Summoned by Monster Girls

The city guards took another hour to get statements from the farmers and us before several of them actually volunteered to help the farmers deal with the corpses.

The dead were tossed unceremoniously into a pile to be burned out in a section of field that wasn’t being used for crops at the time. Lieutenant Blazerider ended up doing the honors of lighting the pile with her magic to get it over with quickly. Once the corpses had been searched and fire started, she had let us know to check in with the main office in town to receive any bounty payments that were outstanding on them.

After the fight with the bandits, dealing with the actual issue we had come this way to address was relatively easy. One of Farmer Gomald’s sons had been tracking the animals that had been destroying crops to be prepared for when assistance arrived. It had been discovered to be a sounder of rock boars and the group of low-level monsters was easily twenty strong. Individually, the armored porcine monsters weren’t terribly dangerous but in a group that large they were definitely hazardous.

It was a simple enough task to aggravate them into charging into the mire that I created utilizing my new earth magic with Kassandra’s help. When the waist-high pigs had charged into the mud and promptly sunk to their bellies it made them easy pickings for the girls and the farmers that had accompanied us. Living away from the city, the boys were a good shot with their bows and easily took down the immobilized animals while Kassandra and Rieka picked off a few with their spells.

We left them processing the beasts. They were a priority since the barn still had the chill effect to preserve the dead livestock for now. The family would do well for meat for some time and maybe be able to use some of the funds from selling the boar carcasses to buy new livestock. They’d tried to give them to us, but Rieka and Kassandra resolutely refused.

Once that argument was done, we quickly headed to check the trees to secure the fruit that were part of our secondary mission. One of the trees had already fallen prey to a small flock of vine rays but the other three were just starting to ripen enough that the girls were able to collect the fruit we needed for the request. It was for use by an alchemist who was making plant-based dyes, so the deep blue fruit were each quite valuable beyond the sustenance they could provide.

Dropping by town to turn in the quests and receive the payment that Farmer Gomald had already deposited at the Hunt and Trade hall when he posted the request for help was the final cap to the evening. Or so we thought while on our way to the office of the city guard to check if there were any bounties on the bandits.

We ended up running into Lieutenant Blazerider on her way out of the watch office. I could hear the wolf kin woman growling deep in her throat as she turned to storm up the street, still in the same uniform we’d seen her earlier, only to come to a sudden stop when she spotted us.

“Oh! Good to see you all. I was beginning to worry that you hadn’t made it back to town yet.” It took a visible effort for Blazerider to school her features to a professional expression though she greeted us politely. Kassandra, of course, bowled right through the facade without a care to subtlety.

“Hello, Lieutenant! What’s got you up in arms? I take it your commanding officer is causing problems?” Kassandra said breezily. The wolf kin woman in front of us sighed, her tail and ears slumping, and she nodded.

“Yes. I’m on unofficial leave while being investigated for insubordination in the matter. More importantly though, the Squad-Commander is claiming the bounties for the bandits that you three killed as he was the one to present the bounty papers. I was hoping to find you lot and let you know.” The wolf woman’s tone had been so professional earlier but was now rather resigned and I did not like it one bit.

“What? Insubordination? Why?” Rieka spluttered, her eyes going wide while her tail puffed up slightly in irritation. “Because you stood up for the rights of the people present rather than bowing down in supplication to the Squad-Commander and his high horse?”

“Because I ‘usurped and undermined his authority in the field’. Regardless of the situation, I should not have intervened and let him handle it. He gave the order before heading to the bounty office and I followed with plans to protest. That’s why I know he is trying to swipe your bounty. I decided letting you know was more important than arguing my own case…” Blazerider explained tiredly, though I could still see indignant fire in her eyes. She may be down, but she’s not defeated.

“That’s a load of night-soil and you know it!” snapped Rieka, startling us all. Turning to look more directly at my companion, I was startled to see the fury in her eyes as well a snarl on her slim mouth.

Rieka wasn’t angry, she was furious.

