Rod of the Heart

by Cebelius

  Not important, best pick up the pace.

  She sheathed her sword and began to run. Her proxy body was heavy, but had been optimized for physical combat and it had a great deal of endurance. Even fully armored as she was, if it were simple running she could go all day.

  And I'd BETTER not have to do it that long ...

  About a mile outside of town she started to see people off the side of the road, clearly unable to run further, and those who continued on were slowing. Two miles outside town the pace was even more sedate. At four miles, people were setting up small camps, getting ready to spend the night in the field to the north of the road.

  Eight miles outside town Astur found what she was looking for. At least, she found lizardfolk.

  Lots of them.

  Did the whole community just pick up and file out as a unit? Curious.

  A small sea of tents and fires dotted the greensward in front of her, and as she strode off the road and into the camp conversations faded away as the mortals all stopped to gawk at her.

  She raised her voice and said, "I want Vaktosh's family! BRING THEM TO ME!"

  She almost drew her sword to emphasize her point, but remembered why she was here and took off her helm instead, shaking out her hair and letting it billow in the late-afternoon breeze, which felt rather nice after the close stillness inside the helmet. There was no question that she would be obeyed. Her presence was an implicit threat to the freedom of everyone here. Lizardfolk were favored slaves for dragons for a number of reasons, but Astur in particular preferred them because unlike most others they were compulsively hygienic folk and didn't stink, so their presence in a lair wasn't as disruptive.

  If she chose to, she could capture and enslave any of these folk, and there would be no resistance from the others. Banding together against a dragon just made one an easier target after all. Since she had stated her preference though, she was certain those who wished to avoid that fate would bring her the ones she wanted.

  Soon enough, four lizardfolk — a female and three younglings — were brought before her. The oldest of the children was just of a size to be able to hold a sword without the weight of it pulling him over, but the other two were a small child and a yearling, if that. The female squared her shoulders and looked Astur in the eye as she said, "I am Zither, Vaktosh's widow. What would you have of me and my family, Asturial?"

  She is bold. This is unexpected. Perhaps grief has frayed her sanity.

  Astur sucked her teeth, not liking what she had to say, but for the sake of her goals she spoke the words. "I am here to pay you blood debt for the life of your mate. I caused his death, and I have been given reason to compensate you for his—"

  Screams broke out from further down the road, and mournful howls rose on the breeze.

  I know those sounds.

  Astur turned to look, and sharpened her eyesight. Sure enough, zone beasts were pouring out of the tree line and beginning a slaughter on the road.

  Why would THOSE things be here? And coming from the SOUTH?

  The dragon glanced north, verifying to herself that she had her directions right. Sure enough, zone beasts were attacking the road, and they were coming from the south.

  Curious.

  "I call on your blood debt to protect my people as we flee back to Florence," Zither said in urgent tones. "This is how you can repay me!"

  It was obvious she, and the rest of her people, had seen the same things Astur had. Blood was flying and the clash of steel marked a few short, brief battles as those who were armed were quickly overwhelmed by the horde of beasts flowing out of the trees.

  This is no mere scouting incursion. I count at least thirty, and more are still coming.

  Asturial briefly shifted her attention back to her true body, opened her eyes and looked around as she extended her senses, but she was on a high cliff-side shelf deep in the mountains an easy five miles by air from where her proxy stood. The place was inaccessible by such creatures as threatened the road. There was no trace of any enemy.

  Still, would that I could control my puppet from my lair. I dislike this.

  Twenty miles was Asturial's limit for control of a single proxy, much less if she wanted to control more than one flesh puppet at once, and even then it would make her control rudimentary at best. With the template at stake, she had to stick to her plan. If she left these people to die, the template would certainly hear of it, and that would complicate matters and force her to attempt to slay his women whilst capturing him alive. Given his penchant for personal involvement, chances were good he would die in the fight. He might look strong, but he was only mortal. She couldn't risk that outcome.

