"No, sir," she said. Adeenya did not fear the man before her, but his rising ire did not bode well for her career. Accusing an officer of negligence was a serious offense. Add it to that the fact that she had already tackled the man, and Adeenya saw her life as a soldier falling away.
"You need to be sure of what you are saying, Orir," Jhoqo said, stepping toward her.
"Sir," Taennen said. "I believe the orir is just trying to do her job. I would be just as persistent as she were our roles reversed."
Adeenya did not know who was more surprised by Taennen's statement, she or Jhoqo. The Maquar commander spun and faced his second. "Durir?" Jhoqo said.
"Sorry, sir," Taennen said, lowering his head.
Adeenya could almost see the younger man's spine melting away and thought it a pity. Her hopes for him had been raised when he had stood up for his principles.
She spoke again before she lost her momentum. "Urir, we've never seen anything like these creatures. Before she died of her injuries, one of my people told a comrade that the ant-creatures had done something to her… had tried to do something to her mind but had failed," Adeenya said.
"I need to investigate that. It could be disastrous for this mission."
Taennen's head snapped up and his eyes met Jhoqo's. "Gods damn it. You knew!" Adeenya said. "Orir, keep your voice down," Jhoqo said, glancing around.
Adeenya seethed and wished to say more, but after several breaths nodded. "Yes, sir," she said.
Jhoqo sighed. "You may as well tell her now," he said to Taennen.
"Yes, sir. I… experienced something similar," Taennen said.
"What is it? What are these ant-things doing?" Adeenya asked.
"They call themselves formians, Orir," Jhoqo said. "Formians… where are they from? What are they doing here?"
"We don't know," Jhoqo said.
"Urir, I need-" Adeenya began.
Taennen stepped nearer her and shook his head. "We really don't, sir."
Adeenya was skeptical but decided she didn't have much choice. She had achieved more progress than she had expected to. "May I speak with them now that I know?" she asked.
"I suppose it couldn't hurt," Jhoqo said. "Once we've halted for meals. But I'll have your word that even your second-in-command doesn't learn of this. I want this no further than it's already gone."
"Agreed," she said.
Under the baking southern sun, the army stopped briefly to eat and rest. Adeenya followed Jhoqo and Taennen through the marching lines to where the prisoners were being guarded in a single-file line. A thin but strong rope bound their arms and formed a chain between each prisoner as they gnawed at waybread. The dozen or so humans and the halfling were at the front of the line, kept separate from the goblins and kobolds.
Behind them were the formians. Their flesh was dark but shone faintly iridescent in the bright sunlight. The formians were bound with double ropes-extra caution seemed prudent given their mysterious nature. The largest creature, the one who had felled Taennen, stood at the center of the others. The smaller formians seemed to surround the largest, as if protecting it. The cloths over their eyes did not seem to diminish their ability to be aware of one another as they flicked their antennae over the offered waybread. The Maquar guards kept several paces away from the formians, their crossbows trained on the creatures. Jhoqo signaled one of the guards to remove the gag from the largest creature's mouth.
"Go ahead, ask your questions. Anything you learn will be for your ears only," Jhoqo said. "And keep your voice down."
Adeenya moved close to the largest creature. "Who are you?" she asked.
The creature turned its head toward her, and Adeenya felt as though dozens of eyes were watching her even though she was looking only at the dark cloth encircling its head. After a long moment, the beast spoke in a voice that sounded like twenty voices speaking through a hollow log, all jumbled together and with gravel in their throats. It proceeded to say a word so long, so incomprehensibly full of syllables, that Adeenya was reminded of a magic spell she had heard before.
She fought off a shiver and picked the only syllable from the garbled mess that could be made out. "Would it be all right to call you Guk?"
The formian twitched for a moment, the tiny appendages on either side of its maw clacking as it said, "Yes."
Adeenya straightened herself and asked, "Are you… male or female?"
What Adeenya could only assume was a laugh, the sound of bird cries turned inside out and piled atop one another, burst from the creature and set her gooseflesh tingling.
"Male," Guk said.
"Why did you attack us?" she asked, wishing now she'd never demanded to interrogate the strange creature. "For work, for the hive," Guk said. "The hive?" "My people."
"What does attacking us get your people?" she asked. "Workers," Guk said.
"Slaves," Taennen interjected, stepping closer to Guk.
"The other creatures with you were workers?" she asked, glancing at Jhoqo. The commander's face was unreadable.
"All creatures should work for the hive," the formian said. "All creatures will."
"No one should be your slaves," Taennen said.
"Why?" Adeenya asked the formian. "Why should everyone work for your hive?"
"There is work," Guk replied. "There is always work. The work needs to be done."
"But what if we do not want to work for the hive?" she said.
"The work must be done. You will work. Every creature will work. No work is chaos. Chaos cannot be allowed. You will work."
Adeenya stepped away from the prisoners and took in a deep breath. The formians sort of devoted thought was dangerous. The world had experienced such zealous devotion before, and the results were never positive or pleasant.
"Do you see, now?" Jhoqo said, joining her.
"Aye, sir. We'll keep this from the troops," she said. She did not enjoy admitting the man was right, but the formians dedication had certainly put her on guard.
A melodious but melancholy voice called out ahead of them. "Let me go!"
Adeenya turned to see a grim-faced halfling covered from head to toe in leather and furs waving his bound arms as best he could. He was standing at the back of the line of humans just in front of the goblins.
"My name's Corbrinn Tartevarr, miss. A little help?" he said.
Adeenya looked to Jhoqo who nodded for her to respond. The three officers moved closer to the human prisoners. Adeenya was relieved to leave the presence of the formians.
"I am Adeenya Jamaluddat, commander of the Durpari troops on this expedition. How do you find yourself fallen in with these creatures?" she asked, nodding toward Guk.
"He was a worker and will be again. Like you will become," Guk said from farther back in the line, his voice grating, like thrown ice shattering against a wall. Adeenya wondered if the blindfold inhibited the creature at all.
"Get that gag back on him," she shouted to the guards.
Corbrinn sighed. "What he said, I'm afraid. Well, at least that I was," the halfling said with a sneer toward the formian. "I'm from Thruldar in Luiren. I remember being with a caravan of folks from Var the Golden. I'm a woodsman and often act as a scout in these parts. I was guiding the caravan back from a successful trading trip to
Mulhorand. After that, everything gets a little fuzzy, but I know I was working for these things."
The sun glinted off the halfling's reddish blond curls. Adeenya boggled at how the halfling was not sweating himself dry in his many layers of clothing and furs.
"Why did you work for them?" she asked.
The halfling's eyes went to the ground for a moment before turning to rest upon her again. "It wasn't really like that. The reason didn't seem to matter… just the work." The halfling shrugged. "I can't explain it. It was like my body just did what they needed to be done, and I couldn't really stop it or even ask why I was doing it. But, I think the strangest part was that it was… somehow satisfying."