***Tirnanog, Northern Mountain Range***

***Magnus***

“Come on, Magnus. Stop pouting. You can keep trying to catch the little feller once we return from our mission,” Astra teased through our private chat while we sat on Elegance’s back.

The drake was quickly approaching the mountain ridge which was separating Hochberg’s grasslands from the Mycelium. It was hard to believe. A mere day of relatively relaxed flight had taken us the same distance as over two weeks of travel on foot.

“I am not pouting,” I replied. “I am annoyed that I had to admit defeat. Whether I would have tried to catch the rat for another day or a week, it wouldn’t have made a difference. Which doesn’t mean I will forget it. I simply have to return and try again once I am faster.”

“Well, you were stealing his eggs and you ate his tail. So you shouldn’t complain about having your finger bitten,” she pointed out. “It’s not like he did any damage, so your feelings on the matter seem slightly irrational to me.”

“The little bastard waited till I had to hold onto the edge of the ridge before he struck,” I pointed out. “If I hadn’t had my gauntlets on I might have fallen and broken my neck.”

“You would have just flash-stepped to cancel the fall so everything was fine.”

“Details,” I retorted. “Are you seriously questioning the morality of me hunting an animal for its meat? The woman who suggests for us to brave the wild together at every opportunity she gets?”

“No,” Astra replied with a contemplative hum. “Just pointing out that your motivation for hunting that particular zipper goes a little beyond a mere hunt. It’s not like you cared about the others, even though there were hundreds around you.”

“Anyway… we have the eggs and they are safely stored at home.” I waved my hand dismissively, desiring nothing more than a change of topic. “I was just thinking how much faster we are on drake. Sans the random flying monster this mode of transportation is also a lot safer. It’s insane. We had to cross that mountain on foot last year!”

I gestured at the mountain ridge we were heading towards. It was the same one from which I had observed the Mycelium last year.

“It was the treaty’s fault,” Astra explained. “As long as it was still in effect no clan was allowed to move military assets into the area. Be it partnered warriors, airships, or mounts. The Old Camp was meant to be a neutral zone with zero compromise. A playground for the younger generations to interact with the other clans. At least that was the intention when the treaty was signed. The sad reality looked much different with a lot of hot-blooded idiots competing for irrelevant gains while continuing the rivalries of their parents.”

We were interrupted when I had to hold onto Elegance’s spine. The drake had spun up her internal engine to gain some height.

She used her special propulsion method only sparingly when she wasn’t pressed for speed and instead relied on gliding most of the time. While the gliding segments of our journey were relatively comfortable, I could have happily passed on the drake speeding up now and then with vomit-inducing force.

Astra continued the conversation once Elegance settled back into a long glide. “Unfortunately, we will have to resort to using our feet in the Mycelium. The drakes can’t take the hot environment and the parasites living there. The spores in the air are the main problem.”

“Can’t she fly to the coast, drop us off and fly back?” I asked.

“Possible, if we decided to dismount by jumping off during flight. I prefer not to,” Astra replied. “Because of the fog, we won’t be able to see what is beneath us.”

The Mycelium had a unique microclimate. Humid air constantly came in from the sea and facilitated the formation of clouds which then broke on the mountain range to rain off. This ensured a very hot and humid environment at the shore. Due to this, the air was saturated with the spores of the flora in the area, all of them very infectious.

Astra continued, “If one of our drakes is forced to descend into the fog for any reason, death is almost assured. Their propulsion method relies on them inhaling and exhaling. Not to mention the high temperatures would trouble the drakes.”

The Mycelium’s most recognizable feature was the permanent fog lying over the land. And if it weren’t foggy, the heavy rain would reduce visibility to a few dozen metres at most. If the drakes couldn’t handle even short exposure, then Astra’s assessment was right.

I harrumphed, acknowledging that it was an unnecessary risk to take. “So we land at the safest peak and make our way from there.”

“I think that’s the best option.”

