Green Canyon Magic - Ch.17 - In Bad Faith (Patreon)

** content warning: brief violence / guns **

"This doesn't seem to be going too badly," I commented quietly, while my tails slowly swished back and forth behind me.

Stef shook their head and replied just as softly, "No. Hannes seems to be a decent fellow. And I'm honestly a little surprised how well he and Theo are getting along? But I'm worried about that lot over there. I don't like the way they're looking at us. It feels like they're plotting something."

"Yeah," I frowned as I looked at the group the catkin was referring to.

Since Theo decided that Mr. Huber would be the negotiator on the human side, the two older politicians had moved back several meters to talk amongst themselves. And they'd taken their undercover agent with them.

Now Pierer and Fersti were whispering back and forth between them as they watched Theo and Hannes, while their bodyguard cop agent guy stood next to his boss. The army officer was another couple meters further away, where he was consulting with the four soldiers who'd previously been standing guard around the area.

It was that second group that my enbyfriend was worried about. The way the officer and his men kept frowning at us while they stood there holding their weapons ready made me uncomfortable. And it didn't help that my tall furry ears were sensitive enough to pick up the occasional words they were saying. Like 'freaks' and 'queers' and 'monsters'.

The photographer was still hovering around as well, but he was by himself rather than with one group or another. And he was still taking pictures of us. I knew that was his job, but it didn't mean I had to like it.

My attention returned to the two older politicians once again. I couldn't quite make out what Pierer and Fersti were whispering, but I was confident Stef's air magic meant they could listen in on every word if they wanted. Like me they had one ear angled towards the other humans, while the other was keeping track of what our wildcat friend and the human representative were discussing.

Unfortunately that was a fairly boring conversation, as far as I was concerned. They were discussing things like fossil-fuel reduction targets and renewable energy increases.

I probably shouldn't have been so dismissive about it, but it was hard to get excited after the first few exchanges. Hannes would try and explain how Austria was ahead of the rest of the EU on making progress towards its targets of reducing its import and burning of fossil fuel, then Theo would calmly respond that the progress was lovely but the goals were too low and the target dates were too far in the future.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" I whispered to Stef after another couple minutes.

They were quiet for another few seconds while they focused on the politicians. Then they whispered back, "They're mostly talking about damage control and political spin? I think they might be worried Hannes is going to agree to too many concessions or something."

That made my tails twitch in irritation. And I couldn't help scowling as I grumbled, "Typical. Sounds like they're here to bargain in bad faith, while their main concern is covering their own asses."

The catkin made a face as they nodded, "Seems like it."

"The politicians don't scare me though," they added. They flicked their ear towards the soldiers and their tail puffed out a little as they sighed, "It's that lot that worries me, my little star. I'm sure you can hear what some of them are saying, they're not making much of an effort to stay quiet."

I frowned again, "Yeah. Hopefully it's just talk though? They wouldn't do anything unless the minister ordered it, would they?"

Stef hesitated, "They don't answer to Pierer. Fersti might have some say, maybe. But the army answers to the president, and she's not here. So they're probably following whatever orders they were given ahead of time."

I nodded slowly as I looked at the group of soldiers again, and found most of them glaring back at Stef and I. They were still badmouthing us too, but in addition to the slurs and speciesist remarks there were some sexually offensive comments as well.

The really worrying thing was their officer wasn't doing anything to curtail those sorts of comments. He might have even been encouraging it. And that realization left my tails all hanging down low behind my legs.

There was only one soldier who kept himself distanced from the rest of his colleagues. He was the guy who'd been tending the horses, along with the group's guide. The two of them were still standing next to the animals, and it looked like the soldier and the guide were talking quietly to each other as they watched the proceedings from the opposite side of the clearing.

"I get the feeling he's the only decent one of the lot," Stef whispered quietly when she noticed where I was looking. "That last soldier, I mean? He doesn't seem to want anything to do with the rest of them."

I had to agree with that sentiment, "Yeah. Theo said the guide was ok when they were here before, so if that guy's friends with the guide then he's probably alright too. And he was looking after the animals, which is another plus I think."

