by Riker Kane
I called out to the Mana Dancer and she sprinted forward. Before the millipede could land back on its front legs, there was a fiery dagger digging into its underside. I watched as the black blood sprayed out from the wound and drenched Rhiannon. I would’ve felt sorry for her but she gritted her teeth, hardening her stare like she enjoyed seeing her victim bleed so much.
“Stay focused on its head!” I shouted. “Or whatever that thing on the end of it is…”
Zafina and Lyra bombarded the millipede’s upper body to knock it back and give Rhiannon a clear opening to rip it like opening a present.
Another flock of vultures came swooping toward me, forcing me to change my trajectory. I zoomed through the clouds as the vultures gave me chase.
“Can never have too much practice.” I turned around as I floated forward, steadying my aim on the birds. Their pale faces and empty white eyes made them more menacing than ordinary vultures but I wasn’t afraid of anything they could do to me. A Frozen Jet to one turned it into ice before it shattered into Mana in mid-air. Another took a Rock Burst that bloodied its face and forced it crashing to the ground. Another took a Radiant Beam. Another took a Dark Beam. Another took a fireball. I emptied every element in my arsenal on the flock, leaving a trail of Mana showering on the ground below.
I didn’t realize how far I’d flown until I saw how far the rest of the battle was taking place. As I saw Rhiannon continuing to split the millipede open, an idea came to me.
“I wonder…”
There was no telling what would happen but I had to give it a try. I readied myself then zoomed back toward the millipede. I moved as fast as I could, straining myself hard. Flying was like running in the air. The faster you went, the more your body had to work. My endurance was draining from me quickly. But I knew I had enough to make it.
The millipede reared its head back, leaning on its back legs as I approached.
“Let’s go!” I charged a Rock Burst and fired as soon as I neared its head. My momentum sent me crashing forward through the millipede. I shut my eyes as I felt the resistance. But I didn’t stop or even slow down. I kept going. Something wet splashed against my face and the noxious smell filled my nostrils, making me gag.
“Ungh…” I groaned as I landed back on the grass. But when I turned around, the sight was satisfaction enough for me to ignore whatever stink I had to endure.
I’d ripped a hole clear through the millipede’s mouth and shot out the hard shell of its body. It writhed back and forth in a waving motion before falling like a tree in the forest and exploding into Mana.
The stench of blood and guts covering me went away and the cool breeze filled my head with the smell of the arbor.
I walked over to collect the Mana as the others joined me.
“Impressive,” Zafina said. “You wield your flight better than before.”
“Looks to me like you were showing off,” Lyra said, grinning at me.
“Call it what you want,” I said. “But it’ll take a bigger beast than this for me to take it seriously.”
“Perhaps some of Cellica’s arrogance has rubbed off on you.” Rhiannon raised an eyebrow at me. I chuckled at her and shrugged, not bothering to continue our light-hearted argument.
The dark cloud in the sky faded away, taking the vultures away and leaving me to collect the Mana in peace. The ground continued to rumble though. I thought it was an approaching herd. But Balec and the Golden Arcs were easy to spot on horseback with their blond hair shimmering underneath the sunlight.
The group rode up to me and Balec hopped off his horse to greet me.
“That was an impressive feat,” he said. “You fought that beast as if it was an ordinary one.”
“You were watching, huh?” I replied. “Funny how you didn’t help out…”
“I would have assisted you but you had the situation well in hand.”
“It wasn’t any trouble… Though something tells me you didn’t come here to congratulate me.”
He held his arms out, smiling like a car salesman. “I bring good news. After learning of Nameno’s compliance to allow you passage through the mountains, the other raiders are beginning to fall in line. They are smaller groups, so they are willing to negotiate.”
I nodded in approval. “That’s good. I’ll leave it up to you to wrangle them up.” I looked over at Lyra. Though she remained distrustful of Balec by the look on her face, she didn’t speak up.
“Something has happened,” Balec continued. “The beasts on the plains appear to be growing in strength. For what reason, I don’t know. The presence of the other world is clear though.”
“That’s not a problem, is it?”
“The raiders are beginning to work together. When a battle is too difficult, they know when to flee. I can assure you the situation is in hand. However, there is another group that is not so quick to join our alliance.”
“How did I know it wouldn’t be so easy?”
Balec pointed over my shoulder. “To the southeast, before the swamps, there is a group of raiders led by Ceah. She is not convinced of our alliance. She thinks it is either some ploy by the other world to deceive us… or an attempt by me to gain control of the other raider groups.”
Balec gave me his car salesman smirk. “I wonder why she has that idea…” I said softly to myself. “And now I suppose you want me to convince her?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Anything I should know about Ceah? Will she shoot an arrow at me as soon as I’m in her sights?”
“Ceah will be open to dialogue. Though, you will still need to watch what you say.”
“Hmm…” I scratched the side of my chin, trying to figure out what the catch was. “I figured a car salesman like you would be able to convince her.”
Balec raised an eyebrow. “What’s a car?” He looked to the others as if they would have an answer for him.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I’ll go talk to this Ceah lady and see what she wants.”
