Maledictus Terra Book 3: Vetitum Nemus Part 13

Greetings All

I hope your week has been fantastic! I actually had a whole three days off, which was amazing. I managed to get some of my own writing done for a change.

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Magna had her party, though Mary wasn’t pleased that she had chosen Noxus. Magna had argued that having a court advisor would be to her benefit and Mortis had backed her up, agreeing and mentioning that Noxus would likely keep Gorox in his place as well. Even though Noxus never completed her initiation, Gorox considered her to be an initiate and respected her powers.

Noxus wasn’t pleased. She thought she was done adventuring, and when Mary had asked her to remain as a court advisor, she had given up her dream of becoming a mage of Hiral Kai. While she had only been in the service of the queen for a few months, they had become fast friends, likely because Mary finally had someone who could be weak around. Noxus respected the queen for allowing her to be a friend. Noxus had never had many friends before, not many peasant children wanted to be friends with a magic user, and life was hard for her parents until they gave her to the temple.

Noxus was shaken from her musing when a trumpet blew. It rattled her bones, but the war mount below her was calm. It did snort at her as she pulled on its reins but didn’t do much else. Gorox was elated and rose on the stirrups of his horse and bellowed a response while burnishing his hammer. He hadn’t changed a bit in these last two months.

“I suppose that counts as a hello then.” Said Magna as she sat on Derric’s back.

The boy had insisted on traveling in his wolf form and Magna was only too pleased. Before they had left, Noxus had taken the young man aside and chided him for his behaviour during the meeting, reminding him that how he spoke to or about the princess privately was no one’s business, but in front of her subjects, he needed to curb his tongue. He hadn’t been appreciative, but through the castle grapevine, Noxus had heard that Magna had also reiterated her words. The girl was going to be a strong queen if her mother stopped trying to control her.

As the group traveling approached the open field that had been dedicated to this meeting, several creatures stepped forth to welcome them. Mortis and Gorox climbed from their horses and greeted the welcoming company.

The goblin Sporeseer, Zreld Erd Stretmong, darted between their feet to bow lowly in front of Derric.

“He even has his father’s form. How majestic, how strong, how…”

The goblin stopped when he noticed Magna riding on Derric’s back. He frowned deeply, followed by a sneer, which turned into a wicked grin.

“And bows to his love the same as Garric.” He added before a peel of laughter echoed from him.

Confused, Derric could only tilt his head, while Magna slid from his back to greet the small humanoid.

“Greetings Spooreseer Zreld Erd Stretmong. I am the daughter of Queen Mary of Dragonshold. I am Magna, and these are my companions. Allow me to introduce them to you.” Magna swept her arm over her companions.

“In the front is my personal guard, Mortis. Next to him is Gorox, a marauder of Vallox Kai. This is Noxus, our court advisor and mage. Over here is my brother…”

Before Magna could continue introductions, a large warrior clad in leathers and skins stepped forward and asked, “Why do you speak for the royal family if you have a brother?”

Adrian sighed and closed his eyes. He could already feel the tension and heat radiating from his sister, but he knew enough of the greenskins to understand that this was a challenge, and Magna needed to answer it to earn their respect.

The princess, not heeding any royal etiquette, snorted and continued saying, “This is my brother, he is a court mage in training. And of course, all of you know Derric.”

Zreld Erd Stretmong tried to stop what happened, but he was too small, too weak. The massive warrior pushed Magna back, making the challenge known. The princess, having tried her mother’s way, gave up and resorted to what Gorox had told her. She wound her arm back and rocketed it forward to collide with the creature’s jaw before her, knocking the untied helm off its head. The creature barely moved while the princess shook her hand once. There was silence, then a roar escaped the mouth of the creature she hit before it fell upon her.

Mortis was ready to step in, but Gorox gripped his arm and shook his head, indicating around them. No one from the Mawtribe moved but were rather watching the fight in interest. Mortis could see trinkets being passed around between several creatures watching the fight.

“They’re making bets?” he exclaimed.

“They’re a different people. It’s why I instructed the princess on the correct way to react if this was one of the outcomes and forbade Derric from doing anything. Strength is everything to these people. Don’t interfere.”

Within minutes, Magna had her opponent pinned beneath her, despite the size difference. She gripped the front of the leathers to raise the creature to face her, before viciously colliding both their foreheads together. Adrian only shook his head and covered his face to hide the mirth that was spreading. While less and less of the Fiery One was in his sister, it had awakened a side of her that would have made their father so proud.

“Yield!” yelled the creature as it pressed a hand against its bleeding forehead.
It was laughing. Magna was not. She got to her feet and faced Zreld Erd Stretmong.

“Is this how you greet a princess of the land?”

“Well…uhm…you did a pretty good job doing likewise to ours.”

“Wait, hold on.” Magna turned to Noxus, “I thought you said they cultivate more of their species.”

“Goblins yes, your Majesty.” Said Zreld, “The orcs, not so much. They have genders.”

Magna turned back to the creature she had brawled with as it got to its feet. It was pressing a hand to its forehead while purple liquid similar to blood leaked from it. Magna was snapped out of her musings when red trickled into her eyes.

“Father is going to love you!” exclaimed the creature as she flicked her dark, plaited hair back, who then turned to Adrian, “Do you fight like your sister?”

Adrian, knowing exactly where this conversation was going, but not wanting to hurt the creature’s feelings, simply said, “I’m afraid, I’m nothing like my sister when it comes to fighting. I would make a terrible sparing partner, fighting or otherwise.”

The creature snorted and said, “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Adrian didn’t know if that was a threat or a promise and couldn’t help blushing. The creature, with a paler green skin, almost white, turned to Magna and said, “Well met princess. I Gorma, Thunder Splitter. I welcome you to our camp.”

“See, I told you.” Whispered Gorox to Mortis.

Back to Zak.

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