Valkyrie's Shadow

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 9, Chapter 9

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 9, Chapter 9

Chapter 9

1st Day, Middle Wind Month, 1 CE

“B-Beastman!” The man shrieked.

“Hiiiieeee!!!!” Zu Chiru shrieked back.

Ilyshn’ish unbent her Human frame and popped her head out of the cargo container. Both the Human Merchant and Zu Chiru were cowering on the ground. She frowned and came out to address the man.

“How rude,” she placed her hands on her hips. “Master Chiru is a Quagoa.”

“A Quagoa?” The Merchant peeked out from behind his raised arms, “Not a Beastman?”

“Does he look like a Beastman to you?” Ilyshn’ish pointed a finger at the Mole Beastman.

“Well, he is a lot shorter than a Beastman…”

“Zu Chiru is not short,” the Mole Beastman stood up and brushed himself off. “Zu Chiru is of fine stature for a Blue Quagoa.”

The Human Merchant picked himself up. He still looked a bit dubious, but he swallowed and mustered the courage to approach Zu Chiru’s stand.

“Thank you, wife,” Zu Chiru said. “The Humans here are far more panicky than the ones in the Empire.”

“W-wife?” The man froze.

“Is it so strange for a male in possession of good fortune to have a wife?” Zu Chiru asked.

“Erm, no,” the Human Merchant unfroze and pulled a notebook out from a belt pouch. “Th-that’s normal, I think.”

“Zu Chiru has many children on the way too,” the Quagoa Merchant put on a proud look.

The Human Merchant froze again. His brown eyes shifted back and forth between Ilyshn’ish and Zu Chiru.

“…con…congratulations?”

“Why thank you, good Human,” Zu Chiru’s toothy smile set the man back three paces. “Now, what can Zu Chiru do for you today?”

Ilyshn’ish returned to the container, sniffing at the contents within. Now on a fresh new trading tour, the Quagoa Merchant had resumed the pursuit of his ambitions. His ambitions had grown immeasurably, however, and what was originally a set of conventional wagons stocked with an assortment of goods was now five cargo containers filled with high-grade iron from the Azerlisia Mountains. Other containers were stocked with refined metals, steel tools and industrial appliances.

“I didn’t know Dragons had an appetite for iron ore.”

The voice came from directly behind her. In any other situation, Ilyshn’ish would have started at its suddenness, but Lady Zahradnik was a constant presence in the corner of her mind.

“We don’t,” Ilyshn’ish replied. “I’m just trying to figure out what it is exactly that makes this ‘high-grade’. I can sense it, but that sense doesn’t explain why it’s as valuable as it is.”

“According to Smith Kovalev, high-grade ores have fewer impurities, which results in fewer reagents being consumed in the refining process and thus generating less slag. That makes it cheaper, less time-consuming and less harmful to the environment to turn into steel.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Ilyshn’ish said. “What about these scrolls? I don’t think they’re spells…”

“Those are a mess waiting to happen. Honestly, I have no clue about the extent of the chaos they’ll cause.”

Ilyshn’ish backed away from the boxes of paper tubes. Lady Zahradnik made them seem far more dangerous than they appeared. Her mistress reached out to take Ilyshn’ish’s hand in hers.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“The barge was annoyingly slow,” Ilyshn’ish replied, “so I caught some fish along the way.”

“…”

“What?”

“That was poaching,” Lady Zahradnik told her.

“How was that poaching? I purposely left whoever’s domain this is to get those fish!”

“The territories along your route are all within the Draconic Kingdom’s borders, or they’re the territory of aquatic Demihuman tribes. It’s not illegal for the Sorcerous Kingdom’s citizens to raid and eat outsiders, but we’re trying to cultivate a good relationship with the Draconic Kingdom. Doing so includes respecting the treaties that they have with their neighbours.”

“Ugh, it’s not as if I can see any stupid treaty in the water! Life would be a lot simpler if Dragons ruled everything.”

“Well, now you know. Make sure you pay for the damages.”

Ilyshn’ish whimpered as she was dragged along. Why did everything have to cost money? Hopefully, she would be able to offer something worthless that they found valuable.

