“This way.” Noori smiled. “I was surprised to hear that Mike, that idiotic prick, was going to let some outsider meet the Feral Beast-kin. No offense to you, of course.”

Anton smiled at the Feral Beast-kin. Noori was the Feral Beast-kin they had seen when they had first entered Al Qadikha. Up close he looked very similar to a Canine Beast-kin albeit with longer ears and rougher and dirtier fur.

“He had a change of heart.” Anton smiled. “I can be very persuasive.”

Noori shrugged. “If you say so. Doesn’t matter to me. He only comes up here if something’s wrong so I don’t see him often. And the less I see of him the better.”

I doubt you’ll ever have to see him again.

“Bad to work with?” Cetina asked softly.

Noori shrugged once again. “Yeah...And he had a weird...Doesn’t matter.”

Noori looked to the Third Wife, standing silently on the platform. “Is this right? I don’t want to get into trouble.”

“It is.” The Third Wife said loudly. “They are to be escorted towards the nearest Feral Beast-kin city.”

“Especially the Lamia’s.” Anton smiled. “They interest me a great deal. The precursors for an entire Beast-kin race. I would very much like to study them.”

Noori smirked. “They’re great fun. Alright. But if you see them don’t do anything too quickly or anything, and I mean anything, that looks like you’re about to attack them. They see things differently. They see...It’s like they see movement a thousand times better than we can.”

Can snakes do that? They can certainly detect heat, Eider can to a degree. Maybe there’s a slight flare of heat when someone is about to attack? One way to find out.

“We promise that we will not make any unnecessary moves.” Anton said. “I have doubly learnt the value of keeping my mouth shut while we were travelling with the Nomad Tribes.”

Noori’s eyes fell upon Zuhura. “Yes...They are nice enough, most of the time. But you don’t want to hear about that.”

The Third Wife gently cleared her throat. “Take them to the closest Feral Beast-kin city and introduce them to the ruling Lamia Clan. Once they are safe return here.”

“As you wish.” Noori clicked his tongue as he looked to the west. “About a half day’s walk but nothing too bad. How about I get some more supplies from the town?”

“Sure.” The Third Wife shrugged. “Just remember that they won’t be on the return journey, so don’t take too much.”

“Right, right.” Noori smiled. “Then it won’t be a problem then.”

“Good luck.” The Third Wife said as the platform began to descend. “I don’t think your visit to Al Qadikha will be forgotten in a long time.”

“I certainly hope not.” Anton smiled and gave a final wave as she descended from view.

“What is she talking about?” Noori asked.

“We just helped them a little.” Anton clapped his hands together. “So where are we going?”

Noori pointed further west. The flat stony plateau only covered a few hundred meters. Beyond that the stone dipped down and began to form a rough and craggy expanse. A path had been smoothed through the small boulders, leading towards a thin trail of smoke to the side of a large stony hill. Giant boulders lay precariously, threatening to fall over with just a decent push.

“That’s the place we’re heading to.” Noori said. “The closest Feral Beast-kin city. There should be a Lamia representative there, if that’s what you want?”

“It is.”

“Let’s get going then.” Noori pointed to a hand drawn cart. “They won’t let us use Camels or anything, the Lamia’s say they’re too valuable for us, but I’m more than strong enough to pull it.”

Noori patted his arms. Though a thick fur coat covered his arms he clearly had a decent amount of muscle.

“Please, lead on.” Anton motioned towards the distant city.

Noori smiled as he began to pull the cart. It was surprisingly well balanced and easy to move, Noori had probably worked on it quite a bit. The few other Feral Beast-kin continued with their work after giving Noori a quick wave.

“Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?” Anton asked. He silently ordered Calo and Sheso to keep an eye on their surroundings.

“Sure.” Noori shrugged. “Don’t see why not.”

“Do you refer to yourselves as Feral’s?”

“It doesn’t really matter to me.” Noori grunted and pulled the cart over a small stone. “They can call us whatever they want.”

“So what do you call yourselves?”

“Um...I don’t really know. Just by our species.” Noori flicked his long ears. “They call me a Feral Canine. Apparently there are some other types of Beast-kin, slaves, that look different. Is that true?”

“It is, unfortunately.”

“That’s a shame.” Noori laughed. “At least here we can feel the sun on our fur.”

Anton winced. The Seocurian Empire used a similar phrase to describe a method of execution by a crucifixion in the hot Seocurian sun, which the Beast-kin unknowingly adopted to symbolise freedom. Noori simply smiled as they continued along the trail.

“And what about the Lamia’s?” Cetina asked. She kept a hand on her sheathed sword, Noori had no issue with Cetina wielding a sword.

“Long snake people.” Noori laughed. “They’re pretty nice, so long as you don’t get involved in their wars. More...How do I describe it? It’s a sort of tribal thing. Anyway, so long as you don’t get involved you’ll be fine.”

“Everywhere we go there’s always fighting.” Anton mused. “So what’s it over this time?”

“Um...I think it’s the same as it is everywhere. Wealth and land?” Noori shrugged as they started walking down the slight slope. “There are five Lamia Tribes. Each holds about the same amount of land but they’re always vying for control. When one starts to get too big the others gang up on them, crush that tribe and then it starts all over again.”

“Lots of small battles, some raiding and loot but no gigantic battles?”

“Yes...How did you know?”

“A bit of history.” Anton smiled. “But I am a little surprised that they’re fighting each other.”

