(POV: Kasula the Sorceress)

It has been an interesting two days during our walk to the site. Granted we had to wait a short while in a field for some flying chariot to pick us up along the way, apparently the princess that hired us needed us there as soon as possible. I did however get to observe some of the local flora when we touched down for the night. The guards that came with our merry band of adventurers have been wary of all three of us since we left the fort and their royal highness. With good reason, as Zurug could turn them to paste in a few seconds if he so chose, I could do the same but with a different tool, and Talia even quicker but from a distance. But still, it stung a little.

Sure we do a lot of questionable things if the coin is good enough, but we’re not that bad of people… well Fredrich is an exception, but still. And then there was that thing with Gralon and the sheep, but that was under extenuating circumstances so it doesn’t count. Hopefully, after we put down their pest problem, they’ll see us in a different light.

The carriage starts to descend from the skies I decide to look out the window, because I need a change of scenery from the one I currently have of Zurug drooling all over the carriage in his sleep.

The land around us is a lightly wooded area consisting of mostly open fields just before reaching the coastline, I can make out a decent encampment in one of the said fields. Assuming from the size of the place from this distance, I’m guessing there’s probably about a little over one hundred soldiers, give or take thirty I figure.

“Thalia, do you think you can wake Zurug. We’re about to land here.” I politely ask her as she’s sitting next to me testing the string on her bow.

“Yeah, I can do that.” She says to me before leaning her bow up against the wall of the carriage then proceeds to punching Zurug several times in the arm as hard as she could without hurting herself.

Zurug stops his drooling as he is rudely awakened to the world around him, he instinctively grabs his warhammer which is across his lap before getting a good look at his surroundings.

“WHY WAKE ZURUG?” He asks Thalia, slightly annoyed he didn't get a nice wakeup.

“Because, we’re here.” I simply tell him right as the carriage hits the ground with a light bump.

We all feel the chariot stop followed by several knocks on the side of the carriage, indicating that we should get out now. I open the door to the outside world where I get a good look at the encampment. There are fairly flashy tents that are brightly colored, no army in their right mind would use such silly things, it’s almost like they want to be spotted from several miles away. I notice some of the soldiers look at our group as Thalia exits followed closely by Zurug.

Most of the soldiers visibly tense when the seven foot half-orc steps out of the carriage with his massive warhammer dragging lazily on the ground. Gralon always hated when he did that, ‘ruined the weapon’ he said. I turn to one of the two guards that came with us on this trip.

“So, any idea where the leader of this encampment is?”

“It should be right up ahead of the carriage a ways. Just follow us.” He says to me, I simply nod and I know my companions heard him also.

After passing a good amount of confused soldiers we reach a fairly large tent that can be considered the command tent as it easily sticks out in the encampment.

“Wait here one moment.” The guard tells me before heading inside the tent.

He comes out a few moments later. “Alright, you can go in.”

The three of us enter the tent, the first things we notice is that there’s some kind of magical projection of some landscape above a table. There’s four people around the table, three of them are wearing armor similar to the soldiers outside, though these ones have capes each one a different color probably indicating some kind of rank and division. The last being at the table looks similar to Princess Selene, in that she is exactly her opposite. While Selene had a navy blue coat, this one has pure white fur, along with some rainbow colored hair, similar to a cyan being that Zurug was talking about earlier that got in his face, stupid as that was. And to top it all off, her hair some somehow moving without any wind, probably a spell of some kind.

All four of them look over at us as we approach them, each one of them sizing us up.

“Ah, you must be the soldiers that my sister has hired.” The white one addresses us.

“Your assumption is correct, I am the sorceress Kasula and these are some of my companions. The big guy is Zurug and this is Thalia.” I gesture to them both. “And we prefer the term ‘mercenaries’” I correct her.

“It’s nice to meet you, I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria and these are my lieutenants, Nible Force, Swift Bolt, and Emerald Star.” She introduces her group, the colors of their capes going from red, to blue, to green.

“So, you are mercenaries then. Are you aware of what you’ve been hired to help with?” getting right to the point.

