With Shalltear gone, and after Zaryusu and Crusch Lulu spoke, it was Kyuku, clad in his white bone armor, who addressed the masses. His words were slow as ever, as if he had to wade through thick mud to find the wherewithal to speak. “Kill… frogmen… save… lizardmen.” He made a fist and held it over his heart.

A rumble of agreement came from the rest of the gathered tribes. Sukyu’s long tongue hissed briefly and his tail lashed at his back. “So we rescue the captives… whatever our new lord has done, we are safe for the night, the rest of the tribe will sleep, we chiefs will conduct a raid and prove we would save ourselves if we could…”

The rumble went on, and Shasuryu nodded before asking, “How do we get there fast enough? Rororo can’t take all five of us.”

“That.” Zaryusu pointed to the death knight nearest to him. “We have a cart for hauling wood, but this time it will haul us, and the death knight here will pull it. I’m sure that was their intent in giving us more than we needed. The undead never get tired, the undead never feel fear, or need food, or water, or to relieve themselves. I saw one of these once when I was a traveler, they’re fast, I never imagined one could be controlled, but since it can be?”

That settled it, “Get the cart!” Crusch snapped at one of her people who scrambled away along with one of the Green Claw tribe, and a minute or so later, a crude, simple wooden cart made of bound up logs cut in half horizontally, bound with oiled vines for rope and with just thick tied sticks with multiple gaps between them was wheeled over. The wheels were not much better than the rest of it, simply logs chopped to make circles with a rough hole in the middle through which a wooden rod had been shoved and fixed in place with tar at either side of the wheels.

“It isn’t much,” Zaryusu apologized for the cart and went over to rest a hand on the long pulling poles, “but it has only ever had to haul wood before, still, I know it can carry our weight. We won’t be comfortable, but that isn’t important.”

“We. Go.” Kyuku mumbled and clambered into the cart, he drew his legs in as close as he could to make room for the others, a swelling of pity ran through Zaryusu as he saw the earnestness of the former genius who threw away his brilliance to become a shield for his tribe.

Crusch and Sukyu followed and did the same, while Shasuryu followed after, and Zaryusu finally did the same. Completely unsure if this would work, he pointed to the nearest death knight. “Death knight… stand in front of the cart.

The lumbering behemoth’s heavy feet left deep impressions on the soft ground as it obeyed and stood in front of their transportation. “Death knight, put away your shield and turn around.

It obeyed again, the shield placed over its back, it was now positioned between the two poles.

“Death knight, grab the poles beside you.” Zaryusu felt a surge of awe run through his body as the death knight bent down, grabbed the poles that had been angled up when the cart tilted a little from the weight of the five chiefs.

“Death knight, pull the cart out of the gate.” Zaryusu gave the order, though he clutched Frost Pain tight against his body while the death knight’s long and lumbering steps drew the cart in the direction it had been commanded.

“Alright, I think I’ve got the hang of this.” Zaryusu said softly, the other four looked at him in askance, he could read their very thoughts then, ‘Are you sure?’

He looked behind them at the village full of lizardmen from all surviving tribes. ‘No matter what happens, nothing will be the same after this, we all worked together, we all cooperated like never before… and now all five of us are going to rescue the captives of a tribe’s elders?’ It was an exultant feeling that coursed through Zaryusu’s veins and gave him a burst of confidence enough to shout the next command at the death knight.

“Run that way!” He leaned forward and pointed, the death knight looked back at him to see the direction he pointed, then the monster began a sprint. The heavy pounding feet were anything but subtle, and the force of the sudden lurch sent Zaryusu flying back hard enough that it was only Crusch and Shasuryu’s darting arms that caught him before he could tumble entirely over the side of the cart.

If he could have blushed cherry red, he would have, instead he only laughed sheepishly, before the other chiefs chuckled goodnaturedly in turn. “Thank you.” Zaryusu said to his lover and brother. He quickly settled his back against a wooden pole, his tail dangling outside to catch the wind while the cart raced on and on without stopping.

There were no roads, but the path along the lake was well enough worn that the cart was able to make good time without stopping, the tireless death knight moved as if he was carrying no weight at all, giving only the steady thudding noise of its heavily armored feet. A trip that was days for the weak and hours or longer for the strong was cut to a fraction of itself.

The terrain raced by, the dark waters of the lake however were not especially placid. It wasn’t hard to conclude why. “Whatever he did, Heketi’s army must be moving… I do not envy her.” Shasuryu said with grim satisfaction.

“What do you think we will do tomorrow?” Crusch asked the others.

“I think we will fight the frogmen. No, I think we must fight the frogmen.” Zaryusu replied to her and put a hand on her own. “We must prove to the Great One that we are worthwhile as a whole, when they return, we offer ourselves to him as an army, to advance with him and fend off the frogmen threat ourselves. If we show that we only need time, and only need help to grow strong, I think we will prosper.”

Sukyu fidgeted with his slingshot. “I think this is true, I think if we show that we can fight, we will have more value than if we just crawl to the feet of the strong.”

By the time they reached the outskirts of their destination, all had come to an agreement.

“Death knight, stop.” Zaryusu said and the death knight slowed to a halt after a few paces. The ground in front was a churned up mess. “An army passed by here.” Even in the dark it was obvious, footprints and deep impressions with kicked up earth all led toward the lake. “I know our new Lord has something to do with this… he must.”

Nobody had it in them to argue, “So we face a weakened frogmen army… an even fight, is a fight in our favor.” Shasuryu said and they hopped out of the cart to look at the remnants of the village.

“We’re far enough away that they shouldn’t have heard us coming, surprise is our ally.” Zaryusu said and dropping low, his breath became shallow, his pulse began to race again, his hold on Frost Pain tightened once more. “Kyuku and I will attack first, Sukyu and Crusch will act in support from the rear, Shasuryu circle around and free the captives while the frogmen guards are distracted. Questions?”

None came and they took position, with Shasuryu rushing wide out of view.

They began to creep toward the ruins, the others at his back, all of them ready to attack and set their people free.