“The Beast Tide is starting.”

Otlaca of the Ahas clan flicked his forked tongue and tasted the air. The ambient Chaos, perceptible as an actinic tinge in the air, had grown denser.

“Oh, you think, blessed patriarch?” Usaza’s sardonic voice tickled Otlaca’s ear holes.

The elder scale scratched his chin with his stubby fingers while giving his aide-de-camp a sidelong glance. Usaza’s albino white scales were set in a reverent manner, quite opposite of her tone.

“Yes. I think so,” Otlaca huffed. Though he hid a grin when he saw the other roll her eyes.

“Think we’ve done enough to alter the tide?”

“Aye. We’ve spent a decade hiding the entrance, exploring and mapping the depths. We’ve finally found the main passageway.”

Otlaca nodded with a grunt even as his tongue flicked out to sample the air. He detected Usaza’s pheromones, too. The woman was near her mating cycle but he was too old for her.

There were hundreds of Ahas clanner males back in their underground fortress, named Forgestride Enclave. One of them should satisfy her needs, should it come to that. The Ahas and the others of their allied tribes were influenced heavily by their natural cycles, but the hallmark of sapience had always been the ability to delay gratification. Still, if pleasure was sought, there was no reason to deprive unless there was dire need.

“Elder scale.”

Usaza poked his side, jolting him out of his reverie. He was far too old to be standing out in the Labyrinth exposed, despite the fact that he was probably the strongest member of the Allied Clans. His Geist had long evolved beyond the serpentine and into mythical proportions. It took him decades to reach this point, and it was the time wasted that limited him so.

Time that they would recapture once the fruits of the Labyrinth were properly shared with the People rather than hoarded by the Iona and Tigris.

His blood boiled when he thought of the Usurpers. They, who betray for power. They, who grow strong while the rest wither. Still, he would not resort to naked brutality. The campaign had lasted a generation, all while remaining hidden from those cats.

He pulled his robes closer to his body. His grey and black scales were already fading. The hope of renewal was slim. Not unless he consumed the core of a powerful beast. Unlikely for one to come crawling up the Labyrinth.

“Let’s return to Forgestride.” Usaza insisted.

“Indeed.”

“Are you still worried about the Delvers who escaped?”

“We’ve spread the net wide. The one who escaped didn’t do so by climbing.”

The two of them, along with the elder scale’s honour guard, resumed their trek. The tunnels near them had long been mapped and tagged with scent markers and black luminescent paint. The senses of the cats and the bears wouldn’t recognise the markings but the Ahas could.

Forgestride Enclave had created a wide web of levees and dams. It would divert part of the Beast Tide to the entrance near Lucenti City, while still allowing Vizugmon to have it’s fill. The arrogant cats wouldn’t even notice, or if they did, they were lazy enough to leave it be.

The tunnel led to a cavern. A wall nearly five paces high, nearly as tall as the ceiling, and a dozen thick, bisected the cave. It blocked off one of the exit tunnels while making it easier for rampaging beasts to follow the remaining tunnel. The cavern was an important junction,of course. One of the seven major junctions that all tunnels ended up in.

They followed the tunnels until they arrived at the Enclave. Forgestride occupied an entire cavern, leaving only enough room for the passing Tide to reach the correct tunnel. Usaza waved to the sentries at the battlements. They, in turn, signalled the gate guards who raised the portcullis.

The inside of the enclave reminded Otlaca of a temporary camp in the woods rather than an actual fortress. Much of the living areas were made of wood and hide rather than stone. No roofs, of course. It didn’t rain underground after all. Unless an underwater river managed to erode the ceiling. Well, in that case having a roof would be useless and everything would just be washed away. Hah hah ha!

All kidding aside, there were only two structures, aside from the wall, that were made of stone and completely secured. One was the supplies storage, and the other, the stockade.

Otlaca headed straight to the rectangular stockade. It had small windows secured by steel bars, was isolated from everything else by ten paces of clear space and had wardens watching over it day in and day out.

He entered through one of the shorter walls and into a long corridor that basically bisected the structure. On either side were individual cells with the bare minimum necessities. Despite what the cat clans said, the Ahas and other reptilians were not savages.

