A few days later after meeting with Xenith for the first time, Van and the group spread out, using Sena’s help to recruit the surrounding rabbit kobold tribes. They also tried searching for other groups that might be willing to join their cause, and slowly, their fort and his soul realm became a hodgepodge of many different species.

It was a bit hard at first to get everyone working together, but by delegating and enforcing a few rules here and there, they were able to at least create a modicum of order. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, what was the hardest part of accepting all these different tribes, was not the different cultures or different species intermingling, but needing to acquire the necessary food to feed them all.

The ravenous insect hordes have laid waste to many of the edible vegetation. Which was having a cascading effect on the ecosystem and everyone that relies on it. It became so bad, Kella was willing to set Van and the group out to search for food.

But they only came back with a half-starved venom tiger cub… a beautiful black and green majestic beast. Whose mother was the queen of the north forest. But had died after constantly having to fend off hordes of insects every day. Forcing it to take its one and only child south, away from the center of horde activity in search of food and safety…

It was hard to separate the cub from its deceased mother, but Luna was able to after a few moments alone with it. The group then burned the body in its honor, so as not to be eaten by the insects and left. Luna carrying the small cub in her arms, a complicated yet sad expression on her face. Having achieved her goal of gaining all the queens of the forest, but not in the way she had imagined it.

When they came back with the news that there was nothing to eat for miles around. Morale dropped, and people became fearful of what may become of them in the future. Van’s greenhouses, even with the newfound help of the mandrakes and alraunes, were barely able to keep up with the demand.

Soon, refugees all over the forest began to show up at their fort's front gate, hearing about the group that was willing to accept anyone willing to join. Van wanted to increase his power and numbers by recruiting others to join him, but now he was facing a dilemma where there were too many mouths to feed and not enough to go around. It didn’t help that most of the people coming to join were mothers with children and those who couldn’t fight and had to be taught from scratch how to help or work a specific task or another.

And as the alarm bells began to ring once more, warning them all of another impending insect swarm. Van couldn’t help but wonder where Lyn was… normally she would have visited by now, telling them of all her woes, yet promising that she will turn things around despite everything going wrong.

She was late… and that was not like her.

And just as Van got on the ramparts of the wall and looked down on the new horde of insects down below. Their mana barrier activated on its own, to the surprise of all, and a strange red mist began to blow over the area. No. the entire region, filling the people with dread.

And when he looked back down from the reddening sky to the insects down below. All he saw… was horror…

Horror enough to haunt him for the rest of his life…

---Lyn pov---

“You can’t do this!” Lyn yelled from behind her bars, grabbing them, but then being rebuffed by a magical power that seemed to make up the cool metal rods.

Undeterred she continued to yell. “Are you crazy! Have you finally gone mad! Is this some sort of treason! What gives you the right to do this!” Lyn shouted at Saline who Contemptuously looked down on her.

“The one that is treasonous is you, Lyn…” Saline said, looking a bit gleeful at Lyn’s predicament. “I knew a ‘freak’ like you would only serve to hold us back in this war of ours, and that it would only be a matter of time before you showed your true colors…” she sneered.

“What are you talking about!” Lyn shouted, demanding answers.

Saline’s sneer turned uglier, and she played a recording of what she had said alone to Amie when they were in their room. “Parasite spy mites… you forget that this is a living tree… these kinds of mites are similar to many types of plant monsters. In that, they can become like part of the tree or whatever other living thing they latch onto. Even an expert would have a hard time finding them.”

“You… you were spying on me!?” Lyn asked in shock, unbelieving that she would not notice something like that or that Saline would go so far as to do something like this.”

“Of course, I was spying on you… Do you really think I would allow a mutt like you to do as she pleased in our own home? I had doubts about you from the very beginning…” looking down on Lyn from where she was standing.

“But you were the one that was throwing our armies to their death! Forcing down strategies that lost us so many allies and personnel! I tried to win this war!” Lyn shouted.

Saline slammed the bars. “They would have worked if it weren’t for you divulging all our plans in advance to the horde! My strategies were perfect! It was you that didn’t make them work! And when they did, you tried to claim credit for it!”

