Chapter Twelve: A Little Bug

*

“Wait here.”

Blizzy huffed an annoyed breath but sat, then lay, where he’d pointed. He knew having her stay outside meant little when she could feel and experience most things through their Companion bond, but having her there rather than inside made him feel better about what he might have to do should Trixie be resistant.

His patience was worn, and every second that passed without knowing where they’d taken Anna was a second that something might be happening to her. Had he just left with her, listened to what she was saying instead of resisting, then she would be there with him now.

Silencing his thoughts, he opened the door and pulled it closed quietly.

“Why are you being stubborn?” Kendra asked, the sound of something smacking against a hard surface echoing through the room. “Just give up already.”

Another smack, and Trixie’s voice lit Aiden’s ears on fire. “You haven’t beat me yet. You’ll just have to keep trying.”

The B-rank veteran grumbled something incoherent, leaned back, and smiled at Aiden from the doorway. “Hey Bossman, funny to see you here.”

He stepped into the room to see Trixie and Kendra situated on either side of the night stand with a deck of cards on the table. Kendra smacked another card down on top of the pile, grinning up at him as if everything were going just as she’d expected.

The game they played wasn’t one he was familiar with, but more curiously, he wondered where they even got the cards from. They looked just like any standard deck from Earth. Once the oddness of the situation passed, he shot Kendra a questioning look.

“She’s agreed to be a good little bugger as long as we’re ‘patient and merciful’. Not sure what either of those two things mean, but the promise of a response from her Queen in the near future,” she pointed towards a box with a weird magical contraption, ink, and paper, “has kept me tame enough for now. What brings you here?”

Rather than respond, Aiden opened his hand to reveal the sticky, white webbing, his eyes pinning Trixie in place. “Where do you think I found this?”

The color immediately drained from her face. Credit to her, she kept her composure and continued her game with Kendra, though with far less enthusiasm than before. Seeing the way she behaved, Aiden resisted the urge to unleash the full, overwhelming might of Apex Predator and to wrap his hands around her neck.

“Kendra, you’re dismissed,” Aiden deadpanned.

She looked like she wanted to argue. Seeing his face, she shot Trixie a look of pity. “Hope you’re in one piece by the end of the day, girlie. Keep in mind, he knew who you were allied with and what you were doing the whole time. Evidence that your people took one of his best friends and most trusted advisors is why he’s here at all. He’s a little testy when it comes to those he cares about. Good luck.”

“That’s enough, Kendra.” He thumbed towards the door, and she nodded, taking the command for what it was and departing. Once he heard the door click shut and Kendra’s boots fated, he crossed his arms and looked down at Trixie. “You’ve been in Zion since almost day one, Trixie, right?”

She took a deep breath, opened her mouth, clamping it shut just as fast, and nodded her response. The longer he stared at her unblinking, the more she wriggled from her position on the ground.

“What have you seen in your time here?” he asked, waving towards the door. “Even through provocation, we are a kind people.” He crouched down to eye level, the fury boiling underneath barely contained. “So why does everyone feel the need to test us, to push us into action?”

“Inaction is a sign of weakness, as are kindness and mercy,” she answered as if reciting some kind of doctrine. “Those who are kind and merciful are easily manipulated, the perfect pawns.”

Aiden nodded. “Is that what you think?”

“It is as my Queen thinks, and that’s all that matters to me,” she said, setting her jaw and meeting his gaze. “If my Queen has your friend, then she’s as good as dead—ah!”

The thought of Anna dying made him instinctively release the full effect of Apex Predator. Trixie looked like she wanted to run, to fight, to do anything, but the absolute fear pervaded her mind and kept her in place.

He saw it in her eyes.

Before him, she was helpless.

Insignificant.

With just a little effort, he could crush her like the bug she was!

He rose, standing over the frozen Spiderkin, and blinked. The pressure holding her in place dissipated, and she fell back on the floor, kicking and scraping to get as far from him as he could. There was no rationality in those eyes any longer. Only a deep and primal fear remained.

Taking a deep breath himself, he calmed. He tried to remember the last time he’d released Apex Predator to its full extent and couldn’t. Feeling how weak and timid Trixie’s Essential power was, seeing her freeze against his overwhelming presence, and so much more made him want to hunt her, treat her like prey and hunt her like a true predator.

