The Outer Sphere, page 71
“Yeah, me too.” Wilson said, deflating. “Maybe we could leave a note to the people who survey the dungeon implicating the Guildmaster in a conspiracy? He is up five million bucks of unreported income.”
“That might work, but it just feels too…impersonal.” Garth said, turning the hammer to ash and taking a seat in front of the Core, legs crossed. “And destroying the core just hurts too many unrelated people.”
“I just wish I could…Idunno, rub that smug bastard’s nose in it.” Garth said.
Wilson’s eyes widened, and he pointed at Garth.
“Yep, realized it the moment I said it.” Garth said, putting up soundproofing.
****
Guildmaster Eckert Duvan was wrapping up a long day of looking for a business to launder the five million credits, organizing guild paperwork with a relieved sigh. Relieved that it was over. The day, and his career.
In another six months or so, he’d be announcing his retirement, they’d send him off in style, and he’d get full retirement benefits. That combined with his recent nest egg, would allow him to be sipping booze watered down with fruit, ogling young women on the beach until his heart gave out.
If he bought a brothel on the beach of Caasia, he’d have his piggy bank right at hand. Retirement was looking ten times better than it had a few short weeks before.
As Eckert was organizing the brochures of the beachside pleasure houses with information written down on the backs he’d received from getting into contact with their owners, he smelled a waft of something…musty.
Like the stale air from the deepest part of a dungeon.
Eckert’s skin crawled as the mana in the room vanished, but before he could look for what had done it, a hand seized the back of his neck and shoved, slamming his face down onto the table.
“Gah,” Eckert shouted, his eyes watering as he clasped his hands to his nose.
When he could open his eyes again, Eckert found himself in a very different location, surrounded by red crystals in a tunnel lit by a floating white light. The air was musty and stale. He was in the dungeon.
“Good evening,” The purple man holding his neck said. “We’re gonna have a talk about your recent behavior.”
“I am the Guildmaster of Pelianore, if an upstart like you thinks you can-“ The iron grasp on his neck tightened, strangling Eckert’s words.
“Let me show you something.” The purple man, No, Garth, Said. Eckert put a name to the only purple person he knew. Then invisible pressure shoved Eckert to his knees and Garth forced his face into contact with the Dungeon Core.
“What does that look like to you?” Garth’s voice came from behind him as Eckert’s eyelid was peeled open by the core being roughly smushed against his face.
“Dungeon core.”
“Good answer. It’s the Pelianore dungeon core.” Garth’s voice raised. “And if I Smash the Pelianore dungeon core, are you still the Guildmaster of Pelianore?”
“What?”
“And if I tell Anyone about the five million credits you accepted to let an unqualified individual buy citizenship, are you still Guildmaster?”
“…No.”
“And if I gut you, leave you here to be eaten by the core and its monsters, are you still the guildmaster?”
Eckert was silent. He didn’t like the direction this conversation was going. He needed to scare the upstart off and buy himself enough breathing room to retaliate. Judging by his mana controlling technique, he was part of one of the guilds. If they found out he was poaching someone else’s territory, the boy was as good as dead.
“This planet is under the protection of the Kinereth Paquis clan, what you are doing will start a war between yours and theirs. You will die for doing something this stupid.”
Behind him, Garth chuckled. “You should have thought about that before you took my money. How are you going to explain that five million credit windfall to your Kinereth Paquis clan? I know for a fact you didn’t give it to the guild, instead you stuffed it in your cheeks like a greedy squirrel.”
Eckert paled. That could look bad for him.
“Let’s face it,” Garth whispered in his ear. “You took my money, I own you.”
“I’m not going to do anything for you, you fucking maniac!”
“Calm down, calm down,” Garth said quietly, murderously, his breath tickling Eckert’s ear. Eckert began struggling in earnest, trying to roll aside, elbow his captor, gore him with his horns. Anything.
