The reaction to Dee’s aggressive stance was both expected and a little surprising. The guards subjected to the pressure given out by Dee chose to react violently and lashed towards her with whatever weapon they had on hand. The surrounding people on the other hand only seemed to be interested in the situation and not alarmed at all. To them, this looked like a good show. As long as Dee didn’t show any aggression towards the people in the surroundings, the other people would not interfere. The guards had picked this fight and now had to deal with the consequences.

As soon as the guards moved against her, Dee moved at speeds almost too fast to see. The only reason anyone could see her at all, was because she kept her movements small enough that they could still follow her general position. She took a hold of the wrist of the first person swinging a sword at her and bent the wrist at an angle that forced the guard to release the weapon. Without letting go of the guard’s bent hand, one of her other arms caught the falling weapon. She ducked under the guard’s arm and slammed the blunt side of the weapon into the helmet of the guard they had talked to earlier. At the same time, the first guard was thrown on the ground as his wrist was still in Dee’s grip and now most likely broken.

The second, now unconscious, guard dropped his shield and weapon as he started collapsing to the ground and Dee grabbed the edge of the falling shield. In a smooth spinning motion, she threw the shield into the forehead of the next guard, while kicking the still airborne weapon of the second guard into the fourth guard’s feet. The unfortunate fourth guard stumbled on the weapon and landed rather badly as he fell. If that wasn’t enough, Dee planted a kick into his belly just for good measure. That belly was protected by a metal breastplate that did absolutely nothing to soften the blow, as his body was thrown against the nearby staircase from the force behind the kick.

The spectators gave small approving nods but seemed a little disappointed that the show had been so short-lived. In fact, most people in the area barely managed to look up in time to see the last guard clanking down the stairs with enough noise to draw attention. Shunkaha grimaced. “Was that really necessary?” He asked, sounding a little tired.

“Yes, it was.” Dee replied firmly. “The difference between groveling and being diplomatic is in the amount of disrespect you tolerate. We may be here on business, but we are not the weaker party. So don’t act like we are. I simply put them in their place. As you might have noticed, there’s no army charging at us.”

The four guards, three unconscious and one cradling a broken wrist, were suddenly lifted into the air with Dee’s powers, and they were forced to float behind the duo like a string of pearls. “So what now?” Shunkaha asked.

“One of the guards looked that way when you mentioned Cynisca.” Dee stated and waved roughly towards the southern harbor area.

“You know there’s like a hundred reasons he could have been doing that, right? There might have been a cute girl walking by, for example.” Shunkaha pointed out.

“Not everyone is as lecherous as you. Still, it is true there might have been many reasons for the look. They were fairly well trained, so he might have been checking his side for anyone suspicious. That is just one of the many possibilities. Nevertheless, it’s a place to start, and as good as any we have at the moment.” Dee replied with a shrug. In fact, she was fairly sure this was the wrong direction, but they were not in a rush.

“So why are you taking them along?” Shunkaha thumbed towards the four guards floating behind them.

“As a warning and an example.” Dee replied with a grin. She was expecting to add to her collection on the way.

As they got a bit further from the square they had arrived at, they stopped a random passerby for directions. He gave a string of rather complex but precise instructions. “I knew that was the wrong way. There really was a rather cute girl standing in our original direction. Not as cute as you of course. I told you that’s what the guard was looking at.” Shunkaha gloated a bit as they turned to travel west. The guard in question had woken up and had the decency to look a little ashamed.

Dee didn’t deign to answer such obvious taunts or flattery, so Shunkaha continued. “Do you remember everything he said? Those were very detailed instructions but they were far from clear and this city is fairly interesting but not exactly easy to navigate.”

Shunkaha had a fair point. The city had the feel of having grown organically and not as a result of precise planning. The city was not divided into clear districts for example, and the wide and greenery-dotted streets were not exactly in the most logical of arrangements. Many were oddly curved and crossed in weird places. “I can remember, but there’s no point really. He doesn’t actually know where the place we want to go to is. He just had an educated guess and wanted to look clever. It seems the name Helios is well known, but not to the extent that everyone knows where they live. I assume the instructions will take us in the general direction, and then we’ll ask more precise instructions as we go along. We’ll get there eventually.” Dee replied without worry.

Inevitably some guards decided to take umbrage at the captured guards floating behind the two, and just as inevitably they also joined the procession of floating guards as they chose to address the issue via violent means. As the number of guards floating behind them increased, the message also became clearer and weaker guards no longer bothered them. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on one’s viewpoint, it also started to draw the attention of the more powerful guards. Not that the increase in power made them any smarter, and they too ended up floating along once Dee disarmed them.

