They needed little from the village. Primarily they wanted a bath, some additional information about the direction they were heading, and an additional blanket. After that, they were on their way further north. To get from where they had landed to Melios’ lair had taken them a day. From Melios to Kaladar, it was about half of one.

The group walked deliberately slowly, maintaining a leisurely pace. If they had to prove themselves in combat the moment they arrived, it was best to be rested. Besides keeping their speed down, they also had to hunt. Apexus craved a properly sized meal and it would be best if they found something magical for Reysha.

The mountain side was quite barren. The soil didn’t run deep enough for anything but grass to cover the rocky stretch between the mountains and the ocean. With a landscape that barren, no large game was supported. Luckily, the most abundant of all biomes was right nearby: the shallow waters of an archipelago.

Apexus hadn’t enjoyed a proper underwater hunt in a while. Strategies were entirely different. Due to his size, he was no longer suited for this environment. Patience and cleverness allowed him to overcome this difficulty.

Nostalgia filled him, as he moved through the water. The noises were new, the sensation of his limbs cutting through the heavy water wasn’t. Saltwater burned in his eyes, a minor pain he could ignore. The water was brackish, yet sight was a big advantage. Many fish could barely see more than a dozen metres and Apexus had changed the colour of his skin to a shade of brown that matched the environment. His wings were shrunken down so much, they could be mistaken for tumbling algae. As long as he moved slowly, he could reach his target.

A few easy catches reimbursed him for the energy spent on the changes to his body. Fish practically swam up to his mouth, only to be caught between his teeth and swallowed whole. He wanted something large to bring back, something that looked like it would be delicious to Reysha. Eventually he came across a massive, silver fish with tubes sticking out of its sides.

It was a kind of tuna. Not a fish Apexus had come across before, but it looked edible and that was all he cared about. A simple hunting strategy emerged: grab the fish, wrestle it until it got tired, then drag it to shore where it was helpless and kill it with a few well-aimed bashes to the skull.

The first step was easy. The tuna was larger than Apexus and none of its instincts warned it that the odd creature with the tiny mouth may be a potential predator. Only when the humanoid slime grabbed it by the back fin, did the flight instinct of the fish kick in.

Apexus’ entire body experienced extreme drag, when the various tubes jutting from the tuna’s form pushed out jets of hot water. Even with the chunk of muscle fibre and slime attached to it, the fish managed to dash a full fifty metres before slowing. What was almost as impressive was that its back fin managed to tow the entire weight of the slime without taking damage. Apexus being able to hold on was entirely thanks to him pulling as close as he could and ramming his teeth past the weak scales of the exterior.

Some of the fish’s blood spurted into Apexus’ mouth. The slime did not taste it. Even if he had formed a basic tongue, he had no taste receptors on his surface area. Closest he got was his sense of smell and that was of no use in the water. Water rushed through Apexus’ ears, when the tuna unleashed a second burst of speed.

Apexus grew out his wings again. For the exact same reason he had initially wanted them gone, he was now getting them back. There was no wrestling with this thing as long as he had to fight water pressure. For a solid ten minutes, the humanoid slime held on for dear life, before his wingspan had returned to the usual.

Four metres across and almost as wide as his torso, the wings added so much surface to the slime that the drag was too much even for the magic-fuelled acceleration of the fish. Rather than fifty, the burst only got it about five metres, before the pace diminished. As a lesser developed creature, the animal did not realize that it had to change up its strategy and only kept repeating this strategy. Apexus finally got the chance to dig his heels into the mud and start dragging the tuna in a direction of his choosing. The wings curved so they would only truly hinder one of them.

The magical propulsion ran dry at some point and with his grasp so firmly at the tail, the Jetstream Tuna had no way of getting away anymore. It was a raw contest of strength and Apexus rarely lost those. Step for step, he dragged it backwards in the brackish water, until the sand under his feet made way to the rocks and pebbles of the shore.

Flopping desperately, the tuna attempted to stay in the water. To avoid any risk of its escape, Apexus only stopped dragging his meal when he was twenty metres inland and inside a depression. What followed was an ugly affair of blunt force. Repeatedly, the hammer-like fists of the humanoid slime came down on the skull of the fish. Size and the high amount of fat under the surface distributed the force and yet was not enough to truly resist it. Smack for smack, Apexus pulped the head of the large marine being, until it was more of a sludge than a head.

“…Fucking Hellroots, did you have to take out some frustrations or something?” Reysha asked when Apexus dropped the catch in the middle of their camp. Blackish brown brain matter oozed onto the ground. Aclysia retched. Korith and Reysha kept inspecting their equipment. Even though the two of them found the level of brutality outstanding, neither were as sensitive to it as the metal fairy.

“It was a worthy adversary,” Apexus responded, wringing his hands to help get all of the biological gunk stuck to his knuckles under the membrane.

