azazele
patreon
Arc 8-132 (Little Water)
🕑 Added 2026-01-01 07:37:45 +0000 UTCLittle Water tired of the human kingdom, particularly the Myriad Zone.
For someone who had grown up surrounded by the same drab sights day after day, the constantly changing environment was a strain on her mind as well as her senses. Unfortunately, the strange neighborhood was also the best place for the estrazi to hide. At night, when the residents were good and intoxicated, no one took notice of the strangers with extremely long cloaks and wide hoods.
Hiding wouldn’t be enough to keep Little Water in such an uncomfortable place; she’d contemplated digging out a small warren. However, a predator followed its prey.
Little Water left the north to follow her human, her key to changing the north and proving her worth to Great Mother. However, after meeting Lou, her priorities changed.
One thing had become abundantly clear to her during her stay with the humans; they were weak. She suspected as much, given the poor performance of Victory against the titans. Seeing the destruction of the human army by a singular creature confirmed it. They were weak. The warren had one unchanging law; ability before everything. It didn’t matter how grand her ambitions were or how bright the future she imagined was if she couldn’t make it a reality.
Little Water was weak. She had little talent, middling intellect, and no connections. Her only hope was to make up for it in daring. From the depths of unconventional thinking, she unearthed the plot involving her human, using the human traditions her brood sisters would never bother to learn to accomplish something they would never contemplate with their overwhelming strength. However, the feasibility of her scheme diminished with every day.
The first hurdle was returning with her human. Khan would not be accepted by his family or any human from the north unless his mind was deemed his own. However, the creature responsible for his evaluation struggled against the work of her sister. Little Water expected as much; the name Great was not given lightly. She’d hoped to convince Lou to trust Khan through trusting her, but that could take years.
Her second obstacle was that she was beginning to doubt the feasibility of her plan. Originally, she intended to use Khan to persuade his father, the most important human in the north. Except, the duke was no longer the most important. Lou was. It didn’t matter if all of Victory swore undying loyalty to her; should Lou determine she didn’t like Little Water’s proposed truce, there would be war. She briefly entertained that Lou wouldn’t care, much like the lofty sovereigns paid no attention to the actions of the mortals they reigned over with their mere existence, but the hope was dashed watching her mate. Alana cared for the north and would not be silent regarding its future. So long as she cared, Lou would be involved.
Her plans required the cooperation of the strongest power in the north. If that power was Lou, she didn’t see how marrying Khan would influence her. They would be considered family but only in the loosest sense. Not close enough to influence the powerful human. Not close enough to have a voice in the north.
It all came back to Lou. She needed the noblewoman to listen to her. She needed leverage. Even if it meant playing the part of a pet, bringing back strange corpses to her owner. Even if it meant spending her nights in a storm of vibrant colors, perched on the edge of a building.
She had to prove herself to Lou, develop their connection. The problem was that she had little to offer, especially to someone with such accomplished beings surrounding her. What did she have that could measure up against a pure affinity? Or the succubus’ cooking?
She was lacking, but she had to try. Lou’s house needed no intervention, but maybe her warren, her city, did. If she could protect it, ease Lou’s burdens, perhaps she could get closer to the woman.
And there was one glaring problem she focused on.
Below her, in an outdoor bar where a group could both gather a larger crowd and disappear depending on their agenda, the Grand Summoners were gathering once again. The warren’s age-old enemies, left to run amok.
Lou didn’t understand. She thought all summoners were like her, with training and ample knowledge of the horrors that waited beyond the thinnest of veils, ready to devour any world foolish enough to summon them. She didn’t understand how rampant ambition could overcome even the greatest caution. How a creature would willingly sacrifice the world for the power of the sovereigns, and that there existed beings that would grant their wish.
Little Water was convinced they would cause problems eventually. When they did, Little Water would be waiting, ready to present their heads to the noblewoman. Then, she would have her voice.
As her observation dragged on, Little Water briefly regretted not bringing along a more engaging mind than the softies. It was good that they would follow her orders without question, but they could do little else. The long nights grew longer without someone to share her many ideas with. She was even starting to miss her sisters’ flippant insults and cruel dismissals. Another reason to despise the human kingdom.
But her endurance bore fruit; she watched as a group broke away from the meeting, moving with purpose through the busy streets. Little Water signaled with her tail and her group leaped from the building, pouring from the alley they landed in like creeping shadows. Accustomed to the chaos of the nighttime merrymaking, she danced through the crowd, her less graceful cousins using more forceful methods to push through the tight throng.
Her targets ducked into an alley no different than the one she’d walked from, the most privacy the Zone offered aside from a locked door. Little Water signaled for the others to take up positions around the alley as she walked to a vendor, buying a stick of something that smelled edible enough. Snack in hand, she leaned against the wall, focusing hard to pick up on the voices of her targets amid the bustle.
“The Grand Summoner demands more bodies.”
“Again? We just delivered three!”
“You think I don’t know that? But it needs doing. Or do you want to miss your next mending session?”
“Saints shining asses, suck it up, you bastard. I haven’t felt this good since I was a boy.”
“Hah! I’ve never felt this good in my entire life! I’ll get the Bloody Mender as many bodies as he needs.”
“Hey, I’m not saying we don’t. I’m saying we have to be careful. There aren’t a bunch of rebels running around that no one will miss. And now there are guards patrolling the city.”
“The guards are useless, idiot.”
“Not these guards. They work for the lady of the city and they’re just as insane. I watched one sniff out a thief the other day. Like a dog, man. It was crazy.”
“We can take ’em.”
“Saints, we can just grab a few of them. Everyone knows the Temples are crazy. The lady’ll probably think they ran off to live with the squirrels and bears.”
They laughed, but clapping hands cut off their mirth. “We aren’t doing anything to draw the attention of the lady. The Summoner already has plans to get the bodies we need from outside the city. It’ll look like a Graywatch raid. We do it right, we’ll be set for the year. But there’s a lot of work involved. We need more bodies, but we have to be sure. No asking your brother or your cousin. We need people we can trust. The future of the Grand Summoners is at stake.”
Little Water closed her eyes as the men continued to discuss their plans. As she contemplated the intricacies of confronting a small army of melded summoners, she wondered if she wasn’t being hasty.
Perhaps she should stick with her original plan, with a few modifications.
Lou could certainly handle another wife.
Comments
Phthalaldehyde
Thanks for the chapters!
Brian Glazier
Thanks for all the chapters! Happy new year!