But she didn’t deserve that of him, no. Her insignificance ran too deep. The Queen she spoke of, the Valkyr leaders, and the Valkyr’s Candidate may satisfy the predator within, but not Trixie.

He turned back to her. “You have until I come back to calm down. When I return, you will answer my questions. If you don’t, I will make you suffer before killing you. You will see the depth of my mercy and kindness then.”

Wordlessly, she watched him in terror. He turned and grabbed the box with the messaging equipment, the only thing he needed now, and made his way outside. Uncertain of how things worked, he sat next to Blizzy and gave her an order, “Kill Trixie if she leaves, okay?”

The blizzard dragon chirped happily, her own sense of desire to hunt carrying over through the bond. A strange feeling came with that desire, something that took him a couple seconds to figure out.

She wanted Trixie.

It made him realize he’d always thought of her as having some kind of morality, some code that was similar to his, when in reality, she was an Apex Predator—a creature that saw few things as equal and even fewer as an entity greater than her.

Idly, he pet her head, noting how she’d continued to grow even larger and how the crown of horns on her head were far larger than he remembered. The single horn on her head still protruded outward, glinting dangerously in the afternoon sun.

The image of Trixie being gored on that horn momentarily caused him to frown. Even if she were a Spiderkin infiltrator, she’d done good work for Zion, never slacking off a single day. From the time she’d joined the city, she’d done everything asked of her—and then some. Though, Aiden knew the rationale behind her actions, being more inconspicuous and seemingly loyal to Zion by going above and beyond.

But her Essential presence hadn’t passed his screening for a single second.

Despite the intention behind why she acted the way had, her work had been thorough and plenty. If he let everything get to him now and he took it out on Trixie, he could end up losing a useful resource.

With a sigh, he pet Blizzy again. “Don’t kill her. Just restrain her.”

Blizzy glared at him as the tension released from her body and she relaxed back into the spot she’d initially been laying. He hadn’t even realized she’d poised to strike at any given moment until she relaxed, the changes were so subtle.

She’d have been dead before I could’ve stopped Blizzy if I didn’t change the order just now, he thought, the realization of just how much of a predator his dragon Companion truly was.

Now that he’d calmed down, he held up the box, wanting to smash the thing. At first, the thought that something Trixie had communicated gave the Spiderkin Queen confidence to snatch Anna out from under his nose made him want to forego any of his current plans, any schemes to find them, any attempts to possibly ally with them, or do anything besides treat them as bugs to be exterminated.

But he knew Anna.

When he’d walked through the area after her, there was no sign of a struggle. The residual webbing was too little, and James didn’t report anything else out of sorts. All of these led to one conclusion, one that he wouldn’t have considered til he calmed down.

Anna willingly went with the Spiderkin, maybe even initiating contact.

Not knowing drove him insane, but he trusted her. Instead of worrying about her for the moment, he looked at the box in his hand. Even if he wanted to send a message to the Queen, the likelihood they communicated in any Earthen language was slim to none. Sylia, Dauvar’s representative of the Naudox and the emissary for her people, used a strange form of telepathy. V’Yenya and the others of the Osh’Tika’Varu utilized nature magic, though they were slowly learning how to communicate in other ways with the constant presence of Olivia and Magnus. Then there was Avacyn, the Etherene psychopath, who used direct telepathy as well as a bunch of other mind magics.

How those of the other Factions communicated wasn’t certain to Aiden since he’d rarely had the chance to talk with any of them, most of their interactions being at the end of a spell or weapon. The answer to that ponderance would probably be revealed before the end of the day, though, it did create an even deeper concern for him.

The Shadowborn Royal.

Would it even be able to communicate once it appeared from the incubator? Aiden surely hoped so but didn’t count on it, at least not in any method he could. So far, the three examples he’d interacted with had some kind of method, but he didn’t expect that to be a universal truth.

Either way, that would be an issue he had to figure out another time. Rising from where he’d sat next to Blizzy, he pulled open the door with box in hand and walked back into the room where Trixie waited, her hair and clothes back in pristine condition.

“Ready to talk?” he asked, leaning against the wall in the hallway. He let his back slide down until he was sitting and pulled his legs to his chest. Her passive face set in stone told him everything he needed to know. “We don’t have to be enemies, Trixie. Our people do not have to fight, nor do we need to scheme, plot, or manipulate one another. Rather than being at each other’s throats, we can pool our resources and combine efforts for a greater future.”

