Lily

Everyone in the laboratory stared at her after Lily made her request. Even Andessa and Tupelo were staring at her with their mouths open. Who could blame them really? For the past ten years, Lily had shown the people in this room nothing but hatred, actively working against them in their efforts to help build troops to support the White Flame. Now, out of nowhere, she showed up and just demanded to be sent to the husband she betrayed. It sounded ridiculous, even to Lily herself, who’d suggested it.

“Like hell that’s going to happen,” Unyielding Oak said with a scoff. “You? After everything you’ve done in the last decade, think we’ll just send you over to our lord’s side, in place of loyal soldiers? I know losing a child can be hard, I lost all my descendants apart from Hellebore to the locusts, so I understand. But you really lost your mind…” Lily’s blood was boiling, and she opened her mouth to retort. Before she could respond, however, someone else cut the ancient wood elf off.

“That’s enough, Unyielding Oak.” Owl Two said, moving away from his place at the table and walking around to face Lily. The atmosphere had gotten heavy, and Lily felt her guards tense behind her. “That isn’t going to happen, Lily.” He said in his emotionless, dead voice. “You have proved too many times that your loyalty will shift with the winds of change.” He didn’t sound angry, of course, he never did. But Lily swore she felt an icy chill from his speaker box. “Now, please tell me why you are here? Because we have a lot of work to do.”

Lily bit back her initial denial at his accusation. It was hard to argue with the facts, however, so she listened as he finished his sentence. She had to fight to hold back tears at the bitter disappointment she felt and wondered what had gotten into her all of a sudden. She’d gone out of her way for years to distance herself from these people. Looking around the room, she saw the hatred in the wood elf’s eyes, the disappointment in Staz, and the indifference from the technologists. They were right, she shouldn’t be here, she had two kids at home, along with their father, the man she loved. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth to tell them why she’d come, when she was interrupted by a runner.

“Owl Two, the Undercity has sent a representative.” Out of breath, a young wood elf delivered his report as he panted. “Not only them, but the moon, and wood elf leaders just arrived on sparrow back as well. They are requesting an audience with you at the tunnel’s mouth at once.” As the wood elf finished speaking, everyone in the room turned to Lily and her guards. Clear mistrust written plainly across their faces.

“What is this about, traitor?” Unyielding Oak asked, both hands now resting on her daggers. Lily tried not to gulp at the gesture, remembering all too well how deadly the elf was with those blades. Taking a step back, she raised her hands in front of her, cursing herself for coming here at all.

“She is not involved with them.” Owl Two said, coming to her aid unexpectedly. “I know what they want, and it is well within my expectations. What I do not know, however, is what it is you want.” He’d started off addressing Unyielding Oak but had turned to face Lily by the end. Her face flushed under the full regard of everyone present, until her anger rose at the treatment, and she straightened her shoulders.

“Enough of this.” She said firmly, looking around the room with all the authority of someone who’d been in charge of a clan, and later for much of the Undercity’s day to day ruling. “I came here in good faith. To warn you the Mountain’s embrace kingdom has allied itself with a new ship. One that wasn’t part of the original twenty the White Flame brought to the planet. They came for the locusts but have set their eyes on Undercity. Queen Hunter doesn’t see them as a threat, but I do. I just wanted to warn you, before it was too late… And ask what you would do if they targeted Undercity…” Her last sentence trailed off, as she realized just how self-serving it made her sound. Coming here to ask if they’d protect her city, while they did nothing themselves.

“I see,” Owl Two said simply. He stared at her for a quarter of a minute, before turning to the rest of his people. “Outside my expectations, but not unforeseen. I think we will take her at her word for now and let her come with us to meet the delegations. I have a feeling it will be an eye-opening experience.” Gesturing for Unyielding Oak, Staz, the messenger, and the seven technologists to follow him, Owl Two retraced the steps Lily had taken down into the lab. She looked back at the handful of yokai who hadn’t been included, who’d already gone back to looking at the tablet. Lily kept her head down through the vat room, until they were all standing under the sun.