“No, I will not stand for this. Lieutenant Blazerider, on me. Lady Silverscale, I want you beside her for support. Liam, you have the rear. I will not stand for good soldiers to be denigrated for trying to salvage a fool’s mistake and I definitely will not stand for being stolen from.”

“Oooh, someone’s in trouble!” Kassandra giggled as Rieka stormed into the main guard house. Lieutenant Blazerider just stared in surprise while the meek and quiet young woman she’d encountered earlier in the day turned into a snarling fury. “Come on, Lieutenant. You’ll need to be present for the apology I’m sure that Rieka is going to demand. Also, to counter the accusations that you went running to us for support. You simply ran into us as we came to claim our bounty and we had to pry the information out of you, got it?” Kassandra pushed herself a little higher and looped an arm through Blazerider’s to tow the taller woman along as she hurried to follow after Rieka, nodding dazedly.

“What…? Why…?” Blazerider mumbled and I had to bite back a laugh.

“Don’t sweat it, Lieutenant. Just watch the fireworks.” Kassandra patted her forearm reassuringly while not slowing one whit.

I fell in at the rear using the advantage of my taller stature to keep an eye on everything over the girls. I didn’t draw my weapon from the loop on my belt yet. While I’d spent most of my mana earlier to make a big enough mire to deal with all the boars, it’d regenerated to the point I had three mana at the moment. That would be enough to handle whatever was thrown at us next, I hoped.

I made sure to shift both my hands into the clawed and scaled variants up to my elbow, just to be safe though.

Inside the low, stone building that was the watch house I saw the room was already bustling with activity. Petitioners sat on a bench along one wall, waiting their turn to either appeal to see someone in lockup, pay a fine, or something similar I guessed from their regular and diverse outfits. Guards crossed back and forth in the room, each one dressed in the standard uniform of the city guard with their armor and tabard. There was a mix of species present in both groups that I was used to from past trips to town, though I saw again that the wolf kin were the majority by a fair margin.

Other than the appeals desk in the corner by the waiting benches, there was only one other fixture in the room and that was the duty desk. It sat against one wall and rose above the people in the room to give the woman seated behind it a good view to keep an eye on everything. The elf seated at the desk had a large book in front of her that she was making notes in as she gave orders to individual or teams of guards quickly and it was towards this woman that Rieka was angling.

“Hop to you two. Don’t want to let our princess get ahead of us.” I murmured to the pair in front of me and both nodded, hurrying to catch up in Rieka’s wake.

It took until Rieka was almost halfway across the room before the staring started and the murmurs picked up only a handful of steps later as people began to notice her. I saw Rieka’s step falter but she glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of us right behind her and straightened once more. I met her eyes and nodded encouragement, getting a brief smile before she turned forward, sending her icy blonde hair into a spinning halo around her head until it settled down again along her back. She never stopped walking though.

The movement of her hair reminded me of something and I glanced around, looking at the other wolf kin that I’d noticed before. Huh, hadn’t realized it until now but Rieka and her mum are the only wolf kin I’ve seen with blonde hair. Even with the little black tips on her ears, she’s got the lightest coloration of any of the wolf kin I’ve seen. They are mostly browns and dark grays with some blacks in there too, but no other blondes of any type. Wonder why that is?

Stepping up to the duty desk, Rieka waited patiently until the duty officer finished the orders she was giving to a pair of bear kin guards and then caught the woman's attention.

“Yes, what…oh!” The elf woman blinked several times rapidly and peered down at Rieka. “Would you be Princess Rieka Coldeye?”

“Yes, that is I. I apologize for taking time away from your work but I need to speak with the bounty office as well as the Watch-Commander.” Rieka spoke coolly, her tone even but not deferential. The elf glanced from Rieka to the rest of us with her gaze landing on Lieutenant Blazerider and widening slightly before dropping back to Rieka.

