Germination 5

July 30th, 2032.

I awkwardly waited around for my ride, fiddling with my cloak. The fabric was heavy, soft, and tough, made of silken threads rich in magics weaved into the fabric.

Which was quite literal, Weavers were less common nowadays but a lot of their craft involved pouring their intent into weaving. Fine threads of spirit overlapping with threads of matter., patterns which the spirits would follow or be repelled by.

It was rather important as many patterns in weaves could be used to trap illness-spirits in mazes to keep them from striking at people. It was a thousand little traditions, a thousand little tricks, and folk knowledge passed down from parent to child.

No different than on Earth, the first healers were shamans and priests, the first chemists were alchemists and wizards. Most of modern medicine was distilled from those old traditions, refined, studied, and analyzed. The poppy seeds of old became the opium of today.

The main difference is it involves exotic life energy instead of just mundane reality.

I was waiting at a local Skyport, which was essentially a series of flat pads for airships, flying boats and riding animals like sky mission, and spider-bats

I could see one such spider-bat, about the length of a horse, though certainly lighter. Spider-bats were gorgeous mammals, with two pairs of membranous wings connected by a long tail. Some kind of mutation had caused an extra limb to emerge in their ancestors.

Ultima called it Immersion Evolution, the process of life adapting to the environment of Ersete. A realm rich in wild magic, a distorted and twisted world. She had seen it happen whenever animals from Earth found their way here. Juvenile members of a species showed rapid changes to their physiology, adapting to toxins, learning how to draw on magic for energy, and incorporating inorganic minerals in their physiology.

Dragons were a good example, with iron-rich bones thrice as strong as high-strength steel. It was why fauna and flora here could grow to enormous scales. Their evolution was fueled by the endless potential of magic… one could split them into kaijin and kaiju. For English-speaking idiots who think the former means small monster and the latte means big monster.

Though I suppose kaijin could apply to every person who lives in this world.

Regardless, fauna could reach enormous scales, with thousands of tons of mass and enough power to level cities and small countries. I had seen evidence of that with a dragon skull over twenty feet long.

Dinah’s race counted too, as wapuk could exceed twenty feet tall and over a ton depending on their bloodline. On which dragon their ancestors had laid down with.

Dragon genetics were complicated, as they were essentially a ring species spread out across the known world. Though most had vanished, leaving behind their children as an echo of a once greater age.

I paused from my inner monologue when a faint scent of firewood and earthy scents hit my nose. It was accompanied by the smell of honey, flowers, and… dog?

I turned enthusiastically, and found both Dinah and Althea walking towards me.

Why are there so many pretty girls in this world?

Dinah was wearing her usual outfit, so gorgeous and exposing a lot of softly scaled skin as usual. Althea was wearing her new outfit, a tattered orange blazer over a brown armored top, along with a blue skirt and shorts.

I would let either of them crush me with their thighs…

I coughed. “Hello there! I guess that means our ride is here?” I asked.

The two girls shared a look I couldn't read, and without a second though I was picked up by the armpits.

“WHAT! What's going on! Put me down!” I whimpered at the distant judging stares of other people, kicking my feet as I was held several feet off the ground.

“Nope.” Both sang in unison while I cried out in despair.

“Nooooo—”

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I pouted as I sat down on the plush cushions of the airship’s multiple seats.

Calafian airships were fairly basic affairs, using modified boat frames for their gondolas. The balloon itself was infused with reinforcement magic. A basic spell which involves enhancing the existence of an object by pouring magical energy into it. Increasing the sharpness of a knife, the nourishment of food, or physical strength and durability.

It was what Althea had shown over a month, with breathing, keeping the energy within.

Sundamp or helium was infused with magical energy, enhancing its buoyancy to impossible levels. A forty-foot diameter balloon model could lift one hundred to two hundred tons, and was propelled with an enchanted aerokinetic engine.

Honestly, they could just build planes at this point. If it wasn't for the fact they were still limited by energy. Needing to pour vast amounts of khi into batteries to fuel continuous air current manipulation spells was a problem.

“So these things can only fly at max a hundred sixty kilometers per hour?” I asked Dinah for details over a quick afternoon brunch. Which wasn't anything really fancy. Just an omelet folded over steak and stuffed with peppers and other delicious things.

Dinah blinked as she speared a ten-legged shrimp thing with her claws. “Do flying machines go faster in your world? We have flying implements but… those are more personal.”

