SS [61] City Boys

Days into the journey, things had passed without so much as a hint of trouble. Now that they had a driver Tanisha and Aurelius were both in the middle of individual projects. Tanisha was at her workstation calibrating the cold infusion basin she had purchased. Meanwhile Aurelius was sitting on his bed meditating.

Bjorn spent much of his time with Anasuya. He was teaching her to speak in Muaian. Her normal form didn’t have the correct vocal range. It was only after she sat with Tanisha and placed a hand on her throat while Tanisha spoke that she started to understand.

She could repeat pretty much anything she heard but understanding the language was the new hurdle. They also had to experience an excited little girl screaming, laughing, and saying random words with all the excitement of a toddler with a new toy. She was a hatchling and not even a year old so it was expected.

She was in her little girl form as she hopped over Bjorn's necks while he lay sprawled on the floor in the wagon.

“Toast!” Anasuya screamed as she jumped. “Papaya! Mountom! Lock-smiff!” 

“It is pronounced mountain, and locksmith. Do you know what those mean?” Bjorn questioned.

“Papaya tastes good,” Anasuya said. “Auntie gave me one.”

“Tanisha?” Bjorn questioned.

Tanisha looked up from her workstation with a tired expression. The calibration must not have been going well. 

“Wasn’t me. I don’t even know what that is,” Tanisha said.

“Fuyumi?” Bjorn asked.

“No, daddy. Auntie Ivoi did,” Anasuya said. “I miss Auntie Ivoi.”

Bjorn switched back to the hissing language. 

“It is okay to miss people,” Bjorn said. “Do you miss her all the time?”

Anasuya also switched back to the hissing tongue.

“No, sometimes I do but other times I think about other stuff. Is she okay? Can we visit her?” Anasuya asked.

Bjorn raised one head. When they left  Helmforað it was a warzone between True Immortals and possibly the grave of one of them. The Xenobiology Lab was sturdy but not to the point it could survive something like that. Going back would be dangerous as long as the avatar was around and likely impossible until after the monster tide ended. Even then. Ivoi was likely destroyed. Buried like the rest of the past.

He looked at the small girl. She had expectant eyes. This wasn’t the time for the cold truth.

“Ivoi is with us in a different way now, Little One,” Bjorn said. “As long as we remember her, she's still part of us. Keep memories held tight and they will never leave you. One day we can go back to Helmforað but it won’t be for a few years.”

“Okay. Will she give me papayas then?” Anasuya asked. 

Bjorn was quiet for a moment. “We… will get you papayas.”

Anasuya seemed to accept the answer and continued jumping around. Saying even more random words in Muaian so Bjorn could tell her what they meant.

Jocasta’s voice broke the moment as she lifted the leather curtain.

“Master Bjorn. Numerius is here to speak with you.” Jocasta said.

“You can just call me Bjorn,” He said as he stood up. 

Anasuya jumped up and gripped onto one of his necks.

“Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis!” She said.

“What?” Bjorn looked down at her. “How do you know that word?”

“I donno,” Anasuya said without a care. “Want me to say it again?”

“No, stay here. I will be back.” Bjorn said.

Anasuya hopped down and ran over to the meditating Aurelius. She hopped up onto his bed and he opened one eye just in time to get tackled.

“Do you want to hear a long word I know?” Anasuya said.

“You’re on uncle duty.” Bjorn said.

He exited the wagon from the rear. Those in the caravan around their wagon had grown more accustomed to him being around. Still he got a few glances his way from some of the more cautious elves. Numerius and Soren were both walking on the left side of the wagon.

There were simple pleasantries before Numerius got to the point of his visit.

“We are finally out of The Stonehold Land Company’s land claim.” Numerius said. The wildlife here are free to hunt. I informed the Martial Lions that you were likely going to want to go out for a while.”

“That is good news. I was starting to feel confined.” Bjorn said.

“Ismene did say that you would need an escort.” Numerius said.

“That is unnecessary.” Bjorn replied.

A sharp voice cut into the conversation.

“Unnecessary or not, we can not let the familiar of our client go and potentially get hurt while under our protection.”

Ismene stopped several body lengths away. Up close, Bjorn finally had a chance to study the lamia properly. From the waist up she looked almost entirely human, it was uncanny. It reminded him of the Yuki, making him wonder if lamia were another human offshoot. Below the waist, however, the resemblance ended. Her long serpentine body coiled beneath her, its earth-toned diamond pattern catching the afternoon light. 

Her face was surprisingly delicate and heart shaped with a beauty that almost looked unnatural. If not for the fact they were traveling with elves she would have easily been one of the most striking women in any other caravan. She wore light armor over her upper human torso. There was an emblem  that depicted a three-headed lion with spears behind it, the coat of arms of their company apparently. 