“That’s because I literally was the one that made those half-baked crazy and suicidal ‘strategies’ of yours work! If it weren’t for me, you would have lost every battle you’ve led!” Lyn exclaimed.

“Saline, please, don’t do this!” Amie exclaimed next to Lyn. “Lyn isn’t a traitor, she only has our best interests at heart!”

Saline snorted then shook her head. “It's a shame you’ve become corrupted by this false fairy… I had hoped you would one day see reason and denounce your involvement with such a creature, but it seems you’ve fallen too far…” looking at Amie in a pitying manner.

“Well… it doesn’t matter now… for all it’s worth… I too have learned something from you… Lyn…” returning her gaze to Lyn. “you too were right about something… if things continue as they are, we will never win… so… I will unleash the red knives… and end this once and for all…”

Amie gasped in horror. “No! You can’t! That would ruin so much of the forest! It could take centuries for us to recover from such a thing!”

“Better to see it destroyed than in the hands of lessers…” Saline said coldly.

“I don’t understand… What are the red knives?” Lyn asked, looking between Amie and Saline.

“The red knives sometimes called the creeping crystals or the twisting red or a bunch of other names I don’t want to get into. Is a bioweapon that uses a blood thorn as a base.” Amie quickly began to explain. “It combines blood thorn and a bunch of other things and turns it into a fine powder that then is converted to a type of spore through a method that no one but the creators knows about.”

“Once ready, the spores are released in whatever direction you want, and anything living that the spores touch are infected and consumed in the most grotesque way imaginable… it goes into your bloodstream, and from there it eats you alive, as it does, reddish-black crystals start to protrude from your body, looking like knives. It literally cuts you apart from the inside out…”

“But it doesn't stop there… entire swathes of the forest can be turned into nothing but a barren wasteland with protruding red knives. And if not kept in check, it could morph, change and evolve, devouring everything in its way… the last time it was used was over a millennia ago, and it took the people of that time over two centuries to recover the quarter of the forest they lost to it… every fairy since then has grown up with the horror stories of what happened that day, and to never repeat such a mistake again…” Amie finished with a shiver.

Lyn then turned back to Saline with an incredulous look on her face. “And you want to use that anyway!?”

“We’ve recovered from it once before, we can do it again,” Saline said confidently.

“But the situation this time is different!” Amie exclaimed. “Before we were dealing with monstrous invaders! And only a quarter of the forest was taken! Right now, more than half of the forest is gone! And we don’t have the army or the forces necessary to deal with the aftermath of deploying the red knives! It would be mutual self-assured destruction!”

Saline shook her head sadly. “Such little faith you have. Do you forget we are fairies? What can’t we do? Besides… it’s too late… I’ve already given the go-ahead…” she then turned her back to them. “The next time you see me… the war would be over and we would have won. I will let you go, and Lyn will be executed for her crimes, and everything will go back to normal…” turning to walk away.

“Saline! Saline!” Amie yelled after her.

“Saline you gods damn bitch! You’ll kill us all!” Lyn shouted after.

But Saline had left without a second thought, to sure of herself that everything would work out, and if not, it would not be her fault, but Lyn and the others who forced her into a corner. They would be at fault… not her… she would make sure of it…

---Van pov---

Van watched in horrific fascination as ugly red protruding knife-like crystals began to form on the many corpses of the bugs down below. Normally, no matter how many of the insects were killed, they cared not one Iota for what happened to them or their brethren.

Except this time…

This time they shrieked and chittered in pain and agony. A cacophony of horror and death that hounded his ears and made its home deep in his brain, refusing to go away. They would crash into each other and madly kill each other in their delirious pain and confusion, going berserk, hoping their torture would end soon. And when it did, it left nothing but their corpses behind.

But if that was the end of it, perhaps it would have been fine. Unfortunately, that was not the case…

Some of the corpses began to rise, their eyes all but empty except for a dull glowing red that shown from within. And in the most grotesque fashion imaginable, they began to devour one another. Forming asymmetrical creatures straight from someone's worst nightmare.

Many on the battlements began to throw up. Others took a few steps back with fear in their eyes.

Van looked towards Kella, hoping she would have an idea of what was going on and what to do. But even she watched wide-eyed in horror at the sight before her, completely at a loss for what was going on.

