Swarm [1]

The Forest was abuzz with life. The chirping of birds and the clamor of the insects as they went through the perpetual cycle of survival. The sunlight was low on the horizon when the sound of the forest suddenly erupted.

Countless small mammals, badgers, voles, chipmunks, etc. were flooding through the forest. The birds took wing with startled calls, the cacophony of chaotic noises preventing the evening from moving toward the typical slumber. The ground shook with a low rumble.

With a low humming sound that crescendo into a din of chirps and squeaks, the forest floor seemed to roll forward in a wave. The greenery was submerged under brown fur and sharp claws.

The Shu moving through the forest all had cloudy eyes, with no sign of cognizance. They rolled over everything that had gene energy like a tide, devouring many creatures that Liam and Luna would have been careful to circle around, if only to avoid an annoying confrontation.

The trees began to fall in the back of the tidal wave of rat men. They all fell forward and to the side, as if something massive was passing through in the back of the horde of bodies.

A shadow slowly coalesced in the evening light. It was humongous, and utterly grotesque.

What would have initially been thought to be a small hill, a jiggling bulbous mass of flesh writhed through the trees. In front of it were nearly two hundred Shu warriors, dragging on vines that were wrapped around the pulsating quivering mass.

The Shu swarmed around a particularly flat spot of earth ahead, they suddenly began digging with their clawed hands and dug out a squirming writhing mass of tentacles with a gourd on one end of it. It was another Vile Plume.

It immediately wrapped up and crushed several Shu warriors and swallowed another into its gullet, but the Shu seemed not to notice. They bit and gnawed at it even as the Vile Plume killed them with reckless abandon.

As the Vile Plume fought back, its vines and gourd were ravaged. Eventually after killing seven Shu by itself, its tentacles were too devastated to continue smashing and crushing the enemies that seemed to be limitless and it was torn to pieces. The Shu left the body where it lie and continued moving forward through the forest.

The Shu pulling the vines on the writhing mass pulled it over beside the decimated Vile Plume corpse. Pulsating, the mass began to glow a deep purple color.

The two cores of the Vile Plume began to glow in resonance with the gyrating mass of flesh before disintegrating. The Glamour and Blockade energy from the Vile Plume then floated through the air and was sucked into the purple maelstrom of flesh.

A strangely discordant sound rang out through the night. It sounded like a sweet child's giggle of satisfaction. The Shu proceeded to pull the writhing mass of flesh forward again.

If one looked closely, they would see a pulsating light emanating from the core of the mass of flesh. Wrapped in its own arms with its legs curled up, a small boy seemed to be peacefully sleeping. His long thin segmented tail was wrapped around his legs up to his face and he seemed to be sucking on the tip of it like a pacifier.

The Shu were moving in a swarming mass and covering ground relatively slowly. It seemed as though they were searching for something. Eventually, late into the night a Shu warrior picked up a scent…it was the scent of the Shanmao tribesmen that had fled from the village.

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The remnants of the Shanmao were not warriors. They were the weak and young guided by a few older men who were past their prime for combat but had knowledge of the lay of land. The mothers kept the children moving and the only ones with any fighting capabilities were two of the recently pregnant female Shanmao that hadn't stayed behind to fight in the village. They were still capable warriors and would have gladly fought for the retreat of the clan, but the children in their bellies deserved a chance at life too.

Just this moment, an elderly Shanmao man fell when he tripped over a root and crashed to the ground.

"Get up elder Lang, we have to keep moving!" a strong but youthful voice suddenly encouraged from in front of him.

Elder Lang looked up to see a smoke colored fur covered hand reaching out for him. His eyes met the two deep hazel eyes of the female Shanmao who stood before him. Her eyes looked determined, with a slight trace of worry glinting as she looked around hurriedly.

"I…I'm sorry Rebecca, I just don't think I have much left in this old body. Just go without me. I'm only going to drag down the rest of the cl-" Before he could finish his sentence he was fiercely grabbed and pulled onto her shoulders.

With a slight brown glow around her body, Rebecca used her own Blockade gene energy to power her shoulders and back as she lifted the elderly man who was roughly the same size as her. She didn't say a word as she nimbly moved forward to the front of the group.

She passed several other old timers who were doing a little better than Elder Lang, but their turns would come soon enough. She moved into the middle of the group past the women who were heavily pregnant and leaning on other women for assistance, and the mothers who were shepherding their children until she got to the guides for the forest.

The Blockade glowing around Rebecca faded and she carefully set the elder down. "Take a rest here and continue moving when the rest of the elders catch up with you. We can't afford to leave anyone behind. We've sacrificed too much already."

Before Elder Lang could protest, Rebecca had already took off to the back of the pack. He shook his head ruefully as he rubbed his swollen ankles. With a young lady working that hard, him nobly staying behind to prevent himself from being a burden seemed…a little lazy.

A long lost feeling welled up in him…was this…determination? As an almost dying ember of desire for survival rekindled within his heart, Elder Lang looked up to see the three guides glance at him and talk in hushed tones as they moved forward. While he might be old, Elder Lang's hearing as a Shanmao was naturally very good.

"How many is that now?"

"Seven…"

"That girl is going to wear herself out at this rate…"

"She didn't seem tired."

"What else can we do…"

"We can't go faster, but if we slow down we'll be caught soon…"

Elder Lang's shame burned his face as he finally spoke up "What utter nonsense. You have to save the tribe. Don't worry about old men like me! I'll be fine or I'll die, but you better not slow down for our sake!"

The three guides looked at him in surprise before their eyes narrowed in appreciation. They realized they had forgotten what mattered the most. At a time like this they couldn't possibly lose sight of the forest for the trees!

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