"We should probably catch up to him," Kael said, watching Darian sprint toward his base.
"Whoa… this place is huge. Did he build all this by himself?" Lara wandered forward, eyes darting around.
Rusty greeted them at the door, his metallic frame glinting in the light. They stepped into the small house and froze in surprise: the inside was packed with strange instruments and tools Darian had used in his research. None of them recognized what they were.
"You can sit here, c'mon," Darian said, pointing to the table. There were only three seats, so he took the bed nearby. Liro, Kael, and Lara sat, while Allocen leaned against the wall as he always did in the Veilguard's meeting room.
"So… what's going on here?" Rusty asked, tilting his head.
Darian told him everything, from his first day on Therya to the death of the king, to the expedition into the water cave. Halfway through, he realized it had been less than two weeks since he'd arrived. The days had flown.
"So now you're headed to the mainland… to take revenge for humanity?" Rusty asked once he understood.
"Exactly. If possible, we'd like to use this place as a base," Kael said politely.
Rusty glanced around. "It's small, but you can stay here." Then he turned and went back to work in the fields.
"Guys, I need to ask Rusty something," Darian said, Snowy perched on his shoulder. "Do whatever you want for now."
Outside, Darian walked over. "Rusty!"
"Yes, Master?" Rusty replied while harvesting fruit.
"I was wondering how the seeds from XERBAB-7 were doing… but I can see they're growing perfectly." He eyed the plant Rusty was tending.
"Here, try one." Rusty handed him a fruit.
"It tastes… a bit different from what I remember," Darian said, taking small bites and giving some to Snowy.
"The soil here isn't quite the same as XERBAB-7," Rusty explained, returning to his work.
Darian joined him in harvesting.
Meanwhile, Kael and Lara explored the base, sampling the fruit.
"This is way better than what we eat back home," Kael said, surprised.
"Mm-hmm! So sweet!" Lara replied with her mouth full.
Inside, Liro examined Darian's notes and tools, flipping through a plant study diary. Allocen, equally curious, inspected everything with careful hands.
When the harvest was done, Darian and Rusty carried the baskets to storage.
"Hey, Rusty... I need to ask you something before we head back," Darian said, digging in his backpack.
"What is it, Master?" Rusty paused, sensing this wasn't for the others.
Darian pulled out the strange black feather.
"From a Krukin?" Rusty asked, studying it. "It doesn't match any known animal. Where did you find it?" He opened a compartment in his chest and stored it for analysis.
"I don't think it's Krukin… I found it on my room's rooftop a night—" Darian explained.
Rusty scanned it quickly. "The DNA is… strange. Could be an error. I'll study it more in my free time."
"Thanks, Rusty. Let's go back."
They left at 4 p.m., planning to return by nightfall. Rusty waved them off.
"We're finally returning to the mainland… it has been over a year everyone" pointed out Kael, the group behind them nodded with their heads, they were currently walking in the desert and they just passed in front of the cave where Darian had fought the krukdill not many days ago.
"It actually takes this much time for you to take an expedition?" asked Darian confused, Liro next to him nodded with his head.
"Yeah… it's not that you always have the time to take an almost ten days walk in the desert" answered Liro.
"And especially because the expedition don't always go as planned…" suddenly Kael's body began to shake as he remembered something of a distant past.
"Well the last time I've been here was around three weeks ago…" whispered Darian when soon enough in front of them there was a small river, meaning that the group had finally reached the mainland, in fact there was a lot of nature waiting for them.
As they kept walking they reached a spot where the sky barely peeked through the thick canopy. Light filtered down in patches, a perfect spot for an ambush. And sure enough, it came.
Chittering rose from the shadows. Dark shapes emerged, Krukspy. The spider-like Krukins lunged.
Darian threw up an ice wall. Most bounced off, but a few smashed through, Kael blasted them skyward, and Allocen drove earthen spikes into the wall, collapsing it onto the attackers. As they hit the ground, Allocen buried them deep.
"Are they… dead?" Darian asked, uneasy.
"Yes" Allocen said flatly. "Let's just say they're dying slowly underground."
'We're you the one that literally said to not kill them?' Darian looked at Allocen a bit confused as he shoot other shards killing the other Krukspy arriving.
"Stay sharp" Kael warned. "It only gets harder from here."
They pressed on. Ruins of old cities crumbled around them, nature reclaiming everything. It was beautiful, if not for the Krukins, it could have been called rebirth.
Small enemies attacked from time to time, but the fights lasted seconds. Liro used illusions to herd them together, and Allocen's towering eight-foot earth golem crushed them easily.
Then they saw it, a Bladekruk, and beside it, something new.
It was about nine feet tall, vaguely bee-like only because of the stinger. Its massive hands ended in crushing claws, its jaw bristled with sharp teeth. Two insect wings buzzed, but thick legs meant it could fight on the ground too. There was fur covered its upper body, it was just another Krukin.
"Attention... this one looks strong," Kael said, halting the team. "Liro, distract them. Darian and I take the Bladekruk. Allocen, you and your golem handle the big one. Lara, support Allocen."
The fight erupted instantly.
An illusory human stepped forward, drawing the Bladekruk's charge. Darian struck its back with an ice shard, and as it turned on him, Kael's gravity magic slammed it down, modifying the gravity for both Darian and the bladekruk. Darian leapt wall to wall, ice steps carrying him higher until he crashed down on the Bladekruk, stabbing from multiple angles.
It screeched, broke free of the gravity, and rushed at Kael, who pinned it again with "Mass Blade!" before sending it flying. Darian's final shard pierced straight through it.
The larger Krukin was another matter. Allocen's golem was losing ground fast. Lara supported Allocen, Liro tried illusions, but they failed, the beast wasn't fooled. Darian and Kael charged in to join the fight.