The Wyrms of &alon

Every single D'zd in the room had their flowers glued on Suisei, us included.

"Before I say anything else," he said, "you need to understand that there are reasons why you have to act against the Dominion now." Suisei glanced at Bzrt'zrt. "Chief Bzrt'zrt, you were right, you probably should have acted against the Dominion earlier, but," he turned to Krr'kt'zz, "it's also true that, even if you had, it wouldn't have made a difference in the long term." Suisei put a hand on his chest and pointed at us with another arm. "Like my friends here, I, too, am a Messenger of the Vyx. My friends came to look for me."

"And why did you come here?" Bzrt'zrt asked.

"Because I am on a mission," Suisei replied. He looked over the crowd. "I'm sure you've all seen the way the blocks of solid water break away and sink into the depths of the sea. Have you ever wondered why solid water glows so brightly in the sunlight?" he asked. "It's because it reflects light. Without the heat that light brings, the world grows colder, and the Fossil Wind spreads."

Bzrt'zrt turned to Krr'kt'zz. "What is ze saying?"

"Isn't it obvious, my friend?" the chieftain replied. "Our world is dying."

"Yes!" Bzrt'zrt looked around the room. "We all know the reason why the Fossil Wind has come. The Dominion's unholy Puppetry has broken the world. The Deathlands won't retreat so long as even a single Puppeteer lives. If we expend all our strength and resources now, we'll have nothing left to use to keep ourselves alive when the Fossil Wind finally comes."

"No, you don't understand," Suisei said. "This isn't something you can weather through. You can't escape this by building tunnels and hunkering down. This is the end."

"Then why risk everything we have in an attack on Dz'zrt'zt?" Srtt'zt'krr asked. "Even if we cut off the T'dzd'ch's head, the body will remain. There is no way we can defeat them."

Krr'kt'zz turned to one of the D'zd cowering behind zym. "Tk'tk'tk (Tiktooktuk), if you please?

The retainer stepped out of Krr'kt'zz's shadow.

"The key to the Krr't's prison is in Dz'zrt'zt," Tk'tk'tk said. "The Hierarchs keep it in the Grand Treasury."

Bzrt'zrt was stunned. "…what?"

"The attack I propose isn't meant to topple the Dominion," Krr'kt'zz said, "nor will it."

"Actually, I think it might," Suisei interjected, "but, go on."

Krr'kt'zz bowed.

"Regardless of what it accomplishes, our offensive only needs to occupy the T'dzd'ch long enough for Zz'zz and the other Messengers to sneak into the Grand Treasury and find the key to the Krr't's prison."

Wait, what? I thought.

Srrt'zt'krr pointed her staff at the retainer. "Who are you?"

"Tk'tk't't, your lordship," the D'zd replied. "I… I used to work at the Hierarchs' Treasury. I swept the floors and tended the storystones. I used to worship the Hierarchs. I prayed to the very ground they stepped on. But…" Tk'tk'tk looked up at the light overhead, watching zyr words join their interplay. "…they're… monsters. I—I saw one of them soulbreak a D'zd."

Srrt'zt'krr stepped back in shock. "That's… impossible."

"Of course it is," Tk'tk'tk replied, "but it's what I saw. A Hierarch stole another D'zd's body. I can still see the Hierarch's robed form falling lifeless to the ground, and then the other D'zd turned around and pulled off the robes and put them on as if nothing had happened."

Bzrt'zrt was speechless.

"I ran out of the city as fast as I could," Tk'tk'tk said. "I didn't take anything with me. I headed to the forest, bent on burying myself in a grave and waiting for the Fossil Wind to claim me."

"Some of my scouts later found Tk'tk'tk barely clinging to life," Krr'kt'zz said. "We rescued zym, hoping we might get some useful information." Ze glanced at the former treasury worker. "I never imagined we'd learn what we did."

"I…" Srrt'zt'krr paused, zyr tact finally disturbed. "I don't understand. What do you expect the Vyx Messengers to do?"

I turned to face Krr'kt'zz. "May I?" I asked. "I think I have a pretty good idea of where you're going with this."

The chieftain bowed at us. "You have the floor."

The guards by the pillars nearest to us stepped out of our way and waved us in.

"After you, Genneth," Suisei said.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Awkwardly, I walked in, with my companions following in from behind. I came to a stop at the top of the terrace ring. I looked the three Chieftains in the flowers.

"We aren't from here," I said. "We were traveling through the Vyx's network, looking for Suisei, when we wandered into your world." I glanced at Krr'kt'zz. "Krr'kt'zz told us the Krr't were locked away in a Tower of Light. Well…" I looked back at my companions. "We've seen that Tower. From what I understand, if we can get to the top of it, we might be able to reverse the changes to your world's climate."

"You… you could drive back the Fossil Wind?" Bzrt'zrt asked, light quivering.

"Yes," I said. "While I don't know if we'll succeed, I can promise that we'll try."

"Yes," Krr'kt'zz said, "and to that end…" ze lowered zyr head. "…they need the Key."

"What?" Bzrt'zrt said. "Why?"

"The Tower is well-defended," Krr'kt'zz explained. "Even with their… powers… I don't think the Messengers will be able to pierce its defenses. But… if they could free the Krr't, they might just stand a chance."

Srrt'zt'krr stared in uncharacteristic shock.

"Even if that came to pass," Bzrt'zrt said, "and that's a fucking big if, how would we deal with Dz'zrt'zt's defenses?"

