Chapter 4

In the forest of City G at the council of swords HQ…

Snek was there before dawn.

He made certain everything was in place, all arrangement made, those who are coming have been confirmed as well as information if there are any hostilities among the Others to say the least. So far things were rather peaceful with a few tiffs going on, but they are manageable. Snek confirmed Pig God's seal of protection around the grounds, there were extra ones put into place as well for peace sake! Snek was just finishing setting up inside when Bad and Garou entered. "Whoa. Fancy!" Bad called out.

The room was opened up making it nice and wide for those coming in. There was a small throne at the far end for Bad, a chair for Garou and a crib for Botan. Snek paused from his work as he saw the shadows Bad brought along with him. He summoned wolves, werewolves, wyverns and a small dragon to have his back. They placed themselves accordingly around the room. The wolves took to Garou's side of the chair. The werewolves along the walls, the wyverns nestled around the crib as the Dragon sat behind Bad.

"Nice." Snek said. "Makes you look serious but not out for blood. Nice touch!" he said and explained what was going to happen. "They will be arriving by 9am, it will go until 11 at night due to the nocturnal others that will be coming later. But for now Bad, just accept their gifts with great gratitude say it is well received and move on. Try and limit any amount of joy or anger towards one gift over another we could have a problem" Snek warned.

"Okay, so little to no emotion… I think I can do that…"

"What about me?" Garou asked.

"You will sit at his right side throughout the whole thing, sometimes you get stuff too, but don't count on it." Snek warned.

With the room set up, it was time for the offerings.

#

Bad sat nervously, he has never done anything like this before and didn't know what to really expect. He was concerned for Botan, if he acted out during this would it leave a bad taste in the mouths of those coming here? Well, it was too late to go back now. Strange sounds began to be heard outside of this place, and then, they began to enter.

Snek stood at the door with a long list and a quill, asking for their name and who they represented.

The first to appear was a lavishing woman, she merely peered in through the door at first. "Am I the first?" she asked.

Snek nodded. "Name?"

"Spindle."

"Race"

"Arachnid south hemisphere tribe"

"You may enter."

Bad froze as she began to reveal the rest of herself. She had the upper half of a human woman, the lower body of a spider! "Whoa," he whispered.

She was careful with her steps as she entered the room, she gave a graceful curtsy (At least that what Bad assumed it was). "Great Shadow King, even Death welcomes you with open arms." She said with great respect. "My people have woven our finest silk for you and your family. We have made the greatest blankets possible; they will be warm in the winter and cool in the summer months. Our best works if I do say so." She said with great pride.

Bad reached out and received the gift, his hands felt the softness of the fibers, they were stretch and yet never overstretched or lost their shape. Despite it being spider silk it has a nice terrycloth feel to them. "Nice!" he said, just as Botan was getting fussy. He excused himself and checked on his son, he was getting cold and the blanket they brought was not helping him. Being in the mountains doesn't help the situation much. Bad took one of the blankets from Spindle and swaddled his son. Instantly he stopped crying and fell back asleep all nestled.

"You honor us!" Spindle wept. "Our gift was accepted and used! It appeased the Prince!"

"It is well received, thank you." Bad said with great sincerity.

Spindle left but appeared to be thrilled as she kept bowing to Bad as she made her way out the door. "They are really soft blankets!" Bad admitted.

"Next!" Snek called.

#

For the most part, the gift giving went rather painlessly.

Those who came were more stunned to the fact that Bad was indeed the Shadow King, and Garou was sitting next to him. Even the vampires they went to war with came to pay their respect to him and the newborn! There were a few hiccups along the way, specially with those who came with a live offering. The vampires for once were willing to sacrifice strong and powerful creatures. Not even Garou himself had never seen or heard of before. One was thrown at his feet, bounced and tied up, yet still living. "Shadow King, we make this offering to you to add to your legions, a very rare specimen known as a serpopard. They have the neck and long body like that of a serpent, but they appear more like that of a large cat. We figured a tiger would be most appreciated." The elder said and bowed.

Bad didn't quite know what to make of it, he felt sorry for the thing, but graciously accepted it. After all, when it's said and done, he can let this thing go back to where it came from. No one said he HAD to keep it. However to be fair to it, Bad approached the beast and released the bindings on its feet but kept the muzzle on it. It's a wild animal after all!

"I don't know how well you can understand me, but sit behind my chair and wait for this to be over, all right?" he said.

Remarkably, it listened! It slinked behind the chair, away from the shadow dragon and waited. "Whoa, Dr. Dolittle eat your heart out!" Garou snickered.

"Shut up Garou."

There were also the occasional… virgins offered to him too. Young beautiful women were thrown at his feet. "For your pleasure!" was all that was said, another vampire coven offering apparently. Bad thanked them and had the women move to the far end of the room with the werewolf shadows.

Yet shortly after, something occurred. The wolves at Garou's side began to act up, the Dragon was tense as the wyverns stood in protection mode over Botan. Garou however wasn't taking any chances as he rushed to the crib and held Botan to be safe than sorry.

Bad stood at attention too, as Snek appeared to be on edge. "What's going on!" he called to Snek.

Someone was coming, someone unwanted.