“The House of the Snake and the Church of the Primordial Dragon are in league with each other.” Zephyra started.

“Why?” Aratessa asked.

“Ahh, our wayward Queen’s granddaughter.” Zephyra replied, her voice dripping with venom. “It was such a surprise to see that your family line survives after all these years. You really should come back to Shadowhome sometime, there are so many of us who would like to meet you…and to take back the artifacts which rightfully belong to the throne.”

Eli stood and locked eyes with the Raven Queen. “Don’t even think about it.” He growled protectively. “You touch her, and those orcs out there rip through your little elves.”

“Oh I know. Your bodyguards are quite impressive, and I know I lack the brute strength to fight them. But are you really willing to upset our hosts?” She smirked. “I doubt you’d make it very far after that. After all, they are armed and you are not. And there are so many of them.”

“I’d take my chances.” Eli replied, not backing down.

With a dramatic sigh, Zephyra sat on the bed behind her. “Very well. That’s not why I’m here anyways.”

“I know.” Aratessa responded. “You’re here to play us off against the Snake. But if we’re going to do that, I need to understand the bigger picture.”

“The Snake’s influence with Serapenthra’s aristocracy has been waning for many years. They’ve sought to bolster that support by aligning themselves with the Church.”

“What does the Church get out of this arrangement?” Aria asked.

“Assistance in escaping Serapenthra. Access to life magic users and genetic sequencing equipment. Help in hunting down dragons.” Zephyra finished her statement by arching an eyebrow at Isla.

“So when they convinced me to come here...” Isla trailed off.

“It was to hand you off to the Church, yes.” Zephyra confirmed. “Think about it – where the lizardkin tried to take you by force and failed, they succeeded by just playing to your pride.”

“What do you mean?” Isla question.

Zephyra laughed cruelly. “Come now, offering to put you on stage at an event called the Dragon’s Ball? They knew it would be irresistible to you, and it meant they could take you alive without having to contend with your magic or your draconic form. Quite clever, if you ask me.”

“Why not just take me when I entered the realm then?” She asked, seemingly unwilling to accept the facts that Zephyra was offering.

“Who knows?” Zephyra shrugged. “Maybe they wanted to show off their prize to the Church first, rub it in their faces that you’d sing and dance for them. Maybe they were waiting until closer to the end of the party so that they wouldn’t have to hold you for as long.”

“This is all very interesting, but we’re getting sidetracked.” Aratessa interjected. “You could have let them make their play and you stopped them. Why?”

“The Snake’s ambitions are beginning to outstrip their grasp. The head of their house believes that she is destined for my throne.”

“Which would involve removing you from it.” Aria stated.

“Naturally.” Zephyra agreed.

“Why not just assassinate her then?” Eli questioned. “Isn’t that sort of…the dark elven way of doing things?”

Zephyra nodded. “I see you’re familiar with our ways. Yes, that would be one option. Except that we are currently allied with them.”

“With friends like these…” Naz muttered.

“So why not just break the alliance?” Zee questioned. “Attack them directly!”

The party outside seemed to increase in volume, with the boom of music coming through even the alcove’s soundproofed wall. Eli glanced at the door for a moment, then back at Zephyra to see that her eyebrows had arched. “Suffice to say, that is not an option.”

Unsurprisingly, Aratessa was the first to work out what was going on. “They have something over you – blackmail or the like - so you want us to attack them for you.”

She grinned salaciously. “I could never endorse moving against my allies of course. But if someone were to use a secret portal that I happen to operate near the Snake’s castle, they might be able to bypass many of their defenses, enter their castle, and kill their leader – Lady Nyx – as well as her husband, a spatial magic user who is responsible for creating the portals to different realms on behalf of the Church. He is the only one amongst them that can create portals. ”

Aratessa crossed her arms. “Won’t they be suspicious of you, given you just took out some of their guards?”

“I think they’ll find that they’ve imbibed slightly too much of the naga’s venom.” Zephyra replied. “Their memories will be somewhat…muddled.”

