"It's good to see you again, Ankh." I stepped forwards and casually pulled Coatli away from her, leaving them both looking slightly disappointed. "We were just about to head down to the sea. What brings you here?"

"Food." She shrugged off the simple bag she was carrying, and opened it for me. Inside was a bundle of leaves, still hot from the fire. "For you." I pulled it out and gingerly unwrapped it, discovering a perfectly roasted fish.

"Thanks!" I broke it in half, handing a piece to Coatli. We ate in silence for a moment, pulling the steaming flesh apart and nibbling on it. The leaves it had been cooked in gave the meat a savory zest, and it was perfectly tender. I even felt a bit of pneuma filling me; this was a monster, the sort of meal you'd pay good money for in any of the port towns I'd visited.

"You could come with us," Coatli said, mouth half-full. "Or with me, at least. I was about to fly around the island, you could show me the sights and stuff."

"You sure that's a good idea?" I frowned at him, but he smiled back.

"We could use the help," he retorted.

"I'm sure she can fight, which would definitely make marking easier, but…" I turned to Ankh, considering. Actually, having a local guide would be all sorts of useful.

"Fight for marks?" Coatli gave me a puzzled stare. "What… oh!" His eyes lit up. "You don't have a war party, do you."

"…No?"

"Tsk." He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Good thing I'm here for you, man. We need to party up." He made a fist and held it out.

"Uh?" I looked down at it.

"It's a greeting, a greeting! Knock your knuckles against mine."

I made a fist and tapped it against his. I guess this was like shaking hands?

"Coatli has invited you to join his party."

"Join," I said.

"Ding!"

Did… did the Voice of the World just say 'ding'?

"Good!" Coatli nodded, grabbed my wrist, and dragged me out past the edge of my marked territory. "Claim this bit, it should be all sorts of easier now."

I shot a glance at Ankh, who was watching our proceedings with frank curiosity. Still, I shoved my hands in my pockets, pulled in my concentration, and intoned "Mark." The magic gathered around me, settling into a bulbous shape that ran along the top of the caldera and extended down into the scree field. I braced myself for a rejection message; there was surely at least one monster hiding in the area. However…

"The owners of this area are overwhelmed by the power of your group." The magic concluded with a gentle flare, settling into the ground.

"Oh-ho."

"See?" Coatli grinned, then stepped forwards and lowered his voice. "And I really do think we should parlay with the draconinans." He crossed his arms. "We're going to have to talk with them eventually, and if we do it from the start, not only can we get their help, they won't feel like we've been going behind their backs or something."

"You're not wrong, but… are you sure they're safe?" I frowned. "If they decide they want the Heart…"

"I'm confident, if we approach them on our own terms. Besides, those of my race are proud people. At the very least, you shouldn't have to worry about being backstabbed."

"Because the threat of frontstabbing is so reassuring," I retorted. "Still, I can't say I'm not interested." I turned to Ankh. "Does anyone in your village have a boat?"

"Canoes, yes. With sails. We trade with the waterfolk."

That clinched it; we could mark the reef with that. I nodded to Coatli, who grinned at Ankh.

"Do you think we could trade for the use of one?" he asked. "Can you take me to your village?"

She gave a hesitant nod. "Can you fly far?"

"But of course!" Coatli spread his wings, showing off their considerable span. "Wait here, Edmon. Or better yet—" He pointed to the west. "Make your way down the cliff, if you can. I'll bring a boat around to the beach for you. Lead the way, Ankh."

"Yes." She nodded, and sprang into the air. "We will visit my mother."

Coatli suddenly seemed a bit less excited as he followed her aloft. I laughed and began picking my way around the caldera. The west edge was steep, but I could probably make my way down if I was careful.

"Urgh." I sat on the sand, holding my bleeding shoulder. About halfway down, I'd been ambushed by a swarm of things that looked a lot like lobsters, but lived in holes in the rock. A volley of gunfire had driven them away, but not before the first one leaped at me and took a chunk out of my bicep. Only fast reflexes and a quick draw had kept me from being swarmed. I'd been more careful after that, assiduously avoiding their burrows once I'd recognized them, but climbing nearly straight down the last fifty feet of steep boulders had been a painful chore.