My enbyfriend nodded quietly. Then they pointed out, "He hasn't even touched his gun. The others are all holding theirs like they're itching to use them, but his is still strapped to his back."

They were right, and I was about to say so when we were both distracted by the human negotiator.

Hannes sighed loudly, "I'm sorry Mr. Theo but I'm not sure I can agree to those terms?"

"I want to," he added quickly. "I really do! The problem is I don't think I have the authority. Honestly, everything we've discussed is going to have to go back to Vienna for my boss's review and approval. Then she'll have to present it to the Chancellor. And finally it'll go before parliament, so they can vote on it."

Our little wildcat friend cocked his head to one side and asked, "Then why bother coming here to negotiate at all? You already know what Gaia wants. She told everyone in the world what her demands are, and what will happen if they're not met. Why come here to meet with us if you aren't willing or able to do anything?"

The bureaucrat gave Theo an apologetic look as he explained, "I'm not a minister, I'm just a staffer. They brought me along to take notes. The only reason they chose me and not someone from Minister Pierer's department was so they could claim the Ministry of Climate Action and Energy was involved in the process."

"I see," Theo stated in a rather cold tone. He turned to look at the two older politicians as he added just as coolly, "You people didn't come here to negotiate at all, did you? You came to ask us to do things for you, without any intention of honouring any of Gaia's requests."

Stef chimed in, "They saw Stella and I in a picture, and probably assumed it'd be easy to talk over us and bully us into agreeing to all of their demands. They obviously weren't expecting any actual negotiations. They definitely weren't expecting to be put on the spot and asked to make any concessions of their own."

Mr. Huber gave us another apologetic look, and from his expression I could guess he really wanted to confirm that Theo and Stef were both right. Odds were he'd get in trouble though if he actually did that, which is why the best he could do was stand there and look sorry without actually saying anything.

Everyone was quiet for the next couple seconds, until Theo finally broke the silence.

"I suppose there's no point in any further discussions then?" the wildcat asked as he looked up at Hannes. "Perhaps you should speak with your boss, let her know that she should come herself if she wishes to make a serious effort. Or if not her, then maybe this chancellor person you all keep talking about should come?"

Pierer responded from where he was standing several meters away, "Why don't the three of you accompany us back to Vienna? Perhaps you could meet with the Chancellor directly, then you could negotiate with him on Gaia's behalf?"

That suggestion sounded like a big red flag to me, and I could easily imagine them trying to arrest us as soon as we were away from our land and the magic mountain. Fortunately Theo must have felt the same way, since he refused before either Stef or I had a chance to say anything.

"No, we won't be doing that. Stella and Stef and I are very comfortable right here," our wildcat stated.

We could all see the disappointment on Pierer's face, and Fersti's as well. It looked like the Chancellor's adviser was about to suggest something else when one of the soldiers standing in the group next to the officer suddenly spoke up.

"We've wasted enough time with these queer woke freaks!" he grumbled loudly.

Before anyone could react or respond to his words, the man raised his rifle to his shoulder and released a burst of automatic gunfire right at my enbyfriend and I.

The deafening rattle of shots caught us both completely off-guard. Theo too, and Hannes as well. My tails all tucked between my legs and my ears folded back as I nearly jumped out of my skin, while Stef's tail puffed up huge and a look of shock and alarm appeared on their face. Theo's tail puffed out and his ears folded back, while the bureaucrat hit the deck and curled up with his arms around his head.

Meanwhile Pierer and Fersti were both ducking as they moved away from the line of fire, while the secret agent guy quickly took a position to shield his boss. Not from the rogue soldier though, he put himself in between the minister and us.

Except I didn't believe the soldier had gone rogue at all. His officer was standing right there next to him, and he hadn't made so much as move against the guy who'd opened fire. He didn't say anything, he didn't order the man to lower his weapon or stand down. In fact the group of them were all just watching, like they were waiting to see what happened next.

