.
I could swim faster using Water mana, but my tail still allowed me speeds impossible for a human. With alarm boosting my speed, it took me less than five minutes to cover the mile or so to the exit. After another two minutes, as the water became too shallow for swimming, I breached the surface inside the passage and drew in a long breath, coming to a stop at last.
As the tiny stream babbling down from the lake above echoed in the tunnel, I realized that my heart was hammering against my ribs, and imagined I could hear its echoes as well. I extended my fairy sense as far behind me in search of a pursuer.
Once I was convinced I had not been followed, I lifted my tail and waggled it, shaking my head at the ludicrous sight of dolphin-like flukes waving in response.
Probably, without the habits ingrained from Senhion’s centuries of practice, I could not have done what I had just accomplished so easily. Yes, baby dolphins swim from birth, or at least within minutes of it, but they surely don’t dash through the brine at high speed without practice.
I sighed, closed my eyes, and tried to pull my currently imaginary pair of legs apart. The resistance felt like those legs were tightly wrapped in plastic, but then they materialized and pulled apart. I opened my eyes to see, to my relief, the proof that I did know how to transform back to a bipedal land creature.
For a bit, I wondered about what my foster siblings would think, if they saw my half-dolphin version. Then I laughed at the worry. They had seen me grow wings many times. This was hardly any different. Having half non-physical flesh and bone means having the potential for all sorts of crazy transformations. The tales I had heard of nymphs, sylphs, huldras and nereids turning themselves respectively into deer, giant eagles, cows and dolphins had a solid chance of being true.
Looking at it with knowledge from Senhion, I realized that those people either possessed fully developed spiritual bodies or were making a one-way trip. Abandoning the quasi-human brain of a fairy would be a risky decision. I was going to make darned sure my vessel was developed enough to support my consciousness entirely on its own before I ever took such a dangerous action.
After heaving a sigh, I stood and waded forward. I reached the point where the parkway to my right emerged from the water, and stepped up onto its mossy surface to make the walking easier.
I guess my brain had dulled a bit from the adrenaline-charged dash I had just made. I probably walked fifty paces before it dawned on me I had enough room in this passage to fly. After all, I had flown the other direction, less than an hour previously.
When I stopped at the portal to report to Dilorè, I learned that my dear cousin had roused the king from sleep to present him with the imp corpse right there in the royal bedchamber. She was still with him, so I was able to relay my report directly to him through the link.
I had introduced myself as ‘Lady Tia Mona’ of course, the identity I had used while in his capital, so his words were those of a superior to an inferior, and, as he accurately guessed from my voice, a young one. Thanks to that, he was hesitant to believe the class of the demons involved.
“Lady Tia, I don’t doubt your word that there are higher demons present, but an archdemon is a SS class demon. To a young one such as yourself, an asura might look SS class, but they aren’t the same level.”
Fortunately it was only an audio connection. He didn’t see my eyes roll.
“Your Majesty, with all due respect, I have fought an asura more than once. I can state with confidence that this was no asura. Although I should add, he had two asuras among his retinue.”
“You don’t need to exaggerate, young lady…”
“Cousin,” Dilorè interrupted the king, “perhaps it is time to drop your traveling alias and give His Majesty your real name?”
I frowned, instantly furious with her. I had a very good reason to be concealing it. Arelia was easily big enough to be sent fugitive reports of high-interest targets. It would be dangerous if Parna had distributed my name.
“I understand your hesitation,” she added, sounding amused, “But I’m sure that, at this point, your royal grandfather would expect his granddaughter to fully identify herself.”
Oh. That name.
I decided she was right, and declared, “Your Majesty, I apologize for my late introduction, and for giving you a traveling alias. Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Tiana of the High Forest, granddaughter of the Fairy King, daughter of Princess Deharè, and myself a Princess of Faerie. I am also Lady Dilorè’s senior as a fairy knight, although I am currently traveling in disguise as an itinerate swordswoman.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” Lady Dilorè stated, sounding tickled. Maybe the king was making an amusing expression.
I added, “I can assure you, Your Majesty, that I will be making precisely the same report to my grandfather. It is no exaggeration.”
It took a few seconds before His Majesty responded.