“Planes work with a combination of their wings to provide lift and powerful engines for thrust. Modern jet planes cruise at eight hundred to one thousand kilometers per hour. Fighter jets double that. Like mechanical atmospheric beasts. My country has over a thousand of them.”

Dinah started. “I cannot tell if you are threatening me or not.”

Althea giggled. “Oh she's not, she just likes to rant. Humans just have a lot of stuff because there’s more of them and their technology is better in some ways.”

“Some?” Dinah looked like she was going to explode.

“We don't have magic, barring anything that leaks into our world from yours.” I crossed my arms as I bounced a leg. “I’ve seen fireballs from Ultima destroy rocks the size of small mansions. That would take over a dozen tons of high explosives for us. Even if she's ten or twenty or fifty times stronger than the average witch. That’s a level of firepower well in excess of an individual soldier. Barring them calling down artillery.”

“So how are you…?”

I snorted. “Alive? Humans still have khi, we just don't have as much and it doesn't flow as naturally. We can learn to manipulate our own energy inside of us, it's getting that energy outside that's a problem.”

“Fascinating. There must be so many differences between humans and witches.”

“Girl, you have scales and feather-like hairs. Duh.” I suppressed a smug grin at her glare. “I find dragons neat though, fangs and claws and wings and fire.”

Dinah’s dark gold eyes twinkled. “I suppose my kind is quite intriguing to you?”

I tilted my head. “Dragons. Yes obviously, I didn't expect them to be so pretty though.” I took a bite of my omelet.

Dinah’s tail swayed faster and she seemed flustered for some reason.

“Does she do that a lot?” Dinah asked Althea, who nodded with a sharp smile.

“She does.”

“What? What did I say?” Both girls simply offered soft grins. “Err. Anyways, what can either of you tell me about Anagen? And why are we helping you as a herald?” I pointed to Dinah with narrowed eyes.

Dinah nodded and started weaving together a light spell, and cast a physical map of Anagen. It was a peninsular landmass, making up a good fraction of the northeastern shore of the leaf-shaped Boiling Sea. Shaped much like a finger, and ending at a strait between Danab and Taglaz where the Salton Sea would be on Earth.

“Anagen is a maritime culture like many of the taifa surrounding the Boiling Sea,” Dinah started. “Anagen is administered by ten tribula in total. The Harpy Tribes, who possess the largest airfleet, with dozens of ships.” There was a hint of irritation there, and I raised a brow.

“There some kind of rivalry between Caudalann and Anagen?” I asked with a curious tone.

“Anagen and Caudalann both have many people who love the skies and the seas… so there’s some competitive spirit between us.” Dinah said with shifty eyes. My lips twitched in amusement.

“I’m guessing it's less competition and more periodic skirmishes and outright wars.”

Dinah’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “That’s a very dangerous question in my company.”

I looked at her in her inhuman eyes, with an equally sized smirk. “Is that so?”

Then Althea bopped us both on our heads.

Oww!

“Stop flirting!” Althea ordered, to my blustering denial. “It’s just that her clan has a big rivalry with the royal clan of Anagen nowadays. They haven't gone to war with each other in a hundred years.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Huh, neat.” I focused on that lifeline instead. “But again what can be said about the royal clan of Anagen?”

Dinah clasped her hands together. “The Celaeno have been the ruling clan for as long as my own clan. But where we are of Fire and Sea, they are of Air and Sea. So conflict is inevitable, but we have enough in common that our conflicts don't degrade into hatred, into violence and destruction.”

“Air and Fire huh?” I murmured quietly.

Dinah nodded. “Fire and water are opposing elements, but air is our opposing energy. Those of air are mercurial, prone to being pulled by passing fancies and interests. Those of fire are choleric, passionate and emotional. So when a bunch of airheads step on our buttons…”

“Boom.”

Elemental affinity was interesting. Everyone was born with a primary element, the strongest essence of their spirit. But of course, no one was just one thing, all souls had a touch of the elements inside them, their material connection to the Source.

The sources were like aspects of reality, while the elements were like parts of reality, which worked better for us solid fleshy beings.

Dinah nodded, rolling her muscular shoulders. “That is why we have heralds like myself to head off any conflict. We might not always like each other, but war is a costly thing. And at least… air and fire do enjoy fair competition from time to time.”

“I would like to see that pretty tail of yours being kicked at the next Strait Relay.” Althea mused with a soft chuckle.

