Chapter 26

“Irweth, the first of the hunters has returned.”

“Did they find the Matriarch?”

The male shook his head. Nothing. Irweth tested the air as if she could confirm his report. Only the humidity of the steaming lake, the tribes nearby and the everyday smells of the jungle greeted her.

It had been three days since the confused report of an attack against the procession delivering the Humans’ tribute. Irweth found it difficult to believe that a collection of the most powerful of the jungle’s tribes could be defeated, but other things may have happened.

The procession was composed of representatives of different tribes loosely held together by the notion that they were minions of the Viridian Dragon Lord, but it meant little when it came to their loyalty to one another. There was no incentive to fight together and certainly no reason to die in the place of their rivals. If attacked by sufficiently powerful opponents, they might have simply scattered to save themselves or fight in the ways best suited to them.

With the ruler of the jungle spurred to action, Irweth had little doubt that whatever the matter was would be quickly resolved. Lord Xerix was probably killed for this blunder, but the Matriarch and the other tribal leaders should have survived. Presumably, they would collect more people from nearby to get things moving again this time with the Dragon Lord keeping a watchful eye over them.

A delay seemed reasonable. The winter rains came and went with the turning of days, flooding many parts of the interior. Gathering new minions after the mishap probably added even more time to complete the delivery.

As the days passed, however, there was no sign of their Matriarch’s return. Nor had they heard any news from the other tribes near the lake. Perhaps something more had happened and the Dragon Lord had been infuriated to the point that she had killed every member of the procession. If that was the case, times would become chaotic for the next while as new lords rose and established dominance.

Irweth supposed that she would be the new Gnoll Matriarch if this was true. She would need to see to the defence of their territories as the tribes tested old borders established under the leadership of powerful lords who were no more.

“What else did they notice?”

“Fighting,” the male replied. “The tribes in the southeast are warring.”

That was nothing new and a sign that things were proceeding as normal. With the arrival of the Humans’ annual tribute, the competition rose between the Dragon Lord’s offspring. They sent the Demihuman tribes under their rule against one another in an effort to prove their superiority over their siblings. This would supposedly please their mother and they would receive exotic rewards like gold coins and other treasures that came from the outside world.

“Keep watching for them,” Irweth said. “Our neighbours, as well. If Lord Xerix is gone, one of the other Dragons is bound to take his place.”

Shortly after the male left with a few of his pack mates, another appeared out of the bushes. He loped over to the edge of Irweth’s thatch hut. She narrowed her eyes at his approach: his scent marked him as one from the northern tribes, but why they would send a male to see her was a mystery.

The male kept his head low. His ears lay flat and he cast his gaze downward.

“What is it?” Irweth asked.

“Our tribes have come under attack.”

“…and?”

“They have come under attack…by Humans.”

Irweth rose to her full height. The much smaller male backed away cautiously.

“That’s impossible,” she said. “We would have noticed if Humans came through here.”

“They came on the backs of flying Magical Beasts!” The male replied, “Our villages were set ablaze by spells from the sky. Metal-clad warriors fell upon us as we fled from the inferno! Dozens of our camps have been raided; we…we beg of the lake tribes to grant us refuge in their territory.”

She peered down at the male, sensitive for any sign of treachery. The tribes were already warring in the southeast: were the Dragons of the northern slopes plotting something against the lake tribes? They all seemed astoundingly quick when it came to exploiting shifts in power.

“Where are your masters?”

“I-I don’t know. We went to beseech their aid when the attacks started, but they weren’t in their lairs. The Humans attacked savagely and without warning – they don’t even have any territory near ours! I do not understand what is going on.”

As with the male, it made little sense to Irweth. The Humans had raised a large structure near the edge of the jungle to the southeast, but they did not dwell in the lands there. In the north, snow-capped peaks rose in stark relief to the plains on the other side, all but impassable to Humans. There was no territory to contest; no raids to retaliate against. It seemed a purely random act of violence with no tangible gain.

“You wish to cross into our territory…who speaks for you?”

“No one.”

“No one?” Irweth snapped her jaws, “Well, your Alphas should be away, but what about your mystics?”

