"Sam, you've been gone for a long time!" Myrrh excitedly let out, "How is it going with your construction?"
"Very well, thank you. Myrrh, I'd like to talk to you about the Mantoan. Maybe we could even talk face to face," Sam gingerly said in her mind. A few feet away, a large flower bulb grew from nothing to the size of a large chest in seconds. When the flower bloomed, a humanoid woman, made of tree bark and foliage, gracefully stepped onto the ground with a big smile.
"This is my best attempt to speak to you face to face," Myrrh grinned, "I have taken a form that best matches your idea of advanced intelligence. Let's take a walk." Seeing this tree person before her, Sam thought it would be more appropriate to revert back to her human form. Once she transformed, the two walked beneath the trees deeper into the woods.
Sam asked slowly, "What did you mean when you said my 'idea of advanced intelligence'? Is this not your true form?"
"Yes and no. My true form is what you saw when you first landed," Myrrh giggled, "I am every native life on this world, and they are all parts of me. However, you seemed to have troubles understanding who I am, so I crafted this form to help you know where to direct your discussion and alleviate your worries."
"So, you're a hive mind of sorts? 'All is one and one is all' sort of thing? That's quite incredible," Sam began to understand Myrrh a little better.
"It has its own strengths and weaknesses like all life," Myrrh commented, "Now, you said you wanted to talk about the Mantoan. Did you have specific questions or were you just looking for general information?"
Sam meekly answered, "Actually, I wanted to ask for your support. My friends on another planet may encounter them any day, but, like me, they're young and few in number."
"That sounds terrible, but I'm not sure what I could do to help," Myrrh explained, "As you may have guessed, I am bound to this world and possess no power to leave it. Though I haven't thoroughly tested it, I'm fairly certain that my connection to my other parts will be lost if you were to take part of me with you to the stars."
"Oh, I didn't think about that. Well, don't worry about it then," Sam sighed.
Myrrh put her finger on her chin, "I think there may be a way I can help you. A couple ways, now that I think about it. But it comes with significant risks, at least the biggest way I can help you."
"What's the less risky way?" Sam asked quickly, "I'm not saying no to the risky way; I just want to consider all my options first."
"When the Mantoan and their ilk came before, there were certain parts of the world that they avoided. The plants that populated the area must have negatively impacted them, so I could cultivate more of those plants, enough that they could be harvested and used as weapons against them," Myrrh shrugged as this action was neither difficult nor detrimental to her.
"That's amazing! We would be very appreciative of that," Sam happily replied, "Although, I imagine that would take some time. What's the risky way?"
Myrrh pursed her petal lips, "I could enhance your magik."
"What!" Sam shrieked, "You have magik?"
"I don't use it very often, which is why I'm hesitant to offer. However, the being that helped me learn magik said I could give some to another person, if I chose to do so. Let me show you it, so you can decide," Myrrh cautiously continued. She extended her arm, cupping her outstretched hand, while a light began to flicker in the space above it. As the light gained form and began to grow into a sphere, Sam's eyes grew wider, and her jaw began to slip open. After a minute or so, Myrrh had created a brilliant, glowing, prismatic orb the size of a baseball in her palm.
Sam stuttered, "Is that the Arcane sphere? That's incredibly rare."
"I don't really know what kind of magik it is," Myrrh apologized, "But the being that visited me once told me it was special because it was the only kind of magik you could share with someone else. Though I've never shared it with anyone."
"My good friend has this kind of magik, though not nearly as strong as yours. If you give me some of this magik, I will swear to be your loyal friend as long as I live," Sam bowed.
"I can tell you are pure of heart, so I will help you," Myrrh nodded as she raised Sam to face her, "Just be warned, if I die, you will die as well."
Sam agreed, "I understand; that's fine with me. I just want to help my friends, however I can."
"You may feel a weird sensation when I do this," Myrrh warned as she lifted her hands and firmly gripped Sam's shoulders. A small glow of magik began to pulse through Myrrh's body, slowly getting brighter and brighter. Then Sam felt a small prick in both arms simultaneously followed by a second, third, and fourth poke before a constant stabbing feeling emanated from her shoulders. She gritted her teeth as the stabbing turned into a burning, burrowing feeling digging into her upper body and coursing through her veins. The pain brought Sam to her knees; she tried to scream but only a squeak came out. Myrrh leaned over Sam's writhing body with a puzzled look on her face.