I blinked. “Strait Relay?”

“We cross the northeastern strait between Danab and Taglaz, the best flyers from each taifa work in teams over more than fifty kilometers of open sea. Whoever wins gets all the honor and glory.”

“That sounds dangerous.” Dinah just offered a sultry smirk.

Dinah pointed to the map again. “Back to politics, Anagen is led by Valka clan Celaeno. She was voted in as ré after the death of her parents and her elder brother,” I raised a brow and she shook her head. “No foul play there, she was devastated by their deaths and still follows their Way.”

I shivered, something about the way she said it… sounded important in a way I didn't comprehend.

“Yep okay.”

Dinah continued. “Valka rebuilt the Anagen fleet, both in the skies and on the waters. Uses them frequently in raids against slave raiders and mercenary bands. It's my job as herald to make such raids possible. Neither of us tolerates slavers.” Her claws glinted as she curled them out.

I had a good feeling slave-takers didn't have a good time in the Boiling Sea.

“That’s good.” I don't tolerate slavery either, an evil and monstrous institution.

It was sad that even in the modern day slavery is an unextinguished evil.

“Despite our rivalry we work well to deal with the slavers of High Corpus,” Dinah looked ready to maul someone. “My father once burnt one of their ships down to the mast for selling pleasure slaves.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. Should I care about that or not?

“We’re also going to talk about what you want to happen with the future of the clan aren't we?” Althea butted in with a nasty grin, blunt fangs flicking forward.

Dinah bristled, taking another bite of her meal. “We are. There is much to discuss if this truce is to go anywhere.”

Why did that feel ominous?

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It didn't take more than a few minutes before we were brought before the royal clan.

The entire taifa was built within a rift valley some fifteen miles wide and forty-five miles long. Bordered by mountains on either side. True peaks uplifted over millions of years, crystallizing from the rotting flesh of the Titan. It was a vast chaparral, moderated by the surrounding sea and twisted weather patterns.

Rich in strange fauna and flora and florafauna because fuck human sensibilities of biology.

The tribula was built high, framed buildings of wood reinforced with steel. Buildings up to ten stories high, interconnected on different floors with sky bridges covered in flora. It was a third the size of Cruorpool in terms of cityscape. But fields of agriculture surrounded it for miles in every direction, at least double the size of all the tribeland.

The clan home of the Celaeno was as tall as Dinah’s home was squat, four intersecting buildings ten stories tall linked together by walls. So… a castle made of wood, stone, and steel. It was narrower but not to the point of claustrophobia.

Plus more sky bridges… I feel like they like bridges in the air too much?

Regardless we had disembarked from the landing pad in the middle of the familial castle. There had to be dozens of harpies. All of them wearing various levels of clothing since they were covered from head to toe in feathers.

From basic loincloths and skirts to light, sleeveless tunics and robes. Others wore fancy and intricate clasped backs and rather impractical outfits when it came to feathers and wings.

I coughed, hiding behind Althea as we followed Dinah alongside two of her soldiers. Then again… basically everyone in Caudalann was trained how to fight.

The dragoness looked to be in her element, eyes sharp and bright.

Most of the harpies were songbirds. But I did notice that the clan had a higher mix of raptors and hawks. Hawks are actually more related to parrots…

Curiously enough, some harpies lacked feathers over their faces and necks. Each individual bore various skin colors… which made sense to me. They were beast folk just like Althea, and they shared blood with the plainfolk.

Dinah breathed out, her magic spreading in curling waves of power. It was a ten-second count of anticipation.

She bellowed, pumping her chest. “Greetings, Queen Valka, I am Dinah clan Frazoiyo, daughter and heir of Ladon clan Frazoiyo, King of Caudalann! I bring greetings and good tidings from my wellborn father on this Calafia-blessed day!”

I scanned the queen with a high-pitched hum. She was a condor harpy, a lithe and athletic frame covered in black feathers with white stripes along her wings. Her face was sharp in every respect down to her nose, and reddish. She wore something like a haori, a bright pink of all colors with wind patterns in deeper reds and blacks.

Her red eyes were predatory, four-fingered hands ending in talons twitching. The air twitched with her. She glanced at me with an intensity that was a tad frightening. I kept myself from swallowing, preventing embarrassment.

That intense moment was shattered as she pulled her lips into a grin full of teeth.

