by Pirateaba
Xrn was the first to speak. Her tone was sharp.
“I am talking with Klbkch. You will be silent, Pivr.”
“You have been given command of our group, yes. But my Queen—”
“Shut up.”
Xrn turned back to Klbkch and only now did he remember the…personality of his old companion. He had forgotten it, living for so long in his quiet Hive.
“We have much to discuss. After we greet your Queen, you and I must have time to talk.”
“You are not expected to return soon?”
“No. In fact, I told my Queen I would be a long time in returning.”
“You told the Grand Queen that?”
“Yes.”
That was Xrn. Klbkch shifted his glance to the Antinium and once again noted the absence of the fifth Hive.
“Wrymvr did not come? And his Queen sent no one?”
Xrn shrugged.
“You know him.”
“I do. I should not be surprised. In truth, I did not expect your presence either.”
“Yes, well—”
“I have an announcement.”
This time Klbkch had to restrain himself from stabbing Pivr. But the Revalantor had strode into the center of the Antinium. He spoke loudly, without glancing at Xrn whose look was…murderous.
“My instructions were to obey Prognugator Xrn until we reached the city of Liscor. However, here I and the Flying Antinium will carry out different orders. We will go into the city via the main gates.”
“What?”
Klbkch couldn’t believe his ears. Pivr nodded at him calmly.
“I was not informed of this.”
Xrn’s voice was foreboding, but Pivr didn’t seem intimidated.
“Your input was not required. My Queen has given her orders, and they will be obeyed.”
“You cannot enter the city. I forbid it.”
Klbkch had no idea how the [Guardsmen] would react upon seeing these Antinium. They would likely think the Second Antinium Wars were upon them again. Even in the best case—
But Pivr could not be argued with.
“These are my Queen’s orders. You, Xrn, have no authority over this. We will go into the city. We will not fight even if provoked, but we will maintain a show of force. You are allowed to follow us if you so desire. Indeed, Revalantor Klbkch’s presence would greatly be appreciated.”
With that, he and the other six Antinium began to march through the snow. They accelerated—then their wings opened and they flew.
Not into the air, but across the ground, skipping across the ground. It wasn’t true flight—but it was too fast to catch up to on foot. Klbkch didn’t waste time talking to Xrn. She couldn’t stop them. If she cast a spell the Flying Antinium would fight it, and if she bound them they would just wait to be free. They would fulfill their orders or die.
The Antinium flew towards the city, and soon Klbkch heard the shouting from the walls. He only prayed there wouldn’t be any fighting. So long as the [Guardsmen] kept their cool they would realize these were Antinium. And the citizens of Liscor had grown used to the Antinium. It could be okay. It might be okay.
Then he saw the two Drakes standing in the middle of the street. Pivr had stopped with his six Antinium, uncertain. Drakes and Gnolls and Humans were fleeing him, but these two Drakes—and the group of warriors standing behind them were not.
Klbkch could sense they were no ordinary warriors. Their presence alone had warned Pivr not to approach carelessly. Klbkch looked at them, about to call out, defuse whatever misunderstanding that might have occurred. And then he recognized one of them.
—-
Zel Shivertail had been prepared for the Antinium. He knew they were in the city so he had been prepared to grit his teeth if he saw one on the street. But the flying Antinium? They’d come out of nowhere, speeding down the street. Was it an attack? His pulse had been racing and he had had to hold Ilvris back, prevent him from unsheathing his sword and attacking.
But now another Antinium had come, one armed with two swords. Zel saw them, and his heart stopped in his chest.
Ilvriss froze by his side. His voice was the only sound in the street, the only sound Zel could hear over the hammering in his chest.
“Those swords. It can’t be—”
Another Antinium raced into the city, and behind her, more Antinium. Armored warriors—huge giants! The Drakes warriors behind Ilvriss grabbed at their weapons.
“Those are specialist Antinium! From the Hives in the south!”
“An attack!?”
“Guard the Wall Lord!”
“Hold—hold!”