“Yes we do, we handle these sort of problems all the time.” I tell her.

“I can't help but be slightly sceptical of your claims, we’ve lost several of our guards to these monsters.” She tells us.

“Well, when the next attack comes, let us know and we’ll handle it.”

“You can’t be serious!” The one named ‘Swift Bolt’ yells at us. “It takes three of our guards to take down one of the little buckers! There’s no way you can take them all on your own!”

“THEN YOU ARE WEAKER THAN WE FIRST ANTICIPATED.” Zurug helpfully puts his two silver into the conversation. With that he heads outside the tent, I’m assuming to find somewhere to finish his nap.

“Unfortunately he’s right.” Thalia adds. “If it takes a few of your guards to bring down one Kao-toa, then either your guards are pretty specifically incompetent, or someone screwed up their training and made them too soft.”

“I’m sorry, Kao-Toa?” Celestia asks, pointedly ignoring Thalia’s critique of her military.

“The generally accepted name of the fish cultists you’re having a problem with.”

“I see, well. I suppose there is little else to do but wait in any case. I will see to it that you and your companions are informed when the next group of these ‘Kao-Toa’ arrive on the beach. You’ll find a guard waiting outside to guide you to the accommodations we’ve had prepared.”

“Thanks.” is all I say before I turn to head out of the tent with Thalia in tow. Coming out from the tent I see Zurug standing around looking down on all the guards, he’s probably trying to find someone worthy to spar with but I doubt he’ll have any luck here.

“Zurug!” I call to him. “Come on, we’re going to our spot in the encampment!”

He simply nods while hoisting up his warhammer to be slung back across his shoulder. At least he’s not tearing up the grass in a long line like he did coming here from the carriage. Not that it matters to me what he does with his weapon, but I don't feel like having to listen to Gralon complain all day when I get back.

With that done I turn to look at one of the guards that are standing outside the grand tent here where I ask him to direct us to our spot in the encampment. Rather than pointing us in any one direction, he asks us to follow and starts making his way through the sea of fabric and ponies. Which is apparently what the main race here in Equestria calls themselves, according to Belkas anyway. I don’t really see the resemblance, but it’s not my species so I won’t judge.

When we arrive at our destination I notice that our little spot is on the very edge of the camp, closest to the direction of the beach. Our little site has three single person tents and a small pile of rocks to make a fire ring to cook on. I only brought enough provisions to last for four days, and I used two of them up already on the way here. We shouldn't be here very long anyways, considering it should be pretty easy… I probably just cursed our luck. Oh well.

Zurug immediately walks to the rightmost tent, setting his hammer down in front of it and crawling inside to take a nap. Figures he would want to finish what he started earlier today. Thalia actually starts going over her weapons after grabbing the middle tent for herself. As for myself, I decide to go over all the spells I would need for a possible fight later, mostly picking attack spells with only a few support spells to assist. As well as one ‘just in case’ to deal with whatever might come of my lack of caution.

After prepping the spells I wanted to use in a fight, I decide I should rest up for whenever the attack somes. Knowing the Kao-Toa they’ll either attack at night or at dusk, either one works for me. With that in mind, I climb into the small tent that’s left for myself and head off into dreamland.

I reawaken an unknown amount of time later to Thalia pushing me about.

“Wake up, the Kao-Toa are on the move.” That’s all the notion I need to get myself up and out of my tent in several seconds. Zurug’s already standing around with his warhammer in a menacing position in his hands all the while grinning like a madman. There are several guards running about the encampment while a single guard is waiting for us, I’m assuming the same one that came to inform us of the attack.

“Alright team, let’s kill some Kao-Toa and roast them over an open fire.” Thalia just nods at my little speech while Zurug gives a mighty battle cry as we follow our guide who’s leading us to the mass of soldiers gathering a bit aways.

After a short run to the battle lines to which I notice that their Princess is going to lead them in the defence, it’s always nice to see a leader have some fight in them and willing to join in the bloodshed, unlike those ungrateful pricks that sit on their chairs and pretend to play general. She’s wearing a impressive set of golden full plate armor and a greatsword to match the armor was floating by her side in her telekinetic grip.