Eventually, they located the right place; or so they thought as they found the house of the Helios family. The guards at the door of the house had bad news though. Most of the Helios family members were in the palace for reasons the guards didn’t share, while Cynisca was also at the city’s training grounds due to her active involvement in the protection of the city. Most of the active warriors of the Lacademonians spent a large portion of their day in training. On the upside, these guards were smart enough to not ask questions about the roughly fifty people floating behind Dee. They were also kind enough or smart enough to give directions towards the training grounds.

It took two hours to finally find and reach the training grounds and the number of guards floating behind them had once again doubled. The strongest among them were already rank eight, so if their strength went up much more, then Dee might have to start causing damage to the surroundings in subduing them. That damage almost became a foregone conclusion when they reached the training grounds, as a large portion of the warriors training there were part of the guard. Before things had time to escalate though, they saw a familiar face.

“Cynisca!” Shunkaha yelled towards the red-headed woman that had just exited one of the many entryways of the training grounds. The woman looked up and recognition suddenly glinted in her eyes as she saw Shunkaha and Dee’s tails.

“YOU!” She shouted rather emotionally and dashed towards Dee. Dee was half expecting it, so she only grinned as a fist filled with thick and heavy ki rushed towards her face as Cynisca made a flying leap towards her, fist first.

Dee met the incoming fist with her own and used only enough strength to push Cynisca back without completely throwing her away. The strike had actually been heavier than Dee expected. She was an anomaly due to her growth rate, and so was Shunkaha with his Authority. Yet here was another anomaly. Cynisca wasn’t an immortal, rather far from it actually, but she had clearly entered the ranks of ninth-ranked warriors when it came to strength at least. That was a stunning rate of growth. If Dee was the one with the fastest growth in perhaps the entire Pantheon, then Cynisca was not that far behind either. She had been working hard apparently.

“Is that the way to greet an old friend?” Dee joked a bit as Cynisca landed on the ground agile as a cat. Apparently, the Lacademonian girl had also matured into a woman with more flexibility than she used to have.

“An old friend. Hah!” Cynisca scoffed. “A real friend would not have simply disappeared like that after your first mission ended.”

“Aww, so you were worried? It’s hardly my fault that one of the Blades of the order took an interest in my training. The bugger had Commander Luthana sign me under his command and took me along as soon as I got back.” Dee defended herself both verbally and physically as Cynisca launched another attack towards her, this time much more measured and probing instead of a brute strength blow.

Cynisca gave a small mirthless chuckle. “Yeah, I heard all about that interest. You got kicked out of the order thanks to that interest if I recall correctly.” She emphasized her words with another wave of attacks, much more complex this time. Dee managed to deflect all the attacks with infuriating ease.

“Oh come now. Surely you didn’t take such rumors to heart. That was only to provide the order some cover thanks to an important mission. Surely you heard some of what happened in the elven forest as well.” Dee brushed the words off and the attacks aside once again. This time she moved much faster and caught Cynisca’s hand as it pulled back and twisted it in a way that forced the other woman to bend in just the way Dee wanted. She then moved to grapple Cynisca and forced her into a hold where she could not move or attack. “This dance is very enjoyable, but are you sure this is the place for it? We seem to be drawing certain kind of attention.” She whispered the question into Cynisca’s ear.

The other woman managed to glance at the surroundings and saw the grins on the faces of the other warriors. She wasn’t entirely sure of the reason behind the grins. “What are they grinning at?” She squeezed a question, still in a submission hold held by Dee, although Dee was only stopping her from moving and not causing pain in order to force her to yield.

“Well, you were rather loud and there are many ways to interpret your words. One of the ways and the one that first occurs to the perverts in the peanut gallery is that you are a spurned lover of mine demanding an explanation.” Dee replied with a grin. Another factor she didn’t mention was that both of them were in rather tight clothing and their little tousle was a rather enticing sight. Especially now that they were almost holding still and bent at an awkward angle. Dee’s current whispering also reinforced the spurned lover theory.

“Let go of me this instant!” Cynisca demanded, and Dee obliged.

Cynisca rubbed her joints to get them back to perfect condition and gave a cold glare to everyone observing. Those observers took the hint and moved on. She also noted the string of guards floating in the air. “What’s that about?” She asked and pointed at the guards, mostly to just change the subject. Well, that and the floating guards were a rather good reason for a question or two.

