Crown of Horns

by Alex Sapegin

  “He started singing, my blue-winged dove.” The Miur resumed grinding her sword. Ania said nothing. She did not want to fall into the claws of the “kitties.” They could make even dragons talk. They would soon find out why in the world there were mercenaries roaming about the foothills.

  They did not have to wait long. The bushes swayed. Parting the thorny branches with her hand, the warrior who had interrogated the orc stepped onto the field.

  “Let us go, quickly!” She said and ran towards the way out of the gorge.

  “What is happening?” Ania rushed after the Miur.

  “In half an hour, an orc regiment will be here. I reported it to the external guard. The general alarm has been declared in the cities.”

  “What regiment? That is…,” Ania was dumbfounded.

  “War.” The cat woman stopped. “The emperor gave the command to attack. The mobile orc divisions have invaded the far Border and are attempting to cover the roads and caravan trails. All the air platforms and griffons are lost. We ran into the scouts they sent ahead. Pray to Manyfaces that our shields will not allow Hazgar to build portals. Otherwise, his legions would have already attacked the Principality, but even so, we do not have long to wait. Before I cut his throat, the orc told of the huge camouflaged military camps that have been destroyed in the last twenty four hours on the border. The imperial generals will strike at any moment.” The Miur stopped speaking suddenly and listened to the quiet whisper coming from the communicator amulet in her helmet. She turned towards her partner, who had already put the stone away and began rubbing the blade with a velvet cloth. “Anrisha, your three will remain to cover the virk.”

  “I understand,” Anrisha said, throwing her sword into her scabbard. The feline took a piece of wood of unknown purpose from her backpack and attached it to the fire-starter. The resulting device most closely resembled a thick fire iron with two handles, but it strangely looked much more deadly than before. “You have got it coming to you, white-furred fool, for starting trouble with the priestess,” the re-armed captain of the three warriors muttered quietly, under her breath, and with thinly concealed spite and a strong taste of despair and regret in her voice. But the elf heard the foul words. “Hazgar found me immediately. Not one day passed after he sensed that tattoo, and already we’re in for it.”

  Ania was afraid to miss a single word of the guard’s muttering. This Miur probably knew the reason for the commotion during the reception. Perhaps, it was connected to the emperor’s reasons for his recent actions?

  “Wake up, listen up.” The shout interrupted the elf’s train of thought. “Tell your kinsfolk to drop all their luggage and get to the stationary portal as soon as possible. We will travel light. Like a fly!” Anrisha’s yellow eyes flashed with an angry fire.

  Ania, as if she’d gotten a kick in the butt, dashed towards the princess’ entourage, which was resting in the shade of the Mellornys. The commander of the military threesome of “ghosts” ran after her. War. The cat woman was telling the truth. It was not a subject people generally lied about. Oh, Manyfaces, why now? Why?

  Nelita. Lidar Mountain. The miur city under the mountain. One day earlier…

  His eyes did not want to open. The colors of the awakened elements still danced in them. Andy could hardly restrain the whirlwind raging inside, consisting of a fierce flame, a roaring wind that turned into sharp knives of ice water, and grains of sand that tore at his skin. Returning from nothingness, the golden dragon actively absorbed surplus energy, redirecting it to the astral.

  Andy did not understand how he fell into the clever trap. The spellcaster infested his mana and somehow tore off the outer shields. Immersed in the euphoria of the warlike dance, maneuvering between the flames, he didn’t notice the red-hot stone beneath his feet or the manipulation of the Temple dwellers near him. A single glance from the old hag sobered him up in an instant, just like a tub of cold water. The ruler’s personal guards rushed into the hall, instantly lined up around the “dance floor” and separated him with high full-length shields from the perplexed guests. Two dozen Miur armed with gunners cut the Eldest priestess off from the blocked exits. The “jammers,” which were turned up to their highest power level, coupled with the mana absorbers, hit his nerves—hard. It was too late to do anything about it. With the impression made on him by the return of the virtual golden dragon and the entirety of his self-awareness, Andy temporarily relinquished control and immediately received a painful injection into his left shoulder. A whole bunch of other people’s feelings fell on him, including surprise, mean-spirited rejoicing, contempt, and disgust, as if someone saw a cockroach in front of him. The scariest and strangest thing was, Andy felt a family tie to the creature that hated him. The contact lasted no more than a couple of seconds, but, realizing that the relative posed a serious danger, he broke off the connection, all the more so because he needed to calm the raging storm of energy. The destructive power of the elements and the boundless power of the astral did not escape from him, but the struggle with himself took its toll. Unable to withstand the heavy weight, his legs buckled. Andy collapsed on his back; someone’s hands immediately picked him up and took him somewhere. He didn’t care, as long as he could pacify the whirlwind inside himself and not allow his shields to be shattered.

  “How is he?” A familiar silky voice sounded louder than a tambourine. It caused hundreds of bright flashes in his head, which tinged his head and temples with pain.

  “He is waking up,” a second, unfamiliar voice answered.

  “As soon as he is himself, call me. Illusht, you stay with Andy. I am going to the ballroom.”

