706 - Horse Trade
The adlets that came streaming out of the forest weren’t like the ones they’d encountered a few days ago.
Even Drafty could tell that much at a glance, backing away as the two-legged wolves rushed to surround them. Whereas Toklo’s group had been armed with nothing more than a few spears, the adlets moving to encircle them now possessed a greater variety of weapons. Several clutched a sickle in each hand, waving the curved blades in an intricate – and intimidating – pattern that made it clear that they knew how to use them. Others held long staves whose ends had been carved into wicked-looking barbed claws, clearly designed to rip and tear the flesh of whatever they sank into. A few hefted massive clubs as thick as tree trunks, swinging them with worrisome ease as they moved into position.
Nor was that all that distinguished them from the scouting party. Whereas Toklo and his friends had worn only simple clothing, his kinfolk emerging from the forest had clad themselves in preparation for a fight. While none of them wore any sort of full-body armor, they’d instead elected to garb themselves in thick quilting, wrapping the material around their arms, legs, and torsos, supplementing them with small coverings of stone or bone tied over their knees, elbows, and other vulnerable areas. It was an ensemble designed to cushion blows rather than deflect them, sacrificing greater protection for mobility.
That mobility was on full display as the adlets converged on them, easily moving across the battle-scarred terrain as they formed a loose perimeter around the ponies. Nor did they make any effort at stealth as they did so, instead howling and shouting in their native tongue, their voices overlapping into a harsh medley of angry cries. The effect was heightened by how, in the dim glow of the remorhaz’s still-glowing corpse, the light seemed to have a hard time reaching the adlets, leaving parts of their bodies obscured by the gloom.
No, not gloom, Drafty realized as the adlets completed their encirclement, letting her get a better look at them as they stopped moving. Paint. They’re wearing warpaint.
Taking a second to look more carefully, she could see that each of the lupines had painted parts of their bodies, their white fur slathered with dark blues, deep greens, and solid blacks. None of the designs made any sort of recognizable image, instead seeming to be used solely for camouflage or to demoralize an enemy.
And they definitely regarded the ponies in front of them as enemies, Drafty knew; the rod on her hooves was pulsating heavily, recognizing the hostility being directed at them.
Mystaria muttered an arcane syllable, waving a hoof as she moved back, grimacing a moment later. “They’re carrying a lot of magical gear,” she whispered, and Drafty felt certain that her saying that out loud – rather than using her goddess-given telepathy – meant that she wanted Lex to hear her.
“Weapons?” grunted Shadow, moving into a tight formation with the rest of her friends, and Drafty found herself backing up to stand alongside them.
“Weapons, armor, and I think even that body-paint they’re wearing,” grunted Mysty, her head moving from side to side as she took in the sight of the humanoids surrounding them. “I can’t tell for sure; there are too many auras.”
“Cast another spell, and it will be your last, pony!” snarled one of the closer adlets, finishing his epithet by barking a word in his native language. Immediately, the sickles in his hands began to vibrate, the blades emitting an audible hum as they shook.
“Or go ahead and run if you want,” laughed another, twirling a claw-topped spear, the end of it whistling unnaturally as it sliced through the air. “You won’t get far before you’re brought down.”
“Which one of you killed Panuk?” growled a third, slamming his club on the ground, the strike heavy enough that everyone could feel the impact. “Tell me, so I can end you myself!”
“SILENCE!”
The command, roared from deeper in the forest, quieted all of the adlets instantly. A moment later, the one who’d shouted the command emerged from the forest. Drafty’s eyes widened at the sight, and around her she heard a series of muffled curses come from the others.
The adlet who appeared then sat astride a polar bear, the creature – which was itself clad in armor made of cured hides – gnashing its teeth and roaring as it loped forward. Astride its back was an adlet who looked older than his fellows, the fur around his muzzle having darkened from white to grey. But his eyes were clear as he surveyed the group, one hand holding a set of reins to guide his mount while the other held a spear decorated with runes which seemed to shift and shimmer in the soft light.
The point of the weapon remained lowered as his bear strode toward them, stopping as the rider gave a sharp tug on the reins. It took only a moment for the elder adlet to survey the situation – his eyes immediately looking over Toklo before moving to survey the huddled mares, the armor-clad form of Solvei, the dead remorhaz, and finally the insubstantial shadow with the glowing eyes that was Lex – before he dismounted, stepping forward without hesitation.
The sight of his sire snapped Toklo out of his surprise. “Father!” he yelled again, dropping his spear as he ran forward. But he didn’t get more than two steps before Solvei – having grown in size, and now moving with an ease which told Drafty that Lex had healed the injury she’d taken fighting the remorhaz – pounced on him.
