Outside Influences

Bel waved to get her sister's attention. “Beth! Can we talk?”

Beth frowned as she glanced at her audience, clearly hanging on Beth’s words. “Now’s not a great time, Bel.”

“I learned something more about what the Dark Ravager was up to in Satrap,” Bel said, trying to tempt her sister away.

Beth’s eyebrows shot up with interest. “I suppose more inside information would be good.”

The one-armed assassin turned to her current conversation partners and excused herself from their group before joining Bel. “Well? What’ve you got?”

Bel took a breath to steady her nerves. “Remember how Crystal was using something to track me down?”

Beth frowned. “I remember you saying something about that, but honestly my memories from before we left Satrap are a little fuzzy.” Beth glanced at the stump of her left arm meaningfully.

Bel sighed. “Well, Crystal tracked us down with those fancy rods. I think that I may have been the real target in Satrap, not the humans that they were keeping in pens. Or maybe they were the real target, but I was a bonus.”

Beth’s eyebrows went up, but she waited for Bel to continue.

“I was talking to some old guys and they told me more about the Dark Ravager. Apparently he’s looking for spirits, or anyone related to them, because he eats them or something to ascend faster.” Bel scrunched her face. “I probably should have asked for more details about that part, actually.”

Beth considered for a moment. “So you’re afraid that he’s going to be able to track you down?” Beth considered it for a moment before nodding. “If they have more people like Crystal then it’s possible.”

Bel nodded. “Yeah. And he’s super powerful.”

Beth grinned. “That’s great! There’s nothing like a surprise attack to stir up the hornet’s nest. What’s that thing your brother talks about?” Beth clicked her fingers. “The Harbor of Pearls?”

Bel grimaced. “It’s not great, Beth. People will die.”

“In the short-term,” Beth responded. “But in the long-term the people of Satrap and the Golden Plains will unite, and then they’ll both prosper. The people of the Golden Plains will no longer need to fear slowly reverting to near mindless creatures–” She gestured at the scorpion-person, still wandering timidly at the edge of the crowd. “–and the people of Satrap will be freed from Technis. Everybody wins.”

Bel grit her teeth as her snakes writhed around her head. “And you’ll what, burn down the temples, kill the people you don’t like, and walk away?”

Beth grinned. “Something like that.”

Bel frowned. “And who replaces the aristocrats in Satrap?”

Beth shrugged. “Not my problem. Anything is better than them.”

“And what if the Dark Ravager’s people come and kill the people here to get to me?”

Beth frowned. “Look, we’re not making them attack us. They’re choosing to do it – and if they do, they deserve whatever reprisal comes their way.”

Bel’s snakes hissed quietly. “You do realize that you’re just making more of you, right Beth? Some kid’s brother or sister or grandparent is going to die, and they’ll swear revenge. Maybe they’ll come after you.”

Beth smirked. “I don’t think some kid–”

“Crows! Shut up, Beth!” Bel exploded. “What replaces the aristocracy in Satrap? At least plan that part out!”

Bel stared into Beth’s eyes. “Because, if you don’t, it’s just more of the same,” she seethed. “You not fixing anything, Beth. Not really. Sure, it’ll look like change, but it’ll be false.” Bel jabbed a finger in her sister’s direction. “It’s like that thing James says: those who don’t study history will just do it again.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “You’re being overly dramatic Bel. What do you want to do then? Nothing? Let things keep going the way they are?”

Bel jabbed her finger at her once protector a second time. “No, Beth. I want to change things; for real though, the right way, so that they stay different. Progress.”

Bel could always feel a shifting in her soul when she said it out loud. War and chaos could be good, or they could be bad. Change could make things better, but sometimes things only changed on the surface. Real change was harder than just adding chaos by stirring a pot, but real change was what she wanted.

“I’m going back to Satrap,” she decided out loud.

Beth’s eyes shot open. “Are you serious? By yourself?”

Bel nodded.