Back in front of the offloaded containers, Zu Chiru sat behind his stand on a tall wooden stool. The Human Merchant from before was examining one of the dangerous-sounding rolls of paper.

?Conceal yourself – I want to see how he does.?

Ilyshn’ish did as Lady Zahradnik instructed. They watched the interaction between the two Merchants from a few metres away.

“Has this contract been drawn in error?” The squinted at the page, “This is well below the prices that the Royal Court has been distributing oats for. I thought they were from the same place.”

“Zu Chiru does not know whether the goods are from the same place, but they are from the same market. Besides, what do you care if it is in error? It would be an error in your favour, yes?”

“Hmm…”

The Human Merchant rubbed his chin, bringing the parchment closer to his face as if he could discern some secret by doing so. Despite his show of scrutiny, his increased heart rate indicated his excitement over what he saw.

“What’s your price?”

“Forty platinum trade coins.”

“A five per cent markup, huh…fine, you got a deal. I’ll buy four more if you have them.”

Zu Chiru reached into the satchel slung over his shoulder, producing four more scrolls. The man examined each before pulling out his Merchant Guild account book.

“Will a paper transaction be fine?” He asked.

“Of course,” Zu Chiru said. “While you are here, Zu Chiru would also like to know whether you can obtain contracts for certain goods.”

“Certain goods?”

“Yes,” Zu Chiru’s nose went up and down and up again in an imitation of a Human nod, then placed a parchment on the table. “This is a list of what Zu Chiru seeks.”

“Wool’s no good,” the Merchant said. “Those damn Beastmen ate all of our livestock. I’ll have to see about the flax and cotton…what are you offering?”

The Quagoa recited his offers for each of the listed goods. When he was done, the Merchant looked around the empty section of the waterfront before leaning closer.

“Do you have any more of these grain contracts?”

“Zu Chiru has two hundred more.”

Ilyshn’ish frowned as the man’s pulse went wild. He wasn’t going to explode, was he?

“Two hun–! Alright, just hold onto those if you can. I’ll see what I can do about your list.”

The man pulled a stick of charcoal out of a pocket and took a minute to copy the list on the table, and then he quickly paced back toward the city. Ilyshn’ish looked at Lady Zahradnik: her mistress had a long frown on her face.

?What was that all about??

?It’s still too early for you.?

?Early? Don’t forget that I’m six times your age.?

Whenever Lady Zahradnik said that ‘it was too early’ for Ilyshn’ish, it meant that she thought that Ilyshn’ish would do something inappropriate with the knowledge. It seemed like something to do with Merchants, so she would just have to ask Lady Wagner whenever they next met.

A quiet sigh rose from Zu Chiru’s stand. Ilyshn’ish and Lady Zahradnik unconcealed themselves.

“I told you it would be better to bring your apprentices and new hires with you,” Ilyshn’ish said.

“But Zu Chiru wanted to see what it was like, first. They said it was a dangerous place. Human employees are fragile, and Zu Chiru is stronger than Zu Chiru’s apprentices.”

“How can it be dangerous?” Ilyshn’ish scoffed, “It’s a place filled with Humans.”

“This exclave is officially the Sorcerous Kingdom’s territory,” Lady Zahradnik said. “If you feel threatened, you can just summon security. What ‘new hires’ was Dame Verilyn referring to, by the way? You had Miss Gran and her acquaintances the last time.”

“Eight Humans,” Zu Chiru replied. “Six females and two males. Zu Chiru tested them in the E-Rantel main plaza to see how favourably other Humans reacted to them.”

Lady Zahradnik silently shook her head, but Ilyshn’ish couldn’t sense anything wrong with what Zu Chiru said. If it was one thing she had learned about her mistress, it was that her marketing skills beyond her optics as a Human Lord were as terrible as Master Tian’s.

“Why did you choose to come to the Draconic Kingdom?” Lady Zahradnik asked, “I heard that you had great success in the Empire.”

“Zu Chiru thinks there is greater opportunity in the Draconic Kingdom. Goods can be quickly transported in great quantities by ship, while the Empire still uses wagons drawn with horses. This water goes beyond, as well, yes? The potential for trade in the Empire is incomparable to this.”

