Chapter 4: New World, Same Old Crap

Near The Northern Border of Blumund

Tanya was in a most joyous mood at the moment. It would seem the little convoy she was going to stop to ask a few questions was being attacked. And seeing an opportunity to get herself indebted to was most likely to produce positive results. So with a resolve to get some credit she dove down into the fight and crushed those she landed on.

The armed men who had been fighting the guards froze at the newcomer before being subsequently slaughtered. Tanya grabbed the nearest man and flung him towards his comrades at lighting speed. Next she went after those scattering away from her throw. Lighting cracked to life and arcs flowed through the air towards their targets. Many ignited into flames while some showed resistance to magic. Those that did Tanya quickly moved towards.

Taking to the air she saw the men trying to flee the scene. That would not do for her. Opening her mouth, she charged a breath attack. She aimed and fired a tornado of wind. The attack shredded everything in its path and when the men were hit they were turned into a fine mist.

Surprised at how easy the so-called fight had been she landed. The defenders looked absolutely terrified as the dragon made its way over towards them. Many considered running, but quickly dashed the idea. A simple glance at the red field nearby showed there would be no escape. They gathered their resolve and prepared to fight till their last breath.

"At ease gentlemen. No need for yourselves to be so guarded. I mean no harm." Tanya said. Her voice, while much higher than Veldora, was still deep compared to a human voice.

The men looked at each other unsure of what to do. But the silent standoff was broken by one of the carriage doors opening. A man pushed himself outside as a guard begged him to remain in. Tanya watched as he struggled to free himself before giving his guard a smack on the head. After that all opposition stopped.

He walked towards Tanya with a grim face. It seems that he was preparing himself mentally for what was to come. "Ehem. Dragon, what is your purpose here?" He asked. Realizing that she had not introduced herself, Tanya felt some embarrassment.

"Where are my manners? I should introduce myself." Being her head down in what she believed looked like a respectful bow, she spoke. "My name is Tanya Von Degurechaff. I happened to see your convoy in distress and decided to lend a helping hand."

The man looked to pale for a moment before composing himself. "I see...well Tanya. I thank you for your help...but we should be on our way. If you would excuse us." As he turned to walk back to the carriage, Tanya frowned.

"Isn't it rude to not introduce yourself when one has done so?" Her voice carried over the wind like a cold blanket. The man froze and slowly turned his head to see icy blue eyes glaring at him. A heavy atmosphere seemed to weigh on him as he struggled to speak.

"I-I suppose it is r-rude. I do hope you can forgive my mistake." He stammered before bowing with all the grace a trembling man could muster. "My n-name is Rudeus Romanis." He then gestured to the carriage he had exited. "I am accompanied by my wife and daughter. Elizabeth Romanis and Emma Romanis." Seeming to take this as a que a beautiful woman with long, deep red hair, emerged. Next a small girl, only slightly big enough to not be a toddler, walked out. She had red hair like her mother.

As they moved closer Tanya could make out more details. Rudeus was a tall man with black hair and deep blue eyes. His clothing spoke of wealth and perhaps a high position in society. His wife was equally if not more extravagantly dressed. Her hair was a deep red and her eyes were hazelnut brown. Then there was Emma Romanis. She was in the final stages of learning to walk and still contained the innocence of a baby. Her eyes stared at Tanya with wonder and excitement. Her hair was red like her mothers and eyes blue like her father's.

Tanya nodded towards the family. "It is a pleasure to meet you all, mister and misses Romanis. And to your lovely daughter as well." Her tone was professional and polite. The two adults seemed to relax a little at her polite tone but before they could reply, Emma made the first move. "Daddy! Can we keep the dragon?" She blurted out, much to the horror of everyone.

Tanya found herself chuckling at the child. Anyone with a sense of danger would have never even thought to say such a thing. But a child, new to the world, would believe it was only logical to try and gain possession of something so dangerous. Probably because it was cool in their mind. Tanya thought for a moment what she should do. Maybe she could offer her services to the man and hope it would be successful. Or she could leave them be and move on.

But who knows when I will have a perfect chance like this to get integrated with the human population on friendly terms. Veldora is ranked as a cataclysmic class monster. Maybe I should take this chance and if it falls apart I can just run away. I don't want to be hunted like some beast after all.

With her mind made up, Tanya returned her attention to the world around her. It seemed that while she had been quickly thinking of what to do, Rudeus had started to grovel for some slight his daughter had apparently caused. Tanya for her part, fully committed to exploiting this opportunity.

