Staring intently at the creatures, Tagath knelt down for a better look. “I realize this is probably lost on the both of you, but these are fascinating creatures. They’re quite unlike the animals native to our world. Do you think Soarister brought them with him, or are they from the human world?”

“They might be from the latter.” While I wasn’t nearly so interested in them as Tagath was, they made for a good diversion. “I don’t think any of them are the same as the ones from my world, but they’re somewhat similar.”

I recounted to him a few basic facts about insects, though I wasn’t sure how much they applied to the organisms before us. The way all the different species were cooperating was entirely unlike anything I was familiar with, and I could only assume it was the result of magic rather than natural inclination.

Fascinated, Tagath took in everything I said. “So, they’re not intelligent then?”

“No, not really.”

“How are they capable of carrying out complex tasks like this then?”

“I think it’s some combination of pheromones, which are basically different smells, and their own instincts. Though in this case I imagine there must be magic involved.”

“How very strange. At first glance I would have assumed their coordination was the result of some kind of mental link, not unlike the one you share with Lady Sarinknell.”

I shrugged. “I can see how you’d think that, and maybe these ones really do work that way. Though I’m not sure how you’d even go about checking.”

“Nor am I, and I suppose it’s not too relevant. Particularly when there are far greater things demanding our attention.”

“Well there’s no harm in it. It’s not like we’re actually doing anything right now.”

“Still, I imagine it’s best we remain alert. There could be any number of dangerous things out here.”

Tagath abruptly got up and gestured towards the insects. “For all we know, making contact with them might be deadly.”

Given how potent the toxins of some insects could be, that was totally plausible. The insects here seemed devoted to work with no natural predators, so there was a good chance they weren’t venomous but it was far from a guarantee. Just to be safe, I took a few steps back from the clearing. It was only then that I noticed Elmidath.

Uninterested in the bugs that had caught our attention, she had her arm against one of the larger, less pointy trees. That was all well and good, but the tree was moving. Its thin limbs were slowly manoeuvring, outside her line of sight, to encircle her.

A warning formed on my lips, but I was too late, the arboreal trap had closed. Moving in perfect synchrony, the tree seized her around the throat and limbs. She thrashed as I rushed over, but quickly went still as I tried to tear the wooden noose free.

The sharp edges tore both our skin, painting the bark red, as I struggled. Failing to loosen its grip around her throat, took hold of the branch and ripped it free. I practically had to dig it out of her flesh before it finally came off. Doing the same with the others, I pulled her free and held her away from the tree, whose remaining limbs were already repositioning to ensnare her once more.

I kept a careful eye on the other plants as I backed away with Elmidath, but none of the others were moving. Elmidath’s eyelids fluttered and she fought me for a second, before realizing that I had her. “What the hell happened?”

I pointed to the bloodstained tree with its broken branches. “That thing tried to kill you.”

After a brief pause to take stock of herself, Elmidath’s various cuts stopped bleeding. “Why? I thought we were just waiting.”

“Yeah, well, maybe it didn’t get the message. Though it probably just tried to kill you because it noticed you.”

“Great. I’m really glad we came to this place where everything wants to kill us.”

“It’s hardly everything. It was just that one tree so far.”

She was eyeing the other tress suspiciously when the ground shook. It shifted for only an instant before settling once more. Confused, I looked around. The insects had ceased whatever they were doing, now the whole swarm stood motionless.

As I watched, new members poured forth from hidden burrows within the clearing and clustered together. In no hurry to rush blindly into the trees, I stood and watched. The mass of insects continued to grow until their numbers had multiplied several times over and the flow ceased. Once the migration finished, they stopped once more. Tagath, now that Elmidath was free, went right back to his examination of them. He was sensible enough not to touch the insects and they continued to ignore him.

Standing with her hand over her throat, Elmidath took in the scene with clear distaste. “We should just kill the lot of them, while we have the chance.”

“And how exactly would we do that?” Even if we for some reason wanted to, I didn’t see any practical way for us to kill the swarm before us.

“I don’t know, burn them or something?”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea. Let’s start a fire, I’m sure that won’t get us in any more trouble.”

Elmidath sighed. “I wasn’t serious, I just hate this place.”

“I know. Hopefully we won’t be here too much longer.”

I didn’t dislike this place nearly as much as Elmidath, but it was still unpleasant. Tagath, on the other hand, seemed like he’d be happy to live here. Had he always been this unlike the other demons? From what I could remember he’d always seemed different. Was there a reason for that beyond personality?

It occurred to me I was pondering his nature while he was doing exactly the same thing but for the insects, and I smiled. Despite the gravity of our situation, there was something amusing about doing almost the same thing by coincidence. I considered mentioning it to Elmidath for all of half a second; she wouldn’t find it amusing.

The insects remained immobile as the minutes dragged by, and I wondered what they could possibly be waiting for. Were they on standby for their next job after having finished their current work? I looked at the dense green carpet, but I could see nothing that seemed particularly finished about it. Not that I had any idea what they were trying to accomplish in the first place.

While contemplating their purpose another, rather less amusing, coincidence occurred. While I was trying to figure out why they were frozen, I froze myself when they all started moving at once. Thousands upon thousands of bodies moving against each other produced an audible rustling sound as they all turned to face us.

There was the slightest pause, in which they simply regarded us with their dark, soulless eyes, before the swarm raced towards us. Having seen more than enough, I grabbed Elmidath by the arm and turned to run. I was making for the trees when I realized they’d also sprung to life. Every one of them around us was joining their limbs together to block our escape while the swarm descended upon us.

Seeing that there was no way I was going to break through the trees in time, I turned to face the oncoming insects. Depleted as it was, Shotensho would be of little to no use, but I drew my sword nonetheless. Better to die fighting them than surrender to these mindless creatures.

I swept my blade across the ground before the horde, willing it to create ice. A small patch formed, stemming the tide a little, but it wasn’t enough to make a difference. Most of the first wave went right past the meagre attempts of Elmidath and I, running up our legs and into our clothing. There they went to work, biting and who knows what else.

Uncomfortable as the sensation was, the myriad of tiny bites was far from life-threatening, but it was only a matter of time before we were overcome. I could already feel them making their way up my body towards my head. Squeezing my eyes shut, I covered my ears with my hands as tightly as I could.

The pain steadily got worse, and I could feel more and more of them clinging to me. I was starting to lose my balance from the sheer weight of insects scrabbling to end my life when I heard Elmidath’s strained voice within my head. “I told you so.”