Reysha got over and inspected the fish. It was two and a half metres long and fat. The head may have been obliterated and there was a bitemark around the tail, but otherwise it was in a decent condition. Using one of her back-up knives, the tiger girl carved into the tuna. She raised an eyebrow at the unexpected texture of the meat. It was denser than she was used to from fish, almost halfway to game.

Although she had no experience cutting this particular kind of meat, general practice carried over and soon enough she had an edible chunk at the tip of her dagger. Immediately she chomped down on the entire thing and started chewing. Three seconds later, she already had the second piece in her mouth. “Thish shit ish amashing!” the semi-starved feline exclaimed, slicing into the fatty meat with all the discipline of a crazy hungry crazy girl.

They spent the entire rest of the day there. Because it was a natural magical creature, the magic-enriched meat was edible to Korith as well. The supernatural spice did nothing for her and she did not want it raw. Aclysia, having decided she wanted to learn the art of cooking during their stay at home, started a campfire and prepared a soup using the herbs she carried with her in their kettle.

Aclysia only ate for taste-testing and Korith had less room to fill. Under normal circumstances, the amount the kobold stuffed into herself may have seemed much for her size. Compared to the way Reysha gorged herself on both the soup and the raw meat, she seemed like she was on a diet, however. They got three full meals out of that, passing the time between waves of hunger by playing games and talking.

Apexus himself devoured more than half of the tuna on his own. All of the internal organs and fishbones, undesirable for the rest of them, were fine nourishment to him. Eventually dropping into a food coma, they slept through the night under the watchful eye of the metal fairy. They were close to Kaladar’s territory after all.

The next morning, they got a light breakfast out of the still sizable remains of the tuna. Only because they anticipated combat soon, did Korith and Reysha skip on eating until they were full. It had to be enough to eat until they were no longer hungry. Apexus did not have the problem of his stomach weighing him down. On the contrary, the more back-up biomass he had, the better. So, he did as per usual and devoured what remained of the tuna, which was still about a fifth of it.

Then they continued on their path. By Aclysia’s estimation, they would have to travel another 3 hours. She was correct on this. Still in the morning hours, they first laid eyes on Kaladar’s lair in the distance.

It had nothing of the planned structure of Melios’ village. There was no planned layout, there weren’t even any permanent buildings. It was a city of tents, stuck together in random clusters, each with their own campfire. There was a central road that led up to a sizable cave entrance, although even it was compromised by the chaotic nature of the camp. Rather than maintaining a consistent width, the road meandered due to the various tents that were half or fully in its way. A central plaza was marked by the remains of a large bonfire.

What little grass adorned the craggy landscape had been trampled into dirt around the camp. A river flowing down from the mountains nearby provided the people with direly needed fresh water, but the banks had also been turned into mud from months of constant treading. Where it was accessed a lot, the river had turned broad and shallow, thanks to the mindless stomping of the people that washed themselves in and drank from it. The smarter marauders wandered further upstream, where the water ran through a segment of solid stone. The lazy or stupid ones remained where the water had turned brown from the loosened soil.

The group stopped and hid behind a boulder. There were no watchtowers or even guards. Any spotting of people in the distance was arbitrarily done by members of the host currently out and about. That gave the quartet a moment to deliberate. “This would be our final opportunity to reconsider our scheme,” Aclysia told all of them. “If we wish to alternate our approach, we should await nightfall.”

“Yeah, let’s just all sneak in!” Reysha agreed enthusiastically, only to turn her ears. Her head swiftly followed and she stared at a nearby boulder. This was not the first time recently her alarm bells had gone off. Ever since she had first noticed something in the chronicler’s office, there had been the occasional tingle in her neck.

Apexus, not one to doubt the capacity of his second lover, turned his head and stared himself. Aclysia and Korith were quiet, while the two keen-sensed members of the party concentrated. “What do you think?” Apexus asked, unable to sense anything.

“I think it’d be funnier if I don’t tell ya what I think and I’m right,” she responded cheekily. “Honestly, could just be some remaining trauma flaring up here and there. Anyway, jokes aside, plan?”

“We have not yet laid eyes upon Kaladar, but if Melios’ assessment can be properly interpreted, he will be physically imposing.” Aclysia glanced at the redhead and openly admitted. “I do not reckon you could assassinate Melios, much less a dragon of larger size and tougher hide.”

“I actually agree with ya,” Reysha stated, drawing small circles into the lawn with the tip of her dagger. “I read up on dragon anatomy, so I know where to stab in theory, but even I ain’t enough of a daredevil to put that into practice on my own. Of ya three, only the big man here could maybe sneak along with me, if he made himself inconspicuous enough.”

“So, sneaking in is out?” Korith asked.

“Definitely,” Apexus responded. “I would suggest we stick to Melios’ plan. Poison is an effective hunting strategy.”

