Inside old Zaxalam
Hera started walking towards the entrance of Zaxalam while carrying a jar with a small golden beetle inside. Lurize wasn't saying anything, and despite not being able to see his face, the Empress knew the Royal Tutor was pouting.
'For what's worth. You are really cute in that form,' she said in his mind.
'I'm always cute,' Lurize huffed, making Hera force herself not to smile at the comment.
She approached the entrance, where a set of 8 guards were spread out. Two at the bottom of the ramp leading to the city. Four in the middle and another two at the top, forming a funnel of sorts. The last two were already inside the city itself, close to the main road. All of them had half cloaks like the one she was wearing, but they were all red with gold details and had much more complex embroidery than the one she saw in the leader of the camp. They not only had the pattern of their scales but also small pictures of various events. The coronation of an Emperor, a fight against an army, a Naga defeating a large monster, a wedding, someone lying eggs. Each of those capes was a tapestry of their accomplishments. They all held spears that seemed to be more decorative than pratical. The tip had a golden string attached to the base of the blade and a few places with large guards that seemed to represent fire or water.
The Ophidianite climbed up the ramp, paying very close attention to those capes. This was the first time she had a chance to see how the Naga behaved in their time. How their empire truly worked, and seeing those small details brought forth her curiosity. She was distracted, looking at the capes, and didn't notice the two guards at the top tilting their spears to block her path.
"Halt! Who are you?" the guard on the right, the one who had the most images of different monsters and battles all around his cape, asked.
"Oh… Hi. I'm a new member of the hunting team. The one that was on the mountain behind the city. The boss sent me down here because I caught this," Hera did her best to pretend like she was a teenager on her first day at the job. Her idea was to disguise her lack of knowledge as inexperience.
"The boss?" the guard at the left snarled and got his face very close to Hera's, "I don't know what kind of backwater feral village you came from, but here we address our superiors with the proper rank! He is a centurion, and you shall refer to him as such if you don't want your guts spilled in front of the Gran Emperor's statue."
Hera straightened her back and nodded. The comment about her being from a backwater village made it seem like her plan was working, "Yes, sir! Hum… If I may, what is your rank? I wasn't given an explanation about that yet. We left just as I got here."
The Naga got his face even closer to hers, "We are tribunes. And if you ever forget it, you will be lucky to be skinned alive."
"I won't, tribune, sir!" Hera's instinct was to click her heels and salute, but she held back. Saluting could have a different meaning, and bringing attention to her feet might make the Naga realize she wasn't one of them. That last part was a far-fetched idea, but still, it was better to be safe than sorry.
"That's enough, Vriztz. You can see that kid still sheds every month. She already answered your questions. If her Centurion sent her first, it must be because he saw promise in the creature she captured. Let her pass," the tribune on the right pulled back his spear.
Vriztz growled but did the same. Allowing Hera to go through. She started walking but realized she wasn't sure where the captured monsters were supposed to be. Taking a bit of a risk, she turned back and asked, "Excuse me, tribune, sir. Where am I supposed to take this creature?"
She was directing her question to the one at the right side of the ramp, but Vriztz was the one who answered by approaching her and grabbing Hera by her face, his claws digging into her cheeks. The Naga pulled her to the middle of the road, making a spectacle of the situation, and pushed her head to the right side of the city, "Do you see those large doors all the way in the back? Those are our stables. Do you know what a stable is, or are you so stupid that even something as basic as this is beyond it?"
Lurize started to move around in the jar, feeling the Empress' anger, but both of them managed to calm down. Still being held by the tribune, she replied, "I know what stables are, tribune, sir!"
Vriztz pushed her away, making a deeper cut on her face. Enough to draw blood, unlike what his claws were doing previously, "Then go do your job and stop pestering us."
'I'm the one who is going to get you!' Lurize snarled while staring at the Naga, but Hera just nodded and started walking.
'No, you are not. When we get out of here, that one is mine,' the Empress said in a cold voice.
'So the idea is to force our way out?' Lurize asked.
'I think so. I don't think we have another plan. The city only has one entrance, which is a good thing to protect it but a bad one for anything that is happening inside. As long as we can create enough mayhem, I don't think they would just slam down the doors. Especially when you consider this,' Hera didn't gesture, but Lurize understood what she meant. The city was bustling. Various Naga were walking around, children playing in the street, and more on the upper floors. If Hera could free all the monsters and cause a stampede, then closing down the city would be much more dangerous than just letting them run away and recapturing them later.
She continued walking towards the stables, wondering what kind of creature the Naga would use as mounts. Horses didn't seem likely since they were too tall, and the snake people seemed to be less than interested in using steps. And unlike an actual snake, they wouldn't be able to just climb the legs of a horse like they were trees. She didn't bother creating theories right now since her doubt would soon be cleared.
