Spear of Destiny by James Baldwin (little bear else holmelund minarik .TXT) 📕

“I would like to claim an exception, Your Majesty. Human males are always in season,” I quipped. “Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, 24-hours a day, Sargent Roger is ready to stand at attention and fire when ordered.”

The queen struggled with her serious façade for a moment, before she broke into a sibilant, tinkling laugh. Her mirth was followed by Tahan’s, and most of her other maids in waiting: some of whom were clearly just copying their ruler out of courtly necessity.

“So I have heard! So I have heard. No doubt why you travel with such an assortment of lovers.” The Queen gestured broadly to our group. “You do not need to use my title. Call me Solai.”

“Now you just hang on a goddamned-OWW!” Gar started, cut off as Rin discreetly stomped on his bare toes.

I laughed. “There is a lot of love here, but most of us aren’t involved that way.”

Solai fixed us with wide, innocent eyes. “Ah, but if you are the Triad of legend, then of course there is love! Who can forget the passion between the Paragon Siva Nandini and his dragon mate, Yavrusa the Carnelian Splendor? And his passionate, scandalous affair with Jun-Heera, the first Warsinger?”

“Oh, right. Yeah, can’t forget them,” Suri drawled. “Your Majesty, we all, uhh, share different types of love, and you can be assured that I won’t be hopping into a hot tub with Gar or Rin any time soon.”

Solai laughed again. “And fair enough, too. That taller male looks like a dried-out antelope carcass.”

Gar bristled, but Rin stomped on his foot again before he could retort, earning a yelp and a scowl.

“Of course, there is one true test to determine if you are indeed the Triad.” The Priest-Queen breezed around me again. “The Legendary Spear. Do you have it?”

“The younger male did have a very fine spear with him, Your Highness.” Tahan said.

“Sure do,” I said. “I can call it to my hand, if you want to see it?”

“Of course I want to see it!” Solai’s tail arched into a curious question mark as she came to a stop, hands on hips. “Do it. Call it to your hand.”

I took a step back, held my arm out, and called for the Spear. As soon as the thought manifested, it appeared, gleaming with traceries of red, black and white.

A gasp went up around the court. Priestesses stopped mid-fan to gawk.

“Ahhh...” The queen reached out curiously, hands hovering over the haft. “The Spear of Nine Spheres, just as the stories say. But this only has three stones, not nine.”

“We’re hoping you might be able to help with that,” I said. “We’re looking for the others. We’re also looking for anything and everything we can find about Warsingers... and access to a Chorus Vault off the coast of your home.”

A murmur went up. Several of the lounging priestesses sat upright, watching the audience with greater alertness.

“Well, if you have such knowledge of our greatest mysteries... well. Who am I to deny an audience with our Sacred Avatar?” Solai’s eyes hooded. “I will grant your request, but not for free.”

“Not for free?” Suri took a step forward. “The Drachan are a danger to the entire world, and we don’t have a lot of time.”

“We have survived the depredations of both the Drachan and the Aesari. We shall endure the foolishness of humans, if it comes to that.” The Queen shrugged. “I cannot admit untried strangers to visit our holiest of places without evidence that you are here in good faith. You must prove to me and my colony that you are who you say you are.”

“Fair enough,” I said. “What do you want?”

A smile curled her mouth. “Three wishes. Of you.”

“Me?” I pointed at me. “Just me?”

“You bear the Spear. That means you and your dragon queen are the leaders of the Triad.” Solai shot a sly glance at Suri. “Your companions go where you go until your destiny is complete, yes? I shall make my wishes of you. They may follow you if they wish.”

“One wish should be plenty,” Suri said flatly.

“Three is a sacred number.” The Priest-Queen folded her hands and contentedly squinted at Suri.

I shrugged and looked to the others. They shrugged back. There wasn’t really much we could do, unless we felt like fighting our way to the Avatar through an army of Meewfolk. Given all their NPC meters displayed between two and three red skulls each, indicating their challenge level was a good bit higher than ours, I wasn’t keen to try.

“Three wishes, then,” I said. “But you can’t wish for more wishes.”

“You are bold, to tell me what I can and cannot do in my own house.” The Priest-Queen’s smile widened to show teeth. “But I like boldness in people. You are someone who knows that you do not attain power by purring and mewling at someone else’s hand. You must seize it.”

“Where I’m from, we have a saying. ‘The bad guys aren’t gonna shoot themselves, and the General isn’t gonna get his own coffee’.” I smiled back at her.

“Indeed.” The Priest-Queen returned to her dais, collapsing back to her divan and draping herself across the royal blue coverlet. “A deal is struck, human. My first wish of you is the most arduous. You may have noticed the damage to our city, and the many soldiers and patrols we have stationed in and around Ru Waat?”

I rubbed my wrists. “Yes.”

“We have been attacked by many of these monsters in recent weeks.” The tip of her tail began to flick. “At first, it was little things. Goblins, baboons driven into a rage. Then the monsters started to arrive. Saberwolves, animated skeletons, dead lizard men. Slowly but surely, the attacks are getting worse, the monsters