"Sir Rudeus, raise your head. I was not slighted in the least by your daughter's comment. Only a fool would be offended by the words of a child." It was better to sweep that away than to use it against the man. She didn't want them to feel like hostages. "However, since I have indeed saved your life and the life of your family. I would like some sort of repayment." Tanya tried her best to soften her voice. But Rudeus still flinched. "W-what would you have me do?"

"I wish to simply live among you humans in peace for a short period. If I happen to like it then I shall stay, if I do not, I shall leave without incident." Tanya said. Of course she would not simply ask Redeus to care for her like she was some government leech. No, she was going to give herself a job. One that should be easy enough if today was anything to go by. "Of course to ask you to house me without receiving anything at all would be against everything I stand for." This time the man looked a little confused.

"Rudeus Romanis. I ask that you hire me as a guard."

Farmus Kingdom, Royal Capital Marris

Tanya felt a little embarrassed about the current situation. When they had arrived at the city gates, the whole place went into an uproar. The place had nearly begun to mobilize for battle before Rudeus was able to calm the situation down. It seemed that he was related to the king as a cousin, making him a noble. The House of Romanis was apparently kept as a spare should the royal family be unable to produce an heir. But since the Farmus Kingdom was still quite a young domain, there had been no need to change dynasties.

Along the way Tanya had been informed that Farmus had only been formed three generations ago. Recent enough that some people were older than the nation itself. Before Farmus had formed the area it now occupies was once a collection of warlords who proclaimed themselves kings but in reality only controlled a city or village. Then came along the Farmus. They swept through the lands conquering village after village. Until they had gained themselves a sizable piece of land. Soon after the capital Marris was constructed as the seat of power. Its monuments and statues are dedicated to the first king and his successors.

All in all, it was a rapidly growing power in the world. Tanya knew that nations around them could become worried about this new rising star. Certainly their neighbor to the south, Blumund, was looking around for allies to hopefully curb this growing power. So as they made their way to the royal castle, Tanya had begun to chat with Rudeus.

Tanya warned Rudeus that an overly aggressive nation could quickly find itself with no allies and plenty of enemies. He agreed but said that Farmus would go on the march if they felt it was in their interest. It seemed to Tanya that he was referring to the trouble that was brewing in Blumund. The small neighbor was growing concerned that they would be stuck under the heel of Farmus as trade between the Western Nations and Dwargon had only just started to really pick up. The dwarfs and humans had apparently been bitter about each other but the threat of monsters on the frontier had forced them to warm their icy relations.

Blumund had been able to profit quite well from being the only real nation between the two sides. Most tradesmen avoided the Jura Forest and the warring lands in the north. But then Farmus was born. That changed everything. The new kingdom, while still trying to get itself together, was rapidly growing in strength. Blumund feared that it's golden era, which had only just begun, was already at its end. And so through the years tension had been slowly growing.

Tanya noted that, since monsters threatened all of humanity, war between human nations was exceedingly rare. Since they would need all available resources to keep their lands free from monsters. But should a war come, Farmus should be not only prepared but should bring overwhelming force to make sure it was a swift war. This would also make sure the Western Nations didn't get any funny ideas about intervening.

After discussing with Rudeus for a while, they arrived at the castle. The man said a quick goodbye before reluctantly entering the castle alone. Tanya watched him go before turning to Elizabeth and Emma. "Now that we are going to wait here for a while let's get to know each other a little better." Elizabeth crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you begin Tanya?"

Tanya nodded her head. And laid her body down. "Let's see. I was born deep within the Jura Forest and have only been around for a few months." She then pointed a claw at Emma. "I'm probably much younger than little Emma over there if you think about it."

Elizabeth furrowed her brows. "Then how did you get a name so quickly?" It was an obvious answer and Tanya had prepared something for this. "I was born from the latent aura that leaks out of Veldora, The Storm Dragon. He also gave me my name." Tanya managed to keep herself from scoffing in amusement at her own answer.

Elizabeth's eyes widened in shock at the revelation. "You are a child of Veldora?!" She shouted. Tanya, embarrassed, tried to correct the woman but it was of no use. She was totally set on her crazy idea.

Veldora, my father?! No, no, not in a million years would I ever call that moron anything but a mentor. And that is stretching it!

After the woman had settled down they continued. Tanya found out that Elizabeth had been the head of the Romanis family when her father had passed away. But after meeting Rudeus, a wealthy merchant, he became the head of the house. Tanya also was interested in the fact that the current king had no heir and was believed to be too old to rear children. So for the moment Emma was the crown princess. Which brought Tanya back to the attack that she had interrupted.

"Miss Elizabeth, can you tell me a bit about the attack earlier today?"