  "Very well. I will protect you from now until sunrise tomorrow. If you are not sheltering in Florence by then, your lives are forfeit to whomever choses to take them."

  Astur turned her eyes on the lizard woman and glared at her to ensure she got the point, "Myself included."

  Zither kowtowed before her, but the dragon had already dismissed the mortal from her mind.

  With considerable effort of will, she split her attention between her proxy and her body and began the brief flight that would bring her to the road.

  The zone beasts were slaughtering their way closer, and while the lizardfolk were scrambling to flee, there were children and the infirm in the group that were irritatingly not being left behind.

  Astur scowled and strode toward the nearest group of zone beasts.

  The closest among them was feasting on a corpse, but sensed her, turned, and howled a challenge before loping toward her, ax raised. It slashed at her with all its might as it came in range, and she slapped the head of the weapon and sent it spinning into the trees before backhanding the creature. It's neck snapped with an audible crunch.

  It crumpled to the ground as the rest of the beasts nearby let out piercing, rage-filled howls and turned to attack. She drew her two-hander and swept the area in front of her, neatly bisecting the bodies of those in reach in an impressive shower of gore, but her moves were almost automatic as she concentrated on bringing her body down without crushing her proxy.

  The earth shook as Asturial landed and she roared a wordless challenge that she knew would be heard for miles. It would serve to send those who had not yet become aware of the zone beasts scrambling for safety as well, and make it easier for the lizards to use the road themselves.

  How could the zone have known so quickly of Volai's death?

  She lifted a foreleg and crushed a grouping of beasts near her. With a thought she sent a fireball the size of a wagon down to explode in the midst of a second cluster further away. Unlike many others of her kind, Astur did not bother with the conceit of making it look as though she breathed flame. It was simply hers to command, and she used it efficiently.

  My mother would be aghast.

  She chuckled at the thought as she stomped on another grouping, and erected a wall of flame between the lizards and the beasts, funneling the latter toward her in their near mindless rage.

  Astur felt an itch between the toes of her forelimb, but knew that nothing these simple creatures could do would penetrate her hide. Zone shock troops did not carry mystic weapons. The feeling faded and she forgot it as she went on with what was, essentially, boring slaughter.

  If the Twilight Zone really did sent a full army, I'm going to be here awhile ... though destroying these creatures will probably further my goals with the template, so I suppose my efforts won't be entirely wasted on THESE weaklings.

  One of the behemoth's pupils contracted, and the three whirled as another rose to prominence and returned its attention to its immediate surroundings.

  It ended the portal spell and settled, the eyes on all four sides of its body heavy-lidded with contentment. It couldn't have even dreamed things would go so well.

  All four of the behemoth's sensual mouths quirked upward into the enticing smiles of willing women, and it gladly sent the remaining beasts to their deaths to ensure that which wa
s truly important went unnoticed.

  Now that the brainiac had taken root in the body, it was only a matter of time. There was no need to waste any more troops. They could be saved for other uses.

  After all, the entrance to the crypt is still open, and I always did prefer operating in Sub-Cel.

  As it lumbered through the trees all four of its mouths began chuckling in different pitches and cadences. It was an insane sound, but sanity had been something the behemoth had long since left behind. There were some things one could not witness — or become — and stay sane.

  Feast, my friend ... feast.

  12

  Stubborn vs. Stupid

  Mila followed her brother and Marcus into the suite of rooms in Florence Keep given over to the template and his bonds. The only person to look up at their entrance was a minotress, and the sight of her made Mila hesitate a moment.

  She's huge!

  Marcus stood about six and a half feet tall, and this woman, when she stood in alarm at the sight of Shy cradled in his arms, topped him by an inch or two. Even more impressive though was the corded muscle that played under her hide with every move she made. She wore a white apron over a tightly-wound sarashi, and a thick leather belt supported a red loincloth. Much of her body was thus on display, and all of it was exceedingly impressive. Her brown eyes were set in a face that could only be called cute, and her bangs hung down to her eyebrows, with the longer hair of her head plaited into twin braids around the biggest pair of horns Mila had ever seen on a tauren of either gender. They were easily three feet long and sharply pointed.