“Really?” Zuhura asked.

“Maybe not. But without an external foe one can quickly turn on your friends and former allies.”

Hopefully that won’t happen to Atros, not for a long time at least.

“I wouldn’t know.” Noori smiled. “I try not to get involved. It’s much safer that way.”

They continued along the smooth path, watching the endless rocky terrain roll past. Anton saw small creatures darting through the brown stones but they were too nervous to show their faces. Noori idly chatted with them about the world, he wanted to know anything and everything he could about the world beyond Al Qadikha. He was endlessly fascinated by what fields of grass looked like.

“I…” Noori stopped, the cart continued and gently tapped his behind. “Something’s not right.”

“Feral Beast-kin Bandits?” Anton asked softly.

“I can’t see anything.” Calo said. “But I really don’t know what I’m looking for either.”

“It’s the smell.” Noori removed his hat and sniffed deeply at the air. “I can smell Lamia’s but it’s not the same.”

His boots and fingers began to twitch. Anton scanned the large rocks and boulders. They were near the large hill but he could see nothing coming down.

Noori pointed forward along the road. Five creatures moved along the road towards them at great speed. Noori visibly relaxed as they approached. The Lamia’s looked almost like Anton expected: human upper bodies with a massive snake body for the lower half. Unlike the Centaurs all of the Lamia’s wore clothing, albeit scant. Of the five Lamias three were women, they wore a thin piece of cloth across their significant chests and another loosely draped around their waists like a sarong. The men only had the cloth around their waists. This left their dark bronzed skin exposed to the harsh sun, tiny beads of sweat ran down their clearly defined muscles down to their dull brown snake body. Unlike Eider their scales were quite large and covered in deep scratches, especially those on their underbelly.

“What are you doing here? Noori?” A male Lamia moved forward as the others began to spread out. “It is not time for you to come and trade. And certainly...Certainly not with humans. I thought you knew of our customs?”

Anton was struck by how large the Lamia’s tail actually was. It was not two or three times the size of the human half, easily ten or fifteen. It undulated, bizarrely seductively, to move across the ground. The Lamia’s did not care what they slithered over, be it jagged rocks or the smooth ground. When one reared up slightly he saw the scales had a slight powdering of white covering it. How they did not wear them out Anton did not know.

Is it like a fingernail that continuously grows from within? Certainly not the right thing to ask now.

“I understand that humans are not overly welcome.” Noori chuckled nervously. “But Mike-”

“That lecherous human is still alive?” A female asked, her tail body twitched in a way that Anton felt was overwhelming disgust.

“Yes. And he had sent these humans to meet with you. I believe they are researching the Feral Beast-kin and need to see more than just us.” Noori smiled. “At least that’s what I was told. I was only bringing them to the border city to meet you...Why...Why are you out here anyway?”

“Pakdel’s.” The Lamia moved his tail into a coil. “They’ve been spotted in this region. A lot of them. So we’re all a little nervous.” His golden brown eyes fell on Anton. “Then we see that humans are travelling in our lands.”

“Hello. My name is Anton.” He bowed his head but kept an eye on the Lamia’s, just in case they were about to attack. “And these are my companions-”

The Lamia’s began to snicker and laugh, the women idly tossing their long braided brown hair over their shoulders.

Anton readied several Lightning Bombs. “Did I say something wrong?”

“We are curious why Frindal’s would come so far into these lands.” The male ran a hand diagonally against his chest. A leather band, the same colour as his skin, followed his hands. It was too thin to be armour but enough to support something on his back. “The last time you came here you humans were utterly slaughtered. Running and screaming, trampling over the rocks as you fled for your lives.”

The Lamia rose up and shifted his body to the side. A glint of metal caught the sun, the tip of a massive spear. It was far longer than a normal javelin and too long for a pike. Anton’s eyes drifted to their long tails. Along its length he saw many deeply scarred scales forming lines near the end of their tail.

Do they throw them? With that body how far could they throw it? The Frindal’s don’t have much in the way of heavy metal armour…Would it be like an organic ballistae? I don’t want to find out.

“But…” A female Lamia wiggled closer. “They don’t look like Frindal’s. Well, three of them do...” She lent her body close to the ground before rising to meet Anton’s eye level. “Their skin is far too pale. Have you spent all your life in a cave?”

“No.” Anton took a small step back, the female Lamia smirked and withdrew back slightly. “We come from the north. Beyond the sea. And we are researchers. We have come to study the Feral Beast-kin,” Anton raised his hands. “As the Coastal Frindal’s have called you, but we cannot do our study without actually visiting you.”

“I see…” The female Lamias eyed him hungrily.

Cetina leant close. “Do you just have a scent for Beast-kin?”

“Alright.” The Male Lamia turned to his side. “We should discuss this further with our Elders. They will determine what kind of tribute you will have to pay.”

“Tribute?” Anton asked softly.

The male Lamia smiled. “Humans are not welcome in our lands. Not after how your kind constantly tried to enslave and destroy us. I hope that you have enough gold-”

The second male collapsed in a heap. From his side the wooden end of a massive javelin jutted out, blood seeped from his wound and into the dry ground. He wasn’t dead, the snake tail coiled around his human half as he began to spasm wildly.

“They’re here!” The female Lamia’s darted for whatever cover they could find. They smashed against the stone, drew their long javelins and peeked over the rocks.

“Get behind me.” Cetina grabbed Anton and shielded him with her body and the cart.

