The Mother of Monsters

Teyva, Azrael, and Elat crested their final hill just around noon the following day. Teyva came to a stop as they reached the zenith, stopping to catch her breath and take in the view. The city-state of Osan stretched out before her in all of its glory. A wide river valley with two powerful currents of water crisscrossing it at the center and forming a small lake, not that it was very visible given that an enormous fortress had been built overtop it. The city-fortress was massive, sprawling out in all directions with its outer walls forming a pentagonal pattern before rising up in six layers that were just a bit smaller than the last.

The dark stone keep was covered in openings where even from this distance Teyva could see people coming and going along outer walkways and streets. It made her think of an ant-hill. Stretching out beyond the outer walls were vast pockets of farmland pockmarked with homes made of wood and dark stone. Workers walked through fields thick with what looked like a gigantic version of the wildlands grain that they had been trudging through all this way. Large beasts of burden that looked remarkably like oxen went here and there, dragging wheeled carts between various buildings.

Teyva turned her gaze back to the city and traced its ziggurat-like body up to the peak where a single tower rose up to scrape the sky. From there one could probably see the whole of the Wildlands and at the very least spy an approaching army from a long way off. She marveled at the construction even as Azrael and Elat came to a stop next to her. Elat dropped his bag and stared in slack-jawed disbelief, Azrael gently nudging him to snap him out of his stupor.

“Never get tired of this view,” Azrael said, “Home.”

“It’s incredible,” Teyva murmured, “So many people living in one place.”

“Wait till you see the inside,” Azrael quipped, winking in her direction before reaching to grab Elat’s hand. She tugged him along and he had to dip to grab his bag again before stumbling after her. Teyva shook her head and laughed, glancing back at The Marble who was still ambling his way along, utterly oblivious to the wonder before them. Nephral yawned, curling his tail around Teyva’s neck and sleeping through the view. She sighed and reached into her pocket, thumbing Queenie once before heading down the hillside after her friends.

It took well over an hour to reach the edge of the fields and the road that lead to the city proper. The dirt road that the caravan had likely followed ended and dark-stone pavement and continued thereafter. Two more hours passed before they neared the city gates and in that time Azrael quickly explained that they would have to follow her lead when they arrived, just in case. Teyva certainly wasn’t looking for trouble and neither was Elat so they easily agreed. As they drew nearer, the full scope of the massive structure finally began to sink in for Teyva. It blotted out the sun, looming like a dark monolith. It was intimidating to say the least.

When they arrived at the gates they found a small line of wagons and individuals waiting for admittance. Ahead of them, a pair of massive black-metal gates was ajar just enough to allow the wagons through one at a time. Beyond those gates Teyva could barely make out a packed street continuing on into a dimly lit plaza. At the foot of the gates, a company of soldiers in gambeson and dark-iron armor examined luggage and cargo before allowing people inside. Folk stopped to stare up at Teyva and The Marble, whispering to one another as they waited in line. To Teyva's relief, no one approached them. By the time they had finally arrived at the front of the line, the light of day was just beginning to wane.

There was one guard at the front of the group holding a thin wooden board layered with parchment, in his hand was a simple-looking ink pen that was decorated with a tiny black feather. He froze when he saw them approach, his eyes first landing on The Marble before moving to Teyva. He took in her startling height first, then her horns, and her starry skin. He moved to Elat next before finally settling his eyes on Azrael and blinked.

“Lady Unabi?” He grunted.

Azrael’s face was terse and stoic as it usually was when she dealt with strangers. She clasped her arms behind her back and clicked her heels together. “Warden Unabi returning from her mission,” She said in a clipped tone before adding a bit more gently, “It’s good to see you, Captain Garnet.”

He stiffened a little himself and raised a fist to his chest before bowing, “And you as well, ma’am,” he paused and straightened his back before turning his gaze on the others. Behind him, his soldiers looked at one another uneasily, “And are these the people who were accompanying you?”

“Yes, I suppose you were told to expect us?” Azrael said.

“Yes ma’am, orders from the King to escort your party to the Pinnacle immediately upon your arrival,” he glanced in the direction of Teyva and The Marble, “I’ve also been ordered by Master Yftha to detain any unusual creatures at the gate I see until otherwise ordered by the King himself.”

Azrael’s nostrils flared and she bore down on the man with her gaze. He squared his shoulders even as his eyes shrank a little in his skull. Teyva stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder, “Easy Az, it’s fine, I get it. I’m pretty scary looking,” She said, “Besides, this guy’s just following orders. I’m sure you can work something out with your dad, right?”

Her friend remained staring at the guard for several seconds before she let out a breath and nodded, “Fine. I had wanted to show you into the city myself, though.”

“Don’t worry about it, you can give me the grand tour later,” Teyva shot Azrael a grin and pat her on the back. She opened her inventory and pulled out the writ from the Count. “Don’t forget this.”

Azrael took the writ from Teyva’s hand and nodded, “I’ll make sure you get an apology this time, my Lady,” Azrael said, putting her hand on the hilt of her weapon and offering Teyva a sincere bow. Garnet, the guard captain, swallowed at the interaction but kept his stance firm. The men behind him exchanged worried looks before Azrael slipped the writ into her own inventory. Elat stepped past Teyva and gave her an apologetic look. Teyva just shrugged and crossed her arms, leaning back against The Marble as they went.

When they disappeared through the gates Teyva reached up and casually picked at one of her horns before looking over at Captain Garnet, “So, what do you guys do for fun around here?”