Ismene did not allow herself to get much closer, and she moved along their pace much further away than Bjorn thought she would. His tongues tasted the air with each flick and he noticed that she had the fainted taste of fear though she didn’t show it in her demeanor. Her eyes were watching him closely, not paying much attention to anything else.

Is King of Reptiles affecting her as well?

The skill had never worked on people before even if they were serpentine. Though she was the first lamia he had encountered. Perhaps because he now has greater control?

“Even so, I am more than capable of protecting myself,” Bjorn said.

“That is beside the point.” Ismene said. “I have five drake riders that will accompany your hunt.”

Bjorn wasn’t against the guards but he did want some time to just move around freely. Having to wait for five other people just sounded like a hassle.

“I can go with him.” Soren said.

“You are not part of our organization.” Ismene said.

“I am also not a part of your guest list since I was an add-on,” Soren said. “I served as the personal guard of Princess Yrsa and have plenty of experience.”

Bjorn decided to see if the skill was affecting her by changing the projection of it. After he had learned to control the skill thanks to Aurelius’s harsh training. He found that he could alter how its effects were perceived. So far he had changed it from a crippling fear into an acknowledgment of his status as an apex predator. He wanted to see how she would react if he changed it back to fear.

“There, now I have my own private escort.” Bjorn said.

Ismene just looked at him for a moment, a blush creeping up her otherwise stoic warrior visage. The taste in the air had switched from apprehension to something warmer. It was more relaxed and interested rather than fearful like he had expected. Bjorn quickly changed his skill back to normal. However the scent had not changed back.

Is she into that?

“Fine I will allow it this time.” Ismene said with a fluster in her voice. “But you are to be back within three hours and if anything happens. You are to return immediately.”

“I understand.” Bjorn said.

Ismene turned to leave but she cleared her throat first.

“You have a lovely scale pattern by the way.” She said.

“Thank you?” Bjorn said cautiously. “You do too.”

She nodded apprehensively and left without another word.

“Uh… what was that?” Jocasta said. “She never complements people.”

“You also complemented me when you first saw me.” Bjorn said.

“That was… well, you are a unique hydra.” Jocasta said.

“Are we heading out now?” Soren said.

“You don’t actually have to come if you don’t want to.” Bjorn said.

“Nah, it’d be more interesting than following this slow caravan for the next few hours.” Soren said, waving off the comment. “Also I want to know how you managed to escape my senses when I was tracking down the assassins.”

“Sure, maybe you could learn a thing or two.” Bjorn said.

“I didn’t have all of my gear then but I do this time. So maybe you will be the one learning.” Soren said.

***

Hunting couldn’t really start until they were far from the main road. Many animals learned to stay away from busy roadways. The caravan was loud and many of the carriage and wagons had runework which scared off predators that would otherwise be attracted to the smell of packanimals.

The trees gave way to lush hilly grassland shortly after they left the roadway. The midday sun was partially blocked by clouds which cast shadows over the horizon. They were far from any settlement, even the mountains were a distant memory now.

The scents of nature all around became sharper and more focused as Bjorn’s tongues flicked. He wasn’t after small game like hares or turkeys which he had already found the scent of dozens of each. He wanted something more substantial. The hunting trip itself was an excuse to be able to sharpen his instincts. 

Soren seemed to understand that as well as he didn’t mention any of the small critters’ trails they had marched through. Bjorn took this as an opportunity to really see what lifeshaper could do. The druid was sharp eyed and quiet as they walked along. Impressively he could easily keep up with Bjorn’s paces while remaining just as silent. 

“Animal trail up ahead.” Soren whispered.

“Deer.” Bjorn said simply.

The two continued in silence as they crested another hill. Bjorn lowered himself now stalking through the tall grass. In the distance there were a small group of deer. Completely non-magical normal deer which was honestly kind of surprising for Bjorn. He was so used to magical fauna that he had forgotten that some animals were just ordinary. 

“I can wait up here. If you want to go down and do your thing.” Soren said.

“Eh… I was kind of hoping for something a little more of a challenge,” Bjorn said in a disappointed breath. “With those I can run them down easily. We can look further on unless you want one.”

“For what?” Soren asked.

“To eat?”

“Oh, no I cannot eat meat.”

“But wendigo—”

“Only eat meat. I heard about that. Didn’t know if it was true or not,” Soren said as he scratched his chin. “As far as I am aware druids can only eat plants.”

“Why did you come with me on this hunt then?” Bjorn asked.

“You looked like you wanted to get away from the caravan for a while. Truth be told, I did too,” Soren said. 

“You know Tanisha doesn’t like you, what if I wanted to get rid of you?” Bjorn said.

