Web of Lands 2
Page 13
Most of the army was now in the Fancern forest, in formation behind us. I lined the men up in a long thin column. The ranged troops were in the center mass, while the infantry marched on the edges. This ensured that the melee fighters could get their shields up and protect against any traps while supported by the ranged troops.
I slowed my pace, which made my army slow to a crawl too. I had a feeling we were close to our destination, and there was no need to rush into a trap blindly.
Lunara was right though. I could hear no birds or animals of any kind, only my own footsteps and the ones of those near me.
“You should relax, it is unbecoming of a king,” a familiar voice said and I froze in place. My head turned side to side as I looked for the source.
“Up here,” it said again, and I looked up to see Reska. He sat on a branch with his legs dangling in front of him. A grin appeared on his face as the rest of my men turned to stare at the creature.
“What are you...” I started but was interrupted by Reska as he hopped off the branch in one smooth motion to land a few paces from me. Almost immediately, my men rushed ahead and surrounded me along with my women. I heard Raina call out some orders to protect me with their lives.
“Hold, clear the way,” I bellowed out, and the men formed two lines to allow me through to Reska. The armored one grinned as some of my men circled him, with their weapons pointed his way.
“You have quite eager men, father. Far stronger looking than the plain humans that dwell in this land,” Reska said as he clasped his claws together. His red eyes scanned my men with a grin on his snout.
“Don’t call me father, I did not make you,” I said with a growl.
Reska laughed at that, as if it were a funny joke to him.
“Haha, I’m afraid you did, but my queen will explain all in due time. Let us go to her,” Reska said. He turned to walk away from me, but I stepped forward.
“Tell me why I should not kill you where you stand and save my riders without your cooperation?” I asked. My anger at these creatures for killing my men had resurfaced, and I wanted retribution after I saw Reska’s face.
Reska stared at me and dropped to his knees. He spread his arms wide and bowed his head.
“By all means, if you will make you feel better, then strike me down, father. Take the life you have given me back. I do not mind, it is my purpose to serve, after all,” Reska said.
Some part of me just wanted to end this creature and be done with it. Fight the creatures with the army I had, and it would either be victory or death.
Yet, there something else within me stirred at the sight of Reska on his knees. There was a connection between us. Even if I denied it, it was there. I could sense no lie within his words.
He genuinely believed I was his father, and I gripped the sword on my belt for a moment before I let it go.
He reminded me of my father, who would sacrifice his own flesh for others, even if there was no benefit to him. Most of all, he reminded me of my sin.
I let out a hiss between my teeth and clicked my tongue in annoyance.
“Just lead the way, and stay close,” I said finally and Reska nodded as he got back up. At least he didn’t grin at me as he walked deeper into the forest.
I followed, as well did the rest of my army.
“I still wonder what this queen even wants from you,” Lunara said as she monitored our surroundings.
“Master is undoubtedly the most perfect man I had met. It would be an honor for this queen to even meet him,” Tessa said as she stroked my arm. I saw her grin at me when I turned to her.
“We will find out soon, keep your wits about you,” I said to my women and to Raina.
That smell of blood had gotten much thicker the more we walked. It now had a musky tinge to it and was unlike anything I had encountered before.
The forest appeared to grow more dense, and after a few hours of marching, Reska stopped.
“We are here,” he declared abruptly, and I looked around. The trees were no different to the ones I had seen when we entered the forest, other than there were more packed. There was nothing but more trees in front of us, and no sigh of Reska’s kin.
The only real difference that I could tell was the smell.
“There’s nothing here but more trees and brush,” I said. Reska swung his head round to face me and his snout broke out into a wide grin. The needle-like teeth gleamed.
“Isn’t there?” Reska said cryptically before he stepped forward.
And disappeared.
“What the...” Raina said as she wiped across her helmet.
“An illusion,” Eliandra said as she walked to where Reska had been. She tentatively raised one of her hands forward. It disappeared at the wrists in front of all our eyes. She pulled her hand back, and the illusion ripped as if she had taken it out of water.
“Incredible, so that’s how they stay hidden,” Lunara said as she went over to Eliandra.
“All right, let’s see what’s on the other side. To me, men!” I called as I went over to the illusion. Eliandra caught my hand before I went through, and Tessa gripped my other one. I let out a small smile at this display as we stepped through.
Chapter 10
As my eyes adjusted to the change in light, I looked around and had to stop myself from drawing my battleaxe.
There were pods everywhere. Rows upon rows of what I could only assume to be birth chambers. Some protruded out of decayed trees, while others were on rotted corpses.
The uniforms told me that these were Fulgremians, perhaps even the second royal army that should have crossed the Fancern forest.
The smell was almost unbearable, and I felt my mouth fall open as I watched a nearby pod slowly open its top. It was about the size of an average sized human, where the pod was black as the creatures themselves. I could see red veins run along the ground and the pod itself. It pulsated as I spotted movement stir from within.