“You sound like my friends,” Lady Zahradnik muttered.

Said friends were Merchants, so it made sense that they would sound like other Merchants. Zu Chiru slid off of his stool and waddled off to inspect his inventories. Ilyshn’ish turned her gaze up at the palace looming to the east.

“Is Master Tian here?” Ilyshn’ish asked, “That Tsuare woman was asking after him.”

“Lord Tian is in the northwest with the Queen and her court,” Lady Zahradnik answered. “He’s on official business, so I hope you didn’t say anything you weren’t supposed to.”

“I have no idea what I wasn’t supposed to say, but she only asked if I knew how he was doing. I told her what you told me: that he was very well received by the ladies of the court, the Queen was fond of him, and he was attending to her very closely.”

“I see. Well, shall we get going? You wanted to do a flyover of the Beastman country before going there by land, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. Thank you for agreeing to come with me, by the way.”

The hand holding hers squeezed lightly. Lady Zahradnik offered her a warm smile.

“I can’t promise that I’ll always be available, but I’ll be there for you whenever I can. I’d like to take a look, as well, so it’s not an entirely one-sided thing.”

Ilyshn’ish assumed her natural appearance and Lady Zahradnik helped her equip the saddle they had used in the Empire. After equipping the item during their time in the Empire, she was fairly certain that it had some sort of mobility and stamina-boosting enchantment.

“Any problem with how I put this thing on?”

“It’s a magic item, so I think it will adjust to me regardless…”

Her mistress mounted her and they took flight low over the water, skimming over the river for a kilometre before rising into the air. The landscape was entirely new to her, but she could see things resembling what one might see over the Katze River Valley. Everything was neatly arranged into vineyards, orchards, fields and copses, though they appeared to be behind the season.

“Where does this ‘Beastman country’ start, exactly?” Ilyshn’ish asked.

“It sort of sticks out in the northeast between the Draconic Kingdom and the Wyvern Rider territories. I’m not sure how large it is, but it’s probably bigger than any country that we know of based on what we’ve seen come out of it.”

“Oh good, that’s where I left Pinecone and Pebble.”

“I was half afraid you’d bring them to Oriculon with you. Zu Chiru looks different enough from a Beastman, but the felid Krkonoše would surely start a mass panic.”

“I hope that means assuming their appearance will be good enough for this Beastman Country.”

“It probably is. Florine spent a lot of time interviewing the Beastmen that we captured. Their relationship with the Draconic Kingdom aside, it’s not too far off from Re-Estize or the Empire in the sense that they’re all tribal societies. Social races seem to all develop the same way. By contrast, a Dragon or powerful Magical Beast just dominates their entire territory on their own and maybe allows mates to linger about.”

“Hmm…I suppose that might be true, but what about the Draconic Kingdom?”

“The Draconic Kingdom is a Human country. It has the same sorts of tribal structures, but they’ve gone a step beyond the countries in the north. You could say that the Empire is aiming for the degree of centralisation that the Draconic Kingdom has, but the Draconic Kingdom has achieved it without sacrificing what the Empire does.”

“But there is a Dragon here, yes? I can feel it. Her domain is so vast that I can only imagine that she’s at least twice as powerful as the Viridian Dragon Lord.”

“Well, she is styled the Black Scale Dragon Lord. Queen Oriculus is a descendant of the Brightness Dragon Lord – descended from a pairing between Dragon and Human. Since we’re heading northeast, we can stop by and meet her if you’d like.”

“Erm, no thank you.”

“Why not? She’s a nice person.”

“It’s just instinct. I’m currently intruding upon her domain and the last thing I want to do is appear in front of her.”

“…if you insist. With the way things are going, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of opportunities to meet.”

Ilyshn’ish blinked one set of eyelids, and then another, looking back at Lady Zahradnik before focusing her attention on the landscape again. She in no way wanted to be exposed to plenty of opportunities to be swatted out of existence.

A bit over an hour later, they crossed over the foothills along the northeastern border of the Draconic Kingdom. The cultivated lands abruptly gave way to a dense jungle that crept up ranges of low mountains. A light drizzle slicked her scales and mist filled the shadowed valleys below.

