Chapter 736 - A piece that might not fit (Patreon)

In the following days, Hera participated in a couple meetings with Rutigan and Typhera. During that time, everyone living in Zaxalam started to talk about removing the bracelets given by the guild. Not all dwarves had accepted the device, but several of them wore them, including the Royal Explorers. Eridan, Bonnie, Renette, Helena, Alex, Quinn, Shane, and Mylo were also thinking about removing theirs. They were already displeased with what the guild was doing lately, and hearing Hera recount what actually happened in the prison only made their feelings stronger. Blue was the only one who still wanted to keep the tracking device despite her feelings since she would have problems going back home without it. She had enough money to grab her family and come live in the MAZE, but it would be a hard sell for them. Not to mention, she had a younger brother who would still need a few years before being able to level up. Helena also pointed out another problem. Now that Peter had failed his mission, it was likely that he would try to harass her. Even if there was no reason to believe that Hera Quetzaveth was Hera Kingsley, he would be the paranoid conspiracy theorist who was actually right for a change.

That argument was a double-edged sword. On one hand, if Blue continued here, he could go after her family. On the other, if she went back, he could threaten her family to force her into doing something. The only advantage they had right now was that the guild wouldn't know where they were located. They could only follow the dwarves up to Gartinet Hollow. Beyond it, it became too far away for their sensors in the Wailing Valley. The same could be said for the Aerie of the First Flight. The harpy capital was out of the guild's range for security reasons. Instead, they had their own network and a similar way of tracking people across the MAZE. That was true for all the different intelligent species in the MAZE, but each used it in a different way. Hera only knew about the Children of the Sky. They enchanted a piece of jewelry that would usually be around their necks or some sort of piercing in their bodies. But unlike the guild, they were free to remove that accessory without having to worry about anything.

After a few days, Typhera invited Rutigan and Hera to come to the Aerie for a meeting with the leaders of the other species. The Empress believed she was going just as part of Rutigan's delegation. She went with Helena and Alex to have some company while moving around. Bonnie stayed behind to help explore Zaxalam and Blue said that she shouldn't go. Since she had yet to decide if she would go against the guild or not, she didn't want to know what was going on in the meeting. That way, if she was questioned by a human later, she could honestly say she didn't know what was going on.

To Hera's surprise, when they arrived at the actual location for the meeting, she had her own seat, separated from Rutigan. Helena and Alex were behind her, in the same positions as Ogryn and Naka for the dwarven king. Only these three groups were physically here. Typhera, representing the Children of the Sky. Rutigan, representing the dwarves from Boothudurn, and Hera, representing the Ophidianites. The rest would be using a special set of long-distance communicators that allowed them to communicate with each other from their own capitals.

When the time came, the room's devices lit up, spotlighting Hera, Rutigan, and Typhera. Then, the rest of the room became darker as more lights appeared in a circle, five in total. The holograms were very lifelike, but they had that telltale opacity that proved they were just images being projected, nothing else. There were a few shadows behind each of the people illuminated by the spotlight. Typhera explained that each person could bring as many members of their species for these procedures as they wanted, but only three, aside from the one in the center, would be allowed to speak.

After the basic checks were made, confirming if everyone could hear each other without a problem, one by one, the members of this meeting introduced themselves. First, an elven woman, directly at Hera's left, got to her feet. She was tall and graceful, with long silver hair that shimmered like the moonlight. Her emerald eyes matched the intricate dress made out of enchanted leaves of all sizes and shapes covering her body. Giving a gentle bow to the group, she spoke in an unexpectedly deep but soft voice, "Hello. I know that most of you already know me; after all, I'm the oldest member of this group. But I am Elara Sliverfe. The High Councilor of the Elven Realm. This is the title for the highest political position in our civilization. We do have a Royal Family, but they are mages and warriors, not bureaucrats. I hope we can come to an agreement during these meetings, and I promise you I am not as uptight as I may seem."

"HA!" the dwarf on the spotlight to her left snorted.

"Oh hush, you. I am much better than when we first started. And since you interrupted, how about you continue the introductions," Elara huffed before sitting down. Even in that mood, her movements were calculated and graceful. Hearing her suggestion, Hera took a deep breath. If they kept going around in that direction, she would be the last to speak.

"I'll do just that, love," the dwarf stood up, but there wasn't much difference in his height. He had a mane of fiery red hair and a beard filled with heavy gold rings reaching his chest. He had blue eyes that pierced beyond his heavy golden helmet that had six long horns forming a crown. His armor seemed ceremonial, in the same shade of gold with a mix of blues and reds, adorned with dozens of gemstones all around it, "My name is Thrain Stonebeard. I am the King of the Dwarven Strongholds. For the new blood, the Dwarven Strongholds are all the cities that we personally protect and build to face off against any army, be it monsters or not. People say I have a bit of a short temper, but I also believe that there is nothing we can't solve with a beer in hand."