Moments later Tanya had a sinking feeling in her stomach. Elizabeth has said that Rudeus has been sent to Blumund to try and warm relations with the kingdom. The king had apparently insisted he take his family with him as a chance to have some family time. After they had left Blumund they were attacked by unknown men. And a desperate fight had begun.

After listening all Tanya could think was that the king had send the Romanis down south as a ploy to not only eliminate the crown princess but also blame Blumund for the attack and have the war that everyone knew would be inevitable given time. Perhaps the king believed the time was right for a war, Tanya could certainly see that. Farmus could certainly muster a larger fighting force than Blumund, due to their different population sizes. But why try to assassinate the Romais? Unless the king had a different successor in mind or a bastard child. If he had a bastard child he would need to eliminate the more legitimate heir so that the kingdom could accept the sloppy seconds.

With her mind made up Tanya stood up to her full height. "Get on my back! We are going in there!" Her sharp tone that she had fine tuned over years of being an officer, made Elizabeth stand up. Tanya once again urged them and this time Elizabeth grabbed her daughter and climbed up Tanya's tail and onto her back.

I can't believe it! My first day on the job and already there is trouble!

Her wings spread to their full width and with a powerful gust of wind she was in the air. Tanya quickly poured magicules into her scales and wings. Making sure the protective film covered her passengers, she flapped her wings as hard as she could.

"Hold on tight!" The magicules in her wings did their job. The world seemed to narrow as she accelerated incredibly fast with each flap of her wings increasing the g-force. In a matter of seconds Tanya punched through the walls of the castle. Her protective film stopped anything from harming her passengers as she punched through the next wall and the next after that.

Soon they had punched into the throne room to see that Rudeus was trying his best to defend himself from the king's guards. His body was covered in wounds but it seemed that he was still more than capable of fighting. Tanya made her move before anyone could recover from the shock of seeing her appear. Aiming for the king, she quickly closed the distance and snatched him up with one of her front legs. Twisting around and slowing, she landed on the ground and crushed some poor soul. It was time to bring this to an end.

"Cease your attacks or I will gut your king!" That managed to get all eyes on her. "Romains! Get over here now. Everyone else, not a muscle moves!" As the injured man ran over to her, Tanya kept an eye on everyone. Once Tanya could feel his family pulling him up she prepared herself for the next part. While the easier thing to do would be to escape. She wasn't about to allow her client to lose everything. How else would she get paid for her service?

Bringing the old king up to look him in the eyes she glared at him. "You are going to do me a little favor. Aren't you?" She squeezed him and he let out a scream of agony. She could hear the chamber fill with cries of "My lord!"

"Now Emma Romanis is next in line to the throne. Is she not?" The king nodded his head vigorously. "And you King Farmus have no heir. Is this correct?" For a moment he looked like he was about to abject but instead nodded his head.

"Well King Farmus. I believe you have graciously abdicated the throne. Have you not?" The king looked absolutely terrified and shocked. But Tanya continued. "And you are willing to put this in writing and sign it with the royal seal. Are. You. Not?" The king looked like he was about to object, but Tanya squeezed him again, this time harder.

"Y-y-yes." He groaned out.

"Good."

Tanya gave Rudeus the king before counting the number of men surrounding her that had been holding back for fear that she would kill the king. Let's see how Veldora likes this one.

To everyone in the city outside the castle it seemed as if the whole building had exploded and when the echo of the blast had faded they were met with the gusts of wind of a terrible storm lighting seemed to rain down as hard as the water droplets. And in the shadows of the dark clouds spreading across the sky a silver blur flew high into the sky.

Tanya continued to climb higher and higher as the storm forming beneath did its job. "Is the document signed and stamped?"

"Yeah it is. Why are you doing this?"

Tanya reached over and carefully took the struggling and terrified king, once again into her clutches.

"You're going to need that document to legitimize Emma as the new Queen."

"What!"

Tanya turned her head to glance at the shocked Rudeus and his wife. "But that all comes after you have won the civil war." She then closed her right claw harshly and crushed the king. His blood poured from every opening and his remains looked unrecognizable. Tanya then tossed his body to the wind. She took a deep breath to settle her nerves and to stop herself from cursing at what's to come. The deed had been done. Whether anyone else in the country knew it or not, the first shot of the civil war in Farmus had been fired. And the king was the first real casualty.

End

What do you guys think of this. Was it too fast? Or do you think I should have waited a bit longer? In my opinion, Tanya has very good instincts about things. Once she learned the details about the timing of the attack on the Romanis family. I'm sure all types of red flags would be going off.