Noori screamed in panic and dropped to the ground. Anton waved for everyone else to drop and join them. Mezot crashed into Anton’s body and began to chant. An ice shield emerged over the cart. Noori did not notice as he kept his head between his knees and muttered something over and over. Axia grabbed his hand and held tight, so too did Mezot. Anton squeezed them back and looked over the cart. He couldn’t see anything from the direction the javelins came from.

“Don’t let them see your tail!” The surviving male darted to his fallen companion. “They’ll-”

Two javelins whistled through the air. One smashed into a protective boulder, the wooden shaft exploded into splinters a great crack ran through the stone. The second struck an exposed tail, puncturing right through the scales. Flesh and mangled scales bundled around the spears tip as it buried itself into the ground.

“Fuck!” The female screamed. She tried to pull her tail body into a bundle but the javelin had cut through something important. Her tail shuddered as it slowly pulled itself towards safety.

“I told you not-”

Another javelin struck the male Lamia, cleaving his head from his shoulders. The head rolled and bounced over the ground to stop just a few feet from Anton. It was strange that the first thing he noticed was their human skin was actually hundreds of tiny bronze scales, incredibly flexible with lighter coloured scales underneath their long hair, the scales on their scalp had gaps between them which their hair grew through.

“Can anyone see where those javelins are coming from?” Anton asked.

Cetina peeked over the top and scanned the nearby hill. The uniform boulders and rocks made it very difficult to see anything. Something moved, a piece of stone brown camouflage strung between two large boulders. Within the blink of an eye it struck the wounded Lamia. This time it skewered through her tail. She screamed, the tip of the javelin was covered in something more than just blood and flesh, a weak brown material that reeked.

So their digestive tract goes along their entire body? She’s not going to survive this without magic. Blood poisoning, in this heat…Yeah. She’s dead.

“I see them!” The surviving male drew his javelin. “Kill the Pakdels!”

Anton received a worried shrug from Zuhura.

The two surviving female Lamia’s held their javelins aloft before their tail grabbed and began to coil around it. Their bodies contorted and twisted, the scales bulged as the muscles contracted under incredible, before releasing the tension and throwing the javelin at tremendous speed towards the camouflage. The pieces of wood cut through the cloth and threw splinters in all directions.

“Is this like the weapons you want to create?” Cetina asked.

The Lamias cheered as a scream echoed through the air. The females looks very happy but the surviving male held the long javelin tight against his chest.

“A lot more destructive.” Anton saw more camouflage cloth move. “But this is still pretty bloody dangerous.”

Two steel javelins, shining bright in the harsh sunlight, flew from the two bushes. Anton realised the female Lamia’s were still exposed. The steel javelins pierced their chests and threw them to the ground. The ends were splayed out with five large metal fins, each ending with a curved metal hook. It was a little excessive but the damage was undeniable. Both coughed up great mouthfuls of blood, a final spasm and fell still.

“It cut through their spines.” Anton mused. “There’s not much I can do now. Not that they seemed like they were that friendly.”

“Why aren’t they wearing armour?” Calo asked. She and her sister crouched low behind Cetina. One advantage of being so slim was how little space they took up.

“Against that it probably doesn’t matter.” Cetina clicked her tongue. “I doubt even a shield Rasha could barely carry would be thick enough.”

It’s the accuracy of those throws…Spins…And I can’t see where they’re throwing them from.

The last Lamia glanced at Anton once, Anton gave no signal they were going to help, they had every reason not to, clicked his tongue and darted towards the bushes on the hill. Again Anton marvelled at how fast they could move with such large bodies. Very little actually touched the ground, merely enough to lift the Lamia up to the next point. Two iron tipped javelins flew from the bushes, the Lamia dodged both with a flexibility he did not expect from something so large. He let out a mighty war cry and dived into the camouflage cloth.

“What’s the plan?” Cetina asked.

“What?” Zuhura asked. She crouched just behind Axia and looked the most terrified, Noori excepted. “What are you talking about?”

“Never been in a real battle?” Sheso asked softly.

“Do we help the attackers or these Lamia’s?” Anton replied. The one Lamia that was partially alive continued to constrict itself into a knot of tail. Blood wept between the tiny gaps between the shifting scales. “Some sort of death curl, like a spider?”

Screams and shouts came from above. The bushes exploded with a giant knot of snakes that began rolling down the hill. Some were brown scaled, like the Lamia’s lying dead, but some were a dark blue colour. Cetina and Anton ushered them away from the cart. Anton reached underneath the cart and grabbed Noori by his arm and dragged him away. Noori did not cooperate and continued to mutter under his breath as the mass of snakes came tumbling down the hillside with hundreds of smaller stones rolling before them. Some struck the cart, smashing it to pieces and where Noori once stood.

“Run!” Noori gathered a semblance of sanity and began to run back towards Al Qadikha, not sparing a single glance back. He passed through Mezot’s Ice shield, covering himself in deep cuts coated with frost. Cetina called out to him but the Feral Beast-kin was not listening.

The coiled mass shouted something but Anton couldn’t understand it over the male Lamia’s shrieks. With an almighty thud it landed on the cart's remains and continued to writhe; the different colours slipped and slid over each other. Anton found it strangely…alluring, but he was looking at a battle to the death.

