Deep in the canyon bellow us, was a large creature. Swimming and wiggling around in a pool of utter blackness.

The same gunk it was in made it impossible to tell what color it was, or if it had fur or scales. The gunk it was in was caked and layered all over it.

It looked… like a snake, a thing without arms or legs… but it was thick and short. Not elongated. Yet it wasn’t small by any means. The thing was a far distance beneath us, to the point it was almost a scary sight, and yet it still looked humongous. It was hard to really tell how far below it was, since it was in a pool of water looking stuff and there was nothing around it to use as a comparison for size… but…

The thing was definitely as big as that creature in Lumen. The things that Vim had fought. Maybe even as big as the one that had emerged above ground, the one that had destroyed half the city.

“Vim…? What is that?” I asked worriedly.

It looked as if it was pulsating. As if its heart was as big as its body, and every few moments a huge ripple ran along its whole frame as it beat and thumped. I wasn’t able to look away from it. Although far away, and seemingly not aware of us at all… I felt a strange sense of terror because of it.

Not only was it weird, I could actually hear the thing pulsating. It sounded like a far off drum.

I wanted to run. My hair on not just my tail and ears, but even along my whole body, was standing upright. I felt itchy. As if I was surrounded by danger, and needed to run for my life.

Which was very telling since I was standing right next to Vim, and safe and sound. I was even holding his arm, since I had been somewhat leaning over the ledge.

“That Renn, is a Monarch,” Vim said.

Shivering at his voice, I finally pulled my gaze away from the thing beneath us. Vim had spoken calmly, but there had been an odd tone in his voice.

“It… it looks like a worm, or some weird snake,” I said.

“Likely is. It’s spewing that gunk… likely the very source of the plague,” Vim said as he studied it.

Glancing back over the edge of the cliff, I squeezed Vim’s arm again. Just in case. Usually I’d never worry about slipping and falling off a cliff or something, especially when the ground was solid and firm… but…

Well, right now I felt like having a little surety.

Peering at the thing below, I watched as it pulsated and… yes. The nasty water all around it was definitely sloshing around. From here it looked like a puddle rippling as if from raindrops, but odds were it was more akin to an ocean’s wave.

It was indeed spewing that gunk out. You could see the way the water rushed forward, and then splashed all around as it circled around the thing’s body and into all the other canyon cracks around it. It spewed it out alongside the pulsations.

Was it… puking the stuff out…? Nasty.

“Where did it come from?” I asked. “How’d it even get down there?”

The canyon it was stuck in was very deep, and ran a fair distance… but it didn’t seem as if there were any ways in or out of it. Not without just… falling into the cracks.

Vim sighed as I stepped back, as to stop leaning over the cliff’s edge. He remained at the edge of the cliff, standing so close the tips of his boots were hanging over the ledge.

“The better question is why Landi had kept it secret. That thing’s been down there for some time,” Vim said.

Oh. Right. “Do you think it’s really the source of the disease…?” I asked.

“It’s very likely. That’s toxic stuff, for sure. I can smell it on the wind, even from here. That’s basically just a bunch of poison. Odds are the stuff was eaten by birds, or smaller animals, and then the humans ate them after, spreading its contamination thusly,” Vim said.

“Why would anything eat that gunk…?” I asked. The mere thought of it made me shiver. I honestly couldn’t smell anything too odd. I smelled the army behind us more than anything else.

“See that part over there?” Vim ignored my question as he pointed to our right.

Following his point, I found it quickly. On the other side, past the canyon divide, not for on the opposing side where we were, was a very obvious stain. It led up to the edge of the canyon, and then slid down it. You could see not just the discoloration on the rocks and ground from whatever had stained it all, but you could also see where rocks and chunks of the cliff wall had been recently dislodged.

“It fell…?” I asked.

“Or was led here,” Vim said quietly.

Frowning, I glanced behind us. To the army nearby.

Massive tents were a few hundred feet away. Far enough that I could just barely hear the human soldiers there, but not close enough they could hear us. There were several hundred soldiers stationed all around the tents, and there were large towers of wood and stone where archers were stationed.

Landi was there somewhere. Inside one of the tents, talking to her generals.

“So she lured it here. Until you could get here and handle it,” I said, comprehending what he was implying.