“Dear Gods,” I heard Eliandra say from beside me, but I could not take my eyes off the pod.
Suddenly, several small creatures emerged, clamoring over each other as they raced to be the first one out. I heard small growls emerge from them as each creature fell to the ground, while black fluid dripped behind them. They looked like baby versions of the ranged creatures I had seen before, as their tails were more defined than the rest of their bodies.
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Reska asked as he went over to the newly birthed creatures and grabbed one by its tail. The creature growled and cried as it dangled in the air. The only thing I could do was stare at the display.
“These are far more capable of killing than the Melasks, their acid can melt the sturdiest armor. The humans have still to develop an adequate defense,” Reska said as he set the creature down.
“Melasks?” I asked curiously? Reska pointed to a herd of creatures that slept in a clearing. Those were the melee creatures that formed the main body of the Zegari’s army.
“Once we have what we need, we can evolve them into even more powerful forms. They are strong enough for now,” Reska said.
Have what they need? What exactly did these things want?
“What are those acid producing creatures called?” Eliandra asked as she stared at the baby creatures with fascination. Lunara had a look of wonder on her face. No doubt the woman enjoyed seeing any kind of baby creature mill about.
“The one I held? They are the Ralask, the acid throwers. Come, the queen waits,” Reska said as he turned and walked deeper into the creatures camp.
“Raina, make doubly sure that the men don’t make any sudden moves, drill it into them,” I said. As she saluted, I noticed that a few tiny Ralask creatures had waddled over to my feet. They growled as they tried to climb my leg and dig their claws into my greaves.
I did not want to antagonize these creatures myself, so I froze as I watched them. Something I noticed was that these Ralasks only gathered around me and stayed away from the rest of my army.
“Aren’t they the cutest things Ordan,” Tessa said as she put the last one down.
“Uh. Right,” I said as I moved forward. I noticed that the Ralasks immediately tried to waddle their way back to me. It was best that I followed Reska.
The ground was soft as we moved deeper into this camp, and I gradually got used to that odor that these pods or these creatures emitted. The landscape reminded me of a battleground, as there were corpses everywhere. The upturned trees and scattered dried blood all over the ground made me wonder if this was where the Zegari’s fought the second royal army. It would certainly explain the smell.
My women kept silent as we arrived at a few structures that looked like it was made entirely of the material the pods were. The leathery black sheen and deep red veins that pulsated looked unnatural to my eyes. I could hear my woman gasp as they saw the structures, but they said nothing.
Every time we passed some creatures, whether they were these Melasks or Ralasks, they would always look up and stare right at me. I did not mind it at first until I noticed the fact that they peered only at me and had little interest in the army that marched right behind us.
I could hear only soft growls from them, as if they were actually talking to each other. I wondered if these creatures had the same intelligence that Reska displayed.
We came across a large structure that was strikingly similar to a castle. They made it of that fleshy black substance, which was strange enough on its own, but it also moved slightly as if it were twitching. This must have been where the queen lived.
“That looks sort of like the castle in Croydra,” Eliandra remarked, and I tried to examine the structure in more detail.
Now that she mentioned it, it resembled it to some extent. I did not really get a look at the castle during my time there, as the Fulgremians imprisoned me in its dungeon and I was more focused on leaving than anything else. I did noticed however, that the courtyard of this fleshy castle was styled in the same way as I remembered. It could not have been a coincidence.
“Indeed, my queen has found she likes to live in human styled architecture. What better one to emulate than the very castle the humans trapped her in for all these years,” Reska said. There was a hint of anger when he mentioned his queen being trapped, but otherwise he displayed no other emotion as he motioned forward.
“I doubt the entirety of your army could fit in our castle. You may take a select few to accompany you further in and the rest can wait outside,” Reska said as he approached the gates of this castle.
“All right, stay with the men Raina, and you too Tessa. I’ll take Eliandra, Lunara and some of my personal guards in with me,” I said as I looked at each of the women.
“Are you sure master?” Tessa asked with a pout. I enjoyed having Tessa around, but she was not combat trained and it would be hard to protect her if things go south.
“Yes. Keep the troops alert Raina, don’t let your guard down for anything,” I said to my second. Raina nodded at me.
“Of course my king, I won’t disappoint you,” Raina said.
I picked out around ten men from my personal guard to accompany me and my women as we followed Reska inside. The gates of the castle had both variants of the creatures we had seen wandering around it, but the doors opened by themselves as Reska neared. I tried to put that strange trick out of my mind as we entered.
We passed through the courtyard that consisted of even more Melasks and Ralasks, but as far as I could see, there were no others like Reska. I was sure I had seen more of his kind when he had appeared with his army. Perhaps his specific type of creature was all out hunting the Vulenchians.
That was fine with me, I hated those humans.