  Asha… the Great Mother.

  From the depths of his memory emerged one of the last images captured at the reception: dressed in a cloak sewn from real gold threads, the Miur with snow-white hair looked triumphantly behind him, and behind him the guard surrounded the Eldest priestess. The rest of the Temple dwellers were pressed to the walls by oblong shields. The guard…. The elite fighters could not have broken into the reception hall unless they were given appropriate orders in advance and placed in hidden rooms, shielded from the magical scan.

  “Why?” His wayward lips uttered of their own accord. Andy opened his eyes.

  The Miur leader, who had taken a few steps toward the door, returned and walked up to him.

  “Leave us,” Asha ordered her subordinates.

  There was the rustle of clothes, the ringing of bracelets, and the soft feline footsteps. The room was instantly empty. The slammed door and a powerful canopy of silence prevented any eavesdropping. There were three of them in the room; the order to get out did not apply to Illusht.

  “What did you tell the old woman?” Andy asked, barely managing to use his swollen tongue.

  “That is a strange question. Do you really need to know?” That darn cat has a way of conducting conversations!

  “That is what I thought,” Andy uttered. His headache subsided, clearing up room for rational thoughts. “I should have guessed about your trickery earlier. There are no coincidences. You purposely arranged the Temple dwellers to come in to your office during our meeting, and then gave her some wrong information, thereby forcing her to act imprudently. Tell me I am wrong.” Andy turned away from his “sister.” He felt dreary; once again he’d become a political pawn. With his unwitting help, they cleaned out an unwanted, dangerous competitor. It was disgusting that he was the one who gave the “sisters” a deck of trumps. The old priestess recognized him as the bearer of the “key.” Asha had only to push the competitor towards the decision she needed, and she did not miss her chance.

  “I had to.” Her voice was made of steel.

  “What would have happened if I had not been able to restrain myself? Do you think you have won? It is an empty victory, I declare.”

  “I believed in you. The Eldest had been preparing a dirty trick for a long time now. The reception was the perfect opportunity for her to strike. The priest
esses needed war. They thought that if they got rid of the ruler and her daughter, ancient oaths would no longer be binding. They accumulated a great power under Mount Lidar, which will enable us to bring down the empire.”

  Andy, overcoming his headache, stood up from the cot. The mother and the daughter carefully watched his every move.

  “Did the priestesses have a reason to think so?”

  “They had and have a reason. But toppling the empire is not within our power. What did you mean about an empty victory?”

  Andy briefly told them about an ancient Earth king who beat the Roman army. The king won the battle but lost the war. The victory bled him dry, and the Romans still had more than one legion they could pit against him. While he was telling the Earthly story, his brain was laying out the information received in the course of the short conversation. He realized the cat people had a destructive weapon. Apparently, knowing they had the deadly power in their corner, a pride of the highest nobility and Manyfaces’ matriarchs decided to act contrary to the will of the Great Mother. “They needed war.” Apparently, that was her political party’s goal. Well, they had achieved their goal. The old hag’s true motivation was now clear: she took aim at the ruling family and strange guest, who smelled like a dragon from a mile away. The high priestess wanted to unmask Andy, revealing his essence, to trigger the start of the war, if not from their side, then to provoke an attack from the empire. The Miur would have no choice but to defend themselves against a full-scale invasion. The wrinkled feline came to certain conclusions and played all-in, the clever cat, calculated the opposite side’s actions and one-upped the ruler. Asha, confident of victory, wholeheartedly trying to discredit the spiritual leader, admitted the spellcasters to the hall. Her faith in Jaga’s son, however cavalier, was justified. He was able to withstand the awakened elements and the astral, but, despite her arrest, the other Miur won.

  “Apparently, the Eldest thought otherwise. The old cat got what she wanted. The emperor will march on Mount Lidar and the Principality of Ora.”

  “I do not think so,” Illusht entered the conversation. “What…”

  “You should have thought first!” Andy rudely interrupted his “sister.” “By failing to think of the evil that could be done, you handed your tailed rear ends to the emperor. Now think about the good you have done and be satisfied. I have been discovered!”

  “No one noticed anything. You were covered with a fire that masks auras. Then the ‘jammers’ kicked in,” Illusht said calmly. Asha glared at her daughter and touched her ritual knife with her right hand. The Great Mother got seriously upset. She began to feverishly piece together the recent events.

  Andy opened his shirt and showed them his left shoulder, where there was a golden dragon and the runes were flashing bright red.

  “The blood seal….” Asha breathed in amazement. Illusht covered her face with her hands. “The empress hid a seal with a bond to the family blood under the coat of arms! Do you mean….”

  “I already told you. I have been discovered,” Andy answered sadly. “At that moment, it seemed like a hot needle stabbed me in the shoulder. Along with the needle, I got a bunch of foreign thoughts and feelings in my mind. I have never felt such hatred towards myself.”

  “Hazgar,” the mother and daughter said simultaneously.

  The ruler of the miur zoned out of reality for a moment. She was standing up straight; her frosty look bored into the wall, and only the bright flashes in her aura revealed her intense mental processing.