From behind him, a couple of voices chuckled, but the king quickly shushed them. Thrain sat back down, and the person to his left got up. It was a large and muscular man with deep rust fur covering his arms that stopped when it reached the side of his torso. His chest and abs were covered in tribal tattoos with a claw and fang motif. Despite all that, what really caught everyone's attention was the piercing yellow eyes that seemed to peer into their souls.

"I am Grimclaw Pathun. The Spirit Shaman of the mountain. I lead the Beastmen spiritually. All our tribes and all our cities follow my teachings."

"Only when they have nothing better to do," the woman to his left scoffed.

"This is no place for arguing. We came here to decide our future. But please, we must continue the procedures. Tell them who you are," Grimclaw sat back, and almost instantly, the woman he was talking to got up.

Unlike most Beastmen, she didn't have any apparent animal features. Her amber eyes reflected the light almost as if they had flames inside them, and her earthy brown hair would go along her shoulders, framing her face. On closer inspection, Hera realized that this wasn't simply hair but a mane like a lion's. It was a bit odd since lionesses didn't have a mane like that, but she didn't know enough about the species to question it. Just like Grimclaw, she wore light clothing, mostly made out of leather and furs.

"I am Thora Wilmanue. Matriarch and Chieftain of the Southern Beastmen tribes. For generations, we lived in a hostile land where all tribes were enemies. Until, the Southern Tribe waged their war, defeating every warrior but instead of killing the losing tribes, they reached out. Gave them their own food and protection. The Southern Tribe made us whole. Our leader still carries that name to this day. I was granted this name after I proved myself to be the leader our tribe requires," she didn't say anything else and simply sat back down.

After a brief pause, the next person got up, "Well. I guess it is my turn now," a triton with azure skin, webbed hands and feet, and a dorsal fin going across his back got up. A coral crown was resting atop his head, and the rest of his clothes were casual. It was very similar to beachwear, with light fabrics close to the body and with as much exposed skin as it seemed proper, "I am Nereus Stofin, the triton sovereign. My actual title is 'The Sovereign of Dominion,' but that feels more aggressive than it actually is. Dominion is the name of the ocean we hail from. Well, technically, I'm here right now. Anyway, that's me. I'm no longer the group's youngest member thanks to Thora and the new ones," he glanced at Hera and Rutigan, "But I hope we can all get along. Oh, and Thrain. The invitation for our cocktail pub crawl is still open. I know you've been busy but we should go out to have some fun some time."

"I might take you up on that offer. Hate to admit, but you do a mean margarita," Thrain smiled and raised a glass that was in front of him like a toast.

"Oh, if I could join that, but your room is too damp for me. All that moisture gets into my feathers, and it makes it impossible to fly properly," Typhera sighed and got up. Nereus took the hint and sat back down. He thanked the harpy queen internally since he was the usual reason the conversation derailed, "My name is Typhera. I am the Queen of the Children of the Sky. That's the title, that's it. We are likely the youngest civilization here. It's been only a handful of generations since we stopped being mindless beasts. Hence, we are still in the royal family stage of our development. As customary, I will also introduce the people I invited to this meeting. They will have a chance to say what they want, of course, but I will add some context to their presence. In the Aerie of the First Flight, there was a door with a snake head engraved on it," after speaking that line, the rest of the room seemed to grow with tension.

"That… that wasn't something you ever told us," Elara frowned.

"Indeed. We have not told anyone about this. It was one of our closest guarded secrets. If any of your spies figured out its existence, I suggest giving them a raise," Typhera chuckled, "But back to the topic at hand. We knew that door was protecting a doorway, and we couldn't force it open or risk destroying our home. The door even had a notification from the system letting us know we were unable to open it. Enter Hera Quetzaveth. Although you might know her as Hera Kingsley."

"That's why you looked familiar," Nereus snapped his fingers, "Sylvi talked about you. I know she conveyed that message, but thank you again for helping us get our people back."

"I would do it again in a heartbeat," Hera replied. She wanted to add 'and do it better this time,' but only her court heard that part.

"Hera here was able to open the door and connect us to a nearby room where Rutigan, the king of the dwarves from Boothudurn, was staying. I'm sure you are all aware of the room close to the first layer where a civilization of dwarves was found some time ago," Typhera continued.

"Yeah, we were trying to get in contact with them, but it was hard to do so without the guild getting in the way," Thrain nodded.

"Because of his proximity to my kingdom, King Rutigan and I decided to form an alliance to help us protect each other. Hera, being a member of a new species, is here as their Empress," Typhera finished.

"Hang on!" Hera gasped, "I'm not the Ophidianite Empress, nor do I speak for the entire species."

