The Mother of Monsters

Teyva, Azrael, Nephral, and Elat moved silently through the narrow alley between a pair of wooden homes. Nephral had settled onto Azrael’s shoulders and was currently looking more than a little unhappy. That expression was matched by Azrael who stared at the back of Teyva’s head as if she could set it on fire if she willed it hard enough. Elat, on the other hand, seemed to be more in a daze than anything else. When they came to a stop he cleared his throat and tried to get Teyva’s attention. She turned to look at him and he made a face. After all, it wasn’t her normal look that she was wearing right now.

Before Elat were two perfectly identical Azrael’s. Neither of them was distinguishable from the other besides what they wore. Even then, the traveling leathers and gambeson that Teyva wore were close enough to the Warden’s garb that it was hardly that far of a leap. More importantly, Teyva had taken one of the rusty iron swords from her inventory and strapped it onto her hip, completing the illusion that she was none other than Azrael Unabi. The real Azrael, to her credit, held a far stiffer and more resolute posture than Teyva who seemed a bit too relaxed and cheery in her Azrael costume.

“I just can’t wrap my head around it,” Elat murmured.

“I told you this was going to be too much for him,” Azrael hissed at Teyva.

“Well he’s going to have to get really cool with it real soon,” Teyva hissed back, “Same with you. It’s the only way out of this mess.”

“There has to be another way,” Azrael shot back, “How do you know that this will work? What’s telling you that you have a respawn now and not before? I just don’t understand how you do any of this,” her voice dropped low; “Besides, I can’t just stand by and let you-”

“Look! If this works we won’t even have to worry about that. That’s if things go sideways. As long as your boyfriend here does what he needs to do at the right time, then I won’t have to use my Respawn. Okay?” Teyva rasped, glancing over her shoulder to see a few of the mercenaries walking by. She rolled her shoulders. “Just, promise me you’ll stick to the plan. No heroics. One way or the other we meet at the Underfield Tomb, okay?”

Nephral shifted uncomfortably on Azrael’s shoulders; “Mother, why do we not simply rally the villagers and subjugate these men? I am certain with our advantage of numbers casualties would be minimal.”

“Because I don’t want any casualties, period,” She said, looking Azrael in the eye; “At least those I can avoid, and we don’t want the next group the humans send to attack first and ask questions later. This needs to end today, somehow.”

The feline’s ears wilted a little his tail going limp on Azrael’s arm. Despite everything, Azrael reached up and stroked the sphinx’s head. Her expression was stony but she said nothing. Elat’s eyes were fixed on Teyva, his own expression hard to read. She turned away from both of them, looking over at the Mercenaries who were about to get into line of sight. She waved her hand behind her; “Go! Follow along when they grab me, got it?”

“Fine,” Azrael spat and pulled away, just as Teyva stood up and rested her palm on the hilt of her sword. She raised her head high and narrowed her eyes, setting her jaw hard.

“Looking for someone gentlemen?” Teyva called, even as her heart rate shot up to the sky.

The two men froze and then looked at one another. One of them drew his weapon but the other held his hand up, “You the demon?”

“I am Azrael Unabi, Warden of the Azar people and messenger of King Thrake of the Azar,” Teyva announced trying to sound as dignified as possible. She tried to resist grinning, it sounded almost silly coming from her. The two men snorted and the first sheathed his weapon before walking over to her.

“Right right, come on then, you gonna own up to what you did?”

“I have a right to know what I have been accused of,” Teyva shot back.

“Justicar’ll explain it to ya,” The mercenary explained. “Now you gonna walk or we gonna have to make you walk?”

Teyva’s eye twitched but she nodded, “I’ll come peacefully.”

The two men lead her down the nigh-empty road leading toward the round-a-bout. There were still decorations up from the previous night’s festival. At the center near the privacy tent, there was about a dozen orcish folk standing in a semi-circle around a small figure that had to be Elder Yol. In front of the Elder was a man in heavy armor, probably full plate. A horse had been pulled to the side and a few men in lighter armor like the soldiers guiding her were standing at the ready. Teyva took a breath and pulled in her mana, silencing the majority of her scent. It was still exhausting to hold it for too long but at least it would help the deception.

The tense air seemed to radiate out toward Teyva as she approached and all eyes turned on her. Elder Yol was the first to peer in her direction his wizened eyes narrowing before they widened in surprise. He blinked a few times before glancing sidelong at his counterpart.

“Your Azar has shown herself of her own accord, Justicar Wale,” The elderly orc snapped; “Now will you kindly be done with your business and leave our home? We have enough trouble without your barging in without permission.”

The middle-aged Knight looked down at Yol and gave Teyva a good profile. He was indeed clad in plate armor and handsome for someone his age. His chin was straight and hard with a flattened nose and thick beard that had been plagued with greys. His black hair was pulled back and tight with a streak of grey in the temples. Scars covered his face marking him as a man who had experienced much in his life. He cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes; “I would remind you that the Balthin Green Sea is the territory of Count Otel and is, therefore, a dominion of the Kingdom of Katal.” She used her journal.

“That is up for debate young man,” Yol shot back, “But I am not interested in talking politics with you. Is she or is she not who you were looking for?”

The knight turned his head just as Teyva was brought close enough to spit at him. It was at that point that the two men who had been carefully escorting her grabbed her by the arms. She winced, turning to snap at one of them; “Excuse me? How dare you lay hands on a Warden of the Azar!”

“A warden, eh? You are well known for your swordsmanship, you and your kind,” Justicar Wale said, “Mage, is this her?”

