Ruthless: Path of Conquest

Now that the Black Bloodsucking Bat Queen was speaking with him, James was no longer on a hair trigger, waiting to learn whether he would have to order an attack or not. He found it possible to retake control of the situation.

“Lower your voice, please!” he barked. “I’m not deaf—yet!”

“You have no grounds to complain about being yelled at, trespasser,” she replied. But she did speak at a noticeably much lower volume thereafter. “Why are you here?”

“My territory was invaded,” James replied with slight indignance. “Dozens of your family invaded and tried to carry off and kill some of my humans.”

“Hm.” The massive bat scrunched up her already strange, wrinkled face and gave James a hard look. Then she closed her eyes.

James thought she must be communicating telepathically with her family members. That, and giving her eyes a rest. He could tell that standing around in the sunlight made all the bats uncomfortable, including their Ruler.

“How do you two manage to get along, exactly?” James asked, looking to the Red Flying Squirrel Queen. “Do you somehow share territory? Are you neighbors? If the Bat Queen wants to borrow a cup of sugar…”

James let his voice trail off. The Squirrel Queen tilted her head as if slightly confused by that last question.

“We have different territory,” she said in a chirping voice. “She rules the skies. I rule the ground level. We share the trees.”

She’s speaking Spanish, James realized, though the System was instantly translating into English. How does that happen? Do I detect a Cuban accent?

“How does that work?” James thought aloud. “You guys glide through the air, and her bats have to come to the ground sometime, right?”

“Common courtesy,” the Bat Queen interjected. “It’s easy to learn, human.”

“Did you manage to confirm what I said?” James asked.

The Bat Queen looked at him through slit eyes. “Yes, some of our family were sick, and they were acting strangely, so their cousins kicked them out of the tree. I guess that might account for the incursion into your territory.”

James nodded. “That makes sense.”

Rabies, he thought. I need to make sure everyone who came into contact with those bats sees a Healer when we get back.

“Still, what does that have to do with why you’re here, human?” she spat.

James raised an eyebrow. “I obviously thought it was an invasion by a raiding party of your kind,” he said. “So I responded in kind.”

“You mean you killed dozens of my family, because a little group of them crossed your border,” the Bat Queen said. Her beady black eyes stared coldly into his.

“I wanted to ask you about what was going on, but my contact with my neighbors has mostly been hostile,” James explained. “It seemed more responsible to prepare for the worst than to hope that there was a simple misunderstanding.” He lowered his head and tried to sound humble. “If those bats that invaded my territory were acting alone, then I sincerely apologize for my retaliation. It must seem disproportionate. We are used to being in a state of war.”

“Not good enough.” The Bat Queen reached out with a long, bony claw and jabbed James in the chest. “Show me the bodies of your dead. You never mentioned how many of yours were killed, to justify this ‘retaliation.’ How many did you lose in our invasion?”

“Lady, you need to back away from him,” interjected Dave from the side. James could hear the sound of metal sliding free from leather as Dave drew his pistol.

James immediately turned to face Dave. “I’ve got this,” he said, giving him a firm look.

Dave made eye contact with James and simply nodded. He didn’t put his gun away, but neither did he point it at the Bat Queen. It was simply out, ready to be used. The tension in the air seemed to be increasing. Everyone knew violence could break out at any moment.

Actually, the temperature in the air seemed to be rising quite noticeably. James realized it when he felt long beads of sweat running down his back.

It’s hotter here than it was when we entered, and it was already almost a sauna. He looked at the Bat Queen, who was glaring at him hatefully. She’s doing this. She can control the weather. Her territory is the sky; that’s what the squirrel said. So extending your aura into the sky comes with that benefit.

James wasn’t certain whether his own aura could rise into the sky to manipulate the weather. He had never noticed it to extend very far above or below the Earth’s surface. Perhaps ten to twenty feet in each direction.

Maybe some Rulers have different domains.

He looked back at his people again and saw the tension on their faces. They hated the Bat Queen, reflexively, probably almost as much as she hated them. Part of it was that she was horrifying to look at, compared with the monsters they had learned to somewhat accept as part of James’s country.

