“Let’s talk!” I held my hands up. “We come in peace, seeking audience with the Priest-Queen of Ru Waat.”
The squad leader replied by pointing down at the ground, then leaned away from us. His mount swooped off to the right and up, blocking the sun over our heads.
“Damn. I think this is the first time we’ve ever been intercepted by other fliers,” I remarked to Karalti. “Let’s go to ground, Tidbit. This is their turf.”
“Yup! Sure is!” Karalti dropped her wing and began her descent.
The scouts tracked us all the way through the landing, alighting in a ring around Karalti as she touched ground. Suri, Rin and Gar watched nervously as I slid down my dragon’s shoulder and leaped lightly to the ground. The Meewfolk dismounted, too: eight slender, well-muscled, lightly armored Meewfolk braves. They were nude except for their fine jewelry: silver and gold torques, bracelets, and rings that glittered with magical energy. Four of the eight had slender lances tipped with blue-steel points, the weapons rippling with faint sheens of mana. The others fielded large compound bows that looked strong enough to punch through an elephant’s skull. The arrows were made from some kind of enchanted glass. My HUD identified these men as [Meewfolk Forest Guardians]. They had purple skulls next to their names, which meant they were at least Level 40.
“You speak the language, human? How interesting.” The [Forest Guardian Captain] said. He still had an arrow resting loosely on his bowstring. “Humans and a Mercurion with a dragon, at least one of whom speaks and understands our tongue. Consider my curiosity piqued.”
“We made a point to learn your language before coming here, the better to speak with your Queen on her terms,” I said, keeping my hands raised. “We have a matter of international importance to discuss with her.”
“International importance? Well!” The captain looked back at his squad, who burst into a chorus of hissing laughter. “That is very, very important, isn’t it? And what kind of important human are you to be delivering such important news to such important people?”
“Dragozin Hector, a Count of Vlachia,” I said. “And the-”
“Vlachia?” The Captain interrupted, his eyes narrowing. “The country which reviles our orphans and exiles? That traps them in ghettos, and forces them to live in filth?”
“The previous king did,” I said, quickly. “The new king, Ignas Corvinus, is an ally of the Meewfolk, as am I.”
“Ignas is a master thief,” Suri called from Karalti’s back. She was still strapped into her saddle. “Worked his way up the ranks of the Nightstalkers of Taltos. You heard of ‘em?”
“I have,” one of the other Forest Guardians piped up. “My mainlander cousin is in that syndicate.”
“A human king, gaining the rank of Master? In a syndicate of our folk?” The Captain’s tail flicked, and he dropped the point of the arrow a little more. “Now THAT is a story to tease the ears of our Queen. She will surely want to know how he accomplished that.”
“I was about to say.” I tried to laugh it off. “And we need to ask the Priest-Queen for her wisdom and knowledge on the subject of the Drachan.”
“The Drachan?” The Captain’s tail lashed. “Those are the concerns of the priestesses. I know nothing of such things. Our Priest-Queen might be able to tell you what she knows, but she is just as liable to take you as her slaves if she senses you are weak… or lying.”
“Then we have nothing to worry about,” I replied. “Do we?”
“You do. She is the strongest warrior of our people, and the strongest of the Priest-Queens. Her eyes flash with the fire of the sun, and she drinks the blood of men who trespass on her territory,” the Captain said. “We will escort you to the gates of Ru Waat, and if our women decide to permit you into the city, you will go. But if they do not, we will take you back to your shipwreck. You will be able to purchase parts to repair it, and then you must leave.”
“You know about the shipwreck already, huh?” Gar swung his legs morosely, bouncing the heels of his boots off the side of Karalti’s saddle.
“Of course. We are Forest Keepers.” The Captain shrugged. “Come. Mount your dragon, and we will walk you to the city limit. And while we walk, think of your best stories.”
I waved my hands. “Stories about…?”
“Crimes, of course!” The Forest Keeper exclaimed. “That is the only reason humans come here. It is not against our laws to smuggle, but it is a great dishonor to attempt the arts of theft and grift and fail. So perhaps do not mention the airship crash to the Priest-Queen, yes? The women of our land are fickle, and not opposed to taking human slaves.”