A few children tried to approach her, but they were quickly pulled back by their parents, who scolded them for trying to disturb one of the members of the military. The Empress found it a bit odd, but it would make sense for the Naga to be very militaristic. After all, if they were a society that focused on culture, they shouldn't be able to create such powerful defenses capable of locking an entire room away from the rest of the MAZE. Not to mention the ballistae that were set up in the normal mode of the city. Even if those weapons were missing right now.
In around five minutes, the Empress arrived at the stables and pushed the doors open. Inside, it was something very much like she was expecting. A large area with several stalls, but those were all made out of stone and even had multiple floors. On most of them, there was a sort of large lizard with six legs. Each had a different color, and they seemed to be attuned to a specific element.
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Fire Essence Salamander - Level 16
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Stone Essence Salamander - level 17
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Thunder Essence Salamander - level 16
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Every single one of those Salamanders had a different element associated with them; their colors seemed to match that, but some were odd, such as the fire salamander being green and the plant one being purple. On a closer inspection, the Empress realized that these creatures had a pair of chains on their back legs, stopping them from leaving their pens.
In the back, an iron door opened, and a Naga came out, "Who are… oh, you got another one? Come, bring it inside," she gestured for Hera to follow her and slithered back to the room she was about to leave.
The Empress followed along. Inside this back room, there were several crates and cages with various monsters, from small bugs in jars to large wolf-like creatures. The biggest one here was to the right, in a cell. It was a bulky maroon creature with large legs, a set of two horns in front of its face like a rhino, but a long trunk that was twice the size of its body. The trunk was wrapped in chains, forcing the beast to always look up while its eyes continued to stare at the Naga with anger.
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Siren Trumpeter - Level 18
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"The bugs are there," the Naga pointed to the left, where the glass jars were located.
"Thank you. Do you know why we are gathering all those things?" Hera looked around and noticed the three children of Scryotra on the corner. All of them were in cages close together. They had their tails passing through the bars and holding each other like children holding hands to not be afraid. Hera clenched her fist but moved her eyes away from them, not to show anything.
"The Gran Emperor's son is turning 10. And he asked for a pet as a gift. Everyone is scrambling to find something he might like. But I think we already have the winners," the Naga gestured to Scryotra's children, "The Gran Emperor visited the city just before the birth of his son and saw the mother of those things. Apparently, his kid loves that story, so that one should win. But you know how children are. They change minds the moment they see something more interesting," the Naga shrugged.
"I understand," Hera nodded, "Is there anyone else taking care of these?"
"No, they stuck me here to clean up their shit. Punishment for being late for training," she pushed some of the excrement to the side, keeping it all on a pile in the corner of the stable.
"Good," Hera nodded and summoned Ember. With a quick move, she used a [Grasshopper Stab] to kill the Naga by piercing its skull from the back of the head. The dungeon creature dissolved as the Ophidianite called her entire court out. Lurize waited for a moment for someone to open the jar or at least take him out of the pile so the bugs wouldn't just get free right away.
"What's the plan?" Nimbus asked as he freed the Royal Tutor.
"I…Don't know for sure. If I just let them all free, I think they will start fighting each other," Hera glanced at Scryotra's babies, "And I think we should keep them, specifically, in the cages for now. That way, we can carry them out."
"Oh, oh. I have an idea!" Daskka spoke up, making everyone turn to her, "I've been toying with one spell, and I think I can use it to cause some confusion."
"What spell?" Hera asked.
"It's like an elemental armor for my stealth form, but instead of protecting me, it's about scaring others."
"Scaring others? So it's like a fear effect?" Livy asked.
"Pretty much," Daskka nodded.
"I think we can try that. Should we open everything?" Nimbus looked around.
Hera turned to the largest monster in here, "Yeah, let's do that. DJ, Chris, Viper, Crimson, take care of opening as many of the cages as you can. Start with the small ones. Dao, Ember, Edge, take care of those chains," she pointed at what was holding the Siren Trumpeter's trunk, "Livy, Nimbus, change to your monster forms so you can be a part of the stampede. Lurize, you carry Scryotra's babies. Keep them in the cages."
They started opening everything, and all the monsters seemed to be too scared to cause any problems. After the large beast in the cell was freed from the chains, Hera used the key that appeared from the dissolved body of the Naga she just killed to open the door.
"Before Daskka does her thing. Nimbus, can you carry Lurize and the babies?"
'I can,' the griffon nodded, knowing that despite the heavy armor of the Royal Tutor, he would still be within the weight the Sentinel could carry.
"Ok, so one more thing," the Empress put the back of her hand close to Nimbus and Lurize, "This is a royal quest. The two of you need to take the babies back to Scryotra. If the Naga come after us, we will hold them off, and you go. When the babies are safe, you come back."
"Hera…" Lurize started, but Hera shook her head.
"No discussion. Livy is with me, and we handled the armies without much trouble in the normal mode. Besides, getting them there might be the way to end the dungeon," the Empress peeked her head to the area where the Salamanders were being held and used her stone shape spell to release the chains from the walls before turning to the herald, "Daskka, you're up."