Does she realize how much closer she’s pushing this to outright violence by cranking up the heat? Or does she think she’s just putting us under pressure, and we’re going to fold?

“We didn’t lose any,” James admitted. “That was only true because my defense forces and I moved quickly to save the people in danger.”

“Not a single loss,” the Bat Queen repeated, slowly shaking her head.

“I don’t know how I can make this right,” James said. “It’s my preference to live in peace with other Races. You can see that it’s not just humans who are here with me.” He gestured behind him, where there were Goblins and wolves standing among the humans.

“I know how we can make this right,” the Bat Queen replied. “I could sic my whole family on you right now, and wipe out your friends. That could be my retaliation. If you live through that, then how about we live in peace from there, huh?”

James snorted and shook his head. How do I get myself into these situations?

The Bat Queen stared down at him intensely as if it were a serious question worthy of an answer.

“If,” James said.

She cocked her head at him.

“If?” she asked.

“You could try something like that,” James said. “You’re weaker than I am, though. I promise you that. You might ‘wipe out’ my friends. But if you kill them, and I live through that, then I’ll come back here with ten times their number.” He locked eyes with the Bat Queen and let some of his own hatred show through. “If that happens, then I’ll kill you.”

“Ha! Is that all—”

“You didn’t let me finish. If that happens, then I’ll kill you. I’ll kill your mate. I’ll kill all of your children. I won’t be in a forgiving mood. I’ve wiped out more than one species already. You’re not going to be the first. You’re not going to be the last. You’re just the second Ruler I’ll have beaten this week.”

The Bat Queen bared her teeth in a snarl. “You arrogant little—”

She stopped talking as the Squirrel Queen placed a paw on her shoulder.

Then the two walked away, temporarily ignoring their uninvited guests, to talk privately.

James turned back to his people while he waited for them to have their conversation. The soldiers looked nervous but very impressed with his handling of the situation. Some of them gave him confident nods or a thumbs up to signal their approval. Others smiled nervously when he looked in their direction.

Well, at least they’re not breaking. Don’t worry, guys. I’ll keep you out of a fight with this little army—if that’s at all possible.

He turned back and saw the hundreds of huddled bats and squirrels looking at him, visibly confused and afraid.

And, of course, James eavesdropped on the all important conversation happening between the Bat Queen and the Squirrel Queen just fifteen feet away. It was remarkable that they thought they were far enough away not to be heard, even whispering. Maybe they imagined that all humans were functionally deaf. Perhaps, compared with bats and squirrels, most humans were.

If so, James was an exception.

“I think you’d better let this go,” the Squirrel Queen was saying.

“How can I let this go?”

“There was clearly a misunderstanding. He apologized, if you were listening. This is the first time anything like this is happening—”

“Coward!” the Bat Queen snapped. “I knew I couldn’t rely on you. Why did I even bother making an alliance with someone whose solution to every problem is running away?”

“It’s not like that!”

“How is it not like that?” the Bat Queen asked.

There was silence for several long seconds. Then the Bat Queen stomped back to where James was.

“Are you ready to do this?” she asked.

“Do what?” James asked.

“Fight,” she spat. Little flecks of saliva landed on James’s left cheek as she spoke the word.

“Are we going to have our armies fight, like two children smashing their toys together, or will it be you and me getting our hands dirty like two adults?” James asked.

“What’s wrong?” the Bat Queen taunted. “Scared these puny worms aren’t up to the job?”

“If we’re going to war, I could have a thousand more soldiers here in five minutes,” James replied. “I’m just establishing the parameters for what we’re doing.”

“Um, I’m just going to sit this one out,” the Squirrel Queen said meekly from behind the Bat Queen.

“What?” The Bat Queen whirled on her and got in the squirrel’s face. “What do you think you’re doing?”

To her credit, the Squirrel Queen didn’t back down. She let the Bat Queen get within an inch of their faces touching.

“Just what I said,” the Squirrel Queen said stiffly. “I am not convinced this is in the interests of my family. None of us died. This guy clearly has no quarrel with me. Me and mine will not be fighting.” She looked over at James. “Do you have a problem with that, human?”

James shook his head and just tried not to look smug. That worked out very well.

The Bat Queen rounded on James again. “Fine then. You and me. A duel. To the death. Winner gets the loser’s territory.”

