“Not for this,” Sebastian said as he scooped more pulverized wood out of the tree. Then he reached in and drew forth a handful of muck.
“What the fuck?” Geris stepped back.
Sebastian flung the gunk down, then wiped his glove off on the snow. With a focused frown, he fished through the pile of filth with the tip of his dagger, the snow collecting the sunlight to illuminate every little crumb of wood.
“Look.” Sebastian pointed with his blade.
The rest of us bent forward and peered at the sludge. It moved.
“Ew!” Geris exclaimed. “Are those bugs?”
“Rasalt beetles,” Sebastian said as he stood and sighed. “That's bad. They're wood churners.”
“Wood churners?” Rian asked.
Sebastian waved at the blackened trees. “They eat living wood, leaving behind this. An infestation can decimate an entire forest in a few months.”
“How do we stop it?” I asked.
“Fire always works, but they're sneaky bastards. Once you start burning them, the heat drives them into the ground. They'll burrow deep until it's safe to come out, then come up hungrier than ever.”
“What do you recommend we do?” Rian nearly growled the words.
Sebastian scratched his head and looked around. “If I'd been brought here sooner, I would have suggested digging a trench around the infected trees before burning them. It helps that it's winter, and the ground is so hard. But wood churners are tenacious, tough fuckers. They can chew through practically anything. Frozen ground isn't going to stop them. Still, if we had dug deep enough, we'd be able to burn any as they burrowed through.”
“Why can't we do that now?” Rian asked.
“Geris said there are hundreds of trees infected all around the forest. Trenching them would take too long. By the time we get to them all, the beetles may have killed everything.”
“There must be a way.”
“We need a barrier that can penetrate frozen ground fast.”
“So, we need an invention.” Rian looked at me.
I blinked. “Me?”
“You're the inventor,” Geris said, his lips twisting into a smirk. “Invent something.”
“Can't you just get the mages to figure it out?” I asked.
“This is a complicated issue,” Rian said. “Magic is probably needed, but it's the application that's important. Can you help us come up with a solution?”
I looked at the trees. The ground. A barrier. Something to slide through frozen earth quickly. “I need some time to think about it.”
“Of course,” Rian said.
“Can we collect some of those beetles for inspection?” I asked.
“Certainly.” Sebastian pulled a glass vial out of his jacket and scooped a few beetles into it before stoppering it. He handed it over to me.
I lifted the vial and stared at the rasalt beetles. They were about the size of my pinky nail, with pincers like a crab. The tree gunk slid off their bodies and revealed a glossy blue carapace.
“They're rather pretty,” I said.
“They're prettier when they're dead,” Sebastian announced grimly.
Chapter Thirty-Six