“Oh? May I ask what it is that you needed to speak to them about? If it is a complex issue, you may need to make an appointment. The Watch-Commander is a rather busy man…”

“I need to lodge a complaint regarding the attitude of a squad-commander, as well as a second one regarding his threats to my person. Possibly a third, but that depends on how the meeting with the bounty office goes.” Rieka kept her tone even and neutral as the elf behind the duty desk stared at her with wide eyes.

“One of the squad-commanders threatened you?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Lieutenant Blazerider chipped in, squirming slightly as the stern elf woman turned her startled gaze on her. “Squad-Commander Ymens displayed unprofessional conduct in the field. I’d rather not get into the specifics in public, Captain.”

“Very well. Hasfield!” The elf woman barked the last part to one side, making another guard that was standing nearby jump in surprise and nearly dump a cup of tea over himself that he’d been raising to drink from. “You have the duty, Hasfield. I’m going to escort the princess and her party back to the bounty office first and then directly to the Watch-Commander.”

“Very well, Captain. I have the duty.” The other guardsman said quickly, brushing the spilled tea off his hand while the elf jumped down from the tall stool after making a notation in her book. Once the seat was vacated, the wolf kin climbed up into the seat and took up the quill to make a note in the book as well, logging the changing of who was in charge was my guess, before setting his mug to one side and beckoning one of the waiting groups of officers to the desk to receive their assignment.

“I appreciate your intervention in this, Captain…?” Rieka fell into step beside the elf and the rest of us followed behind her.

“Captain Longknife. And I would be remiss to not address such accusations personally, Princess.” The elf woman led us down one of the hallways that lead off the side of the main room. “May I ask why Lieutenant Blazerider is with you?”

“The Lieutenant interceded and prevented the issue from escalating in the field. We happened to run into her outside and I wanted to bring her along as a neutral witness for lodging the complaint, as well as to commend her for the quick thinking that aborted what would have been a fatal encounter between us and the guards.”

“You would have attacked the Guard?” Captain Longknife stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned to stare at Rieka in shock.

“We had just survived a bandit ambush and were attempting to secure the farmstead when the mounted squad came pounding up the lane with weapons drawn and pointed at us. I don’t care what uniform someone is wearing, if they threaten me, I will react accordingly.” Rieka answered coolly, her left thumb hooked behind the pommel of her spell rod at her belt. It was a motion that was not missed by the Captain, who scowled but nodded.

“Lieutenant?”

“It is true, Captain. The Squad-Commander was verbally berating them to lay down weapons without acknowledging that it was a combat zone or even naming himself. I was further back in the ranks and it took me a moment to recognize the Princess. I’ve only ever seen the Coldeye family with that particular fur pattern and we were all informed when the Princess arrived for training at Juneau after all. It was obvious that they had to be nobles from their fine clothes, at least for the ladies.” Blazerider said quickly, getting a grunt of acknowledgement from the Captain and she shot me an apologetic look, which I shrugged off.

“Yes, well that should not have happened. I understand hurrying in there and arriving in motion to lower threat chances but the Guard is required to name themselves and their reason for approach. Especially outside the city, as I assume this is where it happened?”

“Yes, the squad I was a part of was dispatched from the gate. If it had been in town the report would already be on your desk but, since it was from the gate to an external farm, I assume the report will be delivered at the shift change.”

“Understood. This is the bounty office, please conduct your business quickly and I will escort you to the Watch-Commander.” Captain Longknife said stiffly, a conflicted expression crossing her stern features. I hadn’t noticed it before when she was sitting in her high chair but a pair of thin scars marred her right cheek with one extending nearly to her eye and I had to wonder what had given her the injury that led to those scars.

“Lieutenant Blazerider, you remember Farmer Gomald requesting that we receive the bounty for any of the bandits that had a price on their head. Do you happen to know if any did?” Rieka asked just as stiffly as the Captain had earlier. The lieutenant blinked several times before nodding slowly, confusion dominant on her face before she made the connection and a smile crossed her lips instead.

“Yes, there were three bounties in the group. Two were small, assault and theft mostly, but the leader of that merry band of fools was Ugly Jack.” At the mention of the bandit leader's name, Captain Longknife growled deep in her throat.