“Not before trying to handle it herself. I wonder how many thousands she sacrificed,” Vim said stiffly.

Looking away from the nearby army encampment, I studied Vim’s face. His expression was normal and placid, like usual, but his eyes were a different story.

He was angry.

Fascinated, and worried, I wondered what to say.

“Do… do you suspect her?” I asked, trying to understand.

“Very. She should have sent for me immediately. She knows better.”

Yes. He was not happy at all.

“What uh… what do we do?” I asked.

“I’ll have to kill it. I don’t know why it woke up, or which divinity it had been birthed from but it doesn’t matter. It’s spewing poison. It needs to die,” Vim said.

I gulped a worried question down and squeezed his arm. “Will you be okay?” I asked.

Vim blinked, and then glanced at me. For the first time since we’d stepped up to the cliff’s edge he had looked away from the Monarch. Yet he hadn’t done so for very long. Just as quickly as he looked at me, he had looked away. “I’ll be fine. I used to hunt these for sport,” he said.

For… sport?

Really…?

“At least she led it away from the city, and kept it here. Makes it easier,” Vim said as he scanned the canyons all around us.

I nodded. Yes. Please don’t get too angry with the Queen I was starting to see as a friend.

Although she and I disagreed on many things, I really liked how she was willing to openly talk with me about them. We differed, yet were able to not only find common ground… but embrace it.

Studying the man whose arm I held, I wondered if I should be more worried or not. Honestly… although scared, and bothered, I really wasn’t too worried over Vim. It might just be misplaced trust or me not being able to comprehend that thing’s danger… but…

Well…

For some reason I felt he’d be fine no matter what happened. No matter what he faced or how terrible the odds were.

Hopefully I wasn’t falling for the same sense of security the rest of the Society had when it came to him. Since it was clear he could fail. He admitted it himself, sometimes.

“It’s strange. I can’t believe it isn’t trying to escape. Some Monarchs can be… pretty much just beasts operating on instinct, but even without reason it should still desire freedom. It’s so big it has barely any room. It looks like it couldn’t even turn around if it wanted to,” Vim said as he studied it.

Stepping back up to the ledge, I squeezed Vim’s arm again as I peered at it below.

“Looks like it just wants to spit its poison,” I said.

“Yes. Odd,” Vim noted.

Was it…? I didn’t know anywhere near enough about these things to understand why he found it so.

“Vim, I know I’ve asked a bunch already but… will you really be okay?” I asked as I watched the thing shake violently, and then spew out a huge amount of the gunk. It had spat out so much I had actually seen the stream expunge from it. Like a torrent of water, from a spigot.

Gross.

“I will Renn. I’ll want you to stay with Landi while I handle this,” he said to me.

“Even though you doubt her?” I asked.

Vim tilted his head and then turned to look at me. “Keep yourself safe Renn. Do what you think you need to, if it comes to it,” he said.

I didn’t like that at all. “How long will… uh…” I wasn’t sure how to phrase it.

“Depends. Tell Landi to prepare her army. Once I’ve taken its heart we’ll need to burn it and all that gunk, else the disease will spread and get worse. So tell her to gather as much flammable material as she can. She’ll know what she needs,” Vim said

I nodded.

Vim shifted, and I felt his arm grow a little harder. He had flexed. “If for some reason it seems like the Monarch is coming up here, I want you to run away. Even if alone. Just get as far away as possible,” Vim said.

I nodded again.

“That thing is more dangerous than the creatures you encountered in Lumen. Treat it as if it’s a natural disaster. You can’t fight it, you can only run from it,” he added.

I nodded once more. “I’ll be on guard Vim, I promise,” I said.

Vim sighed and looked away from me, to the creature. “I know. I just feel like I’m missing something,” he mumbled.

Missing something…? He meant he felt uneasy right…?

I mean… shouldn’t he? That was a Monarch, right? Something beyond normal reason? Something that had been created by Gods?

“Wait… are you saying you’re worried for me, because you feel strangely uneasy?” I asked. Not just out of concern for my safety? Not just because it was dangerous, the Monarch itself?

Vim nodded.

I couldn’t help it, I smiled. “Vim! You should be uneasy; this thing’s dangerous isn’t it? Why wouldn’t you be?” I asked.

“Because it’s nothing new.”

