Zu’ji was traveling alone, in the early morning hours. Although she could already see the sky turning red, the dense undergrowth and the seemingly endless expanse of the jungle swallowed up much of the dawning daylight. However, the daylight had already transformed the night dew into dense, humid fog, which would not let the light through anyway. Although Zu’ji and the trolls of the jungle lived here, this was the most unpleasant time of day for them and their kind, and the herbalist’s furry plum was a little sticky and her body was soaked with sweat. She accepted it though, and she was on her way to a secret meeting. She had paid attention to the other details of her vision and now she knew what Haruk’Zil wanted of her. That was the reason why she took the considerable risk and didn’t even travel with her most trusted student Majanie - Zu’ji was going to meet trolls of hostile tribes. However, this enmity was of a completely different caliber and therefore much more piquant than her cooperation with the Venomsnakes. The herbalist knew that this knowledge would have been a welcome tidbit for trolls like Banjhan, who could then kill her for treason or possibly had already secretly sent hunters after her at this opportune moment. It was an open secret that she was not in the village, but her tribe believed that she wanted to undergo a spiritual cleansing by Haruk’Zil, which was considered an extremely personal matter by the believers and priests.

  The meeting place was a good three days’ journey from the main village of the Riverfangs and was located in the territory of a very strong tribe - the Jungleshadows. In this part of the Diamond Jungle, they had been one of the largest and most powerful troll tribes for years, and just as their numbers grew, so did their territory.

  Two years ago, this had led them to try to decimate and take over the Riverfangs, but Zu’ji’s tribe had been one of the few that was able to repel the Jungleshadows.

  In her vision, however, the herbalist had unmistakably recognized the mark of the Jungleshadows on the middle part of the severed snake, and Haruk’Zil was their first priority when it came to worshiping the tiki. However, it was not Zu’ji who had sought contact.

  Instead, the herbalist had accepted an invitation delivered by a snake. Reptiles were the most popular of the three animal species used for the dissemination of information and the exchange of messages. Nimble little monkeys were used just as gladly, however, and lastly, batparrots. The intelligent birds were definitely the best for these tasks, but capturing and taming them required patience and skill that not every tribe had, not to mention access to the birds.

  In the end, it wasn’t about how for Zu’ji, but only about the will of Haruk’Zil. She trusted him completely and believed that he would protect her on this journey with watchful eyes.

  A pair of double eyes were also watching warily from the thicket. Two Riverfang troll scouts, unbeknownst to the herbalist, followed her steps in enemy territory and saw her approach a small stream.

  There the female was expected by a group of Jungleshadow guards. “One more step and you’ll lose your feet first, Riverfang,” a female warned. “But you must be looking for death anyway, venturing out to us weak and alone.”

  “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be,” Zu’ji replied firmly, but not too loudly. She was wrapped in a thin panther pelt that served as a cloak and hood, and she carefully slid her hand out from under the cloak. ”Exactly as I was told to be.”

  A tiny piece of parchment was presented to the guards, which the Jungleshadow female accepted. She glanced at it briefly before crumpling it up. “Words in writing, as I was told,” she agreed, but she was not convinced. “But if you are who we expect, you know more than what was written. My Jatal had a vision and he told me the following: Only our guest saw the markings on the snake. Who else did Haruk’Zil choose?”

  Zu’ji spoke without any doubt and with direct eye contact. “Besides the Jungleshadows and the Riverfangs, the Crystalmugs should have seen the same as I and your Jatal.”

  The guard looked around at her tribesmen thoughtfully, though it wasn’t clear what the eye contact meant. Some reached for their spears and all appeared ready to attack before the guard female looked forward again. “Quite right,” she confirmed. “It was also the Crystalmugs that sent you this message, for their eyes are in many places.”

  “As it pleases Haruk’Zil,” Zu’ji replied. She crossed the small stream until she was surrounded by the guards and she walked with them without fear.

  The Jungleshadows had a cobalt blue skin tone and their distinguishing feature was their right arm. It was completely painted over in a shiny, oily black, with thin white lines and trollish writing, and like a spreading shadow, the black extended over the entire shoulder, a part of the chest, the neck, the chin and the cheek. After a few minutes of walking, however, a few of the guards separated from the group in a completely different direction.

  This was the territory of the Jungleshadows, but it was still only the edge, which certainly needed to be protected, and there was neither the main village nor another large settlement of the enemy tribe. Instead, the destination was an outpost that was only occupied by warriors and was located on a narrow grassy plateau surrounded by solid stone. It was taller than the average tree, but it was still dwarfed by many, much taller trees on all sides. The ascent was already bumpy without a fight, and there were spike traps at the only entrance to the plateau, which was guarded by a few troll bone skulls and fresh troll heads. Those were located at several points along the edge of the simple outpost, where the standards of the Jungleshadows waved. The trolls here had a few small tipis and the rest were makeshift, but well-built and equipped shelters. The camp visibly housed around 40 trolls and still offered more comfort and security than Haki’s group.

