Lejan and Damon stuck to the backroads on the way out of Riverrule. They walked because none of the Lawed-Lands had horses that weren't terrified of them. And unfortunately, their own horses from home base were killed in an Owlbear attack near the mountains up north.
Neither of them minded.
Damon liked to study plantlife and find new poisons and herbs.
Lejan liked to stay within the shadows. The sun wasn't always kind to his skin thanks to his….. genetics.
"So, we came to do what we were tasked with." Damon said, patting the head of the water nymph. "I still don't know how you did it. They said the Siren Queen was near unbeatable and you did it naked. You're not nearly that attractive. You're actually quite hard on the eyes...." He added while eyeing Lejan.
The Mantichoran Monster hunter was large. Larger than most-- even among Mammoth Clan members. He was well over six and a half feet tall and densely packed with muscle. Not to mention his absolute uncaring attitude toward adopting human tendencies.
"I'm also not so driven by lust." Lejan replied, not bothered to be called ugly. " Not as much as man. Not as much as man with a family either…" Lejan replied jokingly, "The Siren Queen's strength was entirely tied to Man's weakness to his own flesh desires. I'm no man. And I haven't been weak since I passed my first round of experiments."
Damon nodded and tapped his chin like some tattooed snake-eyed philosopher, "Ahhhh I see….. it's like a lesson in discipline. When man succumbs to foolish desires, even the most simple threats can become livechanging monstrosities. Like this here Nymph. No more than a biological mutant of her kind that can birth followers from man's seed at a great rate. Due to man's weakness, she built an army in short time and became beastial royalty. Marvelous."
"Yes. The male species will fuck anything. Marvelous." Lejan replied.
"It's the themes— the commentary— the ingrediants of events—"
"Oh here we go with the ingrediants." Lejan rolled his eyes.
"You must not care for them. Perhaps I'll just burn a wild-pig over a fire tonight instead of making your river-herb fish—"
"I apologize for everything." Lejan replied casually.
"I bet you do." Damon said ruefully.
They walked another half mile in silence when suddenly, Lejan's ear twitched. Damon's unnaturally long forked tongue slithered out at the same time.
"Well, it's about time she returned." Damon said.
"Yea."
For another few minutes they waited until eventually, a golden eyed blur came running through the marsh and caught up with them.
Annisa huffed as she came to a stop beside Lejan.
"I sent them to the island furthest north. On the way out, the main-island of the city looked like it was going crazy! Someone was strung up in the kings courtyard with his tongue cut out and hand removed. Apparently he was some thieves guild….. wait a minute…" Anissa sniffed the air and looked down at Lejan's belt.
He moved his cloak aside and showed her Savoir's right hand tied to his belt.
"You weeded out a thieves guild member in the Kings guard?" Annisa replied in disbelief.
"Not the kings guard. The Knights-Guardsmen. He was making his way there, though."
"How'd you know? I didn't smell anything. There's no wanted thieves in the area." Annisa replied.
"All his mucking around in the bars, whorehouses and the criminal underbelly paid off, that's how." Damon replied.
"Hey, I just gave us credibility and possibly saved a kings life, didn't I?" Lejan asked.
"You saved a kings pockets. And you did so brutally. The people may not like that." Damon said.
"A kings life is his pockets. If he has no money, he's just a man with a mouth. And humans are the most violent species on earth. What makes you think they won't like a hanging. They did it to me."
Damon and Annisa quieted.
"…do you think I'm going to cry? I didn't then. Continue your conversations, unless you find my point irrefutable." Lejan purred triumphantly at the end of his words.
Damon sighed, "You make valid points. I just know none of this changes the fact that just about everywhere else you're spoken of in scary stories for children. Your reputation is shot. But this was a good move. If we only gain one ally in the Lawed-Lands, Riverrule is a good one to have."
"Better than Vannaganberg." Annisa replied.
"Anywhere is better than that frozen hell—"
"Respect her homeland, Damon." Lejan replied.
"My apologies, red. I have bad memories of the place." Damon said.
Annisa huffed, "You and me both."
"But, I suppose good memories are afoot." Damon said and rushed ahead to walk backwards and face them both, "Since none of you have said it, I assume you forgot. The Master's Revolt Anniversary is in two days time. Meaning, by the time we get home, it'll be time for celebration!"
"YAYYYY!" Annisa danced as they walked through the marsh.
Lejan continued walking.
"What's it for?"
"The Master's Revolution." Damon repeated, "If you haven't been paying attention to your studies I can refer you back to the training field and off active duty."
Annisa's eyes glowed and her sideburns went spiky as they spread down her jaw. Her ears sharpened to elven points. She growled like a cornered wolf, "You wouldn't…."
"And you WILL pay attention from this point onward, understood?" Damon replied.
Annisa calmed and shed feathers, "Teach me, Damon!"
Damon cleared his throat, smiling, clearly in his element, "The Master's Revolution was a day of blood, immense pain and change. Much like birth to new life. The Mantichoran's were once under the command of a group called the Chemical Coven. No more than amoral scientists looking to see how far they could take their experiments. No idealogy, no goal other than perverse excitement. Some even sold off their experiments to sex cults and mercenary guilds. They did nothing but make us seem worse than we ever could be. Among their most prized experiments were the First Masters. Four of them. Flawed in body, but absolutely divine in mind. They aren't like us. But they are relative. They knew with the right hand and mind, we could be more. So, they staged a revolt. They killed their makers and shared the seat of the throne, redesigning the Chemical Coven into a series of Clans. Families with ideals and shared goals. With purpose and—
Lejan yawned.
Damon lost the twinkle in his eye and a vein bulged in his neck, "You're a bastard, Lejan."
"We all are." Lejan finished yawning.
Damon turned to Annisa, "That's the jist of it, Red. We're celebrating the day our kind began to work for something. The day we stopped being toys for man and became a concept of the future."
Lejan rolled his eyes.
Annisa clapped, "That was beautiful, Damon! We are the future!"
"Indeed. Now, let's stop for food in the next mile. I'm quite hungry after uncovering heist plots and decapitating Siren Queens." Damon said.
"I ate on the way here." Annisa replied.
"And I bet you're still hungry." Damon said.
"I am." Annisa replied.