Desperado 6
What good vibes I had from the conquest of Hawkstone had died with Hallowglide. Within days, my informants confirmed everything the damn Nightwing said: The Coalition had a new Queen. Her name was indeed Jerboa, and she was indeed an Animus. The ancient legends were indeed true.
And it was the worst possible thing to happen, at the worst possible time. All the gains we'd made in the past two months were undone, as we were returned to square one. Sure, we had every major settlement in the Sand Kingdom under Nightshade's grasp (and mine), but the Coalition had a much, much larger army, supported by three of the strongest kingdoms in Phyrria. The fact that they now had a Queen who was just as powerful as The Night King (in theory) only rubbed salt in the wound. Already, some of our followers were beginning to ask all kinds of nosy, pressing questions. Questions like, "How many Animi are there in the world?", and "Does Jerboa know the Night King?", and "Is The Darkstalker coming, too?" And worst of all, I had no idea of how to answer them.
I did, however, know someone who would. I shared a bed with her, in fact.
A few days after the trial, we were alone in what used to be the mayoral office of the Scorpion's Den. It wasn't living in a palace, but it was a step up from our tiny little hut in Crossroads. Hell, the upstairs was the size of our entire house. The sun had set, and Dusk was writing up her sermon for the morning, while I was going over the latest reports. It wasn't all that different from the old days, with the two of us laying next to each other in bed, helping each other with the next day's responsibilities.
"Dusk," I asked, "Do you know this Jerboa lady?"
She stopped what she was doing, rolling up her scroll and looking at me. "I know of many Animus throughout history." She told me. "They're more common than one would think."
"But how?" I asked, dumbfounded. "I thought only Icewings and Nightwings and Seawings could be Animi."
"They aren't the only ones," She explained, "Only the ones with well-known family lineages. The Skywings have some pop up every now and then, but the oh-so-violent bloody mountain-fliers believed them to be far too dangerous to have around, and kill them whenever they pop up. There are rumors and tales of Mudwing and Rainwing Animi back in the days around and even before The Scorching, but I've yet to find anything solid on the matter."
She looked out of the window, staring into the distant horizon outside the window, one of the three moons rising higher into the night sky. "In all my days of studying the ancient lore, only one Sandwing was ever confirmed as an Animus. What Hallowglide said was true - there was a Jerboa who served as Queen Scorpion's Court Animus. Many of the magical treasures scattered across the dunes of the Sand Kingdom came from her, including the Eye of Onyx. As the power of the Ice and Night Kingdoms waned in the rise and fall of the Night King, Jerboa helped the old queens lead the Sandwings to their place in the sun."
"What happened to her?" I asked.
"She had a falling out with the Queen. Legend tells that the Sandwings were at war with the Skywings, and Jerboa was asked to perform a spell that would kill most, if not all of them, just as Darkstalker was compelled to against the Icewings. Jerboa didn't want to use her magic and lose part of her soul committing an act of genocide, so she and her daughter left the Palace to live in a hut by the sea, where they've stayed for thousands of years."
I nodded, considering what else I needed to know. "Did she... was she a friend of the Darkstalker?"
She shook her head. "Nothing in the old scrolls or ancient lore indicate they knew of each other," She explained, "Let alone met. I believe Jerboa's time in the court was after Darkstalker's time among the Nightwings. The Sandwings profited off the war between them and the Icewings, getting paid to allow access above the dunes to fight each other."
Dusk rubbed her frill, as she often did when deep in thought. "My master taught me to hold all Animi in high regard. They are, after all, blessed by the Spirits with great power and magic to help dragonkind achieve our destiny."
"But Jerboa's their puppet now," I pointed out, "She stands against The Night King's appointed. How can we defeat her?"
"That," She sighed, "Is a difficult proposition. Jerboa isn't a fighter or mad dragon like Albatross, but fighting an Animus directly is almost always a bad idea. If they can see you and can speak, you're done for. Our only advantage is that her commitment to the throne and the war is lukewarm at best. Perhaps we can convince her that working for foreign Queens isn't in any of our best interests?"
"But what about the Coalition?" I countered. "They're gathering hundreds and hundreds of soldiers as we speak. How are we supposed to beat them with or without an Animus?"
Dusk smirked. "That's for you to figure out, my love." She replied, laying down in the bed. "I am but a spiritual advisor, translating messages sent to me by The Spirits and The Night King. You, however, are a commander and warrior. It is to you that we look for defense and our victory. I'm sure you'll find a solution." I nodded, taking heart in her words of wisdom. We'd already come so far, and victory was within our grasp, I was sure. If I could get Jerboa to the table, get her to convince the Queens to end this fight and find a peaceful solution, we could end this fight in weeks, if not days.
The next day, I sat down at Hallowglide's old desk, and started writing. Several hours and multiple versions later, I gave a short letter to a passing merchant who functioned as one of my informants, with strict orders to sneak it into Jerboa's tent. This is a copy of the letter I wrote:
To the wise and venerable "Queen" Jerboa,
The Coven of the Night King wishes to extend our greatest and most sincere apologies for any trouble or harm we may have caused you during our reclamation of Hawkstone. While the warlord Hallowglide may have tried to use you as a prop to grant himself greater legitimacy, we would like to reiterate that our sacred wrath is dedicated solely to the foreign invaders and their criminal lackeys, and not those who share the blessing of our true master, the Night King, Darkstalker. That an Animus such as yourself - one who lived alongside our great spiritual leader - is now in conflict with a Queen proven worthy by Animus Magic leaves us sorely vexed. We ask that you speak to your fellow Queens - Glacier and Moorhen and Scarlet - and persuade them to accept a ceasefire, and allow both sides to negotiate an acceptable peace.
With Great Respect and the Night King's Blessing,
Mayor Desperado
Truth be told, I didn't expect anything to come of it. I didn't even know if she could read, truth be told. I didn't know if my contacts could reach her within the Coalition Camp. I didn't even know if she could read Modern Phyrrian. And for a week or two, I figured the whole thing was a flop.
So imagine my surprise, when I received the news at the end of the month of trouble in the Coalition Camp. Evidently, my letter did reach the new Queen, and it softened her already gentle heart enough to make her call for a meeting with her sponsors. The Ancient Animus wanted to host a peace conference with Nightshade and myself, in order to find a peaceful resolution to the war. The Queens didn't. While Moorhen was at least open to hearing out potential proposals and compromises, Scarlet and Glacier were adamant of having nothing less than having our heads on pikes (and having the Sand Kingdom broken and humbled between them, no doubt).
The arguments got pretty loud and aggressive, the foreign Queens adamant that Jerboa shut up and do as they said. The problem, of course, is that no one can command an Animus to do something they don't want to do. Jerboa only took the throne because Hallowglide convinced her it would help the tribe. If being Queen meant doing what a bunch of foreign queens told her to do, she decided that she'd rather be back in her hut, away from all that nonsense. So to everyone's confusion and growing panic, Jerboa left the Coalition camp, renouncing the throne and flying back home.
Thus, the Coalition had gone through its third claimant in as many months. With Blaze in Nightshade's Court, and Tanwen being held as a prisoner in the Rainforest, there was no one else they could position as a legitimate ruler against us. As far as we were concerned, the war was over. We'd won.
Oh, but if only that were true...