“So…” Korith stopped for a moment, realizing she had started a sentence in the same way twice in a row. The moment of awkwardness faded and she just kept on going, hoping nobody noticed or cared. The latter was true. “…we just waltz in there and announce we want to join?”

“That’s the plan,” Reysha confirmed.

“Yes,” Apexus double confirmed.

“It appears to be the safest path forwards,” Aclysia triple confirmed.

“Okay then,” Korith nodded to herself and the three of them got back up and resumed their advance.

Before anyone noticed them the four of them all simultaneously were exposed to the smell of the camp. A gust of turned wind carried the stench of wet leather, rotting mud, and excrement from a pit all the way to them. It was so intense, Reysha felt nauseous. “What the fuck is wrong with people?!” she wanted to know, holding her sensitive nose.

About a hundred metres before the river, they were finally spotted by a woman washing herself in the river. She was a burly, scar-covered individual. The kind of muscular female that could thrive in this kind of environment, despite the uncouth men and hygienic conditions around. Even the shape of her face was on the masculine side and not in a way that complimented her. She looked every bit the violent outcast that she was. Stark naked and uncaring, she sneered at the quartet as they got closer, but did not step in their way.

“Perhaps I should inquire about directions?” Aclysia suggested.

“No,” Apexus responded, not trusting that woman to tell them anything. She had an openly hostile mix of jealousy and rage in her eyes, spoiling for a fight she only skipped out on because the four of them stuck together. “Strength rules here. Stay by me, my melody.”

“As you desire, darling,” Aclysia obliged gladly and grabbed his right arm. Sticking closely to his side, the gorgeous angel held onto him more closely as they advanced. More and more of the camp became aware of them. It was a domino effect. The host, bored in these morning hours, was notified by movement in a neighbouring camp and then moved themselves. Rippling outwards, this natural way to spread the news eventually had all of the marauders close in on the quartet.

There were more than eighty of them. The crowd was primarily made up of men, the brutish kind, and they lecherously gazed at the three attractive members of the party. Few as they were, the women stared at Apexus with that same forceful desire. Few of the people around were attractive themselves. Instead, height and muscle mass dominated the crowd. These were not people built for or interested in social dynamics. Many of the less physically imposing members of the group had the marks of recent fistfights on their faces. When there was no one to plunder, violence remained the favourite pastime. Among the largest, there was the occasional mark of claws on them.

“Look at that, boys, we got something fuckable around for once!” A random member in the crowd shouted.

“I want the redhead!” another one responded. Various other voices in the crowd rose. Reysha shouted to overpower them all.

“Ya couldn’t handle me, cocksucker,” she mocked openly. Korith gave the Rogue a wide-eyed glance, but the tiger girl just kept grinning. Aclysia kept holding on to Apexus’ arm. Only her spread wings betrayed her nervousness. Both of the society-attuned women blinked when the crowd started laughing.

Apexus and Reysha remained cool. This was the kind of animalistic environment where they could fully rely on their instincts. Their subconscious digested what their senses noted faster than any rational mind could. This entire circle around them was pure intimidation, no different than a large pack of wolves encircling a smaller one in their territory. Only if the quartet showed weakness, would the pack assault them.

There was only one large difference between the wolves and the marauders and that was individual agency.

“You’ll make good cocksucker after I have knocked the teeth out of your fucking face,” the insulted bandit growled and stepped forwards. He was, like most of them, clad in a primitive assortment of furs and armed with a doubtlessly stolen weapon: a two-handed sword. It was in poor condition, covered in little chinks. Soon it would be so degraded that it could break at any moment. For now, it was still deadly.

“Why am I not surprised that you need to defang who you sleep with?” Reysha asked in a tone people used to address children. The man took one step forward and Reysha’s lips curled up a little more. “You sure you want to do this with weapons?” she asked, drawing her red axe.

“He won’t do this at all.”

Both the bandit and Reysha looked at Apexus. Both of them got shivers. The bandit took half a step back, the blue eyes of the humanoid chimera drilling into him with all of the savagery underneath the civilized exterior. For her part, Reysha was simply turned on by the cold, controlled rage of her partner. Everyone understood that they risked their face being replaced with a fist-shaped cavity if they tried to rape any of those three women. As a pack, they would have been able to do it. As selfish individuals, no one wanted to be the first to jump forwards. Whoever led the charge would not get to enjoy the spoils.

Willingness to assault the quartet only dropped further when Korith, rallied by Apexus’ confidence, raised her warhammer. Even Aclysia, who kept clinging onto Apexus, defiantly stared back. Nobody moved.

“Call Kaladar,” Apexus broke the silence. “We wish to join this band.” When no one obeyed, the humanoid slime fixated at a random person in the crowd and growled, demandingly. “Call Kaladar.”

The bandit nodded sheepishly and turned towards the cave.