| |
The formality of the militia’s deployment and the efforts of the disguised SDO’s, kept the tourists from realising their danger. Unfortunately, it also held them in place through sheer delight at the spectacle.
Zhao sent Shen to the other Tourist Guides, urging them to try and relocate the tourists, but the effort ended up being futile. The Tourists were filming the arena, taking photos and posting about it on Holobook.
This drew more tourists to the area and Zhao was getting constant reports from TLPD officers not involved in the what was happening in the plaza, that they were having trouble keeping the Locals out of it; in the words of one officer, “They think the tourists are getting a special festival put on for them. They won’t believe us that there is any danger involved.”
The fighting so far had been mostly sparring and very little blood had been shed. The ghouls appeared to be holding back from using their full strength and their fangs were only just visible.
“Dammit, she’s planning something.” Zhao muttered to Amin staring across at the Morrigan, “I can feel it. And is it my imagination or does she have more warriors with her than she arrived with?”
Amin did a swift head count and then called Shen over, “Do a survey of the stall holders; I need to know how many of them are missing.”
The Tourist Guide nodded and disappeared into the crowd again. Zhao watched the fighting absently, his mind churning with possible scenarios.
The radio on Amin’s belt bleeped. He touched his earpiece and listened for a long moment, then turned to Zhao, “The Gold Phoenix is approaching the city with urgent news and is claiming asylum rights for herself and her companions.” He said.
“Asylum? What in the name of the Moon is going on out there?” Zhao muttered to himself, “She can come in then. I wish to see her immediately.” He told Amin.
There was a commotion in the crowd behind them and a voice, altered by a voice changer, but he could still recognise as Tabatha said “That’s good, because I need to talk to you without the Morrigan seeing me.”
Zhao nodded. He stood and called out, “I declare a temporary ceasefire to the tournament. Let all step back and rest.” He looked across to the Morrigan, “Is this agreeable?”
She stood up and nodded. The Fae Warriors stood to attention as she spoke, “I agree to this ceasefire. Step back my Pets, I shall give you strength through rest and sustenance.”
Zhao inclined his head in acknowledgement, very briefly worrying about the “sustenance” bit, but shelved it for the moment as he stepped down from the table, “Amin, wolves, with me. Mackintosh, stay here and watch the arena and Her. I don’t want events sneaking up on me.”
Mackintosh nodded and climbed up onto the table, standing in front of the chair to get a clear view.
Zhao walked through the crowd, which took photos and yelled questions at him. He ignored them and one of the wolves growled at them. The other wolf led him toward a small stall that had been turned into a tent.
As he ducked inside, the number of Fae there made Amin gasp. The Golden Phoenix, dressed as Zhao was, in her mask and ceremonial-not-ceremonial armour, was sat on the only chair. Beside her, Lord Faidren stood. A handful of Warriors with a golden ribbon tied around their right arms surrounded her and several young fae men and women wearing tabards bearing the Phoenix sat on the floor at her feet.
“What is this, a royal court?” Zhao snapped, “That one there is responsible for the deaths of several TLPD Special Department Officers and has a standing warrant for arrest.” He pointed at Faidren.
“The Ard-Chomhairleoir was the one to get me out of Malith and bring me to Te Ling. He will do whatever punishment the law demands for those deaths, but that event was commanded of him by the Queen of the Light Fae, and he only brought the assassins into the building, he did not actually kill anyone.”
“Semantics.” Zhao huffed and dropped his arm.
“But true, Lord Black Dragon.” The Golden Phoenix replied with a shrug, “We have more pressing matters at hand. The Queen has declared that the annexation of Te Ling will be her first strike in her plan to bring Order to the planet. The Jade Cat has given a three day amnesty to allow any of fae blood to change sides, but I wouldn’t rely on the queen to honour that.”
Zhao began swearing in Lupine, changed to Sanguine and then finished off in Chinese, “That bitch will destroy the planet with a civil war between humans and the Underworld!”
“That’s the idea as I see it, Black Dragon.” Phoenix said.
“So, what do we do? You and I cannot declare Martial Law on the city, only the Head of the Council can do that and that is the only way we will keep people safe!” Zhao groaned.
“The Jade Cat is planning to deal with one problem at a time, I believe, Black Dragon. She and the Crystal Dragon flew south to get help. I have no idea what it entails though.” Golden Phoenix sighed, “I have not been able to contact her for some time, it is as if she is being shielded by a higher power.”
“That’s all we would need, the Upper World getting involved.” Zhao said.
“It may be the only way to deal with the Ghouls though.” Amin said, “that’s my understanding anyway. The Jade Cat took Wei Tian with her, so she is as safe as she can possibly be, only a Spirit Blade can harm a Deity.”
Outside the tent, the crowd started chanting, “fight, fight, fight...”
Shen ducked in through the flap, “Lord Black Dragon, the Crowd are getting restless. We will need to resume the tournament if we are to remain in control of the situation.”
“Shen, how many stall holders have disappeared?” Amin asked him.
