The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 10, Chapter 9

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 10, Chapter 9

Chapter 9

14th Day, Middle Wind Month, 1 CE

“Tilapia! Fresh Tiger Tilapia from Crystal Lake!”

“Bamboo baskets! Canes of all lengths!”

“Liana! Jute ropes! Straw and thatch!”

Ilyshn’ish adjusted the yellow rawhide band wrapped snugly around her wrist as she and her companions wove their way through the crowded river market. Thus far, no one had tried to eat her while she was wearing it, so it appeared to be working as advertised.

The press of Beastmen was stifling, however, and she regretted taking what she had thought would be the most interesting route. Not that it wasn’t interesting. The sights and sounds were new and exotic, but the crowds of predatory Demihumans weren’t to her tastes. There was also the fact that Vltava was draped over her left shoulder like some sort of fluffy pauldron.

Another annoying thing was that a small crowd of smaller Beastmen followed in her wake, using her as an easy way to get through the market. What would happen if she stopped? Would they get mad? Would they all stop and wait for her, staring at her back until she kept moving? In a dark corner of her mind, disquieting fears lurked over whether they were simply gathering in sufficient force to take her down like Winter Wolves loitering around a Nuk.

“Where are you taking us, Seeker?”

Her ear twitched as Vltava bleated into it.

“I-I don’t know!” Ilyshn’ish replied, “I just wanted to look around. That’s what I’m here to do.”

They were barely two kilometres from the Cuorocos Cliffs, but she was already feeling overwhelmed. There were too many unfamiliar things going on around her and far too many people.

When she couldn’t take it anymore, she leapt out of the crowd, landing on the escarpment overlooking the main thoroughfare.

“How do these people live like this?” She glared down at the crowded market.

“Is the Warden considering doing anything similar in her territory?” Pebble asked.

“I hope not,” Ilyshn’ish said. “It’s not her style, either. This is just a bunch of people crammed together because there’s work to be had. I bet they don’t even know why this city is here in the first place.”

“Would anything change if they knew?”

“I doubt it. The locals don’t appear to understand why this city was founded here, but that doesn’t matter now. They’re like a giant collection of carnivores that have found a mysteriously convenient feeding ground.”

She wasn’t certain about the natives of Rol’en’gorek, but Humans supposedly built urban centres in locations of strategic, economic and political importance. Ilyshn’ish, however, was of the mind that this was thinking for big decision-makers. She doubted the ‘little people’ cared beyond the fact that work and thus necessities could be obtained. Once they were there, more goods and services would come to them and the denizens of the city would work toward their respective goals. The only way that would change was if it wasn’t worth doing, but Ghrkhor’storof’hekheralhr was evidently entrenched.

“I wonder if the entire world is like this,” Ilyshn'ish said.

“Like what?” Pinecone asked.

“People dwelling amongst the ruins of past ages,” she answered. “Like a sad echo of a past long forgotten. The Humans are like this too, you know? Except that their heedless rush for industry and ‘progress’ only serves to bury their past even faster. By the way, do you know what happened to this region? That whole Demon Gods thing, I mean.”

“We know what happened,” Pinecone said, “but not why. Ours is the perspective of distant observers, uninvolved in the affairs of those beyond our mountain homes.”

Ilyshn’ish had also asked her mother about the events of two centuries previous, but she and the other Frost Dragons present at the time wisely vacated the Azerlisia Mountains and spent the next decade in the Frozen Expanse. The few who decided to return found the ordeal over and the realities of those who remained overturned and shattered.

Their traditional rivals, the Frost Giants, had stood their ground in a characteristically Frost Giant way and suffered great losses in the process. However, it appeared that the southern clans had successfully turned the Demon Gods’ assault, causing the mysterious entities to divert and go after the Dwarves instead. The Mountain Dwarves lost their capital and were transformed from a long-standing fixture of the region to a crippled and slowly-declining remnant. Around the Azerlisia Mountains, the Human-populated lands had been razed to the ground and everyone else didn’t fare much better.

“They wreaked havoc on the region,” Ilyshn’ish half said to herself, “but they weren’t strong enough to wipe out the Frost Giants. I don’t think these ‘Demon Gods’ would have succeeded in the present day.”

“Possibly not,” Vltava said. “Certainly not with the same degree of success. Dragonkind would have recovered in its new form, and every Ancient Dragon’s domain invaded would carry with it the risk of loss.”

His words matched what Mitra had shared with her, adding to the idea that the timing of their appearance was suspiciously convenient. Then again, it happened because it could, so it might have just been her. One never called a successful ambush suspiciously convenient – they happened because opportunities presented themselves.

“Do you know what they were?” Ilyshn’ish asked.