“Ugly Jack got taken down? Finally! That monster has been causing problems all over the countryside for the better part of a year and I know that beast has a price on his head. Several traveling merchants have contributed to the fund after all.”

“Okay. I need to claim those bounties, would you please see to that for us, Lieutenant? You were present and witnessed Farmer Gomald insisting we take credit for them and also were the one to light the pyre to immolate the bodies.” Rieka asked politely, turning a small smile to Blazerider who nodded once and slipped past them into the office.

“How did you take down Ugly Jack and his gang?” Asked the Captain, her expression was a mixture of joy and trepidation. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, but that man has escaped capture twice already and killed three of the Guard doing so. He even beat one of the Guard’s mages nearly to death…”

“Oh it wasn’t me that did it.” Rieka said with a wintry smile. “Liam was the one who took down the leader of that little band of idiots. He also accounted for more than half the others too.”

The elven woman turned her disbelieving gaze onto me. I knew she was judging me as she ran her gaze over my tattered blue jeans, ragged leather armor, and the plain iron mace on hip. I caught a motion just out of sight of the Captain and saw Kassandra making snarly faces while cupping her hands into claws and I got what she was implying.

When the elven woman’s eyes landed on my face with doubt clear in her expression, I did as Kassandra urged and pushed on my Shape-Shifting. I’d used it before to intimidate the students that had been harassing Kassandra, but this time I tried to be a bit more controlled.

As the Captain opened her mouth to speak, I smiled down at her and urged my teeth to lengthen into interlocking, razor-sharp fangs while my eyes flipped from their regular, human, blue color with round irises to completely black with only a thin golden line on the outside and no visible pupil. I’d kept my hands down and out of sight while we walked and had removed the shift from them to allow myself to use two animal’s features, the current max, to shift my face. The teeth I had borrowed from the crag hunter we had killed the previous week but the eyes were something I’d been researching. The eyes were taken from a tarsier, a small primate that had excellent night vision. The blackness wasn’t natural, but due to the fact its pupil could expand to ridiculous sizes. It made it hard to see by using the Shape-Shifting to force the pupil that large but, since the corridor we were in was dimly lit, it wasn’t blinding and was only for a brief moment.

The Captain paled slightly and I let my mouth close so I could pull the shift from my teeth and fix my eyes again. When that was done, I returned my hands to their clawed states then used them to scratch at my chest lightly, the sharp tips rasping against the small metal plates in my armor and making her jump.

“I…well…that makes some sense then. I’m just glad you made it out of the encounter without a problem then!” The captain said stiffly before swallowing once and nodding. “Regardless of how it was done, I’m just glad that Ugly Jack is dead. The man killed a friend of mine, so I hope it wasn’t an easy death.”

“Oh no, it sadly was. Liam killed him by accident. Broke his neck if I am right?” Rieka said idly.

The Captain’s response to that statement was something we wouldn’t know because Lieutenant Blazerider emerged from the bounty office with a scowl on her face that was only partially forced.

“Lieutenant?”

“The bounty has already been claimed and disbursed to Squad-Commander Ymens. The paperwork states that he claimed it less than half an hour ago stating that ‘his squad encountered and dispatched them but the bodies were too mangled to bring back identification.’ He swore on his rank that it was true though.”

I was surprised at how straight Blazerider was playing this. She’d been the one to tell us about it after all, but she still had a look of restrained fury and indignation on her face that was quickly mirrored on the Captain’s.

“He did what?” Hissed the elf woman.

“He claimed the bounty personally and falsely, Captain.”

“I see. Is that the third complaint you wished to make, Princess?”

“Yes, I sadly had the expectation that the man would try something like this. But I did not think he would be this quick to try and do so.” Rieka sighed before turning to the Captain. “Would you lead us to the Watch-Commander’s office? I have a need to express my displeasure to them about the Squad-Commander.”