Beth’s eyes narrowed and she forcefully grabbed Bel by the elbow. “Are you crazy? What the hell will that do?”

Bel shook off Beth’s hand. “Why would you care? I want to do what Ventas and the other priests of Lempo started. I want to change people’s minds so that change is something they want. It shouldn’t be something you push on them.”

“You’re being naive, kid.”

“I’m not a kid,” Bel snapped. She jerked her arm free of Beth’s grasp as she spun away. Before Beth could say anything more, she strode off to find her brother.

Beth stormed after her, hurling invectives as she went.

“You’re crazy,” James said, eyes wide.

Beth grunted. “That’s what I told her. You need to convince your sister to calm down.”

“I’m right here,” Bel sibilated.

Her brother looked at her with concern. “Are you sure you’re okay, Bel? The heat isn’t getting to you?”

Bel growled at him and a few of her snakes hissed with displeasure.

Daran rushed into their argument, her antennae thrashing the air with alarm. “Whoah, what is being the problem? Why are you all being so angry?”

“Bel wants–”

“My sister–”

“The Dark Ravager–”

The three spoke over each other, each refusing to back down.

Daran clapped her hands and blasted them with a quick burst of sand. “Stop! This is not the way of talking.” The ant girl looked at the three of them. “Bel, you are being the most angry. Please say what is making you so.”

Bel snorted sand from her nostrils. “I found out that the Dark Ravager hunts spirits. It turns out that his people were hunting me in Satrap, and they had a way to track me down. They’ll be coming after me here too.”

“And that’s why we should hurry to Outpost 3, not run away,” Beth interrupted. She turned to Bel, a pleading look in her eyes. “Look, it’s apparently a gigantic hole in the ground three thousand strides across and eight hundred strides deep.”

“Hey,” Bel tried interrupting.

Beth rolled through without pause. “It’s basically a reverse tower, but with everyone living inside of the cliff walls. It’s impregnable, you couldn’t ask for a better hiding space, and the lake and farms at the bottom make it self-sufficient.”

“Hey,” Bel bit out, “it’s my turn to talk.” She glared at Beth for a few moments before continuing. “I’m not hiding in some giant hole. Anyway, I shouldn’t even be here. I need to go back to Satrap and help the people there.”

“But the goddesses–”

“Who knows what they want, Beth.”

“Look, Bel, I know you want revenge, but you have to be patient. Durak–”

“Hang Durak!”

Daran shoved her arms in between them. “Whoah, we are not insulting the gods here! Not even the newly ascended ones!” The ant-girl’s attend-ants swarmed around her, whipped into a frenzy by her agitation. Beth and Bel were forced a few steps apart by the activity.

James threw his hands into the air. “This is crazy Bel. Look, I know you really liked Ventas, but you’re not a priest of Lempo. You’re not the, the second coming or whatever. No one is going to follow you if you go back to Satrap – you’ll just get caught.” James tugged on his hair. “You don’t even know if you’ll be able to get back.”

Daran’s chewed on her lip as she struggled to understand what they were arguing about. “Who is Ventas? And Lempo?”

Her antenna spun with alarm. “Wait – what do you mean you were hunted? Are you a spirit?”

Bel shrugged. “I don’t really know. I’m related to one, I guess?”

“Oh.” Daran deflated, her antenna hanging limply. “It is unsafe to be a spirit here.”

“Daran,” James began in a pleading tone.

Daran grasped James’ hand in her own and pulled it close. “I am not saying that your sister should go back to Satrap. She can hide. Not all other places are as dangerous as Atmos.” She pointed towards the rising sun. “In the far west is Skotos. It is very big island, shrouded by a forest with trees as tall as a mountain. And north… well, that is not safe either. Skotos is best.”

“I want to change things, Daran,” Bel insisted. “I don’t just want to hide in a forest.”

Bel stared at James and Beth, daring them to argue.

Daran turned from face to face, clearly conflicted.

The tension rose when someone started yelling from the outer edges of the crowd of semi-humans. The cry was picked up by more voices, and soon there was a swarm of activity around them.

