Devourer

Chapter 124: The Ostayan Question

Jelani grunted as he carried a box filled with provisions over his shoulders. His shoulder was broad and his arms muscular. He was a warrior of Tribe GriIssa and a proud member of the Ostayan race. The other races looked down on them, viewing them as lesser because they do not have the comforts that they enjoy. But Jelani knew the truth, just like his namesake his people were strong and mighty. They knew that the world was not kind and soft. It was hard and unforgiving and the strong took what they willed. The strong take what they are owed and the weak suffer what they must.

“Jelani, ten minutes.” His raid commander grunted and he nodded.

Jelani put the box of food on the small raiding vessel that was on the shore. They were about to do another raid on Elysia. The Wardens, although worthy opponents, were cowards. They preferred to hide on their metal ships rather than fight in glorious melee.

However, the warlord has sent down some repulsive orders. The Wardens have been reinforced with additional Elysian ships so now the sea was almost impossible to raid. Now they were on the way to go around and raid the shipping lanes.

Jelani didn’t like it, it felt like running away. Ostayans do not run, they were the last true followers of the old gods. They were few in number, that was because of their constant battles. However, those constant battles kept them strong, stronger than anyone.

“Brother.” the slightly high-pitched voice of his younger sister Jina said from behind him.

Jelani turned to see her standing there, her large eyes and furry face staring at him in anticipation. In her four-fingered hands was his sword. She was growing bigger every year, she would make a fine mate to a strong warrior one day. Then she would birth many future warriors for the tribe.

Jelani gruffly took the sword from her and attached it to the belt on his waist.

“Go, help with the loading.” Jelani said and Jina smiled as she nodded before hopping off towards the bed. Like him and all Ostayans she had bipedal legs tipped with cloven hooves. Ostayan men had long curved horns on their heads but the women didn’t. The men were also significantly larger and more muscular, towering at two meters tall on average as compared to the females who were one and half meters.

Jelani took a moment to look at his sister amble off, she was always eager to help. In the back of his mind he always wondered if his sister was too soft for an Ostayan. She was kind even for a female, but at least because of this she was popular with the other younger males. But regardless Jelani was still worried if she would adapt well to marriage. However, those worries were for the future.

Deep down Jelani truly did care for her, but an Ostayan man must be stoic. A warrior must be even more so, that was their way. So in his own way he was protecting her, a warrior’s role was to protect the tribe and win glory. As long as he remained strong his sister would remain safe and happy. He saw her turn just as she loaded another crate onto the small ship and flashed him a bright radiant smile.

Then he saw a splash of water appear behind her at the shore. The ship was only half on land and the other half was in the water. His eyes widened when he saw a Naga armed with a large gold trident burst from the water, its reptilian face curled in a snarl. Jelani could only watch as time seemed to slow as the Naga raised its trident. Jelani rushed forward his eyes on his sister who’s smile slowly faded as she began to turn but before she could he could only watch as the trident entered her unprotected her back from a downwards angle. Her eyes wide in shock as the force drove her body into the sand. Jelani thought perhaps he had screamed something, perhaps her name but all he could hear was the battle cry of the Naga.

KILL THEM ALL!

THE QUEEN COMMANDS IT!

Jelani had no time to mourn after that quick moment he realized the Naga wasn’t alone. He halted in his tracks when he saw thousands of Naga emerge from the waves. This wasn’t a raid… this was an invasion…

Then to his horror he saw the sea seemingly retreat and the receding water revealed Naga in the tens of thousands standing on the sand that was once beneath the waves. Jelani froze as he looked around and saw his remaining brothers fighting a desperate melee against the Naga vanguard. His gaze shifted to his sister’s twitching body as the Naga ripped his serrated trident from her body.

Jelani snarled as he raised his sword, he felt the roiling hatred in his heart. Without thinking he raised his sword and charged. The Naga seemingly smiled as he readied his trident and prepared to meet his reckless charge.

Just a few meters and Jelani was upon him, he saw a flash of dark blue and he raised his blade to block the strike. He felt resistance than the pressure gave away. He stumbled back and looked at his sword in mute shock as he realized it had been snapped off. Then he felt a pain in his gut and he saw the trident had been embedded in his belly. The Naga laughed before ripping it free and smashing Jelani across the face with the butt of his trident. Jelani felt his teeth go loose and he tasted iron in his mouth as he went sprawling onto the sand. His head was spinning and then he felt a rough strike as he was knocked onto his back.

Jelani’s gaze swam as he looked up to see the Naga looking down at him in contempt. The Naga calmly raised his trident to finish him off.