“I would be happy to. Ymens has overstepped himself several times today alone by your report and I would be highly surprised if he’s still even in the Guard at the end of today with this. Threatening a noble without cause, let alone one of the princesses, as well as stealing from her and her manservant? That will not stand.” Growled the Captain before spinning on her heel and stomping further down the hall while the group fell in behind her.

“Hear that, Liam?” Kassandra snickered quietly. “Make sure you take care of your mistress, ‘manservant’.”

I rolled my eyes at her teasing, but Rieka was apparently not expecting it. She tripped over her own feet before shooting a glare at Kassandra. My mischievous Nugget just smiled sunnily up at her friend while Blazerider smothered a laugh of her own.

“Watch-Commander.” The Captain called, rapping on a door before opening it and sticking her head in. “Ah yes, Ymens. Good to see you are already here. You are going to be needed.”

“What do you want, Captain? You are supposed to be on desk duty.” Demanded a deep, basso voice from inside the room.

“Oh, I’m just here with someone who needs to lodge several complaints against the Squad-Commander. Good thing he’s already in your office.” The Captain said stiffly before beckoning us to enter.

The office of the Watch-Commander was spartan but well lit. A crystal sphere hung from the ceiling on a chain to provide clear light for the paperwork the man was doing at the large, wooden desk. A pair of comfortable chairs sat in front of the desk and one of them was occupied by the idiot that we had dealt with earlier, Squad-Commander Ymens. Ymens glared at the Captain initially before paling when Rieka strode into the room right after her. Some color returned when Lieutenant Blazerider followed the princess and took up position by the door, but that color fled once more when Kassandra and I came in next.

“Princess Rieka, a pleasure. What can I do for you?” The Watch-Commander was a big man with scales on his arms and hands as well as the same style of leather caps over claws that I’d seen on Lady Valda. He looked big enough to do part-time duty as a barn door and had a short cropped head of mouse-brown hair over a face made craggy from many scars. His voice was the deep rumble of two boulders grating together.

“Oh, there are several issues but most of them are due to one of your Squad-Commanders not only disrespecting but threatening my person and that of my retinue, but also stealing from me and mine.” Rieka replied with a calm smile to the Watch-Commander before turning her gaze to Ymens. “Isn’t that right, Squad-Commander? I just came from the bounty office after all…”

Squad-Commander Ymens couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to flush in anger or go pale and it left his face the color of one of those ‘fruit at the bottom’ yogurts as he stammered a protest that died on his lips when the Watch-Commander turned his glare to the other man.

“Ymens…what is she talking about? You were just telling me how your squad took down Ugly Jack…”

“Ah…uh…” was all the Squad-Commander could stammer.

“I would like to file three separate complaints for myself as well as one on behalf of another.” Rieka cut in. “One for unprofessional behavior in the field. One for threatening my person for requesting reasonable confirmation of identity while in the field. And then the last one for stealing the rightful bounty payment on several wanted men. The complaint on behalf of another is this man’s treatment of his subordinate who is the only reason he didn’t die in the field for his foolishness.” Rieka paused for a moment thoughtfully before continuing. “I’d also like to commend Lieutenant Blazerider for quick thinking in preventing the issue from getting worse too.”

The Squad-Commander shrank back into his seat as the Watch-Commander’s glare turned up several notches. I leaned back against the door to the office to watch the fireworks with Kassandra snuggling into my hip, a wicked grin on her lips.

“Sometimes it’s really fun when Rieka decides to use her ‘high and mighty’.” Kassandra murmured quietly enough as the Watch-Commander began tearing verbal strips off of Ymens.

“Yea, as long as she’s the one deciding to do it.” I replied, letting the claws on my left hand turn back into fingers to tangle in Kassandra’s mane of red curls and gently scratch at her scalp. She made a happy noise and leaned into the touch some more as the Watch-Commander built up a head of steam while ripping into his subordinate, who was stammering an excuse that he’d planned to turn the bounty payment over to Rieka later. An excuse that no one in the office was buying, I was happy to see.