The male Lamia stuck its human body above the mass and locked eyes with Anton. His mouth opened but a dark blue tail wrapped itself around his neck and pulled back hard. Blood and bones jutted out of his neck as the thin tail continued to pull down but his body remained upright, ripping his head and spine from his body. The brown scaled Lamia fell limp while the dark blue snake continued to writhe and constrict.

“Fucking close.” A deep female voice emanated from the mass of Lamia. “He almost got me.”

“I told you to keep your last spear.” A male voice came from the same location. “I told you he was coming up.”

“If he hadn’t dodged it wouldn’t have been a problem.”

The dark blue snakes stopped moving and began to slither away from the brown Lamia. As Anton expected two Lamia’s emerged. They were similar in structure to the Brown Lamia’s except their skin had a shade of deep blue and their hair black. Unlike the Browns their hair was short and kept in a braid with a bone amulet at the end.

“I told you there were humans down here.” The male Blue Lamia wiped away the blood staining his human body. They both wore the same clothes, or lack thereof, as the Browns. “And not Ferals.”

“Well, there were Feral’s down here.” The female reared up next to the bleeding Brown Lamia, a large wooden javelin in her hands. “Seems like there’s more humans than us, for once.”

She thrusted the javelin into the bleeding mass. It shuddered and screamed, both backed away as the tail tip flailed about violently in an attempt to smack its attacker. After a few seconds it too fell onto the ground and the knot began to unravel. Unimaginable pain contorted the Lamia’s face so badly his jaw had dislocated.

Are those spears coated with poison? Venom? Eider has venom but they should still be immune to their own. But they are slightly different, perhaps the Browns and Dark Blues aren’t immune to each other.

“I thought there’d be more.” The blue female smirked as she ripped the javelin free. “More of a fight.”

“If there were any more we’d be in trouble.” The male slithered to her side. He, unlike the Brown Lamia’s, lowered his body close to the ground as he moved, only rising up when he stopped. “But we’ve been ignoring the humans while speaking about them. If nothing else it is incredibly rude.”

Anton tapped Mezot’s shoulder and told her to drop the ice shield. She hesitated but did as she was asked. She and Axia reluctantly relinquished hold of his hand.

“Hello.” Anton stood up. He glanced back to see Noori still running. “Who…” Anton took a deep breath. “This is very confusing for us. We were speaking with those Lamia and then…”

The male laughed. “Humans don’t often come to these lands.” He folded his arms and nodded towards the faint smoke trail at the destination. “Most don’t try and actually head to an Akram city.”

“I’m afraid that I don’t know the names of the Lamia Tribes.”

“Ha!” The male shook his head. “If they didn’t tell you that the Akram controlled the city then they probably wanted you to die.” He slithered back and forth, keeping an eye on the dead brown, Akram, Lamia’s. “Unlike us. We don’t kill humans on site, even if we don’t have the best history.”

Guess Mike wanted us to die here. And his Wives didn’t have much love for us either. We did kill their husband...Oh well. Something we’ll bring up next time we meet. At least we have more magic here than in the rest of Frindal.

“Humans do not appear to have the best history with anyone.” Anton said, both of the blue Lamias smiled. “But I think it would be best to start from the beginning. Like who you are, you’re clearly not part of their Tribe, and what is happening.”

“I-”

“Not here.” The female raised her hand. “They’ll be coming here soon. When these idiots,” She struck the dead Brown male with her tail. “Don’t come back with their captives, they'll send out an actual force.”

The male glumly nodded. “And we can’t deal with that many.”

“Noori seemed nice.” Sheso said softly. “Was he going to try and sell us out?”

“Probably.” The blue male Lamia smirked. “But...To be fair to him, I don’t think there’s much choice. Especially when you’re being strangled by our bodies.”

“You have to understand that we are more than a little confused, perhaps a little dubious.” Anton received frowns from the Lamias. “You were the attackers.” Anton raised his hand. “Not that I’m saying that you’re in the wrong here.”

“Well,” The male folded his arms. “I am Sattar. And she is Simin. Pakdel clan.”

At least the clan names are lining up.

“I’m afraid that we don’t know anything about the inter-clan rivalries of the Lamia’s.” Anton said. “But the Akram said that we had to pay tribute.”

Sattar scoffed. “Tribute. Is that what they’re calling it now? No. Just a ransom. But normally it's from the Feral Beast-kin. So you’d probably just be sold to the highest bidder.”

I wonder what they would have said if they knew that I could heal people? Probably what Zuhura thought Hazm would have done and kept me prisoner. I doubt they would let me see anyone I’m travelling with. They...I think a few Lamia clans would have burned down before something like that happened.

Simin looked behind, along the road towards the city. "They’ll be sending someone out here soon. And there’s no way we can hide these five idiots...I’m not in the mood to lug their fat tails into a valley.”

The blue Lamia’s, from the Pakdel Clan, did indeed have a thinner but longer tail, albeit only slightly.

“Do we head back?” Zuhura asked. “If we arrive at the city without the Brown Lamias-”

“Akram.” Sattar said.

“...Akram Lamias. They’re going to treat us even worse. And we don’t have Noori with us, so…”

“Worst is that we’ll just have to turn around.” Anton clicked his tongue. “There are only a few of us.”

“Just come with us for now.” Simin said. Sattar folded his arms and nodded seriously. “We’ve got food and water, if you need it. And the Arkam’s won’t find you there. You can work out what you’re doing there.”

“And the one with the staff used Spirit Magic.” Sattar nodded towards Mezot. “We could really use your help.”