“The winner also has to spare the loser’s people,” James said.

The Bat Queen narrowed her eyes and stared past James, eyeballing his allies as if she wanted to tear them all to pieces. “You’re the one who ordered everything they did, right?” she finally said.

“Yes,” James replied instantly.

“Then I guess sparing them is no great sacrifice.” She aimed her next words at the soldiers behind him. “Look forward to putting up statues in my honor, you puny creatures!”

This is really perfect, James thought. Second duel in one week, and I’ll acquire a bunch more territory when it’s done.

“Wait, what about me?” the Squirrel Queen asked.

What about you? James wondered

“What about you?” the Bat Queen replied acidly.

“I mean, what happens, um, to me and my people? Um, if the ownership of the territory is being decided by duel.”

“As far as I’m concerned, when I win, you cowardly bastards need to clear out of here,” the Bat Queen said.

The Squirrel Queen winced at her words, then turned to James. “How about you? Are you up for a peaceful neighbor relationship?”

James raised an eyebrow. “I’ll make you the same deal as her. After I recover from my fight with the Bat Queen, you and I fight a duel. It doesn’t have to be to the death, since you and I don’t hate each other. Winner gets the loser’s territory. I haven’t had much luck with peaceful neighbor relationships lately. It seems as if I need buffer territory on all sides.”

The Squirrel Queen looked slightly downcast. “I see.” Then she looked up as if she’d had an idea. “Is that what happened with you and those other nonhumans you have behind you? You fought a duel with their leader and then took over?”

“Um, more or less,” James said.

“Do you mind?” She pointed at the fighters behind James. It took him a moment to realize that she wanted to talk to them.

“Oh. Uh, no.” James stepped to the side, and the Squirrel Queen breezed past him. She was surprisingly graceful while walking. The tail that James had thought was sort of ugly, because it was less bushy than a normal squirrel’s tail, seemed to be very good for controlling her movements.

Again, there was a private conversation between the Squirrel Queen and someone else that took place so close to James that he couldn’t avoid overhearing it unless he put his fingers in his ears.

The Squirrel Queen was asking James’s wolves and Goblins if they felt well treated under him. And they were giving him good reviews.

“He is a good pack leader,” was a representative comment from the wolves. “Generous with food and skilled at hunting.”

“He is a strong yet merciful leader,” Duncan said. The other Goblins hastened to agree with him.

“Yes,” said one. “I heard that he fought a duel with a giant monster Ruler a couple of days ago, and he even healed him after the fight was over!”

Did he hear that from the wolves? James wondered. Or maybe the Mole People? The only Goblin who had actually witnessed that duel was Duncan.

The Squirrel Queen seemed to take their stories very seriously, in any case. She asked question after question. She made certain to clarify how “generous with food” James was, asked if he was constantly starting fights—they claimed that he had been forcibly drawn into fights, which was dubiously true even from his point of view—and if they knew what he thought of squirrels, among other topics.

It’s sort of cute, James thought. She’s incredibly naive if this is really part of her decision-making process. If I wanted to be a tyrant, the first thing I’d do is brainwash the people and creatures that are supposed to fight alongside me into fanatical loyalty. This is no more useful than if she just asked me if I was a nice King to my face.

There was something endearing about it. Even disarming. It raised the question of how this Squirrel Queen had become a Ruler in the first place. Or if she was faking being this naive.

The Squirrel Queen finally turned back from the conversation and faced James. Her tail was standing up weirdly straight, and she looked jittery.

“All right,” she said. “I’ve decided. If King James wins, I want to join him!”

The other squirrels applauded her with their front paws, while the Bat Queen rolled her eyes and spat.

Okay, maybe the squirrel’s not faking it.

“We should set some rules for this duel,” the Bat Queen said. She had her wings pulled in front of her face like a cape.

Uh oh. Where is this coming from? he wondered.

“What rules?” he asked.

“I don’t want you cheating to win. You shouldn’t have advantages that I don’t have,” she said.

“I don't know what you mean,” James said slightly impatiently.

“You know, all that,” the Bat Queen said, pointing at his sword. “I don’t have those things. Weapons and armor.”