“What happens to the rest of the house of the Snake after their leader dies?” Eli asked. “I have to imagine they have some sort of succession plan in place.”

“Let me worry about what happens after. The important part is that you get to prevent the Snake from ever attacking you again while also preventing the Church from being able to leave this realm and hunt down your little dragoness.” Zephyra countered. “Isn’t that what you want?”

“No.” Aria said. “We want something else: your personal guarantee that you won’t move against Purgatory, the house of the Spider, or Irandell when this is over.”

She sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes. “Fine. I have no need for your little twilight realm, nor do I wish to fight for control over the portals.”

“Same goes for your allies.” Aratessa hastily added. “You don’t get to send any of them after us either. And remove any laws related to working with the Spider Queen from the books. It should no longer be treasonous, nor punishable in any way. I want to be accepted again in Shadowhome, at least legally.”

“Very well.” She replied, exacerbated.

The party outside ramped up even further, intermingling with the sounds of yelling and screaming. Eli turned to the door again, then looked at Zee with an arched eyebrow. She immediately moved to the side of the room and began checking in with the orcs outside over the radio. As she did, Eli turned back to the Raven Queen. “What else aren’t you telling us?”

“I expect the answer to that question could fill several books darling. You’ll have to be a bit more specific.”

“You want us to take down the Snake, right? If we decide to do it – and that’s a big if – it’s in your interest to give us any information you can about them and the Church.”

She thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “There’s one other thing you should know – they’ve successfully created a hybrid between lizardkin and naga, and have been cloning adult versions of them as foot soldiers. As far as we know they are not truly sapient – just mindless husks carrying out orders, incapable of independent thought.”

Mirosha jumped in over the radio in Eli’s ear, obviously having heard the whole conversation. “Any chance they’re blue and scaly? Sorta like a lizardkin but with a longer tail, a human torso and head?”

Eli furrowed his brow but repeated the question to Zephyra. She cocked her head in surprise. “I’ve only seen the reports, I’ve never actually seen a picture. That sounds accurate though. Why?”

Mirosha answered over the radio in Eli’s ear again. “Because there’s a big group of them forcing their way towards the stage and beating up anyone who gets in their way.”

“Fuck.” Eli said, shaking his head. “The Church is making their play for Isla.”

“It appears you need to solidify this alliance quickly then.” The Raven Queen replied. “Do we have a deal?”

“Fuck you Zephyra.” Aratessa replied before nodding. “Yes we have a deal. Send me the details afterwards and I’ll see it done.”

“A pleasure doing business with you.” She replied before standing and nodding to her guards. “Now, I have other business to attend to.”

“You’re not going to help us against the hybrids?” Eli questioned.

“I cannot be seen with you if the ruse is to work.” She replied, putting one hand on the door handle. “Besides, they’re after her, not me.” She nodded towards Isla.

“With friends like these…” Naz growled again, the words taking on new meaning.

“From the stories I’ve heard, your little group is quite…resourceful. I’m sure you’ll find a way to make it out.”

With that, she opened the door and filed out with her dark elven guards, closing it behind her. Eli cursed softly then looked at his group. “Once they check the stage they’re going to realize we’re not there. Then they’re going to start checking the crowd, including the alcoves.”

“There’s a smaller group of them by the stairs.” Mirosha added over the radio. “Looks like 10 or so of them. They’re a bunch of big fuckers too, all armed and armoured.”

“How big?” Eli asked.

“Bigger than me.”

“Can we rush them and get out?”

“Not without everyone in the room noticing.” Mirosha said.

“My elves will help.” Aratessa added before wincing slightly. “Though they are not equipped for this sort of engagement.”

“So we fight the bigger group when they find us, or we try to rush the smaller group by the door.” Zee said. “I don’t like those odds, but between the two I know which one I’m picking.”

Eli looked around the room at the various assorted sex toys and bondage equipment. Seeing a set of metal chains on the wall he grabbed them and tossed them to Naz before beginning to hand out various whips. “Use these, break up the rest of this furniture. Everyone get armed with anything you can – metal poles, broken wood, whatever you can get your hands on.”