A single swipe of her armor-clad leg was all it took to knock Toklo to the ground, and before the dazed adlet could even think about getting up, she brought her paw down onto his back, pinning him in place. “BACK!” she roared, her voice loud enough that it made several of the adlets wince from the volume, though the leader didn’t flinch. “BACK, ALL OF YOU, OR THIS ONE-”
She stopped speaking so abruptly that it could only have been because Lex ordered her to, a theory that was proven correct a moment later when she swung her head around to look at the mass of darkness that was her master. A moment later a whimper escaped her throat, her ears folding backward as she released Toklo and stepped back.
But despite whatever rebuke Lex had given her, he didn’t seem content to let Toklo go either. Solvei had barely moved when a ring of black crystals erupted from the ground, and for a moment Drafty couldn’t breathe, flashing back to what had happened a few days ago when Lex had lost control. Judging by the sudden gasps and soft snarling that came from the earth mares, they were just as concerned.
Their fears were allayed a moment later, however. Unlike the random eruptions that had marked Lex’s previous rampage, the black crystals formed with deliberate shape and purpose now, jutting up from the ground in a ring that separated them from the adlets. Nor did the lusterless shapes create a mere barrier; instead, their jagged edges were angled at a uniform forty-five degrees, all pointing outward at the adlets, who shifted uneasily at the sight of the deadly spikes now aimed at them.
Their leader seemed to be made of sterner stuff, however, not flinching despite one of the black crystals terminating less than a foot from his neck. Instead, he brought his spear up and laid it across his shoulder in a relaxed position, glancing first as Solvei and then at the mass of shadow with the glowing eyes. “Are you the one who speaks for these others?” he asked, waving his free hand at Solvei and the huddled mares.
But it was the winter wolf who answered a moment later. “My master wishes you to know that he is.”
The adlet frowned at that, glancing between Solvei and Lex before turning back to the former. “And your master has no voice of his own?” he asked, a note of derision entering his tone.
“None that you’re worthy of hearing,” came Solvei’s answer.
An unhappy murmur went through the other adlets at that. Several of them were eyeing the black crystals as though wondering if they could leap over them, while others were shifting their stance as it preparing to throw their weapons. “Lex,” murmured Mystaria, “we came here to stop a war, not start one, remember?”
The elder adlet glanced at her for a half-second, then turned his gaze back to where Lex was still hovering in the air above the dead remorhaz. “If you can’t speak, then let’s see how well you can listen. You’re going to return my son to me immediately,” he demanded, nodding toward Toklo, who was shakily climbing to his feet. “Then, you’re going to turn one of your ponies over to us for having murdered Panuk; they will serve our people until such a time as we decide they have repaid us for your crime. The rest of you will make a show of remorse for having violated our territory, turning over all that you carry and surrendering your front teeth, after which you will be escorted back to your own lands.”
“He wants our teeth?!” squeaked Spinner, putting a hoof to her mouth in horror at the idea.
“I’d be a little more worried about what’ll happen to whoever has to stay here,” muttered Valor, keeping her shield raised.
“No one’s going to be left behind,” replied Drafty, keeping her voice soft. “Lex won’t allow it.”
“Yeah, he’d rather we all go down fighting instead,” snorted Shadow.
Drafty didn’t say anything to that. While she still felt sure that Lex would do his best to protect everyone, his withdrawn nature over the last few days had left her deeply concerned. He’d spoken to them only when absolutely necessary, and even then only through Solvei, using his own voice only when he needed to cast a spell. Worse, he’d continued spending long stretches of each day in shadow-form. Being so completely rejected was painful unto itself, even with Kara whispering in her mind to give him time, but more than that it left her wondering how much more he could take before he broke down even worse than before.
As if to prove that she was right to worry, Solvei sneered. “If you attempt to harm any of my master’s companions, you and yours will all suffer a fate far worse than that of Panuk. Just ask your son if you don’t believe me.”
Although the adlet leader didn’t bring his spear down from his shoulder, he gripped the weapon tighter then. “What does that mean?” he demanded, not waiting for an answer before he looked at his son. “Toklo! What is she talking about?!”
Cringing as though he were being berated, Toklo couldn’t meet his father’s gaze. “He…that shadow the winter wolf calls her master…he put a curse on me. Two curses.”
His jaw clenched tightly, Toklo’s father looked back at Lex, his face tight with anger. “What curses?”
