by Eric Vall
“Good idea,” I agreed. “So, the dryads and Laika should all be in different groups, but I think maybe some kind of flare would be good also.”
“A flare?” Nike asked and cocked his head to the side.
Ah, shit. I guess flare guns obviously weren’t a thing in Inati.
“Yeah, like a small fire that goes in the air,” I clarified. “Maybe a fire arrow that someone in the group can shoot up in case they need help?”
“I can make something like that,” Imani interjected, and the female cheetah leaned forward with an eager expression on her face. “I usually help with our armor, so I can help with weapons, too.”
“Awesome, that would be perfect,” I answered.
“I’ll see it done,” she swore and headed out the door.
I ran a hand through my hair as I looked at each House leader. “Do each of you know which dozen warriors you’re bringing?”
All three of the Demi-Humans nodded.
“Okay.” I turned back to Nike. “Let’s get names written out and divided up, so we can put a communications leader with each group. I want to spread our fighters in with Tikal warriors as much as possible, so someone who’s familiar with the Sect is in each group. Can you make some group lists?”
“Of course,” Nike agreed as he pulled a piece of paper and a quill from his spatial storage. He began writing out ten groups, and the first five groups each had a person from our campaign party listed first. Then he went around the table and gathered each hunter’s name from the leaders to fill up the groups.
Within a few minutes, we had a list of each group and its members, as well as who was primarily responsible for communicating if the group found an assassin or ran into trouble. Then, one by one, the advisors returned to announce the warriors were waiting at the front doors.
“We’ll explain the groups to your men, as well as the communication methods,” I announced. “Please, make sure they are all aware that I am in charge of this mission. We don’t need anyone running rogue or doing something stupid. Got it?”
“Of course,” Kinba agreed, while Chax nodded.
“There will be no question,” Jai promised.
“Great.” I pushed my chair back from the table and stood up. “Then let’s go talk to our warriors and get ready to kick some ass.”
I walked from the sitting area to the front of the great hall, where I found a few dozen Demi-Humans milling around together. Cheetahs, jaguars, and lions intermixed like they were all one people, and each man and woman wielded either a blade or spear of some kind. The fighters all wore solemn expressions, and they weren’t trying to kick the shit out of each other, so this was already going better than when I first got to Tikal.
When they all saw me walk over, silence covered the group.
“I don’t know what anyone has heard yet, so I’ll just cut to the point,” I started. “More of the assassins who attacked during the peace treaty are hiding out in the jungle, and some of them attacked the princess earlier.”
Many of the Demi-Humans growled or hissed at my announcement, and I smiled at the group. Their anger at the princess’ attack was also a much better response than when we’d first arrived in the city. I wanted them to feel protective of her. She was their princess, and they had to feel that way or this campaign would be a complete waste of time.
“We took down most of them--” I was interrupted by howls and cheers, “--but some ran off into the jungle before we could finish them, too. So, today we will hunt them all down.”
“Hell yeah!” a jaguar Demi-Human shouted with his fist in the air.
“Nobody fucks with Tikal!”
“Let’s slaughter them all!”
“I’m all for slaughtering them, but that brings up my next point,” I continued, and I made sure my tone was as authoritative as possible. “I want one alive. This is not negotiable. Another point that is not negotiable is once your group comes across a member of the Sect, your group will communicate with the parties around you to come help. I don’t want anyone trying to take these bastards on without backup. They use magic and mages and gods only know what else, and we don’t need to lose anyone else to them. Any issues or questions will come to me. You can confirm this leadership with your House leader.”
I gestured toward the three Demi-Humans as they stood behind me in near silence. Then each of the rulers nodded to their warriors, so leadership wouldn’t be an issue during this search.
“Lord Nikolaus will be dividing you into groups, and he’ll also show you which grids your group will be responsible for searching,” I finished. “Does anyone have a question?”
I looked around the group of solemn faces, but no one flinched or budged. Between Nike’s grid plan and my speech, I was pretty sure these hunters were ready to take on the mission, so I motioned to Nike to stand next to me and announce the groups. Then he called out names and divided groups until we had ten solid groups of Demi-Humans and warriors from my campaign. I was a little surprised no one reacted to mixing each House into each group, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“Are we all clear on the mission?” I asked once everyone had settled down.
I looked around and saw a lion’s hand in the air, so I pointed to him and nodded.
“Just to be clear, we can kill everyone else, right? Just, like, leave one dude alive?” The lion bounced back and forth on his feet. He was apparently ready to start kicking ass, and I couldn’t blame him.
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “We’ll burn any bodies that we need to, and the highest-ranking assassin you find is the only one I need alive. Everyone else can rot for all I care.”
“Hell, yeah!” The young lion curled his fist and punched the air.
“Anyone else?” I asked as I looked around the room. I saw determination across the faces of the warriors, but no one spoke up. “Good, let’s get out there and kick some fucking ass.”
I led the small army out of House Onca’s palace and down the steps just as Imani ran toward us carrying the makeshift flares.
“Do you think these will work?” Imani asked as she showed me the arrows.
