There was a bit of a tension once Orion, Tam, Bas, and Hazel woke up and started on the road again. It took a night to settle in that they were actually planning treason—the prospect seemed less promising in the cold of morning.
The road cut through the midst of the plains once again, but this time, tall plants were growing side by side—different shades of yellow, red, and blue as far as they could see. Only when they were on horseback could they see over the fields. The plains were one homogenous mass, aside from the occasional tree or desire path created by animals. The freeze had not affected the plants; the only sign of the heavy snow was the occasional puddle and muddy spot.
They slowed their horses, letting an animal cross the stone path unhindered. There was a black mask over its face, with a long fluffy tail and six fingered paws. It looked towards them and paused.
Sirius crouched down; her sharp claws were digging into the dirt and her tail was high in the air, wagging in excitement. The creature’s ears were pointed forward.
Orion called out immediately, “Sirius, don’t go after the trash panda!”
“Trash panda?” Bas questioned with a laugh.
“Yeah, so what?” Orion wasn’t going to admit that was her other family’s joke; it was a bit childish and nonsensical, even if she had been reminded of raccoons. Her chest was puffed up, expression stormy. “What do you guys call them?”
“Washbear,” was Tam’s reply.
Hazel noted, “It’s waschbear in Zhi’an too.” He knew more languages than the rest of them and would sometimes compare various phrases for fun.
Orion noticed that Bas was still laughing and snapped at him.
Bas was about to respond, but he was interrupted by the sound of wings.
From the North, came a phoenix. The creature was easily cutting through the currents at a high speed. They were smaller than Sirius, but the talons were far sharper and bigger than Sirius’ own claws. The phoenix’s head swiveled back and forth, looking for something.
“Fuck,” Hazel said quietly. “That’s Tel Legen’s bird. Get ready to fight.”
Orion, similarly, cursed as she dismounted her horse.
The washbear backed up a bit and disappeared quickly into the tall plants.
“That’s not his. It’s a different phoenix.” Bas whistled and held out his hand after tugging on his three finger glove for shooting.
“A different phoenix, in the middle of nowhere?” Orion scoffed, but she didn’t make a move to attack the phoenix as they landed on Bas’ hand.
“I sent a letter to a friend of mine. They sent a reply. Which is very good for our current situation,” Bas simply said. He was acting as if phoenixes—something that there was only four or five of left on the continent—were completely normal. “The others I was looking for don’t seem to be in the country; they’re a mercenary band that wanders around.”
Hazel was looking less pale. However, his expression hadn’t gotten better. “The friend of yours that has a phoenix, are they connected to the Empire?”
Bas nodded and moved the bird to his shoulder. “He used to be. I don’t have any food for you right now, Oceton. I’ll give you some once we stop.” He opened the letter attached to the small metal box around the phoenix’s ankle.
The phoenix puffed up his chest and trilled.
“You trust your friend?” Hazel asked.
It was Tam who answered. “Yes. He saved our lives even when he had no reason to. He left the Hrea Empire and he lives in the West now. We trust him.”
“You seem to trust people easily.” Hazel’s words were not an accusation, but they were still formed in the manner of one.
“The opposite,” Bas shot back. “I only trust people when I have to or if they’ve proven themselves as being worthy of my trust.”
Orion calmed Sirius down and held the scruff of the creature’s neck. “You seem to trust us. Not afraid we’ll just betray you and take what we can get from the king?”
Bas laughed. “No. I’m too far into this to fear betrayal.”
Tam nodded.
Hazel didn’t say anything.
“Is it really that funny?” Orion was unsure, because she had already been considering it. Or perhaps, Bas already could tell she wasn’t fully on board still. She got back on her horse. “I guess we’re still continuing on?”
“Yes. Tam, take the lead please,” Bas requested.
After a few minutes, Orion spoke up again, “So, what are the actual logistics of this plan? We didn’t really discuss how. We just said zombies in the East to draw attention and then, go back to the Capital to kill your dad.”
Bas let the smile on his face from reading the letter fade a bit. “We’re going to keep going to towns with war graves, help Hazel raise the dead, and cause a bit of a commotion. We don’t even need to kill anyone. We just need to cause some rumors, some chaos, some sightings of undead leaking from the South.”
“A good option for that would be having various hordes moving around in the daytime,” Tam advised. “Open movement will scare everyone the most.”
“That’s definitely possible. I can set specific directions for them to follow when I’m not there to guide them.”
“You can?” Orion had no fucking clue that was possible. All of her assumptions about necromancy were thrown out with that. “Wait a second. Wait a fucking second!” She kicked at her horse’s side and drew level with Hazel, glaring at him. “Those undead that attacked us back in the ruins. That was you. You bastard, you broke Tam’s arm.”
“That’s true. I am sorry about that.” Hazel nodded towards Tam. “And thank you for bringing that up and reminding me: I have a way to heal Tam’s arm.”
Tam glanced back. “No side effects?”
“Nothing. I swear it won’t change your eyes,” Hazel said. He looked incredibly solemn. He had, at the least, never broken his promises when traveling with them.
Bas looked curious now that Tam’s healing was possible. “What were you trying to do with those undead?” He had a map spread out over his legs, marking out a new route for them.
“I was trying to test you three. I gave them orders to not kill.”
Orion was unconvinced.
It was not long before they stopped in the shade of a tree that grew right on the edge of the stone path. The horses were brushed down but not allowed to graze freely for fear they would be lost in the tall grasses. A fire was a bad idea with how flammable the plains were; these plants tended to be hardy against snow and ice, but quickly turned to ashes when lit.
Orion quickly broke out the rations of jerky and other dried foods. She passed some to Bas when he asked for it, as apparently the phoenix liked it.
The phoenix held the meat in its talons and tore the jerky to smaller pieces before eating. A strange amount of manners, but that was to be expected with any sort of being that could use magic.
Orion stared at the phoenix for a moment regardless.
A/N
New animatic! https://youtu.be/pf5QthczLH8 It’s been a while since I’ve posted one, but I remembered one I had made and not put up. It’s a fun on.