Swallowing, it took his son a moment to answer. “When I change into mist, I become too dizzy to fly correctly. And…and he’s made it so that…” Squeezing his eyes shut, he flattened his ears to his skull. “So that my flesh can’t be eaten.”
The adlets erupted into horrified shouting then, outraged screams mingling with oaths to the spirits and reflexive denials that such a thing was possible. But they all quieted down when their leader nudged his mount, the polar bear rearing up on its hind legs and giving a roar. That was enough to quiet the others, though several continued to mutter to each other as the beast fell back onto all fours, all of them now sending hateful glares Lex’s way.
None were more heated than Toklo’s father. “Is this true?” he demanded, his voice quiet.
“It is,” smirked Solvei. “And my master wishes you to know that he is prepared to curse each and every one of you should you try to harm any of us.” She let that hang in the air for a moment, glancing around with undisguised delight at the worried looks the other adlets were trading now. “However, my master also wishes you to know that he is prepared to lift your son’s curse, and even share information about the yetis that recently moved through your territory, if you cooperate with him.”
No one spoke as the offer hung in the air, waiting to see what the adlet leader’s reaction would be. For a long moment he simply stared at Lex, as though trying to incinerate him with his gaze alone. Finally, after nearly a full minute of silence, he spoke. “There’s no honor in what you’re proposing,” he spat. “To die in battle shows respect for your enemy, and earns theirs in turn. To hold their spirits hostage is not only cowardly, it’s cruel. Such a thing” – he lifted his spear then, the runes on it shimmering brighter as he pointed it at Lex – “is nothing less than an affront to the natural order.”
“Your boyfriend’s a lousy negotiator,” muttered Spinner to Drafty, readying her lute.
The comment earned a sneer of derision from Shadow. “Who would have thought that ransoming someone’s child would make things worse?”
Wincing at the comments, Drafty was already starting to pull a spell together when the adlet leader lowered his spear. “Which is why I hope the spirits can forgive me,” he continued, the anger in his voice fading, “because I cannot condemn my son and my fellows to suffer such indignity.”
His troops were all visibly shocked by that, with more than a few starting to protest his decision, but he quieted them all with a shake of his head, a look of resignation crossing his features as he scowled up at Lex.
“What are your terms?”
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Die a glorious warriors death and be obliterated from history, or be dishonoured and learn it takes for more time and preparation to survive against those monsters far more destructive than you?
11211806 Well, the fact that the adlets think they need their kin to eat them after they die in order to be reborn throws a bit of a wrinkle into things.
hum that was just a bit to easy.
11211962 Well, sometimes an encounter manages to not devolve into a life-or-death struggle. It's rare for Lex, but it does happen...though Toklo's father is quite clearly not happy about the circumstances here. On the other hoof, it's better than the terms the elder adlet was proposing.
Imagine mystaria going when they found the first guy like :" it must be cool to know that you are having an afterlife and to have proof of that. We have nothing so we just hope for the best."
"You need proof?"
"Of course otherwise how do you know?"
11212407 The adlets' belief system regarding what happens after they die is very different from those of the ponies of Everglow, to be sure. Of course, the ponies have long since verified how it works for them, whereas the adlets are operating on faith alone, despite having a non-theistic system of beliefs. Poetic irony, there.
11212420
Irony indeed. Although the fact that you know what happens after death a bit makes it lose some of it charme
As barbaric as outsiders may view the adlets and their culture, they are still people that have their own set of moral values, especially when it comes to family. And if I had to make a guess, Toklo is probably an only child in addition to the fact that his father is a leader of the adlets.
The fact that this war party was probably put together likely at Toklo's father's insistence goes to show how much he cares for his son as well as avenging Panuk's own demise and retrieval of his body.
11213120 Unlike a lot of the enemies Lex has faced up to now, the adlets can't be written off as a group of bloodthirsty monsters whose culture, such as it is, is so savage and brutal that it can barely be recognized as a culture at all (unlike, say, the sahuagin). It's clear that they care for each other and will fight for each other, values that ponies can recognize and understand, even if the adlets' beliefs are different from theirs. Unfortunately, Lex seems intent on manipulating those beliefs for his own ends at the moment.
Of course, it's not all sunshine and roses. The punishments that Toklo's father laid out probably seem harsh by Equestrian standards, essentially enforcing an open-ended period of indentured servitude, and having their teeth pulled likely comes across as inflicting pain for its own sake. Not to mention having to turn over everything they're wearing/carrying. Of course, from their perspective, Lex killed one of their number and inflicted horrific curses on another, so I suppose there's blame to go around.