“Welcome to my home, Dinah! I accept your greetings and tidings, and offer you the hospitality of my camp, and of my court!”

Camp was an accurate term, the harpies were of Air, and they wandered with the winds. They had base settlements with this one as the largest and grandest, most were much smaller.

The queen clasped her hands together, wings folded back as she grinned. “I see you have two new members added to your retinue, two more strays hmm?”

I gave a puzzled look at Dinah who coughed. “I do not discriminate, that is our way. Both have proven themselves to be trustworthy folk.” The dragoness had a sincere sunny laugh.

Cute.

Valka had a trollish smile, amusement dancing in her eyes. “Oh? Is that so—”

“Din-Din!” A sonorous voice broke through the formality of the introduction, and Dinah let out a yelp as a feathered mass slammed into her at Mach 3.

The air batted my face and I blinked at the fluffy, pudgy girl(?!) latched onto Dinah’s person.

“Huh?”

The girl in question looked like an owl, short and pudgy with thick thighs, a cute belly, and… large tracts of land. She was mostly covered in feathers except for her upper chest, neck and face. Her reddish-brown skin and eye color… said enough about who one of her parents was.

“Alice, we do not accost those we have offered hospitality to.” The queen looked exasperated at her daughter’s actions.

Alice just chirped with a hiccup. “It’s just Dinah, we know her well already. Her werewolf and human friends are new though.”

I froze.

Alice just chirped again. “To make up for my lapse in judgment, let me show them around hmm?”

Oh, she's not an idiot…

Alice’s little black feather tufts and ears swiveled in my direction. Like she knew what I was thinking.

Oh boy.

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An hour-long tour was torture.

So much time had been spent on getting me familiar with the layout of the clan home. So much so that I was exhausted mentally and physically.

“As you can see, the accommodations of our clan house is sizable. It has to be when we have a hundred and more of our kin in and out.” Alice sang prettily, circling around us in a gentle shift of her feet. “Negotiations have been scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, so you've got some free time.”

I shifted at her words. “Oh, thank you.”

Alice paused, and poked me with her claw. “No… Thank you. Only Calafia knows how much I've wanted to knock some sense into my old friend. Truth is in the air, and she hasn't been exposed to enough of it. Fire needs Air.”

I nodded carefully as she led me towards my room. “I understand.”

“You do, don't you?” Alice just chuckled, something sad and angry in her eyes. “Well, you do seem a real catch. I'd let you do awful, unspeakable things to me if I didn't know Dinah would kill me.”

My mouth went dry. “Uhh.”

“Air is capricious, and you are very cute.” She flicked my cloak with a flirtatious click of her tongue. “I’ve bought you some time to speak with Din-Din on your plans. Continue what you've been doing, and we won't have a problem.”

I smiled right back. “You’re a very scary person, aren't you? Also weirdly blunt?”

She shrugged her wings. “I’m more grounded than most, in some ways. A mountain wind rather than the wandering breeze of the steppe. Still pretty flighty though, just more with whims than with… my Way.”

“No, I like it. You're honest, and I definitely need the help. I'm not built for all this court nonsense.”

“Nope. But it also means you can cut through a lot of things that need to be cut. So keep going. For all our sakes.”

We came up to my room, and I was pushed in with a casual kick. Woah!

The room wasn't too extravagant, more a fancy hotel than all the riches of a country in one room. Plenty of curios from all over Calafia though. I looked over to my bed and froze up again.

Dinah was lying down on my bed, and I had a momentary moment of weakness. A barely whispered whimper escaped my lips, and I covered the shameful sound.

Dinah bobbed her head, cracking her jaw as she yawned. “Dear Celia, finally get your tour done?”

My brain short-circuited. “Yep. Si.”

“Celia?”

“Am fine.” I took a few seconds to focus on breathing, my eyes darting up and down at her resting frame. “Alice mentioned she bought us time to talk, does that include—” I walked backward into a belly hard as steel and yelped.

I looked up to pale gold eyes and a fine chest. “Hello there Celia.” Althea greeted with a waggle of her hands.

Okay.

“How much time do we have to talk?” I said instead as my blood boiled in my poor bisexual heart.

“Forty-five minutes, and I can keep eavesdroppers out with the help of the spirits,” Althea contributed. “There's a lot to talk about.”

Dinah looked serious. “Yes there is. So let us discuss it.

In that room, we all shared a nod.

So let's begin shall we?