Rhox of the Ahas Clan peered at the frightening woman walking just beside her. Though maybe she was mistaken. Rhox wasn’t that well versed in parsing human physique. For all she knew, Yuriko was an elder. For that matter, why was she barefoot? Every other human in her troop wore boots.

Also, her clothes were a mess. Her pants fell to mid-calf and looked like it would unravel in the near future. Her poncho had several tears and bloodstains. Hmmm.

The poncho looked like a product of Vizugmon so Masa of the Kutin had probably given it to her. The mystery that was Yuriko of the Davar weighed heavily on Rhox’ mind. Rhox shuddered. When the flames burst from the woman’s body, primal fear had twisted her guts. She felt her scales rise and the instinctive fight had risen within. But almost at the same time, she knew that if she fought, she would die. As simple as that.

A glance at one of her two human subordinates was quite revealing. Killian was noticeably embarrassed with losing control of his bladder…but the bulge in his pants revealed that he wasn’t completely cowed. The other man, Clement, was much more practical. He kept his distance from Yuriko and only looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Killian was fixedly staring at the woman’s swaying hips.

Tsk. That might be trouble later.

The Vizugmon poncho concealed the woman’s waist, where Rhox suspected she carried some kind of weapon. If she hung her hands down, the cloth covered everything. Still, the woman had given her word. Her Wojan had been terrible though, so Rhox wasn’t sure she heard what she thought she heard. Well, she just had to keep an eye on the woman instead.

As for Masa of the Kutin, the half-breed catkin placidly followed every instruction given. Honour.

The path back to Forgestride Enclave would be difficult now that the Beast Tide had well and truly begun. The walls only blocked the caverns and junctions, and their primary purpose was to divert the Tide to the correct tunnels. They would have to traverse those same tunnels too, and it was the reason she returned the Kutin woman’s weapon.

Well, if Yuriko was as strong as that aura of hers indicated, then perhaps they would have an easier time. At this moment, they were at one end of the wall. The other side was safe, of course, but it wouldn’t lead them to where they wanted to go.

Rhox watched the Fire Hounds baying and shooting flames. It looked like they’d smelled blood and were unwilling to leave. They had two choices. Wait out of sight until the dogs grew bored or wade into the midst and fight.

“We’re fighting, aren’t we?” One of her Ahas clanmates, Bhoxos, asked.

“Yes. Prepare yourselves,” Rhox ordered. “Crossbows, thin the pack at my mark. Shoot!”

Twang, twang, twang! Thud, thud, thud!

Arrooo!

Three bolts flew from her Fang, and each one buried into a hound’s eye. The shooters bent over to winch the weapons and reload. One, two, three! “Shoot!”

Twang, twang, twang!

Three more bolts and three more dead or injured hounds. The rest of the pack quickly backed away from range. Rhox counted out a couple of minutes and when the beasts didn’t return, gave the signal. Half of the Fang would remain on the wall, while the other half, including Rhox and the… guests, would make the trip. Ropes were thrown over the wall and they scaled down.

Yuriko just jumped over and landed easily on her feet.

The ropes were quickly retracted and they jogged towards the tunnel entrance. The Griefordians were irregulars who barely followed her command. She wanted to leave the two humans behind, but they followed before she could say a word. Clicking her tongue, she let it be. Commander Otlaca would deal with it.

“We’re just walking?” Yuriko asked.

“Yes,” Rhox said, shifting from Mezgarin to Wojan. “Only way.”

“Right. Well, lead the way.”

Rhox blinked. She had been intending for Bhoxos to be the lead scout but if Yuriko wanted her to lead…

Before she could blink, she was in front, with her clansmen looking askance at her. She shrugged and made a signal to close ranks.

In the first tunnel, they encountered a stray pack of Fire Hounds. Rhox held out her left hand and activated her Geist: a Dreadweave Spider.

