The approaching, now singing ostrich put everyone on edge, myself included. Still, I had faith that it wasn’t going to attack thanks to the feeling I received. That said, no one was happy; everyone was scratching at the bumps that were popping up where the bugs had bit them. Even though I only had one such mark on my cheek, it took a lot of effort not to take my fingernails to it.
That left the bird as something to distract me from the itchy feeling. It continued to dance closer until it made it to our group, and then it began to circle us, waving its wings to and fro. Now that it was here, I could see it was nearly as tall as Cojisto.
This strange creature stopped singing long enough to say something to me, but I still couldn’t understand it. “I don’t take it you speak Imperial Standard?” I asked blandly, not really expecting the answer to be yes.
It did get the ostrich to stop and pause, tilting its head in confusion. With a sigh, I tested with what little Gnomish I knew. The creature paused before nodding excitedly as if it recognized the language, but when it spoke again it was still warbling out whatever it was speaking in before.
“Can you understand this?” Ferrisdae asked in Elven, which caused the bird to become confused again.
“Bit of a tricky situation, huh,” Cojisto stated, tapping his foot as if memorizing the creature’s steps.
“Yeah, but I’ve got something for it,” I said, shaking my head at the unexpected nuisance we were dealing with.
I tapped into Cheroske’s divine power and touched my hand to my chest. There was a spell that would be handy here, even if it meant that I was the only one that was going to be able to speak with the strange bird.
“Allspeech,” I cast in the sacred tongue, my hand glowing blue as I shaped the divine magic inside me into something usable.
The difference was immediately noticeable. While the bird warbled away as if it thought I could understand it, its assumptions became true.
“—had visitors in so long, and no one’s pulled the stone before, and you took care of the nasty face-stabbers, and—”
I frowned at the creature as it didn’t seem to pause to take a breath to keep talking. Raising my hands, I stepped into its path. “Hey.”
Its eyes became wide as it looked down at me. We stared at each other for a few moments before it threw its wings into the air as it danced in place. “Celebration! You can speak to Tailwind! Oh, this is a most auspicious day, indeed. It has been so long since we have had visitors!”
“Yeah, alright, just simmer down there for me,” I said, holding up a hand. The creature—Tailwind, by the sounds of it—put its wings down and stopped dancing, though its body still bounced up and down. “Who exactly are you? And where did you come from? And what are you doing here?”
“Ah, questions, yes! Tailwind does believe that this is your first time here, is that correct?” the ostrich asked.
“Yes, and I am very confused.”
“Allow this shrine priestess to put your mind at ease, then,” Tailwind said, puffing up her feathers as she put a wing against her chest. “I am Tailwind, of Tuskrep, and I am the latest shrine priestess to be nominated for the two-fold job.” She gestured back towards the pedestal, which no longer had the sword in it. I had left it plunged into the dirt. She didn’t seem to mind. “Every month, we nominate a new one, who comes out to polish the sword, and become the next snackrafice.”
There was a lot of information in there, and I filed most of it away while I scowled at the new word. “What is a snackrafice? You mean a sacrifice, right?”
“Oh, yes!” she replied enthusiastically. “The honor of this month’s snackrafice, which is both a sacrifice and a snack to Queen Moss Keto, has gone to Tailwind after much deliberation by the elders! I am very proud to come and polish the sword, and allow the blood to be sucked from my body in order to protect our settlement from the dungeon boss that you have so nobly slain!”
“I wasn’t the one to slay the oversized bug,” I corrected, gesturing towards Tabitha behind me. “She burnt its wings, and then it fell into the water. When it tried to flee, one of the bigger alligators jumped out and snatched it.”
“Truly, we lose more to La Chonk than we do anyone else,” Tailwind said, lowering her head in a moment of silence. It didn’t last long. “Oh well, now at least I do not need to be a snackrafice. Unless, of course, the Swordbearer is hungry? Is she?”
“No one here is going to eat you,” I replied, frowning.
“Wait, what is it saying about eating?” Ferrisdae said, sounding worried. “First snack sacrifices and now this?”
“I’ll let you know when I’m done,” I responded, waving her off before asking Tailwind another question. “Can you tell me what the plaque there on the pedestal says? None of us can read it.”
“Of course, everyone here knows what the plaque says,” Tailwind announced happily. She cleared her throat and spoke in a slightly darker voice. “They who pull the crystalline blade from the stone shall become more worthy than all others.”
