Valkyrie's Shadow

Winter's Crown: Act 4, Chapter 3

Winter's Crown: Act 4, Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Wings folded and tail tucked in, Ilyshn’ish lay on the floor of the Justice Dragon Dojo, head in an upright position. Her eyes were closed; breathing, steady. In short, she was doing nothing but sitting there.

Upon settling on a direction for her ‘training’, there was not much time until she needed to depart in the morning. She spent her entire shift flying back and forth, wondering about what sort of strength she would cultivate. On her next day off, she returned to Master Tian, and then…

What am I doing? I’m just sitting here, right? I’m definitely just sitting here. I don’t feel any stronger – I don’t think you can even get stronger just sitting around doing nothing. Actually, no – that’s technically how it works for Dragons…

“KAAAAATSU!”

A wooden plank smashed into the knuckles of her right foreclaw. It broke upon her scales, scattering splintered fragments across the floor. Her heart leapt into her throat.

“W-w-w-what was that for!” Ilyshn’ish snatched her claw back, “Are you trying to make me age prematurely? Wait – is that the secret? I don’t th–”

“Thoughts are clouding your meditation,” Master Tian told her. “You must empty your mind; control your breathing.”

“To what end?” Ilyshn’ish frowned, “Also, I should tell you that Frost Dragons can’t not think.”

“Is that so?” Master Tian raised an eyebrow, “Then what happens while you sleep?”

“We sort out our memories, review and analyze past experiences, update the list of slights against us…”

“You actively do that while you sleep?”

“Yes? What’s so strange about that?”

“Hmm…I wasn’t aware that Dragons did this.”

“All Dragons have a certain degree of awareness, even while sleeping. I suppose it is an extension of this trait for us Frost Dragons.”

Master Tian stroked his beard in contemplation, while Ilyshn’ish contemplated the fact that such a nice voice was wasted on a Human. She looked around the hall of the dojo idly: the floor had been repaired, but it was still absent of any other disciples. Surely those with an interest in unarmed combat would sense the strength of Master Tian and beg for his tutelage. That, or they knew that his instruction didn’t work and she was just wasting her time here.

“Since you’re so strong,” she said, “why is it that no one comes to learn from you? Especially in this Demihuman Quarter – most of the races here respect strength.”

“It has not been long since this dojo was built,” Master Tian replied, “but, since then, there’s been some interference from rodents of unusual size.”

“Rodents of unusual size?” She frowned.

“Indeed,” Master Tian nodded.

Ilyshn’ish’s scales rippled in squeamish discomfort as she tried to imagine what the old Human referred to. Did the city have such a problem? Would these giant rodents find a way to burrow under her scales? Maybe they would sneak into her mouth and gnaw away her tongue while she was sleeping, or slowly chew holes in her wings…

Her wings unfurled to shake off the imaginary rodents, sending currents of air swirling around the hall. Master Tian’s lapels fluttered, and he eyed a wall hanging as it swayed back and forth. The decoration had appeared some time while she was away, and it smelled no more valuable than the paper and paint that it was composed of. The artist wasn’t even very good – she was certain that she could do far better.

“Perhaps this is an opportunity for your training,” Master Tian mused.

“You want me to go out and bash rats?” Ilyshn’ish furrowed a brow, “I’m of the mind that Lady Shalltear won’t be very happy if she finds out that a Frost Dragon has chasing rodents up and down the alleys and causing all sorts of disturbances.”

“I believe that violence should only be used as a last resort, or reserved for those who persist in their reprehensible actions,” Master Tian told her. “Since you are a Bard, I believe you may be able to employ your skills in persuasion to arrive at an amicable resolution.”

He wanted her to negotiate with Vermin? What did it even have to do with training? How big were these things, anyway? The fearsome spectre of these horrible rodents who could trouble even Master Tian grew to a monstrous size. Did they even exist? She hadn’t seen anything of the sort throughout the century of her living in the Azerlisia Mountains, but recent memory did bring to mind at least one such creature that could sometimes be seen lurking in the shadows of the city’s central district…

A voice leaked thinly through the entrance of the Hall.

“Oh, it seems that one has appeared outside,” Master Tian said. “This timing is quite fortuitous.”

Ilyshn’ish looked down at Master Tian worriedly. He wanted her to do something about it now? She wasn’t ready to face such a powerful foe – she at least wanted time to study these creatures before confronting them. She focused her senses, but, as thin as they seemed, the walls of the hall still blocked out most of the details beyond.

The voice sounded from outside again. Its tone seemed very much one of challenge. She didn’t want to die yet...