***
We heard the sounds of combat from half a mile away; the howling screams of Meewfolk and the roars of monsters. Large, angry monsters.
“What in Lua’s name...?” The captain of the Forest Keepers muttered. “Quickly! Something is attacking the city!”
Karalti put her head down and picked up speed as the Forest Keepers launched into the surrounding air, their pterodactyl mounts quorking cries of alarm. We ran straight into a pitched battle below the beautifully carved red walls of Ru Waat. Animals of all kinds—from small monkeys to velociraptors—were pouring out of the lush jungle beyond the city, attacking the gates in a rabid rage. Several dervishes were fighting a pair of chimera. Part lion, part goat, part snake, they bounded back and forth, striking up at the parapets as Meewfolk guardswomen fired down on them with a steady stream of arrows. The beasts were starting to drop health, but they weren’t alone. Four huge dinosaurs were shambling toward the tall red stone walls of the city from the forest line. These shaggy black monsters looked like someone had crossbred Godzilla with a chicken, given it a pair of long beefy arms, and welded katana blades to each finger. I knew them from other dinosaur-inclusive games I’d played: they were Therizinosaurs. But something about them wasn’t right, and as they got closer, I spotted why.
These [Zombie Therizinosaurs] were also extremely dead.
Bloated from the jungle heat, putrid from the moisture, they were little more than waddling sacks of fluid as they charged the wall. They didn’t seem to notice us: instead, they began to belch missiles of black filth at the city walls, trying to strike the archers still raining fire down on the chimera. The blasts managed to hit one archer, who fell back with a shriek of pain.
“To battle!” The Captain of the Forest Keepers cried from overhead. “Defend the walls!”
More decaying animals and monsters swarmed out of the jungle toward the city. The stench was unbearable.
“Suri! You and me can take on that spare chimera! Gar, Rin, go back up the Forest Keepers with enfilade support! Karalti, tank for the ranged units if they draw aggro!” I rattled off orders, already moving for the front. More surprising was that no one argued with me. Rin didn’t know what enfilade was, but Gar seemed to, because he called for her and the Meewfolk to follow him to a position where they could fire on the Therizinosaurs from the side.
Suri stripped her armor and psyched herself into Primal Rage as I activated Mantle of Night, boosting my speed and attack power just before my first Jump. I landed right on the Chimera’s back, driving the spear in where the scales ended and fur began.
[You deal 2025 damage! HP: 8,277/12,747]
The Chimera screamed from three different mouths, and I realized I might have made a mistake when the snake-head tail of the thing darted toward me. I was still under the influence of Mantle of Night, so instead of sinking its six-inch fangs into my neck, they hit me in the ribs. Yaola’s chiton scale armor did its work: instead of plunging into my chest, the tips barely scraped my skin.
[You take 290 damage!]
[Virulent Poison! 2HP damage per second for 300 seconds.]
A wave of cold numbness spread through my arm—I leaped off as I saw Suri charge in from behind, her red aura flaring just before she brought her sword down in a huge cleaving strike. The massive blade took the snake’s head right off, sending it flying and shooting a jet of blac
k acidic blood into the air.
[Suri deals Critical Hit! 2571 damage! Chimera HP: 5,706/12,747.]
The injured Chimera roared, bucking like a bronco with me on top of it as I chugged an antidote and rode the damn thing like a stunt bike, surfing its back as it kicked and reared. Suri came around to the front: the chimera tracked her, then opened its lion mouth and released a stream of fireballs. She tanked them all, grunting as the fire splashed over her bare arms.
“I got this! Go back up the others!” Suri swept the lion’s paw to the side and headbutted it right in the face.
Karalti waded into the small army of undead creatures, blasting a pack of [Zombie Deinonychus] into ash before they reached the wall. The rest of the party had drawn the aggro of the Theris. They were unloading on them with everything they had: the rangers with bow and arrows, Gar with his pistols, Rin with her turrets. Every hit picked away at the monster’s health, but they had huge HP pools and were unaffected by pain or fear. The line of dinosaurs kept marching toward them, hocking gouts of black slime. One of them hit Hopper’s kinetic shield wall. Another of them struck Rin, causing her to cry out as her skin began sizzling.