“Do what you want with me,” she said, her nostrils flaring in defiance, “but I won’t tell you anything.”

He handed her the box with the messaging contraption, paper, and ink. “I respect your loyalty. Please send her a message for me. Please relay my message accurately if you are truly a loyal servant.”

“Why should I?” she asked, tensing.

“Let me explain something to you,” Aiden said, resting his head between his knees. “I’m not stupid, nor are the people I trust the most. Do you think we don’t know why your people are in hiding or why you’ve been sent alone? If I cared to find your people, to hunt them down to the last man regardless of if I slew your Candidate and removed all of you from the race for the throne, I would succeed.”

“Your arrogance will be your undoing,” she hissed.

“Trixie, you’re all we needed. From the first day, we could’ve found your people. From the first day, we could’ve killed you, followed the scent back with one of the bound Companions, and killed every last one of the Spiderkin and the people they’re allied with.”

Her eyes widened. “Your dragon…”

“The lion, the panther, and many of the others. We had the ability and chose to let you be one of us, to see who we were, what we stood for, and to personally witness what we stood for.” He turned to look at her and shrugged. “Your Queen may be important to your people, but you are her eyes and ears, relaying information realtime. Without you, how would she gather information without spreading resources wide and risking detection? I’ve let you stay, comfortably too,” he said, waving around the room, “and made sure you were in attendance at all meetings so you could continue relaying that valuable information. I allowed your people to remain undetected so they could grow in safety.”

“You’re lying,” she numbly muttered, shaking her head. “You have to be lying.”

“Why would I lie to you when I have all the power, all the leverage?” He shook his head slowly. “That just doesn’t make sense to me.”

“You can’t contact her without me,” she said, looking at the box he still offered. “But I won’t do it.”

“Again, that’s where you're wrong.” He’d hope he was right and trust Anna to make adaptive decisions for the sake of Zion without putting herself in danger. She was powerful, probably the only one who could match him in raw output, but he worried she might’ve taken on something she couldn’t handle. “Anna—you know her, right?”

“Your mate with the nature magic?”

“Yes, her,” he said, grinning. “She’s headed to meet your Queen now.”

“You’re definitely lying now,” Trixie hissed, looking frantically between Aiden and the box. “There’s no way! She would’ve told me…”

“You’re just a loyal servant though, so why would it matter if she informed you of her decisions? Did you know there were other Spiderkin roaming our territory?” he asked, nodding as she rapidly shook her head in denial. “All over the place. I’ve been patient, waiting for your Queen to make contact with me, but my patience is worn. Between the Valkyr, the Spiderkin, and the Shadowborn, my patience has run out.”

“Liar!” she said, her face twisting in rage. “My Queen would tell me. My Queen… would tell me…”

“Who knows?” Aiden asked, handing her the box. “Why don’t you see for yourself? Send my message first, then you can send your own.” He turned towards the door and called for Blizzy across their bond. The dragon took a few seconds, the sound of her claws tearing the wood to shreds, then she caught the edge and forced it open, running down the hall to stand in front of Trixie. “Blizzy will know if you’re doing anything other than what I ask, and unlike me, she doesn’t care how much you resemble a human. To her, you smell like another monster to eat. For both our sakes, just copy my message down.”

“I still don’t believe you.” She pushed the box towards him. “I won’t do it.”

“Why are you so stubborn about this? Even now, I try to be kind, understanding, reasonable. It’s a message between leaders, an act of diplomacy. Isn’t that something your people enjoy, trading words and trying to be sly or cunning or witty?” He waited for her response with bated breath.

He wouldn’t give her another chance to comply, preparing to let Blizzy have her way with the Spiderkin spy.

“I—I want to protect them from you,” she said in a small voice. She’d done well to hide her fear, and the intensity of it, for as long as she had, but he could see the truth within. “You’re a danger to them.”

Aiden shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong. The only people I’m a danger to are those that wish to be my enemies, those that refuse to engage in diplomacy and threaten my people and dreams. Listen to my message as you transcribe it. You will understand.”

He extended the box towards her once more, setting it in between them on the nightstand, and moved back to where he sat against the wall. He waved towards Blizzy, and she sat, then lay, and watched.

