Norak

Norak was boiling over with rage.

They hadn't called on the other tribes for help yet and so no help from the other tribes had come. No tribe of Scarred Men would interfere in a grudge unless called upon. The force they'd brought was more than big enough to storm the villa their scouts reported, a few dozen Birdfang collected from the smaller villages and their main settlement. Maukra had declared there would be no massacres, which was fine with Norak. Anyone who didn't get in his way could live.

It was impossible to hide the movement of their force completely in the trees but they were still Scarred Men. Still Birdfang. An observer might know that the shadows were moving but he'd be a fool to try and follow them. Unless the observer was also Birdfang.

“Hey brother!” someone shouted from the walls above, stuffing her face with something from a bowl. “Are you down there? It's alright! I'm okay!”

That's impossible.

“Dyryl!” Maukra cried out, her voice cracking on the name.

“Mother!' Dyryl called back. “Mother you're alright! It's good to see you!”

“Please priestess, wait.” He took a deep lungful of air and bellowed. “Dyryl! Have they got a sword to your back?”

“No! And I'm glad to hear your voice, Norak.”

“What's going on?”

“We're up to our necks in Imperial politics. The commander who ordered the attack on you is dead. A lot's been going on. We've got chewy lizard tongues.”

“I can see that,” Muakra called out. “And I won't move until we understand what. Everyone, stand down and make camp! Be ready to fight if we have to, but no one attacks.”

Disciplined tribesmen shouted back their understanding all across the line, and even Norak managed to agree through gritted teeth, but the blood boiling inside him wanted more than anything to rush the fortress walls alone.

But he stood down, though he insisted on coming with Maukra as the gates were opened by nervous soldiers. And well they should be, Norak thought, growling at them as he walked into the courtyard. It turned out the place was a mess, and in his experience messes took a long time to clean up. They started by bringing Maukra to Patrician Jajess.

After a while, someone served more food. This mess was going to take a longtime to clear up.

Lekarik

“Forward scouts report a large camp of Scarred Men at the Patrician's villa, lord emperor.”

Lekarik nodded. He liked High General Krozz. He had no illusions about how loyal the High General was. The High General was a beast, just like his mount they'd brought along caged up on one of the troop barges. His ferocity had brought him up to High General, but he chafed serving under Grand General Ferrik. Ferrik was too limiting, too restricting. Too tangled up in outdated codes of honor. In Lekarik, Krozz saw a chance to obtain the glory and position of the Grand General's post while at the same time a chance to flex his muscles and do what he did best.

Lekarik was fine with that.

Krozz had really flexed his muscles taking the small river dock. The buildings were shattered open and corpses lay everywhere. It wasn't likely that everyone working at the small dock was an agent of the rogue patrician, but it wasn't impossible either, so they'd all been put to the sword as quickly as possible. Now the soldiers were preparing to move on to the real battle ahead.

“Seems to me,” the emperor said, “that Jajess has been conspiring with the forest barbarians in his little rebellion.” He gave Krozz a fang faced grin. “We can charge in and be rid of two problems at once.”

“Won't it be trouble fighting the Scarred Men in their own forests?” Gylldrianna said. She wasn't planning on going to the battle, but she'd been brought along as an imperial adviser. “I'm no soldier but I understand they're difficult to fight on their own ground.”

“It's not their ground it's mine,” Lekarik snarled. “These are my forests.”

“They're in the open anyway,” Krozz said. “I didn't bring as many scouts as I'd like but this will be a legionnaires battle. The Scarred Men are scouts and sneakers.”

“Besides it's time we settled things with the forest tribes. I find the thought of their arrangement unpleasant. Insulting, somehow. How can they be a part of my empire and not my subjects? We'll bring them to heel next. General, I order you to assault Patrician Jajess's villa. Take only minimal prisoners, if any.”

“Yes sir,” Krozz said. “Just let me get my beast.”

A roar echoed from inside one of the troop carrying barges.