My smile shifted into a frown as I studied the face of the man who had said that in such a matter of fact tone.

“Vim…” I whispered, but he seemed to have made a decision. He stepped back and away from the ledge, forcing me to take a few steps back too since I had been holding his arm.

“Go on, Renn. Let Landi know she better do her job, or I’ll be taking the crowns of two Monarchs today,” he said.

My jaw clenched as I nodded.

For a few moments we stood there, staring at each other… then I realized why Vim had an odd look on his face.

“Ah…” I released his arm, and felt a little silly as I stepped back a few more steps.

Vim nodded and gave me a small smile. “Remember, stay on guard. Run if you need to. I’ll be done as fast as I can… oh,” he realized something. “I’ll probably be covered in that thing’s gunk once done… so uh… stay away from me for a bit. Until I can disinfect myself,” he said.

“Disinfect?” I asked, not understanding the word. Did he just mean clean himself off?

Vim flinched. “Just make sure not to come near me until I say it’s okay to do so. Even if that stuff isn’t the source of the plague, it’s definitely toxic. Just keep a distance from me until I say otherwise,” he clarified.

Nodding, I watched as Vim turned and stepped back over to the ledge.

He… he wasn’t just…

I gulped as I realized he was going to.

“Stand tall, Vim!” I said to him as he stepped off the ledge.

Right before he fell down, and disappeared from sight, he turned and our eyes locked for a tiny moment.

Then he was gone.

Standing still for a moment, I felt a weird tremble run up and down my body… as I suddenly started to sweat a little. Even though it honestly wasn’t as hot as it usually was here in this area.

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For a few long moments… I heard nothing. Felt nothing…

And it was a little concerning. Honestly I had expected sounds right away. Like that creature in Lumen, that had roared like crazy…

Stepping forward, I very… very carefully peered over the ledge.

I couldn’t see Vim at all.

But I could see the Monarch. And it was definitely…

Had it gone completely still?

Yes. It had. It had even stopped pulsating.

There was no way Vim had killed it already… right? That was…

Then it roared.

A bellow of a moan, which shook not just the very air but even the ground. I hurriedly stepped away, and nearly fell to my knees as the very ground began to quake.

Hundreds of tiny rocks began to dance and bounce all around me, adding to the loud roar. The world suddenly became very noisy, and not only did it hurt… it was dauntingly terrifying.

Quickly standing, I hurried away from the ledge of the canyon. Running back towards Landi’s encampment, I picked up my pace as the creature’s roars increased in intensity... Echoing loudly all around me.

How did Vim even stand near anything that yelled so loudly? I was barely able to stay on my feet and I wasn’t just a distance away, I was sure the sound was being diminished by the massive canyon. Down there in that huge crack… who knows how loud the thing’s roaring was.

As I neared the army encampment, I slowed as I noticed the group of armored soldiers. The vast majority of them had huge spears, most two or three times taller than they. It was concerning, and brought back memories of the past back when I had met the witch. Yet it didn’t end up like that time, thanks to Landi standing out in front of them.

“And here I thought maybe you’d try and fight with him!” Landi greeted me with a huge smile as I hurried over to her.

“Yeah, no,” I said as I stepped up to her, and tried to ignore all the stares and looks of the men and women around us.

I still wore my hat and hid my tail, but I felt as if I hadn’t been. They were staring rather weirdly.

Landi chuckled at me as she turned, and the group of soldiers behind her all parted. They formed a path into the encampment, which I hurried to follow her through.

Keeping my eyes forward, I tried my best to not notice the stares… or the huge spears that were now all around me. Like a forest of pointy trees.

One wrong mistake and I’d not live to see Vim’s face ever again.

“Vim should make quick work of that thing. Want to bet on how long it takes him, Renn?” Landi asked as we walked to one of the larger tents.

“Um…” I wasn’t sure what to say. Even if I did have any idea on how long it took Vim to kill a Monarch, I wasn’t sure what I had to offer as collateral. Plus I wasn't sure if I'd be comfortable betting on something like that. I'd feel horrible for doing so, if Vim perished or something.

Landi giggled as a pair of soldiers, without spears, pulled aside heavy flaps for us. We entered the huge tent, and I was very glad to find it was empty. Of people at least.