  Tucked away between a few shelters, however, the blue-green aquamarine standard of the Crystalmugs waved in front of one of the two largest tipis in the camp, and that was the target. Several trolls of the infamous tribe were crouching around it, and it was said that no knowledge was safe from them if they wanted it.

  The normal, bluish skin tone of the Crystalmugs actually matched that of many trolls in the jungle, but their frightening faces set them apart from the crowd. Every adult in the tribe wore a mask made of rough, blue-green, opaque aquamarine gemstones. Only their eyes and mouths, including space for the tusks, could be seen. Even their noses were almost completely covered and had only holes for breathing. The Crystalmugs had to perform like this all the time and only within the closest family were they allowed to ever take off their masks, although outsiders were not aware of this. To outsiders, the Crystalmugs maintained the myth that their masks had been pressed onto their faces while glowing hot and had thus become one with them for life.

  “The Jatal awaits you in there,” said the female who had escorted the herbalist here.

  “The all-seeing serpent will not forget your service,” Zu’ji said. She took off her hood so that as many trolls as possible could see her face and memorize it. She also represented her status, which she believed she held through Haruk’Zil. ”Make way, Crystalmugs.”

  The herbalist caught glances from the jungle shadows and the Crystalmugs, but the mask wearers remained completely calm. It wasn’t actually necessary for them to make way, and yet they took a few steps back while their eyes followed the female until she entered the tipi.

  Inside, the tipi was divided by a semi-transparent curtain, but apart from the clearly visible movements, the sounds left little to the imagination about what was happening.

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  Beyond the curtain, a troll female sat with her back to the tipi entrance on the lap of a male, riding him very intensely and demandingly. It was the end of the act, which both trolls celebrated with a hearty groan and a final, firm movement.

  Zu’ji was not disturbed by this and she stopped with a nose length distance in front of the curtain. There she waited patiently while the two trolls covered at least their hips with linen robes.

  “My darlings were right as always,” murmured the unknown female. She had a bulging baby bump that indicated about the end of the third month, although trolls didn’t carry their pups for more than six to seven months. ”We still had time before she arrives.”

  “I didn’t doubt that,“ the male replied, relaxed. The troll was discreetly larger than most male representatives of his species.

  “You said,” the female stranger emphasized, catching him out. “But that’ll be tight if we start now.”

  “That’s how it was, and I didn’t care about the time anyway,” the male said flirtatiously and confidently. ”I would have taken you even if we had only had a few moments left. Maybe the herbalist would have enjoyed the show or felt the desire to have what you have. What do you say, herbalist?”

  That was official permission for Zu’ji to slip through the curtain. “We are united by something greater,” she remarked calmly, although she was quite astonished, which she did not reveal, though. “And for that, I can keep my urges under control, especially to avoid being tainted by a... Jungleshadow.”

  “It’s either very bold or outrageously brazen to talk to me like that,’ the troll confessed. His elaborate insignia and paintwork clearly indicated his status as a Jatal, and that he was the infamous Varakaz. His father Kazuk, who died six years ago, had achieved the first notable successes for the Jungleshadows, but Varakaz had played the greatest part in his tribe’s rise since his father’s death. “What do you think, my future queen?”

  “I believe it is a healthy mix of both,” the unkown female said appreciatively. Without a curtain and not turning her back, she turned out to be a Crystalmug. ”More than worthy of a possible High Priestess of Haruk’Zil.”

  It was truly hard for Zu’ji to believe that Varakaz and this foreigner troll had just mated. Since the stranger was more naked than dressed, the herbalist only now noticed the bracelets and hair braids that indicated the rank of a Crystalmug leader. She needed to be sure. “Future queen?” she asked incredulously, although she liked the sound of some of the words. “I know who he is, but who are you? And what are you talking about? Me, high priestess?”

  The herbalist might have been well-read and knew how to use her talents and stage moments, but today she met a female who would be her equal. “I’m Nejara, jatal of the Crystalmugs,” the troll introduced herself. Female jatals were a rarity, though not impossible, but many females could not hold their position over a longer period of time. What was noticeable, however, was that Nejara did not wear a prominent mask and that her mask, like those of all the others, looked as if all the Crystalmugs were the same. “And I was the first to be chosen by the all-seeing serpent a few moons ago to follow its will.”

  “A few moons ago?” Zu’ji asked with a raised eyebrow. Of course she knew that Haruk’Zil had thousands of loyal servants and that the all-seeing serpent needed many for his plans, but still the herbalist felt a little less special after she had been the one to set the tone so far. ”When exactly?”

  “Around 4, wasnt it Varakaz?” Nejara blinked, melting. Her question was rhetorical, but she got a silent smirk from the little man before she nodded and stroked her belly. ”Yes, about four moons ago. Shortly after that, Varakaz and I met to mix our blood, as Haruk’Zil wanted.”

  Zu’ji accepted the words for the time being. She wouldn’t be staying for long, so she tried to approach the events step by step and calmly. “I always suspected that there had to be more to what has been happening lately,” she admitted. “I just didn’t expect how far and apparently big everything already is. How did it start for you?”