“How are you going to find them?” Lady Zahradnik asked.

“I told them to wait for me on the first row of peaks overlooking the coastal plain,” Ilyshn’ish answered. “When you fly as fast as I do, it doesn’t take long to cover that area.”

“Didn’t you come into the Deadmarch on Ruin’s Wake last night? I’m not sure if they’d be there so quickly…”

“They’ll be there. Those fellows are very fast as far as terrestrial creatures are concerned. They can cross well over a hundred kilometres of mountainous terrain in a day.”

“…really? They trickled into Warden’s Vale over months. I thought they’d be much slower than that.”

“Well, it’s not as if they have to always move that quickly. Plus, the little piece of murderous fluff that’s with them can cast flight magic.”

“I don’t understand why you see them like that. They’re so cute.”

“If you were lit on fire and chased by a swarm of them trying to kill you with lightning bolts, you’d probably change your mind.”

She eventually spotted her travelling companions just below a mountain peak above a Human structure that Lady Zahradnik called ‘Highfort’. After circling the peak three times to make sure there wasn’t anything nasty waiting for her, she alighted on a crag above the overhang that the Krkonoše sheltered under. Lady Zahradnik dismounted and hopped down to greet them. Ilyshn’ish assumed her Krkonoše appearance before following. The two felid Krkonoše looked up from the remains of a goat.

“My apologies for interrupting your evening meal,” Lady Zahradnik said.

The image of an alpine vale bathed in warm sunlight filled her mind. With the light tapping of cloven hooves, the Krkonoše Druid stepped forward. On all fours, it stood no higher than Lady Zahradnik’s knee.

“Ahem. Will this speech suffice for our destination?”

“The known denizens of the jungles to the east communicate in this manner,” Lady Zahradnik replied, “so it should work out fine. I am both surprised and thankful that you offered to accompany Dame Verilyn.”

“The Seeker of Song’s request is aligned with my interests.”

“The Seeker of Song?”

“It is who she is. Like you. The Warden of the Vale. The Seeker of Song.”

Lady Zahradnik looked at Ilyshn’ish.

“It’s not wrong,” Ilyshn’ish shrugged. “As far as others are concerned, it is the more relevant name. I was thinking of using it as an alias in the Beastman country.”

“I’m not sure if that will translate very well,” Lady Zahradnik said. “Those names are more like epithets, or titles, which can attract unwanted attention. If you’re travelling abroad, you should use a name that’s been entrenched as one in its own right – and thus won’t translate into its literal meaning – or use something that can be commonly recognised as a name.”

She had a point. People’s names usually had a meaning behind them, but that meaning was rarely conveyed directly. To those of one race, names employed by another race usually came out as a set of sounds, gestures or visible patterns that those other races could make.

“I think it would be for the best if we went with the latter,” Ilyshn’ish said. “Having common names will attract less attention. At most, they’ll be perceived as quaint. I’d like to avoid any trouble, if possible.”

According to Lady Zahradnik, the Beastmen they were going to be dealing with were not too different from any other tribal society. That meant things that attracted attention also brought trouble. A complex name might be seen as pretentious and invite reprisal or mark one as a challenging target.

“Then…is Pinecone acceptable?”

“What about Pebble?”

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them,” Lady Zahradnik said. “Names are pretty simple things.”

“Don’t Human Nobles have four names?” Ilyshn’ish said.

“I don’t have four names,” Lady Zahradnik replied. “That’s just a northerner thing. Nobles from Roble and the Draconic Kingdom don’t have multiple names, either.”

“This one requires a name,” the Krkonoše Druid bleated.

“I figured that we could just pass you off as food,” Ilyshn’ish said.

Lady Zahradnik frowned at her.

“No one’s going to want to come with you on your assignments if they find out your travelling companions get eaten,” she told Ilyshn’ish, then looked down at the Krkonoše Druid. “What sort of name would you like?”

“Names like theirs,” the violent ball of fluff gestured at the two Krkonoše Rangers.

“In that case,” Lady Zahradnik said, “who are you?”