“Time to blow some shit the hell up!” I launched off the furious chimera, pivoted in the air, and concentrated. Shards of black energy rained down on the backs of the Theris, staggering them. I pulled the energy back, and they condensed around me like a fan of javelins, blasting the dinosaurs a second time. One of them crumpled to its knees, rotten jaws working in a soundless scream.
“Focus your fire on that one!” Gar shouted to the others, smoothly reloading his revolver and firing again.
I hit the ground and rolled, just about out of Adrenaline Points after the last five maneuvers—which meant I had to get in and fight dirty. I ran forward and vaulted onto the Theri at the end of the line, jamming the spear into the back of its neck and levering myself to stand on its shoulders. The dinosaur spun, claws flailing, but it couldn’t reach up to slap me off.
“Ohho no. Look at your tiny arms!” I wrenched the spear free and plunged it down again, like an olde-worlde butter churn. “So mean! So stabby!”
The Theri let out a call—something between a dinosaur’s bellow and a wet fart. The next in line spun to face us and charged with its head down and its claws held out to the sides.
“Wait! No! You’re not supposed to be able to talk!” The Theri beneath me began to twist and shake, trying to get me off its back. “Bad bronco! Bad!”
The second dinosaur braced itself like a linebacker and smashed straight into its buddy, sending me flying. I turned the tumble into a flip, just in time. A gout of acid sailed past me, and then a second hit me right on the visor of my helmet, splattering and blacking out my vision.
[Your armor is Sundered! -15% protection for 60 seconds!]
[You are Blind! Remove the obstacle to see again!]
“Dude, fucking gross!” I Shadow Danced backwards, getting as far from the Therizinosaurs as I could. The two aggravated mobs spun on their hind feet and lumbered after me as I quickly pulled a rag out of my Inventory and used it to wipe my helmet so I could see again, removing the Blind status—and revealing, in vivid technicolor, the twenty tons of extremely dead dinosaur rushing toward me.
“Nope.” I bunched my legs, then vaulted into the air. At the apex of the jump, I burned my last AP to dash over the pair of Theris as they swiped with their sword hands and lurched into each other. “Nooope.”
“Last two! Hector, get out of the way!” Rin’s voice pierced the clamor of battle.
I bounded out of the line of fire as the pair of dinosaurs spun around, their eyeless sockets gaping, and ducked as a barrage of small arms fire blasted the zombies in the head and chest. They struggled forward into the fire, even as arrows embedded in their flesh, or blew maggot-riddled chunks off of them. Panting, resting, I watched anxiously as they got to within thirty feet of Rin... and then slowly crumpled to their knees and collapsed.
“HUURRGH!” Suri’s snarl cut the din. I whipped around to see her wrench a horn off the fallen chimera, raise it high above her head, and stab it through the chest. The monster roared and bleated at the same time, its legs scrabbling along the bloody ground. Suri wrestled with it, taking a clawed slap across the side of her face before it expired and fell still.
[Suri has defeated Chimera!]
[You gain 3864 EXP! You are Level 28! Suri is Level 31! Rin is Level 25! Gar is Level 18!]
“Damn, nice.” I leaned on the Spear to catch my breath.
As we regathered around Karalti, the gates to the city opened. A squad of ten guardswomen ran to greet us. Like their menfolk, they were a far cry from the wary, cautious Meewfolk of the mainland. They were tall and sleek, fit, proud, dressed in golden half-plate armor and brimmed, armored hats that fit around their ears. Their spears spat sparks of mana as they thumped them on the ground and stood to attention.
“Who have you brought to us?” The woman shot the Forest Keeper Captain a dark, challenging look. “Humans? And a dragon?”
“Their ship wrecked near the Ponang Commons,” the Forest Keeper Captain replied. His ears flattened, and his tail swished as he spoke. “They wish an audience with the Glory of the Sun, regarding some matter of international importance. You can speak to them directly… they know our language.”
“Interesting.” The guard turned her eyes to us, proud and aloof. “It is still a month until the next season. Are they your prisoners?”