  “A simple dream,” Nejara told them, but the body language of the attractive female spoke volumes. ’A gigantic snake, whose body stretched through our jungle and its head rested peacefully and contentedly at the highest point of the Haru.”

  “I know this dream, because I had it too,’ Zu’ji noted when she thought of the Haru Mountains. From there, the Crystalmugs supposedly obtained the gems for their masks and if that was true, the herbalist had to be all the more careful, because the Haru Mountains surrounded the first and most sacred temple of Haruk’Zil. “And what happened next?”

  “Well, the dream repeated itself and I understood that this was a vision,” Nejara said. Although she had just had an orgasm, she bit into a finger in excitement and let her blood drip into a sacrificial bowl in front of a Haruk’Zil idol. “And after that, I saw a shadow spread over the entire jungle. It seemed to devour everything, even myself, until I understood that I was not being devoured. The darkness had merged with me, and from the sea of shadows rose a throne upon which sat a troll of stately bearing, whose arm bore the colors of the Jungleshadows, but who also looked at me through a mask of the Crystalmugs... that was our son. Yes, I’m more than certain.”

  A new troll kingdom, worshipping Haruk’Zil? Zu’ji’s thoughts of gaining control over the Riverfangs for the all-seeing serpent paled in comparison. She knew that this had been part of a larger plan, but apparently her tiki favored this troll couple. “This can’t be everything,” she said cautiously, with a mixture of envy and curiosity.

  “Of course not,” Varakaz replied. He looked at the herbalist from close range, almost brushing against her as he went around her. “But you will hear enough about our dreams. All you need to know now is the fact that the three of us are destined to build a new kingdom in the name of Haruk’Zil.”

  Zu’ji found the Jungleshadow so close to her repulsive. Her nature and habits made it hard for her to bear. “That may be,” she breathed calmly. “But I doubt that your part was just to mate and wait for me.” Zu’ji again spoke these words with a certain smugness, because maybe it was like that and she was the most important part in Haruk’Zil’s plans. “Or was it?”

  “If only it were that simple,” Varakaz laughed. This was his territory and he could afford to touch the herbalist lightly on the hip before stepping away from her. ”No, we’ve done more than that. There are things in motion that should bear fruit in the next few moons and no, I’m not just talking about Nejara’s fruit.” Both he and the Crystalmug female grinned at this statement, but Varakaz’s interest was focused on something else. “Shortly before we heard rumors of the events at the Circle of Tears, Nejara and I were blessed with a new vision. It was the same as the one you had. The question is - how do you fit into all this? They say that Haruk’Zil himself intervened in the trials at the circle and that you were his mouthpiece. Is that true?”

  “Every single word,” Zu’ji said, pregnant with meaning. ”And unlike the two of you, I was apparently the only one blessed enough to meet a living ancestor.”

  While Nejara and Varakaz had been present and in charge during this meeting, the trolls looked at each other appraisingly. “What are you talking about?” the Crystalmug jatal asked. “What is an ancestor?”

  “The origin of us all. Yes, even of the tiki.”

  This revelation annoyed the other trolls considerably, and Varakaz drew a wavy dagger. “You’re putting something above the tiki?” he asked. He didn’t act aggressively, but spoke with uneasy calm. “Let’s forget it. Apparently you’re crazy.”

  “Crazy enough that this tongue should be cut out,“ Nejara added, snuggling up to her future king from the side.

  “Crazy, eh?” Zu’ji replied. She simply turned the tables, just as she opened her airy robe and dropped it, presenting herself naked at the top and fearlessly as a target. “So you doubt? Do you seriously believe that the all-seeing serpent me would bless with the same visions as yours? Do you call our tiki... mad?”

  “NEVER!”; Varakaz affirmed with a warning growl, but he lowered his dagger. The Jungleshadow needed a moment to calm down, though.

  The herbalist’s statement had caught Nejara off guard as well, but the crystal-faced woman was quicker to focus. “Forgive our outburst,” she apologized diplomatically. “It may be that you are here for that reason... you seem to have knowledge that we lack. What is an ancestor?”

  “As I was saying,” Zu’ji repeated calmly. She went over to a table and took an orange, which she began to peel and eat. “The origin of every troll. No matter where in the world, no matter what kind, we all descended from the ancestors and you must have heard the rumors of the trials. Surely you have also heard of an invincible, gigantic warrior who surpassed everything?”

  “That’s right,” Nejara nodded. She stroked her future king one last time, before she went to the side of the herbalist, seeking closeness. ”Supposedly there was a troll there, bigger than any troll that lives in the Diamond Jungle, and he is said to have slaughtered hundreds of examinees.”

  Zu’ji noticed that Nejara didn’t take every word of this rumor at face value. “Not hundreds,” she admitted. “But dozens. None of the examinees had even the slightest chance and his power... well, one of my servants told me something so incredible that I still don’t quite understand it myself.”

  “Really? What would that be?”

  “I think I’ll start from the beginning, too,” Zu’ji smiled ecstatically. She offered the Crystalmug a piece of orange, which it sensually nibbled from her fingers. ”And then you tell me how the three of us build a kingdom for the all-seeing serpent...”