“Let’s see,” I murmured and twirled them in my hands. They looked like big matchsticks, so I was sure they would do the trick. “I think they’ll work just fine. Thank you, Lady Imani.”
The cheetah dropped into a small curtsy and turned away from the jungle, and I faced the hunting parties and passed out a couple of the arrows to each one.
With everyone prepared and raring to go, we walked toward the part of the jungle that Nike had designated as our starting point. Then he signaled the groups to move across the edge of the jungle to give each party plenty of room to work and cover the whole area. We looked like a long starting line of racers ready to set a record, except the finish line wasn’t a flag, but the bodies of our enemies.
Finally, I transformed into my long, black dragon body and snarled with excitement as I flew up above the groups and looked down at the expedition ahead of us. Then I bared my teeth at the groups and gestured to the jungle.
“Let’s go kick some Green Glass Sect asses!” I yelled, and our newly formed army charged into the trees.
Chapter 14
The hunt began as dozens of Demi-Humans tore into the jungle ahead.
I flew from the north end of the jungle to the south and back as I kept even with the groups and eyed their progress. I trusted the warriors to find the Green Glass Sect members, but I also wanted to rip into the first one we found.
The sun was high overhead by now, and the midday heat beat down on my black scales, but I was unaffected. I swept lower of the emerald canopy of the trees, and I watched the cat Demi-Human warriors as they made their way through the brush. It was slightly difficult to see through the thick branches, but I caught glimpses of spotted fur and the glint of metal weapons every now and then.
Finally, I saw a flash of color ahead of Nike’s group, and I thought it looked like a flame, so I dove toward the
ground. Then I took my human form a few yards before I hit the trees and used my healing power to cushion my landing.
I rolled into the shrubbery where Nike was walking, and I stood up and pointed at the movement I’d seen ahead of him.
“I saw something from up there,” I whispered and drew my sword from spatial storage.
Nike nodded and brandished his own sword. Then we tiptoed a few more steps only to hear a loud squawk as a multicolored bird spread its large wings and took flight from the jungle floor.
“It was a bird,” I said with a frown. “I guess I should have known better than to think we’d catch someone so early on in the search.”
“We will catch them, Evan,” Nike assured as he clapped me on the shoulder. “No one will harm the princess. I swear it.”
I growled and dipped my head. Then I took my dragon form and jumped back into the sky. It felt better to fly overhead. I was too jumpy from the attack this morning to be helpful on the ground. I needed to stretch my wings and be the guardian I was supposed to be right now. Plus, it gave me some time to figure out how to fix the fight with Alyona.
Well, I wouldn’t call it a fight, but I wondered if she was upset that I had told her what to do in front of all those people. I was right to make her stay back, though. She was just too damn stubborn sometimes, and so was I, but I was only trying to take care of her.
I would always keep her safe. No matter what.
I shook my head to clear away the thoughts of my princess. It wouldn’t do me any good to sulk about our disagreement. She would just have to learn that I would always want what was best for her, and I was only sorry for having our conversation with other people in the room. I didn’t like our personal business to be out there for the world to hear, but it wasn’t that out of the ordinary for a ruling family to be public anyway.
I decided to check in on another group, so I made another transformation and landed on the ground by Laika. The wolf warrior was using her broadsword to clear out foliage, while the Demi-Humans on either side of her just trampled through. The cats seemed to have no problem with the jungle, but my wolf was struggling a bit.
“How’s it going?” I asked her as I stood clear of her swinging sword.
“Fine,” Laika answered through gritted teeth.
“You seem a little wound up,” I remarked with a sly smile. “I’d offer to give you some relaxation, but we’re a little busy right now.”
“I appreciate that,” Laika laughed while her cheeks turned pink. “I’m sure I will take you up on your offer later.”
“Ohhh, yeah.” I felt a little better as I imagined making up with Alyona while I relaxed with Laika.
“I meant after we find them, my lord,” Laika giggled.
“Yeah, yeah,” I snickered.
Laika laughed as I took off to the skies again. Now, I really needed to catch these bastards sooner rather than later, just so I could take my women to bed.
I floated my north-south pattern again as each of the groups moved further east, and the sun continued its arching path through the blue sky. Our search parties were all making good progress, but I was impatient. I wanted to catch one of the Sect members and start my interrogation. My view on interrogating the assassins had changed a bit since the first time I witnessed the Blue Tree Guild trying to get information from one of them, and their choice to attack my bride-to-be meant I was going to be ruthless. Using the jaguars to try and kill the princess had been clever, but it pissed me off even more. Jai’s people had nothing to do with our feud, and they obviously felt terrible for trying to kill Alyona, even though it was only due to the poison.
I flew a little lower, over a break in the trees above Polina’s group, and I watched as the dryad carefully moved every layer of vegetation out of her way without damaging it. She didn’t miss a beat keeping up with the Demi-Humans in her group, though.
“See anything?” I called down to her.
“Nope,” Polina yelled back up to me. “I don’t think they came this close to the city, Lord Evan. There’s only evidence of animals over here.”
