We'd hardly stepped into the Glade's heart when a wisp of light swooped down from one of the grand trees' branches. It hovered around us with urgent curiosity.

"What is going on?" it asked. "Who are they?"

"Calm yourself, Wind," one of the other Treefathers said. "The krummholz come bearing fruit."

With the Treefathers clearly aware of our presence, I felt it was safe enough for me to hand Night's memory fruit over to the krummholz. Sticking out my hands, two krummholz scampered over to me, grabbed the fruit and brought it back to the rest of their group of five. Working together, they used their stubby hands to break the fruit into three mushy pieces and then, with oddly symmetric movements, each of those three waddles off toward one of the three Treefathers with their piece in hand and smeared the mush onto the soil, in the wooden valleys between the trees' roots. After that, the three krummholz hopped over to the riverbank, bent over and then, with a grab and a twist, pulled off the tops of their heads like they were jar lids.

"They're hollow inside," Mr. Himichi said.

Ileene snickered. "That explains a lot."

The three krummholz dipped their heads into the stream, filling them with water and then—with lids in hand,—they carefully walked to where they'd smeared the fruit—filled heads splishing and splashing with every step—and then dumped the water onto the mush.

The Treefathers sighed and harrumphed, like a gaggle of old fogies.

"I can't believe it!" Wind said, with gusto. "Not only do we have company—"

"—Extraordinary…" said another.

"Sound, is this even possible?" said the third.

"Memories do not lie, Day," said the second, Treefather Sound.

"I think our hosts have just picked up Night's memories," Suisei said.

"That we have," Sound said.

His wisp and Day's materialized in front of us.

"Still," Day said, "I never would have thought Night was troubled by the Vyxit's absence. I… I never knew."

"That's to be expected," Wind japed. "You've always put yourself first."

"Wind," Sound said, "you throw a fit whenever you're anything less than first."

"Please, brothers, stop this," Day said. "We have more important matters to deal with."

Unlike Night, Stone, and Silence, Treefathers Day, Sound and Wind all had the sound of a patriarch, even if their attitudes didn't always quite match it.

"I'm trying to," Wind said. His light sprang up into his branches, like a child storming off to his room.

Wind struck me as impulsive and easily agitated. I could almost feel his nerves twitching when he spoke, assuming he had any. Meanwhile, Treefather Sound was as sturdy and reliable as his name suggested. He had a calm, measured manner, as if he was carefully considering his every word. It reminded me a lot of how Suisei had sounded when he spoke Trenton, back when he'd been alive. As for Day, the head of the Glade radiated confidence and authority, far more than you'd expect from a tree.

It probably helped that he and his brothers were simply ginormous.

"You have come quite a long way, Genneth Howle," Day said.

"We were hoping you could help us," I replied.

"From what Treefather Day told us," Mr. Himichi said, "when it comes to the Vyxit and their spaceships, you fine gentlemen are the trees to ask."

"Yes," Day said. "For eons, I served as our intermediary to the Vyxit. I took Stone's place after he tired of the role." Day's wisp hovered close to me, as if he was speaking to me face to face. "Now, tell me," he added, "what do you intend to do?"

"Don't you already have Night's memories?" Ileene asked.

"It's always possible that the fruit was damaged in transit," Day replied. "I'd rather hear it from you, directly."

Nodding, I stepped forward and looked up at the mighty tree. His wisp hovered up alongside me.

"I intend to do whatever I can do," I said. "I'd like to convince the Vyxit that &alon is their enemy, not the wyrm. Ideally, with the Vyxit's help, we could find a way to restrain her or somehow drain her powers. At this point, I'm pretty much open to anything that will stop her from destroying any more worlds without also consigning the wyrms and our spirit-passengers to death."

"And what if you fail?"

"Regardless of what happens," I said, "this superweapon—the Lodestars… it has to be stopped. It can't be fired. If it is, it would expose Kléothag's power to &alon, and leave it ripe for the taking."

"Kléothag, the Hallowed Beast, the dead god sleeping within your world…" Sound said. "Extraordinary…"

"You're making some really astonishing claims, you know that?" Wind said. "It's unbelievable, and not necessarily in a good way."

"I wonder how the generals would respond if they knew," Sound mused.

Day's wisp swerved over to Wind. "Night gave these travelers his word, Wind. We are obliged to honor it"

"I'm worried secrecy wouldn't be the wisest course of action here," Sound said.

