The Mother of Monsters

Teyva swayed a little in her seat, licking her lips and staring at the third glass of Pocal she’d imbibed since the first. The black liquid slowly slid down the inner wall of the glass, pooling in a small layer at the bottom. Her eyes flicked up towards Argus who was well on his way through his sixth drink and had stopped to admire Teyva’s latest conquest. Tiisha was enjoying some kind of wine and did not have a single hair out of place while Barin had already dozed off in his chair. To her right, Yaga was downing yet another lime green beverage and scowled in Teyva’s direction. She set it down and squinted at Teyva.

“Look at you, drunk already?” She scoffed, her words slurring together.

“I don’t want to hear that from you, bitch,” Teyva snapped back, picking up her glass and tipping the last residual drop of Pocal down her throat. She swayed and almost missed the table when she set her glass back down.

Argus chose that time to chime in, grinning ear to ear, “So what’s up with this guy that Azrael brought back, the orc?”

Tiisha leaned in as well, “Oh, now there’s a topic I’m interested in. Come now Teyva, our darling Azrael has never taken an interest in anyone. Now she’s dragging that handsome sod around?

Teyva frowned and looked between the two of them, momentarily distracted from her spat with Yaga. Even Yaga had fallen silent, her eyes on Teyva. Teyva chuckled a little and leaned back in her seat. “So that’s a bit of a story, yeah?”

“I’m listening,” Yaga grunted, sipping at her drink.

Teyva shot her a glare and crossed her arms over her waist, “So Azrael and I had just escaped the Balthin wolf pack, yeah? And we stumbled upon this humongous clearing of shorn trees. She figured there had to be a settlement nearby so we followed a trail out of there and ended up at this orcish village,” Teyva snorted and shook her head, “She took one look at Elat and that was it. I teased her about it for a while, of course, she’s fun to mess with.”

Teyva stared at her empty glass for a moment, her vision swimming a bit before snapping back to normal. “We spent a night there before going to deal with,” she hiccuped, “That’s another story, but yeah we did some stuff for the settlement and cleared out the corruption in the Balthin Sea, no big. Came back and they threw a party, Azrael got wasted and next thing I know I’m waking up in the room we’re staying in and she’s nowhere to be seen. Girl said it herself, she’s an Azari woman and she takes what she wants.”

Argus and Tiisha went silent for a moment and glanced over at Yaga who was suddenly very interested in what she was drinking. Teyva blinked, “What, did I say something strange?”

“I don’t even know where to start,” Tiisha said, “We’ve never seen that side of Azrael.”

“Though I do know where that saying comes from,” Argus chuckled, tipping his glass to Yaga.

Teyva’s eyes widened, “She got that from you?”

“Of all the damn things to remember from my lessons,” Yaga grunted, she set her glass down and to Teyva’s surprise she smiled. “That’s my girl.”

Teyva thought back to the tireless needling that she and her friend had experienced. She looked at the Four, all of them with widely varying personalities and clearly unusual backgrounds. Each of them had put a little of themselves into Azrael, now that she thought of it. Even Yaga. She felt a smile creep across her face as she stared at Yaga. Yaga stared back, confused, “What? What do you want?”

“She gets it from you!” Teyva laughed, “The tough girl act! I figured it was from her dad but now that I think about it you two are so much alike,” Teyva rambled, “That’s crazy!”

“You trying to say something, Akura?” Yaga snapped, swaying a bit herself.

“I’m saying you’re all soft and squishy on the inside, aren’t you? Just an overprotective mother figure,” She said only for Tiisha to titter out a laugh and Argus to look away strategically, “I knew it. I knew it!”

“You want to take this outside, devil woman?” Yaga demanded, pushing her drink out of the way and getting to her feet.

Teyva joined her, swaying a little but managing to stand upright, “Know what? Yeah, I do, let’s settle this damn thing already,” Nephral, who had been enjoying the show was now on high alert. He stood up and tried to call out to his mother but she held out a hand to him. “Stay here, Neph,” She mumbled and took off her satchel, “Watch the babies for me. Mommy will be right back.”

Tiisha moved to interject but Argus put up a hand, “Don’t try to stop them. They need this. They’ll come back bloody but it’ll be over.”

Tiisha sat back down and watched Teyva and Yaga stumble off toward one of the rear doors. Teyva could practically feel her own breathing, her head spun and her eyes hurt but she felt amazing at the same time. She staggered out into what looked like a back alley and spat on the ground, turning around to look for Yaga. She spotted the end of the alley and the intersecting street beyond. She turned the other way and was greeted with a fist to the face. Teyva felt pain jolt through her face before fading into the numbness of alcohol. She swayed, staggering backward in time for another fist to come hurtling towards her. Teyva raised her hand to catch it, gripping Yaga’s hand with all her might.

Yaga grunted and pulled her hand away, “Good grip, but can you keep up?”

Teyva pulled back and threw her own punch, catching the drunken Yaga across the chin. The woman spun, her whole body falling to the ground as the blow knocked her clean off her feet. She looked up and wiped her lip, barely a scratch despite the force of the blow. “What was that?” She demanded.

“Titan blooded,” Teyva grunted, “The Lydan had an aspect stone.”

“So you can throw a punch!” Yaga laughed, “Great! Let’s see you take another!”