She had made the controversial choice of taking in the Anima of a beast that wasn’t a serpent, or even a reptile. It had made her power grow slower but the versatility and lack of competition more than made up for it.

Strands of her Animus shot out of her fingers, mixed in with the Dreadweave’s threads. It changed the property of her power from immaterial to something akin to spider thread. It didn’t last more than a few minutes depending on how much Animus she invested in the act, but that was more than enough to tangle up her opponents.

A Fire Hound was caught easily and Rhox stabbed her estoc into its face, killing it instantly. As for the rest of the pack, Bhoxos and Drask, another of her kin, took care of them with their estocs. The humans flailed away with their longswords at a couple of flankers, leaving Yuriko and Masa with nothing to do. The golden-haired woman observed and gave an approving nod.

Rhox felt shame at the rush of pleasure that simple gesture had given her. What was wrong with her head? Why would she care whether the foreigner approved or not?

“Accursed mind,” she muttered under her breath.

After all of the hounds were put down, she drew a survival knife off her belt and dug into the hound’s spine, hoping to find Ivory.

“Aha!” Killian crowed as he pulled one of the glowing bones out of the hound he killed. He waved it teasingly at Yuriko and Masa. The golden-haired woman looked at it curiously for a moment before she snorted derisively. Masa eyed it greedily.

Unfortunately, her hound didn’t have an Ivory, so Rhox just clicked her tongue and waited until everyone finished checking. When they were done, a single Ivory richer, they continued on their path.

“Is that common?” Yuriko asked Masa.

The Kutin girl shook her head. “It was a lucky break. Not all beasts in the Tide have Ivory.”

“Ah. I see.”

“You looked surprised,” Rhox commented.

“Ah, well.” Yuriko shrugged. “The beasts I’ve fought before all had re-, er, Ivory.”

“What manner of beast?” Rhox asked anxiously.

“The kind that swam within the earth. It was about two paces wide, nearly five long. Wide mouth, razor-sharp teeth, and a powerfully long tail.”

“It swam under the earth?”

“As though it were water.”

“Ah. A Dirt Eater.” Rhox’ face twisted with distaste. “I’m surprised you survived an encounter with them.”

“They weren’t easy,” Yuriko said nonchalantly.

Somehow, Rhox doubted that.

The next cavern didn’t have a wall since the exit tunnels didn’t lead towards Vizugmon. They had several longstrides to go yet, and already they were encountering more and more beasts. The cavern hosted a small herd of cattle-type devilbeast. They had two pairs of horns shaped like the Crescent Moon, one over each eye. As soon as they saw Rhox and the others, they immediately formed a circle with horns pointed out.

Rhox led the group in a wide circle around the beasts. The cattle devilbeasts weren’t as aggressive as the other kinds of devilbeast, but she remained wary anyway. Sometimes, the Crescenthorned broke the circle and attacked any intruder they deemed too weak. They were outnumbered three cattle to one humanoid.

“Stay back,” Rhox whispered in a low voice.

Myoooo!

“Ack!”

The devilbeasts charged!

Rhox pushed out webs from her fingertips, entangling the front legs of the lead cattle. It tripped over its feet and caused a cascading tumble.

“Run!” She yelled as she grabbed Yuriko’s arm and dragged her along. The other members of the Fang followed suit.

They just had to reach a tunnel and the natural bottleneck would give them a chance. Otherwise, they would be trampled to death! They almost made it.

Yuriko pulled out of her grasp and spun on her heels. Her aura flared, though this time, Rhox wasn’t beset by fear. The golden-haired woman reared back and punched the Crescenthorned in the middle of its eyes.

Boom!

The beast, who must have outweighed her a dozen times over, stopped dead in its tracks. Its eyes rolled up then it dropped bonelessly to the ground. Blood gushed out of its nostrils, ears, and eyes. It shuddered and twitched, then stilled.

As it did, Yuriko spun around and delivered the same punch to another Crescenthorned, and another, and another! Three devilbeasts downed by nothing more than a dainty fist?