“M-master Tian,” Ilyshn’ish shifted further away from the entrance, “this being sounds very much like he wants to fight. Didn’t you say we shouldn’t easily resort to violence?”

“I am sure that you will at least have the time to state our case,” Master Tian told her. “I would just like for them to stop loitering around on the street outside and chasing away prospective students.”

Ilyshn’ish stared down at Master Tian incredulously. Them? How many would she have to face? Given how quickly rodents tended to breed, maybe there were entire sections of the city swarming with them…she hadn’t had the opportunity to explore the underground portions of E-Rantel yet, so she was glad that this information came to her attention before it was too late.

The voice sounded again, full of confidence and belligerent intent. Master Tian looked on expectantly.

Suppressing a pitiful whimper, Ilyshn’ish turned and crept over towards the entrance. She carefully worked open a crack between the doors with a claw before sliding one side open. Information from the outside flooded her senses. There were about two dozen individuals of the different races in residence gathered around the nearby street. She didn’t detect any giant rodents resembling the one in the central district.

Was it concealing its presence somehow? Rodents were quite good at that. She carefully poked her head through the doorframe to see things directly. On the street, there was no sign of the giant rodent from the central district. There was, however, a Quagoa standing perfectly still straight out from the door. Come to think of it, the mole Demihumans were basically rodents, too.

Ilyshn’ish lunged forward, grabbing the Quagoa in her jaws. She withdrew into the hall again, quietly closing the door. As she returned to Master Tian, a warm sensation pooled in her mouth.

“Peh!” She spat him out in disgust, “Peh! Peh! Gross! Why did you do that? I wasn’t going to eat you.”

The Quagoa lay unresponsive in a soggy heap on the floor. She let out a small breath, then shook her head violently. Chunks of yellow ice rained over the floor. Ilyshn’ish wanted to scrape her tongue off on something – would one of the pillars work?

“Was this what you were referring to?” She asked Master Tian.

“Indeed,” he replied, looking down at the unconscious Quagoa. “However, I feel that negotiations have gone in an unintended direction from the outset.”

“Oh, this is perfectly harmless,” Ilyshn'ish reassured him, “generous, even. My father would go much farther in his negotiations with the Quagoa. We didn’t even collect any tribute from this one for the privilege of an audience.”

“…is there really such a need?”

“Of course,” she replied matter-of-factly. “Considering his manner of approach, he should be glad we didn’t kill several hundred of his kin to set them straight.”

“This may be how you conducted yourselves in the past,” Master Tian told her, “but there are laws in the Sorcerous Kingdom that prohibit such destructive conduct. Negotiations between citizens should be…just what are you doing?”

Master Tian frowned down to the floor in front of her. Ilyshn’ish followed the line of his gaze: the Quagoa had curled up into a ball, which she was absently batting back and forth between her claws.

“Oh, this?” She said lightly, “A habit, I suppose. They always curl up like this…it’s quite cathartic, I’ll admit. Would you like to try?”

“What I would like,” Master Tian said, “is for you to cease.”

Ilyshn’ish gave the Quagoa one last swat, and it rolled out in front of Master Tian. Her tail lazily swished back and forth as they waited for it to unfurl itself. Eventually, his head poked out, glistening nose and whiskers twitching.

“I-is it over?” He said warily, “Have I finally come to the land of Derey? I admit that I was never very brave, but it would be nice…”

His gaze turned up to Master Tian.

“Ah, the old Human is here too…well, he was old, after all. But why is he in Derey?”

The Quagoa continued scanning the hall, stopping at Ilyshn’ish’s nearest claw.

“This is not Derey,” he sighed.

“You’re not too bright, are you?” Ilyshn’ish said.

After a moment’s thought, she turned to Master Tian.

“This one should be taken advantage of. With little effort, we could smoothly take control of his entire clan.”

“That was not my intention,” Master Tian frowned up at her.

“But it does fulfil your objective along the way, yes?” She said, “You’ll get all sorts of other benefits on top of that.”

“Ending their attempts to interfere with the operation of this dojo is sufficient.”

“Then why not just get rid of them yourself?” Ilyshn’ish asked.

“His Majesty has left us with explicit instructions to not harm the citizens without just cause,” Master Tian answered.

Just cause? If that was the case, what constituted just cause? Lady Shalltear certainly didn’t hesitate to stab her with that horrible glaive within moments of their meeting. Maybe the Frost Dragons weren’t considered citizens if what Master Tian mentioned on the day they met meant anything. They weren’t citizens, or even people: just ‘Dragons’ – monsters to be exploited for labour and crafting materials. The world was truly an unfair place.