I frowned at that. It may have taken a little extra magical help, but it hadn’t been all that difficult to remove the sword. “So what does it mean to be the Swordbearer?”
“Why, it means they’re the one who pulled the magical sword from the stone, of course,” she answered enthusiastically, flapping one of her wings towards the monument. “As the prophecy foretells, somebody will come and they might pull the sword from the stone, and if they do, good or bad things could happen depending on who they are. They are the most worthy.”
“That’s… less of a prophecy and more just something that might happen,” I told her, trying not to sigh.
“Sir,” Tailwind said, putting a wing to her chest as if I had just offended her entire lifestyle. “I do not come into your homeland and tell you that your prophecies are just things that may happen, so I would appreciate it if you do not do the same to me, sir.”
I put my hand on my face and sighed. Tabitha, who had been watching and understanding exactly half of this conversation, came forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Relax, Badger,” she soothed. “What’s going on?”
“This is Tailwind. She thinks you pulled the sword from the stone,” I told her.
“And what would that mean if I did?” my wife asked, arching an eyebrow.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“I don’t know yet, she hasn’t told me what it means to be the Swordbearer other than that it means they’re the one who pulled it from the stone.”
“Oh! Tailwind can answer that,” she said proudly, raising her head high as her feathers ruffled. “The Swordbearer is allowed to visit Tuskrep without being turned away. With friends, of course,” she added, looking at everyone around me. “Yes, everyone is invited, and the Swordbearer gets the special privilege of being the guest of honor!”
“Guest of honor to what?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
“To a big, delicious feast, of course!” Tailwind answered as if it were obvious.
“At least that seems normal. You don’t let others visit your village, though?”
“Not in many years, before Tailwind was born!” she confirmed enthusiastically, bobbing her head. “Only the Swordbearer can traverse the hazardous and dangerous landscape that surrounds our home.” The ostrich leaned forward, getting very close to my face. “And they are hazardous and dangerous. We don’t leave, except to take care of the shrine.”
“Right…” I said slowly before relaying what Tailwind had said to the team.
“So, we’re going, right?” Ferrisdae asked.
“Could be a trap,” I replied.
“That would be silly, there are no traps during feast time,” Tailwind helpfully said.
“It could be a trap, but it’s also something we didn’t think was possible on the continent,” Dalsarel said, gesturing towards the bird. “It seems like there’s an entire community here, surviving just fine.”
“I don’t know if being sacrificed to giant bugs is surviving just fine, Dals,” Cojisto replied with a frown.
“I’m not saying it’s ideal,” the Dark Elf defended, crossing her arms. “But there’s been stories of sacrificing sapient beings in almost every culture, even if you have to go back hundreds or thousands of years to get there. Clearly, this Tuskrep is one of them, where they sacrifice their own people to that oversized bug in order to keep the settlement safe.”
“She’s right, Cojisto,” Ferrisdae said. “Mostly it’s to creatures like Dragons or perhaps a Demon or Devil who had escaped into our world and demanded women or else they’d raze towns and cities to the ground, though. It’s the first time I’ve seen it from bugs.” Frowning, Ferrisdae scratched a bump on her temple with such ferocity that it nearly started bleeding. “Since she had thousands of these things following her, I can guess why they didn’t want her around.”
“And, if it’s a trap, then we will simply need to fight our way through it,” a deep, masculine voice I didn’t recognize added. I turned around as fast as I could to see who it was. “Given that Tailwind here didn’t have an issue with Mrs. Tabitha contributing to the death of Queen Moss Keto, I doubt it was religious in nature. That means they likely would have killed the dungeon boss if they had the chance, but were too weak to do so. I think we should visit this Tuskrep, though I’m sure that Badger will command us both safely and valiantly should any issues arise.”
“Moose doesn’t think the sacrifices were religious since the bird isn’t mad it got killed,” Cojisto translated, patting his friend on the side. “Plus, if there’s any traps, then—”
“We simply need to fight our way through,” I finished. I stared, trying not to leave my mouth wide open. Allspeech was supposed to work on languages, not animalistic noises; I was a paladin, not a druid.
“Yeah, exactly,” the pugilist said with a grin, though Moose gave me a much more appraising look.
“Can you understand me thanks to the spell you cast?” he asked curiously.
“Yes,” I answered before Cojisto could translate.
