Book 3: Chapter 68
Tiffany
The sun’s light hadn’t yet reached the clearing, but it was up high enough that I could see it over the treetops.…. And with its rise, halved my powers… The five foot thick barrier held enchantments each layer. Only with permission can they enter… or leave...
That gave me a Little comfort… but not much.
I knew they were sending someone important… They said they’d send One man… That one man will be likely stronger than the entire coven.
Will they come to destroy, then lie that we were the vagrants? No… the Holy Seat and the Man King himself are involved… It would bring dishonor. As one as old as us, that means something to Rodrick.
But that didn’t stop my anxieties….
My hands shook but I hid it well. I hid my fear from my fellow kin as well… Just because Rodrick says so means little when his emissary is thousands of miles away in the middle of nowhere… with nobody but the word of Dark Witches to contend with…
“You’re fine dear.” Said Zayde, pulling me from our tower window… It was time to go down.
“I’m ok.” I half lied.
I must be strong… If not for myself, for them I Must be.
Food was being prepared, a whole roasted pig, chicken, and cow… a Feast for the representative was made. I made the barrier 5 feet thick… That was something I learned from Elkteer’s shaman writings… a shame he chose madness over this.
… That barrier is condensed magic…. It would have to be smashed by someone strong enough to bash a TEN foot barrier…
Using the natural flow of magic under my feet to do half the work for me is Amazing… but what isn’t, is the stress of having someone tour a castle that isn’t Quite done yet.
Zayde wore a suit and tie, while I matched his yellow shirt. I wore my yellow cloak with a long black dress, and yellow tights. My hair was loose, and draped over the back of the peacock emblem…
“You scent nervous.” Said Zayde, holding out his elbow for me to take.
“….I can only mask so much.” I admitted. I placed a small, thin barrier over myself. It will block my scent, however, it’s way too thin to stop anything other than maybe a spitball.
We used the teleporter pad to get to the first floor, and we waited for the representee to come. They used magic themselves… arriving as a beam of light… landing with a thud so strong atop the barrier that it shook the clearing, and stone under our feet along with it….
They cracked my barrier by just landing on it….
**BOOM**
….They Broke it… I saw the pound of a fist up there.
I was about to open the way for them, but they were too fast… and too strong. They didn’t even Wait.
That light pierced my 5 foot barrier… It shattered like glass… The whole thing….
The pargees ran away in fear from the commotion, and wyverns took to the skies… I saw Micael jump and shift out his balcony, but he’d gone unnoticed. Thank the gods…
\[Hold\] barked my mate, so at least in their fear, none would attack….
I commanded our demons to stay in their animal forms; to shift to their demon shapes would likely get them killed. I worried a bit for Micael… He’s more instinctual, but the words of my mate kept him far away with his wife.
I could taste the aura of this aggressive man… Pure rage… Saturated hatred so thick it could be Seen… What an aura… yet their stance was neutral.
I’d made it That thick… yet the emissary carved through it like butter. The fist of the individual left a crater in the ground. It was at least 15 feet around. We may as well fill it with water, and make a duck pond… It’s deep enough.
“Sorry! I got wedged between the light beam and the barrier.” They waved…at least they were polite…. He got up just like that… shattering the one thing that kept me sane enough to Want someone like that here in the first place!
“It’s Fine!” I lied back.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. The figure was at least 7ft tall. As they got closer, I saw reddish brown eyes, and medium dark brown hair…
“That’s King Jerold.” I said unable to look away from the witch eater. I squeezed Zayde’s hand.
The fear of the Battle Bull is actual instinct… he’d killed so many of our kind that the Horned One saw fit to make it so I did not *want* to be near him… and for good reason.
How he ate us….
How he killed us without any ability to be hurt by our magic.
“He looks pretty neutral.” Said my mate to try and soothe me. “This will be over soon.” He whispered.
“I know… and I know he isn’t like that anymore.” I said leaning on him, and he cradled me under his armpit.
Witches today forget the might of the Battle Bull… or the other Kings. He cannot die… nor can we defeat him. If the scary bedtime story for bad mortals is Lord Xaxas…. Then the Minotaur King is ours. King Uriel too… fuck that man is a *problem.*
He waved, holding a clipboard. There was a sun pendant around his neck, the one the Man King wears… So it Does do something… but otherwise, he too was in a suit. Jerold does not Need a weapon to destroy the castle… or bite our legs off like he used to… He becomes 13ft tall.