“I just hope it’s worth it,” I mumbled. “Mary’s little errand sounds dubious at best if you ask me.”

Astra replied, “I wish I could say otherwise, but searching for one of her ‘old friends’ sounds indeed like a long shot, especially since the letter didn’t give me the impression she had seen him any time within the last decade. I don’t believe someone of her power level would have trouble surviving the Mycelium, but what guarantee does she even have that he is still with those cultists? There are certainly better places to live in.”

I didn’t have a reply.

According to the letter, we had to seek out a small, village-like settlement at the shore. It was inhabited by a group calling themselves the Mycelists.

Astra researched them beforehand, but there wasn’t much known about them. The Aerie only had very poor records of them, so we requested additional information from the Matriarch and the Caravaners.

The most reliable sources Vanya could come up with described the Mycelists as a small clan which tried to settle down at the shore and conquer the Mycelium’s inhospitable environment. Their success was… questionable at best.

The Mycelists were a conglomerate made up of splinter groups from Hochberg and the Caravaners. During the initial stage of their migration, they managed to establish a reasonably secure settlement at the coast. Unfortunately, like many of the smaller clans, they were fighting a battle of attrition and losing it slowly but steadily. If our sources were to be believed, then their initial success was only thanks to some very powerful individuals who carried and protected the group as a whole.

Few people had ever visited the coast and returned to tell the tale.

Seeker Holly from the Caravaners informed us that the Mycelists were slowly dying out, their settlement growing smaller in numbers each year. They nonetheless clung to their beliefs with religious zeal. As if something was keeping them there. These cultists rarely left the Mycelium, so we didn’t even know whether they were still around. The last recorded visit Holly’s people knew of was by a group of hardy Caravaners some thirteen years ago.

“Why do I always allow myself to get roped into situations such as these,” I asked myself aloud when our drake settled in for a final glide towards a plateau on the mountain. It looked like a big enough landing spot for all three drakes to set down without issues.

Beyond lay a thick fog, hiding the land beneath.

“Situations?” Astra asked.

“Like hiking through the monster-infested wilderness or a deadly cave for a bonding experience,” I clarified. “Though, I must admit it’s nice to go outside without feeling like we are at the absolute bottom of the food chain. Me being this foolish can’t be just because you are pretty.”

My partner huffed. “Because this mission is necessary – and obviously because I am pretty! Just admit that deep down you are simply an absolute caveman. All I had to do to hook up with you was get naked and twirl around.”

I grumbled, unable to come up with a witty reply in my favour.

Elegance finally reached the plateau and we landed safely.

Astra petted Elegance’s side after we dismounted. “Wait for us for as long as you can, but leave if the fog rises too high. Don’t risk yourselves. If this place becomes unsafe, return to the Old Camp. It may take some time, but we can return by ourselves if it must be.”

Elegance turned her head and studied us with a single huge eye.

‘Will wait here. Fly back to human colony when air becomes bad.’

There wasn’t much more to be said. Elegance wasn’t the conversational type. In fact, except for Loops, none of the drakes I knew were. Then again, maybe Loops was more talkative with me because I was his rider – and because I pestered him like a child after I had found out that the drakes could talk.

We met up and checked our gear before we descended into the fog. It was a steep climb, but not challenging enough to require specialized gear. I, as well as Thiago and Ginevra, had to climb down the mountain while Astra, Thalia and Mark glided from spot to spot, either holding onto a rock or standing on an opportune ridge.

The slow approach wasn’t the worst thing because the environment changed rapidly as we descended.

Firstly, the high humidity immediately became noticeable the deeper we went. A few minutes into the journey and I was already soggy down to my undergarments. Not because of sweat, but because the water condensed on my body.

Neither was breathing easy and we quickly began coughing up mucus. The air was so laden with water that it was already hard to breathe, but the problem was amplified by what seemed like dust particles contained within every water droplet drifting in the air.