He then realized he had to snap out of it, and started giving orders that all non-combatives were to run and seek refuge in his soul realm and that everyone else was to prepare for the worst.

This seemed to help snap Kella out of it as well, and she repeated some of the things he said and added a few more well-defined orders on top of that.

“Kella…” Van said, drawing her attention. “We…” he didn't want to say it but realized he had no choice in the matter. “We should leave… once we deal with… whatever this is… we’ll evacuate the forest…” his hands clenched into fists, he was not happy that after all this time they had to flee the forest, or that he would make the decision to leave without Lyn anywhere around. But he had no choice…

Kella paused, looking at Van’s complicated expression, but nodded. “Don’t worry, we won’t leave without her. We’ll find her before we go…” putting her comforting hand on his shoulder.

Van gave her an appreciative look before his expression turned hard again. After that they two began giving out orders to prepare for combat, unsure what was going to happen next.

Then they waited, and watched as the insect horde below became a disgusting wreathing mass of broken flesh and sharp red knives…

Slowly, the creatures began to morph and spread out, latching onto each other and forming bonds and tendrils. Soon it was like there was one giant mass of undulating flesh and body parts.

Oddly enough, the mass of revolting flesh didn’t seem interested in anything beyond the mana barrier, though its tendrils did seem to plaster themselves on it, almost like one would do when leaning against something for support or perhaps it just out of curiosity? A chilling thought to be sure…

As Van and Kella watched, they made sure that everyone who was not supposed to fight was safely put away in the soul realm. And anyone who could fight was taken out and put on the wall to prepare for the worse, which sadly wasn’t much…

“Isa,” Van said, drawing her attention. “Go find Gwen and ask her for a report on the mana barrier’s core. We need to know how much juice is in there left and how long it can last. If we have to keep it on for a few days, we may be able to survive so long as those… things… don’t attack. But after that, I’m not sure it can hold. I want to know the exact time frame, or at least your best estimate, of how long the mana barrier will last and how much she thinks it could take before breaking. Understand?”

“Got it!” Isa nodded, and she left quickly to do just that.

“Kella, I want you to do a run around of our wall, I want to know if we are surrounded or if there’s a side we can escape to. While you're at it, have something check all of our reserves of ammo and bring them up, and have another group get to work on those artillery. I don’t care how long it will take, if there are people with free hands, have them work, better than just sitting on them and letting their minds worry.”

“Roger!” Kella acknowledged and left to do just that.

“Luna,” Van said, turning to her.

“Y-yes!” Luna said, straightening up, she wasn’t really used to Van taking such an authoritative tone.

“Drop by and visit Gwen and have her cast an air bubble spell on you.” Van began.

“An air bubble spell?” Luna asked, confused.

“After that take your wyvern, which you should have named by now, and fly above and see what you can see. Make sure she also casts it on the wyvern as well.” Van continued.

“While I don’t like the thought of sending you out to danger… the wyvern you’ve tamed only listens to you and me, and at the moment I need to stay here… can I trust you with this?” he asked, looking her in the eyes.

Luna’s own eyes widened. “Yes! Of course!” she said, all of a sudden feeling the pressure of responsibility put on her and the dread of having to fly out in that red mist, even though it seemed to have mostly gone away...

Van nodded. “Good…” then his expression softened and he leaned forward until his face was in front of hers. Gently he cupped her face in his hands. “Be. careful… and come back to me. Okay?” now showing the hidden vulnerability inside.

Luna’s eyes went a tad wider. Noticing the worry, but also the determination to send her off despite it. If she wasn’t worried before, she definitely was now… but she couldn’t let her own worry show…

“Don’t worry Van…” she said with determination. “I won’t do anything reckless…”

Van nodded. “I know you won’t.”

The two then shared a kiss before they parted, Agnès left to the side looking worried. Van noticed this and motioned for her to do the same to which she also shared a kiss with Luna before parting.

“Alright, I’ll be right back, promise,” Luna said and left.

Van watched her go for a bit before turning back to face the mass of disgusting red. Never before had he felt this serious, but there was something about this image that gave him goosebumps. So he watched it like a hawk, never looking away…