“It’s always nice to see a ruler on the field of battle with their troops, really tells someone how much they care about their citizens when the meet a threat head on.” I say to her as me and my companions approach.

She looks to us with a serious express upon her face. “Thank you for the compliment, however we can talk more after we push back this attack.”

“Fair enough.” I reply, readying my first spell and drawing my mace from its loop on my belt as the first bulbous head started approaching from the water. After several seconds the ugly creature comes out of the water, its fish head looking around the beach then to the army assembled two hundred feet ahead of it. Raising its head, it lets out a series of clicks, louder than it looked capable of producing, and charged straight at the line of armor, a full score of it’s fishy brethren coming from the water, running a pace behind the leader each of them armed with flimsy spears in their grips.

I finish the preparation for my spell right as they get to roughly 120 feet away from the line, well in the spells range. I thrust my left hand into the air and speak the words to cast ’Ice Storm’, several dozen rock sized ice chunks form in the air and a few seconds later come crashing down on three of the Kao-Toa, practically bludgeoning them to death with the hail of ice chunks.

Zurug takes this as his que to charge them, as is his nature, his longer legs taking him to them faster than they were coming to us. Holding his warhammer high in the air for an overhead hit, he charges the first of many Kao-Toa and promptly turns its head into nothing more than mush with a single hit, his hammer coming out of its cranium to swing at another one that came to avenge its friend. Who then promptly gets a hit right in the torso and sent flying back into the water. Just as he’s about to do the same to yet another, an arrow courtesy of Thalia pierces its head, a grunt of annoyance coming from the half orc.

Thalia, coming to the support of Zurug fires an arrow from her longbow at one of the Kao-toa in Zurug’s blind spot to make up for stealing his kill earlier, the arrow piercing its weak flesh right in the abdomen. She then knocks another arrow and fires again at the same creature, this time piercing its throat, effectively killing it.

I look back for a moment to see what the army is doing and they seem to be standing there, waiting for the Kao-toa to come to them and not even in the slightest help us. Not like we need it anyway, might as well put on a good show for the Princess, repeat customers are the best kind of customers after all. Deciding on a nice flashy spell that does good damage, I cast ’Chain Lightning’ shouting for Zurug to get down as I do. A single large bolt of lightning leaps from my fingertips lances over Zurugs head and fries one of the Kao-Toa before the lightning jumps off his body and hits three others, internally and externally cooking all four of them to a crisp.

Rising from his crouch with an upward swing of his hammer, Zurug launches another fish into the air, it impacting the sand with a dull thud and making a crater as he turns his quite lethal attention to the next one. This one actually manages to land a hit with its spear upon Zurug’s armored form, the spear hits his breastplate and the tip of the spear snaps off from the force used behind it. The fish only had a split second to regret his decision before his ribcage is caved in.

Thalia aims for one to the back of the group, launches an arrow right into its open maw and out the back of its neck as its screaming and running up the beach like a deranged animal. All noise from it stops as it plops down in the sand dead. Another arrow is launched from her bow which flies past my shoulder and hits one of them in it’s bulging eyeball only 40 feet away from me.

I spot a small group of Kao-Toa running up the back, two of them are carrying chiten shields while two more are following behind them, I decide to cast a favorite of all magic users ’Fireball’ right into the center of their group, flash frying them in an explosion which leaves a small hunk of glass on the ground where they once stood, now decorating the glass plate with their corpses, like a fine dinner for a giant. All it needs is a bit of seasoning.

There’s only a single Kao-Toa left on the beach which Zurug is standing over, about to bash the poor thing into the sand with his hammer, but he never gets the chance as an arrow decides to pierce its skull before he can get hit.

“RRRRAAAAAAAGGGH!” is the noise that comes from my usually tactile friend, as he beats the corpse into a red paste that’s quickly absorbed by the sand.

