Lucy IV

As she stared into the gold slab that served as her mirror, Lucy glared at the red streak that went down her hair. She got this hair from her mother, and she didn't want some divine war snake screwing around it.

"I hate this thing," she grumbled, as she put the gold slab back in her pocket.

"It is a gift from Sotek," Itzaco said as he walked beside her, "You should treasure it."

"Normally, I wish people would give gifts that people would ask for," Lucy griped, as she kept walking. She and about two hundred of her Lizardmen "companions", were marching through the jungle. According to Itzaco, they were going to Hexoatl, the City of the Sun, which essentially functioned as Lustria's capital. The Skink was going to introduce Lucy to two apparently important individuals: Mazdamundi, the lord of Hexoatl, and Kroq-Gar, one of the oldest and strongest of all the Saurus in Lustria.

"Why are we even doing this?" Lucy asked, "Can't we just do it at Xlanhuapec?"

"The Lord of Hexoatl is the eldest of the Slann," Itzaco answered, "He is the wisest of them all." It was always hard for Lucy to detect emotion in one of them, but his tone was hiding something, though Lucy wasn't sure what exactly that was.

"You are a chosen of Sotek," Itzaco said, "You are worth being addressed by the Lord, and Lord Kroq-Gar will probably wish to see you himself."

"There's till got to be an easier way to do this," Lucy said. Nonetheless, she kept marching with the Lizardmen.

After some more walking, they came across another city. Though Lucy had seen Xlanhuapec, it was thoroughly outclassed by Hexoatl. Golden spires and pyramids rose into the clouds, and statues of reptilian figures loomed over Lucy like old gods. However, at the time, it seemed very…. run down. Vines and moss spider-webbed through the structures, showings its age. Moving throughout the streets were Lizardmen of all variations, doing their works.

Eventually, they came upon a particularly large pyramid, that had a top that swirled with glowing energy. Lucy figured this was where Mazdamundi was. She then noticed a particularly large Saurus approaching them. As he got closer, Lucy saw that his right arm was covered in a golden glove. Pretty soon, however, she saw that it wasn't a glove. Rather, it was an entire prosthetic arm made out of gold.

"Lord Kroq-Gar," Itzaco said with a nod of respect. The Saurus, who Lucy now knew to be Kroq-Gar, approached the blonde, and circled her briefly.

"Um, hi!" Lucy said nervously, "My name's Lucy."

"This is the warmblood that Sotek marked?" Kroq-Gar asked, gesturing to her.

"Yes," Itzaco answered, "With sheer force, and a magic we do not know she killed a rat ogre in a single strike."

"That is indeed an impressive feat," Kroq-Gar answered, wiggling his prosthetic fingers, which made a tinkling sound, "Though I once took out two with a single strike."

"Well, I hear you're the best fighter in Lustria," Lucy said.

"Nonetheless," Kroq-Gar said, "for a warmblood to perform such a feat. It is no wonder that Sotek blessed you."

"Well, I am not from here," Lucy admitted.

"No warmblood is." Lucy thought about elaborating that she wasn't from this world, but didn't want to ruin the potential good will she was building with the individual Itzaco said was the greatest warrior in the world.

"Fortune be good, the Lord will allow you to stay," Kroq-Gar said, "I would be pleased for you to join me on the battlefield some day."

"Great," Lucy said nervously, before asking just as nervously, "But what if Lord Mazdamundi decides not to let me stay?"

"He will likely ordered you removed."

"What does that mean?" Lucy asked. Kroq-Gar didn't answer, which wasn't encouraging.

"Go," he said, gesturing, "The Lord is not in a patient mood." With that, Lucy was hurried up the stairs to the top of the pyramid; framing the steps were more of the Temple Guard, standing perfectly still. This one had a small structure at the top, which Lucy was lead into. It was there that she saw Lord Mazdamundi.

The Slann present had primarily red skin, with a light yellow belly. His eyes glowed yellow, and he wore a strange crown. His head listed around, and his eyes looked rolled back. Kroq-Gar fell to one knee before Mazdamundi.