The rest of the herd dug their hooves into the dirt and scrambled away in a panic. They were gone the next moment, leaving the three leaders for dead.

Then, Yuriko did something that absolutely chilled Rhox’ blood. She held out a hand, with the index and middle fingers extended. Her Animus, the colour of burnished gold, formed into a blade. She stabbed at the back of the Crescenthorned’s head, right at the third vertebra, and dug it out. It wasn’t an Ivory, though.

Shrugging to herself, Yuriko did the same for the other two and pulled out two of the little treasures.

She pulled out a metal canteen, rinsed the blood off them, and placed them inside a satchel attached to the left side of her hip and leg.

“Shall we?”

Rhox had to wet her suddenly dry mouth before she could speak.

“Uh, yeah.”

Rhox could feel herself trembling as they walked. How strong was Yuriko that she could simply punch a devilbeast to its death? Does she have an Elder Geist? Oh, Ancestors! What was she bringing to Forgestride?

In camp, there was only one Elder, Commander Otlaca. And in Lucenti City, there were only a handful and there hasn’t been a Patriarch or Matriarch Geist in the last few generations!

‘Leave it to the commander! Only he can handle this. Don’t try to direct this, this is way above my authority!’

The rest of the journey was uneventful, if it could be described as such. Yuriko killed every devilbeast that got close. Sometimes by fist, other times using a frightening Animus blade. Aside from cutting things, that blade burned. Rhox could smell the char with her tongue.

The nonchalant way she fought and killed brought chills down her spine, and she was sure the other members of the Fang felt the same. Masa didn’t seem that disturbed though, looking more numb than anything else. Killian and Clement. She could see they were both aroused and frightened and were utterly confused by their feelings.

To Rhox’ gratification, the two men opted to hang back. At least they didn’t try to poke fun of or otherwise annoy the woman.

It took most of the day to traverse the intervening distance, and they finally arrived at Forgestride Enclave. The towering walls gave her comfort. No devilbeast would be able to breach it, and should they try, only death awaited them.

The sentries on the battlements signalled the gate guards. The portcullis moved up just enough for them to walk past without bending over. They slammed down as soon as they were inside.

“Well, here we are.” Rhox announced. “Forgestride Enclave.”

Yuriko observed the courtyard but refrained from saying anything.

“I’ll bring Masa of the Kutin to the stockade first,” Rhox continued. She saw the catkin’s eyes widen in fright. “Oh, if your team has been brought prisoner, they would be there.”

“Oh,” Masa said faintly.

They made a beeline for one of few stone structures. There was a growing crowd of onlookers, most of them men, human men and some of the People who should have known better. Of course, there was a reason why half-breeds like Masa existed. But Rhox would have assumed that her People wouldn’t have degenerates that swung that way. Alas, she was mistaken.

Or… She glanced at the gorgeous woman. No, she wasn’t attracted. Not one bit. Nope.

Yuriko gave the leering men an imperious glare but that only seemed to egg them on. Some of them whistled, mostly the human Griefordians. None of the People were that uncouth. Instead, they bared fangs and flexed muscles like the fools they truly were.

Haaaah!

The stockade guards received Masa, taking her arms and armour. They catalogued the gear after Rhox glared at them. Masa nodded to Yuriko before she was escorted inside.

“Now, Miss Davar, I’ll bring you to the Commander.”

“Lead the way.”

Rhox nodded and headed towards the biggest yurt in the base. The guards surrounding it were all steadfast Ahas clanners. They didn’t just let them inside, of course. A runner had been sent to the Commander as soon as they entered the Enclave. Now, Rhox just had to wait.

“Come in,” a slow and deep voice came from inside the tent.

Finally, Rhox gestured to Yuriko to precede her inside. The golden-haired woman gave her a sidelong glance, nodded, then entered.

Rhox heaved a sigh of relief. The decision was out of her hands now.