Ash did what I consider being one of the rudest things anyone could possibly do. He dropped a bombshell. He revealed that not only did he know who the Lumerin Queen was, but that she might be able to help us get access to a Nest, and then he left.
It wasn't entirely his fault, as there were a few Rodenti who came looking for him so the chieftain could give a speech about their victory. Still, if he was going to make such a revelation, he could have said something sooner. Or he could have given me an explanation before being pulled away.
I kept trying to talk to him throughout the night. Every single time I got close to the Chieftain, someone would call him with an urgent matter that needed to be solved right then and there. It started off as something a bit annoying, but it quickly became frustrating to the point where I genuinely started to believe it was a ploy to drive me crazy. Only after the party was over that I finally got a chance to talk to him.
Despite Ash being clearly tired, I wasn't about to let it go and try to sleep until morning. We were all walking towards the chief's plateau together with Rex and Rixnala. Rixnala was much more agreeable after the battle against the Eater Nest. It seemed like hearing what happened with us inside that structure made her regard us as powerful enough to face off against a creature like that.
"Ash, now that we finally have a chance, can you elaborate on what you said before?"
The Chieftain let out a tired sigh and stared at me with tired eyes. "Can't talk tomorrow?"
"You can explain properly tomorrow, but I need some information right now. What do you mean you're in contact with the Lumerin Queen?"
"I'm not. When Nest appeared, she came with offer."
"And you took it?" I frowned, but Ash shook his head.
"Wouldn't call help. She offered people for fight. Promised she make Rodenti win. She wanted four people in exchange."
"What?" I asked, trying to make sure I heard things properly.
"Yes. She would help against Eater Nest if we gave our people to her."
"She wasn't talking about having some of your people work for her or anything like that?"
Ash shook his head. "No. A gift, she said. Don't know what Lumerin Queen wanted with our people. I think I don't want to know. It is better like that."
I nodded in agreement. There wasn't really anything good that would come from giving people to the Lumerin Queen. Knowing what she likely intended to do with those people would only make things worse.
"Still," Ash continued, "when refused, she told how to find her. Or some of her people."
"Are they far?" I asked, noticing that the rest of the group was also paying attention to our conversation.
"Few days North. Place called Mist Valley."
"Mist Valley?" Riley frowned.
"Yes, yes. Rex knows where is," Ash added.
It seemed like the rest of the group had completely given up on pretending they were not listening in.
"What do you know about the place?" I turned to Rex but also looked at Ash to make sure they both knew I was asking them.
"Anyone who goes inside gets lost. Mist stops you from moving."
"If anyone who goes there gets lost, how do you know about that?" Michael frowned.
"Because 'lost' not forever. Some spend weeks before coming back. They starving and hurt, but alive."
"And how are we supposed to find something there?" I asked.
"The Queen gave a token. If you have, you can reach her people," the chieftain explained.
"Are you offering that token to us, or just telling us where to find her?" I stared at Ash.
It was hard to gauge what the Chieftain wanted to say. He seemed to be very grateful for our help, but every now and then, there was a glint of something else. It was a strange look of revulsion, the same type that I would have if I saw a roach. Maybe even beyond that.
That had happened a couple of times before, but I never paid any attention to it as we were constantly overwhelmed with everything that was going on. It was a look just like what he was giving me right now, even if this time it lasted only a split second.
Ash chuckled. "No. You can have token. Not trying to get you killed. Will even help you get there. Just give me couple of days."
"Any reason why we need to wait a couple of days?" The timeline sounded very arbitrary, and I wasn't entirely sure if this could be some sort of strange power play.
To my surprise, Ash just let out a chuckle, "Don't remember where the token is. Need time to find."
"You lost it?" Michael gasped.
"No. Inside my house. Just can't remember where" Ash chuckled. "Also, need time to prepare gift."
Astrid raised an eyebrow, "Gift?"
"Yes. You helped save village. Without you, many more dead. Maybe attack even fail. Must give something as thank you. Have ideas, but need time."
"Thank you," Michael replied. "We were not doing this just to get something in return. After all, we had our own goals with the attack. But you-"
Before he could continue speaking, Riley quickly covered his mouth.
"But if you are preparing a present as a thank you, it would be rude of us not to accept," they gave the Silkbound Archer a side-eye.
I quickly gave them a nod of approval. It was obvious Michael was about to say we didn't need any gifts. While I didn't believe Ash would feel offended by that, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that he would just say okay and not give us anything. Generally speaking, that wouldn't be a problem. We didn't come here to gain something from the Rodenti. Our only reason for being here was to help Rex and to try to locate the Hatchery.
However, I wasn't going to say no to getting something else from the interaction, especially considering that I currently didn't have any good weapons to use. While I wasn't specifically expecting a new weapon as one of the gifts, I wanted to at the very least see if I could get a staff or a spear from the weapon makers here. Alternatively, I could have Michael create a new one for me before we headed out.