Zel ground the words out, but he felt like he’d been stabbed. Illvriss had gone pale at the sight of the other Antinium who stood by the one with swords. His voice was a whisper now.
“Azure. The color of the sky.”
There was only one Antinium like that, Zel knew. But his eyes were still on the one with swords. There was only one Antinium like that one, as well.
“Klbkch the Slayer.”
His voice was thunder in his ears as he let go of Ilvriss. The Wall Lord had a death-grip on his sword as he stared at the Antinium holding the staff.
“The Small Queen. Xrn.”
—-
Across the street, Klbkch stood frozen. Memory surged around him at the sight of Zel Shivertail’s face. It had caught Xrn as well.
“Zel Shivertail. And a Lord of the Wall.”
The air had changed. Pivr glanced uncertainly at Klbkch and Xrn.
“Who are these Drakes?”
No one answered him. Klbkch’s hands were on his sword. He felt Xrn trembling next to him.
“We must not fight.”
He said it, but the words were distant in his head. He couldn’t retreat. Not here. Not now.
Someone took a step forwards. Was it him? The Drakes started to advance as well. Shivertail’s eyes were locked on Klbkch’s.
Memory flashed between the two.
—-
Zel Shivertail killed another Soldier, cutting apart his carapace with claws like razors. He turned, and saw the battlefield had disintegrated into chaos. Drakes and Antinium struggled everywhere, the Antinium fighting and killing anything moving.
Chaos. He turned and blocked a sword that came for his neck at the last moment. The Antinium who leapt backwards was slim, and covered in blood. Drake blood. He held his swords like a true blade master, watching Zel carefully.
“Zel Shivertail.”
“You must be Klbkch the Slayer.”
“Yes. I have come to kill you. If you die, the Antinium will triumph here.”
Zel pointed at the battlefield, where Antinium fought and died, killing mindlessly even as the Drakes organized and began to slaughter them.
“Is this how the Antinium do battle?”
“It is how we fight to survive, Drake. When we do battle, you will know the difference.”
Klbkch leapt forwards and then there were only his flashing blades. Zel snarled, slashing with his claws—
—-
“I’ll take the mage. You take the Slayer.”
“We are not…here to fight.”
Zel rasped the words out. His feet dragged themselves forwards though, and he couldn’t muster the effort to stop them. He and Ilvriss advanced down the street, ignoring the calls from the Drakes behind them to stop.
Ilvriss felt one of his guards grab at him and swung one fist. The Drake fell back, bleeding and the Lord of the Wall walked forwards as if in a trance. His sword was in his hand, and his eyes were on Xrn’s. They stared at each other, as they had done years ago on the battlefield.
—-
He stood with the [Mages] and [Strategists], coordinating the battle as the Drake and Human forces contained the Antinium with walls of steel and blasted them with magic. Ilvriss stood patiently, knowing his chance for battle would not come. But then the earth exploded and he saw her standing amid the destruction.
The comm
and tent burned as she drew a line of fire that burned the Human [Commander] to ash. Out of the billowing smoke, Soldiers charged into battle, fighting the unprepared [Mages] and support classes and their small retinue of guards.
“This battle is over. Flee, Drakes and Humans, or I will slay you all.”
That came from the Antinium who glowed with magic. She looked down at Ilvriss as he stood, shaking, blood running down his right leg, his long sword in hand.
“Name yourself! Who are you?”
He roared at her as he charged, cutting Soldiers down. The Antinium’s voice echoed as she stood on a rock, casting spells left and right, cutting down his allies, his friends.
“I am the last memory of my kind. Thunder which moves grass. I am a Queen without a Hive. Fire burning in the heart of ice. I am Xrn, and I will not die here.”
She raised her staff, and lightning split the sky. It broke the formations of Drakes, and a fireball fell among the [Mages] who hadn’t time to raise a shield spell. They burned, dying, and the Antinium with a staff raised hers high. The wind blew, and the Soldiers and Workers charged. Ilvriss fell back, fighting among the dying….