“She doesn’t like me? I couldn’t tell.” Soren said dryly. “I judge people as individuals. You have been fair to me, you even likely saved me during that scuffle with the assassins. So repaying the favor seemed like the right thing to do. As for if you wanted to get rid of me? I like to think Aurelius wouldn’t be hanging around murderers. He is a good judge of people.”

Soren pulled a small pouch from his side and opened it. Inside was an assortment of plants, mushrooms, leaves and even a few wild berries. The aroma from the bag indicated they were freshly picked. 

“Besides this has been fruitful for me as well. I will be making one damn good stew out of this,” Soren said. “If we could find some wild salu roots mmmh, that would be great.”

Bjorn hadn’t even noticed when Soren had time to gather those ingredients. He seemed to be better at finding plants than Tanisha was when she forages for alchemy ingredients. 

“We will keep moving for now, blood will scare off other animals,” Bjorn said.

“You’re in charge,” Soren said.

Bjorn stepped forward to continue their search but stopped himself. One of his heads turned back to face Soren.

“Wait, that soup, if we get more ingredients could you make two?” Bjorn asked.

“For you? I didn’t know that hydra could eat vegetables.” Soren said.

“For my daughter.” Bjorn said.

“The dragonoid?” Soren questioned.

“She is a herbivore and her name is Anasuya,” Bjorn said.

“Really, with those teeth?” Soren said.

Bjorn laughed because he was also surprised when he first found out.

“Yeah, I have a couple of theories about that. I think plants where she comes from fight back,” Bjorn said.

Soren chewed on the idea for a moment. He then looked back to the forest they had just left behind.

“If you don’t mind taking a short detour we can collect a few more things that I didn't have time to get on the first pass.” Soren said.

“Yeah, let's do that. I wanted to get Anasuya something anyway. Not quite my idea of a hunting trip though.” Bjorn said.

“A foraging trip then. It shouldn’t take too long. Once I get enough we should still have time for you to find something to hunt.” Soren said.

***

“Do you know what those are?” Bjorn asked.

“Not a clue?” Soren said. “Looks like some kind of buffalo?”

“It is definitely a magical fauna.” Bjorn said.

“Definatly. Not a species I recognize. But the horns are channeling something. Magical cattle often use horns as conduits.” Soren said.

The two of them were crouched down in the grassland watching a large bovine grazing away from the herd. It had horns that were almost comically large even for the big animal. Bjorn could taste mana in the air and knew the creature was magical in some way.  

They had carefully stationed themselves downwind of the animals. Bjorn could kill it easily with his own venom and magics but that wasn’t the point of the hunts. He wanted to think through the problem and utilize instinct and physicality.

With the sun directly overhead he couldn’t use Shadow Concealment but luckily his golden-brown scales blended well enough with the swaying grass. Soren stayed behind as he crept closer, lowering himself even more into the dense foliage until his belly nearly dragged the ground.

Each step was calculated, quick and leaving him room to spring forward should he suddenly need to sprint. Five heads and five trains of thought meant he was processing each step, each sway of the grass, each movement of the buffalo, the location of the rest of the herd and his own orientation. 

One hundred feet rapidly shrank to fifty then thirty, twenty that was where the grass shortened no longer the large stalks that could easily hide his flattened form. Bjorn felt his heart racing and muscles coiling like iron springs beneath the skin. He lowered himself even more as his movement slowed. Each step was more contemplative, not hesitant.  

Inch by inch he closed the gap even more until he was fifteen feet from his target. His vision focused and everything else bled away. The creature noticed him the moment he sprang forward, but he was too close. It froze for one second too long before it could decide on fight or flight. Bjorn came down on the creature pushing it to the ground. 

He quickly found out what magic the creature had. Its horns glowed and the creature's hide became much tougher. He could also feel the animal getting stronger as it bucked and fought to get him off. Unfortunately for it Bjorn was much stronger and weighed about as much as it did.

He didn’t want the creature to suffer so two of his head focused on its neck while the others watched to see if any of the herd was coming to help their downed herdmate. Then one of his heads caught a glint on the animal's ear. A brass ring inscribed with something he couldn’t quite make out.

That was when an arrow struck his side. It bounced off without any damage but the sight of it at all had confused him. He stopped trying to kill the animal and instead looked up to see where the arrow had come from. A couple of dwarves had quickly rushed out from the herd of cattle. Bjorn hadn’t seen them given their short stature and the fact they seemed to have been in the middle of the grazing herd.

There was a good chance that this was not a wild animal. Voices followed the revelation and crossbows were pointed at Bjorn. He quickly got off of the distressed animal though it was bleeding profusely and would need care quickly if they intended to save it.

“Is that a plane hydra—”

“It looks like a familiar—”

“Get back, get the herd moving—”

“What do we do—”

Seeing that the situation had changed, Soren quickly rose to his feet with his hands up to show he wasn’t hostile. Eyes turned to him then back to the hydra.