“Stay here until K2 returns, then ask him to wait in the main cave with the six yokai teams. I will return shortly, to send them across, no matter what happens, they are to stay in the cave.” Owl Two said to the young elf boy who’d delivered the message. Next, he turned to Staz. “If you would?” He asked, and waited while the oni pulled the truck from thin air, followed by two goats, and two stone carver rat mounts. Lily watched in astonishment, wondering just how much gear the oni had stuffed in there as everyone either mounted up, or climbed into the truck.

“Hurry up now,” Staz said to Lily, motioning to the truck. “We have an appointment, apparently.” The giant was pulling the rest of his armor from his magic, storage ring. The interlocking armor was impossible for him to put on by himself, and the hobgoblin hybrids were busy fastening him inside the suit. “Gah, I really hate this armor.” He grumbled, as each of the three-piece boots were fitted around his feet and bolted together. “I can’t breathe in this thing, feels like I’m being drown in slowly drying concrete.”

“Yea,” Unyielding Oak said with a snort. “Poor you. The impossible to kill giant has to wear impossible to breach armor… you really got it rough pal. I swear, if you’d had that back when we took Undercity, you could have taken the entire place by yourself.”

“No one is impossible to kill, and no armor is impossible to breach.” Owl Two said from on top of his impressively large, and pure white goat mount. The beast was half again the size of Unyielding Oak’s mount and wore metal armor. “Staz very nearly died that day. If it hadn’t been for Lord Ronin’s timely intervention, I’m afraid many of you would have. Besides, the foes in that battle were merely hobgoblins and batlins without an advanced weapon between them. Not all of our foes will be so easily dealt with.”

“Get eviscerated one time and they never let you live it down…” The oni mumbled as the technologists connected the torso armor. It was made in several overlapping and interlocking pieces to allow for movement but not leave any gaps for narrow blades to slide through. Lily remembered when Owl Two had first made the set. It wasn’t nearly as well designed as the one Staz was being fitted with. Each piece was so well fitted, if he gained or lost more than a few pounds it likely wouldn’t fit right.

“Stop gawking and get in the truck.” Unyielding Oak snapped from the back of her own leather armored goat. Hers had a black splotch of fur across its nose making it easily recognizable. “I want to know why my son came here at the same time as the Undercity representative.” Lily thought about retorting, but she could see the worry in the elf’s eyes, so she just did as she was told and got into the White Flame’s personal truck.

“Thanks guys,” Staz said to the technologists when they’d finished buttoning up his armor. “Let’s get this show on the road.” Lily watched out the window as four of the technologists doubled up on two rat mounts, while the other three climbed into the truck with them. Somehow, she found it reassuring to know Staz couldn’t fit an unlimited number of mounts into his ring. That would have been just too much to deal with.

Andessa had climbed behind the wheel again but had decided to let Owl Two set the pace. So, the trip back to the mine took a little longer than the trip out. Since they had to move at the speed the animals could run. Surprisingly enough, both types of animals moved along pretty fast. Lily had read about goats before, and had known they were good on mountain terrain, but they were currently running down a paved road.

“How are the goats able to run so fast?” She asked the chief technologist, who had seated himself across from her in the truck. It was weird, seeing more hobgoblin, goblin hybrids. These men looked a lot like guts, and she winced again at how badly they’d messed up by exiling the hobgoblins from the city.

“They aren’t a traditional species of goat,” the chief said, without bothering to look at her. “Their bones and joints are positioned slightly differently than a normal mountain goat. They’ll be able to climb a cliff wall just fine, but thanks to the deviation, they can also move along flat terrain quite easily as well.” Lily nodded, thinking about the chief’s words. She didn’t understand much about the bone structure of goats, but she got the idea from watching them move.

“Is that so?” She asked with interest, born from anxiety more than anything. “Why is Owl Two’s goat so much bigger than Unyielding Oaks? I remember when they started breeding them. Hers is about the normal size for one of the shaggy goats, isn’t it?”