—-
He couldn’t stop. Zel walked onwards, and so did the Antinium. The streets were empty.
The air was screaming with tension.
He knew he should stop. They were at peace.
Peace? With the Antinium? Zel walked the battlefield and saw his foes only a few feet away. He could smell the dead around him, and feel blood running down his side. The air was hot. Hot? It was the middle of summer, and the Antinium—
Zel felt snow crunching under his feet. He knew he was in Liscor, knew the war was over. But the pounding pulse in his head wouldn’t die down. And the Antinium were right in front of him.
—-
Klbkch’s feet moved. His swords were in his hands.
“We must stop.”
Xrn said that, dreamily. But he could feel magic gathering around her. Klbkch said nothing.
He couldn’t stop.
“Fighting is prohibited.”
Klbkch’s head turned and Pivr quailed. He knew the other Antinium was right. But nothing could stop him. He was staring Zel Shivertail in the eye, and he knew it was time to finish things. The sword was cold in Klbkch’s hand. He took another step, another—
And then someone rushed in front of him, arms spread wide. Klbkch raised his sword to cut the person—the Antinium down—
“Pawn!”
The blade stopped. Pawn stood in front of Klbkch, arms spread wide, and twenty Soldiers stood at his back. Xrn had paused too, surprised by the other Antinium’s appearance.
“Revalantor Klbkch, I regret that we must bar your way.”
Klbkch opened his mandibles to protest, to tell Pawn to move before Zel Shivertail cut him down from behind—when he saw the shouting on the other end of the street.
“Guardsmen! Form a line!”
Watch Captain Zevara—Zevara was there, forming a living wall like Pawn had with Gnolls and Drakes. They blocked off Zel and the Wall Lord from advancing, facing grim, shields raised as if they expected a fight.
The Drake [General] was staring at Watch Captain Zevara as she shouted at them to back up. Klbkch heard another voice then as well, a familiar one.
“Hey, old man Zel! It’s me, Relc! How’s it going? And who’s this guy?”
A big Drake waved excitedly at the head of the tense group of [Guardsmen]. Relc was enough of a distraction by himself. Klbkch felt the madness—the memory holding him loosen. He turned.
“Xrn.”
“I know. Let’s get out of here.”
She turned. The Antinium—the Armored Antinium, Pivr and his band of idiots, and the silent assassins and Xrn’s honor guard ran through the streets. The City Watch and the Drake [General] let them go. And in a few moments…
There was peace.
For now.
—-
They had come close to war. Perhaps. Zel could only shudder at the thought as he walked out of Liscor’s gates. If they had fought—regardless of who had lived and died, what would have happened? Would it have been war right then? Would the Queen have done that?
If Ilvriss or he had died—Zel didn’t want to imagine it. His earholes still rang from Watch Captain Zevara’s shouting. It had been a miracle she’d gotten there in time.
He should have known better. Zel knew that. But he had seen Klbkch and memory—
He’d think on it later. It was late, after all the shouting and then the explanations and introductions had been done. Zel glanced at the sky and wanted nothing more than to find somewhere comfortable to sleep.
But all the inns were full, and he had no desire to stay under the same roof as Ilvriss. So Zel walked out of the city and towards a place he thought he remembered.
It was odd. The inn seemed closer than it should have been, and in the wrong place. But it was the only inn around, and so Zel knocked politely on the door and waited.
When it did open, he stared down in mild surprise at the girl who stared up at him with huge eyes. A young Gnoll cub appeared behind the girl and then darted away as Zel waited for her to speak.
“Um. Hello.”
“Good evening, Miss. Is the [Innkeeper] here by any chance?”
“Erin? No she’s…I’m sorry, please, come in!”
Zel entered, somewhat mystified. Erin? That was a female name, or so he thought. What had happened to the man? Had he retired?
Perhaps he’d gotten married and this was his daughter. Or just a [Barmaid]. Zel sat a table, smiling without showing his teeth as the girl brought him a drink.