“DON’T STEAL ZURUG’S KILLS! ZURUG WILL HURT YOU NO MATTER HOW MUCH HE LIKES YOU!” he yells at Thalia, pointing the blood soaked head of his hammer at her. She only gives him a smirk and a shrug in response.

“You actually managed to defeat all of the cre- Kao-Toa, by yourselves. And here I though you were just another group trying to swindle money off of me.” I hear Celestia’s voice behind me. To which I turn around and give a smile.

“We’re professionals ma’am, now I do believe we are in need of payment since you did bring it up.”

“Very well, how much did my sister say you would get paid. She didn't mention it in the letter she sent to me.”

“Let’s see, there’s roughly twenty dead… 25 pieces a head should bring us to 500 ‘bits’ I believe they were called.” I tell her after doing some quick math.

“.... That explains why she didn’t tell me.” She says, magicking up the hefty sum of coinage and passing it to me.

“Thank you for doing business with the Steel Strong Adventuring Guild.” I say after grabbing the money and placing it all in my bag of holding to be sorted out later. Both Zurug and Thalia come over a moment later where I nod to them.

“Our work here is-” And that’s when I get interrupted by some flying pony yelling for its princess.

Figuring that whatever caused that reaction was probably on the beach, I look over to see an absolutely huge crest of black coral shooting up out of the water, and getting bigger as it gets closer, soon revealing that the crest was actually attached to the head of some giant twenty foot godsforsaken creature. Turning back to Celestia, who’s staring at the thing in horror as it gets larger, I clear my throat to get her attention.

“This is going to cost you a bit extra, princess.” I tell her, charging up my ‘just in case’, an orange glow encompassing my hands as a spell array forms around my feet carving the sigils into the sand and glowing the same orange as magical power is pushed through them. I build up this power for several seconds before releasing my ninth tier spell ’Meteor Swarm’, four layers of a similar array forming over the recently revealed torso of the creature before a dull roaring could be heard in the distance behind us.

It doesn’t take long for a 40ft by 40ft rock, currently on fire and traveling faster than any living creature could survive passed over our heads in the blink of an eye, impacting the creature and driving it into the sand, throwing a flood of sand into the ocean and forming a crater in the beach lined in glass, shaking the ground and sending most that were on the ground and weren’t expecting it sprawling which was pretty much everyone but my friends and I and the princess.

Then, three more stones of equal size shot overhead and arc’d down to the bottom of the crater one after the other. Shattering the glass and reforming it three times in an instant and sending a plume of sand and glass shards 80 feet high into the air.

Once the dust from the impacts had settled, I turn back to the Princess, a devious thought entering my mind.

“That’ll be another 500 bits if you please.” I tell her, she magics up a mound of money and passes it to me silently, not taking her eyes off the hole that hid the carcass of a thing that likely would have easily slaughtered everyone on this beach before she could take it down if we weren’t here.
I probably didn't have to use my best spell on it, but I had to put on a show.

Belkas the Monk

“Thank you Fredrich, excellent work as always.” I tell him as he sets down a nice stack of books in front of me. The table in the library now becoming the new home for the assorted information Fredrich stole.

Looking at the cover of the book on top of the stack I see an illustration of a crystalline heart surrounded by some sort of wind or snow spirit with a depiction of six ponies on either edge, the ones on the left look to be encased in ice or some kind of clear crystal while the ones on the right look to be about to do battle with the spirit.
Figuring this was as good a place to start as any on the stack of books, I take it from the literary tower and prepare myself to read. Opening the front cover, I find a foreword written in particularly elegant script . Apparently this was the true story behind a rather popular holiday story here, as written by a ‘Princess Celestia’ I’m assuming to be the sister of Princess Selene.

Now, according to this book, there was three leaders to ‘tribes’ of different races of ponies. Apparently in the moderated version, they got out of their ice coverings with ‘The Magic of Friendship’ as much as I scoff at that. What apparently actually happened is that they all died as frozen meatcicles and their primary advisors took control of the respective countries to form a temporary alliance against these ‘windigos’.