“Slain,” the male visibly wilted. “In the confusion of the attacks, the Humans went after them first! I understand challenging the warriors, but why the medicine women? Why the Oracles? Why chase after the foragers and the pups?”

Silence fell between them as Irweth struggled to comprehend what was going on. The Humans were too strange; too different. It was said time and again that the Dragons protected the jungle from the savage and pointlessly violent Humans around them, but nothing of what a Green Dragon said could ever be trusted. There were tales of Human hunters who shared the forests outside with everyone else, so the Dragons’ claim seemed yet another of their endless lies.

“I will call the elders together,” Irweth said. “You will share with them your tale.”

She sent out runners to contact the tribes around the lake. With the Matriarch away, as well as the other Alphas, it was Irweth’s responsibility to oversee the lake tribes should anything happen. Lord Xerix had kept her in reserve just in case one of his siblings attacked while the other leaders were away.

Her concern mounted as evening fell and more petitioners arrived even as the elders trickled in. Reports of other races on the move came from the borders of their territory. It was not just the Gnolls being attacked. Hunters with flying companions confirmed dozens of trails of smoke rising from the jungle, finding destroyed settlements at their sources.

Even if it was true that the Humans were attacking, what was the purpose? The Viridian Dragon Lord did not care about minor raids and shifts in mortal power, but they would invite her wrath if it greatly affected the tribute that she received from the tribes.

Yet another petitioner arrived. She bowed her head before the dozens of assembled elders.

“This one is from the Running Paw tribe–”

“The Running Paw tribe?”

Irweth’s snarl mirrored the sharply-rising anxiety of the assembly. The Running Paw tribe was from the foothills to the south.

“Y-yes,” the female sent a nervous glance around her. “Something strange is going on. Other peoples are fleeing through our lands. Too many. All that we captured say that they have been driven from their homes.”

“By who?”

“They do not know for certain, but they suspect that these attackers are Humans. Warriors clad in metal, wielding shields and spears and blades of bright iron. With them are many pale-faced mystics, and…”

The female swallowed and licked her jowls. Her shadow wavered with the light from the nearby bonfire.

“…the dead walk with them.”

A low murmur rose from the gathering, punctuated by nervous yips and growls. Irweth looked to several of those who had come from the north.

“Are these the same Humans?” She asked.

“The warriors in metal sound like the Humans who attacked us,” one of them answered. “But the dead…we were not attacked by any Undead.”

“Our elders sent hunters to see whether the claims were true,” the female from the Running Paw tribe said. “They came back with news of several tribes of these metal warriors coming towards our camps. We fled before they arrived.”

The incredulous voice of one of Irweth’s Druids rose from the right.

“The Running Paw tribe did not fight to defend their territory?”

“You do not understand!” The female cried, “We tried. Our hunters fought as we ran, but there were so many and we had to defend our people at the same time. For every warrior that we strike down with an arrow, there are a dozen more and they have mystics to heal them, besides! They have so many tribes and every tribe is a hundred or more – how can one hold back a mudslide with their paws?”

“They are not from here,” an old hunter noted. “Surely the land will ensnare them. The beasts and monsters will consume them. These invaders may be many, but the land does not care. They will weaken and die.”

A sense of comfort calmed Irweth’s growing agitation. The Hunter spoke truly. By simply withdrawing, the jungle would take its toll on any outsiders unaccustomed to its dangers.

“This would be true,” the female said, “but for the Undead. At first, we thought to gradually weaken them from the shadows, but the invaders have hunters as well! These hunters go after the weak and the helpless, marking them for the Undead claim with their black blades. They are too strong to fight directly and every one of us that falls rises as another Undead. All we can do is flee.”

“What do the Dragons have to say about this?”

“They are nowhere to be seen. We must call upon Her Eminence to destroy the invaders!”

Voices from agreement rose from the assembly. Irweth clutched her paws nervously. None of the other tribes that came to see them appeared aware of the attack on the Dragon Lord’s tribute. Being the bearer of bad news twice in such a short time…maybe she could convince the Troglodytes to pass the word again.

“You may enter our territory for now,” Irweth told the gathered petitioners. “But you must stay at the borders! Do not hunt or forage on our lands or we will all be eating one another soon enough.”

