As Luna watched, Dave managed to jerk his arm up quickly enough to keep the rattlesnake from injecting her venom directly into his throat.

  Still, even the thin layer of armor on his arm could not stop the creature’s fangs from plunging into his wrist—and presumably injecting a great quantity of poison there.

  “Aaargh!” Dave’s voice broke the stillness that had settled over both sides in the moments before the attack.

  Luna was already in motion. She had hurled herself toward the rattlesnake’s body as soon as she recognized what it was doing, though she would be far too slow.

  Now the rest of the guards sprang into action. Samuel threw himself over the border and into enemy territory, landing his heavy bulk atop two of the gigantic lizards. Duncan began gathering Mana around himself. Damien’s body burst into its Werewolf transformation, though that took place at the very edges of Luna’s perception. Her eyes were focused on the rattlesnake and Dave.

  While the snake injected venom, Dave was not exactly resisting. Though he winced, he was using his free hand—his left—to draw his pistol from his side. From the way his eyes glanced around, he was more focused on the other enemies that might come to join in the assault than he was on the rattlesnake that had already bared its fangs.

  Luna’s body landed inches away from Dave’s, and three sets of jaws sank their teeth into the rattlesnake’s thick, scaly hide.

  That was far from enough to make the creature let go of Daves’s arm, which was already starting to swell up and turn the color of a bad bruise.

  As Luna tore into the rattlesnake’s lower half, Dave fired shots at the other creatures that now charged him and his small contingent of guards. One of the other humans lunged in from behind him with a pair of long hunting knives and hacked at the arm the rattlesnake had attached itself to, severing it just above the elbow with two quick strokes.

  Dave collapsed to the ground, still firing his magic bullets toward the enemy as blood gushed from his stump limb.

  The rattlesnake flopped down beside him, quickly loosed its fangs from the severed arm, and feebly tried to reattach itself to Dave. The same two long hunting knives from before stabbed viciously into its head as the man who had amputated Dave’s limb—his name was Sam, Luna now recalled—finished the creature off.

  Good reflexes, she thought.

  Luna released the section of rattlesnake torso that she had been turning into ground meat and threw herself into the fight across the border, which most of Dave’s guards were participating in now.

  Samuel had decapitated one of the lizards he had initially attacked, and he was crushing the other one’s spine between his jaws. Damien was ripping one of the tortoise’s heads. The other humans hacked and stabbed and shot bolts of lightning and short range at the other creatures.

  Luna lunged onto a green lizard that had extended a red flap from its throat—she gathered this was a dominance display—and bit into that flap. The creature shrieked with pain and tried to claw at her with its feeble digits, but Luna easily held the size and strength advantages.

  A familiar voice spoke into Luna’s mind as she tore into the hapless monster beneath her paws.

  Hey, Luna, how are things with the army? the King asked. Please let me know if I’ve caught you at a bad time, and we can talk later.

  The leader of the wolves paused, opened all three sets of jaws wide, and ripped into her foe with even greater gusto, tearing flesh and shattering bone until the bloody wreck of its body stopped moving. Her eyes darted around, assessing the battlefield status quo, as one of her heads began devouring the nourishing meat of her enemy.

  It had not been much of a battle anyway—little more than a dishonorable sneak attack—and the enemy were all dead or dying at this point. None of them was getting away. That was the important thing.

  My King, your whim is my command, Luna quickly replied, unconsciously wagging her tail as she communicated. She had missed her Ruler’s voice. It could never be a bad time. To what do I owe the honor of your presence in my mind? Some problem to solve? Someone to kill?

  Luna knew the Fisher Kingdom well enough by now that she doubted this was a mere housekeeping call. The King was very busy. And he had placed a commander above the entire army, including Luna, so that if James had merely wanted a status report, he could have communicated with Dave Matsumoto.

  Then again, I do not know if humans have the same telepathic link with each other that His Majesty does with me and the other species leaders, she thought. Perhaps he cannot speak directly with Dave, and we are his only true eyes on the ground.

  First, I want to know how things are going where you are, the King sent, gently reproaching her for steering the conversation away from the simple question he had asked.

  We are just mopping up a small battle, Luna admitted. It was a minor matter. Barely more than a skirmish.

  Do you mind if I look through your eyes? he asked.

  It would be my honor to be your host, she replied instantly. Inhabit me for as long as you wish. She had to resist the urge to bow as she sent the message. It would have looked ridiculous, since there was no one physically there in front of her; the closest presences were dying enemies being ripped apart by blade and tooth.

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  Luna felt a warmth spread throughout her body. There was a feeling inside her brain like a loving hand caressing her, and she knew that the King was with her.

  She heard his voice again, sounding much closer this time.

  I hope it doesn’t feel too crowded, he thought at her. I have figured out how to do this while leaving you in control. I only want to observe.