I presume they’re going to be talking about healing. Do they not know Mages don’t know every type of magic? Still, I could heal them, even under this mana dampening field.

"I don't want to be involved in another battle." Anton raised his hand. "But don't think we aren't capable of defending ourselves."

Anton created a small Fire Bomb. The Lamia's recoiled in shock, pulling their snake bodies back and raising their spears. Anton almost smiled, they looked like snakes ready to strike an attacker. Anton withdrew the Fire Bomb.

"You're a Spirit Caller?" Sattar raised his spear and slithered forward, maintaining his coiled body should he need to strike. "A human Spirit Caller?"

"We are called Glyph Mages." Anton smiled faintly. "But it might be the same thing. I just wanted to show you that we have more than swords and arrows."

Simin laughed. "When they would have tried to separate you from your friends they would have discovered that." Simin relaxed her body, the sake tail flattened out while Sattar remained tense. "But we aren't like that. So, do you want to come with us? Our hideout is on top of that hill."

She pointed towards the summit of the mountain they had attacked from. Anton could not see any cave or entrance, but that was the point of a hideout after all.

Anton glanced at the dead Akram Lamias.

Our choices are to go with these Pakdel Lamias, but we can probably fend off any attack, or return but leave a set of portal stones floating around...If we had an army, with my weapons, then it wouldn’t matter. But they seem nicer than the others...There’s one way I can find out.

"How far is it to your hideout?"

"Not too far.” Simin smiled. “Well, for us. For you, with legs, it might be a bit of a journey. But we'll go slow."

"So long as there aren't any more patrols." Sattar began retrieving the javelins.

The two steel javelins required him to coil a significant part of his body around the end, pushing the corpse down before ripping up with all the might his muscular tail body could give. The spears came loose but not without eviscerating the body. Shredded flesh was casually shaken off before it was placed with the other wooden javelins.

“But that won’t be happening for a while.”

“You can understand why I’m a little bit nervous to come with you.” Anton said. The two Lamias nodded. “So...There is a way that I can trust you.”

“What’s that?” Sattar asked.

“Could you please give me the end of your tail?”

“My...My what?” Sattar stammered. He looked a little embarrassed.

“I just need to touch a portion of your skin in order to make sure.”

Sattar threw Simin a look. She shrugged and offered her own tail.

“I’m sure mine will work just as well. Normally only our mates would ask to do something like that.” Simin looked at Sattar. “But I’m sure you wouldn’t know that.”

“Given your reluctance I was about to ask if that was an issue. Any part of your body would do.” Anton smiled. “I just need...Contact. Gods, that does sound weird, doesn’t it?”

The two shared a smirk as Anton touched about halfway up her snake tail. Anton chanted the Truth Prayer aloud. Simin’s body twitched but she did not try and flee.

“Are you going to try and betray us or cause any harm to us?”

“No.” Simin frowned. “I just said that...What sort of magic-”

Anton raised his hand. “How many are there in your hideout?”

“Just the two of us.”

“Okay then.” Anton removed his hand. “For now I can trust you. Please, lead on. We will follow as best we can.”

The Pakdel Lamias slithered close to the ground as they began their ascent. While they could move seemingly effortlessly between and over the large stones, a rather distracting vision, it was rather difficult for them. Especially for Mezot and Zuhura. Mezot spent most of her time in a library and Zuhura, while performing many domestic duties, did not usually have to exert herself like this. The others did alright with Axia somewhere in between. Simin began to pull ahead, not really watching how slow they were moving and had to be called back. Sattar held a sheepish grin as Simin frowned angrily.

"What brings actually you humans here?" Sattar asked. “You say you’re not from Frindal, at least one of you is, but did you really come all this way to get a look at us?”

“Is that so hard to believe?” Anton spoke slowly and carefully. With every step he took the rocks threatened to give way and send him sliding down to a very unpleasant injury. “Researchers have to go far to study.”

“But us?” Sattar raised a brow.

Anton did not reply immediately. “And what about you? I do not have an accurate map of Frindal but I presume that your clan, Pakdel, aren’t from around here.”

“No. We’re to the south.” Sattar pointed towards the south.

The stony expanse continued for many miles but began to slowly change with more dull green vegetation further away from the stone wall. Anton could even see the Feral Beast-kin city, probably three or four times as large as Hardheim, beyond that lay simple plantations and crop fields, of what type of plant he did not know.

“We’re here...Well, what did Noori tell you? That Feral Beast-kin you had with you?”

“That you fight a lot.” Anton said flatly. “That you’re engaged in an endless struggle for dominance that you can’t seem to win since you’re so fractured.”

“That’s...Not completely untrue.”

Sattar stopped and scratched at the join of his two bodies. Although his lower snake body was all but impervious to the jagged edges of the stones littering the mountainside his human skin was not. He grumbled as he pulled some small stones free, along with some small spike seeds. Anton looked between the smallest rocks to find the plant, barely a few inches across and covered in thorny seeds.

“Damn things.” Sattar flicked it away. “Anyway, yes. Our Clans have always been fighting. Three generations ago we were the ones on top. We were about to win, on the verge of conquering the Tahmine and Kamran Clans but...We didn’t. We lost nearly everything but they turned on each other before they could finish us off.”

“Not for the first time.” Simin said. “We’ve done it as well.”

“Yeah...But it’s been really hard to get back up this time.”

"But what sparks it?” Anton offered his hand to Zuhura, who gladly took it. Behind her Mezot looked on with jealousy and only relaxed when she too had been offered a hand. “Lack of territory or food? Or is it something else?"