"What difference would it make one way or the other?" Wind said. "The Vyxit want war. The Long Hunt matters more to them than anything else. It's been that way for millennia. You could tell them everything Dr. Howle shared with Night; it wouldn't make a lick of a difference."

"That… doesn't sound good," I said.

"It isn't," Wind replied, bluntly.

"Don't be too hasty, Wind," Day said, "the Vyxit aren't a monolith. Some, like Silence, care about more than just the Long Hunt. Not all Vyxit want to stay militant from cradle to grave."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

If I'd had ears, they would have immediately perked up.

"Wait a minute," I said, "are you telling me that there are some Vyxit who might listen to reason?"

"Possibly," Day said, "but I can't be certain. Things may have changed; it has been a long time since we last had contact with anyone other than ourselves."

"Alright," Ileene said, "let's suppose Dr. Howle actually stands a chance of convincing some of the Vyxit that blowing up a dead god isn't a good idea. How would he, y'know… do… that?"

"You would have to use the Network," Day said.

"Yes," I said, "but Stone and the others didn't give us that many details about it."

"I'd be happy to fill in the gaps," Day said. "You see, the Vyx are one and many at the same time. Their smallest incarnation is referred to as a drone. Those aren't much larger than a krummholz, and are highly mobile. As drones, Vyx are little more than machines. However, in sufficient numbers, drones merge together to form modules, which can then aggregate to form larger and larger structures. Each module is a mind of its own, though when they combine with others, their minds do as well."

That must have been the hive mind.

Day continued: "The longer modules remain connected, the more individuality they lose. Conversely, when individual modules break off from the grand ships, they will obey the general will, connected by the Vyx Network. Over time, the separated modules will develop their own identities, though that rarely happens anymore."

"Fudge!" I shook one of my arms in a moment of epiphany. "That's why I've been struggling to use my powers."

"How so?" Suisei asked.

"Wyrms can gang up on each other," I explained. "During a link, if enough minds want to go their own way, their majority can overrule the minority, and the larger the majority is, the easier it is for them to pull it off."

"The Vyx don't take kindly to strangers meddling with their systems," Wind said. "That would explain why the anti-virus units identified you as interlopers. They wouldn't let you leave without a fight, not if they believed you were a threat."

I nodded. "Which is exactly what's been happening to us!"

"Once the Network completely severs its link with the infected module, you should be able to leave without any trouble," Sound said. "However, that will not happen as long as you remain in our forest. This forest is an Archive; while you are in it, your presence creates a link between the infected module and the rest of the Network."

"When you are ready to leave," Wind said, "I can send you to your module's memory files. It should be safe there. You can hide from the anti-virus units until the severance is complete."

"As usual," Sound said, "we've gone far afield from our previous topic."

I shook my head. "It's no trouble at all. Everything you've told us is incredibly helpful."

"Speaking of the previous topic," Mr. Himichi said, "what does the Vyx Network have to do with Genneth persuading some of the Vyxit to give peace a chance?"

"Since you have access to the Network," Day said, "you could use it to send a message across the entire system. If there are any Vyxit who are willing to hear you out, that likely be your only way to reach them."

"So… how do I do that?" I asked.

"You'd need to find another infected module," Day said. "I can tell that the one you're in is almost completely severed from the Network. The scant remaining connections won't be enough to disseminate a message."

"Okay, so, find another Vyx module that's turning into a wyrm," I said. "That can't be too hard."

"Getting the message out is only half the battle," Wind said. "There's gotta be a reason for the Vyxit to believe you. Unfortunately, there'd be every reason to doubt you."

"But Day said the Vyxit aren't a monolith," Ileene pointed out.

"You have seen it for yourselves," Day said. "Vyxit society is rigid and militaristic. They willingly set their individuality aside to pursue their goal of eradicating the Blight."

"Couldn't you vouch for us?" I asked.

"It would amount to nothing," Wind grumbled. "No one much cares for a tree's opinions."

"Wait," Sound said, "Day, they should also contact EUe," Sound said.

"That's… an excellent idea," Day replied.

"Who-oo-way?" Ileene asked.

"EUe," Day said, "a twEfE. He is one of the Vyxit's leaders, and is deeply beloved."