It was all for naught. Eckert saw the mana in the room move at the clan member’s command, locking him in place. Ecker tried to wrench it away, tried to cast his own spell and blast the upstart in the face, but he couldn’t do anything more than pluck on the mana’s strings, making it vibrate ineffectually.
“I don’t want you to do anything difficult, or life threatening.” Garth murmured into his ear. It felt like the words were reaching through his ear and settling directly into his mind, causing Eckert to struggle even harder. The bastards using magic on me!
“Just do one, easy, simple, legal little thing for me.” Garth continued. “Or I’ll burn your life, and your dungeon, and your guild, and your town to the ground. And once all is said and done, The Kinereth Guild is gonna come looking all right…for you.”
Eckert slumped in his magical restraints.
“What…What do you want?” The bastard probably wanted him to smuggle Sanatite out of the city to bypass the tariffs and make a boatload of money. It was a stupid plan. The clan paid extra close attention to their source of income. It was the same as stealing from them.
The whole thing was just a more circuitous way of winding up disgraced and dead.
Garth shrugged and shook his head, saying, “Just an apology.”
“What?”
Chapter 88: A New Breed
“Is there anything more I can get for you, my Queen?” The bright-eyed, skinny young nymph said, his four hands clasped together and his antennae bowed. The Queen must have thought it was quite a joke, assigning her the only nymph she’d expressed an opinion on.
“Bring me an entire Banta and save us the time,” Itet’chi’zzt said, tearing into the meal between shrugging and stretching, trapped in her own aching exoskeleton. She was growing, and she was ravenous, eating half her weight every day.
And the longer this process went on, the more fascinating she found Tekchizeti. It was a strange sensation, almost like hunger, but warmer, somewhere deep inside her lower abdomen.
Maybe if she ignored it, it would go away.
“I could bring a quarter of a Banta, my queen,” He said, expressive Antennae shifting rapidly through alarm, thoughtfulness, revision, decisiveness.
“That would be fine.”
Half an hour later, Tekchizeti returned, dragging a large Banta leg almost as big as he was. The weak male struggled under the burden, his legs wobbling as he descended the tunnel into the cavern.
“Good, bring it over.” Itet’chi’zzt’s hunger made her say. “And sit next to me.” The other feeling made her speak before she could realize where it came from.
“As you wish.” Tekchizeti sat beside her, his antennae practically blaring Excitement/Nervousness with wild swings between the two of them.
Itet’chi’zzt wasn’t really sure what hers were doing. She found all of her attention focused on the body occupying the pillow beside her. She found herself devoting most of her attention to the side of her vision, studying the pretty male beside her. She was so distracted that she almost swallowed a bone.
“So…What do we do?” Tekchizeti asked.
“Sit down and shut up,” Itet’chi’zzt said. “Tell me about yourself.”
Itet’chi’zzt clattered her mandibles internally at the conflicting commands she was giving him. the new emotions were making her behavior erratic at best.
Was she a failure as a queen? She hadn’t heard anything about this. In any case, she had to present a consistent ruler to her Queen-chosen mate. Surely the queen knew better than she did.
“I was groomed from a young age to be a scholar. At the queen’s request, my thesis was on deviant behavior and how it may be of value to the tribe. You’re one of my case studies.”
The warmth in Itet’chi’zzt’s abdomen quieted down.
“What?” She demanded. “Are you saying…”
“I recommended you as a candidate for queen,” he said cheerfully. “I had noticed that your trouble working with others didn’t stem from a lack of love for your hive, but rather an inborn instinct that might allow you to-“
“You little assdew licker!” She shouted, leaping on the nymph and throttling him.
“Please, my Queen!” he hissed and chittered in alarm, unable to put up a struggle against her vastly superior mass. His thin arms tugged on her own pointlessly while his lower arms beat ineffectively against her thicker, darker chitin.
“Because of you, I had to watch my friends get murdered! I had to wander the Earth alone, away from my hive for longer than anyone should ever have to!”
“But…What if you hadn’t gone? What would have happened to us?”