"Edmon!"

I looked up at the call. Coatli sliced in over the treetops, coming in so fast his landing kicked up a plume of sand as he skidded to a stop before me.

"We got a boat, Ankh is bringing it— Are you alright?" He saw the blood staining my clothes, and looked me over with a worried gaze.

"I'll be fine." I pushed myself up awkwardly and brushed sand off my pants. "Hurts like a bugger, but I’m not left-handed."

"We really need to see about getting you an avatar." He frowned. "Anyways— oh, here she is." He pointed out to sea, where a low-profile skiff was veritably flying over the waves.

Ankh stood at the back of a sleek white catamaran, wings nearly a blur, moving fast enough to throw spray in her wake. She slowed and stopped, letting the hulls sink back into the water before dropping an anchor overboard and catapulting herself towards us with a flip of her wings. She came in with a graceful glide, and landed adroitly.

"We have brought a boat."

"Sweet." I moved towards the surf, but Coatli stopped me with a touch.

"Let me?" He sprang into the air and hovered overhead, holding out his hand.

"…Alright." I gingerly reached up with my good arm, and we clasped wrists in a double hold. He lifted me gently, and carried me out past the breakers.

"This is an Innisman craft!" I exclaimed, as he set me on deck. The waterfolk built boats that only the best human water-mages could match, but I'd never seen one in person before. I inspected it carefully, trying to take in every detail as they raised the anchor.

It had two angular hulls, constructed from what looked like fishbone and covered in pearly palm-sized scales, fit so close they were watertight without pitch. Slender ivory trusses yoked the whole thing together, and supported a deck woven from translucent fiber. A pair of deep rudders hung off the keels, and a footing sat at the front of the deck, just ahead of midship, surrounded by cleats. a mast would mount there easily, but it was currently fitted with what looked like a handlebar.

It was constructed entirely from monster parts, and probably worth more than I'd make in a year. As a smuggler, I'd dreamed of boats like this, even if it didn't really have the cargo space to be practical. And it would attract pirates like flies. If I had one of these, I could make it off the island… if it could outrun the Leviathan. It might even be fast enough. Not the sort of thing I'd want to take into a storm, though.

"Alright, let's get this thing going. Take the tiller, Edmon?" Coatli waved me to the back, before bracing himself against the handlebar. Ankh joined him, and they spread their wings. I flattened myself against the deck to avoid the airstream and grabbed the control bar, holding the rudders straight.

They started with a few slow flaps, but as the boat sped up, so did they, actually lifting their feet and flying parallel to the deck. In moments I felt the boat lift as the keels rose in the water, and we accelerated as we began to skim. I'd seen racing skiffs do this in a strong wind, but I was surprised when we kept rising, and kept accelerating.

"This thing has waterwings?" I shouted, surprising the draconians. I leaned over the edge, staring down between the deck and the hull; sure enough, slender blades jabbed into the water from the keels, lifting us totally out of the waves. No wonder they'd made it back so fast! Not even the best human water-mages could make something like this. You literally had to breathe water to design one of these.

"Turn," Coatli snapped back at me. I looked up, and realized we were headed straight out to sea. I gingerly moved the tiller, and the craft made a graceful arc. Ankh folded her wings and left the driving to Coatli, who could easily maintain our velocity now that we were at speed, and sat down cross-legged next to me, taking the tiller.

I surrendered it happily, watching the coast stream by in amazement. I'd never gone this fast on the water. This was the sort of speed I'd expect from a flying mount, like a hippogriff or thunderbird. If it could do this with a sail…

"You use these to trade with the waterfolk?" I asked Ankh. Our passage was louder than I was used to, with the susurrus of Coatli's wings, but still quiet enough to talk comfortably.

"Mmm." She surveyed the waves for a moment, before pointing out to sea. "Their city… two days travel that way, in blue water."

"Do the sea monsters bother you?"