When we entered the structure, the similarities to the castle in Croydra were prominent. The strange substance that the walls were made of still seemed strange to my eye, but they did not appear to shift around as much inside. Reska led us through corridor after corridor where there was little light other than small sacks of orange blobs that were attached to the walls. They glowed a soft light onto their surroundings, but it was still relatively difficult to see that far ahead of us.
“This is incredible to see from such a species of animal. That they have emulated Fulgrem architecture at all is unprecedented,” Eliandra said, and Reska laughed at that.
“We are not animals. We are capable of much more than you think. You will see...” Reska said cryptically as we turned another corner. This time, there was a giant door that I knew would lead to the throne room of this place.
Reska stopped to turn around as we neared the doors and looked each of us in the eye.
“Now this is my queen, my reason for existing. I will allow you to carry your weapons in her presence but if you do anything to displease her...” Reska left his threat in the air as he stared down each of my companions. His eyes softened for a moment as they met mine. Another unusual thing I noticed.
“Let’s just get this over with,” I said as I motioned for him to open the door. As it was with the gates outside, the doors to the throne room opened by themselves. I could not see any creatures near them on the other side.
The throne room was filled with more pods, perhaps even bursting with them. There was a small clearing in front of us that let us pass straight through, and I ignored the renewed odor that permeated this room. There was no furniture to speak of, only pods, support pillars and a giant throne at the room's center.
A woman rested on the throne, at least a woman in some respects.
The first thing I noticed was her fiery red hair. It was perfectly straight as it wrapped around her shoulders and reached down to cover her breasts that swung free from her chest. The woman was entirely naked as she sat on the throne, with her head resting on her arm, supported by an elbow on the armrest. I could see that her hands looked like a human’s, but she had black painted nails that were sharp to a point at its tips. Her legs were crossed and I could part of her ass as she slowly swung her legs up and down.
I could feel my body grow hot the longer I stared at the woman. My focus then shifted to her face.
She was beautiful, with an almost demon-like quality. Her cheeks bones sat high on her face, surrounded by that ruby hair. Her lips were plump and a deep shade of scarlet. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of violet, framed with a small nose.
She was perfect, and I ached to touch her.
What was wrong with me?
Reska moved up to the woman and then stood at the side of the throne, his arms wrapped behind him.
“My queen,” he said formally. “I am brought our father back to you, as well his… companions.”
The woman said nothing as she stared at me. Her eyes studied me intently. For some reason, I felt more at ease here than anywhere else in this camp.
She uncrossed her legs, and I saw her bare lips between her thighs as she stood up. She walked down from her throne with one leg smoothly placed in front of the other, and I felt myself groan at the display.
I noticed a small tail that swished about behind it. That was one clue that she wasn’t human. The other sign was her demeanor, I could tell from her posture and gait that she was a predator. It was both chilling and exhilarating as she kept her eyes on me.
“Hmm,” the woman said as she drew close and darted her nose near my neck. It took all the willpower I had to not pull away, I could not show weakness to this woman.
She took an audible sniff and grinned. There I saw perfect white teeth that looked human, another factor of her beauty.
“I am please you have brought my consort to me, Reska. I will reward you after,” the woman said. Her voice was both rich and sultry, the same allure from perhaps Lunara or Tessa. It was music to my ears, and I dug into my palms tightly to keep my focus.
“Consort?”
Lunara asked, and the woman shifted her violet eyes to look at her. She glared at Lunara and I could feel a bit of anger bubble inside me.
“Answer her,” I demanded, and the woman stepped back with a smile, as if expecting my response.
“Very well, my consort. I can see in your eyes that you do not recognize me,” the woman said, and I nodded at that. I expected the large Zegari creature to be the queen, not this woman.
The woman’s form rippled as her skin turned from a tanned peach color to a deep black. Her head morphed into a large snout, and her body shifted to form a large exoskeleton. Claws grew from her fingertips and her tail lengthened until it formed into a spear like weapon behind her.
It was the creature. The Zegari.
It towered over me as it raised itself to its full height. It was so much bigger than the last time I had seen it. It now stood over two times my own size. Its snout displayed its razer sharp teeth prominently as it growled.
Lunara jumped in front of me, while Eliandra grabbed my hand and clutched her dress with the other. My guards drew their weapons and swarmed in front of us, with one of them pulling me back to make space.
“Do not be alarmed,” Reska said from his position beside the throne. “The queen is merely showing you its true nature. If you do not want your men to die, I suggest you tell them to keep their weapons sheathed.”
The guards looked at the creature warily as they all gripped their weapons, and I knew it was only strict discipline that kept them from attacking.
The Zegari made no move towards us. It merely watched me with a critical eye. I sighed as I rubbed my temple for a moment.
How did I get myself into these kinds of situations?
“Stand down men, form up behind me,” I ordered. The men slowly retreated, walking backwards as they kept their eyes on the Zegari. I could tell that fear gripped their hearts and I couldn’t blame them. This creature was unlike anything they had ever seen, and it looked far more menacing than my previous experience of it.