Something about the stones felt timeless, like they had been here for far longer than they had any right to be, had endured things that would’ve destroyed any natural stone. When she walked upon them her steps were lighter, her stride quicker, and this effect clearly extended to both Zefaris and Strolvath. Enchanted paving stones?  

For a solid fifteen minutes, the trio walked in silence, surprisingly with Strolvath in the lead as he hurried along as quickly as his feet would carry him. He eventually turned around, squinted at Willowdale, and resumed walking at a much more reasonable pace. 

“Why-” Zel began to question, but the scarred soldier shushed her. 

“Quiet,” he hissed. “The locusts aren’t usually active this close north of town, but we can’t risk it. Stay as quiet as you possibly can until we reach the first stopping point, understood?”

Zel and Zef exchanged looks and gave a sharp nod. 

“Good,” Strolvath smiled. “C’mon, this is the hard part. Paradoxically, it’ll be easiest to evade the bugs in the middle two-thirds of the trek. They’re mostly active near the farmsteads and their nest, but not near the main supply road.”

He explained whilst walking, whispering in a near-inaudible volume. Somehow he threw his voice exactly at them, just close enough to be heard, and his mouth didn’t move in a visible way. For a good while they walked the main road, with Zelsys having mentally checked out for substantial stretches of the trek. Zefaris pressed up to her when the clouds draped over the sky and the smell of impending rain came to dominate all other scents. The electric tension in the air and the nearly pitch-black clouds suggested more than just rain, but rather an impending storm. 

The fields that surrounded Willowdale had turned to forest and the sun had crossed its apex by now, but to both the women’s relief it was entirely unlike the green death-trap of the Exclusion Zone, but rather a normal forest like that past the border. According to Zel’s brief study of the map they were meant to take a sharp turn directly into the forest somewhere near here, and sure enough, Strolvath beckoned them into the treeline and through a thicket, eventually reaching a narrow but recognizable footpath. He quickly went out of sight, but Zelsys just followed her gut feeling where the footpath became unrecognizable.

After a good half-hour of semi-blind trawling through a narrow forest path, they caught up with Strolvath at the edge of a small clearing, though he stopped them and angrily pointed towards the opposite edge of it. There was a small lean-to shelter shielding from the weather three sacks of what were doubtlessly supplies, but there were also unwelcome guests. 

Four locust-men. Zel raised her left hand to take aim at one and Zef swiftly unholstered Pentacle to take aim at another, but the singer once more stopped them, hissing, “We’re still in the danger zone, gunshots will attract more locusts. We have to deal with them quietly.”

He looked to Zel’s cleaver then met her gaze, offering, “I can shut ‘em down with infrasound, but only for about four seconds. Is that enough time for you?”

She grinned, “More than enough.”

Strolvath gave a sharp nod, and Zelsys prepared herself. She couldn’t fire her arm-cannon, and given the locust-men’s spacing she wasn’t confident in her ability to take them all down with a single swing, but she had an idea. With a deep breath she readied herself, unholstering her blade.

A trail of silver Fog marked her path out of the bush as she rocketed across the clearing, ripping a cloud of leaves and small branches from the bush they had hid in. Just as she departed, she heard a strange croaking noise come out of the scarred singer, quickly deepening in pitch until it became inaudible. Halfway across the clearing one of the locust-men noticed her, rearing back in preparation to let out a screech. A small squeak left its chattering mandibles, then died with a pained gurgle as its joints locked up, its exoskeleton rippling and warping from powerful sonic vibrations, much in the same way as the other locusts. 

Another exhalation, an upswing through the three locust-men who were closest together. By the time her blade bisected the first one at the waist, she invoked “Heartbreaker!”

The cleaver’s edge turned upward and it sped up to a noticeable degree, crunching through the second locust’s chitin and severing its heart. It wouldn’t kill the third on the upswing at this rate, but Zelsys was more than alright with that. She had grown used to using her blade’s prodigal mass as a tool.

With the last of her breath, she simultaneously swung her cleaver down on the head of the third locust. Finally she was in reach of the left-hand side locust, and alongside her downward swing she unleashed a truly explosive punch to its gnashing jaws, utilizing her arm-cannon’s great weight as a force amplifier.

At that moment, Zelsys obliterated the heads of two locusts, outright punching through one and bisecting another down the middle.

With the time it took her to run across the clearing taken into account, the slaughter was over in no more than five seconds. The locust-men’s rancid blood and insides had spilled all over the shelter, but it was of no concern - it merely slipped off the supply bags, for they were made of Fog-infused fabric. 

“That’s a hell of a breathing method. And is that a Captain’s Cleaver you got there?” Strolvath wondered as he and Zef approached the shelter, each of the trio picking up one of the bags. They each contained some food, medical supplies, and three half-liter seal-bottles full of Liquid Vigor, each bearing three seals unlike those of Makhus’ design - they were far more elaborate in design, entirely covered in angular blood-red sigils. 

“Sure is,” Zel nodded, strapping on the backpack. 

“Where’d you get it, if you don’t mind me askin’?” 

Zel just smiled and said, “Ikesians find a way to pay even without money.”

“So we do,” the singer smiled back, seemingly content with that answer. “Right, let’s not dawdle too long. The pheromones in their blood will spread and attract more of their kind.”