“Oh, that. All the full Fae and maybe half the hybrids. The remaining stall holders are human and locals – I am not sure where the other hybrids have gone.” The tourist Guide frowned, “What does that mean then?”
The Golden Phoenix stood up, “It means that the events of Malith today have run ahead of your need to stop the Ghouls; the attack on the city will commence as soon as The Queen commands it and the Morrigan is already in place to carry out the initial strike.”
Faidren paled, “She wouldn’t dare go against the Rule of Law... even in Fae Law, it would be illegal.”
“Who would hold her culpable? The Queen of the Dark Fae is off planet at the moment and The Dark Court would not move a muscle without the Queen’s permission.” The Golden Phoenix told him, “Te Ling is alone in this, and I side with Te Ling. You came with me, thus you side with Te Ling also.”
“The Upper World would step in, but they have to be notified of the need.” Amin said thoughtfully, “I suspect that may be The Jade Cat’s plan. The nearest of the Gods that we can contact is Ao Qin.”
“Fight, fight, fight...” the crowd outside became more raucous.
Zhao closed his eyes under his mask and tried to contact Kai. His searching mind was met with a blank area where hers should be. He opened his eyes again and sighed deeply, “I cannot contact her. She has either blocked contact or is being shielded from gaze by something with more power.”
“Let’s deal with the immediate difficulty.” Amin said, “We get back out there and let the tournament continue. The Golden Phoenix and her companions stay out of sight in here until we need them to reveal themselves.”
Zhao and Tabatha nodded in agreement.
“Good, let’s go.” Amin jerked his head at Shen, who held the tent flap open to let Zhao leave.
He did so reluctantly, but as soon as he was outside, the crowd parted to let him return to his position.
Mackintosh jumped down from the table, “The Fae Warriors have doubled in number. The Ghouls appear to have been given something liquid, I do not trust that woman.”
Zhao turned to Shen, “Take the Lions into the arena. Tell them to provide a show while you tell the commander what has happened. Tell him to be ready for real bloodshed and that he is to protect the civilians at all costs.”
Shen nodded and disappeared again. Moments later, Shen and the two Lions, accompanied by another handler, cavorted into the arena. The Crowd roared its approval as the Lion Dance began.
Zhao saw Shen slip past one of the Lions to talk to the Militia Commander and breathed a small sigh of relief. At least he is warned. Now all I have to do is worry about keeping a lid on....
The Fae Warriors detached a unit from around The Morrigan and escorted the Ghouls back to the Arena. The two ghouls seemed even less human than before, and Zhao saw that their fangs were fully extended. He groaned and climbed up onto the table.
The Morrigan stood up as he turned to face her, “Black Dragon, I have heard from The Banríona. The gloves are off.”
Amin swore in Serpentes. The hissing sounded quite violent, and his scales began to show on his face and hands.
“Calm down Officer Amin. We don’t want the tourists panicking and making things worse.” Zhao said softly.
“It couldn’t get much worse, Lord Black Dragon.” Amin replied, “We are now fighting to defend them, not to entertain them. The question is, how the Fae Warriors with react.”
A disturbance in the crowd behind the table indicated that The Golden Phoenix had emerged.
She strode through the crowd with her companions to join Zhao, “I just received word that the Queen is about to attack the city from within. My informant is unable to send more than that because she was killed before she could tell me more.”
Zhao looked down at her and Faidren, “Can you two control those warriors?” he gestured to the one around The Morrigan.
The Golden Phoenix looked across and sighed, “No. They are of The Morrigan’s Elite. She binds them to her through use of a blood ritual, similar to the one that is used to bind the Ghouls to her. I only have command of mine and as you see they are very few.”
Faidren shrugged, “We all have our own warriors. They usually come from families that are attached to our own in some fashion. Only the Morrigan and the Banríona soul bind theirs at the moment.” He waved one hand languidly toward the black tabarded warriors.
“Where are yours then?” Zhao said flatly, glaring at the man.
“Leaving Malith in small amounts, so as to not upset the Banríona further. If she felt that she was losing control of the Fae as well as her plans, she might unleash far worse than the Ghouls on more than just the humans.” Faidren sounded bored.
“So, we cannot rely on your warriors to help us.” Zhao said, “Phoenix, can you at least distract the Morrigan’s warriors?”
“It would depend on what the Banríona has told her... Faidren?” Phoenix looked toward him.
“I can test it at least. The Morrigan has always been against me at the Council Table, but she never went against my orders when they were from the queen.” He looked thoughtful and then bowed to Phoenix, “My Lady, if you would wait here out of sight, I believe I can do something.”
She nodded and he vanished into the crowd.
Zhao waved at her, “Get yourself back into that tent. Stay out of sight.”
Phoenix retreated without a word.
The ghouls were surrounded by black tabarded Fae Warriors, but it didn’t stop them trying to launch themselves at the other occupants of the arena, thus distracting the warriors with them. The Lion Dancers finished cavorting and were escorted out of opposite end of the arena by Shen and the other handler.
Lord Faidren strode through the crowd, pushing past the tourists and gesturing any locals out of the way imperiously. Then he stepped into space of the Crowd Bubble formed by the presence of the Warriors.