Bel’s snakes darted in different directions, agitated by the commotion. “What’s happening? More weeds?”

Daran gestured to her attend-ants, calling them into a neat row. “It is a group of the Dark Ravager’s acolytes. They are testing our vigilance.”

Bel grit her teeth, turned, and ran in the opposite direction from all the yelling. She could at least lead them away from the people who had nothing to do with her, and if she was lucky she could give them the slip as well.

She knew that she wouldn’t be able to outrun Beth – or Daran if the ant-girl decided to grab her – but Bel had a plan. She got to the edge of the dune and jumped. When her feet hit the ground she liquified it, sliding down the frictionless surface.

Well, that was her plan, but it turned out that slippery things were, well slippery. Bel got halfway down before she went flying through the air with a choked curse. She pushed herself onto her elbows and realized that she’d landed in the middle of an ominous group of black-robed people. They looked down at her from the backs of their large, shoulder-high riding lizards.

“Oh, swivel me,” she cursed.

A rope whipped around her, and Bel suddenly found herself being dragged away from the camp. She still had enough in her for a second liquify though. She turned the inside of the rope to liquid and slipped through it.

She looked up with satisfaction as the man kept going, not even realizing that she’d been left behind. The smile fell from her face when several of the other, more observant, lizard-riding cultists surrounded her.

The closest one leaped down from his mount, a heavy wooden rod held aloft in his hands. He clearly intending to clobber her into submission.

Bel danced backwards, evading the easily telegraphed swing, but she backed straight into the arms of another one of the cultists. She only belatedly realizing that it had been a trick. Her snakes hissed angrily as they snapped at the person holding her from behind while she flailed and kicked, but her captor was like an old tree, solid and unmovable.

Bel’s movements became increasingly frantic as she realized her precarious position – even if she got away from the one holding onto her she was still surrounded by almost a dozen more. She could now hear fighting behind her as some people from the camp caught up to the cultists, but she was helpless to resist when her captor dragged her away towards an unmounted lizard. They turned slightly and Bel could see a few of the semi-humans, Beth, James, and Daran fighting to get to her. James was mostly staying back, probably looking for an opportunity to use his sling or waiting for an injury to heal. Beth moved awkwardly with only one arm, but any time she surged forward and slashed with her weapon another one of the cultists went limp.

Daran occupied nearly all of the rest of the cultists singlehandly. Her skittering legs danced across the sand as bands of twisting sand leaped forward at every twitch of her fingers, deflecting weapons and cutting into the any exposed vitals. Whenever Beth would drive back the attackers for a moment, Daran would cup her hands together in a squeezing motion and a mouth would form in the sand, pulling one of their attackers underground before snapping shut.

If Bel could delay long enough, Beth and Daran would eventually grind the cultists into the sand.

The young gorgon summoned a heroic surge of energy and wriggled like a fish. She heard some muffled cursing coming her captor, but he just squeezed her neck, cutting off Bel’s ability to breath. She thrashed until her limbs felt heavy and black spots swam in her vision. Her snakes struck helplessly against her captor, but they couldn’t pierce through the thick leather of his arm guards.

She was certain that she was doomed, but just before she lost consciousness she found herself suddenly released.

Bel caught herself as she was falling and staggered several steps as she attempted to turn and fight. She was surprised to see that her former captor had collapsed to his knees on the ground. His neck was swolled and his veins stood out in purple and blue against his puffy skin. As she watched, he began to foam at the mouth.

Behind him stood the lonely scorpion boy. Bel realized that he must have been hanging around outside of the group again, which had allowed him to sneak in behind the enemy.

“Thanks,” Bel gasped out.

The boy nodded shyly and then stepped forward to block a spear thrust from an new assailant. His large pincer-hand easily caught the shaft of the weapon, and quick tug brought the attacker close. The boy snapped out with his other pincer, easily cutting through the spearman’s throat.

