Will McDermott - Judgment

The beast watched the battle and realized it now had a new problem. The mer mage had a jack again, and the creature would have to destroy that poor controlled nantuko to get to Laquatas. It'd watched the bugs fight for days now, and while they were formidable foes, a single mantis warrior would be no match for the creature. But if it had emotions, the beast believed, it would feel remorse over being forced to destroy such a noble warrior just to rid the world of a great evil.

The rest of the day's march proved quite interesting for Laquatas and the Order troops. With their captured bug leading the way, the phalanx made quick work clearing a path. The nantuko's serrated forearms made great scythes for clearing away brush and small trees. Laquatas found he had to reinforce his persuasive spell on the beast to make it comply with the orders to destroy the forest, but by noon, the mer felt that he had complete control over the mantis warrior.

The real test came an hour past noon when the next bug attack came. Laquatas had retreated to the safety of the middle of the phalanx and was scanning for attacks. Four bugs dropped into the range of his sensing spell near the front of the phalanx, and Laquatas decided not to raise the alarm. He wanted to see how his warrior handled the fray.

The controlled nantuko seemed to anticipate the attack, for it moved to the side and swung its strong arms at the first bug even before it landed, slicing right through the attacking nantuko's raised arm and cutting a deep gash into the beast's neck that left its head dangling off to the side as it fell to the ground dead. The mer's warrior then turned on a second bug, which had just cut the sword arm off an Order soldier, and slammed its claws into the attacking nantuko's thorax. With its claws embedded in the midsection of the other bug, the controlled mantis lifted its opponent off the ground and smashed its body into the nearest tree. The forest reverberated with the sharp cracks of what sounded like thunder as nearly every piece of the bug's chitin armor shattered upon impact.

Laquatas could see his bug's eyes flaring red after its third murder of the day, and he wasn't sure whether his control would hold much longer. Luckily, the last two mantis warriors disappeared into the trees, perhaps deciding not to test their controlled brother's resolve any further.

After the battle, Laquatas reinforced his control on the nantuko once again before proceeding, but the Order troops faced no more attacks that day. That night, Laquatas kept his new jack inside the tent with him, so he could further condition it to serve only him and never flinch at any order the mer might give.

As Laquatas probed the bug's mind and showed the beast how easy it was for him to activate pain receptors in any part of the warrior's body should it resist, the mer heard a sound coming from his pack. The dull buzzing sound persisted for several minutes until Laquatas realized it was the signal from his communication mirror.

Laquatas gave the bug a mental command to stay and reached under his cot for the pack. Pulling the mirror out, he passed his hand over the dark, cloudy surface and watched Havelock's face fade into view.

"Commander," said Laquatas. "Good to hear from you. You have good new, I hope."

"Excellent news, my lord," replied Havelock. The mer commander looked remarkably better than Laquatas had left him in the forest a week earlier. The blue color in his scales had begun to return, and his eyes were bright and clear. "I have located an entire unit of marines who had escaped the false empress's treacherous attack on the trench. We are en route to your location and should be within portal distance within a day, sire."

"That is excellent news, Havelock," said Laquatas. "Were there no other survivors of the attack?"

The color in Havelock's face faded. "No, sire. I'm terribly sorry," he said. "The trench is controlled by Llawan now, and any survivors have been removed to her court. We are all that is left."

Laquatas burned inside at the treachery of Llawan, Veza, and, most likely, Talbot. "Thank you, Havelock," he told his commander. "Your loyal service to me will be greatly rewarded in due time."

"Thank you, sire," said Havelock. "What are our orders?"

"We are nearing the barbarian, and I believe we will have him in a few days," said Laquatas. "I will draw up a pla-"

"The beast!" came a call from outside the mer's tent. "The beast has returned!"

"Havetock," hissed Laquatas, "I have a problem here. I will portal into the waterways tomorrow night to meet with you. We will formulate our battle plans then. Now I must go."

Laquatas passed his hand over the mirror and quickly stowed it back in the pack just as a corporal, now the ranking member of the Order troops, entered the tent, flushed and out of breath.

"Lord Laquatas," he said, coming to attention.

"Yes, Corporal."

"The beast entered the camp again, sir."

"I assume it is dead?"

"No, sir," said the corporal, fidgeting slightly and glancing over at the bug not more than two feet away. "It has escaped into the woods. Shall we pursue?"

"No, Corporal," said Laquatas, enjoying the man's discomfort at having to report bad news and stand next to the very beast that had killed his sergeant just that morning. "That would be foolhardy. It is merely the Cabal trying to terrorize us and force us to leave the forest. There was no harm done, correct?"

"Actually, sir," said the corporal, beginning to sweat a little along the ridge of his nose, "the beast killed a guard before the alert was raised. It was the sentry just outside your tent. It happened so quickly. We were lucky a passing guard startled the beast, or else it might have made it inside."

Now Laquatas felt uncomfortable. The mage's silvery-blue scales went suddenly dry as terror gripped him. That's twice the beast has come after me, thought Laquatas. Three times-it was after me that night in Dinell's tent.

"Sir?" prodded the corporal. "Sir? Are you all right, Lord Laquatas? Shall we post extra guards around your tent?"

Laquatas forced himself to relax and smile at the soldier. "No." he said. "No. That won't be necessary. I'm sure the beast was just crashing through the camp, inciting terror. Besides, I have our friend here to keep me safe tonight. Thank you, Corporal. That will be all."

After the corporal left, Laquatas commanded his nantuko jack to guard him with his life and drifted off into a night of fitful sleep, dreaming of poison blades, inky black letters, and an ominous, gray beast, with glowing, red, eyes peering at him from the shadows.

The nantuko druid led Kamahl up the seemingly endless steps toward the great tree at the center of the clearing. As he walked across the tree-root platforms, taking in the grandeur of the living city, the barbarian saw many more nantuko and quite a few centaurs working, playing, and moving around the dwellings. Young, old, and even children filled the heart of the forest.

Kamahl had never thought of the forest as a civilized place with cities and structure and families living together. But the heart was no city- It was more like an enormous garden oasis in the middle of a forbidding, overgrown desert. Everything here was of the forest, and a serene calm encompassed the clearing. The heart was in total harmony with the forest and its inhabitants. It was quite a different feeling from the chaos of the tribes.

As they drew near the central tree, Kamahl could see just how truly massive it was. It dwarfed all the other pillar trees in the clearing, being at least a hundred feet across at the base and sending out limbs and leaves well past the second ring of pillar trees surrounding it. Looking down, Kamahl began to suspect that most of the root system platforms he'd been walking across came from this central tree.