“Morrigan! What in the Name of The Light are you doing?” he snapped loudly as he got close to the other Fae Noble.
“The orders of my Queen, what else?” Morrigan gestured languidly at the arena, “The city was nice enough to indulge my whim for a battle.”
“Which orders? I have arrived from Our City with word from the Banríona.” He stepped forward, trying to push past the black tabarded warriors.
They closed ranks and he frowned, “Warriors, do you not recognise your Queen’s Ard-Chomhairleoir? Break Ranks!”
The Morrigan laughed, “These are my Blood-Sworn, Faidren. They answer only to me. You should know that.”
He shrugged, “I was aware of them, but did not think you would bring them out of Our City. May I pass then?” he stepped back to better see her reaction.
The Morrigan lounged back in her chair, “No. Be grateful that I do not follow our Banríona’s instruction to have you taken into custody, as odd as it is.”
Faidren shrugged again, “Ah well, it was worth a try. Why do you not carry out her orders to the letter then?”
“Because she will change her mind again soon enough. I shall have my fun and you will be reinstated, and she will return to her own normal pursuits of politics and playing with the humans.” Morrigan grinned at him, “Go back to Our City and this will all be over soon enough.”
In the arena the two ghouls howled and gibbered.
“And you still plan to let them feed? How is destabilising the Triang good for the Fae?” Faidren said.
“My pets deserve a treat. The Triang needs a reminder of the Power that we Fae hold, and the Queen needs to let her frustrations out somehow. She cannot kill her only Eastern Heir after all and she has not yet chosen a new consort to relieve her physical tensions.” Morrigan glanced over at the arena, “Come on Faidren, it’s time I let my pets have their fun.”
“And the Declaration of War? Does that not concern you?” he moved backward until he was on the edge of the crowd bubble, but still close enough to speak without shouting.
“Declaration of War? Against the Humans?” she looked shocked.
“Then maybe you should send someone back to Our City to clarify the situation before you continue?”
Morrigan seemed to consider the idea for a moment, and then sighed, “If it is her will that we go to war, then who am I to argue...” she smiled and Faidren shivered at the pure joy the thought of war brought her, “...I am her War Leader after all. And this makes my pets treat all the more important; they will need the sustenance.”
“Whatever. I had better return to Our City then. I assume that you are in total control of your pets?” he turned to leave.
“Oh yes, they are too valuable a resource to not keep under control, even under gan srian.” She replied, her attention wandering back to the arena where the warriors were struggling to contain the ghouls.
“And they will not attack any Fae? Even leathchreidmheach?” he turned back.
“Would I be so crass as to attack my own species? Of course not, how could you think that?” she looked at him with a frown.
He bowed in apology, “Of course, forgive me, Moar Ard.”
She waved him away, “You are forgiven Ard-Chomhairleoir.”
Faidren spun and slipped into the crowd.
To make sure that he wasn’t followed, he wove his way through the tourists, out of the plaza and through a complicated route in the alleyways of the Tourist District back to the Seven Point Club, then finally back to the tent where the Phoenix waited.
“Could you do anything?” Tabatha asked, worry etching her features into a much older woman.
“Alas, my Princess, I could not. However, I did ascertain that all in our party and any other Fae that may join us, are safe from the attack of the ghouls.”
There was an odd howling scream from outside and a roar from the crowd that devolved into individual shouts as Tabatha listened.
“Get that one with the sword!” A woman yelled.
“Don’t do that, you’ll get speared!” another one warned.
“How are they doing that without getting killed?” A younger female voice asked, sounding worried.
“Probably movie prop style weapons.” “A young male answered her, “No way would those be real ones.”
“Look at all that fake blood!” A man shouted, sounding gleeful.
“Those ghoul costumes are awesome, they’ve got every single detail right, it’s like they stepped out of an anime!” another male voice seemed to be fascinated, “Right down to the fangs and the dripping toxin.”
“I don’t understand Humans.” Faidren said, “How can they see such an obviously real battle and not understand the danger they are in?”
Tabatha sighed, “Faidren, you might be older than me, but you’re hopelessly out of touch. We... I mean... humans... don’t recognise danger to ourselves until it threatens someone close to us or touches us. Then we react.”
“What about their instincts? I am sure that they still have them.” He peered out the tent doorway and shuddered, “They all seem to think it’s not real.”
“Decades of Human political shenanigans and increasing safety from predators has dulled them.” Tabatha said, “We... humans... have been at the top of the food chain for so long, we... they... no longer believe that there are predators for us... them.”
“And in turn that safety keeps us in the Underworld safe from them – there are more of them than us.” The interruption came from a familiar voice, “however, I believe there is more than that at hand. I sense the soft whispers of Fae Magic being woven through the scent of blood and death.”
Tabatha turned round to see Amira, dressed more casually than normal, wearing a hoodie pulled forward over her face, stood with Edward.
“You’re back then. What happened?” she asked.
“Come outside and see. Kai didn’t want to do this without everyone from the Underworld in the city seeing; something to do with making a point.” Amira waved toward the tent door.