“An echo of the calamities that regularly visit the world, perhaps. The form tends to vary, but the timing was the same.”

“Did they come to you?”

“No. Awareness is required to be targeted.”

It wasn’t a bad way to go about doing things. If one didn’t draw attention to oneself and stayed beyond the awareness of beings of cataclysmic power, it saved a lot of trouble.

“Then why did you reveal yourself to the Warden?”

“Because the cataclysm of this cycle probably cannot be avoided,” Vltava replied. “Furthermore, it comes at a strength comparable to the most devastating cataclysms of the past. Better to seek shelter than risk suffering the whims of uncaring beings.”

“Minding one’s business isn’t an option, huh.”

“No. We witnessed what the evil star wrought. It was a malevolent, unstoppable force that sought the suffering and destruction of all. Calamities often do not come as single events within a small region, so we suspect that others are happening elsewhere. Some may even sweep over the entire world.”

“Wait,” Ilyshn’ish said, “so you didn't stop because of the Warden?"

“We did, but all things have a purpose, and all things are connected.”

“Right.”

They left their observation of the market, heading deeper into the trees away from the river. After a few minutes of following the winding woodland trails, Vltava abruptly reached out and yanked her whiskers.

“Owowowowow!” Ilyshn'ish cried, “Why?!”

“This way,” Vltava gave her whiskers another tug.

“You could have just said something!”

She wriggled her muzzle, then turned to Pebble and Pinecone.

“Does he do this to you, too?"

“No,” Pebble replied.

“No,” replied Pinecone.

Ilyshn’ish released a sigh. She had no idea what whiskers were in her natural appearance, and she didn’t want to find out what she would lose if Vltava tugged them out. A few tugs later, they arrived at the base of an extraordinarily large tree.

“Oh, I saw this tree and others like it on the flight the other night,” Ilyshn’ish said. “Lady Zahradnik was furious when she saw them.”

“A nature spirit from a past age,” Vltava said. “Their voices have long grown distant, but their duties remain. This one has been violently relieved of them.”

Something like a Dryad before Dryads were Dryads? She tried to imagine what the tree looked like while it was still alive, but she had never seen the like before. All that she was left with after the exercise was the sombre idea that some experiences were forever lost to her.

Vltava squirmed his way off of her shoulder, landing lightly on the forest floor. They followed him as he made his way between the tree’s canyon-like roots, sniffing at his surroundings along the way.

“The beast,” the elder exclaimed, “it speaks!”

“Says the Beastman,” Vltava’s central eye returned an unamused look. “This one would know how this tree came to its end.”

“This tree?” The elder scratched his head, “Do you mean the stump we’re standing on? It’s been like this for as long as anyone can recall.”

“How long?” Vltava pressed the elder.

“Erm, anything I heard about this tree was from the time I was a cub. From my elders, who were born six generations ago. The tree was like this when the survivors of the Demon Gods returned to their old homes. The entire city was burned to ashes except for the ancient trees, which were felled. None who bore witness to the destruction lived.”

“You said the whole city,” Ilyshn’ish said. “But was it the same city? The name of this place does not match its appearance. You say that no witnesses survived, but did any who fled remember what the city was like before?”

“I-I don’t know...”

“Then, were there any relics recovered from the ashes? Surely, the mystics of that time endeavoured to preserve what they could upon their return...”

The two Urmah only replied with unknowing looks.

It seemed that Mitra’s assessment was on the mark, but how was that possible? It was one thing to damage a city to the degree that it would be considered ‘destroyed’, but it was another to remove almost every tangible trace of the past.

According to the regional histories, there were multiple Demon Gods. But there wasn’t an army of them. Ilyshn’ish was fairly confident that she could destroy most of the cities she had seen so far, but personally burning every book, defacing every carving and melting every plaque would take an annoyingly long time.

“...is that all you require?” The elder asked.

Ilyshn’ish reached down and picked up Vltava.

“It is,” she said. “Since you weren’t able to answer to our satisfaction, however, you don’t get to have him.”

They left the temple, this time going down the main ramp and leaving out of one of the entryways before following the river downstream to return to the Cuorocos Cliffs from a different direction. An eight-kilometre stroll brought them to the lake, right to one of the many wharves of the city. They crossed what could only be described as a band of slums running parallel to the waterfront. The slums in the Empire rarely had anything interesting in them, so she swiftly made her way through to the crowded markets lining the piers.

Once again, they were treated like Rangers blazing a trail through the urban jungle by the smaller residents. Ilyshn’ish was now too preoccupied with her task for the Ministry of Transportation to pay them any mind, however.