“I am Lieutenant Aeschylus Jerold Oct’Turrus, son of Turrus, the Great Bull Demon, and the High Priestess of the Sun, Glycasia of Athena. I’m here as a third party, on behalf of the Secret Police, to inspect your castle, the facility, and the rookery for both the …. pahr-geez? And wyverns.” He said reading off the clipboard. He clicked his pen once he got it out of his pocket.
Zayde and Jerold shook wrists.
“Nice to meet you this lifetime sir.” Said Zayde. “May we share no qualm.”
That’s an old saying, usually mentioned before Night and Light negotiations.
“May we share no qualm.” Said Lord Jerold politely, the simple response to such an old, rarely used saying.
“I’m Zayde Yoltier, the bahimoth beast magic master, but I’m sure you remember me as Stanley Baker the Butcher.”
“Aye, though you both are pardoned from your former lives.” He said firmly. “As an agent of the Force, you will find neither persecution nor conviction of any former deeds.”
“And I’m his mate, Tiffany Yolteir… formally Theo Yoltier.” I said as he sternly shook my wrist. I knew him… well Of him. He didn’t come to the pack, except maybe once or twice… but mom knew him personally. She wasn’t born fearing him… she didn’t know, nor see what he’d done.
“How’s Heidi?”
“She does well sir.” I said feeling the weight of his might.
Mother didn’t see…. She didn’t know… I did.
And as if I’d forgotten, I resisted the cringe to recoil my hand. Something as simple as a wrist shake gave me a vision… It was only one second, but this one held sound. Regizen, one of my witches, being eaten legs first… damn near swallowed whole.
Jerold was not here for pleasantries… not yet… He was here on behalf of the Church, as an officer, and I Need To Keep My Shit Together! It will look suspicious to hold this much fear and resentment from a ‘stranger’.
“I suppose let’s begin with the ritual room?” Said my mate. “The facility was taken in its entirety by the Realm King, but we can still go to its location.”
“Then let’s start there.” He said casually. “Lend me one of your dragons. This thing only shoots me long distances.”
“Sai’fire.” Called my mate. The black wyvern landed…
The Battle Bull took notes.
\[Master?\] he asked with a bowed head.
“We’re headed to the facility. Do you think you can handle it?” He asked.
Even as a wyvern, you could see the real fear in his eyes. \[That is a Bad place… but you are a good master.\] he bowed his head so low it touched the ground.
“He only needs a ride Sai’fire. No one will harm you there.” I petted his nose, and he let out a stress grunt.
\[I trust you master and mistress…\] he said letting me rub his head. Such a terrible place… For their sakes whatever fear left me. I felt like a mother again, oddly enough… I guess in a way, they kind of are my children.
Lord Jerold got on his back, and pulled out his clipboard again. “Now shift for me Lord Yoltier.”
“Alright.” he said handing me his clothes, and I swapped them out for casual ones with Mr. Cornwall. He kind of already knew Zayde was going to need those sweats.
“Impressive.” Said Jerold, writing down likely details on my mate’s form. “where’s your apprentice?”
\[Micael.\] Zayde rumbled, and a smaller bahimoth landed in front of him… we watched him place Casey back through their window. “As you can see, your arrival caused quite the ruckus.”
Jerold took note that Zayde can speak while shifted.
\[You need me, my teacher?\] Asked Micael. ‘Teacher’ is the closest word to Grez’zesh that I could think of.
“I was hoping to keep you out of it…” Zayde’s demonic is richer, because he’s spoken it longer. “But he saw you, and I’m sure the Church told him of you. That is the Minotaur King. I am in no position to stop him should he feel disrespected.”
\[…Then I will behave accordingly… This world is nothing like the human world.\]
He’s right… and I’m glad he learned that early on. With the high born… there is no Room for disrespect. Someone like Jerold wouldn’t care that he’s fresh. ANY form of dishonorable behavior would reflect directly on us, regardless of his greenhorn status.
“Open your mouths for me.” Said Jerold. He scribbled notes. “Inactive venom glands.” He mumbled. “And he’s right. None of you combined could stop me. It’s why I came alone. Well that, and they wouldn’t let Father Parez come, and I’m not bringing Bishop Consuelo. He’s too bloodthirsty.”
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