A mere half an hour later, Thalia already advised everyone to take a dose of her anti-parasite meds, which was supposedly even better than deathnut oil. Something she stressed when she explained the contents of her mixture.

I was pretty sure she just didn't want me to drink deathnut oil again.

Afterwards, breathing was less of a problem, but the high humidity was still an issue.

It became so bad that Astra had to abandon her gliding method which relied on her filaments providing enough surface area to lift her like a dandelion seed. In this case, the high surface area of Astra’s filaments worked against her as the filaments began catching the condensing water and weighing her down so much that gliding became impossible.

Only Thalia and Mark remained flight capable because they had no trouble shaking out their leathery wings to get rid of the water.

As we descended, the rocky cliff levelled out until we were able to walk down a heap of rocks which had fallen from the mountain due to erosion.

Our journey went on and the rocks were soon covered by thick layers of moss. The growth was thick enough for me to sink in up to my knees.

But this was just a transitional phase.

As we neared the bottom of the mountain, we entered the real Mycelium and visibility was reduced to almost nothing. Everything was covered by a thick layer of mucus and sponge-like growths.

It looked surreal. The closest analogy I could come up with was a coral reef deciding it had enough of the sea and claiming the land for itself.

We had to choose our path wisely because advancing through the thick mucus was next to impossible. Instead, we wandered over a branching web of sponges while we tried to head straight eastward, never quite able to go in the direction we wanted.

If Astra and I had to rely only on our normal sight, I would have quickly voted to abandon this mission because the fog ensured visibility was down to just a few metres. It was only due to my Second Sight penetrating the fog for over two dozen metres that I felt slightly more confident.

The other members of our group had their own methods to cope with the fog's sensory deprivation.

But nothing helped us to ignore the eerie silence which had surrounded us since we had left behind the ever-present blue sun blasting Tirnanog from above.

And the deeper we went, the darker it got.

***Tirnanog, Eastern Border of Jeng’s Forest***

***Mary***

I stopped pulling the improvised sledge when the man on it coughed. Before I checked on him, I used the chat to tell the drake riders circling above us that I would make a short rest to recover. They acknowledged and fanned out to monitor the area.

“Oh, god. Why do I feel so sick?” Gurney coughed again. “This feels like starvation and radiation poisoning all rolled into one.”

He raised his hands and picked at his skin, peeling off a strip. “Fuck. This is radiation poisoning! Did I sleep on top of a reactor?”

“You are talking from experience. And yes, you are indeed suffering from radiation poisoning,” I said while I walked around the sledge and into his field of view. Then I shoved a package with provisions into Gurney’s sickly, skinny hands. “Eat on your own. I have had enough force-feeding your sack of bones.”

The scientist looked nothing like his usual rotund self. His skin was grey and hung in flabby folds from his body, but it still showed steely musculature beneath.

He coughed and blinked at me, apparently not quite believing I was truly there before he grinned. “Mary, my lovely girl. How are you doing? You don’t look so well yourself if I might say so.”

I clenched my teeth and looked down at my arms. The veins were still shining through my skin with the blue glow of Cherenkov radiation, but it had gotten a lot better since I shut down the energy core which I had gained through my worm mutation. My body was rapidly rebuilding itself and shedding the cells killed by the radiation.

Even though I had used my full power for just a short time, it had almost cost me my life.

“I may have overused it a little,” I admitted. “A week or two of self-quarantine should do the trick to get down to manageable radiation levels for others to be around us. It will take that long to get back to Jeng anyway.”

“I see,” Gurney commented. He was already far more interested in the contents of the ration package. “I guess I am lucky to be a resilient fellow then.”

“If I hadn’t known you would survive it, I would have planned the rescue differently. What happened to you, Gurney? Why did Zacharias starve you?”

