As I was coming to expect for Valda, the lizard-folk woman came in as she’d promised and we’d hoped. As soon as was feasibly possible, she’d arranged a small expeditionary force of sixty of her warriors and ten of the Juneau student mages who were both capable and willing to take the chance of field experience.
I’d been alternating between spending time with the girls on their guard rotations, back home on Earth further excavating my house, and working on more jewelry pieces to sell. But with this mission going into effect, I expected to spend the next few weeks on Cortha and made sure to let Gloria know I’d be out of reach for a decent amount of time.
The spicy Latina made sure to remind me not to be an idiot over the phone, and I was sure it was more than just her appreciation of having a solid job speaking. I’d already cut her the first check from the last few weeks of profit and even with her handling all the transactions, Gloria had been both astonished and horrified at how much I was paying her.
Returning to Cortha with my Dimensional Pocket stocked with both supplies and gifts for my girls the night before we were set to depart, I spent a pleasurable evening spoiling each of them.
Rieka was easy to please, my sometimes-stoic and secretly exhibitionist princess really enjoyed the back and foot rub I gave her with the scented oils. Jane demanding her own turn was unexpected but amusing, and I made sure to oblige each of the girls with some time to loosen the tension that they all had with the prospect of moving into enemy territory in the morning.
Shayla was most fascinated by the gift that I’d brought her: metallic inks for the fountain pen set I’d brought previously. While the moth woman was chiefly an artist and painter, she still enjoyed calligraphy and artistic writing too, especially with calls for work in illumination for the more higher-end books. Kassandra spent a fair bit of time oohing and ahhing over the inks and their potential for her rune work, to the point that I had to promise to bring her a set next time I came through.
For the other three, I’d brought some general history books from Earth that I’d taken the time to translate into the local language. That had taken some work, since I had learned that I couldn’t force myself to speak or write in the Corthan language while I was back on Earth, as there were no native speakers there. But with my improved mental scores, it was easy enough to rush through a cipher that I could take with me while I was visiting one day and manually teach myself Corthan while on Earth.
Kassandra and Jane got books on the Elder Futhark and Chemistry, respectively. Both were excited to receive them and promised to guard their copies zealously since the information was otherworldly in nature. The chemistry book that I had given Jane wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but it would likely answer a lot of questions the mousy scholar had about how different elements acted and reacted, especially as she would have to test all of the information inside to make sure the rules still applied in a land where mana could and did crystallize naturally.
Kassandra, on the other hand, was ecstatic to have access to an extra-dimensional runic language, especially since some basic tests confirmed that the Elder Futhark worked perfectly with her magic—a fact I’d been quite hopeful for given that the language was said to have magical roots as well.
For Rieka, I had a military-history book that described ancient battles from the tenth to the fourteenth century across the world, as the technology would be relatively close to what they had on Cortha and part of what she was here to learn was tactics.
So while I massaged and pampered one of my four girls, the other three were happily exploring their gifts and chattering with each other until well after sundown.
Despite the late night, my girls all woke up well rested with the dawn. There was a bit of a scuffle as they rushed to ensure that everything they would need was packed up. I thought it was rather cute, given that the girls basically lived out of their own dimensional bags as the useful items allowed them to always have whatever they needed on their person.
While I watched Rieka’s firm bottom wiggle back and forth while she dug underneath the combined bunk bed after something she’d dropped—a very distracting sight to be sure—I reviewed the mission the System had given me the night before when the girls had formally summoned me.
Locate the Human-Era Armory Ruins that are the source of the strange weapons being used against the Ironclaw Clan. When found, remove or destroy any weapons and equipment that you can.
Bonus Reward: Scout the ruins for illicit research to be secured and/or destroyed on behalf of the Dimensional Security and Repair.
Bonus Reward 2: Potential for Disaster-class weapons present in location. If Traveler discovers one or more, they are requested to safely remove them from the world designated as ‘Cortha,’ without having to involve the Dimensional Security and Repair personnel.