Jajess

“And you're sure of this information?” Jajess asked his scout.

“Yes lord Patrician,” the kneeling soldier said. “The emperor has landed in troops, mixed regiments from the scouts, legions, and his own personal guard.”

Because he doesn't dare trust this all to the legions. I've still got a chance. I just need to adjust my plan even if....

“More importantly, are you sure he was carrying the ax?”

“Yes, Lord Patrician.”

“You've done well,” Jajess told the soldier after a moment of thoughtful silence. “I will organize things here. You and your scouts must keep an eye on their movements.”

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“Yes, Lord Patrician!” The soldier hurried off to follow his orders.

“We can't hold off that force,” Jajess said out loud. “And even if we could I don't dare engage in armed combat with the emperor. Not yet. It's too early.”

Ballum said nothing. He knew when his employer was just using him to talk out loud.

“And the discussions with the Birdfang over the past three days haven't really gotten me anything have they? Oh this and that about our merchant deals with their little tribe but not what I need. Not support. I mean with the Birdfang on my side I might have a real fighting force to challenge Lekarik.”

“Many in the city do not trust the forest tribes,” Ballum pointed out. “They might see you as siding with outsiders.”

“And the forest tribes would only ever see me as a lying city man anyway. No, no you're right even if they had promised to support me I couldn't trust it. I can't trust any of them really. I can't trust to the loyalty of Shylldra and Hallek, they haven't even actually agreed to help me yet. And I certainly can't trust Verris either. I can't even really trust Krazzek. He's far too friendly with the Birdfang. No, no I think this entire plan has just collapsed in on itself. I didn't expect Lekarik to master the ax, however it is he's done it. Or to take such bold action. The question now is what we do.”

“If the emperor takes this villa very little.”

“You're quite right. It's time to cut our losses, Ballum. This entire strategy and my son. I know you've been training the boy, will that be a problem?”

“If he is Kuraga, he will survive.”

“Then we shall go. The secret exit, I think. No need for them to all know they're being sacrificed just yet.”

Krazzek

Krazek and Dyryl sat on a balcony overlooking the villa's grounds. There was a lot more to see than usual, with the Birdfang camped outside the walls. The villa was almost starting to look like a small town. A Birdfangtown even. Jajess must really, really want to the forest tribes on his side to let it happen.

“What are you thinking about?” Dyryl asked.

“That Jajess is trying to use you.”

Dyryl laughed. Dyryl was a complication in Krazzek's life. He hatedcomplications in his life. But somehow he hadn't managed to wriggle away from this one. Something about the tattooed woman made him keep coming back and having these conversations which were...

Weird.

It wasn't flirting, at least not exactly. Half the time they were snide to each other. But they sat together and they talked, all the time now. It was confusing and mildly infuriating, but he couldn't seem to stop. Dyryl was about to say something when they saw the army.

They appeared over the hill, soldiers in armor led by a man mounted on...Krazzek couldn't make it out. But he knew a force of legionnaires when he saw one. They were taking up positions on the cleared hill in sight of the villa's walls.

“What are the chances they're friends of Jajess's?” Dyryl asked.

“Next to none. Come on, we've got to try and warn everybody.”

Hallek

“When are you going to fight me again?” Verris demanded.

“I'm not,” Hallek sighed. “It was stupid the first time.”

“We haven't settled anything.”

“I don't really care. What do you want, Verris?”

“To beat the shit out of you.”

“No, that's not what I mean. What's the end goal? What's the point? You were yelling at me for not having any ambition. So what do you actually want?”

Verris stared at him.

“We're sitting here with two incredibly powerful infusions wrapped up in some crazy plot to unseat the emperor and...and a couple months ago we were shovelers in Downwind. Do you want to be emperor, Verris?”

“Not with my father pulling the strings,” Verris said. “But once I've killed him—and I definitely plan to kill him—yeah, could be good.”