"The territory one." Simin scoffed. "The other Lamia tribes bow and scrape at the Akram's tails but only when they're getting something for their loyalty. The moment they stop, or the Akrams look weak, they’ll turn on them and everything will go back to the way it was."

"Wouldn’t they be eliminated for their disloyalty?" Anton asked. "How could they be trusted after that many changes? Or are they mercenaries?"

Both laughed. He didn't reply but Anton presumed it was the former.

Guess loyalty is fluid amongst these Clans. Or maybe they don’t practice ‘war’ but ‘raiding’. We might just be able to interfere...These Pakdel seem alright. A perfect place to trial our new weapons. I doubt they have the industry to recreate something that’s giving the Dwarves such grief.

Finally they arrived at their destination, a small cave hidden by multiple strips of camouflage cloth. Strategically placed rocks blocked all sight of the cave from the city below and only someone looking straight at it would know of its existence. Judging by the faint dusty marks in the stone this was not a new hideout.

“Here it is.” Simin said. “Our home. Until spring, at least.”

I just can’t wait to find out how hot it is here during Summer. Maybe it’s exactly the same. The weather in this world doesn’t seem to obey normal rules.

Simin entered first, when all of her body had entered Sattar ushered them in. Anton held the bright Fire Bomb high as they entered the cavern. The floor was rough, naturally formed, but the edges were ground smooth. In some of the crevices he saw broken dark blue scales. More alarming were the brown scales that had pieces of dried and desiccated flesh still attached.

The cavern quickly widened into a large space, a beam of natural light streamed through the roof illuminating the spartan hideout. Weapons, more javelins and spears, adorned the walls, and two simple beds lay beneath them. These looked more like bird nests than what Anton was used to but it made sense given their size and body shape. Beside those were several hessian bags with some kind of dried meat hanging out. Anton hoped they were cannibals.

"This is where we live." Simin maneuvered herself to her bed. Part of her body overflowed despite coiling herself tight. "It's not much but it'll be our home for the winter."

"Not much of a winter." Sheso said. “But this is the first time we’ve ever seen snow.”

"It's a lot hotter in summer." Sattar held out his hand to the beam of light. He slithered across to his bed and curled himself up, a little more neatly than Simin. "We spend more time in the shade than outside."

"No real fighting either." Simin politely asked them to move forward.

“Perhaps that’s why your battles continue without end?” Anton suggested. “The Summer gives you time to recover, to regroup and prepare. How...No. It’s a little early to ask something like that.”

The Pakdel Lamia’s shared a glance but did not press the issue.

“So…” Simin gently motioned for them to take a seat. They had no chairs, Anton doubted something that could take Rasha’s weight would be enough for them, so they sat on the sturdy supplies. “Who are you? We didn’t catch your name.”

Something flashed through Simin’s eyes. “Like all humans you’re very clever. Getting us to talk about ourselves while offering nothing in return.” She slithered from her nest and began to circle around them. She saw Cetina ready her sword, Mezot and Axia move closer to Anton and grip their staffs tight. “An odd group of companions if you are just a scholar from across the seas.”

“You are right.” Anton began. “We are not just researchers or explorers. We also came to this land seeking something more, something that even the Frindal’s or Nomads could not offer us.”

Simin and Sattar held an expectant look, patiently waiting for him to continue.

“Allies. We need allies. People that can help us. We need everyone we can get, so we are roaming far and wide in the hopes of finding people.”

"And that's us?" Sattar asked.

"It was probably going to be the Akram until you interfered." Anton smiled. “Though I get the feeling that it wouldn’t have worked out.”

Sattar held his chin. "That makes sense. So...You want our help for...What?"

"Demons." Anton said calmly. "Creatures pouring in from another dimension wreaking havoc across the world. I intend to do my part to stop them, but I am just one person." Anton created another Fire Bomb. "Albeit with some...Power of my own. I am not enough to deal with them. So, I need everything and everyone I can get."

Sattar and Simin began to furiously mutter to one another. Anton waited patiently for them to finish.

"C-Could you describe these Demons?" Simin asked. She clasped her hands to her chest. She did not appear to notice, or care, that her sparse clothing had shifted up. Anton kept his eyes focused squarely on hers.

Anton tried his best to explain what the Demons looked like, the Pakdel Lamia’s listened in rapture to his words.

"He wasn't rambling then." Sattar gently shook his head. "He was telling the truth."

“You knew this was going to happen?” Cetina touched her eyepatch. Not that anyone would really listen to Lamia’s.”

“True.” Sattar smiled. “You humans would not.”

“Who was rambling?” Anton asked. “Another Lamia had an idea that something bad was coming?”

“A Rouya.” Simin said. “I never learnt their name, they’re a tribe that’s kind of friendly with ours...At least at the moment. One day he started ranting and raving that there were beings of fire and stone that were coming to kill us.”

“I can see why anyone would think that he’d taken a bit too much to drink.” Anton said softly.

“Do you have alcohol?” Sattar asked eagerly. “I’d love to try what passes for a human’s drink.”

“I imagine you can drink a lot.” Anton nodded to their snake body. “That alone can soak up a lot of booze…So where is this rambling lunatic?”

“I think they’re still near our clan’s territory.” Simin said. “If they’re still alive. But that’s a few day’s travel. For us a few days. For you it’s going to be a lot, lot longer.”

