Chương 84: Chapter 83 - Battle

As the strange looking woman drew back her weapon, she shouted, "You are strong! Fight me!" Atzi cowered on the ground.

"I'm not strong! I'm extremely not strong!"

"Not you!" The woman - whose body, shifting in unnatural ways, immediately made Atzi think of the demon she'd seen just hours ago - pointed her sword at Alana.

"But she is! Fight me!" Alana squared up as everyone else stood up behind her. She glanced back at Cory. A silent conversation passed between them. Cory nodded to her, and Alana nodded back. Atzi retreated behind her, as well. Even if she could fight, she couldn't see too well in the dim light of the stars.

"This won't go the way you want it to. I will destroy you," Alana announced, stomping the ground.

"Good! I need a good fight! Win or lose!" The demon charged forward, lunging out with her blade- When, suddenly, instead of the fight starting like Atzi expected, the demon stopped. She blinked her five eyes, one after each other.

"Oooh..." she cooed. Alana looked confused, but still ready to fight. The demon's head suddenly twisted, facing away from them.

"Nevermind, you might be strong, but there's way more people to fight over there! I can taste the blood from here! Bye!" And in a blur of motion, she was gone, leaving behind nothing more than the motion of a drifting leaf. Alana stood still, tense, not letting her guard down.

"There's more people nearby, and she... thinks they're stronger?" Atzi spoke up. Guess this road is a bad idea.

"This might be a trick." Alana said.

"Huddle and don't move." Atzi continued, "I've heard about her. A demon attacking people on this road, looking for a fight." Alana ran up to a tree, before kicking off onto another next to it. She bounced higher and higher between them until she was high in the treetops. Then, a few moments later, she jumped back down, landing with a loud thwump.

"I don't see the demon anymore. There are some of what look like boats in the distance. A lot of boats. I think the other team succeeded, and Hasen is attacking."

"... Won't that make it harder to get to Hasen if they think we're from Sostra?" Atzi asked.

"That is great news." Oak said. He turned to Atzi.

"We're going to Pangaea, not Hasen. And yes, it will make it harder, but we still have a plan." Atzi stared out into the distance, barely registering the response until a few seconds later.

"Plan?" Oak dug into his shirt, and pulled out a whistle on a string. It looked to be made from a combination of wood and sea shell, intricate in its design.

"Our underwater counterparts will ensure we get to safety. We just need to get to the coast to signal them with this whistle." Atzi nodded.

"Let's keep moving. The sooner we reach the shore the better."

"Does that mean no sleeping before the trip?" Atzi asked, tired.

"If you want to sleep, sleep on the boat." Atzi looked down and continued walking. She didn't mention that she'd thought they might have to swim across somehow. - It was morning when the group approached the shoreline of Mediolanum. As they did, the first thing Atzi noticed was smoke. A little closer, the city came into view. Closest to her there were makeshift wooden walls stretching around it. Only a few buildings could be seen over the top of the walls.

Their stonework was a mix of red and yellow compared to the grey of Sostra. The scent of salt water mixed with the smoke, and Atzi coughed. Further along, destroyed buildings became visible, ones sitting just off a large harbor. Many large, imposing ships could be seen just off from it, and the sounds of battle rang out constantly. Atzi jumped when she heard a loud booming noise. Coraline smiled.

"Don't be nervous, Atzi. This means our plan for war succeeded!"

"R-right. It's just... seeing it is different to imagining it." Alana pointed up.

"Ooh, look at that!" Atzi looked where she was pointing. A very big, flaming rock could be seen in the sky as it hurtled downward. The arc of its descent went towards the ocean. It smashed into a ship with a terrible force, the shards of the destroyed vessel carried away by a vicious wave.

"W-Water, what was that?" Atzi's gawped.

"What kind of mage can do that?!" Cory sneered.

"The mages of Mediolanum call themselves druids. They specialize in rocks, of all things. Even flying ones." Atzi wondered how many gems she'd need to eat to do that. A hundred? Two hundred? The group approached cautiously, circling around the city itself. Instead, they moved further north, towards a section of bare land and sea. When they got closer, they could see fighting to the south.

Dozens of Hasen soldiers outside the city walls, clad with steel helmets and breastplates, were struggling to hold back the demon the group had encountered earlier. Her laughter was loud enough to be heard over the battle. Oak smiled.

"It would have been more troublesome to get away, but we got lucky. They're occupied with an old friend."

"So that's where she went..." The demon woman avoided several pikes stabbed her way by jumping over them, before slashing out with her suddenly expanded blade. Screams rang out as several soldiers were decapitated at once. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Several more boats approached all along the coast.

"Should we find a safer spot north?" Daisy asked.

"We can't be sure they aren't landing there, too, and we'd lose precious time. Sprint to shore before they notice us!" Oak commanded. Everyone ran. Yards from the coast, Alana shouted, "Look out!" They swerved left, not stopping to look at what they were running from. Then there was a noise so loud Atzi felt like her head exploded, and she was tossed forward. Something showered over her. When she struggled up, she realized it was shards of dark glass.

She turned around to see a great pit in the sand, already filling up with water. In the middle sat a giant, pockmarked rock. Then Alana was in her face, shouting something she couldn't hear. Just ringing. Alana grabbed her claw and pulled her along. Her hearing cleared as she thought, why did it hit so close to us? Can they not aim?! They reached the edge of the water. Oak pulled out a whistle and blew. Ten seconds later, an upside-down rowboat floated up from the water.

"They're here," Oak said.

"Eh? Eh?" Atzi felt confused. Then a six foot tall shark man walked out onto shore from beneath the water. He grabbed the boat in one claw and, with a casual movement of his arm, flipped it over.