The room immediately complied, working quickly to arm themselves as best they could. As they did Eli continued to look around and saw a full latex bodysuit with a bondage hood. He examined it for a second, pulling off the hood and examining it. It was designed to cover the wearer’s face and head fully, leaving only an opening for the mouth and nose to breathe through, as well as slits for the eyes to see through. Grimacing slightly as he undid the zipper at the back, he turned back to Isla.

“I hate to ask you to do this, but…I need you to take off your shirt and jacket. And put this on.”

“What?” She said incredulously.

“Listen, they’re looking for a dragoness with ginger hair. If your face is covered and you’re wearing a different outfit, it might buy us a few more seconds before they recognize us.”

“Again with the outfit?” She protested while grinding her teeth.

Eli waited for another moment while she searched for a good reason not to do what he asked. When she couldn’t come up with one she furiously held out her hand and took the hood from Eli, slipping it on and turning around. He carefully tucked in her hair before zipping it up. She pulled off her jacket followed by her shirt, leaving her standing in a black lacy bra, leather pants, and a bondage hood.
She glanced downwards at Eli’s tightening pants, then locked eyes with him. “Don’t even fucking think about it right now.”

Thankfully, he was saved from responding when Naz handed him an improvised staff made from the metal siding of the bedframe. “It’ll probably break after a few hits.” Naz warned him. “But if we’re in a long engagement we’re getting screwed anyways.”

“Got it.”

Knowing they wouldn’t be as effective in melee without their magic, Aria, Freya, Lilly, and Isla carried Ziran and Sira by placing one of each of their arms under their shoulders. The rest of them gathered any additional improvised weaponry they could and crowded by the door. With a deep breath Eli opened it and rushed outside, handing out the various shivs, blunt weapons, and sex toys to the assembled orcs and elves.

If we weren’t all in danger of dying, this would be hilarious. Eli thought to himself.

Once they were all somewhat ‘armed’, they began moving around the perimeter of the room. He risked a few glances over to the center stage, seeing that the music had stopped and a group of at least 100 of the hybrids were currently tearing it apart, tossing debris into the crowd as they did. As he got his first good look at them he realized they were exactly as advertised: bipedal like lizardkin, but easily 9 or 10 feet tall with enormous bulging muscles. Their scales were blue and their tails were easily another 6 feet long. Many of them wore armour and carried tridents or spears as weapons, but one of the unarmoured ones revealed that their scaly skin transitioned to smooth human skin around the stomach and chest which continued up to their faces – similar to a naga.

That’s…weird. Eli thought to himself, a realization creeping over him. They’re all male. Most magical races are majority female. They also look sort of similar to the ones we fought on Targe Maraz.

Isla jostled him from behind, breaking him out of his thoughts. “You and I are going to talk later.” She said furiously.

“Isla, listen, I-”

“Later.” She cut him off.

The crowd pressed into their bodyguards around them, pushing them further back into the shadows. Apparently the debris-throwing was enough to drive most bystanders back, causing a wide ring to form around the hybrids as they continued to work. Without the ability to use their magic or other forms, nobody seemed particularly willing to confront them directly.

Focusing ahead, Eli saw their goal: the staircase. Naz called for a halt where the deepest shadows ended, about 50 feet away from the assembled group. “They’ve got size and weaponry, but we’ve got numbers.” She said grimly. “Our best bet is to try to pile onto them, then steal their weapons and use them.”

Eli nodded and braced himself. At Naz’s signal, his orcish tribemates raced forward from the shadows and attacked the hybrids ferociously. Aratessa’s elves quickly followed up, leaping on the hybrids and attacking whatever exposed body parts they could. The sounds of combat quickly filled the air, causing the crowd to quickly back away from the developing melee.

