Chapter 21 - Wait there’s two of them? [2]
Tara would be lying if she didn't admit she felt they were hopeless at the moment.
They were currently in the middle of a den of murderous Toads and well Frogs, with the Frog being the apparent mastermind of the two.
Tara would have found the idea of a massive Toad and a far smaller Frog a comical partnership back on Earth, yet the reality was that this strange duo was now the biggest threat to her life.
Claw seemed just as taken aback by the situation despite likely seeing many oddities in his long lifespan.
It was probable that the partnership of Toads and Frogs, who decided to settle aside their differences to work together, seemed a strange sight even in this world.
Tara looked around, finding that the number of Frogs and Toads far outnumbered the ones they had dealt with previously; a horde of them surrounded them, which would have been a nightmare match-up even without the two menacing alphas in front of them.
She felt on edge, and her body tensed in anticipation as she found her flight or fight response activating from the visible threat.
Tara thought bloody violence would be the only way to escape this situation, yet strangely, she felt the sudden familiar feeling she got when sharing her thoughts with Claw.
She realised it was a probing invite from a foreign, alien-type Qi and noticed the Frog was staring at her with an impatient gleam in its eyes.
She wondered what to do until Claw's reassuring presence filled her mind and said, 'I think you will want to listen to what the Frog has to say. It would be fine to accept her invitation.'
Tara understood from Claw's description that communicating through Qi like this worked similarly to echolocation.
The users emit their Qi in a specific way to transmit messages to each other, and this poses no risk to the users since any foreign type of Qi with the intent of harm would be easily detectable.
For example, the technique is similar to how some animals communicate by utilising sound waves and will not be able to affect the mind unless it is targeted at the soul.
Techniques that can influence the mind or other harmful methods are usually soul-based.
The main risk was that the frog was trying to distract them so it could ambush them since magical beasts are not the most trustworthy when meeting rival species.
Yet this seemed pretty pointless with the massive advantage the Frog currently possesses.
Utilising the technique Claw and Lady taught her, it was simple to allow the foreign Qi to take the initiative to set up a barrier of communication between them.
It was her first time speaking to a Magical Beast outside the Iron Salamanders.
She could not say she was not curious, especially since she had had a rather unpeaceful, hostile experience with its species.
Hearing the Frog's voice projection for the first time felt strange. It was a sickeningly sweet female voice that felt overly cordial: 'You enter here uninvited. Kill my kin in droves. Usually, this would be unacceptable. Yet you cannot argue we are unwilling to compromise regarding a similar goal. Now we have a common enemy, and we need each other not as enemies but as friends.'
The Frog talked weirdly. She spoke with an authoritative tone that screamed she was used to being the decision-maker, yet somehow similarly seemed to defer, making you feel in control.
Tara felt she was a backstabber through and through and did not trust her one bit but allowed Claw to do the talking.
'Similar enemy? Friends? Mind me for being ignorant, but can you explain your intentions better.' Claw replied.
Tara took this time to utilise {Insight} on the Frog and Toad duo.
The Toad did not move, not reacting in the slightest. From the moment they arrived, the Toad had a relatively blank, dumb look, which gladdened Tara. Claw seemed to get that part about right. Though shame, he forgot to include the Toad's more petite but not-so-dumb friend.
[Species: Toxic Bog Toad King
Cultivation: Qi Gathering 6]
Though the Toad was somewhat lacking in the brains department, it was as formidable as Claw thought it was.
The Frog, on the other hand, did not react as calmly.
[Species: Toxic Bog Frog Queen
Cultivation: Qi Gathering 6]
The Frog Queen regarded her with a rather cold yet cordial look.
'Now, that was rather rude. Though, an interesting skill you have there, little lizard. Where was I? I think my more than generous proposal is relatively simple. That Big Fish has been a problem of mine for a long time, though I never had the motivation to even think of leaving my lair and forsake the advantages that it brings. However, now the Big Fish is becoming a problem; the only thing that held the greedy Big Fish back was its instinct to only go for the attack when it was sure it had an absolute advantage. It did not feel worth meddling with us when this place did not benefit it or its kin that much; it did, however, have a problem with us because it viewed us as competition. We are not fools. We know the Big Fish is close to breaking through, and when it does, we are not ready to abandon what we have worked hard to build, so it needs to die.' The Frog Queen said, and Tara found herself shocked by the implication.