21: A Proposal
It took us an hour of walking to make it to the southeast of the plains. Even though I could see our destination in the distance, it still seemed like they were so far away. By the time we arrived, it felt like everything around us was gone. There were no raiders. There was no wildlife. I wondered if even Shadows would bother trying to attack us.
I narrowed my eyes toward the horizon and saw a small encampment at the foot of the forest lining the entire southern horizon. “That could be Ceah’s camp. Or it could just be more raiders. Only one way to find out.”
I picked up the pace seeing the finish line nearing. With the Life Rune deactivated, my cane dug into the soil, every step bringing me closer to the huts. A few more steps closer and I realized they weren’t huts. Wooden houses like small cabins lined the area. The logs weren’t smoothed or perfectly straight but they appeared sturdy enough to handle whatever harsh conditions the Sol Lands could throw at them. Small campfires burned, sending smoke into the sky as the sun started to go down.
The people walking around didn’t look like anything special. Women in white tunics and brown leather pants seemed to be the fashion for most Qashians here and they weren’t any different. They went about their day, cooking food over their fires and weaving textiles quietly underneath the shade of their log cabins.
One of them perked their head up when they noticed me approaching. Two fingers in their mouth, they let out a shrieking whistle loud enough to pierce the sky.
“I wonder what they’re calling,” I said. “Dogs? Wolves? Horses? Maybe a giant dragon?”
“It’d be pretty tough for them to hide one of those things,” Lyra said. “But you can never be too careful around raiders.”
As we approached the edge of the encampment, more women began to appear. It was hard to tell what they thought of me. They weren’t smiling but they didn’t look like they were about to attack either. They just stood there, focused and waiting for me to make the first move.
I put my hands up like I’d done so often talking to strangers to show them I wasn’t any harm. “Hello, ladies. My name’s Virgil. These are my companions Rhiannon, Lyra, and Zafina. We’re here to—”
“Yes, we’ve heard of you,” a voice came from behind the group of two dozen women. They all turned back and parted to make way for a woman to approach.
The others were dressed in tunics and leathers but this one was different. She wore only a loin to cover her chest and it was barely doing that. A piece of brown leather fabric like bikini bottoms and some matching leather boots were the only other things she wore.
Her strawberry-blond hair was short, braided and wrapped behind her head. She kind of looked like a coed, minus the whole leathery bikini thing she had going on.
She walked closer and I saw she was about my age, maybe a few years older. Her tan skin didn’t have any wrinkles. There was only a single small dimple as she narrowed her green eyes at me.
“Yes, I have heard all about you.” She crossed her arms underneath her chest, speaking with a commanding tone. The way she looked down her nose at me, you would’ve thought she was a giant but she was shorter than the other ladies I was with. “Balec has spoken of you.”
“Balec, eh?” I said, not sure if that was a good or bad thing. “I hope he told the truth about me.”
“And what would the truth be, Virgil?”
“The truth is I’m trying to get to the marshes to secure more resources to fight against Pandora. That I’m trying to unite the raiders across the plains. That I’m trying to save all of you.”
Her grin grew, deepening the dimple in her cheek. “Do you hear that?” She turned toward the other ladies. “We are saved. Our knight in shining armor.”
The ladies all burst into laughter—every one of them without exception.
I sighed as I waited for them to calm down. “I wish I knew what you were laughing at so I could write it down…”
The blond looked me up and down, her smile leaving her face. “He spoke of what you did against the raiders. It is not an impressive feat to handle such weak people.”
“What about Nameno?” I said.
She paused, pursing her lips before nodding slowly. “Perhaps that is something noteworthy. But this could be another deception on Balec’s part.”
“I understand why you wouldn’t believe him. But I’m telling the truth. The reason I’m here is for the marshes. If you have no interest, I can leave you and mind my own business.”
“You need my help if you’re going to enter the marshes.”
“Why’s that?”
“The marshes will swallow you whole unless you know the correct path to take through them. Only my group and the Warriors of the Serpent know the way.”
“Well… Isn’t that convenient?” I sighed and put a hand on my hip. “And I suppose you want something from me in exchange for your cooperation? There a dragon that needs slaying? Maybe you want me to build another one of these nice little cabins for you.”
Her arms still crossed, she walked around me, looking me up and down as if it would give her a better idea of me.
“Get a good look,” I said with a smirk.
“How can one who needs a cane to walk accomplish the deeds Balec mentioned?”
“I’m special.”
“Why don’t you show her?” Lyra spoke up suddenly.
The blond moved in front of me and raised an eyebrow. “Yes. Show me.”
I shrugged, figuring it wasn’t a big deal, then activated the Life Rune. The white metal sheets of armor formed around me, covering me from my neck down to my toes. Even just standing there, I felt a lot sturdier than before.
I straightened up then twirled my cane around before stabbing it into the ground. “Not bad, eh?”
The woman’s eyes widened. The others in the camp looked to one another, searching for confirmation that what they were seeing was real.
“Then it is true.” The blond walked up and put a hand on my chestplate, running her fingers down to the jewel lodged in my center. “You are a… god.”
