Vacant Throne

Waiting for the Fractal Lock to end was a lot more nerve wracking than Alyssa felt it should be. She had neglected to look at her phone immediately after starting the spell, so she didn’t know the exact time she had cast it. Even with that, Fractal Lock wasn’t a perfect twelve hours. Just close enough. So Alyssa had started a small camp fire in the middle of the island nearest to Lueta. Partially for the light. Night had just fallen a shot while ago. But mostly, it was to try to dry off a bit. For as much as she had kept to the islands, she still felt… damp. Not wet, just damp.

It was probably the humidity in the air.

Regardless, the fire helped. Dasca and Izsha had worked together to drag over a fairly large log from some felled tree. Musca took great joy in crushing it underfoot, enough so that Alyssa had some chunks of wood to act as logs. The crushing process produced some tinder. A burst of magic got the flames actually going.

Alyssa spent the time conversing with Worrik. In the past ten hours, she had heard more about life in the monsters’ farm than she had in all her time with the monsters at the actual camp. They had carved out a place to live inside a supposedly haunted forest to avoid discovery. It had apparently gone unnoticed for almost three decades. Thirty years of just living out in the middle of nowhere. A deep well, dug by some mole-like monster that Alyssa hadn’t noticed with the main group, supplied them with water. The ground, once cleared of trees, had provided plenty of space to grow crops. They even had stolen a few chicken for eggs and meat, though Worrik didn’t usually partake.

A failure in crops wiped out most of their stockpiled food. They had already been in dire straits before the village had come under attack. That was the incident that Volta had wanted help with. Alyssa had to wonder if she had been a bit quicker to deliver all that, if she could have made a difference had she arrived before the attack. Or if she would have been caught up in it and killed before being able to react. Both minotaurs painted a picture of a sudden and horrifying ambush, even though Worrik had missed the actual incident.

Of course, Alyssa would never have predicted just how long they were going to stay in Illuna. And after Izsha got… injured, they hadn’t really been able to make a big caravan supply trip down. By that point, it might have been too late anyway given that the monsters had arrived not long after and they had been traveling for some time at that point.

Hearing about the actual failure of the crops from Worrik, Alyssa now had to wonder if that hadn’t been part of the ambushers’ design. If they had used magic or some subtle poison to abort the crops, they would face a weaker, hungrier force of monsters. And it had the added side effect of forcing Lueta and Worrik to go hunting far more often than they had been used to.

The conversation wasn’t wholly one-sided. Alyssa talked a lot more about life in Illuna. She spoke at length of Rokien, mostly. Peppered into her conversation were a number of comments about others that Alyssa knew well. Or well enough. Any time Worrik showed interest in one of them, Alyssa would expand a bit on what they were doing, such as telling the tale of how Iona wound up working at a human pie shop or, as she was doing currently, talking about how she first met the draken.

“You said that Lueta sometimes let you ride on its back.”

“She’s a bit prideful. Doesn’t let me do it much. In fact, these past few weeks have probably made up the majority of all the time I’ve actually ridden on her.”

“I don’t know how fast an apophis can move, but the first time I was on Izsha, it took off at such a high speed that I thought I was going to die. I thought I was going to fall off and tumble or smack into something overhanging and lose my head. Now I’m much more at ease. Riding Izsha is relaxing more than anything. At least it is when we’re not riding toward some vital emergency.”

“I can’t say the same about Lueta,” Worrik said. “I feel like I’ll fall off all the time too. I’m just not built for riding on her back. I prefer my hooves flat against the ground.”

Blinking, Alyssa glanced down. Sure enough, there were a pair of hooves right in front of her, flickering in the campfire’s light. How had she not noticed that before? She supposed it had to do with her not staring at random people’s feet all that much. The body of a man but the feet of a cow? Still seemed slightly strange, but hardly stranger than Kasita or Fela.

“Besides, it’s Lueta,” Worrik continued, not able to see Alyssa’s glance to his feet. “Even ignoring the fact that it is somewhat strange to ride around on a friend’s back, she’s… I don’t know much about how you humans act around your royalty, but Lueta seems like a queen. I could never be comfortable riding around with her. And she is prideful enough that I don’t think she is happy with the situation either. I guess I’m just thankful that she hasn’t left me behind yet, useless as I am.”

This time, Alyssa glanced over to Izsha. She thought of the draken as a friend, but… Was it actually strange to use it as a mount? She remembered having similar thoughts back when she first encountered the draken. Not that she thought of Izsha as a friend then, but simply that she found it odd that sentient, sapient beings would consent to having humans ride around on them all the time. But in the time since, she had effectively forgotten about such thoughts, coming to accept their current relationship as being the norm.

And if Izsha didn’t have any complaints, she supposed that she wouldn’t raise any objections to the status quo.

“I don’t think you’re useless. And I doubt your brother does either. At the very least, you’re helping to facilitate communications between us and monsters. Specifically Lueta, in this case. Without you… things might not have gone so well. Or wouldn’t go so well in the future.”

