It had been tricky to keep Wade from launching himself from the cart in a whirlwind of swinging mace and bashing shield in a last ditch battle to save himself but Gwen had managed to keep him down long enough for Clarke to hastily talk him down. When that had failed the sleeper hold Gwen put him into did the trick, though it took a heck of a lot longer than a person should have been able to withstand.

Wormwood had surprisingly stayed put too, arrogant little smirk on his face as though none of this affected him. The watching lizardfolk had been kind enough to not put arrows in their backs while they got things under control.

“So what kept you in place?”

Clarke whispered to the elf.

“There's a proper time for everything.”

Clarke had his own plan. He knew Swampbelly lived in the area and planned to plead for him as a character witness. He had said that he was planning to take some time off and relax at home. His only hope was that Swampbelly hadn't tired of city life and taken an extended vacation abroad.

What really worried him at that moment was Alouella. Being an elf in the company of several kidnapped hatchlings didn't leave much room for her to explain the situation before someone put an arrow in her throat.

For now they were rolling into the city of the lizardfolk. He'd seen small lizardfolk villages, simple structures of thatch and wood built up off the ground but he'd never have expected what a proper city would look like. They rolled past squat, one and two story buildings each made up from heavy square stones, each a dull grey. Moss and ivy grew over everything, trees upsetting the foundations of buildings or growing right out of the roof so weeping willow branches shaded the roof and spilled over into the street.

The lizardfolk stopped to watch as they passed and their racial differences were amazing when compared side by side. Colors ranged wildly, from dark greens, to black and up into the pastels. Many of those they passed had large tails with tall, thick ridges but there were some with smaller or even no tails at all. Even as traveled as he was, Clarke had never seen such racial diversity in a species he'd taken as tall, muscular and green. It was the Deraforda of lizardpeople.

He badly wanted to document it, his fingers twitching with his hands bound but there was nothing to be done. He looked at the large guard who had done all the snarling at them earlier.

“Hey. What's the name of this city?”

The lizardman looked back from atop his mount with a look of rusty razors and salt.

“I don't lower myself to talking with humans. Keep your mouths shut until the Great Tail has decided what to do with you.”

Gwen whispered to Clarke as they entered.

“Why do they call their leader the Great Tail?”

Clarke shrugged but Wormwood whispered to them.

“The tail supports a lot of lizardfolk's balance. It 'supports' them.”

“Ah.”

The building they stopped before was larger than most in terms of spread and three stories tall. Carved over the stone were scenes of violence, lizardfolk attacking and wiping out all manner of creatures, including other Lizardfolk, in a carved banner that circled the building. It didn't inspire confidence in the kindness their captors might show.

The lizard guards ushered them from the wagon, two of them slapping Wade around the face and jerking him up only to have his body topple over the wagon and crush them into the stone streets. He finally woke from the impact, numerous pointy objects pointed at his face. He scowled and stood, hands clasped in front of him as he followed the others.

Clarke looked at Wade, wondering if any amount of yelling at him would make this any better. It wouldn't but he'd hiss at him.

“When were you going to tell us you were an egg snatching slaver? Might have been real good to know.”

“I tried!”

“Repeatedly saying we shouldn't go a certain way with no explanation isn't trying! You should have just said what you did!”

“Yeah, and you'd have abandoned me like some kind dead weight.”

“We let two elves come! They're even bigger liabilities! We'd have let you come even after each of us taking a turn beating the hell out of you for being a slaver.”

“I am NOT proud of it. Do you think I thought it was fun? I was broke, I was homeless, I had NOTHING after leaving my town and getting turned down over and over for the knights. I just needed enough money to get by until-”

Clarke held up on hand, index finger and thumb barely apart and second hand sawing back and forth as though on a diminutive instrument.

“Boo hoo, I turned to crime but since I stopped that makes it okay. What you did makes you a piece of shit. Hating people is bad but actively destroying them, and children at that is...god damn, Alouella is gonna tear you apart. Damn.”

Wade felt like a child, his chest tight, throat shut up behind a lump of fear and guilt but there was nothing else he could say, no come back to the accusation. He had known at the time but he'd still done it, some justification feeding into his hatred. He couldn't meet the eyes of any of the others and fell into the last place in line, spears at his back.