Gurney shrugged before he stuffed his face with a piece of dried starfish. “I honestly don’t know what went through that kid’s head. I was settling in for another boring winter when everything went to shit in my little kingdom. Lots of screaming and people dying with monsters within our walls. I thought Tirnanog had produced some new devilry to wipe humanity off the planet till the Thich inside my bunker rose up to backstab us. Then their airships arrived and began rounding up everyone. By then, I knew what was going on but not why.”

“Zacharias said he wanted to know something from you before I killed him. And he got what he wanted,” I pointed out. “What was it?”

Gurney frowned and swallowed before he spoke. “Did he? I have no clue. I know you won’t believe me, but I fought valiantly until the Thich managed to subdue me. Then they threw me into the darkest hole they could find and forgot about me till summer. Zacharias visited me only once to have a conversation before they transferred me to a holding cell in one of their airships.”

“Are you sure you didn’t tell him anything of importance?” I asked. “Maybe you were delusional? Did they drug you?”

Gurney looked at me with an exasperated expression. “I promise you I was as coherent as I am right now. Which is exceptional given the circumstances I might add. Without too much self-praise, I did a good job on myself.”

I clicked my tongue. “Can you recount your conversation with Zacharias?”

Gurney drew in a deep breath and let it back out. “He asked some strange questions about conjoined twins and how such a particular situation could affect the recombination virus. I promise, I told him nothing he wouldn’t have been able to learn from common knowledge anyway. It sounded like he was trying to deduct how to set up a primitive experiment with an unknown mutation. One with a stringent set of requirements for it to work. Though, I don’t see why anyone would stubbornly try to work out how a particular mutation works when there are so many other powerful possibilities available.”

Or maybe Zach just wanted to know whether Gurney knew about the violet mutation.

My eyes narrowed while I thought over Gurney’s words. “First they are after sisters and now conjoined twins? Just what are they up to?”

Gurney frowned. “What was that about sisters?”

I told him everything we had learned so far. The violet mutation and its connection to Earth. Thich seeking out sisters with particular traits. It wasn’t much, but if anyone could make sense of it, it was Gurney.

The scientist listened carefully to my story while he ate. Judging by his facial expressions, it was the first time he learned of the scale this conflict had taken already.

Even after I ended my story, he remained quiet for some time.

Gurney only spoke up well after I began pulling his sledge once more.

“It isn’t much, but I can only concur with your people’s conclusion. From the looks of it, it sounds like Thich is involved with some experiments dating back to the beginning of the colonisation efforts. It wasn’t related to my research, but due to my particular profession, I got involved with certain… projects. Things like unknown genetic samples landing beneath my instruments – brought in by government types and taken away as soon as they had their answers.”

He harrumphed.

“I only remember the incident because it was such an unusual case. A tissue sample was brought in by a suit. It wasn’t much to work with, but I decoded the genetic sequence. Very peculiar. Unlike anything I had seen previously. Largely based on silicon. Now, forgive me for being vague, but getting my hands on a genuine silicon-based DNA string was a true novelty for me at the time. I could only guess at most of the properties a lifeform with such a genome would have. By using analogies with carbon-based DNA I was fairly certain the resulting creature would be intelligent and prone to a dualistic morphology. With most organs and extremities having spare replacements. Back then, I theorized it might be possible to clone the sample by using a human twin genome as the basis. The result would have been very much unlike the original specimen, but something to continue our studies with. Now that you told me your story, it sounds very similar to conjoined twins. Though the source of the human condition is vastly different from the sample DNA’s makeup. If they are experimenting by trying their luck with the recombination virus, I am not surprised that they are having trouble with their experiments.”

I stopped for a moment and looked back at Gurney. “Intelligent, you say. Do you think they brought you a piece of a genuine alien?”

Gurney shook his head. “Who is to say? They took the sample from me and scrubbed my computers once they knew what they wanted. Only one more reason for everything I did afterwards.”

I nodded and continued pulling the sledge, wanting nothing more than to be back on my mountain.

And maybe… just maybe… play with Isaac.