  “Andy is right,” she said, after returning to reality. “We have very little time. The emperor can begin transferring troops at any moment. It seems to me that he took you for Jagirra, and Hazgar will not tolerate a threat to his own power. Today we send the ambassador and the princess’ virk back to the prince! Prepare, you will be my Voice.” The Great Mother took Andy by the shoulder. “You will tell the prince the truth about the ‘key.’”

  “Yes, and what about using the key? I do not know how.”

  “Illusht, go to our guests and announce the end of the reception. Let the princess immediately get ready to embark on the way back. Tell her that a detachment of ‘ghosts’ and my ambassador will go with the virk. The reason for haste I will explain to her in a couple of hours.” The daughter bowed low and ran out of the room. “And we, ‘brother,’ will have yet another merger. Are you ready?”

  “Where will I go from the top of the Mellornys,” Andy muttered.

  * * *

  His head ached wildly. The second confluence of minds in one day also left its mark. No spells cured the headache; settage threw up the white flag in front of the misfortune too. The ax would have helped, but such radical treatment was not included in Andy’s plans. For the last hour, his to-do list was empty. The Great Mother and her heirs planned this time for him.

  The city was in a state of turmoil. Despite the strict measures taken to preserve secrecy, rumors of the arrest of the Eldest priestess and her assistants seeped into the city. What happened in the palace with every hour took on a new dimension; a whole lump of incredible details was added, culminating in the appearance of dozens of corpses.

  The border guard posts reported on the Imperials’ sudden activation. Hazgar’s strategists released hundreds of griffons into the sky; dozens of combat dragon threesomes were flying along the border perimeter, but no dragon or rideable griffon had entered the neighboring lands yet. Bird spies spotted an active bustle near three punches in the space shields. The emperor was preparing an invasion. The case smelled of kerosene; Andy’s idea to fly on griffons was a flop; the half-birds couldn’t stand the smell of the Lords of the Sky. The dragons, following their Targ-loving virk traditions, refused to change hypostasis. The stubborn fools. “The virk will end on the territory of Ora!” Ilirra announced. Dumb lizard!

  Andy’s head hurt even worse from the anger boiling inside him. He wanted to kill someone, starting with his older “sister,” who had made a whole horrible mess of things, but she, fearing for her hide, avoided the annoyed dragon. She maintained her communication with Andy through the communicator amulet and her daughter. Illusht did not like this new duty her mother had put on her shoulders. In the absence of a “whipping girl,” the new-found relative could have torn her tail off, but the ruler’s orders were not open to discussion. She resigned herself to it, especially since the “brother” gradually calmed down.

  “This is what I was thinking about,” Andy addressed the heiress.

  “What?”

  “How will the dragons treat me as ambassador? Will not this be an insult to them? Ilirra does not tolerate me—that is one. Could a servant of Manyfaces leak information on the side? Before the reception, grandma had a lot of time—that is two.”

  “It will not be perceived as an insult,” replied Illusht. “We smart kitties have already taken care of everything. Officially, you will not be with the embassy. An ordinary Miur will appear before the prince of Ora.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Analysts suggest that the borderlands of the Principality and the land of the Miur are now, even without the Eldest, teeming with imperial spies. They have been issued a tip to look for the blood seal.”

  “The Great Mother thinks Hazgar will be searching for his niece, not her prodigal son.”

  “It is possible. But we decided not to take any chances. You will go as a Miur. No dragon or mage would ever think of looking for you in that form.”

  “TARG, are you suggesting I take on a fourth hypostasis and get a sex change? Over my dead body.”

  “I said nothing about a fourth hypostasis. We will prepare a puppet spell for you. In thirty minutes, let us measure the bodies. If you have a better idea, I am prepared to listen. If not, get ready to pee sitting down for a couple of days. You will not fit in a small male puppet. Female Miurs are larger, more your size. So, shall we? Remember, you will need a few hours to get used to the body, and time is precious.”

/>   “Let us go… what are these puppets like, anyway?”

  * * *

  The puppets gave the impression of being cat people, only gutted and sliced from crotch to throat. The powerful, tall Miur lay in translucent cocoons which reminded him in a very unpleasant way of the dugaria. The big brain who greeted Andy reassured him that they were grown inorganically and had no connection whatsoever to the actual Miur or the insane transformation tree. “Hope not,” Andy thought.

  “Shall we go to the fitting room?” the learned cat said cheerfully. “I suggest we go straight to the peasant women.”

  He jumped to one of the largest cocoons and ran his hand over it. It opened, revealing a mighty female Miur body.

  “So, let me see,” the big brain jumped behind Andy. “In my opinion, this is the right one. Take your clothes off and climb into the puppet through the incision on the abdominal cavity. Lie on your back, hands along your sides, legs thrust into the puppet legs. There is free space. You should have enough room to fit from neck to crotch, with your legs reaching to my ‘girl’s’ knees. I hope your protégé has not yet eaten?” the laboratory manager asked Illusht. “Some elves have trouble with nausea.”