Desperately wanting to keep his people out of harm’s way, Eli charged forward into the fight. His eyes locked onto a hybrid that Drekka and Mirosha managed to wrestle to the ground – one of them holding down either of its arms. Reaching back with his staff he roared and swung it in a powerful overhand chop, clubbing it in the head and bending the metal.

The impact was enough to daze it, which is all the opening Eli needed. He dropped the staff before darting forward and grabbing the knife hanging from a sheath on the hybrid’s belt. The hybrid’s tail and legs thrashed, with the latter catching Eli in the ribs. Despite feeling them crack, he saw an opening and scrambled forward, shoving the knife into his eerily human-looking throat. The hybrid’s eyes went wide for a moment before it stopped struggling and slumped limply.

“Here!” Eli said, shoving the knife into Drekka’s hands and picking up his staff again. “Take this!”

There was no time to argue as a second hybrid roared and charged the 3 of them. Before it could reach them though it was tackled in the side by the speeding green blur that was Naz. The two of them tumbled to the ground with Naz landing on top, punching the hybrid in the throat before thrusting the wooden shiv she held through its temple. She roared in victory, her blood rage on full display.

Glancing around at the rapidly changing melee, Eli saw Vespera fighting against a hybrid with a leather whip. She wielded it with expert precision, snapping it at his face whenever he tried to strike – stunning him and causing him to instinctively pull back. He grinned when a pair of elves jumped on the distracted hybrid’s back from behind, giving Vespera the opening she needed to plunge her tail blade deeply into his chest.

We can win this. Eli thought to himself. We just need one final push.

Despite their initial success, the fight wasn’t all smooth sailing. He saw that several orcs and most of the elves were wounded in the initial waves of the attack – including a few which were laying on the ground ominously. He compartmentalized his feelings about them, trying to remain focused on getting his group upstairs and outside – hopefully to safety.

A shout rang out to Eli over the other sounds of the battle. He turned just in time to see two hybrids rapidly advancing on Zee, who in turn was protecting the group carrying the injured Sira and Ziran. Apparently they’d tried to make a mad dash for the stairs only to be noticed and pinned along the wall. Zee was doing her best in holding off their trident strikes using only the wooden legs of a chair as a pair of clubs, but there was only so much she could do with her meager weapons. She twisted and writhed with all the skill of a true weapons master, diverting the momentum of their powerful strikes. With every blow she was driven further back though – pressing her against the wall with the rest of the group.

With a roar of his own, Eli stood and sprinted towards the group, ignoring the pain lancing through his side. There was no conscious thought or plan in his mind, only the need to protect his women. As he neared he saw one of the hybrids force Zee to use both clubs to block his trident, leaving his partner open to strike her exposed side. In a complete desperation move he reached back and tossed the bent staff he was holding like a javelin, causing it to sail through the air and hit the side of the hybrid’s metal skullcap with a clink.

The hybrid paused for a moment and turned to look at Eli with a bemused look on his face. Eli realized he was now completely unarmed and unarmoured, and likely made an easy target. Knowing that if he backed off Zee would be killed, he continued to sprint forward regardless, locking eyes with the smug-looking creature. The hybrid reared his trident back to skewer Eli-

Only for a knife to come sailing through the air and directly into its eye.

Eli was on the creature in a flash, grabbing his trident and yanking it out of his hands before his body could hit the ground. He spun and thrust it forward into the side of its compatriot, piercing the leather armour enough to cause him to pull back from his assault on Zee. Before he could turn and face the new threat though, Naz appeared and leapt on his back. She wrapped her powerful arms around its neck and twisted violently, snapping it and causing him to tumble to the ground.

Zee quickly recovered the knife from the first hybrid’s eye, pulling it out with a wet squelch. As she did, Naz recovered the hybrid’s trident, and in seconds they were moving towards the staircase again. Eli called out over the radio to the rest of the group. “We’re moving! Everyone pull back to the staircase.”

The second they reached it though, Eli’s eyes went wide. Coming down the staircase was a large group of lizardkin in full armour. At the head of their column was Vashti, wearing matching steel armour and carrying a set of wickedly curved swords.