Stepping into the tent, I looked around at the oddly furnished place. It… looked like it was lived in. There were tables, boxes, chairs. A large bed was in one corner, and there were even rugs and flag decorations.

Was this normally what these army tents looked like, or had this tent been up for a long time…?

Maybe Vim was right.

But I shouldn’t judge her yet. After all it wasn’t like I’d ever been in an army’s encampment before. Let alone the tent of a Queen, or leader.

“Vim told me to remind you to prepare. To gather flammable stuff,” I said.

“They’re all being brought as we speak. Enough oil to fill that gorge twice over,” Landi said as she walked over to the largest table in the room. A square table that was littered with papers and…

Walking up to the table, I frowned at the scrolls. Most were wound up, and still tied sealed.

“You’ve dealt with Monarchs before,” I noted.

“A few. But… not myself. Rather I just help Vim and the rest clean up, when I’m there to do so,” Landi said as she reached over to grab one of the scrolls.

She untied it by simply tugging on the little red lace. It snapped, and she unfolded the roll and went to reading it.

Nosily stepping over, I peered at the thing’s contents as Landi read it.

It was difficult, although I recognized some words… thanks to the angle; I was only able to deduce it was some kind of report. Something to do with…

“What’s a principality?” I asked. And why was she getting a report on where they were.

“My current enemy. You see, now that Vim is here I can return my attention to more important things,” Landi said.

Enemy… “You… you mean the neighboring nations, don’t you?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yes. This specific one is to our western border. They’re currently under rule of a very corrupt church. The kind I hate the most,” Landi said.

The Monarch let out a huge cry, and I felt a small tremble even through my shoes and the rug beneath them.

“And you’ll focus on that as a Monarch roars just beyond?” I asked her.

Landi lowered the scroll and smirked at me. “Do you not have faith in Vim, dear Renn? I thought you did.”

“I… I do but…” I shifted, and felt oddly uneasy as she made me feel like the weird one here.

She giggled at me and placed the scroll down onto the table, and then leaned against the table with an outstretched hand. Suddenly she looked sensual, somehow. “You’re an odd one. But maybe it’s because you’re too new. Maybe you don’t realize what Vim can do yet, truly, so you worry because of it,” Landi said as she pondered me.

Studying her as she did the same to me, I noted some of the whispered conversations around us.

Seems although none of the soldiers were in the tent, they were still outside it. Likely stationed around it as to guard it. They were whispering, in wonder, about what was going on. About the creature. the Queen. Gladly I didn't hear anything about me.

Another roar echoed throughout the world, this time though the ground didn’t shake. At least not here.

“Your soldiers seem very… calm,” I noted.

“They’ve been on watch here for awhile now. They’re used to the thing making noise and shaking the ground,” Landi said.

“How long has it been down there?” I asked.

“Too long. I’ve tried to keep everyone away from it, even had archers posted all along the canyon to shoot down any birds that flew near or other animals… but it seemed it didn’t matter. I had thought since this set of canyons were not near any of the underground waterways, the city would be safe. Teaches me to think myself smarter than I am,” Landi said with a sigh as she returned her attention to the scrolls.

My ears shifted under my hat as I absorbed her words.

So Vim really had been right. Not only had Landi known for some time, she’s even been going through lengths to handle it.

And not only was failing at it, but knew she was. She knew she was out of her depth.

Why then hadn’t she contacted Vim? Was there more to it… or…

Maybe she just didn’t care? She knew, like all members did, that Vim would eventually show up. Maybe to her it didn’t matter. Maybe it was a simple matter of one of our older members just… not being very aware of how much time actually mattered.

To her a few years or months made no difference.

Yet…

I thought of all the dead. Of those we saw on the way here. The burning villages. The starving people like Roslyn and her people. The piles of bodies in that port village. Those families at Secca who had arrived with all of their possessions, begging to work earlier and longer as to be somewhere safe and free of disease and famine. Even in Lumen we had heard tales of the disease and the damage it had been doing. By now it might even be in Lumen too. And...

Hark’s mother, who had literally gave her baby to complete strangers in a last ditch effort of hope.

Staring at the woman who I was silently judging and blaming for all of those things, I wondered if I had a right to.

Her actions might have caused all that chaos and death… but did I have proof of it?