I grunted and nodded to her before I flew higher again. She was probably right about the Sect members avoiding the area this close to Tikal, but we needed to be sure, and Nike’s plan was the best way to do exactly that. I hovered over the other groups to check in with their leaders and continued sweeping north and south while they moved east, but I grew more and more antsy as the day continued with no sign of the Sect.
After a few hours, I told everyone to stop and take a break while I got water from the central fountain. Then I flew back and forth with buckets to hydrate each hunting group so we could continue on our search. Once everyone had their fill, we were back on the move. We pushed through several more hours of searching the jungle, and as each group reached the river, I flew down and gave them rides across the water, since I didn’t want to risk anyone swimming across it right now.
No one complained about the heat, the humidity, or the long hunt since we were now going into the early evening hours, and I knew we all wanted to get rid of these guys once and for all. The necromancer’s laughing face flashed through my head more than once, and I growled in annoyance. I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to rip through first--him or Olivier. Both were traitors to my city and the crown, so either one would do.
Suddenly, one of the fiery flare arrows burst out of the trees just north of me as I was heading south.
Finally.
I whipped around and roared as I dropped into the area of the flare. I landed with a transformation and rolled into a space behind some shrubbery to assess the battle. It seemed like Trina’s group had come across some kind of burrow the Green Glass Sect members had made to hide from us.
There were about thirty Sect assassins I could see so far, but I couldn’t tell how big the burrow was. We already knew how much the Sect liked their secret tunnels, so I drew Miraya out of my spatial storage and ran into the battle.
As I joined the fight, I saw a jaguar warrior leap across the small clearing and ram his claws directly into an assassin’s chest. The Sect member stumbled backward and landed against a cheetah Demi-Human who was quick to use his canines and tear out the traitor’s jugular. Then the two cat warriors looked at each other and grinned before they turned back to the battle.
I ran to the nearest Sect member and swung my sword at his middle. The blade sliced through his flesh like butter before I met the resistance of his ribcage, but I bared my teeth and bared down, and my sword slid deep into his chest.
The assassin’s eyes bulged out of his head as scarlet blood bubbled out from behind his lips, and then his knees collapsed out from under him. He was already dead by the time I pulled my blade from his sternum, and I spat on his corpse before I moved on to the next enemy.
Then Laika and her group burst into the clearing and charged the assassins. The wolf woman took a wide swing with her sword as she ran and decapitated a man’s head, and it bounced along the jungle floor in a spray of crimson.
I watched as the man next to the headless corpse began to murmur some spell work. Fucking mages.
Suddenly, the headless body stood up and attacked a nearby cheetah. The Demi-Human’s skin turned nearly white as he realized what was touching him, and he completely froze in fear.
“Stay back!” I bellowed as I sheathed my sword.
I quickly used my phoenix magic, summoned a fiery bow and arrow, and fired directly into the zombie’s chest. Then I watched with satisfaction as the flames overtook the reanimated body, and it fell to the jungle floor and twitched until it was nothing more than a pile of ashes.
The cheetah I’d saved looked up at me and bowed his head in a gesture of thanks.
I grinned back at him and ducked just in time to dodge a fireball.
“Oh, you want to play with magic?” I asked the enemy mage with a smirk.
Then I sent a shockwave through the earth toward the mage and nearly knocked him off his feet. While he regaine
d his balance, I shot him in the chest and legs with webs. He fell backward into one of the huge palm trees, and I sent another round of webs and stuck his hands to the tree. I rubbed my chin for a moment, and then I sent one more web over his mouth. I wasn’t sure if he could do magic without his hands, but I knew he couldn’t do it without the incantations.
Finally, I walked over closer to him and watched his eyes widen with fear.
“I assume you know who I am.” I tapped my claws against his chest as he nodded with vigor. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
The mage’s body trembled against the tree, and I smirked and returned to the battle. I decided to leave this one alive for my questions.
Then I noticed Aaliyah had found her way to the fight. She wore her tight gold and crimson robes, and her hair was tied at the base of her neck. Her claws were fully extended as she dove on top of a Sect assassin, and she ripped off his hood and tore into his throat with her nails.
The assassin thrashed and screamed until blood gurgled out of his mouth, and the lioness tossed his body to the side and grabbed another cloaked traitor around the neck. Then she looked up at me and stared into my eyes as she dragged her claws from hip to hip and let his guts fall to the ground.
Holy fuck, she was so hot.
Aaliyah let go of the man’s lifeless body and winked. Then she leapt back into action. She was a true lioness, and she didn’t have time for me during her hunt. Even that turned me on.
As I turned back to the fray, I noticed the other two dryads had made it into the fight and joined their sister. They seemed to enjoy their new vine trick, and they used it to whip three Sect members into a cluster and slam them into the ground then back up against a tree.
I realized too late, though, that the tree the sisters used for the second slam was the same one where my prisoner was trapped, and when the dryads unraveled the vines, four men were dead on the ground, including the mage.
“Shit,” I cursed. “We’ll have to find another one.”