The first cell held a thin Iona man. Without his protective metal armour, the Ionan lost much of his bulk. A chamber pot, in need of emptying, sat near the bars. A tray of leftover food lay near it. The prisoners were fed with basic rations: flatbread, meat broth, and water, and the portions were meant to ensure survival. Just survival.

The Iona clanner was curled up at the corner, fast asleep. Otlaca walked past him and looked for the Tigris man that was the actual leader of the delver party.

“What do you hope to accomplish?” Usaza asked.

“Nothing. I’m merely being a good host by not leaving our guests alone for too long.”

“Don’t delude yourselves,” a harsh voice answered, “You’re holding us here against our will. You killed Cheaci!”

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Clang!

The Tigris man’s large paws slammed against the steel bars, startling a squeak out of Usaza.

“He wouldn’t surrender. He has only himself to blame for his death,” Otlaca said equanimically.

The Tigris man, Anda by name, growled. “Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Why are your kind here? Why are you working with the Reviled? Why are you keeping me here?”

“Ah, good questions.” Otlaca smiled.

He gestured for Usaza to grab a chair for him to sit on. The woman, in turn, gestured sharply to one of the guards. A few moments later, Otlaca said quite comfortably on a stool. Anda, on the other hand, quietly fumed.

“We’ve spent centuries under your people’s mercy,” Otlaca continued. “No one prefers being under the thumb of another. And when an opportunity presented itself, we took it. As for the Reviled, well, they have their own reasons.” He muttered under his breath, “Mostly coin.”

“How?”

“Come now, you don’t expect me to spill all of our secrets.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

“Chaos, no.” Otlaca chuckled. “We’ll return you to your city after the Beast Tide. Provided...” he grinned a toothy grin. His twin fangs sprang from their pockets to emphasize his point, “...your guildhall pays for your...safe release.”

“And if they don’t?” Anda’s voice grew quiet, though not with fear. His elongated pupils were quite afire with resolve.

“Hmmm, we’ll decide when it comes to that point.”

Anda didn’t say anything else, and Otlaca was content to let it be. The three delvers they captured were only one of the few that ventured deep into the Labyrinth. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the cautious and the cowardly, who only delved in the shallow region, had long returned to the surface. They had limited bounty but at least they had their lives and freedom.

Just as Otlaca and his company were about to leave, Anda shot out a question. “Did you capture or kill the last member of my team?”

Otlaca just shook his head and left. Deranged laughter rang out from Anda’s cage. He still had hope, Otlaca thought. That was good.

______

The moment Masa screamed, Yuriko flared her Anima, spun on her heels and ran. Animus blades formed on her fingertips even as she glared at the shadowy wolf things that appeared practically out of nowhere.

The catkin swung her longsword, or rather, she flailed around with it. She did catch one of the dark wolves across the snout and the resulting pained whimper and spurt of blood proved that the beasts were just as solid as the others despite how immaterial they looked.

The surprising thing was that as soon as the light of Yuriko’s Anima touched them, smoke rose from their fur and they jumped out of the way. Masa had blood running down her leg.

“Bind it,” Yuriko commanded as she stood her ground. The dark wolves retreated but the fiery doggies and the spiky piggies charged at her.

She kicked a dog in the face, sending it careening into its pack. One of the quilled pigs sent a fusillade of needles flying from a dozen paces away. Yuriko condensed her Anima enough that the quills bounced off it. But a couple of stray shots grazed Masa’s back.

“Ah!” the catkin yelped.

“Sorry.”

Yuriko frowned. The doggies kept charging but they were easy enough to repulse. A slice here, and a kick there, was more than enough to dissuade them from taking a bite, but the piggies had formed a line and started shooting. They spun around until their rear ends faced Yuriko, then shook their backs vigorously. The quills snapped off and flew all over the place. More of it struck the doggies than the girls though, prompting an angry retaliation.

As for Yuriko, she swatted what quills came close using her Animus blades.

“Ready!” Masa gulped.

“Go!”

“Hurry behind me!”

With the sound of Masa’s retreating footsteps, Yuriko slowly backed away while fending off the attacks. A moment later, she grinned savagely and charged the pigs, knocking them back, before she spun and ran after Masa.