Itet’chi’zzt heaved a sigh and released him, holding her head in her hands, still on top of the nymph. They would all be dead, because she was the only princess capable of doubt. Perhaps Itet’chi’zzt should thank him, but the honor of becoming a queen was far more of a burden. One he’d had a direct hand in.
“I apologize, I’ve been…strange recently.”
“It’s fine,” he said, reaching up and patting her torso and mandibles. “Queens are confused at first.” The sensation of his hands against her torso was incredible, causing her mandibles to relax. Her abdomen convulsively dipped down, bumping against his.
A jolt of pleasure shot through Itet’chi’zzt’s body, and she stiffened for an instant before hastily pushing herself off him.
“That’s not…we didn’t…”
“We did not, my queen,” he said, sitting up, his antennae nervous and thoughtful and confused and excited. “I don’t think so.”
“Good,” Itet’chi’zzt said. “I mean, it’s too soon, anyway.”
“It’s been three weeks, my queen. The extra week is practically a formality.”
“How do you know that?”
“The Queen told me that you would be, and I quote, ‘a slavering ball of lust’ by the second week. A date that came and went. Would you like for me to send for a different male?”
“That’s not necessary,” she replied immediately, idly petting his abdomen with her lower right hand. “I just don’t know…How to do it.” Itet’chi’zzt realized what her hand was doing and pulled it back quickly.
“I could show you?” he said quietly. “Males are given a basic education in the art of pleasing a queen, should it ever be required of them.”
Itet’chi’zzt pulled her upper right hand away from where it had wandered onto his back, and her lower left away from his leg. She drew in an enormous breath and heaved a sigh.
“If you would be so kind.”
****
Queen Ti’zishki watched through the scrying spell as the two youngsters finally got around to breeding.
“It’s about time,” she said, giving them privacy with a dismissive wave of her hand. Her plans for the next generation of her people were coming to fruition. The cleverest scholar and the most free-thinking princess were an excellent match.
Tzetin were strong and nimble, renowned as excellent combatants, and yet they were poor, their land and population constantly shrinking. Idiotic queens across their home planet tried to breed ever fiercer warriors, hoping to bring back their glory through force of arms.
Then they would agree to an outrageously bad deal, and some off-worlder would walk away with all their food, or money, or land.
Ti’zishki had realized that it wasn’t a matter of strength at arms, or even intelligence. It was about thinking in a way that ran contrary to the very nature of the Tzetin. She couldn’t do it well, herself, but she had hoped to identify a princess who could.
Itet’chi’zzt had that kind of non-Tzetin mind from a very young age. Hopefully a pairing with Tekchizeti would lead to more cunning queens in the future.
Queen Ti’zishki would not allow her race to die out.
****
The next five days were a blur of passion for Itet’chi’zzt, taking every free moment to delight in the male’s body, using him to satisfy herself at the slightest provocation. He seemed fine with it.
Itet’chi’zzt had reached the full size of a Queen, some nine and a half feet tall, dwarfing the little male.
“Tekchizeti, fetch me another shoulder cut of Urtoros and then perhaps do your duty while I eat.” She said, lazily reclining in the pool of silk at the center of the cave. Her swords lay at the end of the cavern where she had set them over a week ago, nearly forgotten. There was no way they would fit her now.
They were child-sized now, the handles almost too small for her hands.
“My queen…” he said, his antennae showing hints of unease and a small amount of discontent beneath his reverence.
What did he have to be discontent about? From everything she’d seen, he enjoyed himself as much as she. Perhaps there was something she was unable to see it.
“Tell me what is bothering you.” Itet’chi’zzt said, placing a digit as long as his head between his antennae and massaging the sensitive area.
His posture of deference began to give way to the wild twitches of arousal and pleasure.
“I..Ummm…” he said, shaking. “I wonder if perhaps my queen does not value me for more than fetching food and breeding.”
“Foolish, emotional male,” she said, picking him up and setting him atop her abdomen. “We Haven’t been outside the Succession Chamber yet, have we? When I go back aboveground, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of opportunities to prove your value to me.”
