AR Chapter 513 (Patreon)

Surprise second chapter

My immediate thought was to attempt to impose my superiority over the female who spoke to me, but I thought better of it. She was to be my ally here, and if I demeaned her, I’d be weakening my own position.  Instead, I gestured for the Clan Head to lead the way, and I followed. Behind me followed all of my people, and with fifteen massive war machines striding through the camp, it was no surprise to see no small amount of discomfort among the Misti Hawar, even as some faces glared hatefully.

“I must warn you,” Pliet said, her tone conversational, “I do not have a private space prepared that will be able to hold more than one of you at the same time. You, Zaaktif Ashlani, will be able to enter, if only barely, and the rest will not fit within the bounds of the building allocated for our discussion.”

“So long as my compatriots can remain close, that’ll be fine. I recognize that, without specifically planning to accommodate our people in advance, it would be difficult to have the rooms and buildings scaled up from someone your size to that of a Keel.”

“Much appreciated,” she answered, glancing up at me.

I didn’t say anything more for the minute of walking before we arrived at our destination, one of the same sod buildings that filled the entirety of this little settlement. Around the door, however, it was almost stretched up, to be ten feet tall. I wouldn’t be able to stand straight up within the building, but at least I could enter. Waiting for my host to enter first, I then stepped in, surprised by how homey it felt. I had hatched in an underground burrow, and though, as I evolved, I’ve grown to prefer the sky, this was, most certainly, a home.

“We will take measures to ensure we are not eavesdropped on,” the female said, once we were both in the room. “It will only be you and myself in here, to ensure we can maintain secrecy. There are certain key pieces of information that we need to contain until the perfect time at the conclave.”

“So you’re going to shroud the building in shadow,” I nodded, understanding.

“Exactly. Do you have any complaints with this?”

“Not at all.”

She nodded once and flicked her tail. The speckled pattern along the tail seemed to pulse with shadow before spreading across the entire floor, and then creating a dome within the building where we stood. When the cover appeared, she seemed to mentally fight against herself and came to a conclusion before either of us said anything. Then, with an audible grinding of her teeth, she bowed her head in an undeniable show of submission.

“I must apologize for my attitude until now. The shadow faction must see that we retain our pride, even as we decide to surrender. If they think that we lose ourselves in preserving our lives, they will side with the claw and our negotiations will fail to result in anything.”

“It seems to me that we have similar goals,” I said, looking at her as she raised her head. “However, you don’t seem to be particularly fond of the position you’ve chosen.”

“Would you be happy to be bowing your head to an enemy?” She scoffed. “Make no mistake. We’re not friends. We’re never going to be. As near as I can tell, many of your people wouldn’t mind making the entire world their enemy, fighting and bleeding to the last in a childish attempt to prove that they’re stronger than everyone else. I wouldn’t mind that result for your people, because I think you’re a scourge.

“However, the snowflake that would cause that avalanche of your destruction would be the complete eradication of my people. If I have to choose between permitting the continued existence of a creature I hate but can be reasoned with and dying to bring armies down on the creature I hate, I will choose to live. Perhaps another will choose to kill you, but for now, I can only lower myself to preserve the life of my clan and the other clans, regardless of how stupid they are.”

The vitriol she spat the words with had me smirking as I settled down into a comfortable squat. On my haunches, I was still a hair taller than the female in front of me, but she wasn’t cowed by my presence.

“You’re an interesting creature,” I said.

“No, I’m a good leader,” she snapped back. “I see you for the dangerous beast you are, but, despite my initial hesitation, everybody who’s had any interaction with your people seems to think that you might be able to be reasoned with. I’m taking the chance on that, because frankly, my people can’t survive another war, even if we manage to pull through it.”

“Your numbers are that far reduced?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

“Don’t pretend that’s a surprise,” she growled. “You’re not so stupid as to think that we didn’t field the best army we were capable of. That darkness-forgotten idiot made sure that she took the bravest, most reckless, strongest people she could. That applies to the youngest, those with the greatest potential. She took all of those who were still blinded by bloodlust and hope for the return of something that will never exist again, and she got them killed. She took everybody who would follow her and coerced more, and they died against the walls. It doesn’t matter if they returned as corpses or not at all, if they’re now fangless kittens or shadows at our sides, she has crippled us. We need to take decades, perhaps even a century, to stabilize our population and stay out of any attention from any foreign country. If you’re willing to act as a deterrent from any other enterprising enemies, then I’ll do whatever I need to to make sure this deal goes through.”

I continued staring at her, her chest rising and falling from the fury of her argument, and she took a moment to compose herself. Then, she pulled a chair from the side of the room and plopped onto it, staring at me.

“You have a lot to say,” I smirked.

“I had to get that into the open,” she said bluntly. “I understand this is going to be a surrender that you want. I’m proud, but I see the truth for what it is. We need to surrender, because the only other option is death. However, I’m not happy that that’s our only option and I need you to know that I won’t simply fall at your feet and worship you. If we can work together, good.”

Silence settled once again over us after that, but this time, she was unworried about continuing to press me. Then, I nodded and smiled.

“I’d imagine that’s not the only reason why you brought me in here.”

“No, it isn’t,” she answered. “But before we start talking, do we have a deal? Will you ensure that we aren’t picked apart by our enemies while you squeeze us from your surrender?”

“I look forward to working with you. So long as your people learn their place, you’ll have nothing to fear.”

She ground her teeth, but didn’t argue any further. Instead, she nodded, and we began our discussion in truth.