"We'd go in the tchn't't," Krr'kt'zz said. "I know for a fact that the capital's ballistae can't aim upwards beyond a certain angle. All these years of secrecy will finally pay off: they won't be expecting an attack from the air. As long as we move quickly, we can neutralize the fossil rays and their other defenses and win a decisive victory before the Dominion's forces are able to fully mobilize."

Did ze just say fossil rays?

Krr'kt'zz pointed at Chief Bzrt'zrt. "As you said, using our Passaged tchn't't like this will break our secrets wide open." Ze glanced at Suisei. "I wouldn't suggest this approach unless I was confident it could succeed, and, even if I wasn't, as Zz'zs has explained, we don't have any other option. The longer we wait, the worse things get. We have the Messengers on that side. I pray to the Light that has to be enough. We go big, or we don't go at all."

"High risk, high reward," Srrt'zt'krr said.

"Actually," Suisei said, pressing his hands together, "the risk might be a lot less than I previously thought."

"Do tell, Messenger," Srrt'zt'krr said.

Suisei turned to Nina, his stinger tail bobbing with excitement. "Tell me, how did you do that?"

"Don't you have the same powers, too?" she asked.

"Wait, what?" Krr'kt'zz said.

Suisei stuck out his hand. "Don't worry. I'll explain. Just wait a moment, please." He turned back to Nina. "Yes, I do, but that's hardly the issue. Please, tell me what you did. I need to know how it differed from whatever you normally do to use your powers, if at all. Please try to be as specific as you can."

"I…" Nina looked down at her hands. "I just did what I usually do."

"You're sure?" Suisei asked. "You're absolutely certain?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I've done this quite a few times already."

"Perfect," Suisei said, softly. He clapped his hands together. "This is perfect!"

"Could someone please explain to me what is going on?" Krr'kt'zz asked.

"Gladly," Suisei said. He looked at Nina and I. "Nina here isn't the only one who can use magic like that. Genneth can, as can I."

"What?" Krr'kt'zz stomped one of zyr feet. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Suisei shook his head. "When I first arrived in your world, I recognized your practice of Chant as belonging to the same school of techniques that I was trained to use. However, I've had experience when it comes to using pataphysics across different worlds, and, as a rule, you should never assume that a world's techniques work anywhere else other than in that one world. Granted, that's not always the case, but prefer taking precautions, especially when an incorrect assumption can end up ripping your body apart at the cellular level."

Nina stared at him.

"Krr'kt'zz, what I'm trying to say is: I had power, and I knew your world had power, but I didn't know if they were compatible, and considering how much ambient energy your world has, I didn't want to experiment, because that would risk putting you and others in harm's way." He nodded at Nina. "But, with Nina's help just now, it turns out I had nothing to worry about! I wonder if it might be because this world is mere a simulation, and that, in entering it, we've been altered to be compatible with it. But that's just speculation, and it can wait for another day."

"Where are you going with this?" Srrt'zt'krr asked.

Suisei backed away from the terraced depression in the center of the room.

Nina skittered back in shock, cursing softly. I was going to ask her why when my question answered itself.

Suisei spread his arms with dramatic flair.

Suddenly, the great hall shook. At first, I thought it was an earthquake, but then several massive tendrils of solid rock emerged from the ceiling. The lengthening tendrils reached for the floor, thickening in girth as their ends bent at right angles. Two depressions formed on either side of the flowing limbs of grit and stone—eyes—followed by mouths opening up in the front.

In seconds, Suisei's magic had surrounded us with three sand serpents whose bodies dangled from where they emerged from the ceiling. Mineral grains flowed across their bodies like dunes blown in desert winds. The grains trickled onto the floor when the serpents snapped their jaws.

A single bite of those jaws could have crushed multiple D'zd like twigs.

"I've been itching for a way to make myself useful," Suisei said. "To that end, I think I should be the one to teach your troops their new tricks, no?" He glanced at Nina. "No offense, Ms. Broliguez."

Nina held out her arms. "N-None taken."

Meanwhile, Chief Bzrt'zrt was down in a four-legged kneel, staring at Suisei in tail-drooped awe.

"Y-you can do that?"

Suisei spread his arm as he took a deep bow. "I can do many things, and, let me tell you, when we're through with them, the T'dzd'ch Dominion won't know what hit them!"

Srrt'zk'krr clutched zyr staff tightly. "This is most unexpected."

"Good news rarely is," Suisei replied.

Krr'kt'zz stood up tall. "W-Well… there you have it, everyone! It's simple: if we fail, we die, but if we succeed, everyone wins. Our maligned ancestors will finally be freed. They can lend a hand to aid the Messengers in their quest, and the Messengers will return the favor by putting an end to the Fossil Wind and returning life to the Deathlands. And then, with the help of our forebears, we rebuild this world into something better, something kinder. The wages of action are honor; the cost of inaction is certain death." Krr'kt'zz stepped back. "What say my fellow Chieftains?"

Srrt'zt'krr of the Dzd'chr-kd'zk Clan and Brzt'zrt of the Tzrk'vv'k Clan turned to one another.

"I vote in favor of Krr'kt'zz's proposal," Srrt'zt'krr said.

There was a brief pause.

"I vote in favor of Krr'kt'zz's proposal," Bzrt'zrt said.

Krr'kt'zz stood up tall and yelled. "It's decided! We are going to war!"

And then the crowd went wild.