“They have not committed any crimes.” The Forest Keeper shrugged. “They have complied with us and assisted us in battle. The colony stands to benefit from their presence. That is our opinion.”
“Your opinion carries high regard, Forest Keeper Nok Gao.” The woman put her hands together, palm to palm, and bowed fractionally from the neck. He did the same. Then, she turned to us.
“Humans, your menfolk cannot come into the city—as guests.” She looked pointedly at me and Gar. “You can be admitted only as prisoners. But because you are not guilty of any crimes, it is a formality until you reach the temple grounds. If our Priest-Queen judges your cause worthy, she will revoke your arrest.”
“And if she doesn’t?” Suri asked.
The guardswoman shrugged. “Who knows? She is the Priest-Queen.”
“Not real reassuring,” Gar rasped.
“It is up to you.” She turned her brilliant blue-green eyes back to me.
“I think Her Majesty will listen to us,” I said. “I’m fine with a formal arrest—for me and Gar.”
“Hey!” Gar snapped. “You can’t just lump me in with this! I’m not even in your damn party!”
“Then stay out here.” I held my wrists out to the lady. “The women of my party don’t need any special conditions to enter, right?”
“Correct,” the guard replied. “They are permitted.”
“Then whatever we did, it’s all my fault.” I grinned at her. “I’ve been a very bad boy.”
The crowd of Meewfolk women tittered in amusement. Their leader flicked her tail, once, then shrugged and pulled a coil of rope off her belt. “Then I do formally arrest you for unspecified, unspeakable crimes. Come.”
“Dios mío...” Gar slumped his way over as the woman deftly bound my hands, and held his out alongside. “FINE. I want to get into the damn city to shop for parts.”
“I guess I’ll stay out here,” Karalti sighed. “I can’t shift back yet. Bleh.”
“Once your timer’s up, you can come join us. Though the Priest-Queen might just send us straight back out again, so who knows?” The guard fastened the cuffs very loosely—so much so that I could have easily slipped them.
Karalti huffed, and rested back on the pad of fat just underneath her tail, using it like a small stool. “Fiiine.”
“Come.” The guardswoman jerked her head toward the gate and led us through. Suri strolled to my left, her mouth quirked in a strange smile.
I scowled at her. “You. Don’t get any funny ideas.�
�
“Ideas? Whatever do you mean by that?” Her lips pursed a little more.
“I’m well aware that there’s guys who’d pay a lot of money to be put in cuffs and marched through a city of scantily clad women, furry or not,” I replied. “I am not one of those men.”
“Right.” She snorted. “What was your safeword again?”
I muttered to myself. “… Zinfandel.”
Suri’s grin only widened.
The patrol led us down a wide, smooth road to the Priest-Queen’s palace. It was the polar opposite of the slums in Taltos: an orderly, clean and vibrant grid, well-planned and well-constructed. The wooden houses were crafted with care, mounted on stilts and terraces, with carvings, wooden lattices, and elegant hipped roofs made of blue and purple tiles. Brightly colored chickens clucked and scratched under people’s homes. Broad canals served as roads, full of small boats. Gardens bloomed with flowers and aromatic herbs. The people here were lightly dressed in sarongs and beautiful jewelry. Hundreds of curious eyes followed us as we headed for the center of the city, where a great walled palace reached for the skies. Meewfolk of every color and size came out to gawk at us, from small kittenfolk to elderly matriarchs supported by their adult daughters. Some of them waved. Others crossed their arms, or flattened their ears in disapproval.
The temple itself had a fortified gate: part palace, part fortress, surrounded by lush, tropical gardens. There were entire courtyards within the grounds, divided by paths and small trickling brooks. Silk banners danced in the wind, which was heavy with the smell of flowers. The roof of the palace was sheathed in bronze, gleaming under the hot sun. The guardswomen here were a step above the ones escorting us to the temple’s entry terrace. Their jewelry was made of aurum, radiating magic. They didn’t wear much in the way of metal armor—it was more like gladiator gear—but they were all protected by shielding magic more sophisticated than anything I’d seen in Taltos. Rather than a flat shield of energy, the light bent around their bodies slightly as we passed.
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