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Chapter 265
🕑 Added 2024-11-23 04:27:53 +0000 UTCBefore your own safety comes that of the Zaaktif. Before your comfort comes that of the Zaaktif. Before your survival comes that of the Zaaktif. We are the Alqat, never the Alqats. We are one body, and our body lives to serve, protect, and save the Zaaktif.
-Initial address given to Alqat upon induction to the order.
Though we, as a species, loathed the slow approach I forced us into, we took over a day and a half before we began to understand why Qaqambi had thought I might want to come up this way. Though there weren’t enough trees or more permanent plant life around to realize it as easily as in the jungles, the signs were obvious and frequent. Feces here, deep scratches there, reduced numbers of wildlife.
Keelish.
Another swarm was here, and ready for my takeover. We stopped moving as quietly, instead speaking loudly enough for the sound to carry, tromping through the grasses, and letting ourselves become known to those who would soon be our newest swarmmates. Foire was the first of the swarm to sight one of the foreign swarm, and leaned over to tell me as much with a murmur and a pointed finger.
“Good.” I replied. “Everyone, prepare for contact. Try not to kill any of them before I convince them to follow my lead.”
“Please!” Farahlia added, many of my elites chuckling darkly at the joke.
While the quiet squeaks and screeches of our laughter died down, I finally saw the keelish. He was much squatter than any I’d seen before, only three or so feet tall, but built heavily with thick, stumplike legs. His snout was longer and wider than the rest of us, and he more resembled a crocodile than a keelish, but even so, I knew he was one of us. As his snout poked out of the grass and his beady eyes roved over my swarm. After a mere moment’s hesitation to understand what he was seeing, he whirled and dashed away, screaming, “Enemy! Enemy! Fight! Hide! Enemy!”
The cry was taken up by a dozen voices before long, and the sound swelled, growing into a deafening cacophony as apparently hundreds of keelish rallied themselves to battle.
“What… just happened?” Shemira questioned, her head cocked to the side and confused.
“It would appear that we are not currently welcome.” Sybil responded, her tone dry. “I suppose that we should do something about this before it devolves into an actual battle.”
“March!” I commanded, my voice carrying magically far. “Don’t let them prepare more! Foire, Silf, eyes on our flanks! Don’t let them ambush us!”
“Yes!” Both shouted in response as they moved nearer to the fringes of our swarm. To my frustration, much of the newer part of the swarm jostled and looked around, confused and unprepared for my command.
“MOVE YOU SCALELESS WORMS!” Took shouted as she fell into step beside me. I jogged onward, leaving the slow to understand what they needed to do. Less than half a minute after that, though, I cursed myself as I looked back at our flocks. Joral, Sybil, and the wolfstags all worked together as best as they could to force the slow oxfiends and contrary axebeaks to follow the rest of us. I slowed to a walk as I allowed the people and animals that supported our continued existence to get up to speed. Before long, we were all moving in unison, and with [Innervating Address] and [Imperial Bearing] working together to rally my troops, it was only the work of a couple of minutes to truly begin our slow-paced charge towards the foreign keelish’s den.
Their incessant cries of “Enemy!” and “Ready!” grated on my nerves, the almost infantile grammar showing their lack of intelligence.
“We’re close to contact!” Foire shouted. “The main body I can detect is about half a mile forward and closing in. I see at least 150!”
“There’s another group coming from this side!” Silf added from our right flank. “About 100, and they’re trying to keep their heads low!”
“Smart enough to think of a strategy,” Took mused beside me, “But not smart enough to back down.”
“I think you’ll be up for beginning this.” I said to Took. “Throw them aside, show how much stronger we are.”
“As you command, Alpha.” Took flared her frills in acceptance of my command and picked up the pace to be about fifteen strides ahead of the rest of the swarm. At her flanks followed Percral, Solia, and Etra, as well as a couple other of the largest of the swarm, though the healer kept a couple paces back from the rest. Surprised, I realized Brutus wasn’t with the rest of the shock troops, and once I looked for him, I saw him keeping pace just at my right flank, Ytte at my left. Ytte breathed heavily, her massive rock weighing her down, but Brutus kept his vision up and around, watching for anything that dared to approach.
“You’re not going to lead the charge?” I asked my large, simple companion.
“No.” He answered. After waiting almost half a minute, he still didn’t offer any additional information, so I asked another question. “Why not?”
“I make sure you stay safe.”
“I can keep myself safe, Brutus. You should do what you want to.”
“I am. I want to protect you. So I am here. I make sure you don’t get hurt.”
“I can do that myself.” I felt my tone grow flinty as the shouts of keelish preparing for battle washed over me.
“You can.” Brutus good-naturedly agreed. “I’ll help be sure.”
I wanted to argue further with the towering giant, but there was no time. Instead, Took shrieked as she rushed in to fight against the first of the squat keelish. As he, the same one that had originally sighted us, I thought, lunged up to tear out her throat, she smashed her thick horns into the base of his skull. He dropped, body limp, and Took didn’t hesitate to lift him by his tail, whirl and send him flying into the next closest enemy. She lunged right and left, her tail, horns, and closed fists laying waste to the weak and slow keelish that dared to confront us. Even so, Took ensured she didn’t deal any fatal blows.
Percral threw himself bodily into a crowd of enemy keelish, his magic dancing over his skin as he roared his challenge, “FIGHT ME! You are unworthy! VICTORY!”
“VICTORY BY FANG AND BLOOD!” Echoed the rest of my swarm as they rushed in to subjugate.
I let the battle rage for only a dozen seconds or so before channeling so much magic into my throat that it tickled my breath and every word. Then, with [Conqueror’s Rebuke] and [Disastrous Discourse], I began my own attack on the enemy swarm.
“BOW TO ME!” I shouted. “Bow before your new Alpha! I will lead you to new lands, to victory, and to safety! I will help you to become more than you ever thought possible!”
The nearest keelish from the enemy swarm balked at my magic and command, fearing to move forward into continued battle with my swarm. I stepped forward, continuing my speech as I presented myself to those who would soon become my subordinates.
“I am your new Alpha! Any who disagree can face me! I will lead you, and help–” I was cut off by a cowardly ambush from one of the nearest keelish, her jaws snapping wildly at my thigh. I reacted quickly, my knee cracking into her bottom jaw, but that didn’t dissuade five others from lunging at me, their eyes wild and movement nearly insane as they attempted to rip my muscles from my bones. The second attack didn’t get close as Brutus rushed in, picked up the newest attacker in his jaws, and bisected him with one bite.
Brutus didn’t stop, rampaging towards any that dared to approach me, and Ytte followed immediately thereafter. She smashed a skull in with one swing of her rock before hurling it at another ambushing enemy. Bones cracked audibly as her ranged attack landed home.
“And this is why,” Vefir chided from behind me, “I say you need a guard.” As he spoke, another three keelish were mercilessly torn apart, and I couldn’t help but frustratedly agree.