“That isn’t Owl Two’s mount.” The chief said with a bite to his voice as he turned his head to face her at last. “That is our lord White Flame’s mount. His genetics were slightly altered by Owl Two and he was injected with nanites, and even a few biomechanical additions were made to make him the best mount for our lord. Unyielding Oak has been working tirelessly for years to personally train him into a combat mount to rival any other.” Lily blinked in surprise at the fierceness in the man’s tone. She hadn’t meant any disrespect, but that hadn’t stopped him from taking it for some reason.

Deciding her best course of action was to stop talking after that, the rest of the trip passed in uncomfortable silence. Tupelo, who was seated beside her, eyed the technologist with mistrust. He clearly didn’t agree with the way he had talked to his lady but wasn’t about to comment in their current situation. Thankfully, the ride didn’t last long despite the slightly slower speed, and the procession filed into the walled fortress surrounding the tunnel exit and entrance before the silence had a time to stretch too long.

Lily looked around, as Staz put the mounts and truck back into his ring. Noticing the area which had contained a pair of train cars before was now completely empty. The people who’d guarded the walls before were also gone, leaving the group of them as the only ones in the large courtyard-like area around the tunnel, apart from the pair of sparrows sitting on the wall’s ramparts.

“It’s time.” Owl Two said stopping in place. “The connections have been made, are you and your people ready to go chief technologist?” The green skinned man who’d taken such offence at her innocent question nodded his head after a quick glance around at his people.

“Yes, Owl Two,” he said. “Any last-minute orders for us before we go across?”

“Get the growth vats on and primed first thing. We have run out of time and need to get the last group across today. After you have prepared the machine, I’ll send the soldiers across. Once they are growing, I want you to repair all the damaged equipment to the specifications we already discussed. Once that’s done start growing arms and armor for yokai teams two through seven.”

“Understood, Owl Two. We won’t fail our lord,” the chief said with a salute. The salute didn’t sound quite right without the sound of his fist slapping metal plate, but it was crisply done. A moment later, the seven hobgoblin engineers were gone. Having slowly faded from view until nothing remained. Lily blinked in amazement, staring at the spot where they’d stood. She didn’t have time to dwell on what had happened though, because she was distracted by a voice from behind her.

“Aunt Lily, what are you doing up here?” Asked a familiar voice, and Lily turned around with surprise to see Rachel and Robert coming out of the tunnel, unarmed but wearing their military armor. It was Rachel who’d spoken, and the look on her face told Lily it didn’t matter what she said at this point, since she’d already been judged.

“Rachel, Robert. I could ask you the same question.” She said facing the young couple without any visible fear or discomfort. A deception she’d perfected over her years as a politician. “I’ve come after a meeting with the queen to discuss certain matters with Owl two. What has brought the two of you here?” Nothing she’d said had been a lie, not exactly anyway. She had, after all, come after a meeting with the queen. The pair of them exchanged a look before Rachel turned back to Lily with a look of distaste.

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“I’d thought better of you, Aunt Lily.” She said, looking up as the pair of sparrows dropped to the ground. Their riders leapt from the saddles, in fluid motions that seemed too well timed not to be choreographed, before the birds took to the air again. “Never mind, you’ll find out with the rest of the WFS and the elves.” Reaching into her belt, she drew a pistol. Before she’d even managed to raise the weapon, Staz had put himself between the young human and Owl Two. While Unyielding Oak bounded forward like a deer, knives already drawn.

“It’s fine.” The android said, causing the deadly pair to falter in their actions. “Just let it play out. I don’t want there to be any doubts when the end arrives.” He said, the ambiguous words unsettling not only Lily, but everyone present, if the expressions she saw were any indication.

“Smart move, scrap heap.” Rachel said, as she raised the gun over her head and pulled the trigger. Lily felt relieved when she realized it was just a flair gun. That was, until the dropship swooped down to land in the now cleared fortification. She didn’t recognize the craft, but it was well armored. The engines protected by thick metal frames; Lily couldn’t readily find a use for. Her eyes bulged out when the ramp opened, and six fully armored figures, each easily as big as Staz, rode from the ship on equally well armored four wheeled craft. The four wheeled craft each had several crates, and weapons mounted to them. They reminded Lily of the ‘quads’ they’d picked up from Andy’s reef. Only these clearly weren’t built for recreation, but war. Each suit of armor, as well as the quads they drove were unique. No two of the six wore the same colors or style of armor, nor did any of their weapon's repeat.