Reward - 4000 SP
Bonus Reward 1 - Special Power Unlock
Bonus Reward 2 - To be Calculated
The secondary bonus was something that I’d seen before often enough, as the System itself seemed to have taken issue with the odd summoning research that the ancient humans here had been conducting. But the tertiary one was really rather concerning. I didn’t know what a ‘disaster class’ weapon was, and really had no idea what I could do to safely remove them from the world other than stuffing them into my Dimensional Pocket ability and hoping it was large enough to get whatever it was out of here.
But wouldn’t that just be moving the problem from one location to another? I thought grimly as Rieka’s fluffy blonde tail wiggled distractingly before she made a muffled sound of exultation at finding what she was looking for. The weapon would still exist, but would be back on Earth. Maybe the System will have something to deal with it, or maybe it’ll be something that is only dangerous to the locals.
Sighing, I did the only thing I could at the moment and that was push the idea off for Future-Me to deal with. I wasn’t supposed to involve any of the DSR personnel, so that meant that I couldn’t ask Cariad or Cerebaton what the hell the System meant by ‘disaster class’ or what to do with them.
<><><>
“Despite the slowdown this morning, I am rather amused to find that we beat the others to the assembly point,” Shayla murmured quietly as she walked easily along at my side.
“I’m not surprised we beat the other students out,” I answered with a shrug. “But what I am surprised about is that we beat the soldiers.”
“Oh, and Valda was not happy about that,” snickered Kassandra from my other side.
The dwarf lamia wound along the broken ground we were crossing like it was the tiled floor of a dance room, all sinuous grace and smiles.
“You are not wrong there,” Jane added with a bounce and a grin from her spot on the other side of Kassandra. “I thought she was going to flay the sergeants alive with her claws.”
“With a good reason,” Rieka answered from just in front of our group. “Her soldiers being late to the rally meant that it looked bad regardless, since I’m here as a representative of the crown and a close ally of the Ironclaw clan.”
My princess was leading our little group as we marched along at the heart of the combined force. Valda was currently at the head of the formation, talking with one of her scouts that she’d spotted coming out of the trees. The other ten Juneau students were scattered around our formation, many with summons of their own out to act as further guards, while the other half of Valda’s soldiers walked at the rear of the whole group.
“Yeah, but you wouldn’t judge her badly for that,” Kassandra said quickly, reaching forward to use her spell rod to poke Rieka in the butt gently, making the other woman jump and shoot her a playful scowl.
“I wouldn’t, but I consider Valda a close friend and ally,” Rieka answered honestly. “However, I would still have to report on it if their lateness caused an appreciable delay in the mission, given its importance.”
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“And the fact the other students were later than the soldiers balances it out,” I added on, getting a nod from Rieka.
“Valda might be taking on a bit more than she should right now,” Rieka admitted with a glance forward to where the lizard-folk woman was angling back toward our group with a grim expression. “She’s supposed to be in charge of the students here as an upper class from Juneau, but she’s also managing the garrison of soldiers. Normally not an issue, but there are a few hard-headed idiots from the school here that can cause problems.”
“Then it might be time to have our princess flex a bit of her political muscle, since it's mostly the noble-born students that are causing the problems,” Jane suggested, her long tail flicking back and forth above her head like it was drawing a question mark.
While the girls were talking, I was keeping a subtle eye on the other student-mages nearby. Only a few had caused problems, and most of them were very up-front people, but they were also all not-so-subtly listening in on the conversation. Their stiffening at Rieka’s next statement just made it even more obvious.
“Oh I guarantee that anyone who has caused problems is being documented, as will those who stand out in their service. I will be forwarding that information back to my mother and also to the dean at Juneau, as I was requested to.”
The emphasis that she put on the final part made me grin, not just because of the winces that I saw passing around to the students but also the subtle, proud puffing up of a few people.