“Greetings!” Soren said. “I understand why you are afraid. If I saw a hydra standing over my herd, I would assume the same thing. But this was a misunderstanding. We thought these were wild animals. The bull needs to be tended. I will give it a health potion.”

Bjorn moved aside as Soren knelt beside the bull. He sat down his travelers pack and pulled out a potion. Uncorked it, and poured the content on the open wounds on the creature's neck. The wounds visibly stopped bleeding after a few moments and began to close after a few more.

The shepherds seemed even more confused but less hostile. 

“Who are yah?” The man with the crossbow said.

“Travellers on the way to Postlumia,” Soren said.

“And yer first thought was to attack someone’s livestock? ” The man accused.

“The Consortium told us this stretch was unclaimed.” Soren explained.

“The Consortium? You work for one of them oligarchs? Figures.” He lowered his crossbow. “Step back from the uiline bull.”

Bjorn and Soren did so without argument. Several of the shepherds cautiously approached the downed animal but eyes didn’t drift from Bjorn for too long between their assessment of its condition.

The bull staggered once before finding its footing. A collective breath escaped the shepherds as they carefully guided it back toward the rest of the herd. The dwarf with the crossbow and a second one with a bow walked over to them. The one with the bow had the arrow on the string but hadn’t drawn the weapon. 

“Names Ledgermaul,” The dwarf said with a grunt. “This is my boy Worthgrasp.”

“Soren Ahlgren and Bjorn Scalebound,” Soren said.

“I apologize for harming your cattle.” Bjorn said.

The two dwarves jumped at the sound of Bjorn’s voice

“That’s a first.” Ledgermaul said as he gathered himself. “You two don’t seem like bad people. Thanks for treating the bull even if it was yah’s fault. I am going to assume that as soon as yall left oligarch territory the caravan master said it was okay to hunt. No one owns the area.”

“Yes, we see he was wrong.” Soren agreed.

“Those damn city boys only care about what oligarchs have on their maps. Families out here in the frontier aren’t their concern.” Ledgermaul said. 

“How much of the area is owned.” Bjorn asked.

“Most of these grasslands are our pasture. Fifty acres east to west. Most of the land down south is owned as well… I would bet yah fifty silvers Oxhight’s property isn’t on the maps yah got either. Much of the forested area are boundaries so it would be safer to hunt there. If yah see any monsters or predators in the grasslands feel free to kill’em.”

“Does this happen alot?” Soren asked.

“Unfortunately, we think one of the oligarchs in the area is trying to consolidate more of the farmers out this way. Telling people this land is unowned causes hunters, homesteaders and all sorts to come out here and try to claim land or hunt our cattle,” Ledgermaul said with a bitter expression. “They claim that if we sign whatever contracts they offer they could give us protection from the neredowells out in the frontier. Slave contracts, all of ‘em. Sign the contract and they own the land. Then they take most of the profit from every calf born on it.” 

Ledgermaul took a long calming breath. 

“Yall seem like the harm wasn’t intentional, but be careful were you hunt out here much of this land is owned.” He continued. “I know that the health potion you used wasn’t cheap. So we appreciate it.”

They spoke for several more minutes. Ledgermaul pointed out which valleys belonged to neighboring families, Worthgrasp asked Bjorn far too many questions about having five heads, and Soren traded a few notes on edible plants that grew in the nearby woods. Hunting had been a complete failure, but somehow Bjorn didn't mind. Anasuya would get to try a new stew tonight, and that felt like a worthwhile prize. 

Bjorn felt the bond and oriented them back to the caravan. They started the return trip. It wouldn’t take more than a few minutes at the speed they could run. 

As they neared the forest edge there was a strange scent in the air. It was twisted and wrong. Bjorn stopped so abruptly his talons carved trenches through the soil.  He turned around to face the source of the malignant disturbance. 

“What’s wrong?” Soren asked after he noticed Bjorn had stopped.

“A rift is about to open.” Bjorn said.

“A rift? This far away from the Chaos Lands? You have to be wrong.” Soren said.

“Those shepherds are in danger.” Bjorn said hurriedly.

A single bolt of violet lightning lanced into the earth. For an instant the world went silent. Then reality split open. The clouds above peeled away from the wound in the sky as a chorus of inhuman howls echoed across the grasslands. Monsters poured from the rift like a living tide.

“Go back to the caravan.” Bjorn said.

“You are going to try to save the ranchers alone?” Soren said. “You are going to need support.” 

Bjorn didn’t argue, he started running towards the rift. Soren ran alongside him, the lifeshaper’s power flowed around him as talismans floated up from his belt. He dropped his travelers pack not even looking back to see where it fell. They were both focused on the impossible anomaly in front of them.