“I apologize for questioning your word, Your Highness,” the king said, sounding a bit cowed, although technically, he did still outrank me. It was the ‘of Faerie’ part that was making the difference, not the ‘Princess’ part.
“Your Highness, let’s leave it at this,” my cousin told me, “I will negotiate with His Majesty. We’ll speak again in the morning.”
# # #
Breakfast was fruit and leftover fish. Lunch was veggies, fruit and nuts. Dinner was about to be veggies and fish again when I broke open the wax-sealed package of dried meat in my wallet and nearly caused Amelia and Chiara to burst into tears.
It’s jerky, Amelia. Shouldn’t a princess like you look down on it in disdain?
I suppose two straight weeks of veggies and fish for dinner can do that. Especially to a princess accustomed to dining on the variety of food cultures offered by a kingdom the size of China.
My dealings with Amelia were very complicated during this time. Not only was she still barely coping with Chiara’s betrayal, the whole idea that her foster sister Tiana had previously been somebody else completely, and furthermore a powerful being from a time before the Age of Legends, was troubling her.
Adding the fact that I was technically not her Tiana at all would have only made it worse, so I decided against complicating things further. I would confess that part some day when everyone was safe and nobody’s safety depended upon me.
I did make two trips into the pleasure dome, morning and evening, to communicate with Dilorè, but really, nothing much happened on my side. Everything of note was happening in places I could not reach, leaving me with an anxious feeling.
Arelia, Gado and Amaga were in agreement, yet no troops were moving yet.
Why? It was the day of the First Lunar Quarter. A lunar day is a holy day in these parts. When you’re about to launch a military expedition, the last thing you want to do is anger the gods.
Allia wouldn’t allow the team to move either. Having married a Benemite, she knew how serious they were about holy days. She didn’t want to piss off our allies.
It was just as well. I wanted to find a way out for Amelia and company before they started anything. I just couldn’t figure one out. There was an archdemon in the way.
So the day that marked two months since I reincarnated into this body was spent finding ways to cope with my frustration. I shed my clothes and spent several hours underwater in the lake, practicing my swimming, both with magic and with flukes, and practicing switching between them. Flukes + Mana was my fastest form, I discovered. I could reach nearly sixty miles per hour with the combination. The lake was about three miles long, so I was able to sprint for some considerable distances.
With the arrival of Secondday came the report from Dilorè that they were in the pass over the Giant’s Fortress. They had departed after moonset to hide from Berado birdmen.
“It’s myself, Lady Allia, Ceria and Ryuu. We left Arken in the village so they would have a magician with them, just in case.”
“Ryuu? Why?”
“Allia wants him to practice a new assault technique on the snow we’re removing.”
“He’s using a magic sword technique? He could cause an avalanche!”
“She’s hoping that he does. If there’s a sheet of snow ready to break loose, she wants to trigger it in advance, before the troops are coming over the pass.”
“That’s nuts!”
Dilorè let out a merry laugh. “I really like the way this Allia woman thinks. I wonder if she has fairy blood.”
“What will you guys do if it works?”
“Fly out. I’m standing ready to carry Allia. Talene will carry Ceria.”
“What about Ryuu?” I asked.
“Allia told him to take care of himself. I guess she expects him to fight his way out.”
Allia, an avalanche is not an enemy you can fight with a sword, though?
I facepalmed. I couldn’t see this plan as anything but insanity.
“And the horses?”
“They’re at the foot of the trail, outside the avalanche zone.”
Secondday was much the same as Firstday, except I was out of jerky. I went to the gardeners in the afternoon and had another chat with Busy Lu. I learned that she would permit one rabbit and one miniature deer a week. The tiny population of a hundred or so foxes depended upon the small population of prey animals, so we could only take a little.
We had neither Brigitte’s bow nor my crossbow, but when I informed her, she just grinned and patted the scabbard of the dagger she borrowed from me.
“I’ll be right back,” she promised and promptly left.
Dinner was grilled rabbit. The princess was in heaven.
My evening contact with Dilorè brought word that the clearing had been a success… Ryuu had indeed triggered not one but two avalanches. They had the crest of the pass and a significant portion down each side cleared and would finish the job the following day.
After I hung up with her, I realized that I forgot to ask how Ryuu had avoided getting buried.