Even though his Companion looked relaxed, and now that he knew better, he saw the telltale signs of coiled muscles readied to leap and sharp claws, claws that could shear through solid steel with ease, prepped to turn Trixie into a gorey mess if she didn’t comply with his demands.

Slowly, she picked up the box and stared at its contents. She shot both of them a nervous look, her gaze fixed on Blizzy for much longer, before setting the box in her lap and emptying its contents on the nightstand. She took her still-transformed fingertip and dipped it in the ink, poised it over a sheet of paper, and looked up at him.

“I’m ready when you are,” she said, her nerves calmed.

“One of mine will arrive to meet you shortly. Treat her better than you would treat me,” he started, seeing Trixie’s accusing look. “Before you say anything, I didn’t lie. Anna is going to meet your Queen as a representative of Zion, and I support any choices she makes. Your Queen does not know of her arrival, so it’s in both our best interests to keep your Queen from attacking pointlessly and getting them both killed.”

“My Queen can handle your mate,” she said proudly.

“Yes, but can she handle me?” he asked, shooting her a sharp look. “Because if a single hair on Anna’s head is out of place, let alone if your Queen and people hurt or kill her, I will make them all suffer slow, painful deaths.”

The temperature of the room dropped by several degrees in as many seconds. Aiden didn’t let up until Trixie cried out in pain and curled into a ball. When he released and absorbed the concentrated ice Essence, the room’s temperature took only a few seconds to return to normal.

He tilted his head and asked, “Do you understand?”

Rather than respond, Trixie continued to scribble her ink covered nail across the paper. As he suspected, he never would’ve been able to send a message to the Queen himself. Their language looked nothing like anything he’d ever seen, nor could he even begin to understand. To him, everything looked like a child got ahold of a pen and started scribbling wildly all over the place.

“Now, I’ve aided your people indirectly for some time now and would like to begin active diplomacy. We can aid each other.” He took a deep breath, looked at Blzzy, and then met Trixie, who wordlessly waited. “Let’s meet.”

The Spiderkin stilled momentarily, pursing her lips. Her hand shook as she scrawled across the page. When she stilled once more, staring down at the letter, she looked defeated.

“Now send it. Only then will I allow you to write your own,” Aiden commanded, watching as she channeled Essence into the device. A strange flame appeared, and then the letter disappeared.

She must have seen the look on his face, because she held up both hands defensively. “The message is sent, promise. I wouldn’t try to deceive you this far into things. Not if all you say is true.”

Now that the message had been sent, he stood and made his way towards the door. He placed a hand on the door and stopped, looking back over his shoulder. “Trixie, as far as I’m concerned, you’re still one of my people. You’re free to come and go as before. You’ve done a lot for this city, and I appreciate that. If you return to your people, I understand, but you will be treated no differently than before. If the time comes when you wish to leave, I won’t stop you.”

“What are you saying?” she asked, hugging her arms close.

“I’m sorry for how things went. I didn’t treat you fairly, and for that, I apologize. If you ever wish to permanently join Zion and cast away your allegiance to your Queen, I will support that decision.” He could see the resistant look in her eyes and the desire to refute even the suggestion that she wouldn’t continue her loyalty to her Queen. He understood and didn’t hold it against her. “If talks don’t go well with your Queen, I will even see that you’re safely escorted out of Zion. We don’t need to be enemies.”

“You know nothing,” she said, turning away and falling into the bed. “If we’re done here, go away and leave me alone.”

Aiden pushed the door open, and Blizzy rushed out ahead of him. When the door closed, he sighed, knowing he’d lied through his teeth for most of the encounter.

But it didn’t matter.

As much as he wanted to see Anna, know without any uncertainty that she was safe, there was little he could do now. He only hoped she knew what she was getting herself into and that the Queen of the Spiderkin would take his message seriously.

One less enemy to worry about meant he could focus on taking down those he could see, fight, and weren’t waiting to pounce at any sign of weakness from the shadows. With that, he looked towards the sky.

“A few more hours left.” He clenched his fists, the bloodlust raging in his veins. “Just have to wait a few more hours.”

The Valkyr would learn to fear him, and through them, the Celestials. If the Dragonborn would not welcome diplomacy, they would see what he was capable of shortly after. One by one, his enemies would bend a knee and kneel or die.

There would be no mercy.