The tunnel twisted and turned, going up and down at times. She caught up to Masa after a minute. She was limping, but the fact that she was running on all fours, with her tail streaming out behind her, meant that her speed wasn’t impacted by much.

The howling of the hounds followed them all the way until they reached another cavern, and a different sort of beast barred their way.

“Oh no…” Masa gasped.

“Yeah.” Yuriko gulped. Seven pairs of yellow eyes stared at them from four paces above the ground. Serpentine necks converged into a single sinuous body. Green and grey scales formed diamond patterns along the neck and body.

“A Seven-headed Serpent King!” Masa gasped. “Why now?” she moaned.

The serpent ignored Masa, however, and focused all of its eyes on Yuriko. The entire thing must have been near twenty paces long. She raised her blades and readied herself for battle.

Hissss!

The first head darted, baring a mouthful of fangs. The second, third, and fourth followed, covering four directions. Yuriko propelled herself forward, then kicked the fifth head in the snout. She jumped off it and slashed one of the other heads, scoring a deep gash that smoked and sizzled. But beneath the scales were a layer of thick fatty tissue. Her blow essentially equated to a skin-deep cut on a human.

“Ahh!” Masa screamed and she darted away. Yuriko huffed at the other woman’s cowardice, but she supposed the other couldn’t help it.

Being in the middle of the tangle of heads, Yuriko danced balanced on the edge of life and death. Her Animus blades weren’t long enough to deal telling wounds so she dissolved them and summoned Fri’Avgi to her hand.

The third dance, bolstered by the fourth, quickly gave the serpent deeper wounds. It hissed and thrashed, then breathed a noxious cloud of vapour. Yuriko’s Anima kept it away from her, though she could see it sizzle where it touched her light.

Then, one of the serpentine heads coiled itself around her, catching her in a vice. The pressure of its coils pressed the poncho close to her skin, and made her backpack creak ominously.

“Chaos burn you!” she snarled as she stabbed Fri’Avgi into the scales, driving the Anima Telum deep into the flesh. She channelled more Animus, and her Animus blade formed around the artefact’s dull edge, projecting nearly a pace out. It was enough to sever the head. The other six recoiled, but then recovered quickly enough that one managed to drive a glistening fang through her Anima. The tip pierced the poncho and gashed her back. She could feel burning liquid being pumped inside her.

“Ahh!”

She screamed and flared her Anima, channeling Animus into her back. The strands formed into the runescript pattern she learned from the Obsidian Shard. Her muscles tightened and pushed the fang out, along with a spurt of violet venom that soaked the brown poncho.

She landed on her feet, feeling numbness crawling up her spine. But a moment later, heat from her core radiated to her body and drove it away. The serpent seemed taken aback.

“Time to die!” Yuriko hissed.

The fires of her Anima flared even higher. The beast reared back, hissing. All six remaining heads struck at the same time, but Yuriko swung Fri’Avgi in a wide arc. The burning edge bisected a head, then another with the same blow. The other four smashed into her Anima, but she used their force to leap back. As soon as her bare feet touched the ground, she leapt and swung. Again and again, even as the creature’s crimson blood painted the air.

A minute later, none of the serpent’s heads were attached to its body, and Yuriko grunted in satisfaction. Masa was nowhere in sight, but Yuriko saw that there was only one tunnel where the catkin had run off to. But first…

She slashed at the back of the heads, seeking the redbones that should be near the skulls. Seven heads must mean seven of the bones, she thought gleefully. But alas, there were none to be had.

Annoyed, she cut the snake near where the seven heads joined the body, and lo and behold, there was the redbone. Except it looked more like a Wyldling’s Chaos Shard than the Ivory she’d collected before. It was still a ruby red and shaped like a vertebra, but it was the size of her hand and the texture of crystal.

Shrugging to herself, she rinsed it with some water and shoved it into her pack. Now, it was time to catch up.

Grrr!

The fiery hounds had followed her to the cavern. Yuriko brandished Fri’Avgi and they retreated. With a snort of derision, she left them there as she sheathed the artefact back into her Anima. The hounds started tearing into the Serpent King’s corpse by the time she crossed the cavern.