Good, I thought to myself as Valda hurried towards us. It’s important that they know they’ll be held accountable and also rewarded for good work. That was one of the reasons I hated my old job so much, they only held you accountable for problems and didn’t bother rewarding successes.
“Princess Rieka,” Valda said in a firm tone that carried without being a shout. I knew immediately that something was up, since Valda only used Rieka’s title when there was ‘Official Business’ going on.
Rieka noticed it too. Her tail—which had been slowly swaying behind her in an idle wag—stiffened and fell still.
“Lady Valda, do you have something to report?” Rieka asked, mirroring her friend in the low but confident tone as Valda turned to fall in beside Rieka.
“Scouts found a small raiding camp further along the pass,” Valda said tersely. “They are staying in a space that looks to be a relatively well-established campsite, likely a way-station on their way to the fortified town.”
“Already?” Rieka asked, blinking in surprise at that. We had been moving along the mountain pass for less than half a day at this point.
“It’s likely the staging point for those preparing to raid us,” Valda answered with a grim expression.
“Can we bypass them? Should we?” Rieka asked, and I could tell that she had her ‘thinking face’ on from the way her right ear folded back flat on her head while the left matched it but not at the same deep angle, leaving her left wolf ear slightly pointed upwards like a raised finger.
“It’s likely we can bypass them, but it would require us to wait for the cover of night,” Valda answered easily enough, and from the edge of the frown I saw on her features, I knew it wasn’t her preferred choice. I also noticed that she didn’t directly answer Rieka’s second question.
My princess took another handful of seconds to consider it before tilting her head to look back at the others, specifically at me, thoughtfully. I didn’t chime in yet, knowing that Rieka was thinking hard.
My princess will ask for advice if she wants it, I thought, giving the woman in question a loving smile.
Rieka’s left ear twitched, bouncing upright before resuming its previous half-folded position. The edge of her lip curled up into a faint smile back at me before she returned her attention to Valda.
“How many are there?” Rieka asked smoothly and Valda gave her an approving nod at the question.
“The scout put them at around forty raiders, not enough to be a threat to the pass, but enough to cause problems. The campsite is clearly intended for a far larger force, too,” Valda answered with a thoughtful tilt of her head that sent her short hair swaying.
“I don’t want enemies at our back,” Rieka answered without hesitation. “But I also don’t want to risk our mission, either. This also is an opportunity to gather more information, if we can capture them alive.”
Valda’s expression remained dispassionate for several long moments and I began to wonder if she disagreed with Rieka’s thoughts. But after a handful of seconds, the lizard-folk woman’s lips turned up in a faint smile and she nodded.
“An astute analysis,” Valda said with a brief incline of her head. “I agree that leaving opponents at our back is a flawed strategy. We cannot risk leaving such threats in place, especially as we do not know what lies beyond them. The only question will be in how best to handle the enemy without allowing them to escape.”
“Oh I have an idea for that already,” Rieka said, her tail beginning to whip back and forth happily. “But first, I need to know if these tribes have any legends of odd creatures…”
<><><>
Of all the ways I thought I’d be fighting during this, I didn’t expect to spend part of it as a spider-man, and not the fun one who cracks jokes, I thought with a snort of amusement at my current form as I scampered through the brush.
Apparently, many of the plains tribes had legends about a massive spider who had human hands and a human head that supposedly lurked in the mountains. It was one of the reasons that the raiders only came this way for the season and didn’t build fortifications in the mountains on the other end of the pass.
When the girls had heard the idea, every single one of them had demanded that I not turn into the creature around them. Which, to be fair, was a reasonable request. Even with my odd lack of dysmorphia about my Shape-Shifting power, the whole thing still felt strange as fuck.
“Though having eight hands on the end of eight legs is fucking weird,” I mumbled, ducking low under a bush as I got closer to the camp.