A bleat came in response. A myriad of images and sensations entered Ilyshn’ish’s awareness. Central to them was a river roaring down a mountain valley, its waters churned white with the violence of its course.

“Vltava,” Lady Zahradnik said. “Wild Water.”

“This is acceptable,” Vltava flicked his ear. “Thank you, Warden.”

Lady Zahradnik smiled and reached down to stroke Vltava’s woollen coat. Ilyshn’ish peered suspiciously at the interaction. People usually didn’t go around petting other people like that.

?Jealous??

?What? No!?

?Your tail is pretty floofy as well. Can I touch it??

Ilyshn’ish backed away. She returned to her natural appearance. Interactions as another race always led to all sorts of funny feelings, and she didn’t want to know what would happen if Lady Zahradnik got a hold of her tail.

“We should get going,” Lady Zahradnik said. “I have no idea how large this country is, so we may have a long flight ahead of us.”

“We will rest and wait here for you,” Vltava bleated.

They took off from the craggy peak, circling high above the canyon where Highfort was situated. Lady Zahradnik leaned forward to look over Ilyshn’ish’s left shoulder.

“I can’t see anything. It’s all mist-filled valleys.”

“I can see everything just fine.”

“But I wanted to take a look as well,” Lady Zahradnik said. “I wonder if there’s a magic item that allows one to see through weather effects. The rainy season that they have here is going to hamper our reconnaissance.”

“The terrain is new to me, but it’s not anything special. Just mountains and jungle and rivers.”

“Do you see any Beastmen in the vicinity of Highfort? Any settlements?”

“I haven’t noticed any Beastmen yet. There are a few settlements along the river.”

“Do they compare to anything you’ve seen?”

“Hmm…wooden buildings. Hide coverings for doors and windows are extensively employed. Huts that use bricks of mud, I think? How do those not wash away in this rain?”

“Some of the Demihuman tribes in the Sorcerous Kingdom use those construction techniques. The mud is reinforced by plant matter and protected by some sort of coating. Do you see any stone structures?”

“Do excavated cliffs count?”

“Maybe. I was wondering about any fortifications they might have.”

“Are you going to attack them?”

“Not here,” Lady Zahradnik said, “but since they’ve moved into the Draconic Kingdom, they may resort to the same methods there. How they defend the occupied towns and cities may also be tied to how they employ their defences at home.”

“You’re overcomplicating things,” Ilyshn’ish told her. “If the Beastmen stand their ground, just crush them with your strongest forces.”

“I can’t assume that the Sorcerous Kingdom’s forces will always enjoy an overwhelming advantage in raw power. It’s not healthy for the Undead forces’ development, either.”

“I had no idea that Undead had health concerns.”

“I’m referring to their mental health. Fostering the wrong attitudes and thinking will be detrimental in the long run.”

They crossed over the mountains and into another set of valleys that ran parallel to one another. The rivers flowing through them joined at the two valleys’ southwestern ends. Another of the fortresses along the Draconic Kingdom’s border stood over the confluence, which Lady Zahradnik said was ‘Orsfort’. Fortresses were built at every jungle valley exit, each one of them absent of any Human activity.

“I don’t understand what these Humans are doing,” Ilyshn’ish said. “Do those fortifications have any effect?”

“The effect is limited,” Lady Zahradnik replied. “Castles and fortresses are useful against armies that rely on proper logistics, as they serve as a base from which defenders can sortie and raid supply lines. Before the invasion, the Beastmen came here to hunt, so the fortresses instead acted as bases linking patrol routes. They may have also attracted the more powerful warrior Beastmen looking for a challenge, which would have greatly mitigated the damage done to the civilian population.”

“These Humans seem well-adapted to their situation.”

“People mostly give me funny looks whenever I say that. I’m sure the Draconic Kingdom will be reaping the hard-earned progress that they’ve made after we’ve secured their borders.”

Their flight eventually brought them to the end of the series of fortresses along the Draconic Kingdom’s border. A jungle plateau roughly a hundred kilometres across stretched out below them.