"The waterfolk escort us, at the beginning and end of the rainy season, when the deep-dwellers sleep. We carry black glass and firestone, land-meat and spices, and take both boats - too much cargo to carry on the wing."

"What do you get?"

"Pearls and deep-fish, glowstone and spices."

Interesting. Were the Innismen Nepenthe's monsters? Would my domain be attacked by fish-people from the deep? I'd heard horror stories about villages wiped out by marauding Innismen; one day full of people, the next empty except for bloodstains. They had no compunctions about eating sapients, and living underwater, rarely bothered to cook their food. The draconians were more than a match for them, though; on land, Innismen might be a challenge to low-level humans, but these islanders could fly.

I mentally pushed the draconians value up a notch. An alliance of some sort with them could be of great benefit. Didn't the Wayland Kingdom have a squad of elite draconian scouts and lancers? 'Aerial superiority' was a catchphrase for a reason.

I put my thoughts aside, though, when I saw smoke rising from the trees ahead. The catamaran - I refused to call this beautiful craft a 'canoe' - skimmed gracefully around the point, revealing tall houses built from split bamboo and thatched with palm-fronds. The village was bigger than I'd expected; easily half a hundred buildings stood along the crinkled white beach, and I glimpsed more through the trunks of the coconut palms.

"Do they know we're coming?" I asked. We slowed and stopped, sinking back into the water with a splash of spray and a jerk. We drifted into waist-deep water, and I kicked the anchor overboard with a splash.

"Mother does," Ankh replied.

"They'll know in a second!" Coatli said, giving me a grin. I suddenly felt uneasy.

"What are you— No, wait!" I snatched at him, but he was airborne with a blur of wings.

"Hey flyboys!" His yell was loud enough to hurt my ears. "Come out and FIGHT!"

My eyes went wide as the last word literally burned skywards, his shout coalescing into a rippling billow of flame. It roared into the air, a plume of crackling yellow fire that burned for a second before dissipating.

"The hell?" I screamed at him, whipping out my pistol and pointing to towards shore. Already, a half-dozen draconians had popped out of the canopy, wings blurring as they raced for us. "You idiot!"

"Cool it, Edmon." His glare was sharp. "I know what I'm doing." He made a fist, and his knuckles popped. "Flyboys need to be impressed, or they'll never take you seriously."

"And you can take them?" I yelled back, but my anger was fading. I looked to Ankh, who nodded and touched her forehead, right where I'd shot her.

"Oh yeah." He gave a sharklike grin and unhooked his club. "You go with Ankh, cut us a deal. I'll take care of this." And with a flip of his wings, he was gone, blurring towards the first challenger like a scaled comet. I saw a flash of wood, and heard a shout. The falling body wasn't his.

"They'll be okay?" I watched the tumbling draconian splash into the waves, then come up spluttering.

"Should be fine." Ankh nodded judiciously. "They're just playing."

"Ahah." I let out a nervous chuckle, remembering that these were, in fact, monsters. Sure, I knew draconians were tough, but maybe I'd never really understood just how different that made them. Still, I wished Coatli had seen fit to mention his plan.

"I will carry you."

"Huh?" I barely had a moment to be surprised before Ankh hooked her hands under my arms and hoisted me aloft, skimming just above the waves. "Ouch! Easy there!"

"Oh!" Her eyes went wide as my wound opened and started bleeding again. "Sorry, sorry!" She set me down on the sand a moment later, watching nervously as I summoned another clean bandage and wrapped it tightly around the old one.

"It's fine," I grunted, pushing aside my annoyance. She probably wasn't used to people who could be seriously hurt by leaping rock-lobsters or whatever. I watched Coatli bat another fighter out of the air with an almost contemptuous backhand. He pivoted gracefully around his club, wings rippling. He'd removed the spikes at some point. I hadn't noticed that on the trip. "You were taking me to meet your mother?"

"Mmm." She gave an apologetic bow and turned. "Please, follow."