Myrrh gulped, "Maybe I misjudged your strength and gave you too much." Meanwhile Sam continued to roll around on the ground for the next fifteen minutes with a strange glow under her skin moving around from part to part. As time went on, the glow dimmed and slowed, disappearing entirely after thirty minutes. Finally, her breathing returned to normal, and her body stopped convulsing. Still, it took several minutes for Sam to sit up.
"I feel different," Sam mumbled as she got to her feet, "Like there's a spring of magik rising up inside me."
"I tried not to give you too much, but I also wanted you to be strong. The Mantoan are fierce and numerous," Myrrh elaborated.
"Is this truly raw magik? Have I only been scratching the surface?" Sam continued in amazement while the rushing surge of magik overpowered the lingering pain in her body, "Thank you, Myrrh. Truly I am grateful for this gift."
Myrrh giggled, "You're welcome. I barely gave you two percent of my magik; you'll have to develop more on your own. Go ahead, try it out." Sam beamed and held out her cupped hand, just as she had seen all her friends create magik orbs. Lights began to flicker just above her palm until it took shape, a prismatic orb the size of a baseball. She squealed before firing it off into the sky like a rocket.
"It really is the Arcane Sphere!" Sam hugged Myrrh while she jumped for joy, "Thank you! Thank you so much, Myrrh! You're amazing!"
"You're welcome, Samantha. I hope we will be good friends," Myrrh shyly smiled.
"Of course!" Sam nodded enthusiastically, "In fact, when you're ready and if you want to, I'll escort you around our base since we're both friends and neighbors."
Myrrh grinned, "I'd like that. Not today though, I need to practice moving around in this body. Plants aren't very ambulatory, and I know it will be enough of a shock just to see me." The girls continued chatting about magik, the Mantoan, and each other until the early evening without noticing how late it had become. Sam learned that Myrrh encountered the Mantoan and another group called the Uthid, easily wiping out their scouting parties without magik. Myrrh had also encountered another human or human-looking creature which taught her to control the Arcane sphere when she was young, though time was a difficult concept for her to quantify. This figure landed on the surface of the planet without a ship and completely alone; honestly, her description of the character sounded like that of a god, making it difficult for Sam to guess who or what this creature was. When the sky started to darken, Sam thanked Myrrh again and headed back to the FOB.
Once she returned to the base, Sam headed straight to the command center to fill in Gatrie. She saw the RRS signal was active, so she made her way to the secure room and waited for Gatrie to wrap up his meeting. While she waited, she practiced creating the Arcane sphere again and again, still in utter shock that she had been given something so incredible. After twenty minutes of sitting and waiting for the meeting to finish, she decided to get up and stretch, just as Gatrie swung open the door furiously. His footsteps were heavy and loud as he clomped out and slammed the door shut behind him.
Gatrie grimaced, "Oh, Sam, you're back. Please tell me you have some good news because that call was shit."
"Better than good, I have great news," Sam's smile went all the way up to her ears, "Myrrh said that she will start growing some plants that the Mantoan avoided when they visited her before."
"That will help. What about more direct help?" Gatrie tried to sound appreciative.
"Unfortunately, she can't leave the planet, so unless they come here, she can't do much," Sam reported, "But she did give me this." Taking a step back, she outstretched her hand and created the brilliant sphere in it. Gatrie looked at it for a moment, squinting as if he was missing something, before his eyes grew wide and a smile finally cracked his frown.
Gatrie gasped, "Is that what I think it is?"
"You mean, is this the Arcane sphere?" Sam answered, "Yes, yes it is." Then Sam exploded with all the information she had learned from Myrrh. The two walked as she unpacked it all and took about thirty minutes to both explain the events and answer all the questions he had. After sifting through the details, Gatrie informed Sam of the report from Tana's team and the figure they had encountered which made Sam understand why he was riled up after the call.
Gatrie asked, "So, given all the information we have from all four groups, do you think we're ahead or behind where we expected to be."
"Well, on the one hand, we've encountered way more life than we initially thought. The Apleem, Myrrh, Ninian, and this mystery figure with Emory are all big variables that we didn't know about when we left the Sol System," Sam considered, "Yet on the other hand, Myrrh and the mystery person have already helped us. Plus, it's been a few days since Nephenee's team came across that destroyed alien technology. We're safe for now at least."
"I suppose you're right. And we should have a link to the other squads tomorrow, so that'll be one less thing to worry about," Gatrie sighed. By the time they recapped all the information they had so far, it had gotten quite late. The two parted ways and went to bed for the night, hoping for more good news tomorrow.