With that, she ran off with four seasoned hunters, making her way along the muddy shore. It took an hour to reach the cliffs that loomed over the lake where a huge Troglodyte colony occupied the surface entrance of the Viridian Dragon Lord’s lair. The main tunnel was halfway up the cliff, where Irweth found several dozen of the reptilian Demihumans doing…something.

Two were taking turns slapping one another with a fish. The others watched with intense looks of concentration. When she made her presence known, most of them scattered into the tunnel. A few of them ran off of the cliff in their panic.

Irweth located a slightly larger than average Troglodyte with a crimson frill, grabbing its tail as it tried to escape. She wrinkled her nose as an oily stench filled the air.

“Stop that,” she said. “I have a message for Her Eminence.”

It took a good half a minute for her words to finally sink in. The Troglodyte Lord nursed its tail as it stared up at her with wide, slitted eyes.

“The jungle is being invaded by Humans,” Irweth told it. “Our tribes are being driven back.”

“Inv…inv?”

“Attacked. Humans. We need help.”

After repeating the simplified message four times, the Troglodyte Lord disappeared into the tunnel. Irweth looked out over the lake, but it had grown too dark to see any signs of the invasion in the distance. She watched the lake’s surface for the Dragon Lord’s appearance but, after nearly an hour, nothing happened and the Troglodyte Lord returned.

“Not home,” it said.

“What?”

“…not home?”

Was she in another lair? It was pointless to ask the Troglodyte any questions, so Irweth simply nodded at it once and went back down the cliffside trail.

“What do we do?” One of the hunters asked worriedly.

“We need to find her,” Irweth said. “Split up and check her other lairs. I must return home and see what can be done about these Humans.”

She had a rough idea of what needed to be done, but she wasn’t sure if it was possible. Upon her return to the lakeshore settlement, Irweth found many of the elders still gathered, discussing the news of the invasion. They looked towards her expectantly as she entered the light of the fire.

“The Dragon Lord is not in her main lair,” she told them. “I’ve sent hunters to check the others. What have we learned about these invaders?”

“It is difficult to say,” one of the elders said. “But who can it be but the Humans from outside? According to some who have come from fighting them, the small metal warriors can be injured and slain. The Undead are numerous but weak: only a few are overwhelmingly strong.”

“What is their purpose here? This is not a place for Humans. How is it that they are in league with the Undead?”

“We cannot tell,” the elder shook her head. “The tribes are attacked and they must flee or perish. The actions of these invaders make little sense to us. All we know is that they rest at night and attack during the day. As for the Undead, it is possible for magic to control them. If they are as powerful as claimed, however, it should be impossible.”

Almost everything seemed to be unknown, unfathomable or impossible. The Humans that delivered the tribute usually did nothing but bring their wagons and leave. Those that sometimes came into contact with the tribes who dwelled on the outskirts were hunters who lived just as they did, hunting and trapping and foraging for their families. Land and food were plentiful so there was no reason to quarrel with them.

“How long until they reach our territory?” Irweth asked.

“It is not certain. They do not move as we do. After a day of slow travel, the Human tribes come together and build something like a village. Then they stay in that village until they have driven all of the tribes in the area away.”

Irweth scratched her ear, mind working to come up with a solution.

“Then we must attack,” she said. “We cannot allow them to go at their pace. If their tribes conduct their raids from these villages, it is also an opportunity for us to fight them one tribe at a time. Since they act like savages, we owe them no respect. They must be put down like crazed beasts.”

She tried putting as much confidence into her voice as possible, but reality looked grim. The Humans’ attack spoke of purposeful preparation while the tribes were scattered and had no time to prepare. They were accustomed to raids from other tribes but never before had their jungle home been subjected to a massive invasion.

No, that wasn’t quite right: many generations ago, great evil beings came and visited destruction upon the jungle. Much like these new invaders, they killed indiscriminately, nearly driving the tribes to extinction.

“What about the powerful Undead?” A Druid asked.

“We will avoid them as best we can,” Irweth answered. “Kill what we can kill. If we kill enough of them, perhaps they will leave. Ready the tribes to move: we cannot give them targets to raid. Also, send runners out to the tribes of the other races. All must fight if we are to survive.”