"My Lord," he said, "This is the warmblood chosen by Sotek." Mazdamundi literally croaked, as he slowly looked down at Lucy.

"Why…," was all he said at first, and after almost a minute, Lucy opened her mouth to try and answer, only for him to croak again, "…is it here?"

"It is a long story that I don't fully understand myself," Lucy said, trying to ignore the "it" part, "Long story short, one moment I was in my guild hall, the next I was in the middle of the jungle." Mazdamundi rolled slightly again, like he was nauseous, something Lucy found rather insulting.

"Look, if you don't want me here, I'd leave," she said, "I certainly didn't want to be marked by this Sotek or whoever."

"There was no tell of a yellow haired figure on any of the plaques," Mazdamundi said after some more swirling and spinning.

"Well, I'm sure those plaques don't specify a lot of things," Lucy said, "Meaning no offense." If Mazdamundi was offended, he didn't show it a way Lucy could understand.

"I shall reserve judgement for the time, so that I may further study and analyze the inscriptions" the Slann said, "But in the mean time, she must be watched every moment of every day of every week, and she is forbidden from ever leaving the city." There was light chittering amongst the Lizardmen, which Lucy wasn't really sure what to make of.

"My Lord," Kroq-Gar said, "I understand that she is a warmblood, but she is a favored of Sotek. Would it not be an insult to the gods to show her such treatment?"

"The Old Ones are our gods," Mazdamundi said, "Even if she is favored by that upstart, it does not matter."

"Of course, my Lord," Kroq-Gar said, "Your will be done." With that, he ushered Lucy out of the temple.

"Can someone please tell me what the hell just happened?" Lucy demanded, "Maybe I misheard, but I'm now effectively trapped in this city!"

"That is correct," Kroq-Gar said, "But you may go anywhere in this city, so long as you are supervised."

"My party and myself are ready to fulfill that task," Itzaco said, "We will see to it that Lucy does not ever leave the city." The blonde couldn't help but notice that it was one of the few times where they referred to her by her name opposed to "warmblood". Knowing it would be futile to protest, Lucy didn't try. So instead, she just wandered through the city, her Skink companions beside her. As she looked around, she noticed that they all looked the same.

"Itzaco, can I ask you a question?" Lucy asked.

"That depends on the question."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but everyone I talked to as sounded male," Lucy said, "Where are the females?"

"There are no 'female' members of our people," Itzaco said plainly. That made Lucy stop in her tracks, blinking in surprise.

"Then how…"

"We are spawned," Itzaco explained, "Deep beneath the cities are vast pools which we are pulled out of."

"Is it really wise to inform this warmblood of all this?" one of the other skinks asked.

"This warmblood is a chosen of Sotek," Itzaco said, "If he favors her, then she is assuredly worthy of this information." Lucy looked down at the ground, tapping her foot on it.

"So there are big pools under the cities that create new Lizardmen?" she asked.

"That may be an oversimplification," Itzaco said, "But essentially, yes. However…" He trailed off some, not sure what to say.

"What?" Itzaco still didn't say anything at first.

"You just said I'm a chosen of Sotek or whatever," Lucy said, "Are you going to tell me or not?" The Skink was still silent for a time, before his tongue licked the air, and his tail slid over the ground.

"There were once many spawning pools beneath many cities," he said, "But those cities and those pools are decayed and useless now."

"Could you review them if you tried?"

"Perhaps," Itzaco said, "But the Slann barely let us try, because they do not think it falls into the purview of the Great Plan." Lucy wanted to know about this "Great Plan", but figured that she'd pried enough for information now.

"So, do you guys have anything to read?"

Note: Lucy is in a rather precarious position right now. Let's hope Mazdamundi decides she is worth keeping around.

To those who are wondering, yes Lucy will get a mount of her own. The exact kind of mount I will leave hidden for the time being. Also, I'll say now that I'm going to be taking some liberties with Lizardmen lore, so as to tell what I hope is an interesting story. I won't give away what those liberties are just yet.

Please review. Next chapter, we're going to Athel Loren.