  "Shy! What happened!?" the tauren bellowed as she crossed the room in three steps and took the stricken dryad from Marcus' arms.

  Yuri said, "There was ... a fight, on the way back to the keep. There are riots, and fires raging. We were caught by surprise and Shy took the worst of it. She told us to bring her here to you."

  Mila looked around as Laina took Shy into a side room. The suite had two bedrooms and a small area set aside for necessities. The stone was bare and she could see evidence that the suite was hastily prepared and sparsely furnished.

  She tilted her head to look in on Shy in time to see Laina offer the dryad a bottle, pressing it to her lips and tipping it slowly up as she supported Shy's head and upper back with one massive arm. Mila blinked and shook her head as she took in the sheer size of the woman.

  Yuri, ever one to follow her train of thought, glanced up at Marcus and, sotto voce, asked, "Have you ever seen a minotress that big?"

  Marcus glanced down at Yuri, then at Mila, then back into the room where the three of them could now see Laina and Shy conversing in low tones. He shrugged and said, "Nope."

  "Shy, we have to tell him."

  "No! You can't! Please Laina! Hear me out ..."

  Yuri pointed at the table and its two chairs as he loudly said, "I think we will take seats here, seeing as how if we go wandering without one of these ladies or Boss to back us, the guards are likely to start something."

  As he spoke he stepped over to the open door into the bedroom where the dryad and the minotress were arguing and pulled it to. Once it was closed, he moved to the table, took a seat, and glanced into the rather huge bowl that took up most of the surface space. What he saw caused him to peel his lips back in distaste and he glanced away again.

  Mila stepped up, curious, and saw oats. Given the volume of the bowl, most of the meal had been finished already.

  She took the only remaining seat. She knew without looking that Marcus had found a wall to prop up. That was pretty much his default: unless there was beer on the table, there was no point sitting at it. While there was a pitcher, a sniff was enough to tell it was filled with water.

  "So are we going to talk about this or sit quietly and twiddle our thumbs?" she asked, looking at her brother.

  Yuri quirked an eyebrow at her, then glanced meaningfully at the closed door as he said, "Sister mine, we need to wait and see what happens. We are officially in over our heads with this one. Or have you forgotten that the Madsee is head over heels for Boss, and that if she sees us as a threat the only thing we will be able to do about it is grow moss in a garden somewhere?"

  "Her name is Euryale," Mila said testily.

  "And that matters with regard to the ending we will get from her ... how?" Yuri asked. "Once Laina — because that titan could be no one else — comes out again, she will tell us what is going to happen. We are not his babysitters. We do not involve ourselves in other folks' family affairs. We are professionals, and we will act like it. What we saw does not change who we know. I refuse to believe that the man I fought beside in Monsoon was all a big act, and Boss is some sort of sociopathic monster-maker on the sly. He is a template, and no one knows how his powers work ... apparently not even him. Just do not let him dip his wick, and you will be fine."

  Mila struck out — though she kept her claws in — and Yuri effortlessly leaned back just enough for her to wiff. She rowled deep in her throat as she settled back in her chair. Her ears were back and her tail lashed as she glared at him. He didn't even look offended. He'd known exactly what would happen when he spoke.

  The problem with this is we know each other too well.

  "This is their problem to solve, not ours," he said, summarizing. "We will do what Shy asked of us and keep our mouths shut unless we are given very compelling reasons to do otherwise. When in doubt, discretion. Agreed?"

  "Agreed," Marcus rumbled.

  Mila glanced up at the big man and then rolled her eyes skyward, but she capitulated. "Agreed."

  For now.

