…

  Zaryusu Shasha walked along the trail to the Red Eye tribe’s vilge. His hydra, Rororo, walked behind him as he did so. The day was new, as it had taken a whole day for the traveler to get there.

  He himself did know that they only had about a week until the demon army came to their door, yet he had moved as fast as he could there. He sighed as he looked upon the wooden gate. The fg of the Red Eye tribe hung proudly as he heard people move behind the gate.

  The walls were rge, yet simple things. He had seen the style many times, yet had seen many more significant walls before in his travels. It sat in the swamp, just like any other building in this pce. He smiled, thinking now of the simirities of the differing lizardman tribes. As he studied the pce itself, he heard people move behind the gate.

  “I am Zaryusu Shasha, emissary of the Green Cw tribe. I am here to talk of the demon army that seems hellbent on ensving us,” he said with a bit of a holler.

  It took a minute, the sounds of the lizardmen behind the walls made him pause and listen. He tapped Frost Pain impatiently. The magic weapon giving him ease of mind.

  Finally, after some time, the doors opened. What greeted his eyes was an old man, his scales greying with age. He stood in front of two other warriors, their postures ridged. The elder spoke, his voice clear and aged.

  “The one who holds the tribe together will see you now,” he said, his voice stained as he spoke the strangely long title.

  Zaryusu Shasha nodded his head, walking into the vilge with his hydra unimpeded. This sent his mind into confusion. Why would they let him enter with such a dangerous pet? He knew not, though, he wasn’t compining.

  He soon made his way through the small vilge, much smaller in popution than he had first thought. The houses seemed lightly poputed. The walkways built to keep children and people in general weren’t busy at all.

  Perhaps the war had hit them harder than they had thought? That might be it, after all, they stayed out of the fighting. It was entirely possible that they had fallen into infighting, and were still somewhat starved.

  Finally, after only a couple of minutes of walking, he had come to the leaders home. In all honesty, he was uneasy. This whole scenario reeked of trap to him. After all, why else would they let him keep his hydra in the bounds of the vilge if they didn’t want to kill the both of them? He nodded his head, that made sense.

  “You may come in,” a rather feminine voice called to him, “you may enter.”

  He nodded his head once more and pushed the door open. It was in that instant that his eyes locked onto beauty incarnate. Her skin was snow white. Her eyes gleamed like ruby. The way she sat down even captivated him.

  “I am the current pceholder for the vilge chief. My name is Crusch Lulu,” she introduced herself.

  He couldn’t even speak, she enraptured him so. It was so strange, he had always been a fighter, a lone man. His brother would call him an idiot for not finding a mate.

  Yet as he beheld her, he couldn’t help but think that all those lines would be false now. Yet, as he looked upon her form, she reeled back somewhat. Her face turned somber, and the mood dipped more than it had.

  “To think, that even the bearer of the great and legendary Frost Pain, would find me to be repulsive,” she said and looked to the floor.

  He couldn’t help himself. He felt his instincts take over. He kneeled on the floor. His tail stood up, and out of his mouth came a chirping call. He couldn’t believe what he had done. To ruin such a moment was so stupid of him.

  “What!? What are you doing?!” Crusch Lulu spoke, her voice confused and somewhat happy.

  “I am dearly sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. You are simply beautiful; as beautiful as the snow on the Azerlisia Mountains,” he spoke, his tone firm and unyielding.

  “What!” she said in response, not able to form words, “I have never had a male be so forward, let alone do this,” she said, trying and failing to hide the blush upon her face.

  “While I did not come here to confess my sudden love for you, I humbly ask that we wed,” He said, and shocked the other Lizardman more, “Though, that can be spoken of ter,” he said like a sage love sage.

  Crusch could only nod her head in understanding, and try and keep, and fail to keep, her tail down. His own tail had given him away. Pointed up in the air, he was barely holding on without crashing out in embarrassment.

  “I came here to discuss the demon army that is coming to sy my whole tribe, and likely vassalize the rest of the tribes here in the swamp,” he said, and this earned a slightly confused head tilt from Crusch.

  “What do you mean, sy all of your tribe? About a day ago, maybe a day and a half, the clouds above our very heads swirled and changed. Out came a rather stranger monster, it spoke that we are to y down our arms, and be ready in ten days, else we all be sughtered. Is that not what happened to your tribe?” she asked, concerned.

  “No, a demon made its appearance known to us,” he started, and the other lizardman leaned forward, “This demon apparently came to tell us directly that we were be an example to the rest of the tribes on what happens if you disobey. We just so happened to have an outsider to the swamp living in the vilge with us, a human named Valencia. She knew the demon’s master, and they held a discussion that quickly led to the demon leaving and warning us of our imminent destruction. He didn’t tell us the time we had, yet Valencia is familiar with this demon that leads the army enough to tell us how long it usually takes for them to attack. That being a week after the message is sent,” he said, his voice stained from the long line he had spoken.

  “Oh, that is very bad,” Crusch simply said, not really knowing what to do with that knowledge, “I’m guessing you pn on fighting back. After all, I would guess that you wouldn’t, and couldn’t take that ying down?” she asked.

  “No,” he simply responded.

  …

  Zogsalken