By time that all happened, any and all fighting against the windigos was a lost cause. So they retreated south to warmer conditions. Where instead of the Windigos being the main threat, they were instead facing the combined militaries of Bullgaria and the Griffon Empire, two of the world powers at the time. The war lasted for five years until the Griffon Emperor died from natural causes, as dying from deadly nightshade was quite common and as an herb, was completely natural, it only growing in Equestria, and not recognized as a poison by the griffic physician was a complete coincidence.. Bullgaria’s king decided it was better to pick off a weakened allie than to continue to attack ‘Equestria’ the pony nation as they called it. Thus signing a ten year armistice, between the two and continuing to war with the griffons until they suffered a major defeat at the hands of the griffon’s new king.

It was around this time that the spirits of the sun and moon came to Equis in the forms of a pair of alicorns, Celestia Invictus and Selene Noctis, to lead the ponies into a new era both as protectors and diplomats as they were unable to aid their mortal brethren as the war previous raged.

With both world powers weakened, Equestria, formed from the united pony tribes and lead by the alicorn spirits, was able to establish itself as a recognized country, quickly placing itself over both the Griffons and Minotaurs in terms of political power, and with the sun and moon under the command of the ponies new leaders, they gained military immunity due to the assured destruction of all life on the planet should both fall.

And so, the ponies were brought into a golden age of peace as those that would harm them were brought low by their own treachery and ageless spirits armed with the wisdom of eons led them into prosperity.

I set the book off to the side where I plan to start my ‘finished’ pile. I grab another and flip it to the first page.

‘Combat through the ages’ by Captain Stonewall. Interesting.

(POV ???)

I give a sigh in boredom around the femur in my teeth, my butt firmly planted on one of the many parapets decorating the walls of my mountain keep and my eyes on the horizon. I couldn’t see much for the mountain in the way, but a view isn’t needed for dramatic brooding.

Giving another sigh, I crunch the femur in my teeth, catching the half that falls out, and probing the one that stuck for the cooked marrow I knew to be inside as I remove myself from my stone seat. Moving across the stone towards the staircase, I finish sucking my bone and grind the shell up before swallowing and put the other half of my snack between my jaws.

Heading down the stairs as I finish my femur I look over the stone courtyard, empty except for the keep itself and an open forge off to one side. In the forge’s general area I have a stone cauldron I use to ‘refine’ the steel I collect as well as I can without an actual facility, heading over to said cauldron I see that it had slagged over the top in the time I spent brooding. I must have been at it longer than I thought.

Letting that thought slip away I Scoop the slag out with my claws onto the cobblestone at my feet. A process that would leave most others injured and likely to never use their appendages again if they tried it. Seeing the red molten liquid beneath cleared up I take the time to heat the stone again, taking a deep breath I then release a flame from my mouth easily able to melt steel and cook flesh in an instant on the bottom of the cauldron I made from stone for this specific reason.

Leaving the melted steel for now, I head over to the other side of the forge where I’m smoking the goblin flesh I’d brought in the day before. Taking a strip of flesh I have on the line over the fire, I give it a taste, deciding that they were done I remove my jacket and undershirt, technically a Hitatare and Kosode according to my father figure, and smother the flames with my chest and wingspan, rolling around to be sure it was out, and standing to take the line down, leaving my upper body dressings where they were until I had a bath. It wouldn’t do to get ash all over the cotton weave.

As I’m heading inside my stone home, shirtless and with a line of meat dragging behind me, I pause, a deep rushing from the air causing me to perk my ear fins before a giant flaming ball of stone shoots across the sky, quickly followed by three others.

“Well… I might as well see where those are headed.” I tell myself in my slow baritone before looking down at my chest. “After dinner and a bath though... It wouldn’t do to introduce myself half naked and covered in ash after all.”

Author's Note

'Chapter 7 : A Fish Fry and Some Light Reading.' was made possible by the joint effort of: kamachkta and SovietVodkaMix

Fish sticks! Fish Sticks for sale! $.99 each! ~