  Ten minutes later, Laina came out, and Mila got her second shock of the hour as Shy walked out on her own without her staff, the whorls in her flesh notably darker than they had been, but seemingly none the worse for having had her back broken less than an hour ago.

  There is NO WAY ...

  "Okay, stop," Mila said, standing up and padding over to Shy, who smirked at her and shrugged. It was clear she understood where the confusion lay. Mila said, "I did the best I could for you but there is no way you can be up and walking around so soon after what happened to you."

  Laina smirked, an expression Mila caught out of the corner of her eye as Shy said, "We have been given remarkable powers by our bond with Tee. I got a depth of magical power that would have taken me another thousand years to accrue for myself, and Laina ... well, let's just say her milk is worth every golden quarter she's made off it so far."

  "Huh."

  Marcus snorted and nodded appreciatively at Laina, whose smile broadened just a bit before the frown came crashing back down. She looked at Yuri and said, "You three are the monster hunters that Boss talked about, yeah?"

  Yuri nodded and said, "And how you choose to handle what happened is your business. I just want to make that clear. Boss is our friend and we would not normally keep this sort of thing from him, but as far as we are concerned this is your family business."

  Laina turned her attention back to Shy with a grimace as she said, "Yeah, we talked. For now ... we'll act like it didn't happen."

  She hesitated a long moment, then stepped over and offered her hand to Yuri as she said, "I'm Laina Lowe."

  "Good to finally meet you, Cowhand," Yuri said as he stood and took her hand to shake it.

  Mila saw his eyes widen and then he grimaced in pain before Laina let him go and said in even tones, "I'm not fond of that name. Laina will do."

  Yuri made a show of shaking his hand out as he said, "Duly noted, Miss Laina."

  "Just Laina," she said as she stepped toward Mila, who stood and shook hands as she said, "Boss talked a lot about you and Shy. He thinks very highly of you both."

  Laina smiled at that, and her big brown eyes twinkled with genuine appreciation at the compliment. "Thanks. We think pretty highly of him too."

  Obviously.

  "Marcus," Marcus said as he held out a hand. Laina turned to him, took it, their eyes locked, and both froze. Mila looked
at their hands, and saw both arms trembling with strain. Five seconds later, as though on some signal Mila didn't catch, both relaxed at the same moment and Laina's voice had traces of respect previously lacking as she said, "Good to meet you, Marcus."

  "Likewise," he allowed. Their grip broke, and Laina turned back to Yuri and said, "That's my chair. Not done with my dinner yet. You mind?"

  Yuri got up with a quickness as Mila smirked, and Laina nodded in satisfaction as she sat down and resumed her meal with a ladle that served her as a spoon. She wasn't exactly a deliberately messy eater, but more than a few oats were scattered about the table and chair already, and it wasn't hard to figure out how they'd gotten there.

  Yuri found a spot on the wall and for a few moments the only sounds were of food being consumed. Shy eventually asked, "Where is Tee?"

  "No clue, but Euryale's with him, so not worried," Laina said between bites. "He'll be back eventually, and Ross will stop by in about an hour. Spoke to him, and he'll take my evening produce, so we need to get that sorted before too long."

  "All right." Shy glanced at the other three and said, "I hope you don't mind waiting a bit? I'm not sure where he is, but Tee won't have left the keep, and should be along soon."

  True to her prediction, the door to the hall opened as Laina was finishing off the pitcher and Terry Mack stepped in, followed closely by no one in partic- ... by Euryale.

  I REALLY hate that mask.

  Mila focused on the gorgon and forced herself to see the black snakes weaving around in place of hair, the brazen claws, and the black wings folded across her shoulders and hanging like a cloak. She wore a white dress with a plunging neckline that accentuated her modest bust and a finely tooled leather belt with a golden buckle. She had a golden snake torc on her left arm, and the expressionless mask panned as she stepped around Terry's bulk and into the room, saying nothing.