Speaker for the Animals

If It Were Only A Dragon [Chapter 18]

Farvin inexplicably led us back in the correct direction, heading north from the village. I managed to convince them to keep their mouths shut until we saw signs of anything unnatural.

I heard a lowing somewhere beyond the thicket of trees. Leading the way, I peeked over a bush to see a clearing packed with animals. In particular, domesticated animals all seeming to enjoy the morning sun, blissfully unaware of there being some animal fornicator about.

“There they are,” Eriques said, furiously patting my shoulder.

“I see them,” I huffed back.

“And so many of them,” Farvin noticed, inching up toward me.

“So many, ripe for the… no, I can’t bear to say it,” my squire shuddered lowly.

My eyes traced the makeshift paddock, up to an ancient, weathered tree towering over the area. A series of ramshackle buildings were put up around it, halfway between something temporary and permanent.

“Someone lives here,” I pointed out the shaded structure.

“Or something,” Farvin added.

I couldn’t help but imagine that something was strange. The animals all looked to be acting normally. The cows grazed, the chickens pecked the ground, the pigs mucked about, and there were even a few instances of defecation. “Something isn’t right. If so many animals are out here, how are there even any left back in the village?”

Eriques licked his lips and shook his head. “Breeding them,” he hissed. “When the fiend isn’t breeding WITH them!”

A door within the tree house structure suddenly opened. I forced my head down before making the others do the same. “What are you doing!” I hissed. “It will see us.”

“She,” Said Farvin, poking his head up for one last look.

“She?” I repeated.

“Not too old, nor ugly in the slightest,” he added.

Eriques tried to look up, but I already had a hold on his shoulder, knowing he would try to do so. “If it is a woman… then she lacks the parts to take advantage of these animals,” he pondered.

I slapped at my knee, cursing my fate. “It must be some sort of magic to throw us off. The same magic that took our minds from us. And that Elf from the capital went on ahead and left this to remain our task.”

“What now, Glad?” Eriques asked, trying to look over the bushes one more.

I shifted about and glanced over the top of the foliage, attempting to find our target once more. “Magi aren’t often that sturdy. We must rush at her, it, before it can cast any further incantations. Cover its mouth and restrain its hands if you—“

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud snorting and a scraping of the dirt behind us. I jerked about just in time to see a cow preparing to rush our concealed position.

“Run!”

The three of us hurdled the bushes with the cow hot on our heels. We had barely gone a step forward when a tall tree root brought us to the ground as if it had been put there on purpose. When I looked up, I saw the bare feet and hairy yet slender legs of a young woman. As Farvin had said, she was not ugly, but her long green-blond hair was unbrushed, with signs of sticks and moss inhabiting it.

“Do not dare thee move an inch!” She wailed at us. I recognized the voice as the one who had screeched through the night as the wind blew.

“No, you!” Eriques shouted, attempting to stand. I glanced down to find our boots entangled in more roots, not to mention the cow breathing heavily still at our rear.

I pushed myself up onto my elbows. “We’re here to stop you from your unnatural acts upon these animals! If we are not released, I have an assembly of men who will come searching for us!”

The young woman trounced about on her dirty bare feet, callused and hairy from their use in such a state. “Ugh, more men.”

“One of them is a woman,” Eriques spoke up.

The woman kicked her foot up and dragged her toes against my squire’s face, leaving a trio of dirty streaks. “Enough! You dare to say that what I have here is unnatural? No, it is the villagers who have taken these animals out of nature! Put them behind fences! And for what? For them to be used as food, without even a chance to fight!”

I found balance on my knees, trying to present myself in a slightly decent way. “There are… strange rumors in the village to the south. At the moment, I am feeling inclined to believe that there is no truth to them. But you, what are you exactly? By your look and speech, I might say… a vegan?”

The woman stomped at me and grinned with fervor. “I am a Druid, thank you for asking! But yes, also a vegan. An ascendant one at that. I never even partook in the milk from my mother’s teat. If you desire my name, I am Nariza.”

Eriques hunched himself up by my side. “A vegan? That some class of mage?”

I slung my elbow at him. “Shut it, I shall save the explaining for later. Nariza, is it? What powerful magic you have, to put us under those beguiling charms.”

“Damned vegan magic,” My squire butted in, jutting his head towards her.

The woman tilted her head with a grin. “How kind of you to notice that my abstinence from the product of creatures and overall empathy for their kind empowers my druidic magics.”