The first hurdle. Teyva mentally crossed her fingers that Azrael and Elat had followed closely enough to fool the Mage’s magic.

“As are your kind known for their capacity for sense and decorum in a sea of stupidity, Justicar,” She said, her tone a warning growl. “Have your men unhand me this instant. I am a messenger of the King of the Azar. I was sent here to deliver a message of peace, I-”

A few of the men broke out laughing, one of the men holding her arm even went as far as to let go; “You jokin? Since when to demons ask for peace?”

Meanwhile, the mage approached. He was a younger-looking man with a clean face and wearing a mixture of armor and robes. His eyes were a bit sunken though as if he got very little sleep. He held up what looked like a traveling mug and Teyva felt her chest tighten. He held his hand over it and opened his eyes. “Yes, according to the tracking spell she is within the immediate vicinity. This is her.”

The Justicar nodded and turned to the other man holding her arms. “Release her.”

“What?” The mercenary blurted.

“You heard me, let go of her arm. She showed herself to you of her own free will, she can answer for her crimes in the same way,” The Justicar ground out.

“Explain that to me, what crimes do you believe I have committed?” Teyva shot at him.

“The deaths of several common men, men with families, who had been sent to greet you,” The Justicar explained; “We have been unable to even locate their bodies. What did you do with them?”

Teyva had a feeling something like this was coming but it was still hard to hear. She puffed up her chest and narrowed her eyes. Her expression became cold. She needed to keep up the act. She had no idea how much this guy knew about Azrael and she also need to buy just a little more time for Elat to get into position. She only hoped he would follow through with her request when the time came for it. The timing had to be perfect otherwise it wouldn’t work. “Excuse me?”

“You have been informed of your crimes, how do you plead, Azrael Unabi?” The Justicar barked.

“Offended, for one,” She couldn’t help herself, “Amused? Not guilty, obviously,” She stood up straight. “Those men had been sent to kill me on behalf of the Count. I’ve got evidence if you’d like to see it.”

It was a long shot, and from what Azrael had said about humans from Katal, they didn’t trust very many non-humans. It wasn’t likely at all that he would even consider looking at any evidence that she had. Would he even believe it was genuine? She resisted the urge to roll her jaw as he observed her in silence. Finally, he stepped forward and to her surprise extended his hand palm up; “Show me.”

Teyva blinked, “R-right,” She stammered, almost breaking character as she reached into her [Old Satchel]. She’d tied it to her hip to make it look like she was carrying a coin purse. She pulled the [Writ of the Huntsman] out and held it in front of her. He moved to take it but she pulled it from his grasp. “No offense, but I do not trust you not to destroy this the moment you take it. I have already had one of your lord’s attempt to assassinate me.”

“Slander!” One of the mercenaries shouted.

“Enough!” The Justicar leaned in and looked the document over, his expression growing dark. “Where did you find this?”

That was when Teyva made her mistake, “I defended myself,” Teyva said grimly and immediately regretted it. The man stood up straight in an instant. She pulled the document back and shoved it into her Satchel as his eyes bored down at her.

“So you confess?”

“I was not going to let them kill me! I have a right to defend myself!”

“You had a right to flee our territory, Katal law does not give you the right to kill our own!” The Justicar bellowed.

Teyva winced she almost stepped back but felt a pair of hands press against her shoulders. She kept her gaze on the Justicar even as a murmur began to rise among the Orcs. Azrael had helped them and a few of them were beginning to sound angry. Teyva shot Yol a look with warning behind it and the old man cleared his throat loudly. The angry villagers going immediately quiet. Wale was no fool though and saw the exchange. He looked between the two of them.

“You were harboring this criminal?” the Justicar demanded of Yol just as Teyva saw Elat settle on the roof of a building within her line of sight. Relieved, she got ready to give the signal when the Justicar raised himself to his full height; “Harboring a spy in Katali territory is a serious crime, Elder Yol.”

Teyva’s mind ground to a stop and she looked at the Justicar. Was this guy serious? Was he going to drag the villagers and the elder into this? “Now wait just one minute, we are not citizens of your kingdom you little-”

“Did you or did you not harbor this fugitive?” The Justicar demanded.

This was escalating way too fast. Teyva didn’t have time to think. She looked up and saw the confusion and hesitation on Elat’s face. Damn it Elat. She had planned on signaling him to shoot her with a hunting arrow to stun her until they could heal her. Azrael would hide her aura in the same instant making it look like she died. But when she saw the growing panic and anger in the eyes of the villagers present. The unbending sense of law and order that the justicar brought to the table. It all meant one thing. This situation was going to explode if she didn’t do something to diffuse it, and the plan from before would only make things worse. Either the old man had to do was lie, lie and say they had no idea she was present. Or she had to make the first move.

“We had no idea that-” The elder began, Teyva couldn’t let him go any further.

“You little shit!” She bellowed at the Elder, “It was you!” She bore her teeth and spat at the ground. The elder turned to her, bewildered; “You sold me out to these Katali bastards. I warned you didn’t I? What would happen?” She growled, reaching for her weapon.

The Elder’s eyes widened in confusion, he opened his mouth to speak just as the Justicar raised a hand; “Hold it right there!” He bellowed at Teyva. Teyva didn’t listen to him. There was no other way out of this situation. If she didn’t put herself at odds with the villagers, the Justicar would come after them too. She had to get them off the hook. “You two, stop her!”

Teyva pounced, tugging on the rusty blade.

A flurry of movement caught her from the side, she saw the Justicar draw his weapon, what looked like a club of some kind. Then a sharp pain followed.

Her world went black.