River infrastructure in Rol’en’gorek bore an uncanny resemblance to the infrastructure in the Draconic Kingdom. It was the only aspect of the tribal confederation that might be considered well-developed by Human standards. Ilyshn’ish wasn’t sure if there was any significance to that, as, in the end, both Humans and Beastmen were terrestrial species. Both used ships for the same purposes and the facilities that serviced them would by necessity be similar.

The dimensions of the two civilisations’ river barges were also identical, aside from the fact that the Draconic Kingdom usually employed sails while Rol’en’gorek usually used paddle wheels. It was as if some shared standard bound both countries, or perhaps it was something that one side copied from the other over the course of their long relationship.

She watched as one such vessel paddled its way slowly alongside the pier. A team of Nar dockworkers caught the lines cast toward them and secured the ship to its moorings. As it was in the Empire and the Draconic Kingdom, its cargo was stored in sacks and crates which were individually offloaded by menial labour. Ilyshn’ish watched the entire process, hoping that what she observed would be useful to the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Ministry of Transportation upon recollection.

“Are there no Demihumans in these waters?” Pinecone asked.

Ilyshn’ish considered the question for a moment. The effluent from the city should have provoked some reaction from the lake’s Demihuman population, but she had neither seen nor heard of any aquatic Demihumans or Heteromorphs dwelling in Rol’en’gorek.

“Aquatic species have limited space to flee in such environs,” Vltava said. “It is likely that they were wiped out.”

“I’ll find out for sure later,” Ilyshn’ish said. “For now, I need to gather enough information to not get skinned.”

“Is it just the skin, or will they use every part?”

“Sh-shut up! I don’t want to know!”

The matter-of-fact pragmatism of the short-lived herbivore was admirable...for a short-lived herbivore. Despite being strong, their lives were brief, so they prioritised the long-term strength and survival of their society and turned communication and the passing down of their collective knowledge into an art. Their ways were not something that Dragons would ever consider for themselves. As a Bard, however, she had developed a healthy appreciation for them.

“This one heard from the Dark Elf called Aura that they processed and stored every part of the one called the Frost Dragon Lo–”

“LALALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU.”

“This one is right on your shoulder.”

“...”

She considered hurling Vltava into the lake, but he could fly. Drowning him probably wouldn’t work, either.

Over the next few hours, Ilyshn’ish slowly made her way north along the wharves of Ghrkhor’storof’hekheralhr. After the third or fourth wharf, she grew tired of being stared at and chose to instead stealthily observe things from the shadows of the narrow ‘alleys’ in the nearby slums. The shoddy construction of the structures around her allowed her Blindsight to see perfectly through everything.

“Mama...”

Much of what went on, however, did not require Blindsight to perceive.

“Mama...”

Vltava hopped off of her shoulder and trotted off after the sound of the nearby voice. Since it wasn’t coming from very far away, Ilyshn’ish stayed where she was to observe the nearby market.

“Don’t eat her,” Ilyshn’ish called after the Krkonoše Druid absently. “Someone might charge you for poaching.”

Whether Vltava heard her or not, she couldn’t tell, and he certainly didn’t pay her any mind if he did. A few minutes later, he came back with a Lup pup – not much more than an infant – with its jaws firmly latched onto his leg.

“You’re not keeping that,” Ilyshn’ish said.

“It was a test,” Vltava replied.

“What sort of test involves getting one’s leg chewed on?”

“The young are often left in their dens until they can assist their parents with their work. There is not much opportunity to observe individuals of this age.”

Ilyshn’ish was out killing and eating things mere seconds after hatching, so she couldn’t relate. How did other species survive with such crippling dependencies?

“Most parents become alarmed or enraged when they find their young with strangers like this,” she said. “This collection of hovels won’t survive one of your tornadoes.”

She narrowed her eyes and growled at the pup. It released its hold and soiled itself.

“Ugh, gross.”

After some poking and prodding, Vltava put the Lup pup back where it came from. Ilyshn’ish used a Trooper’s Towel to eliminate any trace of their passing, but the effect was too strong and cleaned the entire cramped hovel instead.

Is there an item that produces the opposite effect? There must be...

She threw some dirt on the pup before they left. That would have to do.

As they left the slum to return to the wharves, her gaze went out over the erratic expanse of stone dens, wooden shacks and tents lining the jungle alleys under the shade of the trees along the shore. After several moments, her attention went to the vast lake that stretched beyond the horizon.

“I suppose we’ll have to find out what happened the hard way,” Ilyshn’ish said. “Or maybe it’s the easy way, considering how clueless the locals are.”

From the sky, many patterns that wouldn’t be noticed from the ground were apparent. Strangely, the Demon Gods – some of whom supposedly flew – left that evidence behind. It was an obvious thing that they should have erased considering how thorough they otherwise were.

That investigation, however, would have to wait. It would probably take days, and she had more dancing lessons with Mitra slated for the afternoon.