Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave turned his head to Onychinusa, placing both of his hands upon his hips. She looked up at him, perhaps already knowing what it was he was going to ask.

“Would you be willing to help them?”

The unwrinkled hag looked bitter, and her hands fidgeted as she grappled with the idea. Eventually, Onychinusa’s voice came with resignation, “The Lord sent me to help you.”

Argrave wasn’t fully pleased with that answer, but it was acceptable. He looked back up to the dryads. Instead of just their faces peeking beyond the roots, some of them had emerged fully, sitting on roots and playing childish games with each other. They wore dresses and tiaras of interlocked leaves. The green-skinned creatures seemed to be princesses of the woods. Seeing them conjured memories of Drezki the Coward, Silvic’s servant in the wetlands.

“My friend here can help you if you want her help,” Argrave declared.

The dryads stopped playing, and some of them cheered upon hearing that. The voices came so quickly it was difficult to distinguish them.

“However, if you want her help... she wants you to give some, not all, of your mist to these little guys.” Argrave picked up one of the Brumesingers by the scruff of its neck and raised it up into the air. “Can that be done?”

The place grew still, and the dryads whispered between each other. Finally, one of them descended to the ground, while others came to stand beside Onychinusa, trying to hold her hand.

“Not our choice. Mommy has the mist. We borrow it. But mommy likes us. We can try and persuade!” the dryad promised innocently.

“If it helps, you can tell your mother that we’re going to get rid of the mandragora.” He paused. “Actually, I’d like to tell her myself, once the task is done.”

“The mandragora? It’ll die? But what about its friends? The big squirmy things that eat everything are trying to get married to it!”

Argrave narrowed his eyes, thinking. Squirmy things... she must be talking about the Yateveos. I was wondering why I’d seen none of them. Perhaps they came here after the disturbance of the roots.

“I can get rid of them. But you have to be extra positive when you talk to your mommy,” he said, pointing his finger.

“Okay!” the dryad answered, then looked back. “Old lady, come outside! Big bastard gave you to us.”

Argrave chuckled after being called as such, then looked at where Onychinusa avoided the touch of the dryads. Anneliese caught onto Argrave’s thoughts, for she raised her hand and volunteered, “I’ll go with her, Argrave. The mandragora, will it pose any problems...?”

"No," Argrave said dismissively, casting a spell to make his Brumesingers follow her. They bounded into her arms eagerly, docile and obedient before her. “I’ve got Orion, you forget,” Argrave said, patting his brother’s worn golden armor. The man jumped, as he was lost observing the dryads. “And Myriarch Batbayar will come, too. But the books... best give them here.”

off as the Brumesingers turned into butter

kids trick you,”

pack, but Batbayar was staring at him. “Perhaps you ought to explain this

slung his pack over his shoulder, then nodded. “Sure, but... on

Batbayar repeated for

held his hands out. “Of

#####

did not explain

know was that Onychinusa was the last of the ancient elves. Argrave was especially conscious of the fact he deliberately deceived an ally for convenience after Dimocles called him out for it. Still, just

light dimmed, and the only thing that illuminated their path was Argrave’s spell.

losing argument with a

when next they saw them, they were

they scrambled back like monkeys, swinging vine whips or crude implements of wood that looked like

efficiently—by slamming them against the walls, the floor, or the ceiling, he needed only one arm to crush an opponent. Orion ended them ruthlessly one after the other, leaving large craters in the stone

it was done,

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

don’t slam them against things, given how many cave-ins

a supporting

“I

of them advanced yet further. More things blocked their path, but Argrave conjured a blade of blood magic for Orion to use. The weapon proved to be quite effective, speedily clearing a path as the winding spiral descent leveled off.

the room somewhat. What he saw made him hasten his step, then crouch low and peek past the

had been expecting to see a wide-open cavern, two waterfalls on each corner that fed a converging stream supported by abundant and beautiful plant life. This stream then wrapped around a serene building, its serenity disturbed by a mandragora taking root just at its entrance. This place had been the secret garden of the ancient elven imperial family. Here, an abdicated sovereign had built a library and a reading area to relax and tend to plants after his

a large wooden body, almost like a stump, the top of which had a dozen heads that resembled venus fly traps. They were clearly intelligent, moving quickly

was not

into the cavern. At the back, the two waterfalls fed only an endless abyss. The mandragora stood atop the only remaining solid land, supporting a lone pillar with its partially-exposed root

tiny mouths at their ends—slowly crawled up the base of these roots, eating away with their disgusting mouths. The mandragora bit at it, but its were of yet insufficient to catch them. One small mercy was that

and whispered, “Given how white you’ve gone, you didn’t

shook his head. “Not a

to have an easy battle with was now the only thing keeping that library from plummeting into the abyss... and