“Which one of you is Rachel of Undercity?” The largest figure, who had spikes on his shoulder guards and easily topped twelve feet, asked as the six armored figures dismounted their four wheelers. Lily was shocked when the figure reached up and removed the massive helmet also covered in spikes, to reveal a brutish, but clearly human, face. It was disconcerting on a deep level, seeing such a small head inside such a huge suit of armor. It took Lily longer than she cared to admit, realizing the suits must actually be machines of some kind, like the armored truck, but in a human shape. His armor was white, with red splatters covering it in dripping patterns, clearly supposed to symbolize blood.

“That would be me,” Rachel said with a smirk, raising her hand in a lazy wave. Her announcement was greeted by a frown from the man who’d spoken. The frown caused the skin on his forehead to scrunch up more than one would think possible, thanks to his pale bald head that had been clearly sun deprived.

“A child?” He asked, looking at her in confusion. “I was sent to treat with a child. How insulting, do these goblin lover swine not know who I am?” He continued, talking to himself before addressing Rachel, who had turned as red as a female oni with rage. “I am Tybellus Vintanus, of the Anthropos knights.” He said, spitting to the side. “I was told a human representative of your… mixed race… city would be here to meet with me. Why did you bring that non-human filth? Is it a slave, or perhaps a gift for our first meeting?”

Lily’s heart sank. It was as she’d feared, these men were fanatics, who hated other races beyond reason. Heck, even their name, Anthropos, was an old word that meant human. Her eyes darted between the bald man in his giant suit of armor, Rachel, Robert, and Owl Two. She was worried about the kids. Rachel had settled down over the years, but the young woman was still a hot head, and being insulted like that wasn’t something she was likely to put up with.

“What di…” She started to say, her glare as intense as the Anthropos knight’s. Only she was stopped by a subtle nudge to her foot from Robert. The oldest son of Owl Five and Guts was just as fierce as his mother, but he’d inherited his father’s charm and people skills. At the slight reminder, Rachel changed what she’d been saying and spoke in a more welcoming tone.

“Greetings, lord Tybellus Vintanus. I am Rachel of Undercity; I’ve been sent here to meet with you at my queen’s request. I’m to inform you, that we have upheld our end of the bargain, barricading the tunnel against the syndicate, and simply wish to give the elves our offer, before you…”

“Enough,” the brutish looking man said, cutting her off mid-sentence. “I’m here now, so I’ll handle it. Don’t worry, I’ll give the pointy eared rats your message, goblin lover.” Turning his back to the red-faced Rachel, the man in titan armor took in the remainder of those gathered around. All of whom Lily realized as the man’s eyes continued to narrow, weren’t human.

“Listen up, demi human trash.” He said in a loud booming voice that echoed off the rampart walls and caused the sparrows sitting above to spread their wings in agitation. “As I’m sure the tree huggers already know, our army is advancing on your puny valley.” That statement did a lot to explain why the elves looked so wild eyed. “I’m here as a courtesy to our new… allies… from Undercity.” He all but spat the word ‘allies,’ and Lily could almost see him wiping his tongue clean in her mind before he continued. “They told us all about you White Flame people, not a single full-blooded human among you, unless you count your leader, who’s been gone for years. Not that anyone who’d associate with a load of scum like you is worthy of being called human…” Lily looked around at the syndicate members, none of whom were dealing with the insults well. Though, thankfully, only Unyielding Oak looked ready to shed blood, her knuckles white, on her dagger’s hilts.

“Could you come to the point please? My people have things to do.” Owl Two asked, stepping out from behind Staz, and looking up at the giant human with apparent calm.