Itet’chi’zzt considered for a moment as she petted him. “I would be especially glad if you were a capable minister. I care little for tedious paperwork.”
“I am very good at paperwork,” he purred between his words.
“Good male.”
Itet was about to slide him lower on her abdomen and put him to work when the smell of smoke and screams from non-tzetin lungs resonated in her eardrums.
“What in Kolath’s name is that?” She said, sitting forward violently, sending the male tumbling to the floor.
“What is what, what?” he asked, coming out of his rutting stupor. A moment later, he heard the sound, coming to attention.
Itet’chi’zzt made for the tunnel up, stooping far lower than she had on the way in. She reached the trapdoor, only to find it held down. In the distance, the sounds of Tzetin in pain filled the air, and a tiny bit of smoke wafted between the slats.
She slammed against the wooden trapdoor twice to no avail, then braced her body against the floor, and pushed with every muscle in her body straining to its limit.
There was a tortured metal screech as the trapdoor began to open.
“Stop!” Came the commanding voice of her Queen. In the tiny crack, Itet’chi’zzt could see her queen’s feet. “Stay down there until I call you. You alone must get through this unharmed. Our hive depends on it. Maybe more.”
Itet’chi’zzt’s insides burned, but she swallowed her unease and let the trap door fall back to the ground. With a hiss of frustration, she turned back the way she had come.
“What’s happening?” Tekchizeti asked, shivering in terror.
“Don’t know,” she said, walking past him and grabbing her swords. Her harness that secured her blades didn’t fit anymore, so she simply grabbed the four blades and unsheathed them. “Something bad.”
Itet’chi’zzt stalked back to the tunnel and listened. She heard the sound of the Queen leaving the hut, and the sound of battle. In a few short minutes of agonizing waiting for the queen’s signal, the sound of Tzetin disappeared, and only the mocking laughs of Otherworlder’s remained.
She tightened her fist around the tiny sword handle. She should have trusted her instinct and gone against the Queens wishes. With her help they might have…died slower, her cynical mind filled in for her.
“Hey, look at this,” a guttural offworlder voice said from the end of the tunnel. “This must be the Queen’s hut.”
“How do you figure?” Another voice asked.
“More shiny rocks, than anyone else.”
There was a loud guffaw.
“Fuckin’ barbarians. You think that’s how they choose ‘em? Least flimsy hovel?”
“Who cares? We did our job, let’s get out of here.” Said a third voice.
“Gotta be thorough,” The second voice said. “Besides, some of these rocks are valuable.
There was a slam above her and a pained shout along with the clattering of stone on wood.
“Gah, I stubbed my toe!”
“What the hell? There’s a trapdoor here, and the fastening’s bent, poor Cirius lost some skin on that one.”
“Let’s pry it open, maybe they’ve got something valuable in there.”
Itet’chi’zzt stepped away from the tunnel, dragging Tekchizeti back with her. She took a deep breath and shoved all the fear and anger down and locked it away. Suddenly it was as though she was watching her body from a distance. She was about to lie.
“Tekchizeti, I need you to stay calm and agree with whatever I say.”
****
“Our saviours!” Itet’chi’zzt said, clasping her hands together. Her blades were hidden beneath the sheets in the center of the cavern. The torch-wielding orcs paused at the entrance of the Succession Chamber to stare at her and Tekchizeti. “The Ji’Zztit hive will pay you handsomely for my return! Those foul T’zzitet captured me and my mate and intended to use us as a bargaining chip!”
Itet’chi’zzt chose to impersonate the most well-off hive on the planet, a hive known to provide muscle to the Dan Ui clan, and a nearby one as well. Her queen would never do something so risky, but it might just sound plausible to an offworlder.
She could see their faces light up, but Tekchizeti’s antennae were twitching in horror, his gaze directed at her. She could read the complex emotions displayed without him needing to voice a single one.