“This looks like a safe place for you to enter from the north,” Lady Zahradnik said. “Those territories between Highfort and here might be aware of the Undead patrolling the border, so it would be suspicious if you inexplicably showed up there.”

“Do you think so? What’s to the north of this plateau?”

“More mountain plateau. The Wyvern Rider Tribes are out there somewhere, as well, but their territory follows a river northeast. Hmm…turn north – we should see what the furthest extent of this Beastman country is.”

Ilyshn’ish banked north, following the plateau as it slowly grew arid. Eventually, the clouds shrouding the landscape dissipated. Lady Zahradnik leaned forward to eye the features below.

“I think I see some settlements,” she said, “but I can’t tell what’s living in them.”

“Felid Beastmen with tan-coloured fur.”

“Do any of them have manes?”

“No.”

“Then those should be the Con.”

“What are they like?”

“They’re the smallest of the felid Beastmen that we’ve been fighting. What they lack in raw power, however, they make up for in long-range endurance. As for their personalities, it’s hard to tell what they’re like normally since we’ve presented them with a fearsome, unrelenting enemy that can’t be negotiated with.”

After flying north for an hour, the landscape around them changed. On the northwestern horizon was a valley filled with towering limestone pillars. To the northeast was a large lake. In the east, the mountains started rising above the treeline.

“Those pillars should be the territory of the Wyvern Rider Tribes,” Lady Zahradnik said. “I didn’t know that their lands were so expansive. Do you see anything around that lake?”

“Nothing substantial enough to stand out from this far,” Ilyshn’ish said. “It’s another hundred kilometres to that lake – would you like to take a look?”

“What does it look like between here and there?”

“There are still Con tribes below us, but they’re thinning out. These conditions are likely poorer hunting grounds. Oh, wait…”

A sense of danger fell over her and she swerved eastward.

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone’s domain,” Ilyshn’ish replied. “Going by the swampy terrain past these mountains, it’s a Black Dragon. We’re flying at a low altitude, so it’s probably better not to intrude.”

“I’ll have to make a note of that,” Lady Zahradnik said. “Maybe the Wyvern Rider Tribes know something about it.”

The mountains to the east grew higher, and, eventually, Ilyshn’ish started to see snow and ice on their northern slopes. Beyond, the ranges only grew taller and more massive, crowned by fields of ice with glaciers flowing down every alpine valley.

“These look much larger than the Azerlisia Mountains…”

“They are,” Ilyshn’ish agreed. “I don’t sense any Frost Dragon domains, though…which is unsettling.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, this is undeniably a nice place to claim as territory. Hundreds of my siblings stayed faithful to their nature and fled from my father’s tyranny, so some of them should have come this way looking for a new home. Even if they weren’t part of my father’s broods, Frost Dragons should have come to settle from elsewhere. If they’re not here, it should mean that some other powerful things reside here that keep us out.”

“Are the Beastmen here?”

Ilyshn’ish examined the terrain below.

“I see all sorts of Demihumans, but none of the Beastmen races that we’ve passed over so far. We’re on the northern slopes of this mountain range, so it’s an entirely different drainage basin.”

“You’re right,” Lady Zahradnik said. “We shouldn’t be far from the territories of the City State Alliance. Let’s cross back over to the southern slopes.”

They flew over the snow-capped ranges to the other side, which revealed a jungle landscape that stretched to the horizon. Lady Zahradnik released a sigh.

“This looks endless. I’m guessing we have Beastmen below us now.”

“It’s mostly those ‘Con’ you mentioned. Their settlements started appearing again on the lower slopes of these mountain valleys.”

“Hmm…is that infrastructure? I see unpaved roads and bridges, I think.”

“I see them,” Ilyshn’ish said. “Ships in the river below us, as well. Ooh, they have Nuk. I haven’t had one for a long time.”

“They call them ‘Nug’. It’s some subspecies of Nuk that they raise in the jungle.”

“Speaking of which, I was thinking of bringing some Nuk to my territory. What do you think?”

“It should be fine,” Lady Zahradnik said. “You don’t even have to bring them from the Azerlisia Mountains: there are herds of them in the Southern Border Ranges north of the Abelion Wilderness, so they may have migrated over on their own, anyway.”