Eventually, we arrived at Rex's house. The Chieftain went to his own place to rest, but none of us were ready for bed just yet. That ended up being a good thing, as Rex asked to talk to everyone. We were all in his living room, gathered around a table. Instead of chairs, everybody had almost a bean bag underneath them, even if they weren't as soft as I was expecting. The small Rodenti was standing up, leaning against his stone leg and looking around the room, staring deep into each and every one of our eyes.
"What's going on, little man?" Michael asked after a few moments where Rex seemed to be trying to say something.
"First, Rex wants to thank friends. Even if friends tried find the Nest, still helped save Rex's village. Rex and the village will never forget."
"I think I speak for everyone when I say you don't need to thank us for that. We were happy to help." I turned around, getting nods from the rest of the group.
"Yeah, Rex." Michael smiled. "Your home was in trouble. Helping was the least we could do. Besides, we did get a lot of levels from this."
"Still, friends came to help Rex. Thank you. Father wants prepare gifts, but Rex also prepared gifts. Just need a few days."
"You really don't have to," Michael said, getting an annoyed stare from Riley.
Unlike what I expected from Ash, Rex shook his head. "No. Rex wants to. Have a few ideas. Not for everyone yet. Need time to think."
"Is that what you wanted to say?" Riley asked.
"No," Rex shook his head, "Friends helped Rex. You did what Rex wanted. Now friends will leave, right?"
At the question, everybody turned to me. I wasn't entirely sure when I became the one who makes the decisions, but I wasn't going to think about it right now.
"Yes. Not tomorrow, but soon." I was going to ask everybody for their opinions, but I didn't think we should stay here for long, "Especially since we still need to figure out where we could find a Hatchery to extract the memories from."
"Maybe the Lumerin Queen?" Rex asked.
"It is an idea. Unless we can figure something else out, I think it's our best bet," I nodded.
"Are we sure this is our only option?" Riley crossed their arms.
"Probably not. We could just go around trying to find a Nest somewhere. But then comes the problem of getting inside it and then getting to the hatchling before being killed. If we want to extract the memories from one of the Hatcheries, I don't really see another option unless we take a very long time to get stronger first."
"Don't we have time to do that?" Riley pressed.
"Honestly? I don't know. Maybe, but maybe not," I shrugged. The timeline of this issue was a bit all over the place.
Astrid turned to Riley. "For the entire world to freeze, it must be something hard to undo."
"If that's the case, then we probably have time, right?" Riley asked again.
"Maybe not. The scale of the problem is too big. Maybe it is happening now, but it takes time for the results to show," I replied.
The Huskcarver nodded, "Different time scale. Planets work on long times. Things that change planets take time."
I never would have imagined that Astrid was someone who understood astrophysics.
"How do you know that?" Riley turned to Astrid with a frown.
"Father had books before the village burned them."
"Wait, you know how to read?" Michael asked.
"Yes," Astrid replied.
"And you, Riley?" The Silkbound Marksman turned to the Witch, who nodded.
"Of course," Riley replied matter-of-factly.
Michael turned to face me with an exasperated expression. "Can we go back to our lessons as soon as possible?"
I replied with a soft chuckle, "Sure. Doing something out of spite can help. Bu I don't think Rex told us what he wanted to say."
"When friends leave, can Rex go?"
"You want to come with us?" Riley asked. "What about your village?"
"Village is fine. If Rex stays, Father will have Rex and Rixnala fight for the Chieftain position. But Rex doesn't want be Chieftain. Too much work. Too much trouble."
"But didn't you say that it was a bad idea for Rixnala to become Chieftain?" I asked.
"Before, yes. But now she better. Rex doesn't think Rixnala would be bad Chieftain."
"I mean, even if that's the case, you know that we're not going on a fun trip, right? We're going to look for another Nest, and it's probably going to be just as dangerous as this fight. Are you sure you want to participate in something like this?" I asked. Making sure to say thing things that were in my mind. If anyone decided they didn't want to continue moving with us, I wouldn't blame them.
"Yes," Rex nodded, "Friends helped Rex, now Rex turns to help friends. Also, more fun with friends than here. If friends allow, Rex will go."
Rex looked into our eyes again with an expression full of hope. I couldn't really tell why he was so anxious about asking this, but to his bad luck, this only made me want to tease him a little. Unfortunately, my plans were quickly shut down as Michael got up with a big smile.
"Of course you can, little man! It wouldn't be the same without you. Honestly, I was already getting worried that you wouldn't be around anymore."
Holding back a sigh, I nodded, "Yeah. You're already part of the team."
Rex opened a big smile as small tears started to form in the corner of his eyes. "Thank you, thank you. Rex was worried friends didn't want Rex around anymore."
"Awww, you don't have to cry, little man!" Michael went in to give the Rodenti a hug.
"Rex not crying! Dirt in Rex's eye!" he protested and pushed the archer away.
We all laughed and continued to tease the Rodenti for a few moments before deciding to get ready for bed. The joking around helped everyone relax and start to feel sleepy. Considering everything that happened today, it was something we all really needed.