I huffed, continually trying to fight against the restraint of the roots. “Damn it, we don’t care about your magics! There is yet something we demand you explain here.”

“I have no duty to explain anything to you,” she said, crossing her arms and turning her head away.

Eriques pounded at the ground menacingly. “You might as well just kill us then!”

Nariza squinted at the squire and shook her head before looking at me. “Are you this man’s caretaker? Give him a book or something for once.”

I sighed and lowered my head. “Believe me, I’ve tried.”

The woman rolled her eyes and began pacing. “Believe it or not, humans are an animal as well. It’s against my beliefs to kill you, especially seeing how dumb you are. If I answer your question, will you depart this place?”

“The animals back in the village,” I asked, wasting no time. “There are some that are not quite right.”

Nariza stopped her pacing and smirked. “So, you have seen through my illusion? Those are my creations. To replace the ones I have invited to live with me here, free from the fear of being eaten.” She swayed about, turning to face the clearing and the animals grazing and resting.

“They barely act like animals!” I called out to her.

She jerked back around. “Is that so? Well, excuse me. They are essentially puppets, after all. Making them act like the real thing is harder than you would think. And the thought patterns of a chicken are more complex than they would let onto. My specialty is in phantasms, things non-tangible. Hallucinations.”

“Ah yes, as I said, we’ve quite enjoyed those,” I sighed. “If we leave now, will you stop stealing the village’s livestock? We made a deal with them to have this situation fixed.”

Nariza stood tall before us, her hair bristling and voice returned to a shriek. “And leave them to be taken advantage of! I will not cease until every one of them has been freed from their human slave masters!”

On my other side, Farvin had pushed himself up, finger raised in question. “Is this really the best place for all these animals?”

“Who are you to question me!?” Nariza wailed, hands formed into balls.

Farvin brushed the dirt off his chest. “Just a simple farmer, miss. But hear me out. The chickens, yeah? They lay eggs. Do ya not eat those?”

“Of course not. The hens must sit upon them to create more life!”

“I have not laid my eyes on a rooster, though,” the easterner noted, looking around. “The eggs will never be fertilized. If the eggs just sit… they rot. And old eggs smell like a waste pit. But that’s all if the hens don’t get a taste for their own eggs. You’ll never stop them from smashing ‘em up after that. Heck, chickens will even peck each other to death and eat up. Nasty feathered creatures.”

“I shall have a talk with them before that happens,” Nariza sneered. “And a rooster shall be in order.”

“What about the cows?” Farvin continued.

“What about them?”

“Mama cows gotta feed their little ones. That’s what milk’s for. And a full udder is a pain for them.”

Nariza rolled her head from side to side anxiously. “If I must milk them…”

“And pigs, you know,” the easterner continued. “If they go wild, they get all nasty and mean. Grow big long teeth, dark hair. Definitely not nice to deal with. They’ll tear up the forest all around here.”

“Even my mushrooms?” The druid leaned in close. “Those are my staple!”

“Especially the mushrooms. And ya know, back at the village, they got those fences and even some hounds to keep these animals safe. Wolves, they said in these parts. You know what those guys like the most? Sheep. And I’ll tell ya’…”

“Enough!” Nariza shrieked, kicking up dirt in Farvin’s way.

Throughout the distraction, I had managed to use my sword to pry my feet free of the roots and return to standing. I helped Eriques and Farvin next.

“Have you heard enough yet?” I asked the woman.

“Certainly,” she huffed, ready to turn back to her home. “Leave here, I shall send these animals back to where they… belong, I guess.”

“I have a proposal, first,” I called out. My squire scratched his head, puzzled.

“What would I ever want from you at this point?” She hissed.

“There is a dragon to the east!” I called out, pointing in the direction that was probably east. “Quite the intelligent creature, fully aware of its actions. And it has been snacking on livestock.”

“People, too,” Eriques added.

“Another ally, one as powerful as yourself, would be a great boon to us. You would only need to go with us to the village and pretend we were taking you captive.”

Nariza strolled back, her head nodding. “And is that all?”

I thought for a moment or two then shrugged. “There is another magi who we call our ally. She knows of a vegan-friendly recipe called futo. I’m sure she would love to share it with you.”

“A woman, was it, this mage?”

I nodded. “Aye.”

“Allow me to pack a few things. And say goodbye to the animals.”

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