The raiders weren’t exactly trying to be quiet, apparently confident that they were far enough away from the fortifications in the pass that they could be loud, or maybe they just didn’t care. Either way, I was able to approach to within about fifty feet of the clearing that held their campsite before I spotted the first sentry.
Rieka’s plan had called for me to distract the camp while the soldiers and students got into position so they could make a lightning strike and take out as many as possible. Which I was all for, since it meant that there was minimal risk to my girls. It was only Rieka’s request that would have gotten me to separate from them anyway, and Valda’s promise to personally stand guard over my contracted while I played the part of a distraction.
I skittered closer, making no attempts to hide now that I had eyes on one of the sentries.
The man was dressed like many of his fellow raiders, in simple clothes of hand-spun natural fibers and hides with a simple wooden bow at hand. He appeared to be dozing against his tree, with his hands folded over the top of the bow held low across his waist.
That lax attitude all changed when he spotted me and his eyes widened in surprise and fear.
To amp it up, I hissed at him, flexing Shape-Shifting to convert my vocal cords to a snake’s in order to put proper menace into the sound before leaping off the ground at him with all eight legs spread wide.
“Yash’Tani! Fuck!” screamed the sentry, slamming backwards into the tree as he tried to flee, only to then trip on a root sticking up from the clump at the base of the tree.
His shout was immediately picked up by others as two more sentries poked their heads around trees about a hundred yards in either direction and began swearing and shouting too. The man I’d targeted thrashed on the ground, trying to get himself turned around but I was already on him.
Valda had been able to give me the general information on the cryptid legends of the Yash’Tani, and I was going to play into it as much as possible to get the camp as freaked out as possible.
Using my forwardmost two legs, I yanked the bow and his knife out of the man’s belt while he thrashed and screamed. Tossing them aside, I snatched him by the ankles and rapidly scampered back into the bushes, dragging the screaming and panicking man along with me until we were out of sight.
The most fearsome part of the legends of the Yash’Tani that stood out to me was the fact that they would capture men and women alive, tie them up and then lay eggs on them so that their young would have fresh meat to eat when they hatched days later. The idea of being caught by a Yash’Tani was apparently utterly terrifying based on the screams of the man I was dragging behind me and the shouts from the camp.
“Shit! It got Torrence!”
“Thought they were a myth!”
“I know what I saw, damn it!”
“We have to go after it!”
Dropping this ‘Torrence’ once we were deep enough in the bushes to be out of sight, I punched the man in the jaw with one hand, intending on knocking him out.
Unfortunately, I misjudged my strength with the odd way that the spider body operated on hydraulic pressure inside the exoskeleton. My captive’s neck broke with a dry snap and I sighed.
“Fuck it,” I muttered before scampering silently to my right a dozen or more feet while using Manipulate Element to swallow the man up into the earth and hide the body.
The two other sentries arrived a moment later as more shouts came from the camp behind them and dozens of crashing sounds as more of the raiders moved into the bushes.
“Where is he? I know I saw that thing drag him in this thicket,” growled one of the men who was waving about a simple iron-headed spear.
“I don’t know—AAH!” said the second one, cutting off his sentence into a scream as I leaped out of hiding, catching him with the hands on one side to drag him into the bushes while his friend screamed in matching surprise and threw himself away.
Gotta keep them guessing, especially about how many of ‘us’ there are, I thought with a grin as I intentionally broke this one’s neck before stuffing him into the ground with a gesture.
Another gesture sent a rustling in the bushes around the last remaining sentry, as if four more of the monsters were nearby. Any bravado the man had fled him immediately and he raced screaming towards the approaching allies.
“Gods preserve us! There’s got to be a dozen or more of these things out here!” screeched the man. “They got Tomas as well! This mountain is cursed, I tell you!”
Grinning, I stalked after the man, my motions more fluid now as I was getting used to this new form I’d taken.
Not one I’ll be using often, I thought. Anything that disturbs my girls too much is right out the door, but this is good practice in using and manipulating things with multiple limbs…
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