After the initial shock wore off I was struck by another surprise. Neither Stef or I had been hit. Theo seemed unharmed too. I couldn't tell if Hannes was ok, but I didn't see any blood and he was clearly still alive as he quivered in fear.

"Why won't you freaks die?!" the soldier shouted, before firing a second, longer burst at Stef and I.

I couldn't help cringing when I saw the muzzle flashes, while my ears folded back from the noise. In addition to the sound of the shots I could hear bullets slamming into the ground behind us, and smashing through trees and branches in the woods further back. Yet somehow the bullets weren't touching us.

It was as if they were going around us. Or maybe they were even passing through us, without actually hurting us. Our clothes weren't getting damaged though, so I really couldn't explain it.

"That's enough!" Stef shouted as they suddenly thrust out their hand towards the guy who was still shooting.

Their gesture was accompanied by a sudden powerful but localized gust of wind, which knocked the shooter backwards off his feet. He was blown several meters back by the intense wind, and finally ended up in a dusty heap, a few meters away from where the ground gave way to a several meter drop into the lake.

During his tumble he lost his grip on his gun, which ended up laying on the ground a meter or two away from him. And the first thing he did as he started to recover was to scramble towards it. My magic was faster though, and before the soldier got his hands on his weapon the rifle sank into the ground. I left it entombed in rock, about a half-meter below the surface.

At that point the officer shouted, "They're attacking! Return fire!"

Just like that he and the other three soldiers with him all started shooting, and with my tall sensitive vulpine ears the noise was almost deafening. Above the roar of the guns though I could actually hear the whine of bullets as they zipped past Stef and I. I also saw clumps of dirt kicking up around Theo and Hannes, and that's when I realized the one nice bureaucrat was in mortal danger.

It only took a moment as I reached out through the ground with my magic again. This time a wide protective berm grew up out of the earth to shield the BMK representative from all the bullets.

With Hannes out of the line of fire my attention returned to the guys who were doing all the shooting. They were obviously getting frustrated about their complete inability to actually hit any of us, despite all the bullets flying around. In fact one by one they had to stop and reload, before they started shooting again.

I also noticed Pierer and Fersti were both watching with interest, the older politicians were undoubtedly making note of the fact that Theo and Stef and I were apparently bulletproof. Same with the photographer. He was standing near the politicians, snapping pictures of Stef and Theo and I. He'd definitely have pictures of Stef using their air magic too, along with me and my earth magic.

A second or two later the shooting ended even more abruptly than it had started, when the soldiers suddenly dropped their rifles. The officer drew his handgun and raised it up at us, but dropped that too before he could get off a single shot. Then the undercover agent scrambled to pull off his jacket. There was smoke rising from his shoulder holster, and he frantically pulled that off as well and dropped it to the ground.

By that point all the guns were glowing red hot, and they only got brighter until the weapons simply melted into slag where they lay. The guns were already destroyed, but I encased their molten remains in rock to prove a point.

The only person who hadn't been forced to disarm himself was the soldier who'd been with the horses and the guide. He hadn't tried shooting at us, in fact during all the shooting he and the guide were busy trying to keep the animals calm and safe.

For the next couple seconds the only sound was the photographer's camera as he snapped pictures and cranked the film advance, while everyone else just stared at us in shocked silence. Then he dropped his equipment with a yelp, as it too heated up until it melted.

"No more pictures," Theo stated. "No more shooting. And no more wasting words."

"Hannes are you ok?" our wildcat asked a moment later.

The terrified bureaucrat slowly sat up, then gasped in surprise when he saw how he'd been protected. My little berm was about three meters long, two thirds of a meter high, and about two meters thick. Easily enough to stop any stray bullets that may have been heading his way.

It took him another couple seconds to recover from the shock of being in the middle of all that, then he nodded slowly. "I think so... Thank you for asking."

"I'm glad," Theo replied. Then Gaia's representative addressed the two older guys, "Negotiations are over. Next time send someone actually willing to listen, as well as talk. Hannes can come back again too if he wants, he's nice."

** This chapter is brought to you courtesy of Lucy who commissioned it! **