And even if her lack of urgency was the cause… did I have a right to blame her, or judge her for it? What if even if she had sent word to Vim, it would of all happened anyway? Or what if she had actually sent word, and we just hadn't known?

Even more so... even if she had withheld the information, and done an improper job... would anyone even care?

Most in the Society would not even be fazed by learning her actions had caused such chaos for humans. In fact, many would only smile and be happy over it.

They all saw humans as… something lesser. They might not hate them as much as my own family had done, but it was a very similar hatred. A very similar disgust.

At one time I had seen humans as inconsequential as she. As most of our members.

It took the witch for me to realize the truth. It took the siblings, and Nory, for me to really realize that not every human deserved hatred. That they were just like me, like us. People just doing their best, with what little they had or understood.

Without such similar experiences… those like us likely never learned how to see humans as anything other than enemies to be destroyed.

Yet, do Landi and the rest not have that same chances and opportunities to learn such a thing?

Most of them have been surrounded by humans far longer than I have. In a far more direct fashion too.

Landi was a perfect example. She should know full well how much humans could be like us.

Another roar shook the world, and this time I heard actual impacts. I felt them, through the rug. For a few solid moments, something massive and heavy continuously impacted the ground and shook it violently.

“I gave orders for scouts to watch it. They’ll come let us know if the Monarch gets free of the canyon or tries to,” Landi said, likely noticing my sudden worry.

“Uh… What if it collapsed the ground?” I asked. It felt as if the whole world was shaking.

“We’re farther away than you likely think. Other parts of the ground will collapse first if it starts burrowing or something,” Landi said as she rolled up a scroll and went to opening another.

Jeez. Her and Vim. They both just seemed to have no urgency at all concerning something that could supposedly poison entire nations.

Actually…

“How… how strong is a Monarch, anyway?” I asked. Honestly Vim and others never seemed to be willing to tell me, or in the case of everyone else likely didn’t know. But Landi seemed to know far more than she should, and… seemed willing to tell me, for the most part.

Asking as one roars nearby might not be the best time, but it was still an opportunity to ask.

“Very. They’re not just huge, but they can usually heal from insane damage very quickly. They can be killed with normal means, but it takes a lot. To give an example two Monarchs once attacked the Kingdom of Divinity. They were able to kill one, but it took months of constant attrition. They threw everything they had at it. Tens of thousands of soldiers, more arrows and spears than you can count, and who knows what else. And in the end they were still destroyed,” she said.

They healed quickly...

Like Vim.

“Kingdom of Divinity…? Is… or was that Merit’s kingdom?” I asked.

Landi looked away from her scroll, and smirked at me. “Tiny Merit? No. Her kingdom, if you can call such a thing a kingdom, had been near the inlet to our west. It had been destroyed by a Monarch, but only indirectly. Funny,” Landi snickered as she told me.

Did she find the fact I brought up Merit funny, or instead what had happened to Merit's kingdom, I wonder?

“Queen Landi!”

I turned, even though Landi didn’t. She remained focused on her scroll as one of the heavy flaps was pulled aside and a man stepped in.

The man was broad shouldered, made even wider by his armor. Surprisingly, unlike the armor of everyone else, his wasn’t polished. It looked rusted almost. “The first batch of oil has arrived,” he informed his Queen.

“Have them kept on the carts, and at a distance. In case we need to have them moved quickly,” Landi said without ever looking away from her scroll.

He nodded stiffly, and I noted he never even looked at me. He kept his eyes on her. “Also, we have reports of cracks. Running along the canyon,” he added.

I didn’t like the sound of that at all.

And it seemed, oddly, neither did Landi. She put her scroll down and frowned at me. “How bad?” she asked him, while staring at me. Maybe she was blaming me for bring it up earlier, or something.

“Nothing too bad yet, My Lord. Most are no wider than a finger, but some are as long as an arm. I have ordered more scout groups to round the canyon, to keep an eye on them,” he said.

“Good. Go see the Monarch yourself, and report back to me what you see,” Landi ordered.

The rusty armor clanked as he saluted, and then he hurried out of the tent. The flap fell back down, drowning out some of the noise outside.

“Why was his armor rusty?” I asked her.

“It wasn’t. That was a special type of metal. It looks like that on purpose,” she said.