“Would you believe me if I told you I brought you a present?” Dee asked playfully.

“Not for a second, because that’s a shitty present. You’re smart enough to do better.” Cynisca countered.

“Well, as it happens, some of the guards didn’t really believe us when we said we were here to meet with you. Then they got disrespectful. I provided them with a lesson or four. And then more guards kept adding to the problem as we searched for you.” Dee gave a quick explanation.

Cynisca harrumphed. “That’s probably because of my father. He’s rather famous. Some of the guards think the whole family is worth fame by proxy. I haven’t really done anything fame-worthy yet though, so they’re mistaken. Only fools and the incapable ride on the fame of their family.”

“It seems you have some claim of your own to fame though.” Shunkaha pointed out. “You’re really young for someone so strong. I would think that alone is worth some attention.”

“You’re the same age! Yet it seems we were both slower than someone else.” Cynisca stated a little bitterly and looked at her old rival that had deflected her attacks with such ease. She had sensed the power of an immortal from Dee when they were in such close proximity.

Shunkaha gave a bitter laugh of sympathy. “I’d advise against comparing yourself to that monster. I’m pretty sure she is cheating in multiple ways.”

“Hey!” Dee protested. “It’s not my fault you’re inept. Don’t accuse people of cheating just because you can’t do it. You just lack talent.” Her words were a little ironic considering that the two others were among the most talented beings in the entire Pantheon.

Cynisca shook her head wryly. Some things didn’t change and the teasing between Shunkaha and Dee was very reminiscent of what had happened years ago. “So what brings you here? Don’t expect me to believe you just came to greet me after all this time.”

“Even though that would most likely have been worth the trip, no. You’re right in that we do have a reason for coming. The Five Winds needs the services of the Lacademonian smiths, and we thought you might be able to make some introductions.” Shunkaha explained in Dee’s stead.

Cynisca frowned. “Smiths, is it? I’m guessing you mean our best ones at that. I’m afraid you made a wasted trip in that case. In the current situation, the smiths will not be able to go anywhere or do anything but help our military. Not that it will help, but they have to try.”

“Speaking of, what is the current situation? We heard your community ran into some trouble.” Dee asked in turn.

“Well, that’s putting it a little mildly.” Cynisca commented and pulled them into a bit more private place within the training grounds. Finding a private place with all the guards still floating around was a bit challenging in itself. “Truth be told we’re in real trouble. Our other cities have been attacked by numerous waves of undead and we’re in the process of evacuating any outlying small cities that we can’t defend adequately. I’m not sure how much that will help since my father told me the enemy is part of the Spider Cult. Sooner or later they will hit a city we can’t evacuate and we’ll have to make a stand.”

“How did you manage to piss off the Spider Cult anyway? They’re one of the most powerful communities in the second circle and something of that level rarely takes interest in a single third circle community.” Shunkaha asked for clarification. They had not heard any details before this despite asking around.

“I’m not sure of the details either. It’s not the sort of information they spread around. Even if my father is famous, he’s not in the loop either. Or at least he’s not sharing with me. You did make a small mistake though. We’re not dealing with the entire Spider Cult, at least not from what I heard. We’d already be dead if that was the case. Or someone higher up would have interfered. I hear some people in the first circle don’t exactly like it when a second circle community throws their weight around in the current climate. Apparently, we’re dealing with one of the higher ranked Death Lords though.” Cynisca explained what she had managed to find out.

“Hmm, maybe we’ll have to stick around for a while.” Shunkaha said while looking at Dee. “We might find an opportunity we can take advantage of.”

“Perhaps. You’re missing something important though.” Dee pointed out.

“What?” Shunkaha asked with a questioning look.

“Well, while they might be dealing with only a small part of the Spider Cult for now, what happens if they win? What happens if we spot an opportunity and end up killing the Death Lord in question? That might bring the ire of the whole Spider Cult on the Five Winds and that’s definitely against our goals here.” Dee explained her thought.

“So you would just leave an old friend of yours to the mercy of necromancers? That doesn’t sound like you.” Shunkaha seemed almost flabbergasted. Since when did Dee avoid confrontation?

“I’m not saying that. What I am saying is that we might have to take some precautions. I think it’s time I call in a favor and send a gift basket.” Dee mused. If she used her favor right, she might be able to get some cover for both the Five Winds and the Lacademonians without too much effort. Besides, if her suspicion was right, the other party might be all too happy to trample on the plans of the Spider Cult.