“Not to mention you’ll be attacked every step of the way.” Sattar grumbled. “The other Beast-kin tend not to leave their cities much, because the Lamia’s hurt them badly...And that means us too, at times.”

I wonder if inbreeding is an issue?

“I would like to meet this person...Lamia. See if they are able to speak to one of the Old Gods.”

“It would still be dangerous for you.” Sattar frowned. “Far too dangerous.”

“I can appreciate that. But we have a way to deal with that.” Anton raised his hand. “If you could just give us a moment, I would like to speak with my companions.”

“Sure?” Simin shrugged, Sattar simply nodded.

Anton stepped to the far side of the room. “So, what do you think?”

“About the snake people?” Sheso raised a brow.

“Yes. We’ve come this far but those other clan, the Akram, aren’t going to be friendly with us. But these Pakdel seem nice enough.” Anton stopped, waiting for anyone to object or add something. “So...I think we should work with them.”

“And…” Cetina said softly. “You want to say something else.”

“And I want to test our new weapons here. See how dangerous they are. A perfect place, far away from Atros and yet in friendly territory.”

“I don’t see a problem.” Cetina stood upright. “It sounds like you’ve already made your decision anyway, you just wanted someone to tell you it was a good idea.”

“Sounds like they have some good stuff to drink.” Calo said. “Not that we would know anything about that.”

“Perhaps they have books.” Mezot said. Axia grunted and rolled her eyes. “So...Whatever you want, Anton.”

Zuhura shrugged lightly. She had no feelings either way.

“Since we’ve already got the Hamtaro’s in Atros some Lamia’s wouldn’t be a problem either. Maybe they’ll be visitors, since it’ll be too cold for them in the winter.”

An entire half of a continent could be our ally? That’s an incredible thing, especially since I haven’t even been here a year. And it really doesn’t cost us anything. Far from it. How many times will we get to practice on live targets without having to worry about collecting all of the bullets.

Anton smiled as they returned to the two patiently waiting Pakdel Lamias.

“We have a way to travel instantaneously across vast distance. Incredible distances.” Anton motioned for Cetina to establish the portal. “When we step through, gather the stones and return to your Clan and assemble them in a circle. We can discuss things further. I’m sure that you would be interested in trade, or at the very least healing.”

Anton smiled. “We have the capacity to even restore lost or mangled limbs, broken tails and life threatening illnesses.”

Sattar frowned at Simin. “So many of our people are wounded and cannot fight. Not to mention the illness and starvation.”

“We may be able to provide some food.” Anton said. “Not too much, as we ourselves are not truly bountiful, but it will help.”

The portal flashed white, the Lamia’s pulled lower to the ground and stared intently at the white shimmering disk.

“It’s perfectly fine. But it will leave you with a nasty head-ache when you go through.”

“I forgot about that.” Zuhura mumbled. Calo and Sheso chuckled, gently jabbing her side.

“We might be able to help you with more than just supplies.” Anton continued. “Perhaps…Perhaps there are precious minerals in your land that we could trade. Al Qadikha has many precious ores. I’m sure that we could work out a better arrangement.”

The two Lamia’s shared a look.

Anton snapped his fingers. “But to show you that I’m not all talk, are any of you injured?”

“Not particularly.” Simin nonchalantly spoke. “I think we’ve done well, considering we killed five Akram warriors.”

“No little aches or pains?” Anton asked as he approached, the two kept him firmly in their sights as their bodies coiled together. “Nothing like a out of place joint.”

“Actually…” Sattar rubbed his shoulders. “Using the Steel Javelins really puts a strain on our bodies. And I am the one that always throws them.”

Anton removed his gloves and laid his bare hand on the middle of Sattar’s tail body. The scales were almost identical to Eiders; smooth, glossy and very cool to the touch. His powerful muscles twitched under his fingers. Anton was curious how powerful it really was.

“I didn’t think that a human would have such soft hands.” Sattar leant close. The small scales forming his skin glinted in the faint light, quite an alluring sight. “Or a man with such delicate movements.”

“Are you suggesting that all men must be aggressive and rough with everything they handle?”

“No. But it does have its advantages.”

Sheso made a light groan. Her sister jabbed her side and she stopped. Anton had a faint idea what was travelling through her mind.

Anton chanted the healing prayer aloud. Sattar’s hands jumped up. He pulled his body high and rubbed the scales forming his underside.

“Not a single scratch...This is more than what the other Spirit Callers can do.”

“I would like to meet them.” Anton said. “But I’m sure they do their best. Did you know that Frindal is covered in some kind of Mana Dampening field? It’s incredibly oppressive. Even someone with a lot of reserves, like me, has to really consider what magic I can use.”

“Really?” Simin looked to Mezot and Axia, both of whom still held their staffs tight.

“It is. We haven’t discovered the source but Frindal doesn’t seem that interested in finding an answer. If anything it keeps the other Empires and Kingdoms out of their affairs, so it’s a minor issue since most people can’t use any magic.”

“I see…” Simin lowered her body towards the ground. “Sattar? How do you feel?”

“Incredible.” Sattar smiled and flexed his body. Anton stepped back, just in case he was knocked back by an excitable Lamia. “Better than I’ve ever felt. It feels like I could travel for days without stopping.”

“Did you give him something?” Simin frowned.

“No. But I believe that Sattar is just excited. Do you want me to heal you too? I still have enough magic.”