The inside was even more elaborately decorated then the out with carvings covering the walls and floors, even the ceilings all around the main pathway, which was bare. Large stone bowls contained burning fires that lit the room and there at the center of the room was an old lizardfolk seated in a grey stone throne raised one step above everyone else. It was hard to tell with scales but his body had certainly settled in on itself, skin hanging further than it should. Atop his head was a stone crown, shaped to the unique lizard head so that it held firmly between the eyes and shards swooped backward over his head into points. A blue cape hung off of one shoulder, bright green threads snaking through the hem in angles like vines.

A number of attendants stood around in a line, the old man speaking to one, then the next, dismissing his business after a few words. He finally came to the small group of guards and their prisoners.

“Ah, Guardhead Shortsight. Catch those slavers we've been worrying about?”

“Ye-”

Clarke cut in.

“No. We are adventurers. We just happened to be passing the actual slavers when we got mixed up in all of this.”

The punch to the gut dropped him to his knees and Shortsight gripped Clarke's head in his hand, holding him down.

“So they claim, Great Tail. We caught one elf, and three humans.”

There was some brief muttering between the guards and then one whispered to him. He stalked closer, leaning far down to look Gwen in the eye where she finally came into focus.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Thought it was a short human.”

He turned back to the Great Tail.

“One dwarf, one elf and two humans. But they are also in the company of two known slavers who are already on the wall.”

He gestured outward to the great many carvings. Clarke tried to suck in enough air to speak, finally finding air back in his lungs to croak.

“Talk to Swampbelly. He can...vouch to my character that we'd never...do something like that.”

The gung-ho kill 'em all attitude of the head guard had him wondering about his chances of convincing them to even check.

The Great Tail waved one of the attendants closer, hissing and muttering to him too low to make out. The attendant ran back out into the world marked by a rolling of thunder somewhere far away.

The Great Tail stood with some difficulty and they walked, the group led roughly by the guards along the path behind the throne. It was hard to tell at first but the carvings were separated into sections, divided by long panels of blank stone that were used as walkways, though what exactly separated them was anyone's guess. Could have been years or just as easily seasons. They stopped at one section that was nothing but faces all lifelessly staring upwards from the floor in far rows.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The Great Tail raised his hands, curling his claws at the ceiling and tendrils of ivy and roots lowered, forming a pathway that he stepped onto and they all marched single file onto the oddly strong path.

Gwen whistled.

“Fancy.”

They stopped several rows in and the Great Tail looked over the stones, ticking them off in the air until he made some guttural hum deep in his throat.

“Let's see, here we are.”

Everyone leaned in for a closer look and the resemblance was uncanny. A near perfect carving of Wade looked out, a little younger, a little sadder but still him. Wormwood was a few pictures down but it was unmistakably him, though his picture was smirking and there was certainly something sinister in the carving, like the artist had imbued some quantity of devilry into it. It could have been the ears curling slightly into horns.

“I see, I see.”

The Great Tail muttered. They walked back to the throne and he took his spot on the throne once more. Clarke was surprised to see Swampbelly there, standing as tall as he could and the attendant who had likely fetched him. He nodded at Clarke.

“Swampbelly. Do you know this human?”

He pointed to Clarke.

“Yeah, I do, your Ridgedness.”

“And would he be involved in any slave trading or anything against our race?”

“No, not in the least.”

“And the dwarf?”

He shrugged.

“I have met her and she seems alright.”

The Great Tail waved a hand at the other two, pressing him for further impressions.

“Oh, uh, never met that elf there before. But I have met the big human there, Wade. Can't say I have a good impression of him. The slaving type I would say.”

The Great Tail settled back, scratched his chin and growled his verdict.

“Death to the big human for crimes of enslavement and kidnapping, death to the elf for same plus being an elf. Execution will be tomorrow morning while word spreads so anyone who wants to watch can make their plans.”

“You make one mistake...”

He hissed, claws clamping down to lead him away.

Gwen made to move toward him to say something or maybe punch him, probably both as disgusted as she was but Clarke stopped her.

Wade suddenly screamed, his cheeks burning red.

“You make one mistake!”

He swung, throwing lizardfolk guards aside, striking with chain bound fists as guards began to pile on him, hold him down even as he thrashed and kicked and hit hard enough to send them flying.