“Fascinating,” the healer said, sounding excited. “I look forward to many fruitful conversations with you later, Badger, once this has been resolved.”
“Me, too,” I found myself saying before crossing my arms and turning back towards Tailwind. She was waiting patiently, not saying anything as we talked amongst ourselves. Content, even, for someone who had been moments away from becoming, in her own words, a snackrafice.
But I couldn’t detect any deception from her. Tailwind was as honest as could be. She was happy to be alive and prepared to do her duty as a member of Tuskrep to bring the Swordbearer back.
The more I thought about it, the more I thought this was where we needed to go, anyway. I understood that I had more behind the scenes knowledge out of everyone in First Cell, and I knew how the higher ups came to the decision of where to send each team. Between the attention of the Dungeon Master and his secretary and the Clergy Faction, which the church of Cheroske had a hand in, I heavily doubted that us coming here was a strange twist of fate.
Other, more aggressive teams might not have taken the chance. A part of me wondered what we would have done if Queen Moss Keto wasn’t the boss and this chubby bird skipped right towards us while the DTER was still active. I wasn’t sure if a feeling would have saved Tailwind then.
As if sensing my thoughts, the warm feeling in my chest that came with the goddess’ attention became a little stronger, pushing me in the right direction. If there was a community out there in such a hostile land, then it was my sacred duty to make sure that it was safe. We had already defeated the boss they sacrificed their own to, which meant my job might be over, but I wasn’t about to half-ass my paladin vow.
That said, I wasn’t about to take my team into danger, nor leave my wife with the weight of being the Swordbearer. “I’m the one who pulled the crystal,” I told Tailwind as I attached my Hilt of Holding to my belt and walked over to the weapon, retrieving it from the dirt.
“Oh, marvelous,” the bird said.
“Is there anything you haven’t told us about what being the Swordbearer means?” I asked, turning back.
Tailwind considered this for a moment before shrugging. “No one’s ever pulled the sword before, so all I know is the stories say you should be celebrated,” she answered honestly. “That usually means a feast! Maybe a festival. With fun, games, and even more food. We’ll have to ask Elder Thrash, he’ll know for sure. He’s the oldest in the village.”
“And we’re not going to get attacked?” I asked, setting the crystal’s blade carefully on my shoulder. It was far too large for me to carry without doing so.
“Absolutely not!” the ostrich said, scandalized. “You are the Swordbearer, and we’re all peaceful folk.”
“That’s good to hear,” I replied with a nod, still sensing no deceit. “And what do you know about someone named CC?”
Tailwind’s feathers ruffled, and she laughed. “The goddess? Oh, what a wonderful question. She is almost due for a visit in three days' time, unless she has forgotten, but she will be most pleased that the Swordbearer has been found!”
“CC comes to your village?” I asked, and the others bristled at the name. “And will again in three days?”
“That is correct, Swordbearer,” she answered enthusiastically. “Because we not only have this shrine to take care of, but a much more important one. One the goddess tends to personally.”
I gestured towards the monument I had pulled the magic crystal from. “What’s more important than that?”
The bird seemed even more excited to answer this question. “There’s a shrine to the Maker there, of course! Better than all the rest, Tailwind knows. It is the goddess’ pride and joy.”
“And by the Maker…” I trailed off, furrowing my brow. Just the name alone told me that it was a creator god, which meant they were probably above CC. If that were true, then there was only one name that fit. “Are you talking about Keith Carr?”
I recoiled as Tailwind took a step forward and slapped her wing onto my face as if shushing me. “It is blasphemy to speak the Maker’s name, Swordbearer,” she whispered, looking around as if we were about to be in major trouble. “But, yes. Our village was built around it and, as the Swordbearer, you might even be able to see it for yourself, should you choose.”
“That sounds like something I would like to choose, yes,” I said with a nod.
“Excellent!” Tailwind suddenly yelled, causing me to grimace. She could be loud. “Then let us return to Tuskrep, sword in hand, so that we can begin the feast!”
“Wait, that’s…” I started to protest, but she was already on her way. Her long ostrich legs made her fast, and I put a hand on my head.
“Starting to get a migraine, aren’t you?” Tabitha asked, putting an arm around me.
“Yup,” I answered with a sigh. Nodding after Tailwind, I started following at a jogging pace. “Alright, everyone. Let’s go see what other nonsense we have to look forward to.”