Hallek sighed and leaned back against the wall. He'd never thought about having power before because he'd never had power before. Oh the occasional fantasy about being a great hero, battling Fangs—but then he'd done that part already, hadn't he? And he wasn't dumb enough to think he could go back to being a shoveler after all this. Did he want to be emperor?

His brain was just going down in spirals, so he was glad when Shylldra ran in.

“There you two are,” she said. “We've got a problem. There's soldiers. And I can't find Jajess anywhere.”

“Where Ballum?” Verris asked.

“With Jajess, wherever he is.”

Hallek and Verris caught each other's eyes.

“We've been sacrificed,” Hallek said. “Haven't we?”

“The son of a bitch ran,” Verris snarled. “I'll kill him. I swear I'm going to kill him!”

The three of them ran outside where they could see the army, unmounted legionnaires getting ready to attack. The only mounted man was a powerful wall of muscles on top of a creature Hallek had never seen before. It was sixteen feet long, a full third of that made entirely of jaws, which were themselves constructed primarily of teeth. It hissed and snarled at the air, pulled back on its haunches like it was about to spring forward.

“That man...that's High General Krozz. He's Lekarik's favorite. The most loyal man to Lekarik in the legions.”

“I knew it,” Hallek spat. “Jajess left us to take the blame.”

“Oh I think I'll take most of the blame,” Verris snarled, tucking his whip away in his belt. “It's how my father thinks. Any magistrate he sees will hear the story of his vicious, evil minded low born bastard son and his plans. He'll make me out to be nothing but spiteful, ambitious monster.”

Hallek did not mention that this description was technically accurate. And that Verris had been in on the plot to overthrow the empire. That possibly, technically, the only tragedy here was Jajess getting away. And all the innocent people caught up in the whole mess, like Shylldra.

Or himself, for that matter. He watched Krozz raise an infused speaking horn to his face.

“Traitors and barbarians!” Krozz bellowed in what could only be described as a bad start. “I stand before you to pass judgment. The Emperor stands before you with new power. He has instructed me not to give you a chance to return to our ranks, since you made your choices long ago. We are here merely to carry out the sentence which has been duly handed down. Each and every one of you is going to die.”

From behind Krozz another figure stepped forward, shirtless but wearing a long cape. In his hand he held a gleaming white ax. It made the back of Hallek's neck itch.

“Lekarik,” Shylldra asked. “Since when can he pick up the ax like that?”

“It’sa fake,” Verris said. “Father told me he used fakes a lot in public.”

“No,” Hallek said. “It's not a fake. I can feel it.”

And if Hallek's feelings weren't enough the Emperor took the moment to prove it. He raised the ax high over his head and roared. There was more to the sound than noise and a wave of energy, invisible yet felt, like the wind, washed over the battlefield.

“Milkaamek's roar,” Shylldra gasped. “It's supposed to empower his soldiers on the battledfield. No one's...no one's used it in centuries. But how? How could he do this all of a sudden?”

“Who cares?” Verris said. “This is our chance to kill him.”

“Hallek,” Shylldra said. “Let's see if we can't...”

Hallek roared.

It was every bit as ferocious as Lekarik's, the roar of an angered fang. A challenge roar. He wasn't even aware of the ghostly orange lightning that crackled around his body, forming the shape of the fang as he roared. All he knew was that another had dared to bellow dominance in histerritory.

Someone shouted charge. It was meant for the other side, but Hallek did.

Lekarik

He's down there.

The villa wasn't exactly mounting an organized defense, but between the tribesmen in camp and Jajess’s? guards they were doing a good job of mobbing his oncoming soldiers. He trusted Krozz to handle things. He planned to sit under an umbrella and drink wine.

Unless, that is, the Fang warrior turned out to be powerful enough to need his direct intervention. That might be kind of fun. He'd lost track of them after that first bellow, and that flash of orange light. He wondered what kind of infusion power made that happen?

No matter. If he had to fight, he would fight. In the meanwhile there was wine. And as the soldiers clashed and blood began to flow, entertainment.