Simin smiled at Anton’s companions. “So long as your friends don’t mind you stroking a female’s tail. I’m actually a little curious.” Simin slithered from her nest and coiled her body before Anton, levelling her chest just before Anton’s face. “What sort of hands could make Sattar talk like that?”

Anton hesitated to touch her. There was something about the way she looked at him, the way her hips twirled and her snake body slithered against itself. If Verona was present she would have certainly said something, and he probably wouldn’t have disagreed with her assessment.

He coughed lightly and touched her tail in roughly the same place. Simon seemed a little disappointed but did not say anything. He healed her and Simin made the same expression as Sattar.

“I do feel better.” Simin ran a hand along her outstretched arm. “My scales feel so much better. You know.” Simin ran a hand through her hair. “You could do well in our Clan. I know a lot of Lamia’s would love to experience that. Not just the females, I can assure you of that.”

“Lamia’s-”

“We don’t worry too much about whether our partner is male or female.” Simin smiled. “Though...No. I won’t say it.” She almost started to giggle, Sattar tried his best to hold back his laughter. “You’re getting some very angry glares. Just know that we do not tire like most of you.”

“Is everyone I meet a bunch of sexed up lunatics?” Anton asked.

“It’s just how we are.” Simin moved back to her nest. “All Lamia’s are like this. Sex and violence are very similar, exhilarating and pleasurable, in their own way. Those Akram wouldn’t have cared if you were male or female. You’d have probably gone to the Haraka. Think of it as a male Lamia...Group.”

Calo glanced at Sheso. She said nothing, keeping her face perfectly flat.

“Are you so willing to act like this after I healed your body?” Anton stepped back. “You’re acting like we’ve been friends for a long time...Are all Lamia’s like this?”

Both nodded. Though it was all in jest Anton felt that there was something more to it.

If they’re willing to be so ‘fluid’ with their relationships, it probably hasn’t done great for their Clan cohesion and hampered their war effort. Interesting…

“On a more serious note.” Cetina stepped next to Anton. The two Pakdel Lamia’s eyed her sword nervously. “Before I have to stop some very over-excitable Beast-kin-”

“Oh.” Sattar waved his hand. “I once heard that there were other Lamia’s to the north. Do they look similar to us?”

“I don’t know.” Anton said softly. “They were all killed about fifty winters ago.”

Both looked a mixture of horror and disgust.

“Because they were too dangerous. Your tails...They were killing their Masters. Their Slave Masters.”

“Oh…” Sattar sighed. “That’s very sad.”

“True. But another Beast-kin species was made from that. And they’re very nice, surprisingly nice.”

“I see…”

“One of the things I intend to stop.” Anton smiled. “Among a great many other things. So, what do you think? I can easily heal about five or six Lamia’s a day, more if their afflictions are not severe.”

Sattar bit his lip. “This...Is beyond what we can agree to. Not that we’re telling you no, it’s just that we cannot possibly speak for our entire Clan.”

“I understand.” Anton stepped near the portal. “By all means, take the portal stones to your elders and we can discuss it further. But I would truly like for you to consider our offer. Though I may not look it, I do know a bit about war and how it is possible for you to become the dominant Clan. But a little help always goes a long way.”

Anton didn’t know if it was the right move to offer a hook like that but it appeared to do the trick. Sattar and Simin muttered to one another. The faint smile on their faces told him everything.

“Very well.” Simin folded her arms. “We will take these stones back to our Clan, somewhere safe. Do...Do they just need to be placed into a circle?”

“They do. They’ll sort of snap together.” Anton smiled. “But...I’m afraid that our short time is already at an end.”

“Oh…” Simin looked at Sattar. “Kind of forgot that you were Humans. You are pleasant enough to speak with.”

“My thanks.” Anton ushered them towards the portal. “When you establish the portal place something on the white disk. Like a branch or a small stone. We won’t...Just trust me. It’ll be necessary for it to work. It might take us a little while to come back through but we will not ignore you.”

“This…” Sattar shook his head. “Has been an unexpected day.”

“I’m sure it has.” Anton gently began ushering the others through. “I wish you two well. And I hope that you make it back safely. I think, no. I know that our future will be very prosperous together.”

Again the two Lamia’s shared a look as Anton prepared to step through. Only Cetina and Zuhura remained.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea leaving this with them?” Zuhura asked.

“Our journey through Frindal is at an end. And we don’t have time to trundle back to the coast.” Anton gave the two Pakdel Lamia’s a smile. “But I trust them.”

He turned to Cetina. “And if something goes wrong we can always just destroy the portal building and bury it. So I’m not too worried.”

“I’m more worried what Verona’s been up to.” Cetina said slyly. “You know what that woman’s like.”

“That I do.”

“Good luck with your journey and stay safe.” Anton said as Cetina and Zuhura stepped through. “I hope to meet you again soon.”

“Bring us some of your human alcohol when you come back.” Sattar said. “Perhaps we can discover if humans are as weak as the other Clans say.”

Anton gave the Lamia’s a final wave before stepping through the portal. There was nothing more they could do in Frindal, their job was done. Even if engaging with the Lamia’s turned out to be a failure they still had the Hamtaro’s, Zuhura and the flat green Dragon Crystals. And it wasn’t like they couldn’t return one day with an army. Anton briefly wondered if the Akram Clan would regret their actions one day, when Atros soldiers were storming through their lands. Not this day, but soon. Far sooner than they could possibly imagine.