"More importantly, he is Archived, like us," Sound said. "That means you can, in theory, reach him through the Network. If you can gain his support, the peace you seek might just be within reach."

"That sounds great!" I said.

Mr. Himichi turned to face me, his leaf-beard bristling. "But what if you really can't convince them to stop?" he said.

I lowered my head. "At the risk of asking a dangerous question… since I have the ability to hack into their Network, is there any possibility that I could use that to sabotage the war effort, and maybe even the superweapon, too, while we're at it?"

"You want to pacify &alon enough to persuade her to retreat, is that it?" Sound asked.

I nodded and then shrugged. "Unless the Sword—either yours or ours—can somehow be used to force a truce or get us to safety, trying to get one or both parties to this conflict to back down is pretty much the only available option that doesn't end with complete annihilation."

"Sabotage…" Wind said. "Hmmm… I don't know. It might be possible, or it might not. But if it is, it certainly won't be easy, not by a long-shot; then again, neither is disseminating a Network-wide message. You would need to go deep into the Network. You would face steep opposition and, even then, there'd be no guarantee you'd be able to figure out exactly what you needed to do, other than to destroy as much as you can."

From the sound of it, I had the feeling that this was going to be one of those tasks that a small, stealthy fighting force might be able to accomplish, just like in movies and video games.

Well, it was better than nothing, and certainly better than what I'd had before linking with the transformee Vyx module.

"What about the Sword?" Suisei asked.

"Yours or ours?" Wind asked.

"Yours, obviously."

"All I know is that it is a twEfE artifact," Day said. "If you want to know more, you'll need to find a twEfE who'd be willing to speak with you."

"That can't be too hard, can it?" Ileene asked.

"It's not impossible, but… it might as well be," Wind said, bitterly. "EUe won't be easy to reach."

"Does it have to be EUe?" Ileene asked.

"It might as well be," Wind said. "Among his people, EUe is famous for his open-mindedness."

"How so?"

"According to legend," Day said, "the ancient twEfE doled out death sentences to even the slightest crime. EUe had the audacity to question if that was just."

Ileene stammered. "W-What the fuck?"

"twEfE are very… intense," Wind said. "There's a reason they're called the Vyxit peoples' greatest warriors"

"Their courage and ferocity in battle is matched only by their unwavering commitment to the Long Hunt," Sound explained. "Their attitude is prototypical of Vyxit: they pledge their individuality in service of the community, and others follow in the wake of their wings. If any of them knew you were here, they would destroy half the fleet just to wipe it clean of your presence."

Considering the twEfE I'd fought, this news was neither surprising nor auspicious.

"So… your society was founded by a bunch of fanatics?" Ileene asked.

"That, and much more," Wind answered.

I groaned. "Great, just what we needed, another obstacle."

It made the possibility of a peaceful resolution to his conflict seem that much more unlikely.

"Dr. Howle," Sound said, "if you don't mind me asking… why do you care what happens to us?"

"What?"

"Just as you and &alon are our enemy," the Treefather continued, "we are yours. With a second Sword, your side might possess the means to eliminate the Vyxit. If your goal is to end the war, that would certainly accomplish it. And yet, you seem determined to avoid that outcome. Why?"

Thankfully, the question was easy to answer.

"Not even in my wildest dreams could I have imagined being here with you now. Until recently, I never knew a night sky could have stars. I thought it was empty. The world is so much bigger and more wondrous and terrifying than I ever knew. The Vyx and the Vyxit peoples are just the tip of the iceberg." I shook my head. "I don't want them to be destroyed. That…" I lowered my head in shame. "…that would make me like &alon, and being like her is the last thing I'd want. I'm a doctor, sir… I want to heal, not destroy."

"A noble sentiment," Sound replied. "I wish you the very best."

"What happens now?" Mr. Himichi asked.

"There is a portal within me," Day said. "It will return you to the Network. If you can find your way back to the zone of the Network corresponding to the module you linked with, you should be able to return to your body."

I nodded and bowed, as did my companions. "Thank you, Treefather Day. What you have told us is truly invaluable."

"I wish I could have done more," Day said, "but—"

"—Oh no…" Wind said. The tree father's mote of light floated across the river and hovered there for a moment, as if staring.

"What is it?" Suisei asked.

The light doubled back. "The Vyx," Wind said. "They're coming. They're coming!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.