They wailed on each other, punches flying back and forth as the injuries began to pile up. Soon Teyva was nursing a broken nose and a cut lip, she had at least one bruised rib and both sets of knuckles were bleeding. She coughed and spat, the adrenaline pushing away the sense of delirium that came with the drink. Yaga scowled at her, her wounds were less serious but she still had more than one bloody cut on her. Teyva frowned, this woman could take a hit like no one else she knew. She wanted to pull out her journal and have a look at her level but figured pulling out a magic journal in the middle of a fight was a good way to get thrashed.

“You are one tough bitch, you know that?” Teyva ground out.

“I was about to say the same thing,” Yaga snarled.

“Look, I’m done with this. I don’t have a problem with you. I don’t. I don’t want to hurt my friend anymore. If working shit out with you will make her happy, then let’s just put this damn thing to bed. I’m not your enemy,” Teyva panted, stumbling her way towards the door that lead back into the bar. She felt a hand press against her back and spun just in time to get shoved into the wall.

“Yeah? Well, I’m not done!” Yaga snapped.

---

Teyva woke the next morning in a great deal of pain. Every inch of her body hurt from her head to her toes. Not to mention the hangover that threatened to melt her grey matter into nothing. She groaned, rolled onto her side, and nearly fell out of the bed. She forced herself to sit up straight, rubbing her temples as pain throbbed through them. She could barely remember anything that had happened the previous evening. She rubbed her eyes and tried to force the images to the surface, pulling her sheets up around her body. It was cold. She looked down at herself and it all came racing back to her. She sighed and made an unladylike whining sound.

“Why did we do that?” She asked the person she knew was in the bed besidebehind her.

“I will ask myself the same question every day for the rest of my life,” Yaga groaned, “You hit like a morrkin.”

“The hell is a morrkin?” Teyva demanded.

“Big ape, hairy, likes to punch things,” Yaga managed through her own hangover.

“Wait I’m not even talking about the fight! I’m talking about why-” Teyva shot, turning to face the woman and immediately regretting it. Yaga was covered in scars across her body. They were amazing to look at. Teyva gawked for a few seconds before clearing her throat and looking away. “Right, that’s why.”

“Regretting our peace treaty already?” Yaga chuckled.

Teyva barked out a laugh and then sighed, “Can we please, please, try to get along after this?”

Yaga sighed, “I shouldn’t have attacked you the way I did back at the camp,” She shifted a bit on the bed and Teyva looked back at her. She’d pulled her legs up to her chest and was staring into space. “Azrael’s dear to me, I watched her grow up.”

“I get it,” Teyva said. “I do, and thank you,” A proper apology was good enough for her at this point. They’d slugged it out and not to even mention what had followed. She rubbed her face and groaned, “The others, we left them at the Bar. Nephral and my Mockeries too.”

“What’s a mockery?” Yaga asked, getting to her feet and picking her clothes up off the ground.

“I’ll introduce you once I figure out what happened with them,” Teyva said. “I swear I’ll never get that drunk again.”

“Lies,” Yaga laughed, “You drank enough to impress Argus. He’s going to be inviting you along every time we meet from now on.”

“Great,” Teyva muttered, “And what about this?”

“What about what?” Yaga said, slipping her boots on.

“I feel like I just slept with my best friend’s mother,” Teyva groaned, “Forgive me if I’m a bit lost.”

Yaga stood up straight, adjusting her tunic and patting herself down. There was a little blood on it here and there but otherwise, she looked absolutely untouched by the events of the previous night save for a single dark mark on her neck. It looked almost like frostbite. Teyva shuddered at the implication and forced herself to stand and get dressed. Yaga took it as her opportunity to speak.

“You’re in Osan now, we see things differently from the humans,” She pointed out, “Azar women-”

“Take what or who they want, as long as they aren’t stealing, what does it matter?” Teyva finished.

Yaga frowned but nodded, “Precisely.”

Teyva finished getting dressed and turned to face Yaga, there was still a little lingering tension but she was beginning to wonder if it had turned into something else. All that hate had uncoiled completely in her stomach. She sighed and scratched her head, shaking out her mass of hair. “Yaga, are we good?”

“If what you are asking is ‘are we no longer enemies’ then…” she paused and considered it, “...yes. So long as you never hurt Azrael, I have no animosity towards you. You’ve been welcomed by the other members of the four and the King vouches for you. I also understand your origins more clearly now that he has confirmed them. While I have my reservations given your reason for having been summoned, I do believe you have free will.”

Teyva let out a breath and sat back down on the bed. “Good.”

“Also, I wouldn’t mind going again if you’re up for it-” she was cut off by Teyva throwing up her hands.

“Nope! One time! Don’t push it!” Teyva practically shouted, getting back to her feet and marching towards the door. She threw it open to kick the woman out and found Elat standing there, grinning. On his shoulders was a very amused-looking Nephral and the strap of her satchel. Teyva’s face fell and she closed her eyes. “You’re not here, you didn’t just hear that, and you will not mention it to Azrael,” She prayed.

“Oh I am definitely here, I definitely heard all of it, and I will definitely be relaying every word to Azrael,” Elat laughed.

“Damn it Elat!” Teyva growled, snatching her satchel.

“It would seem the tension has cleared,” Nephral teased, “I am pleased with this outcome, though a bit miffed that I was left behind. Master Tiisha was very kind to care for me in the interim.”

“I’ll have to thank her when I see her,” Teyva grunted and glared at Elat, “You. Watch it.”

He restrained his laughter and turned away before he stopped and turned back. “It shouldn’t be long. She’s doing better.”

It took a second for Teyva to process what he meant, when it did she broke into a wide smile. “Thank you, Elat. Tell her I miss her.”

“I will.”