Oh. Really…? What purpose could it have had?

Landi sighed as she leaned against the table, resting against it as if about to sit on it. “I hope Vim finishes soon,” she mumbled.

Oh…? So she was worried, even if a little. Interesting.

“Back to what you were asking, Renn, a single Monarch can bring down an entire kingdom with ease. But not all Monarchs are that strong. Some are more simple, or smaller creatures. I know you’ve been to Telmik, but if you didn't get a chance to meet it, there’s a little creature there. A tiny weasel looking thing. It’s a Monarch, but only a little bit stronger than the same creatures it looks like,” Landi said.

“Ah… yes I’ve met that cute little thing before,” I said. So it hadn’t been strong. Interesting. I wonder why some were, and some weren’t.

“Cute? I suppose. I’ve never found animals cute, but I used to like little birds,” Landi said.

“Hm, some are cute, yes,” I agreed.

Landi giggled at me. “Some,” she said.

Had I said it oddly…? I had meant it genuinely. Some birds were cute. Others were pretty.

“I used to have a pet hawk. It had been huge. It slouched a lot, yet still stood as tall as my knee,” I said as I lowered my hand, to show where it had stood up to.

“Oh…?” Landi nodded, interested.

“It had been pretty. It would open its wings to feel the wind, and it had looked… very majestic,” I said.

“Must have been a rather big hawk. Was it one of us?” she asked.

I smiled at her and shook my head. “No. Just a normal bird.”

It had hurt to put the thing down. It had broken my heart.

Another roar shook the world, and this time the whole tent shook alongside it.

Going still, I hesitatingly waited for the chaos. The collapse. The screams. Some of the beams keeping the tent up were swaying rather harshly. It looked ready to collapse any moment.

Yet none of those things came… and after a few moments, the roar settled down.

Gulping, I shifted and wondered what to think.

I heard some armor clank and people talk outside, and I realized some people had fallen to the ground.

Maybe I should go back to town…

“Fret not Renn. Vim will handle it. If it tries to escape him, we’ll just let all these lovely humans die for us while they draw its attention,” Landi said with a wave at me.

My stomach turned as I stared at the way she smirked. She had been completely serious.

“If you sacrifice your whole army, you’ll not be able to conquer anyone,” I said.

Landi broke out into a laugh at me. “That’s true!” she said happily.

Groaning a little, I didn’t mean to make her laugh. I hadn’t meant it as a joke, at all.

She continued to snicker as she went to grab another scroll. Completely unfazed by either the worried voices around us, the roars in the distance… or the ever growing doubt in my heart.

Watching her as she went to planning her upcoming conquest… as Vim fought a creature of legend and myth, I realized once again that I’d been disappointed in our people.

The dismay at realizing she was just as bad, if not worse in her own way, as all the rest… made me sick.

I had thought her to be a little better. Maybe not in the sense of liking humans, or not seeing them as enemies, but at least… well…

I had thought that surely, since she ruled a whole nation, she had some semblance of compassion. At least for her subjects. Honestly I had thought she did have some compassion for them. After all, even Vim had said that she took relatively good care of them. She gave them safety. Housing. Kept them well fed. So I had genuinely thought Landi was... not as bad as she seemed to be on first glance.

Yet it was obvious such a thought had been mere hope.

She was just as bad as all the rest. Just in a different way.

And…

Another roar echoed throughout the air, but the ground didn’t shake as harshly. I turned, to look at the flaps of the tent. They were heavy things, so didn’t shift in the wind.

Vim was once again fighting. Bleeding. Risking his life…

For someone who didn’t deserve it.

And I knew once he was done… once it was all said and over…

Vim would do nothing about it. He’d simply move on. Leaving Landi be, and allowing her to continue endangering her people and the whole world around her. All because of some stupid rules he’s allowed to shackle him.

Glaring at the world around me, I did my best to keep my disgust and anger in check. To keep it all deep down, and as bottled up as possible.

Since I wasn’t sure what to do with it yet.

Maybe by the time Vim finished killing the Monarch, I’d have a better grasp of my thoughts. Or at least, find a way to set them aside for now.

Landi sighed as the creature roared again. “He really is taking his time,” she mumbled.

Yes. He was. Maybe one day he'd not waste his time on those like you, ever again.

Maybe one day.