The last thing he ever heard was a final insult from the Naga dressed in ornate gold armor. In a moment of lucidity he noticed this Naga was far more well dressed than the other Naga he saw. This one must be some kind of commander or lord. But regardless of his station or how outmatched Jelani was, the contempt in the Naga’s voice was there all the same.

Pathetic weakling…

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Sathax was a Deep Guard, one of the Queen’s finest warriors. The Naga were a proud race, a hateful race, one that endured eons of isolation beneath the waves. But now at last the promised time was upon them. Generations of preparations have been done for this era. The Naga knew that one day the Old Gods would return, they are as constant as any facet of nature. The last eons of their absence was no different than any of the humanoid races being able to fight off a flood or survive a storm. A temporary victory that meant nothing, the humanoid races wither and fade but the Old Gods endure.

Sure enough an Old God has returned, but not all of his people knew it. If news of this leaked then the angels may strike the Old God down before he was strong enough to become unstoppable. So for now at least the information was only available to the Elders, the Deep Guard, the Deep Sirens and a select few others. As far as anyone else was concerned, they had merely struck a deal with an ancient beast to avoid war. So now with resources now limited, the Queen had declared a colony to be set up on Ostayan lands.

The Naga could survive on land; they just were not as powerful as compared to when they were in water. But against the weak Ostayan with their pathetic equipment, conquest was easy. Their weapons made of crude steel shattered against the Naga’s Abyss Steel weapons. Abyss Steel was harder than Mithril but more brittle and less enchantable. However Abyss Steel was still a highly effective material for weapons.

This difference was now on full display, it has been four hours since the initial landfall of the invasion forces. They were ordered to advance in and destroy most of the major settlements. There were more settlements deeper inland but those were to be left alone and they were few and far between. After this invasion the Ostayans would be broken with a scant few survivors. Not nearly enough to pose a threat, if they tried to raid the Elysian again the Naga could just advance further inland and finish the job.

So the objective was simple: destroy the Ostayans. Their standout ability was their fighting ability. Only problem was that their fighting abilities were subpar in comparison to the other races so they were effectively worthless as a species. So the Old God in his wisdom decreed that the Ostayans were to be slaughtered. Their flesh would serve him better than anything they could produce as a people.

Sathax looked over at the ruins of the Ostayan town. The ground was a mire thanks to the rain beating down upon them. Their Enchanter Sirens have caused a thunderstorm to skew the advantage even further towards his kin.

He could see a scant few remaining warriors and the rest were just the civilians fleeing. This town was surrounded, although calling it a town was generous. It was just a large collection of shacks. The rain obscured their movements and for each settlement they would encircle and herd the Ostayans towards the center.

By now the first strike on the settlements would be commencing all across these lands. It was imperative that none escaped to warn the other tribes, so each encirclement must be complete and air tight.

Sathax could see civilians fleeing towards the central square. He looked over to see one of his warriors cut down a female holding a child. His warrior didn’t hesitate to run her through with his trident and when she fell, he calmly proceeded to approach the child trident raised. The Old God demands they die, so die they shall. All that lives exists because the Old Gods allow it, they will die when the Old Gods demand it. That was the rule of this world.

Sathax continued to advance, his warriors moving from house to house on each side killing every Ostayan they encountered. He could hear their screams, their begs but his warriors did not care. The orders were clear, kill them all, no survivors. Then recover the bodies so that they may be fed to the Old God’s hive.

Then he saw a warrior charge him, it looked like an adolescent, this one was smaller than the other warriors. No matter, if this one was weak then it would be easy, if not? More fun…

The adolescent raised its poorly made sword as it brought it down in a sloppy slash. Its mouth was open in a braying battle cry and Sathax thrust his trident forward catching the adolescent’s sword between the prongs of his trident. Then with a simple twist the blade was locked and with a swing of his arm the sword was torn from the adolescent's grip. With a final stab the trident embedded itself into the adolescent’s unprotected chest. Sathax felt ribs break as the force of the strike pushed the body down into the mud. He looked down and saw the adolescent still breathing, it’s eyes wide in terror, gasping for breath as it’s lungs filled with blood. Its gaze was locked on Sathax and he could see this one was almost pleading with him. It raised a shaky arm as if begging for mercy.

A pointless gesture…

Sathax raised his trident and brought it down hard onto its chest. The rib cage gave way from the force and a spray of blood erupted from its mouth. With a rough twist and a pull his removed his trident, the hooks at the end of the points taking a broken rib with its withdrawal.

“The net is closed, Deep One.” a warrior said from the side.

“Good, tell the troops, no survivors, no mercy. Kill them all, I will kill any cowards myself. If they lack the stomach to kill for our queen, then they better be prepared to die for her.” Sathax snarled and the warrior nodded as he broke off to spread the word.