Gwen made her decision. Pulling away from Clarke only for him to put his weight into holding her back.

“What are you doing? We gotta help him, they're gonna kill him! You said we needed everyone, didn't you?”

“We barely got out ourselves! Let's not make things worse by committing a crime. We can think while we're free of ways to help. This is not a fist problem! This is a...a thinking problem.”

They were still barreling towards the fight when Swampbelly scooped the dwarf up onto one shoulder and Clarke on the other, carrying them to the exit. Clarke reached over, forcefully ruffling her head.

“He said tomorrow morning. That's more than enough time to think of something. I'm not gonna be the reaper of my own team.”

Wade was buckling under the weight as more and more lizards hopped on him and shackles came to bear. In all the confusion, Wormwood had disappeared entirely.

The entrance to the building was darkened by several of the attendants running in, some yelling for the guards and others for the Great Tail.

“Your Ridgedness! Great Tail! An elf has been escorted into the middle of the city with a litter of hatchlings!”

Swampbelly sighed.

“How many people did you invite to this fiasco, Clarke?”

Clarke grit his teeth. The immense lack of knowledge of Lizardfolks had really screwed them over but apparently being an elf was punishable by death.

“That should be the last one. Run, please.”

Shortsight vaulted over their heads through the door, mouth open baring razor teeth and rage at the thought of elves. He was leaping down the street in great jumps with Swampbelly loping along as best he could. Luckily it wasn't far and they watched as the last hatchling hopped out of the cart and was exploring the edges of the crowd with it's hatchmates. Onlookers recoiled recoiled from the elf touched group. She gathered them once more with her electric butterflies when she saw them wandering off.

“Hello everyone!”

She waved, stood up tall and looked around the crowd that hissed and growled back. She either didn't notice or ignored the hostility with her usual smile.

“I found some very rotten people trying to take these little guys and knew I had to bring them back. Does anyone know where I can find a guard or someone of authority?”

This same attitude of forward friendliness that had bewildered the guards into simply bringing her back to the city now stopped the watching citizens who quieted their hissing. There was something universally off putting about being mad at someone who brushed it off. They began to unload the unconscious slavers from the top of the wagon when Shortsight appeared. One of the guards saluted him as he approached.

“Sir, we found the slavers and they were knocked out around this...this elf. We believe she may have knocked them out and...well, she helped us round up the hatchlings and bring them back. We don't think she was involved with the kidnapping.”

Shortsight glared down at him until he shriveled away to help the other guards.

Shortsight approached Alouella, long tail whipping behind him and thumping the stones of the city street. Guards caught up behind but each seemed afraid to approach their own leader. Alouella smiled at his approach and bowed slightly, raising the edges of her robe.

“Are you a guardsman? I'd like to turn these children over to you then.”

Something restrained itself in him, some fury put on a chain as he rasped out the words.

“What is this?”

“I'm sorry?”

She asked.

“What sort of curse is this? You did something to these hatchlings, brought them back to spread it to the rest of us?”

This theory spread like wildfire through the crowd, repeating it back and back until everyone knew it to be true before Alouella could even explain herself.

“Sir, I would never do anything to harm a child.”

“You have five seconds to move away from those hatchlings, put down that staff and surrender yourself for execution.”

Her confusion played in her brows and she looked around as though she might find someone else behind her that such a comment would be directed at.

“Do you mean me? I haven't done anything, sir, except bring these hatchlings back from being kidnapped. I have nothing but the utmost contempt for slavers and their disgusting trade, stealing freedom from others.”

Shortsight loomed, the way she defaced the things he believed in by saying them out loud. That she could dare share any ideas in common with him made his blood boil.

“You disgusting knife eared bitch-”

Shortsight swung his meaty fist to collide with electric air, Alouella having already cast the near invisible electrical field around herself. Sparks crackled and leaped up the lizardfolk's arm in convulsions that had him reel back in shock. He clenched his jaw tight and pounded his fists together.

Rewinding in time a half minute, Clarke pulled his hood up on his head and neckerchief around his nose and mouth, masking any human appearance and whispered to Swampbelly and Gwen.

“Can you hide us?”

Swampbelly looked totally bewildered at the request, nearly dropping Gwen.

“Clarke, you're a good guy and good business but I don't want to be put to death for you. If you cause some kind of huge trouble then it's my neck too!”

