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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2016 9:12 pm
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Nateica lounged, fat and indolent atop her mounded pile of reeds and cattail fluff. It was as soft a throne as you could get in the middle of the swamp. She'd made the tribe fetch her furs once, but they'd quickly rotted to nothing in the damp climate. She, the alligator queen, ruled over all that she surveyed. Her subjects floated listlessly in the oily water. One, her attendant for the day, stood anxiously to attention several paces away. His anxiety was well merited. She'd eaten the last servant who'd displeased her.
"Kota," she growled, voice as deep and resonant as any wild gator's might be. "Get the reports from the border patrols, and make it quick." There was only one thing she really cared about in those useless reports: Any news of her brother. Her brother, after all, was how she kept command over the pathetic bunch of weaklings that once had dared lord over her. Her brother would kill all of them if given the chance. Her rule was merciful compared to what he'd do, or so her subjects and slaves thought.
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2016 9:17 pm
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Every nerve in Falchion's body screamed "danger! danger!" He knew it was a fine line he walked here. He knew his parents and grandparents would have forbidden it if they knew where he went off to. He'd heard of this alligator tribe months ago, dark rumors about a previously peaceful tribe ruled over by a demon. Something about the story had captured him then and left him unable to leave well enough alone. This wasn't his first time here and he hoped it wouldn't be his last. He was playing messenger here, between the embattled alligators and the outside world.
Not all of the alligators wanted help, that was what made this truly dangerous. It wasn't difficult to avoid the demon, she was but one creature, even if a terrible one. It was far more difficult to avoid the others. Some, astoundingly, were loyal to their fiendish overlord. Maybe they were afraid. Maybe it was something else. Falcion didn't understand it, and his contact, Itztli, could tell him little more.
It was Itztli that he waited for now. He just prayed that he'd see the dark alligator's face before anyone else's.
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2016 9:21 pm
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2016 9:23 pm
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2016 9:36 am
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Dread and curiosity warred within Falchion the longer he waited. Eventually curiosity won out. He had to know where Itzli was, and he wasn't going to find him by staying put. Quietly, he began moving through the marsh. He hoped his dark colors would keep him hidden in the shaded grays of the area, but doubted it would give him much protection.
A frog, startled out from hiding, splashed noisily int the water. Falchion froze, waiting to see if there were any sounds of larger alarm. There were not. Frogs jumping weren't really unusual in the swamp, he supposed. He moved forward. Eventually, the muffled sounds of voices reached him. His blood curdled when he realized who one of the voices was coming from.
He could see her through an opening in a bramble patch. She was monstrously white, the color of grubs he'd seen rooting through dead wood. It was the alligator walker queen herself. He stayed utterly still, knowing that if she spotted him it could mean his end.
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2016 9:40 am
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If alligators could sweat, Itzli would be sweating. He was all too aware of how many people didn't survive these little informal meetings with Nateica.
"We've seen prints," he said carefully. "But have not sighted him otherwise."
Prints. Nateica's eyes narrowed. If there were prints, that meant Teocipactli had been close enough to make them. If he was close enough to leave prints where her scouts could find them but they had not seen him making them, that meant there was a whole in security. To think that he could dare to tread on her lands. A low growl rose in her throat.
"Fools," she growled, tail quivering. "He taunts us. He taunts me! He knows I cannot guard all sides at once, and that my followers are too stupid to find him." Really, she didn't guard any sides personally. She'd fight him if she knew he was around, but she never went looking. That was work for someone else.
"If you are too stupid to keep watch on our borders, more of your pathetic kind need to be pressed into service."
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2016 9:42 am
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