"Get in the boat, quickly!" He rumbled. Atzi didn't question it, rushing over and jumping in as fast as she could. She was the first person on the boat. Everyone else made their way on. It was a tight fit, with little room for Atzi to get her promised sleep. A second shark person bobbed out of the water. She had an eyepatch and her face was marked with many small scars. Even with the surrounding danger, Atzi still appreciated that she looked pretty good. The shark man turned to his companion.

"Ready?"

"Ready." The shark man turned to the group.

"Hold on tight, this will be fast." He dove under the water, before popping up on the other side of the boat. They each grabbed over the edges with one claw. Atzi gripped on her seat. Are they going to pull us really fast? I hope this works. The shark people pulled and, in an instant, the shoreline looked small behind them. Atzi screamed with how fast the boat moved, trying to not be flung off. Alana screamed too, clearly enjoying herself.

Up ahead, several more boats built for battle floated through the open ocean. As the group approached, Atzi had time to see several Hasen soldiers draw bows as tall as they were. A look of disbelief from one with a thin moustache. Then they'd been carried past the boat and she heard splashes in the water behind them. Atzi didn't think she'd be sleeping much on the boat. - Even at the speed they were moving, it took them hours before they saw another beach in the distance. The sun hung just above in the sky.

Just off the shore was a thick canopy of trees, far denser than even the untamed jungles back home. Atzi felt like she needed to vomit, despite not having eaten anything for over a day. As the boat slowed, she did her best to keep it down. Though she succeeded, she still felt queasy. Finally, the boat stopped. Alana was the first out, leaping onto the sand.

"That ride was great!" Alana cheered.

"I wish I could do things like that more often."

"G-great, yeah..." Everyone else left the ship before Atzi struggled up and stepped off.

"Thank you for your help," Oak said to the two shark people.

"Of course!" The shark man smiled with rows of large, sharp teeth.

"We're going to fetch the others now. See you at the party." The shark woman just waved, and then they both splashed back beneath the water.

"Others?" Atzi asked, confused. Oak nodded.

"Pangaea is more than just the land, it is part sea as well. They're grabbing the other sea dwellers who helped make this possible."

"Ohhh," Atzi made a noise of understanding. Then she thought, wait, I thought the sea people were Oceanians, not Pangaeans. Is it another name or something? These fish are too confusing. Oak stepped forward and waved towards the trees. Atzi assumed someone was there and tried to spot them. But she couldn't see anyone, right up until they stepped out of the jungle treeline. She had the appearance of an attractive human, but with curled horns on either side of her head. Her outfit was simple furs, and she had a bow.

But below her navel was the full body of a horse. Atzi stared in amazement. Goat legs were one thing, but this is wild. If she'd seen her out of nowhere, she'd have assumed her to be some sort of monster. The horse woman's front legs dug into the sand.

"You made it back safe. Who's the extra?" She pointed at Atzi.

"I'm-""Atzi here assisted us greatly in accomplishing our mission," Oak said.

"Unexpected, but not unwelcome. Though it seems our friends had greater success even thus." She did her best to not think about the mission. What she'd done. The horse woman turned towards her.

"Atzi, then. Let me make one thing clear to you." She stepped forward. Atzi peered upward. Then she glanced down and up again, because she'd suddenly started wondering where the horse woman's pussy was. Is it at the front or the back? Is she walking around naked?

"It's not too late. If you want to run away now, I won't shoot you in the back. But if you enter the jungle with us, see where our home is… you won't be allowed to leave alive unless we can trust you. And that might be a long, long time."

"I've got nowhere else to go anyway." Atzi gave an awkward laugh. The horse woman nodded, and then turned around. Atzi stared as she saw the answer to her private question.

"Alright, follow me to the village," the horse woman said.

"Stick close. If you go off the path at all, I won't look for you." All together, they walked into the dense jungle. Atzi would have never noticed the path if she hadn't been following the horse woman. It seemed as dense as any other parts of the twisted trees and bushes. The heat was heavy with humidity, which Atzi didn't mind at all, though did make her want to lay down and bask more than she already did. As they walked, Atzi whispered over to Cory, "So, what is she exactly?"

"A centaur," Cory explained.

"If you see anyone with a lower body with four limbs, they're a centaur."

"And what do you call the sharks?"

"Sea Pangaeans."

"Not Oceanians?" Atzi asked.

"Those are another group entirely. They don't worship the Forest." Atzi nodded. It was a lot for her to take in, but it helped distract her from thinking about yesterday. As they traveled further through the jungle, Atzi realized no animals bothered them. Not even bugs. Back home she had to be wary about big snakes when she was looking for something free to munch on. A few times, though, she spotted some movement off to the sides. She wondered if the animals were following them. She was so hungry and tired.

- Atzi felt relief as they passed into a less dense part of the forest, thinking they must have been close to the village. Then she saw them. The steel breastplates of Hasen soldiers, still affixed to their upside-down, bloated bodies. They were suspended from every tree, strung up by their feet with thick vines. Their corpses were bloodless, long ago drained from the stumps where their heads once were. Hundreds of them. Atzi gulped. She shivered from head to tail, looking down. It's not my fault!

It's not my fault! They trod under the bodies, Atzi trying not to breathe in the rot. And through a few more trees into a large clearing. There was a large ditch circling around it, further than Atzi could see to the left and right, with large wooden spikes inside. Inside the circle sat spread out homes in shapes Atzi had never seen before. Treehouses and dugouts with leaf-thatched roofs. They were spread out, making the village look bigger than the actual number of homes.

Spread out as it was, it looked about half the size of her home town. Yellow eyes stared out at them cautiously from between leaf curtains, and there wasn't a single person in the dirt streets. Atzi had made it to Pangaea.