I walked behind her as she moved into the trees. There were no footpaths here. We passed cottages, mottled with beautiful combinations of dark and bright bamboo like their inhabitants scales. There were a few people around, flitting through openings that had been cut in the palms, standing on balconies and conversing, or looking curiously out windows. Here or there I saw small gardens, neatly edged with stones, and people cooking over open fires. It was mostly teens and children. Shouldn't there be more adults than the ones fighting Coatli? Were they out hunting?

Eventually, we wound our way through the houses until we were nearly at the edge of the forest. Ankh led me up to a house that looked basically the same as the rest, except the door was covered with a curtain of twine strung with seashells, and bundles of herbs were drying in the gaps of the woven walls. She parted the curtain and waved me through.

"Hello?" I stepped into a small room, furnished with driftwood chairs and a low stone table. Tropical sun, diluted by palm-shadows, glowed through empty windowframes.

"Coming!" A voice drifted out the back, high and sweet, followed moments later by a draconian with very nearly the same autumn-leaf scales and ivory horns as Ankh. There was wisdom gathered in the creases around her smile, though, and she was half a head taller than me.

"Oh, hello." She stopped when she saw me, and her smile grew brighter. Her eyes were sea-green, and twinkled with delight. "You are… Lord Edmon, right? Coatli—" the word had a strange inflection, almost reverence, "—spoke of you. Welcome to my home." She spread her wingtips, and made a small curtsey.

"Thank you for inviting me." I bowed back. "Just Edmon is fine, please." I smiled, trying not to show my sudden apprehension. Just how much had Coatli divulged? We needed to have a talk about communication, apparently.

"Of course, of course. Ankh, would you bring us something to drink? Please, Edmon, sit." She waved me to a chair, and I gingerly seated myself. The driftwood was more comfortable than I expected, smooth and cool. The breeze from the window hit my face, and the heat of the day melted off me.

This was nice.

"Thank you, miss…?"

"Jejune," she supplied, as Ankh came back with wooden cups and a corked gourd. She poured something bright blue into the cups, and stepped back out the door. I took a sip, and grinned. I had no idea what the stuff was, but it was tart and sweet and just a little fizzy. I held out my hand and concentrated, summoning a half-dozen glittering chunks.

"Ice?"

"…Thank you." Jejune plucked three from my palm and dropped them into her drink. I tipped the rest into mine.

We sat in silence a moment, enjoying the shade and the breeze. Outside, I heard a distant yell, and shook my head.

"Sounds like fun." Jejune cocked an ear towards the window. "I'd like to be out there myself. But." She clasped her hands in her lap and fixed her gaze on me. "We need to talk."

"Right." I straightened up and set my drink down. "Er, can you speak for the village?"

"I should hope so." She nodded. "I am the chief, and I can lick any three of them in a fair fight."

I hid my surprise at that, but remembered Coatli's burst of flame. Skills were not easily quantified.

"Alright, good. I want… an agreement. Or an alliance. Or something." I sighed, and rubbed my eyes. I didn't like having to make the first offer in an negotiation I'd jumped into blind, but we needed to have some basis for bargaining. "As you said, I'm a Lord. What did Coatli tell you about that?"

"Mmm." She looked into her cup, and thought. "Well, he said you have the Heart. It might not have meant much to Ankh, but… my mother's mother knew Cuahuli."

"Really…"

"We have longer lives than humans." She nodded. "And long memories. You have the Heart, and you want the land." She sighed. "The tales call humans dishonest, greedy, animals; but Cuahuli was good to us. He rescued us, actually. We haven't lived here forever; our home was on a coast far to the east, where we fought the Orchs just to scrape by. In my grandmother's seventieth year, the rains were longer than before, and the plants grew bigger; we fought and fought, burned the jungle and scattered what salt we had on the soil, but they sprouted in droves, too much for us to face. At that time, someone came in over the ocean."

She stood, and pulled a book from a nearby shelf. It was bound in wood, and the pages were loose monster-skin sheaves, but she flicked through them with familiarity. Finding the one, she pulled it out and held it up. On it was a person wearing loose robes, with six insectile wings spread around them like a sunburst. The details were vague, but their eyes seemed faceted. One of the Maiy?