It turned out that despite being ordered to treat Teyva like some sort of foreign creature, Garnet was a pretty alright fellow. In his middle years, a slightly thick-set man had dark, graying hair and a square jaw that seemed to be fairly common among the Azar. He carried himself professionally but was not a stranger to finding ways to entertain himself during slow hours. More to the point, he had no personal feelings one way or another towards Teyva, just his orders. He and his men were also very fond of stories.

"...so then while Azrael distracted the thing below, I climbed the wall with the help of one of my mimics. You should have seen how she moved around that thing, faster and faster till she was practically invisible!" Teyva exclaimed, drawing a gasp from the small crowd.

"That was when there was a flash of light and Azrael hit the ground. I didn’t see what had happened before, though, because I had just arrived on the root itself! That was when The Marble here came charging in! Bashing into the Bound One and giving Azrael time to get to safety,” She continued, patting the Marble who stood like a picture frame behind her. One of the creature’s eyes opened and studied the gathered group of travelers and guardsmen. A few gasped and stepped away but a few of them simply marveled at the creature.

There had been a lot of reactions like that. People staring. There were gestures referencing Teyva’s horns, for example. Some people whispered among themselves when she smiled or when they looked directly at her. One person had the gall to ask if she had some sort of skin condition. Teyva did her best to laugh most of them off, of course, she didn’t want to make a scene in front of Captain Garnet. The guards seemed to at the very least be less inclined to rudeness, probably because they’d seen all sorts come through the gates.

“So what happened after that?” One of the guardsmen asked, “Did you slay the Bound One?”

Teyva offered a wide but tactfully closed-mouthed smile and winked, “I’m standing here, now aren’t I?”

“Well, how’d you do it?” One of the travelers pressed.

“Well you see, the root was still up there, and…” She trailed off when Neprhal whispered her name and nodded at a pair of men in very crisp-looking uniforms who approached through the gates. Both of them wore hoods and metal masks that covered the upper half of their faces. Their uniforms looked like tunics of some kind, buttoned-down one side with a red-and-black color scheme. Teyva paused and looked their way as they approached her.

“Lady Teyva Akura?” One of the men addressed her.

“I’ve been called that, yes,” Teyva confirmed, “How can I help you guys?”

“You and your own have been summoned to the Pinnacle by His Royal Majesty, King Thrake. Please come with us,” The other said in clipped tones, his arms folding behind his back and his chest puffing out. She looked him over once with a raised eyebrow before glancing back at the gathered onlookers.

“Sorry, everyone! Looks like I have an important meeting to get to, huh?” She laughed. There were a few groans of disappointment but they otherwise stepped out of the way to let her pass. The two men turned on their heels and proceeded back through the gates. Teyva stopped briefly to give Garnet a wink; “Thank you for letting me do all that, Captain Garnet.”

“Pleasure was all ours, m’lady. Hope your stay is a bit better than your arrival,” He said, offering a quick salute before going back about his business, “Alright folks! Storytime is over! Get in line you! No cutting!”

Teyva offered herself a small smile before slipping in through the gates and skidding once more to a halt. The shadows of the doors themselves had blocked most of the view of the inside but just stepping through gave her a full view. She stood at the apex of a wide road that stretched as far as the eye could see. On either side, stores and homes had been physically built into the walls, windows displayed wares and people came and went from one place to another without a care in the world. The crowd was unlike anything she’d ever seen. There were races she didn’t even recognize. Humans, Azar, people that absolutely had to be elves, orcs, the city was a melting pot.

“Lady Akura?” One of the men called back to her.

She blinked, “Right! Sorry! One hell of a place you got here.”

To her annoyance, they remained remarkably silent through their swift march through the crowds. Very few people really looked in her direction despite how she towered over most of them, all of them focused on where they were going and what they were doing. Even The Marble barely got more than passing attention before folks realized she was being escorted by the men in uniform. In an odd way it reminded her of what it was like back on earth. She did her best to keep up while taking in the sights, noticing that some people were funneling into an archway with a huge staircase going up into the next level. When she turned in that direction she spotted the men were continuing their path forward. Confused, she continued to follow after them until they came to a stop at what looked like a tower within the building itself. The circular building jutting out of the wall.

“What’s this?” Teyva asked.

“A floor riser,” One of the men said, finally breaking their silence.

Did they mean an elevator? She made a face and followed the two of them into the single door at the base of the tower and found herself in a large room with a single circular plate of metal set at the center. There was a man in simple clothes sitting in a chair next to a small podium. The man looked up at the two guards one of whom made a hand gesture. The man nodded and began to touch little stones embedded in the podium. Teyva looked back at the men who briskly moved over to the metal plate. She sighed and hurried after them, the Marble having to flip onto his side in order to get through the door and scuttle up to the plate. The man in simple clothes stared gobsmacked at The Marble who righted himself as the platform began to rise.

It was an elevator! She practically beamed with excitement as they rose higher and higher, the two men exchanging looks at her strange enthusiasm.

“Most people are a bit more nervous on their first ride,” one commented.

“Are you kidding? This is fantastic! How does it work?” Teyva asked.

“I’m… not sure,” the other said, scratching the back of his neck. “I heard the Magi built it.”

“Man I can’t wait to meet them,” Teyva said with a sigh, “Real Mages.”

The two men exchanged looks again as they soared to the top and to their destination.