“I hope Hejinmal doesn’t realise that. He likes his Nuk just a bit too much. Ah, there’s a city.”

“Where?”

“Off my right wing. Oh, the clouds are back.”

Ilyshn’ish descended to a lower elevation, dropping just below the rainy ceiling over the jungle. The city was markedly distinct from Human ones, and she only identified it as one due to its size.

“I can’t even estimate how many people live there,” Lady Zahradnik said. “The architecture is foreign to me. Well, I suppose that’s why Lady Shalltear is sending you out here.”

“About that…since the Sorcerous Kingdom is supposed to be friendly with the Draconic Kingdom, will the transportation network even be able to expand here?”

“Probably not at this moment. Even so, what you learn may be invaluable elsewhere. This Beastman country may have things we know nothing about or trade with unknown countries on their other borders.”

She circled over the city several times in the darkness, trying to make sense of what she could through the gaps in the canopy. From what she saw, the city was populated by Con. A mix of the dwellings she saw from before as well as those that took advantage of the trees filled the urban jungle.

“Let’s head back up,” Lady Zahradnik said. “Try and see if you can find the Oriculon. It should be the largest river in this basin.”

They went back above the clouds and Ilyshn’ish followed the river that ran past the city. An hour later, they flew over another city on the banks of a huge river.

“We should be above it right now,” Ilyshn’ish said. “The rivers south of here are flowing into this one.”

“What else do you see?” Lady Zahradnik asked.

“There are five cities within a hundred kilometres of where we are. All of them are larger than the one we flew over earlier.”

“Just how huge is this place?” Lady Zahradnik muttered, “Do you see any especially large cities down there?”

“There are two large ones and three smaller ones. Where should we go?”

“What does river traffic look like?”

“It’s busy going both ways. There are hundreds of ships down there.”

“I wonder if this country will even feel anything when we push them out of the Draconic Kingdom. The sheer scale of this place is absurd.”

Their flight so far had covered over twice the breadth of the Baharuth Empire. Ilyshn’ish wondered how long her assignment would take.

“Follow the Oriculon upriver,” Lady Zahradnik said. “Let’s see if we can locate anything like a capital.”

Ilyshn’ish winged her way east, cutting over the meandering course of the mighty river. They flew over two more cities before a particularly huge one on the shores of a fifty-kilometre-long lake came into view.

“There’s an even bigger city coming up,” she said.

“How big?”

“Uh…two hundred square kilometres, about? It’s mostly on the shore and creeps up the mountain valleys.”

“…that’s fifty times the land area of Arwintar. Is it safe to get closer?”

“I think so. They have fortresses of some sort atop the hills overlooking the city, but I don’t see anything particularly dangerous.”

Below the clouds, it was pouring rain. Sparse fires lit a few of the areas below, drawing their attention to several colossal trees…or at least the remains of them. Ilyshn’ish glanced behind her as a sense of fury seeped through the bond with her mistress. Lady Zahradnik rarely grew angry, and this was the most anger that Ilyshn’ish had ever felt from her.

“I’ve never even heard of trees so big,” Lady Zahradnik said. “Did they cut them down somehow? It looks like they’re gathering in them for some event.”

“Two of them look like open-air markets,” Ilyshn’ish said. “There are…temples? Maybe theatres. They’re singing or performing or something. The rest have Beastmen watching ones in the middle fight.”

“You mean like the arena in Arwintar?”

“I guess? There aren’t any Humans in these ones.”

“Oh, speaking of which, do you see any new races down there?”

“I haven’t seen any yet. I’ll let you know if I do.”

In the end, she couldn’t spot any other races. Once Lady Zahradnik was satisfied with what she saw, they regained altitude and she looked toward the eastern horizon.

“It should be dawn in a few hours,” she said. “We should get back. There was something I wanted to see in the Draconic Kingdom’s southern provinces, as well.”

“You don’t want to see the rest of the country?”

“I do,” Lady Zahradnik said, “but I have other commitments. What we’ve seen should be good enough for the time being. It’s abundantly clear that the Draconic Kingdom’s foe is far more colossal than any of us ever imagined.”