A company of Miqo soldiers walked down the road toward Vas Naga. The roads had been barren lately. Everyone was closing their borders, fearing the imminent attack from the elves. In normal circumstances this group of Pal Miqo soldiers would not have been able to cross into Na Miqo, let alone into Vas Naga. This wasn’t normal circumstances though. In the middle of this small group of soldiers was the queen of what was left of Pal Miqo, queen Tara. Even in worrisome times like these, no one would deny the passage of royalty on a diplomatic envoy. The situation would be the same as the group approached the crossing to Vas Naga.

The entrance on the road was guarded with a force of Naga appropriate to the uncertain times. As the Miqo approached the Naga the Naga raised their weapons until a shout from behind them got them all to lower their weapons, the whole time queen Tara didn’t break stride, neither did the soldiers guarding her.

“Queen Tara?” the leading solider spoke up and fell in line next to her as she and her group kept walking.

“I need to speak with Queen Tialla,” Tara said not breaking stride. “It is of the utmost urgency. It relates to our current conflict with the elves.” The lead Naga stopped for a moment in though, letting the group of Miqo pass him. After a moment’s though he motioned for some Naga soldiers to follow him.

“Queen Tara, we can escort you to a public train,” the solider offered. This finally caused the queen to stop walking, her group taking a second to notice and stop with her. Her nose raised a bit at the concept of public transportation, but she swallowed her pride, the importance of what she was doing warranted the brief lowering of her status. She sighed and nodded and affirmative toward the soldier.

By this time a group of 3 Naga soldiers had caught up, there was a brief pause as the commander talked with one of them, before they both gave a salute.

“Queen Tara, the corporal here will help escort you to the nearest train station,” the commanding officer explained. “We should have you at the royal pyramid by nightfall.”

“And not a moment sooner,” Queen Tara said sternly.

“Yes Ma’am,” the commander bowed.

“Follow us please,” one of the soldier’s spoke officially, and so the now slightly larger group started making their way toward the nearest public transport station.

*****

Tialla was in her chair in the study, choosing to wear a night shirt and a plain white diaper. Laying across her lap in a light blue onesie was Eranor, suckling away at a pacifier while they both read a book. The second in the series they had started earlier. Tialla had been distracted this time, so her reading was slower.

“Nana?” Eranor questioned through her pacifier. She noticed that Tialla was staring off into space for a moment.

“Sorry dear,” Tialla apologized. “Distracted.”

“It’s ok you got a lot to be distracted about,” Eranor scrambled up. “Let me get you a drink.”

“Oh, sweetie you don’t have to.”

“I don’t, but it would make it more fun if I did have to,” Eranor said teasingly.

“Ok,” Tialla smiled playfully. “Fetch me a drink my cute baby servant,” Tialla said in an overly posh accent.

“Yes Nana,” Eranor said quickly before skipping off. Tialla smiled and got to work catching up to her more immature partner in reading. She was surprised when Eranor had returned rather quickly and with Aldyn behind her.

“General?” Tialla questioned. She quickly realized there wasn’t anything covering her diaper and crossed her legs with a blush.

“Sorry for disturbing you Tialla, but it’s some urgent news,” Aldyn began. “We’ve got word from one of our border guards. Queen Tara is on her way here and wishes to speak with you.

*****

Tialla had dressed into a semi-professional outfit, a black blouse and a black skirt, a skirt because she changed into another diaper, behind her Eranor was also dressed somewhat professionally, a white one-piece dress with a moderate amount of frills, also wearing a diaper but at this point that had become the norm for her. They were waiting in a small room with a small table for Tara to arrive.

“You don’t have to be here you know,” Tialla told Eranor.

“I know I don’t, but I want to,” Eranor answered. “I want her to see how well I’m doing.”

“I’m not sure she’ll take it that way,”

“It doesn’t matter. You have all the cards, for whatever she’s about to ask you.”

“We’ll have to see what that is,” Tialla leaned back in her chair.

In a few moments, Aldyn reentered the room with queen Tara behind her. Tara wordlessly took a seat across from Tialla. She was acting highly regal despite the rather plain and utilitarian traveling clothes she was wearing.

“That you would insult me by parading my daughter here as your salve,” Tara said under her breathe.

“Nice to see you too mom,” Eranor spat back.

“You might be happy to know that Eranor is no longer technically a salve,” Tialla corrected Tara. “She came because she wanted to, and can leave whenever she wants. Though I would have thought you would have appreciated seeing her.” Tara looked at Eranor and squinted.

“Really? You took my daughter as a slave only to free her?”

“You sold me as a slave!” Eranor corrected. “Tialla has done nothing but show me kindness and support, you and dad are the one that gave me away just to save yourselves.”

“For all the good that’s done us,” Tara said knowingly. Tialla rolled her eyes.

“Look this kind of talk is getting us nowhere,” Tialla said exhaling. “You’ve obviously come here for a reason Tara. Why did you need to see me?” Tara briefly composed herself.

“Quite,” she agreed. “Allow me to be brief, because time is short. I have come here to deliver an artifact, that may be the key to uniting or more reserved allies.”

“Do tell,” Tialla said in a bit of disbelief. Tara gave a small nod before fetching a small box from her pack.

It was a simple box, and inside was a simple looking ring, made from a series of tree branches wrapped in a circle, some leaf sprouts were on some of the branches. It was a simple looking ring, but it had an air of power, because it was powerful, in a sense.

“Is that?” Tiall started the question.

“The twig ring,” Eranor finished looking at the thing in awe.

“The very one,” Tara said with gravitas.