  Luna felt an impulse to tell James that she had meant to offer him control, but she instinctively understood that he was not taking it because he did not need or want it right now. She thought she might distract him with too much idle chatter.

  So she only thought back, All is well for me, my King. You are with me. The feeling is beatific.

  And what she said was true. She imagined it was probably the same for any of those the Fisher King had blessed. To actually feel his presence inside her was an experience similar in quality to what she imagined a divine visitation might be like, for those who had a patron deity.

  It was warmth and power and security and love, all wrapped around her like a warm blanket.

  I see what you mean about a skirmish, the Fisher King observed. There were very few enemies here, but it was quite bloody nevertheless.

  They launched a sneak attack, Luna replied immediately. Trying to remove Dave and break our command structure.

  It was a good plan, James responded. What would you do next? If it was up to you. Would you retreat from this place or continue to seek retribution?

  Luna swallowed. I sense a malevolence in the air, my King. The Ruler here is not one to be trifled with.

  So, you would withdraw? There was no judgment in the voice, only a question.

  No, Luna replied. I think that the Ruler will only be more on guard if we return later. It is impossible that this skirmish will go unaccounted for as they plan their future moves. We could return in a month’s time and find that the trees here have been cut down and replaced by some of your human-style fortifications. I would invade and see where this Ruler lays his or her head.

  Well, you’re right that this won’t go unnoticed, James sent. It wouldn’t in my territory, at least.

  As Luna stood triumphantly over the corpse of her kill, communing with her leader, her mate rushed to her side.

  Romulus, she sent to him telepathically, I hope all is well.

  He seemed to be moving with a little more urgency than she would have expected, given that the enemy was defeated, the threat all destroyed now. And then Romulus was inches away from Luna, lapping at the fur on the side of her body.

  Oh, she thought. There was a small wound there, where the lizard she was killing had managed to cut her with one of its claws. It was nothing that would take any significant time to heal, but it would heal faster with her mate’s Healing Saliva—one of the Skills the members of the wolf pack had in common—applied.

  I will just go and check on Dave, James sent.

  Luna had the strangest sense that he felt as if he was intruding on an intimate moment or something, and just like that, the presence was gone.

  “Thank you, my love,” she said quietly, nuzzling one of Romulus’s heads with one of hers. “I am really all right…”

  —

  James shifted his astral form into the Hair-Clay Spider he had created and given to Dave before the army left the Fisher Kingdom. Then he hopped down from Dave’s belt, where the spider was stored, to the ground, to survey the situation.

  From there, he had a much better view of Dave’s injuries, as well as of the army as a whole. Most of them had not even had the opportunity to enter the territory yet, as they had simply not been close enough—or reacted quickly enough—to attack before Dave and his guards had reduced the enemies to scattered bits of meat and bone.

  There were already two Healers by Dave’s side. One of them had applied Purification and was ensuring no venom remained in Dave’s body, while the other one was working on his severed limb. The arm was rapidly regrowing.

  “I remember when amputation used to be a permanent procedure,” James said from the spider’s mouth.

  Dave laughed, a short barking sound on this occasion. “I remember that too. It’s good to hear from you, Your Majesty. I hope you see we’re doing our work, as ordered.”

  “Yes, I do,” James said. “I came to check on you and see what you intended to do next.”

  “Next?” Dave replied. “The second step is more of the same, but with less diplomacy. They attack when we try to negotiate, so we don’t bother negotiating. We fight our way to the Ruler and don’t stop until he or she is dead. Unless it’s the will of the Fisher King that we do something different.”

  He sounded firm and resolute, despite being in great pain—despite the fact that his forehead shone bright with sweat, as his arm sprouted anew from the place where it had once grown.

  “Very well,” James said. “I like that answer. Is this the only enemy force you have had to face since you left me?”

  “The only significant enemy, yes,” Dave said.

  He detailed the preceding phases of their journey—mostly they had passed through territories that had no Rulers, with wild monsters roaming freely or occasionally a small number of humans eking out a bare existence off the land.

  “I directed them toward the Fisher Kingdom, of course,” he added. “The only verified safe place for humans in the world we live in now. If the monsters we had run into were the talking kind, I would have done the same with them.”

  “Good call,” James replied.

  “The journey has been entirely straightforward and very easy up until now,” Dave said. “This is our first hint of a struggle, but we’ll pass through it without too much trouble, I’m confident.”

  James could tell there was a bit of bluster in those last words, but he approved of Dave’s attitude.

  “I have the utmost confidence in you, Captain,” he said. “Defeat the reptilian creatures that control this territory, and continue on your way to the coast. Contact me if your losses become significant, but otherwise, I trust that you will manage things.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Dave used his freshly regrown limb to salute the tiny spider that stood on the ground in front of him. The spider returned Dave’s salute, and then it hopped back onto Dave’s body and returned to the place, tucked into his belt, where he typically stored it.

  With that, James returned to his own body—and the Fisher Kingdom.