“So,” Tybellus said, a wicked grin coming across his face. “You’re the robot who’s been running this circus in place of your absent lord? You know, we use your kind to repair our armor and carry our weapons.” At his words, the crates above each wheel on his four-wheeler unfolded into what looked like human shaped skeletons made of grey metal. Two of them grabbed a massive axe, colored to match his armor, from one side of the quad. While the other two grabbed an even bigger shield. Staggering under the weight, the four skeletal robots hobbled over to the giant and hoisted them up for him to grab. Once he’d grabbed his weaponry, he absently kicked the nearest robot away with a large, booted foot. It tumbled end over end, towards the bike, where it got to its feet. Grabbing a rag, it rushed back over to Tybellus, where it wiped the boot that had just kicked it, clean of dust.

“We heard you have a locust queen stashed somewhere in this camp. The deal is hand it over and submit to our rule. You long ears on the other hand, have been given a chance by the Undercity, who already submitted to us. Their only request was that we bring the syndicate to heel. You can join under their banner in service to us or be wiped out with these cross bred abominations.”

“So much for submitting to your rule,” Unyielding Oak scoffed. “You didn’t even pause after asking us to surrender before telling us you planned to kill us all. Why would we bend the knee only to have our heads removed when we could fight on our feet?”

“That elf doesn’t speak for us.” Hellebore said quickly, as the knight grinned wickedly, and swung his axe in anticipation. “She forsook her role among us, when she chose to stay loyal to the man who’s robot breeds yokai like cattle, over her own kind. The wood elves will take the offer and migrate into the Undercity. Our people are already marching here. All we ask is an open road to the tunnel.”

“Son?” Unyielding Oak asked, her voice breaking on that one word. Lily could almost see the unshakable foundation the wood elf clung to during the locust war, crumbling under the weight of his unilateral disregard for her.

“You pushed our people too far, mother.” Hellebore said with fierceness, born from fear. “Ninety out of one hundred of us died getting to the honeycomb. Twenty percent of those left died in the attack on Undercity. We’re tired of war, mother, and hundreds of men armored just like these six, ride toward our forest. If you wish to follow that crazy fool, then so be it, but you are no longer a member of our tribe.” Lily watched as Unyielding Oak’s confidence continued to erode under her last living relatives verbal attack, and she thought the wood elf would finally break under the weight of his words. Only to see the fire come back into her eyes as her spine straightened and her shoulders went back.

“So be it,” she said. Proving with finality that Petal dancer, the old leader of the wood elves was dead, and Unyielding Oak, the hard, callous woman who’d brought at least some of her people through the locust war alive, was here to stay. “You’ve made your choice, and I’ve made mine. May the forest forever shade your path.” There wasn’t anything to say after that, and Hellebore called his sparrow down and left as soon as he’d gotten word from the knight that a path would be left open for them.

“What about you, pale skinned rat?” Tybellus asked the remaining elf. Lily looked on as lord Ellanaril looked between Owl Two and the human knight.

“Owl two… I… do not wish to break my word…” He was clearly struggling with some internal battle, but the android didn’t make him beg.

“Swear on your honor, your race will owe the White Flame a single, eternal boon, and I’ll cut all ties with the dryad and Oakkin, making them free of any loyalty or compulsions to serve the White Flame.” Owl Two said before the moon elf lord could speak further. The android got more than one sideways glance from his people at the statement, but no one spoke.

“Deal,” Lord Ellanaril said without hesitation. Pulling the moon-faced ring off his finger, he twisted the top until a red light flashed, then spoke into it. “I swear on my race’s honor, to owe Lord Ronin the White Flame a single eternal boon, in exchange for permanently relinquishing the dryad and Oakkin pair into my care.” Twisting the ring face again, the light turned off and he tossed it to the android. “Thank you for your understanding.” Without another word, the elf was in the air and flying away.

“What just happened?” Rachel asked, but her question was answered for her, when a number of moon elf ships descended on the forest outside the valley walls. “Those cowards, they’re running away.” She said with shock clearly evident on her face. “I thought they’d stand by their kin and come to us.” Hunter had clearly hoped to force the elf’s hand, by threatening them into her arms with an outside threat. Lily struggled with her admiration for the brilliance of the move, and her disappointment she was now so untrusted in the Undercity she’d been kept in the dark about the plan.