"She called herself Raak, and seeing our plight, she held the line and we beat back the Orchs. After talking with us, she offered us sanctuary, on the condition that we offer a levy of fighters for her Lord's battles. The chief was, at first, unwilling to give up his power, but eventually agreed for the survival of the clan." She looked up. "I think they made the right choice, honestly. Metzli has been a bountiful home for us. And although the jungle is ever hungry, it doesn't pose the same threat as those coordinated, blood-drinking plants." She shuddered. "I can only imagine what a hell the Orchs would make of this place. However." She shut the book with a snap. "These are tales from the past. Once again, a Lord comes. But tell me, Edmon, what can you offer?"

"Trade." I'd thought about this a bit on the way here. What exactly could I use to bargain with these people? Ankh's mention of trade with the Innismen had sparked an idea. "Have you heard of Crossroads?"

"The village between lands?" She frowned. "It never seemed very impressive to me in the tales."

"It's grown a bit." I gave a small smile. "It's more of a city now. I saw all sorts of things there; metal weapons, glasswork, magic. Would you like a set of steel spears for your men? I can give you access to that. All I want is some help navigating the island. If you want me to keep my territory back from your village, I can do that. I won't try and restrict you from doing whatever, either. And I'd like to borrow a boat, for a few days."

"For that, I can let you use the boat." She nodded. "Coatli said you meant to mark the coast. As for trade, you will demand a tax?"

Good question. Just how much was access to Crossroads worth to these people?

"We'll have to discuss that. To be honest, I'd very much like to employ some of your warriors, but—"

"—I. Am. Not. PREY!"

The shout came from outside, accompanied by a crash and a yelp. Both of us looked to the door.

"—I'm not sure what I can offer you," I finished, just as Coatli strode in. His scales were covered in dull scrapes, a few of them even flaking off. I saw a smear of purple blood at the corner of his mouth, but he licked it away with a narrow, forked tongue.

"Immortality," he said.

"What?" I watched as he strode in, bowed to Jejune, sat down and poured himself a cup of blue fizzy drink.

"You can offer them immortality, at least until your death. It is within your remit, as a Lord."

Suddenly, I felt annoyance bubbling up inside me. I'd been dragged around all day, sometimes literally, and now this? Now he tells me something so important, in the middle of a negotiation, of all times? What the fuck. How many other things was he simply failing to mention, like that 'come and fight me' he'd been planning? And of course he'd planned it; if not since he heard about the village, at least since he'd fetched the boat!

"That would have been nice to know beforehand!" I tried to keep my cool, feeling Jejune's gaze on me, but as the words tumbled out, I felt myself losing my grip. "Coatli, we are going to have a serious discussion about coordinating." I spat the words at him. "You've been acting like a loose cannon all day, and I'm getting fucking sick of it. Shape up! Is this how you treat your friends? Is this how you acted under Cuahuli? No wonder—" His eyes flashed in anger for a second, and I cut the words off, setting my mouth in a firm line. "No, some of it's my fault," I bit out. "I didn't sit down and insist on a plan, and I should have. But still."

He stared at me and drew in a deep, slow breath, sitting totally still.

The tension swirled around us, until he let out a long sigh and nodded to me.

"I apologize." He pressed his palms together and held them before his face. "I do tend to jump into things, and we do hardly know each other yet. We needed to act, and… I didn't give you the support you required from me. In the first place, I failed to consider how little you might know about draconians." He looked into the distance. "And in the second; it's no excuse, but… Even new Lords, when I met them in the past, were generals or such; people who had worked closely with domains and monsters. You have not, and it was my oversight."

"Haaaah." I rubbed my eyes. "Thank you. We'll have to have a discussion about teamwork later. I can't argue with your results, but I can't order you around; if you don't cooperate with me, we're allies in name only."

"…You're not wrong." He nodded, then grinned weakly. "Are we good?"

"We're good." I nodded back. "Sorry for losing my cool."