“Iorus’s one true Battle God, at your service.”
She took a step back from me and nodded. “My name is Ceah. This is my village.”
“I kinda figured that.”
“Perhaps we can come to an arrangement. Let us discuss this. Alone.”
~ ~ ~
The inside of Ceah’s cabin was quainter than I expected it to be. The floor was a polished wood like the walls and ceiling but there were no furnishings except for piles of bearskins, wolfskins, and spotted jaguar hides. A small fire burned off to one side, its smoke exiting through a makeshift chimney just next to it.
I sat on the floor next to the fire with Ceah by my side.
“When we escaped to this world—to Iorus—everybody was scattered. There were arguments and disputes about what was best for our people. I like to believe I was one of the few who kept their wits despite watching Qashia fall before my eyes.”
“By becoming a raider?”
“Being a raider is a derogatory term but I have grown being offended by labels. Whatever you call me, I did what was best for me and those who believed me. We took refuge to the southeast to avoid contact with all of the other raiders. There is food. There is shelter. There is water. Only the beasts from this world attack us, and they provide us the resources we need to thrive. However, even with more than thirty in my camp, there are still few of us compared to so many others.”
“There’d be a lot more of you if you all got together. You know, you’re all fighting on the same side.”
“I can be reasoned with. The other raiders cannot. Not so simply, rather.”
“I’ve gained Nameno’s trust and that went a long way. I can do the same for you, Ceah.”
She shifted her eyes toward me. The knowing-little smirk on the corner of her lips made it seem like she was up to something. I was ready to activate the Life Rune and defend myself if it came down to it.
“I want to believe what Balec told me of you. But I cannot be so quick to trust. I need something from you.”
“Of course,” I said, chuckling because I knew it was coming. “Everybody wants something. So where’s the dragon you want me to slay?”
“There is no dragon I need you to slay.”
“Then what do you need?”
“You.”
My face wrinkled in confusion. “…Me?”
“We are all female in our camp. If we want to expand our camp, we need to be able to grow and flourish. And we will not be able to do so with no men.”
“Whoa!” I put my hands up, trying not to laugh too hard. “I like to have a good time. Believe me. But a whole camp of women. That’s asking too much of me.”
“Not them. They will have their opportunity if this reconciliation you’re proposing comes to fruition. I speak only for me.”
I thought about it for a moment. I didn’t object to it but it still gave me pause.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?” I said. “I mean, you just met me.”
“I am curious. But the others know we cannot remain as we are. Men must eventually be invited to my camp. Give me the opportunity with a Battle God. I will set the example for the rest of my camp that we need to grow and prosper.”
Before I could say anything, she popped up from the ground. “Do you not like what you see? Am I unappealing to you?”
Her flat stomach and slim waist on full display, all I could do was stare. “It’s not that,” I said, stifling a chuckle.
“Then it is the others you travel with. They are jealous.”
“No, they’re not the jealous type. If anything, Zafina would encourage this—”
“Then she can join us. She can be there to make sure I have no ill intentions. I only want…” She leaned closer and put her thumb on my lips before kissing me softly. “…I only want to be with a god.”
She slowly pulled away from me. Her smile was gone. There was o
nly her focus stared, burning a hole through me to make it clear she was serious.
“If this is the only way—”
“It is the only way,” she said sternly.
“Then I guess we should invite Zafina…”
22: A Hard-Fought Victory
Ceah and the other women in the village did their best to accommodate us during the day. Even though it wasn’t anything different from the roasted meats available at Haven, I was never one to turn down some fresh barbecue. We had a chance to rest and relax underneath the stars on a comfortable stack of bearskins. With their work done, the women played on their lutes and recorders to provide some accompaniment to the view of the stars. As the small fires burned to keep us warm through the night, the howls of the animals were so distant, I didn’t even know they were there. It was nothing fancy, but Ceah had carved out her own nice spot in the Sol Lands for herself and her camp.
“Are you certain you’re ready?” Rhiannon eyed me curiously, her lips tight as she fought back a smile. “I’m sure this must be quite difficult for you.”
“Yes,” I sighed as sarcastically as I could. “I’m sure it will be torturous having to do this.”
We sat together next to a bonfire by ourselves while I waited for Ceah to prepare for what she wanted.
“You’re not jealous, are you?” I poked a stick at the fire. Now I was the one fighting back a smile.
“There is a chance Ceah may be up to something.”
“Maybe she’s a demon who wants to suck my life force out of me. I’ve heard stories of the succubus before.”
“We have those myths here as well. Though Ceah looks like a Qashian. Lyra seems to agree.”
“Where is she anyway?”
“She is wandering along the outskirts of the encampment. She is still wary of Ceah because she is a raider, though Lyra trusts your judgment.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep my guard up. I’m in, I’m out, and then we’ll be on our way to the marshes.”
“Virgil.” Zafina’s voice got my attention. She walked up to me and bowed her head. “Ceah awaits you.”
“Right.” I pressed my cane into the dirt and pushed myself to my feet.