89 Allies in unlikely places! (1/2)
Lorean groaned softly as he twisted the water out of his shirt. In all the records that he had read, he had never once come across a sea king that could speak the same way humans could!
At this point, he was quite sure that the library that he had been so confident about was a dastardly sham! There was no way that a place that was the core of one of the strongest associations of people in the world did not have knowledge that anyone with a little luck would be able to find out.
The sword snouted fish looked on with a patronizing amount of amusement in its emerald green eyes, a tiny quirk of its head the only sign of the inner laughter that it was undoubtedly indulging in.
With a soft sigh Lorean got back into a serious mood, ”At another time I would have probably been astonished by the fact that you could speak, but at this point that is pretty much the last thing on my mind.
So I'll keep it simple. What may I do for you, and what will I get in return?” A somber gleam shot through the thicket of black hair covering his eyes as he carefully regarded the creature before him.
A simple hum seemed to sound from the lean creature before him. ”Quite direct I see, much unlike the other gill-less ones that I have come across.
My proposition is simple legged one, I wish for the retrieval of a certain other legged one from the famed and cursed nest of the bearded folk. For that I shall grant you permission to command a meager school of the ones you see before you.” He said in a supercilious tone.
He shook his fin, seemingly praising himself for the serious manner in which he had conducted himself in.
”Ho? This sounds interesting. But I am not yours to command so brazenly sea king, I shall go to the place that you call the nest of the bearded folk to rescue my crew but that has nothing to do with you.” Lorean said calmly for he did not want to accept the proposition of someone without trusting them.
Maybe the sea kings would decide halfway that they did not wish to listen to the words of a human, maybe they would not even show up. Or worst of all maybe they would decide that they were hungry enough to take a bite out of his back. Lorean was not keen on fighting a battle on two fronts, unlike many other characters that he could name.
The sea king froze in surprise, looking over at him with genuine curiosity, that could have been a feral rage too, seeing as Lorean was not too qualified to read the expressions off the face of a fish.
”You intrigue me gill-less one. Why do you deny my aid? You obviously look to be in need of it? Isn't this like 'giving a hand to one in need' as your race claim?” He asked.
”Interesting gill-less one. No one has denied the great Tiamat before!” The sea king called out in a monotonous voice.
”Ho! Who's that?” Lorean replied unconsciously as he pulled the raft towards the ship's side with an oar in hand.
”Me. Was it not clear from the manner in which I spoke?” The one now identified as Tiamat said.