"Apology accepted." He waved it away. "Strong feelings require strong words. But now," he swigged from his cup and turned to Jejune, "let me tell you why there is never a shortage of worldborn willing to work for a Lord."

"Immortality, you say." She nodded slowly. "There were tales of it, but I hardly credited them. Warriors who were struck down, rising the next day."

"There are, of course, limitations." Coatli raised his fingers. "One, only a few people can receive this, especially as Edmon's power is still growing. I would like a half-dozen of your warriors to work with us, to guard Edmon. Two, this is a power primarily used in battles between Lords; although you can use it to hunt in the jungle—" Jejune's eyes widened at that, "—doing so will incur a cost, both on the one revived, and on Edmon. Third, the ones blessed will also be bound; they will have to fight and die for us, if we need them to. But they will also grow strong; stronger than anything you have ever seen. Except for that one time you flew over the south end of the island and caught me napping." He grinned.

"…That strong?"

"That strong. We'll also need to mark the land in your village."

Jejune looked at me. I shrugged.

"This will take some thought." She tapped her jaw. "Your offer is enticing, and I believe it's valid. But I would like to see a demonstration."

"Um?" I looked at Coatli, but he simply looked puzzled.

Jejune rose and stepped into the other room, coming back with a box made from a coconut shell, bound in twine. She carefully unwrapped it, lifting the top off and pulling out a ball of fluff, which she sorted through until she uncovered a monster core.

It was the size of a pebble, and it looked like clear water with sparks of blue dancing in it. I'd never seen a core like that, but it was immediately obvious from the crenellations. This was a monster's heart, the thing that separated them from humans.

"This is a keepsake of my grandmother. She said, that if any of us ever found the Heart, they should be given this." She set the core on the table. Coatli picked it up and inspected it, and I saw his eyes widen.

"You need to mark this," he demanded, thrusting it at me. I looked down, but didn't take it from his hand.

"You're doing it again," I shot back. He had just said that reviving monsters would cost me. What was he pulling me into now?

None of the sudden intensity faded from his gaze, but he slowly nodded. "Right, sorry. You need to mark the core, than incarnate her. You'll be unable to use magic or gather pneuma for two days, your stats may be weakened for a day, and… it's probably going to hurt. A lot. But…" He licked his lips, looking down at the core. "You'll gain another ally."

"Like you?" I asked. Another of Cuahuli's generals?

"Not really." He snorted in amusement. "No, not really like me at all. But she is good, and kind. Her name is Yse."

"…alright." I gingerly took the core. Coatli was a bit of a hothead, and tended to rush into things, but… in the end, I trusted him and liked him. If he said this was a good idea, it was probably a good idea. I might have problems with how he acted at times, but he'd done nothing to hurt me and a lot to help.

Besides, she was his friend.

"Mark." The magic glowed around the core for a moment.

"Because of this core's previous connection to your Heart, its memories are preserved. Boss monster Yse has been added to your archive."

"The skill Archive has ranked up, from 'new' to 'rough'. You can now access a tome of information."

"By gaining an experienced subordinate, your class Lord of the Land grows stronger."

I paused, thinking over what I'd just heard. Tome sounded interesting… But there was more to do. "Incarnate!"

Coatli was right, it did hurt. It felt like when I'd picked up the dagger; a blinding flash, a searing pain, leaving me woozy and with spots on my vision. I staggered, and realized my stamina and magic and even my health had plummeted, but stopped before they reached halfway. My arm started bleeding again, and Jejune had to catch me so I didn't fall.

"You have incarnated a Boss Monster outside of your domain. Because of your quality of 'Growth', the penalties are reduced."

The power swirled around the core in my hand, solidifying on it like snow. It grew from the size of a pebble to the size of an apple, before starting to take shape. Eyes appeared, and a fuzzy body, and eight… hairy… legs…

"Spider!" I flung the newly-reformed Yse across the room as I scrabbled backwards. Coatli dived for her, wings flaring as he snatched her out of the air. I landed on my ass, scooting back until I hit the wall.

"That was totally unnecessary," said a quiet, papery voice.

I groaned. Spiders.

It just had to be spiders.