Every beast kin knew what the twig ring was, it was a symbol of their ancient history and it spoke to them on an instinctual lever. It dated back to the first era, when beastkin walked on four legs. During that time, they served as guardians of the world tree. Since then, they broke away from that contract, and each evolved into the three beastkin races of the modern age. It was a relic from a time when all the beastkin had a common enemy. An enemy that was still around.

“Do you really think?” Tialla said unsure. “The Aeon Worm?”

“I don’t know that for sure,” Tara admitted. “The actions of the elves fit the M.O. of the worm. I think there’s a more important thing to consider. If it is the worm, then we’ve secured our Beastkin alliance.”

“So, this is just a hail Mary?” Eranor questioned. "Just a last attempt to form an alliance to save yourselves?"

“It is,” Tara admitted. “Even in the state Pal Miqo is in we know how the cards are stacked right now. This is our only shot, and I’m taking it.” Eranor sighed in disbelief, but Tialla stared at the ring. “We know that General Castor is coming back, and when he does the ring will let you know if he’s been corrupted by the worm.”

Tialla kept staring at the ring in thought. If this whole thing wasn’t already intense enough then adding the beastkin’s ancient enemy to the mix made it even more intense. The Aeon Worm was a fifth dimensional being, impossibly old, older than the reality Tialla and Eranor knew. Tara was right. If this old, ancient, enemy was at the heart of the elve’s conquest, it would be the one thing that would unite all of the beastkin together, and would fix all of their problems. Even still she hoped that it wasn’t true.

“How does it work?” Tialla asked with a hint of terror in her voice.

“I’m not sure exactly. I’ve never had the opportunity to see it actually work,” Tara explained. “But I’m sure you both know the stories as well as I. Somehow when you wear the ring you can tell who is under the influence of the worm.” There was a pause, and Tialla held the ring in her hand delicately. It was a significant piece of history by itself, and the implications it brought were severe. “When Castor returns, just make sure someone is wearing the ring. He’s high enough up the chain of command that if the elves are communicating with the worm, then he would likely have made contact as well, and the ring should show the taint on him.”

“Do you really think?” Eranor asked.

“She’s right,” Tialla silenced Eranor. “It’s our best option to secure an alliance, and beyond that if they really are just agents of the worm.” A heavy silence hung in the air. Every beastkin knew the danger of the worm, the entity writhed away at the center of the planet, and if it was ever released from its containment, it would destroy all of reality. The Aeon Worm was a fifth dimensional being trapped in the three-dimensional plane, and it was constantly scheming to escape. It has existed across all of time, and all possible permutations of time, before it was captured and contained here. It has immense knowledge, knowledge that had tempted many a good person into risking the very reality they were in to get it, and the worm would inevitably lead them through some scheme to free itself. If the elves really were being led by the worm, their conquest would not only mean the enslavement of all beastkin, but it would eventually mean the end of the world. The stakes would be even higher. Though the alliance would be secured, the beastkin would be faced with a fight they could not loose.

Eranor gulped, the severity of things hitting her. Tara was less affected by the severity, but even she felt the instinctual fight or flight response beastkin had to their first and most ancient enemy.

“We’ll do it,” Tialla said with determination.

“Of course, you will,” Tara said dismissively. “There’s no other option.” Tara stood up to leave.

“Are you leaving?” Eranor asked appalled. “Just like that?”

“I’ve said what I need to say, and queen Tialla knows the stakes.” Tara said quickly.

“Nothing to say to me? Nothing to say to your daughter that you sold to save you skin?”

“What would you like me to say? I’m not sorry. I’ve done what I always do. What it takes for our people to survive. There’s nothing I can say to you that will make it ok, and you have every right to feel that way. I will say that I am glad that you seem to be doing well here.” Eranor sighed wholly unsatisfied.

“Sweetie,” Tialla said quietly grabbing Eranor’s hands. “There’s nothing you’re going to get from this,” Tialla said sympathetically. “You need to let it go, don’t let it fester in you.” Eranor looked at Tialla, and then to her mother who was standing by the door to the room with an emotionless expression.

“Where are you going to go?” Eranor asked flatly.

“To the Border Mountains,” Tara said plainly. “We have allies among the dwarves that will keep me safe until the storm passes.”

“What about dad?” Eranor said with a hint of sadness.

“He’s going to stay behind,” Tara said finally starting to show a little emotion. “He’s going to stay with his people until the end.”

“While you hide in the mountains?” Eranor accused.

“To keep our culture alive,” Tara said regaining her emotionless composure. “If none of us are left, then our culture and history will be erased and forgotten.”

“That’s just an excuse,” Eranor spat back.

“Earnor!” Tialla scolded her. Eranor sighed. She knew her mother was actually right here, that without her surviving their culture would be erased by the conquering elves, and she was disappointed in herself that she forgot that only to sneak in a final jab, though at the same time she felt her mother deserved more than a jab.

“Just go please,” Eranor said closing her eyes. Tara nodded silently and left the room, making fast pace to leave the country as well.

“Sweeite,” Tialla said comforting a gently sobbing Eranor. Eranor looked up at her in response. “You did good, and I’m proud of you. Ok.” Eranor nodded yes. “Let’s go back up, we both need some ice cream.”

AUTHORS NOTE: Here's the next chapter everyone. This is where I would say to follow me on patreon but uhhhhhhhhh yeah patreon's gone. I got nuked in the big ab/dl purge. I'm still waiting on a new place to post premium content, right now all I have read is a new site called ream. Intstead of the usual patreon link, I'm going to give you my link tree link, which I'm going to update regularly with all the places I upload. Sorry for the mix up but blame patreon for it. https://linktr.ee/bigred0603