Typhera smiled, "You are the only member of the Ophidianites, correct? By default, your opinion is the opinion of the species."

"But… but… I…" Hera didn't have an answer to that.

"How do we know she is not part of the Beastmen? We have many different tribes who don't look the same. Bearkin, Tigerkin, Dogkin, she can be just part of it," Thora suggested.

"I don't think I am part of the Beastmen. I came from the Naga, and they were their own people. My body is also very different. I mean, I have an organ that actually makes poison. Without mana."

There were some murmurs from the people in the back, but Elara cut them all off, "There is an easy way to confirm this. Thora, when you use Inspect on any Beastmen, it shows they are Beastmen and their subtype, correct? For instance, using it on Grimclaw would show as 'Beastmen - Bearkin.'"

"That is correct," Thora replied.

"Hera, would you allow us to use inspect on you? This setup allows us to do that kind of thing even at a distance. It's for when people have to share something physical," Elara turned to the Empress.

Hera nodded, "Sure. I don't see any problems with that."

After everyone activated the skill, Hera saw a few notifications but waved them off. She was aware that people were using [Inspect] on her. There was a pause before Thrain said, "Well, there's that. She is not a Beastmen."

"Indeed. I'm sure we have more to talk about it, but for now, let's finish the introductions," Elara turned to Rutigan.

"Thank you, High Councilor. I am Rutigan, the King of the Dwarves from Boothudurn. We were chased away from our home to Zaxalam, a place we found thanks to Hera, Shane, and our own Royal Explorers. I thank you all for giving me a chance to speak at this meeting, and I hope we can all have a good relationship. Also, King Thrain. I would like to make one thing clear. I have no desire to challenge your authority. I understand that you are the ruler of the dwarves. However, I hope you understand that I don't know enough about you and your rule to accept that my people should live under you. I mean no disrespect, but my people have a history of being oppressed. We can delve into the details at a later date, but I hope that even if you don't agree with our independence, you at least respect it as we are new in the wider community."

Hera stared at Rutigan with a surprised expression. The King never mentioned the idea of joining the other dwarves to her, but the way he was speaking caught her off guard.

"Don't worry about it. The days of us wanting to conquer everything are long gone. I do offer my assistance in what I can, but you don't need to worry about insulting us just by existing. However, keep in mind that meetings like this generally only have one representative of each species. Unless the meeting is about someone specifically. In this case, that would be you due to your location. In the future, if other meetings are held without you, I hope you can respect our decisions," Thrain took a much more formal tone that seemed to surprise even Elara.

Rutigan smiled, "Thank you for your understanding, and yes, I will respect the decisions made by this group if I am not a part of it. A part of me would like to add that this will be true as long as the decision doesn't directly harm my people, but I feel like that asterisk wouldn't be necessary."

"You are correct, King Rutigan. Any decision that requires a sacrifice from a kingdom or a city can only be made in the presence of those involved," Grimclaw smiled.

Rutigan nodded and sat back down. Now, only Hera was left to introduce herself. After taking a deep breath, she got up from her seat.

"Hello. I am Hera Quetzaveth, the first Ophidianite."

"Also, their Empress," Typhera added.

"I'm not!" Hera quickly corrected, "I'm just the first. I'm not the Empress of this new species."

"You have people who call you Empress," Typhera pressed with a smile.

"That's a completely different thing!" Hera squealed in a high-pitched voice.

Nereus chuckled, "Typhera, can you stop teasing her?"

"She was nervous. I was just trying to help her relax," the harpy Queen replied.

"I don't think that's working," Elara glanced at Hera, who was taking a big gulp of water to calm down.

They all waited patiently for the Ophidianite to continue, "OK, sorry, and thank you for your patience. As I was saying, I'm the first Ophidianite, and I'm no one's Empress."

A chorus of voices replied in her mind, 'You are mine,' but Hera wasn't phased.

"I used to be a human until a few weeks ago. What happened to me is something new. Apparently, I was the first person to ever get that option. I opened the doors that connected Zaxalam to the Aerie. And I also helped break the prisoners out of prison. The ones that were kidnapped by the guild," thinking she had nothing else to say, Hera sat back down.

"Now, we have a lot to discuss in the next week. But I believe we all want to know about one thing specifically first," Elara looked around, all eyes focusing on the Ophidianite, "Hera. Can you explain more about who you are? How did you get there?"

"Sure, where do you want me to start?"

"From the beginning. From how you got that option to… transform into something else," Elara replied.

"Hera, if you would let me remind you. This is what I talked about. We do mean the very beginning."

Hera scratched her head. She had told the entire story to Typhera, and the Queen advised her on where to start her tale during this meeting, "OK then. It all started after Blue, and I opened the door to Boothudurn. We met a few people who wanted to go to the Wailing Valley, and that's where I had my first contact with the Naga…."