It seemed they wanted an allegiance.
When she thought about it closely, she realised it would be an excellent partnership for the toads and frogs, who seemed to lack durability yet were potent in attack.
Nonetheless, she was not naive enough to the extent that she did not realise that this so-called alliance would be ridiculously fragile, with the likelihood of betrayal not happening practically non-existent.
After all, it is formed around the foundation of the existence of Pikeake. Without them, the Salamanders would likely follow close behind if that cunning Frog had anything to do with it.
Claw, however, was diplomatic and quickly accepted their stance, even if the frogs and toads did not make the most truth-worthy of allies to deal with the Pikeake alone was suicidal since they almost wiped out the Salamanders without even utilising their full strength.
Claw did not show he was close to readily agreeing, though, and replied, 'And? Now, how do you propose that? The Sphyrna Pikeake will not leave its lair's safety until it has broken through. The only way we can get to it is too well…'
The Frog Queen grinned like a Cheshire Cat, or what seemed like it, as the Frog opened her mouth in a way that resembled one.
It did little to see Tara at ease as the Frog Queen said, 'So we will go to it. We have been waiting. We are at our strongest now; the bog has been ours for a long time, and now we are ready to reveal our strength. You can be a part of this, and we offer you a place, an equal one of partners, where we will remove the stranglehold that Big Fish has on the territory and no longer pay pointless tributes to its kin. We no longer ignore the privilege they have to hunt us. We take what's ours.'
The Frog Queen's speech about some grand partnership sounded sweet and glamorous, but she was convinced the Frog was plotting something.
She had no idea if it was just a hidden hatred of Frogs, but she thought the Frog Queen sounded like a snake as soon as she began speaking. Yet she couldn't deny the value of a partnership between them, especially since the Frog Queen made it pretty clear the Pikeake was a target of theirs regardless of whether they were with them or without.
Claw had little option, though, but to consider it. After all, the Frog Queen was right about taking the fight to the Sphyrna Pikeake, and if he was being honest, the Salamanders had little chance if they went alone.
He couldn't forget why they came here in the first place, though.
'I have a compromise with your proposition. We accept this proposal, yet I need some fruits from your spiritual tree.' Claw said, announcing his terms.
The Frog Queen paused before lightly laughing, 'You seem to believe you are in a position to be asking? I think you have an overinflated sense of worth, PARTNER.'
Frog Queen's sweet tone seemed to turn to absolute venom as she muttered the last words and stared at Claw with murderous intent. It was the first time the frog revealed the vicious side of her in the conversation.
Claw eyes firmed as he stood straight, unwavering, 'Correct, you may be in the position of strength here. However, do you believe you can handle the Pikeake without us? They ruled this region long before you came and are not going down easy. It is also clear who the Pikeake will view as the most prominent immediate threat around here. I'm sure you are at the top of its priorities the way you leave an impression, PARTNER.'
There, the Frog Queen looked back angrily, which seemed to unsettle the large Toad King beside her, who began to show its aggression similarly.
Tara thought things were about to erupt into a full-on conflict until the Frog Queen paused before returning to that strange cordial tone she put on.
'Deal. Though we attack soon, we meet soon. And we will go out in our entirety, and you will fight on the front lines.' The Frog Queen agreed so readily and could maintain her composure so easily that Tara knew it was wise to be wary of her.
'I feel we are just trading one big problem for another.' Tara inwardly thought, though at least their goal coming here was accomplished without coming to blows with a force overwhelmingly stronger than them.
Claw replied, 'Good. Now, let us talk about this in detail.'
The two then had further discussions, during which Claw wanted to extract as much fruit as possible for her.
The far older spiritual plant the Frogs and Toads protected holds much more fruit than the one the Salamanders guarded.
It gave them leeway to ask for a large amount of fruit despite the oddity of an Iron Salamander asking for them.
Tara felt that if the negotiations ended well, they could return to Lady and see what the fruits would do before they saw how reliable this so-called alliance was when they challenged the most dangerous creature in this region.
Yet even Tara felt their options were rather limited, so maybe having a talking Frog as a partner is not the worst-case scenario.
She would have to see if they would live to regret this. But that was for another time.
Right now, it was the only decision they could make, and she hoped it would be worthwhile.