It was a huge favor and he didn't feel comfortable asking someone he was only a passing acquaintance with but the tools he had at his disposal were slim.

“I'll pay any price. I had no idea things would turn out like this.”

Swampbelly grumbled and turned his back. He hemmed and haaed, shaking Gwen around like a doll on his shoulder.

“...if you'll allow me to say I captured you if things get bad...”

“I wouldn't mind it. I don't want you to get in trouble.”

Gwen stuggled and pried the hand off her back so she could hop down.

“Hey, what about me? Don't you dare say you're leaving me out of this.”

Clarke shook his head.

“Team effort this time. Come on.”

She pounded a fist into the other.

“Hey, you don't know where I live.”

Swampbelly said but Clarke was already pulling a fist sized bottle from his coat and spilling some on the ground before passing it to him.

“Spill that on the ground in dots as you go. It'll get me to where you are.”

He took off, circling the increasingly hostile crowd who watched the first swipe by their head guard get bounced away.

What did he have? Some sort of transformation potion would be great, some sort of instantaneous disguise but he had no ingredients for it or even the proper recipe. He spent most of his time making things that exploded or protected himself. Despite constant nagging by Twinty subterfuge potions had remained on the to-learn list.

He knew what Alouella would say, not to harm them, that there was some misunderstanding, some cultural taboo they'd broken. She was optimistic like that. Clarke was not. Don't trust people, trust individuals.

A flash of lightning rumbled through the clouds overhead and lit up the darkening streets, wind picking up to blow the trees. Whatever storm was coming up it didn't bother the lizardfolk in the least who watched as Alouella fended off attack after attack with spells. The hatchlings had run into the crowd before then, the townsfolk parting away from them like the plague.

Gwen tapped his arm.

“If you don't do something soon I'm just going to run out there.”

“No, I've got a plan.”

Like many things that came out of his coat, this one was chemical based, a long tube with another tube inside and he had several tucked away. He broke the outer shells until he had gathered the much smaller tubes inside so the ration of the two liquids was much closer to one to one. The reason it was originally so diluted was the extreme light amplification qualities it carried. A quick tear from his shirt and he tied the smaller tubes to a few unbroken ones.

“Hurry up, Clarke!”

Gwen hissed, dancing back and forth, her fists curling and uncurling.

“I am!”

“Okay, grab her!”

Clarke chucked the light bomb into the air, gaining as much height as it could before it came crashing down between the raging lizard and Alouella. Clarke and Gwen shot forward, eyes already covered as the bottles shattered.

Chemicals spilled over the ground and mixed into the stone, light exploding from the concoction in a violent, piercing point of pain that seared the eyes of those present.

Gwen plowed into Alouella, hoisting her up over his shoulder. She punched into his back, blind to who or what had lifted her.

“It's us Alouella, don't worry! We're escaping.”

“You didn't hurt anyone, did you? It wasn't-”

“They're only as blind as you, don't worry.”

“Good...we can still clear this up...”

Every way they turned was blocked with the crowd and behind them Shortsight swung aimlessly, enraged screams sending him tearing into the crowd and sweeping other lizardfolk into the air as he searched for the elf he'd been so intent on murdering. Gwen pulled Clarke after her, carefully coming up behind Shortsight and latching onto his tail, arms bulging as it took everything she had to hold it down.

“Is that you elf! You think your lightning blinding trick can save you, I can still sme-”

He was cut off as he turned to the dwarf grabbing his tail and a steel gut punch hammered into his soft belly.

“You're in the way.”

Gwen muttered and wrapped her arms around his ribs. She jerked back and fell, lifting the lizardfolk up and over herself until his chin crashed into the stone street, neck snapping back with the blow. He no longer occupied the path he'd cleared and the three ran forward.

“Okay, lizard guy is down for a bit but where do we go? For Wade?”

“What? What happened to Wade?”

Alouella yelled. Being blind had seemed to make her think everyone else was deaf.

“We'll tell you later. We need to hide.”

Clarke said and reached up to pull the special goggles from inside his hood.

Swampbelly had been standing about...here...

The lenses picked out the spilled liquid and it glowed viewed through the goggles. Clarke led them quickly down side streets and into the safety of a friend's home.