Worrik didn’t respond. Despite trying to be positive, it seemed as if she had killed the conversation.

Alyssa glanced up to the apophis, deciding to let Worrik have a moment to his thoughts rather than try to restart their little talk. They were close enough to keep an eye on the giant snake, but far enough away that it hopefully would not be able to crush them—accidentally or otherwise—without Alyssa having some warning. Fela had taken up the job of sitting there and watching it without talking or otherwise getting distracted, ready to call out at the slightest movement of the apophis. A job that Alyssa wasn’t positive that they needed. It wasn’t blind as Worrik was. With the distance between it and their little camp, it should have more than enough time to recognize the situation for what it was. A friendly chat.

Still, Fela had taken to the task with zeal. Alyssa hadn’t noticed the flames at the sides of her face winking out for more than the occasional blink. Which Alyssa found somewhat surprising given the hellhound’s propensity for sleep rivaled that of Irulon.

Finding nothing had changed with Lueta, Alyssa pulled out her phone and checked the time. Twelve hours had just passed a few minutes ago, based on her best guess of when she had actually cast the spell, so it should be any moment now.

“Have you—”

Alyssa didn’t get to finish her question. Fela made an alarmed noise in the back of her throat, which made Alyssa whip her head toward the apophis.

Its tongue was back in its mouth and its whole head had turned. The slit-pupils of its eyes were locked right on the flames of their camp.

Standing, Alyssa’s hand gripped the cards that were already in her hand just a little tighter. It was an involuntary motion. She tried to keep her arms lax at her sides to appear as if she wasn’t ready to cast a bunch of spells. She hadn’t set them down for even a moment since setting up the camp. All in preparation for now.

“Lueta just woke,” Alyssa said softly, hoping that she wouldn’t have to use any of the cards. Having not planned for an extended trip, she was essentially out of supplies. If she had to Fractal Lock the apophis again, she would have to head back to Illuna for both backup and extra supplies. Because of another twelve hour time limit before needing to get back, she doubted she would get much sleep in that event.

Worrik got to his feet alongside Alyssa, towering over her with the motion. He turned to face Lueta as well, though… well, he almost turned in the right direction.

“Lueta?” Worrik said. He spoke in the same worried tone that he had used when Alyssa first encountered him, though the tension in the back of his throat had lessened. “Lueta? Are you alright?”

The apophis could not speak, Alyssa had learned. At least not English. Its mouth and vocal chords just didn’t allow it. Before learning that, a part of her had expected the apophis to be able to speak, but with cartoonishly drawn out ‘S’ sounds.

Instead, what Alyssa got was an earth-rumbling growl, much like the sound an angry cat might make if the bass were turned up to max. She could feel it reverberating in her very bones. A cold sweat started down her spine in spite of herself.

“It’s alright,” Worrik quickly said. “I’m fine. They haven’t hurt me.”

The sharp green eyes turned along with Lueta’s head, scanning Fela first before moving on to Alyssa. It stared for a long moment before a low hooting noise came from its mouth. This one wasn’t a growling. It was more like… the sound of someone gently blowing over the top of a glass bottle. That hooting whistle, except much louder and deeper in tone.

Alyssa honestly had no idea what it meant. The growl had been fairly self-evident. It had been a threatening warning noise. This was something completely different, lasting for a good three seconds before trailing off.

“You were under a spell,” Worrik said. Alyssa didn’t know if he knew what Lueta was saying, whether this was some Han Solo speaks Wookie situation or if he was just better at reading what Lueta intended to say sort of how Alyssa could read Izsha to get an idea of what the draken was thinking. “It put you to sleep for a few hours so that we could talk. If they wanted to kill you, I’m sure they would have tried while you were sleeping.”

That wasn’t quite accurate, but Alyssa wasn’t about to correct him if it helped their case at the moment.

Lueta’s head, which had drifted toward Worrik while he was speaking, snapped back to Alyssa.

“We’re not here to hurt you,” Alyssa said, feeling like she was being addressed now. She raised her voice, not shouting, but projecting. Worrik’s voice was much louder as well. Whether that was because of the fifty or so feet between them or because an apophis’ hearing worked differently didn’t matter. Since he had done so, so would she. “Rokien sent us to find you. The spell was a reflex, honestly. I didn’t actually mean to cast it, but felt it worked out well enough to allow us some time to better situate ourselves for a conversation.”

The great snake slithered closer. Only a few feet, but it was enough for Alyssa to tense. It was amazing how little movement Alyssa felt underneath her feet considering the size of the thing moving toward her. Some of that might be thanks to them being separated from it by one of the marsh’s little rivers. But even without the vibrations she felt like she should have felt, it was still a terrifying sight to see a giant snake moving closer. Fela didn’t hesitate to crouch down like she was coiling her muscles for a pounce. All three draken were on their feet. The only one who didn’t look tense was Worrik.

