Quoted By:
''To summarize, something about Onis cultures has them values duos far more than individuals might. Me, Rikard, and his twin had to fight the Red and Blue clan leaders with a champion of theirs in two different duels. Leena weakened by the day, so we decided to have both fights at once.''
''And you won?''
''The girls did it fair and square. I've never seen people that coordinated in my life. I learned later that my opponent, that old druid I mentioned, let us win.''
''Sounds like there are good people amongst the warrior-races.'' Seeing Adam Magitek suit in action without worrying about keeping yourself and loved ones safe would be fascinating.
''Yeah, the Onis are good people. Both chiefs decided to follow me after hearing the full details of Leena's trouble.''
''Not so much for the lizards?''
''Circumstances didn't favor good meetings. I won't judge them because I wasn't... reasonable.'' He cringes, refreshes his throat, and leans back to cross his arms while resting one leg on his knee. ''Guarding that garden is one of the things both species agree on. Our problem is we couldn't meet with the lizard leader.''
''Oh? Was she unreasonable?''
''Unavailable.'' Adam briefly peruse the animated crowd of crows. ''Their leader isn't one of their race. She's a woman similar to Shereen. Canine beast woman with animalistic legs and arms.''
Wait a minute. ''Mebuchednazi?''
''You know her? She left on top of a wyvern before we could meet, putting us at an impasse. I've no idea about the finer details of politics, but even my dumb head can understand what a Triumvirate is. While the lizard's amazons conquered the Onis, the races and cultures won't assimilate, and the most powerful vassals of the queen are the Onis chieftains.''
''Visiting that garden would likely need the permission of all three leaders.''
Adam nods. ''Leena was running out of time when she began sleeping more than twelve hours daily. I knew she only had a week at best. Red woman wanted us to wait for proper ''blessings'' before going.''
''Kinda low to hold ''permission'' over your head while the kid your entire party is trying to save is dying.'' If Shereen were dying and someone said ''No'' to a cure, your reaction wouldn't be gentle.
''Onis have this tradition about creating debts of honors. I grabbed Fio by the horns, smashed my face into her, and invoked it by saying I'd be in her debt if we went to the garden.''
That must have made an impression. ''Message received?''
''Let's say she changed her mind.'' There's another story here; Adam had this ''I fucked up'' energy that could only be dispelled with a healthy gulp of glowing liquid courage. ''Blues and Reds Chieftains gathered a handful of their trusted agents, and we forced our way through the guards to enter that garden, but man, was it a bad idea.''