Ilyshn’ish believed that she understood Master Tian’s quandary. If the Quagoa knew that his hands were tied, they’d operate in a fashion where he couldn’t directly retaliate. It could be done so that it was perceived as weakness by the Demihuman residents, hobbling his local standing and harming the dojo’s reputation as a place to learn the ways of unarmed combat. If he called in the local security forces to disperse them, it would also be seen as weakness. Truly, he was caught in a bind.

This being the case, it made his rejection of her proposal even more puzzling. It didn’t appear to break any rules, so it was the perfect solution. She looked back down at the Quagoa, who was now sitting on the floor and combing his fur.

“You – Quagoa.”

The Quagoa kept grooming himself, so she knocked him over with a claw.

“Hiiieee!”

She examined his scant adornment while he flopped about in a panic.

“You’re Zu, are you not?”

“Y-yes mighty one,” he bowed his head several times. “This one is Zu Chiru, of the Zu Aygen Clan.”

The Zu Aygen Clan was a small and weak group amongst the Quagoa relative to the clans of Pu, who made up the majority of the race’s population in the Azerlisia range. She guessed their presence in E-Rantel meant that they had been tossed out after whatever happened in Feoh Berkana.

“If you join with us, Zu Chiru,” her imperious voice filled the hall, “we shall grant you control of half of your entire clan.”

“R-really?” Zu Chiru looked up at her with wide eyes.

Master Tian cleared his throat. Ilyshn’ish sighed. She was doing him a favour, yet all there was in return was his thankless admonition.

“Why did you come to interfere with this dojo?” Ilyshn’ish asked.

Zu Chiru looked back and forth between Ilyshn’ish and Master Tian. A low growl rose from Ilyshn’ish’s throat.

“F-for the prosperity of my clan!” He squeaked.

“How does making noise in front of this hall bring prosperity to your clan?”

“Because the sects compete for disciples,” he explained. “The Mountain Mole Sect must bring in disciples, or our clan will starve!”

Zu Chiru looked down, dry-washing his hands.

“The Azure Sky, Iron Fist Sect is too strong, so the only thing we can do is draw students away from here.” He looked to Master Tian, “Please – you are but one old Human, but we have many mouths to feed!”

“Hmm…”

Ilyshn’ish turned her attention to Master Tian. He wasn’t going to cave in to Zu Chiru’s weak mewlings, was he?

“I can’t imagine that you have any obligation to acquiesce to this pitiful request,” she prompted.

“I have no desire to bring any hardship to His Majesty’s subjects,” Master Tian replied, “but there appear to be quite a few misunderstandings here in the first place.”

Too soft! Master Tian was too easy to bend with heartfelt pleas. It was lucky for him that his strength afforded him leeway for such imprudent indulgences.

“First of all,” Master Tian went on, “this Azure Sky, Iron Fist Sect…are you perhaps referring to the orphanage?”

Ilyshn’ish had no idea what an ‘orphanage’ was – beyond it being a place to store loose whelps – and neither did Zu Chiru, it appeared. The Quagoa’s mouth worked around the strange word.

“I don’t know what that means, but it’s a place filled with young Humans. A dangerous Human female is the leader there…they say that she will not die, even if her head is taken!”

“That’s absurd,” Ilyshn’ish snorted. “What do you take Humans for, Adventurers?”

“I-it’s true!” Zu Chiru said, “But unlike Adventurers, who are said to not die even when they are killed, this Sect Leader continues to move when her head is torn right off! My clanmates have witnessed this: one night, a wolf Beastman snatched her head away, but the body chased the Beastman around the bowl until it was subdued and beaten with such force that the ground quaked after every blow!”

Ilyshn’ish’s jaw fell open in mute horror. That certainly was terrifying. What he mentioned about those Adventurers was also terrifying. It was no wonder that they were universally feared. Master Tian stepped forward.

“Perhaps a brief visit will address your concerns…”

Both Ilyshn’ish and Zu Chiru shook their heads in unison.

“W-we should stay as far away as possible from such a savage individual,” Ilyshn’ish said. “There’s absolutely no reason to take such risks.”

“They are mostly younglings,” Zu Chiru said, “but there are a great many there – some of them even larger than myself! They have gleaming eyes and large teeth…if things go badly, we will be overwhelmed and eaten!”

They looked at Master Tian with pleading expressions, but the old man was not dissuaded.

“Come, now,” Master Tian clapped his hands, then gestured towards the door, “let us be off – I’m sure no harm will befall you.”