Lueta apparently noticed, slowing right away as it narrowed its eyes. Once again, it made the air-over-bottle noise, though this time it was much sharper and quicker.

Alyssa, without taking her eyes off the apophis, turned her head toward Worrik. “What did that mean?”

Worrik hesitated a moment before turning almost to Alyssa with a shrug. “I’m not sure.”

So not a wookie situation then. That wasn’t a good thing. In a situation like this, she would have much preferred the certainty of at least knowing what was said. Even if the apophis or Worrik had a habit of lying, it would have at least given her something to work from. Having just a sound that Alyssa couldn’t even assign an emotion to was not enough for even a shoddy dialog to take place.

“Any guesses?” Alyssa tried, hoping to get somewhere.

“Maybe irritation?”

“At having a spell cast on it?” Alyssa could understand that. Irritated would be putting it mildly if she had a spell cast on her without her permission. But… “As I said,” she said, turning back to the apophis, “I apologize, but you startled me. Perhaps I can find some way to better apologize in the future. For the time being, we really need to… discuss just what to do for now. Worrik wishes to visit his brother, who is currently in the care of the city of Illuna. Along with the rest of the monsters from your community. They are not being harmed, as I’m sure you are aware because of your visit to the city. Which is the real problem. Were it not for that, I would say that you could go right up to the city gates with only causing minor alarm. Now, however, there might be issues with that.”

Alyssa paused. She wasn’t trying to sound threatening or accusatory, but was somewhat worried what she had to say might come out like that anyway. But it was important that the apophis understand that it couldn’t go to the human city. She felt it important that the apophis know why, and… she wanted at least some small assurance that the apophis wouldn’t just run around murdering any humans that it didn’t like. Self-defense was fine. Alyssa had engaged in that more often than she would have liked. Maybe a bit too often… which might make her words somewhat hypocritical.

“You were the one who… dealt with the group of humans outside Illuna, were you not?” She had already posed a similar question to Worrik, only to receive a vague answer about Lueta going off on her own on occasion, usually to try to bring back food for him. Considering how prideful this Lueta was said to be, both from Worrik’s long talks and the few words that Rokien had said about it, that was a surprisingly compassionate thing to do. Though one that really should have been expected of anyone.

The apophis did not respond. It didn’t make another noise. It didn’t move even a hair from where it had perched across one of the small rivers. A chill went up Alyssa’s spine at the thought that its tail might be snaking around to attack her from behind, but she didn’t break eye contact, staring it down just as much as it was staring her down.

Worrik seemed to sense something amiss even with his blindfold. He swung his head from Alyssa to Lueta, nervously clutching at the air. She could see it from the corner of her eyes. For a moment, Alyssa thought he might say something and break the stalemate, but as the minutes went on, he remained quiet.

The tense stand-off continued with Alyssa not daring to even blink for a full five minutes. Because of the aforementioned apophis’ pride, Alyssa sincerely doubted that Lueta would flinch first. It was up to her to make the first move lest this continue until morning.

Taking in a deep breath, closing her eyes for just a moment as she did so, Alyssa spoke. “They were bounty hunters, hired by the ones who destroyed your community to kidnap some survivors of your community. I don’t hold much against you for killing them. You likely resolved a diplomatic incident before it could actually become an incident. But I need to know that this wasn’t just a random killing, that you aren’t out to attack every human you come across. Did you know who those humans were before you decided to attack them?”

The apophis still did not respond. If not for the small movements in its unblinking eyes, Alyssa might have thought that she had accidentally Locked it again.

This was a bad idea, Alyssa thought. She should have taken it slower, conversed over casual matters as she had done with Worrik. But something about the apophis put her on edge. Those nuclear green eyes staring at her made her want to get this over with as soon as possible, to get back to her normal life and leave this apophis to its own devices.

What she wouldn’t give for Brakkt to be with her at the moment. If only he hadn’t run off to check on some infected business. He would have been happy to sit here and chat with the apophis for an extended period of time. Alyssa could have just stood aside and let him take the apophis’ focus, ready to use a Fractal Lock or Annihilator if things had gone sour.

She should have brought Kasita with her. Spying on Yora be damned. Together, they could have—

The apophis moved. Its head bobbed up and down, ever so slightly.

An answer? Had that been an answer? If not for how still Lueta had been during their stare down, she might have thought it was just a small movement. Maybe a stiff breeze higher in the air made it move unconsciously, not that Alyssa actually felt anything. But… no. It was way too large to be blown around by anything but a hurricane. That had to have been an answer. It took her a moment to remember exactly what her question had been. Something about knowing the identities of the bounty hunters beforehand.

Relief flooded Alyssa. It hadn’t been a revenge-driven attack. At least not just a revenge driven attack.

Not only that, but she had gotten an answer. Even if it was a lie, calculated to put its actions into the category of self defense, an answer meant that it was willing to talk. For the first time since Lueta came out from the spell, she felt like they could have some kind of communication.

A hopeful feeling.