The Aphis swarm ravage the fungi and moss that carpet the expanse. the speed at which they eat away at the edges visible to the eye. It won't be too long until they get to our location. What brought this on? why weren't they seen in these numbers beforehand?

“Oberon, Do you have any idea what caused this?”

“N-no… we were walking back from our trip into the expanse when the insects flooded the tunnels. Sadly, we had to drop all the materials we foraged as a diversion. Even with that we still lost a defender… I'm sorry Elysia, I should have known this could have happened…”

“It's ok I'm not mad at you, there’s no way we could have possibly prepare for this. It's better to have you and the defenders here now than it is to have resources I may or may not be able to use. What are we going to do?” I point out towards the expanse “we don't have the strength or resources to deal with that.”

“I do not know. This is beyond my abilities.”

“Then I can only think of one thing: We need to seal this place off right now.”

Fighting is not my strong point, it never has been. “Your the better fighter out of us two Oberon, move to the front of the entrance and stand guard with the three mantis defenders. try to hold off any that attempt to enter.”

“Y-yes!”

I call upon the defenders that are idle and order them to start hacking away at the walls. It hurts to see the work I have just put into planting these fungi being in vain. more is at stake here though than a ruined material farm. Within minutes, the entranceway looks more like a funnel. large amounts of soft rock and crushed mushrooms litter the floor. A defender and I sweep the debris up and push it further inside the tunnel where my red moss farm starts. soon enough, I hear the sounds of a few beetles getting close. Oberon and the mantis defenders get ready and engage the beetles that have strayed from the main bulk. I glance out toward the expanse and wish I didn't. Clouds of darkness surround us from every angle and are closer, much faster than I thought they would. We use the larger rocks as a base and start piling it high to form a slope. There is no time to make a proper entrance: we can only try to narrow the gap to the ceiling as much as possible. The buzzing of wings gets louder as we work until the sound completely blocks the clinks of defenders mining stone. Then it happens, a beetle latches onto a defender mining nearby, gnawing at its arm before three more beetles join it.

I hear Oberon's voice cut through the buzzing that clouds my mind “We need to get back! NOW!”

using my connection with the defenders, I mentally signal our retreat. I scramble up the ramp of loose stone and through the hole at the top. On the other side is the defender that was helping me build the ramp. My connections to the defenders outside begin to drop out one by one signalling their deaths. Oberon and one mantis defender throw themselves through the hole before turning around and starting to stab out at the beetles that try to follow. By the mists! I'm down to 2 defenders and we haven't even fought them, this is not going well. What do we do?

“Elysia im so sorry I should have done more… maybe if I had been a better guide this wouldn’t of happen—“

“Enough Oberon Now is not the time. you did fine… it's my own fault for rushing the cavern exploration.”

“I-I will stand guard here. You need to go back and make more defenders. If I cant hold… seal the entrance that leads to your heart.”

“You will revive if something happens right?”

“Yes, do not worry about me if something does happen ill appear back in your soul realm.”

While not entirely convinced they will be able to hold long, I really do need to go back and make more defenders. I'm unsure of how effective they will be considering but what else can I do? I give one last look at Oberon, the panic still radiating over our bond.

“May the mists be on your side.”

“And the maker on yours Elysia.”

I dart through the tunnel as quickly as possible and make it back to the heart in record time. I grab rocks from the stone pile and place them in the shapes of the defenders raising them one by one. the moment they form I send them towards Oberon. By the time I get to the fifth one before Oberon calls out.

“Elysia something odd is happening”

“How so?”

“At first a few beetles were still trying to get through but now none of them are coming close to the entrance.”

“What? Why?”

“At first, I thought it was because of us keeping them at bay but I think something is repelling them.”

“Search for what's causing it, I’ll be back shortly.”

I keep the defender I just finished by the inner entrance Oberon made and order it to seal it if something happens. I then make my way back to the battlefront. both Oberon and several defenders lie in wait around the entrance in case anything comes through. Two defenders are searching through the rock pile for whatever is keeping the swarm back.

I get to work helping the defenders but after a few minutes, we still have not found the source. I think back to what was here before we made the ramp. It can't be the red moss surely.  I grab a clump and throw it through the entrance into the awaiting swarm. In seconds the moss is no more, eaten by the ravenous bugs. The only other thing planted here was… the brown mushroom.