“Here’s some water. Honey water, actually.”
Zel’s nonexistent eyebrows rose as he sipped at the sweet drink. It was quite nice, and pleasantly hot.
“So the [Innkeeper] is gone? Will she be back tonight, do you know?”
“No I—she’s been gone for a while now. I run the inn while she’s—away. My name is Lyon. Lyonette.”
Odder and odder. But Zel still needed a place to sleep.
“In that case, may I ask if your inn is full Miss Lyon? I’m looking for lodgings and all of the inns in the city are crowded.”
“A place to—?”
The girl’s eyes widened as if she was surprised he wanted to stay here. And judging from the way the inn was so empty at dinnertime, that was probably justified. But Zel liked the feel of the inn. It had glass windows, flowers, and a lovely fire.
“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like a room. I stayed here once before—I think it was here—a long time ago and I have fond memories of this place.”
“Oh. Well this inn was rebuilt…”
Zel blinked at Lyon. The girl blushed.
“I’m sorry. It’s a long story. But yes—we have plenty of rooms. If you’d like to stay here, I can offer you a very reasonable rate. But I’m afraid Erin—the [Innkeeper] is gone so I’m the only one who can serve you. I’ll do my best, but I’m not the best cook.”
“Well, as long as it’s edible I will be quite happy.”
Zel smiled reassuringly at Lyon, and she managed to smile back. He looked down as he felt a wet nose on his leg.
“And I see you’re not all by yourself. Who’s this?”
“Mrsha!”
The Human girl yelped and chased away the Gnoll. But she paused as Zel laughed, and smiled again.
“If you’re willing…then welcome. As I said, my name is Lyonette. This is Mrsha. Welcome…to the Wandering Inn.”
3.24
When the Horns of Hammerad left the city of Ocre, it was, predictably, to a huge fanfare and celebration by the crowds lining the street. At this point, the four adventurers so highly lauded were well and truly sick of the entire affair.
“It’s not even as if there’s anything to cheer about. We’re leaving.”
Yvlon and Pisces nodded in dour agreement as they strode down the streets towards the gates. Ksmvr didn’t reply—he was busy w
aving. He seemed to enjoy it.
“There’s the wagon. Let’s get on.”
Ceria pointed, and the Horns of Hammerad piled onto the wagon outside of the city. The cheering faded a bit as the crowds realized that the illustrious adventurers, the heroes who’d conquered Albez, weren’t leaving on white stallions or riding away in a carriage.
They were taking a wagon, for good and practical reasons. But it was definitely less fancy and so the adventurers left the city with their eardrums mostly intact.
“Thanks for waiting. Are you headed directly to Celum?”
Ceria addressed the wagon driver, a woman who grinned at her as she flicked her reins to make the two horses begin plodding down the road.
“That’s right. I’ve got a bulk delivery of goods—crops, meat, and so on—that needs to get down there tonight.”
“Oh? Are you part of the Runner’s Guild?”
The woman clearly was no Runner, but the Guild sometimes hired slower modes of transport to deliver goods the old-fashioned way when there weren’t enough Runners or there was too much to carry. The wagon driver snorted gently.
“No—Merchant’s Guild. We handle all the mundane traffic. You’ll never see a Runner stoop to carrying this stuff. Of course, up north the damn Runner’s Guilds have bags of holding and so their Runners can still beat our prices. But this close to the south us [Merchants] and [Traders] have the monopoly on transport.”
The half-Elf nodded. It wasn’t like she’d asked for an explanation, but guild rivalries were a touchy thing. And the Runner’s Guild wasn’t exactly popular—adventurers had their issues with them, as did [Merchants] and other groups like the Mage’s Guild and so on.
“Well, so long as we get to Celum before dark, we’ll be happy.”
“No fear of that. Truth be told, I wouldn’t be doing this run at all if you lot hadn’t decided to hitch a ride. All these Goblin attacks make it far too dangerous—but the Horns of Hammerad shouldn’t have any problems, right?”