Damn, isn’t there a gorgon ability to have claws? Maybe I should have taken that one, Bel thought.

A moment later a tidal wave of sand scattered the clump of cultists to her side. Bel looked over, expecting to see Daran, but instead it was Jan, the old meerkat, grinning from ear. Flann was with him too; he pointed a finger and an eye-searing lance of flame cut through the head of another cultist. He alternated his fingers, blowing through the rest of the cultists in just a few heartbeats, his tail wagging excitedly the entire time.

Bel stared at him with wide eyes as he blew on one finger and then the other as if he needed to cool them down.

“Holy shit,” James’ voice rang out, “that was badass!”

The fox laughed. “Don’t sound so shocked sonny! You don’t get to be as old as us without having a few tricks!”

Jan elbowed him in the ribs. “Says the fox that darn near threw out ‘is back tryin’ ta run over here!” The meerkat turned to his stunned audience. “Hey, you lot stop standing an gawking and grab them big ol’ lizards! I reckon they’re good steeds, it’d be a shame to let ’em loose in the desert.”

Bel fumbled at the closest lizard, grabbing onto a pair of reins that were wrapped around its mouth. The old folk ambled over to her and Bel gave them a respectful bow. “Thanks guys, you really saved me there.”

Jan peered at her with a cloudy eye. “So they were after you then, lass? You got some spirit blood after all?”

“Ah… something like that,” she replied guiltily. “Sorry, I didn’t know it would cause trouble.”

“You gonna leave the group then?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to put everyone in danger.” Bel looked around at the dead cultists. She didn’t see any deaths from Daran’s people, at least in this part of the fight, although she did see a couple of people with blood soaking through their feathers. James was tending to them while Daran nervously skittered around. Beth was busy poking at the cultists, probably looking for new weapons, and the mood was more victorious than glum, but for all Bel knew there were dead in other areas of the camp.

“Where you gonna run to?” Jan pressed her.

“Oh, I don’t really know. I guess back to the Barrier? It should be harder for the Dark Ravager to track me on the other side, assuming that I can find a way to get back through. So I guess that I’ll head east?” Bel looked into the featureless expanse of the desert.

Flann chortled loudly as he led two of the riding lizards over to them. “Well, good thing I’m coming along! It sounds like your sense of direction is just as bad as this old hunky’s – who knows where you two would end up on your own.” Flann’s ears twitched with mirth. “Probably drown in the sea while asking a merman for directions!”

Jan snatched one of the reins from his companion. “My sense of direction is fine, you old fox!”

“Hey.” Beth stepped forward between Bel and the old men. “Bel isn’t going anywhere.”

Flann grinned at her. “Why don’t you ask her about that? She seems set on leavin’.”

Beth snorted. “She’s a kid. She doesn’t know–”

“I’m not a kid,” Bel growled. “And I already told you that I needed to go. An entire village was attacked because of us back in Satrap, and the same thing just happened here.”

Beth pointed her finger at one of the corpses. “Look, the people here already know that they can’t just leave these cultists alone. There’s going to be war anyway, so you may as well stay.”

Jan led his mount past her. “Oh, you’ll get your war. That doesn’t mean you get to tell this young lady what to do though.”

A ripple of sand lifted the meerkat rat into his saddle, and a finger flick summoned lifted the fox onto the second lizard. Bel jumped up to her own mount. She looked up to see James running in her direction, frantically waving his arms.

“Beth, tell James I love him and to take care of himself.” Bel turned and pulled at her reins. The lizard didn’t move. She pulled and kicked for a few moments, but James had caught up before she figured out how to work the lizard. The two old men nearly laughed themselves out of their saddles as they watched her fruitless efforts.

Flann grinned from ear to ear. “Before we leave, maybe you should say goodbye to your family? And maybe absorb some essence from these guys too. Wanderin’ the desert is dangerous business, and we probably can’t take you the entire way.”

Bel’s face flushed with embarrassment as she lowered herself back down to the sand.