“Look for a shrivelled brown mushroom or pieces thereof.”

It took a moment but eventually, we find one flattened to the wall. The mushroom has seen better days. I pull off a chunk and throw it though the hole. What the? The swarm instantly pulls back from the chunk, keeping a distance from it at all times. The more I watch I notice they are slowly moving further away from it as well. They don't like the brown mushroom? Is it toxic? When I first found this mushroom I couldn’t find anything of note. Then again, I'm made of stone if it was toxic its effects would not work on me. Wait… is this why? I glance at Oberon to find him staring at the location I threw the mushroom chunk.

“I think I now know why we didn't encounter the swarm before… this brown mushroom was warding them off and stopping the larger groups getting into the expanse. Our foraging trips have removed the one thing that kept them out…”

At least we have some sort of reprieve even if I don't know for how long. Still, I should have been more wary and told Oberon not to strip the place clean. All its done is ruin what could have been a trove of new resources...

I need to look on the bright side. We potentially lost a lot of new materials but at least we still have the red moss and bowl moss. This also gives us a new opportunity: we could pick off the beetles that stray too close. Although it won't make a dent in the amount that are in the expanse, it will help me increase my rank.

“Oberon hold one of these mushrooms to help keep them at a distance and see if you cant spear the odd beetle that gets too close. We might as well make the most of this situation to gain some power.”

“Will do!”

“If it works out get some of the defenders to help you but dont stray too far.” With a nod he gets to work.

Now what can I do? I can't think of a weapon I could feasibly make to combat such large numbers at once. in the community we would capture glow mantis' and let them loose in affected areas. Considering how my last run-in with a glow mantis went I think they will be more interested in me than the beetles.

Maybe I could make something using that talon-like mushroom? …. NO! I planted it on the plateau! I was so focused on making this entrance that I didn't realise, I… no point crying over burnt stew what's done is done. I guess I should just join them in their hunt.

I made my way back to my heart. We spent a long time looking over the entrance and spearing the beetles that drew close. Eventually I got a feeling I'd never had before. Its almost as if I felt full. Like, there’s pressure around my core. The feeling intensified and once I entered my soul realm I knew why. The lights around my heart are brighter than before and the amount had increased

“Its as you said. I think I'm ready to break into the next rank.”

“That is great! Think of pushing all of the lights that surround your heart towards it. You will feel resistance at first but it will give in.”

I do as he says and The lights start to rapidly spin around my heart. Slowly, they merge into bands of light. The bands then constrict, pulling taut along the surface of the crystal. I feel pain for a moment like something gripping my very being and then feeling floods inwards. A flash of light blinds me followed by a nova sweeping past me and into the mists. It took but a moment before its effects settle in. My heart itself doesn't look different However I can feel that its… denser? Colder? My mana well also doesn't look much different but I know it is now deeper and able to hold double what it once did. Nothing else has changed from what I can see. 

“I felt the change, Elysia!”

“I've gained a rank Oberon, but it has given me nothing to solve the issue we face. How long was I gone?”

“About a day”

A day! I dont like this. I feel as if I have an infestation of burrow-flits under my feet, not knowing when they will tunnel under me. How long will the repelling effect of these mushrooms last? What happens if the effect runs off and I was still stuck in here? I need to check on the red moss to see its progress. A day is not long but we are small, it might be enough. I can only continue to prepared as much as possible. The beetles may have me beat on numbers but I'm sure there is a way for me to put us on the same island. I need to make every summon count: stronger defenders and weapons, weapons that hit more than one bug or even traps that take out many for the cost of one. Question is where do I start?

Evershadows

Thanks for reading!

Turns out I'm terrible at hitting the Friday deadline I set for myself and more often than not upload on a Saturday. In future, Saturday is going to be my upload day. Next week I may or may not have time to write as my nephew is coming round to stay. I've not had a chance to write any chapters in advance so we shall see what happens. 

I decided to add a poll to this chapter to gather some feedback on what you feel I need to work on the most. if you have more to say/the option is not there feel free to write it in the comments below! Enjoy the rest of your weekends :)