“non-human filth has no honor, girl.” Tybellus said, before turning back to Owl Two. “Now, it’s your turn, future slave. Will you hand over the locust queen and submit to servitude, or will you die?” Lily wondered if it was too late for her to walk over and stand beside Rachel. She cursed her poor timing ten thousand times. Why, why had she chosen today of all days to come to the surface. Why hadn’t she just let it go?

“You have come to my lord’s lands, a noble whose title was earned through right of conquest. Threatened his people, and claimed ownership of his lands without formal challenge, have you no honor?” Owl Two asked in his emotionless tone. “Is it not customary to announce yourself when entering another lord’s lands? To offer a duel to decide how, or if a battle will unfold?” The five knights who’d accompanied Tybellus stirred and muttered angrily; one of them went so far as to leap forward and shout.

“Blasphemy. You dare to recite our honor code, robot? Who are you, to even know our laws, let alone speak them aloud? They were designed for humans, not boot polishing filth like you.” This knight was ten feet tall and wore armor in a similar style to the leaders, covered in spikes and looking like a cross between a medieval knight, and futuristic tank. Painted a slate grey, the blood spatters were in a similar pattern, the only real difference between the suits was the size, and base color. Of the six, only these two had a blood splatter pattern on their armor.

“Peace Grybellus, my brother.” The leader said, turning to the knight who’d jumped into the conversation. “Pay no attention to the ravings of a machine. We won’t be complying with any demi human demands.”

“Demi human we may be,” Owl two said, speaking up again. “But our lord is human, as his property, it is within our rights to demand our lord gets a fair challenge in his absence… that is, unless you fear you can’t beat one of us in fair, mortal combat?” Lily could tell the android was goading them, so could Tybellus, but his brother Grybellus, didn’t seem to understand.

“We won’t fall victim to your verbal…” Tybellus started.

“I’m not scared of any nonhuman filth,” Grybellus said. "I’ll accept your challenge, robot. What are the terms?”

“Damn it, brother what are you doing?” Tybellus roared, but it was too late. The smaller knight had already accepted his two-handed claymore from his four robot helpers, who had to work together to carry the long blade.

“Our champion vs yours in mortal combat. If you win, we surrender ourselves to your rule, if we win, you leave our lands alone. All other rules of noble challenge are to be adhered to as well.” Lily didn’t know what those rules entailed, but the bald Anthropos knight did, and his eyes bulged at the mention of them.

“Never,” Tybellus said in a rage. Stalking towards the android, only to be halted by a hand on his chest. Staz, who looked small before the even larger suit of armor had checked the human’s advance with one hand. Tybellus, clearly shocked at the power the oni displayed, drew his axe back, clearly ready to start the fighting at once.

“There’s no need for that brother,” the smaller blood splattered knight called, before a fight could take place. “I’ve accepted their challenge already, and who could they possibly put against me? This blue troll? He isn’t even wearing powered armor; how strong can he be?” The smaller knight clearly hadn’t seen the ‘troll’ stopping the much larger knight’s advance. Yet it looked like it was too late for him to stop the battle now.

“Very well,” the leader said looking back at his brother with a sigh. “Very well, but don’t take unnecessary risks. The Undercity representative who visited the capital warned of this troll’s might.” His next words held the hint of tradition, as if they were part of the duel as well. “We send forth Grybellus Vintanus, as champion of our conquering force, to battle in my name, for the right to hold these lands.” The Oni rumbled deep in his chest at being called a troll, but he didn’t respond in any other way. Until Tybellus backed up and Grybellus stepped forward, swinging his massive sword. Once Owl two gave him the go ahead, Staz entered the fighting area, now ringed with spectators.

“We send forth Staz, the champion of the White Flame syndicate, to battle in our lord’s name, for the right to hold these lands.” Owl two said, looking up at the giant calmly. “Make our lord proud,” he said, not embellishing or trying to pump the oni up for the fight. That wasn’t his style, and Lily could tell the giant didn’t need any encouragement for battle anyway.

“It will be my pleasure.” He said, pulling his kanabo from thin air as he walked towards the claymore wielding human knight.