Chapter 86

Zaryusu woke up at an hour when the sun had still not graced the world, the beams of light that would kiss the ground had not made their appearance. However, even if they had, beneath the thick canopy of the trees on the grassy and weedy bit of ground where he lay still entwined with Crusch Lulu, no light could ever hope to pierce through much.

The long night of lovemaking, scale to scale and tail to tail had done nothing to rob the young lizardman of his vigor or his zeal to protect his people, and upon awakening he rose with energy surging through his body, as if he could take on the world if it threatened his people, and somehow win.

Despite this, he did his best to disengage himself from his lover with care, moving as slowly as a thief in the night, his motions barely disturbing the sea of green and brown that surrounded him in the shadows of twilight's twilight.

The light of the false dawn would begin before long, but his day had begun before that of the eternal sun. He went to check the guards and found them where they should be, the powerful warriors over whom he had been made chief clearly took their duties seriously.

That was a relief at least, he felt the racing blood begin to slow in his body and calm overcame him. Zaryusu went to each one in turn, slapping them on their shoulders and saying, "Thank you for watching over us." Or some variation thereof.

They grunted, seemingly indifferent, but in their eyes he could see they were pleased to have their service appreciated.

The smell of the dew on the ground grew rich and the sounds of the day began with the cries of birds. The breeze picked up and blew over his body, wrapping around him like a familiar warm blanket while insects lit on his body and dreamed of being able to penetrate his thick scales.

It didn't take long to make the rounds, but he had barely finished when the alarm went up.

Lizardmen shouted their warnings and those who were awake shot to their feet immediately. Others sprang up from deep slumbers almost as fast as those who were already awake.

Crusch Lulu somehow knew exactly where he was and rushed to his side, a clutch of warriors formed up at either side of him, their spears and clubs made ready for battle when he raised Frost Pain above his head like a beacon.

The tendrils of daylight that finally peeked over the far horizon struck the icy blue of his jagged magic weapon and made it shine like a star fallen to the world.

The shadows that had caused the alarm slowly became more than shadowy blurs, and when they could be seen more clearly they one and all relaxed.

"Lizardmen…" Somebody said.

Crusch Lulu sighed with relief, 'All these warriors, and they instinctively rally to where Zaryusu stands….'

He almost seemed to take it as a given that they would be there, and that he would be at the center, his tail relaxed and at ease, his fist tightly closed around the hilt of his weapon.

The announcement that it was their own race was a relief, the barrier of tribalism meant nothing compared to the threat of annihilation, and so they waited and waved.

When they drew close enough, Zaryusu felt a sigh of relief come over him. 'Razor Tail.' The center figure in the advance could be none other than Kyuku Zuzu, bearer of the White Dragon Bone Armor.

Zaryusu reflexively took the lead and approached the fast moving band. The sound of their feet at a steady jog was finally audible, a low rumble as they made their way along the long shore path which dimmed as the group came closer and finally stopped.

The white armored Kyuku Zuzu broke from the group and approached after his tribe stopped. They raised their hands shoulder's height away from their weapons. "Kyuku Zuzu greets you." He had a crude voice, a simple and dull one that pained Zaryusu for him. The curse of the White Bone Armor had robbed a genius of his mind and given him vastly greater defensive power.

"Zaryusu Sasha greets you also." Zaryusu answered, "Razor Tail joins Small Fang, Green Claw, Red Eye, and Dragon Tusk?" That was the key question to ask of the simple minded chief.

Kyuku Zuzu inclined his head. "Tribe say this for good." He smacked his heavily armored chest, "Kyuku protects!"

Zaryusu smacked his own chest in the same way. "Zaryusu protects!" He replied.

The armor covered most of Kyuku's body, but his face was still visible,and the tribal chieftain's eyes sharpened for a moment.

"Kyuku will fight with you." The chief replied with agonizing slowness, as if he were trying to swim through water to break through the surface of his mind and speak with some intelligence, enough at least to let him affirm their bond.

"How did you follow so fast?" Zaryusu asked, 'They shouldn't have come this far, not with their old to watch out for.'

"No old left, we run." Kyuku said with glistening eyes, like a simpleton whose only pet had just died.

"I am sorry." Zaryusu said and made a horrified mental note to ask what happened later, the tearful look in the simpleton's eyes told him the chief understood that whatever happened meant that the old would be gone forever, but asking why would be salt on an open wound. 'I can find out from the others, we needn't know just now.' He told himself and he waved his hand behind him.

"We move together back to the Green Claw village. There we fight, go take prisoners, learn how frogmen come for us with many." Zaryusu explained, and again his simple terms reached through the simple mind to be understood.

Kyuku raised his empty hand again and gestured toward the waiting allies, and the Razor Tail added their numbers to the band.

The journey back to the Greenclaw village was with the armored Razor Tail falling in with the rest, a few scouts kept back and front to keep an eye out for any potential trouble. As a precaution they kept away from the lake to avoid any potential ambush, and the sunrise of morning passed into the steady slog of midday, and then finally became evening again.

Zaryusu made love to Crusch again that night, and again they fell asleep in each other's arms, and the routine began again before the sun arose on the day after.

Finally the Greenclaw village came into view, a little dot at first, Zaryusu felt relief flood through him, relief that became a sudden panic when he heard shouting louder than any he had ever heard in all the years of his life before.

'Danger! The village is in danger!' It was an immediate sense of panic that hit the lizardman and he very nearly ordered an attack before he felt the hand of Crusch Lulu on his arm.

"Wait. Listen." She whispered to him, and he listened more closely to the shouting in the village, and looked more closely as well. There was no indication of fire, though it meant very little to him since frogmen seemed to have a deep and abiding hatred for fire in general.

The shouts were gleeful, they were… 'Cheering? Why are they cheering?' Zaryusu wondered. Answer or no answer, cheering was a relief.

So they rode on, slow, steady, and finally came close enough to the gate to realize that nobody was watching outside the walls, all eyes were centered within.

Someone 'finally' sensed the approaching mass and shouted to alert those within, gesturing wildly, the lizardman youth had his hands waving frantically, a spear thrusting over and over up toward the sky, he all but danced, tail and body alike.

Zaryusu looked at the youth as if he'd gone utterly mad, but nonetheless he led the tribes toward the wide gate and into the interior. Ahead he saw a tall figure that stood like a human, his back straight and eyes forward speaking with some of the elders. The figure wore a rich dark cloth which even at a glance he knew would have been worth a fortune in a human marketplace. At the robed man's side however was something that immediately caused his eyes to lock on and every fiber of his body screaming danger.

The lance-bearing knight was half the size of the tall figure, and yet with scarlet armor covering their body, it was obvious that danger lay, the promise of unbeatable violence, waiting to be unleashed.

"We are damned or saved, by what I am seeing now." He whispered in a hushed voice so low he doubted himself that he even said what he did.

He retained his doubt until his brother approached and embraced him so tightly that the claws of his fingers dug like knives into Zaryusu's body. To the uncertainty he had but moments before expressed, he now had his answer just as quickly.