A few meters further and he was in the central square. The remaining Ostayan were backed into a clump in the center. This was all of them, after this there would be nothing left in this town. Only bloody mud to show this place was ever inhabited.

Sathax raised his hand in a signal and in response he heard the Siren behind him let out a melodic cry into the air. That little song soon echoed across the entire city and the Naga all halted. Sathax looked around and saw his kin had formed a perfect circle around the surviving Ostayans. The entire formation of Naga was within earshot so Sathax decided to give his final order before the conclusion of the battle.

“THE QUEEN DEMANDS BLOOD!” Sathax shouted and he heard a roar from his troops in response.

“SHE DEMANDS THEY ALL DIE! LEAVE NONE ALIVE! NO MERCY, NO QUARTER!” Sathax roared.

AS THE QUEEN COMMANDS!

The Naga shouted in response and Sathax waved his hand forward. The Sirens then sang the last melody these Ostayans would ever hear. Then he heard the war cry as the Naga raised their weapons and charged into the mass of screaming Ostayans.

Sathax himself charged forward into the fray. His tail moved easily across the wet mire. He could see the remaining Ostayans struggling as their cloven hooves got stuck in the mud. All the easier…

The first Ostayan he met was not a warrior, it was a mother cradling it’s baby. No matter it was just a soon to be dead Ostayan and smaller dead Ostyan. He thrust forward with his trident and the three points sank into her chest. When he ripped it free he saw two of the points had struck the baby and had pulled the baby along with it. He saw the mother clutching her bleeding chest, her mouth open in a soundless scream. Sathax just grabbed the limp form of the baby and tore it right off and dumped it aside like the lump of rubbish it was. Sathax then thrust again and this time his trident sank into the mother’s heart and the body went limp.

The next Ostayan Sathax saw was a cowering male, this one must be too weak to be a warrior. He thrust forward again, this time his trident found its throat. He twisted the trident so the hooks at the tip of the trident would snare the flesh and he ripped it back. The trident came free taking chunks of flesh with it to a spray of blood. The body was pulled forward and it went sprawling into the mud. Sathax moved forward again right over the body onto his next target. This time it looked like a child, probably female.

Sathax thrust into the child the trident slammed right through its fragile chest. Then he lifted it up with the trident and tossed the body over his shoulder like one would hay. Sathax didn’t want their corpses clogging up the advance.

Then there was another and another. Until all was silent…

??,`°.???.?.???.°`,??

I upended another barrel of wine into my mouth as I looked down at the book in my lap. It was a little romance novel about some human girl falling in love with a vampire. Pretty novel concept, although the vampire does come across a little creepy. This weirdo snuck into the girls room and just sat there watching her sleep. That’s some stalker shit…

“Still reading friend?” I heard Cecilia ask and I turned to see her walking towards completely naked. She was just having some fun with Lily and I was on a break.

“Yep this one is odd. Weird premise.” I said as I put the book aside.

“What was it you wanted to talk about? You mentioned something earlier. I assume it isn’t urgent since you waited for me to finish?” Cecilia asked as she casually took a cloth and began to wipe her fluid covered nethers down.

“Yeah, nothing important. It’s done, the Ostayans are finished. They won’t be bothering us for a long time. What’s left of them are probably cowering further inland. We can finish them off whenever we want.” I said.

“Hmm that was fast, the Naga work quickly. But then again you did say they were fanatics.” Cecilia mused as she sat down on the couch as she reached for a robe. It wasn’t because she was modest, it was because it was cold. It was after all towards the end of autumn.

“Well it is a welcome surprise. But yes the Ostayans are no more, at least most of them. Most of their civilization was near the coast. The estimated casualties put them at having lost 75% of their population. It would take a thousand years for them to recover assuming we even allow them to.” I said and Cecilia nodded calmly as she poured herself a glass of wine.

“That is very good for two weeks of work. They are remarkably efficient, a surprising result for any race let alone an aquatic one tasked with a land invasion. Furthermore their settlements are spread out, they must have moved quickly and left no gaps.” Cecilia said before taking a sip of wine.

“Yeah, well that settles that I suppose. Well chances are they are going to join the orcs in extinction. But I guess we could use them as slaves later if we so choose. I suppose that concludes the Ostyan Question.” I said with a lazy stretch.

“That’s good, now we just wait for the hunger to set in the various Volerian states. That little blight you released is looking to be quite effective. Sarana reports food riots in some cities.” Cecilia said.

“Yeah, now we just wait for it to really set in and then we swoop in to save the day. Like the benevolent rulers we are…” I replied with a chuckle.

Cecilia let out a little laugh as well before taking another small sip of wine.

Benevolent indeed…

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