Feral Kingdoms

Castles in the sky - (Chapter 4 Scale Jaws - WIP)

Dawn caught Preet sleeping soundly. He was gently snoring in a particularly comfortable position, considering he was sleeping on blankets on the crowded deck of a Yantra, when he felt someone shake him. He slowly opened his eyes and stood immediately. For a while he'd forgotten where he was.

"Get ready" said Corval."We're here."

The Yantra was descending gently on what seemed to be a cluster of rocks in the middle of the sea. One of the bigger ones had a gentle slope on one of the sides which made it easy for small boats to get near and climb it.

Which is exactly what the Quetzals had done. Inconspicuous was not their style as they had erected a wooden camp over the sandy top. A spiked wall fortified it and turrets guarded the core consisting of a group of wooden huts with a fire. It stood proud and menacing like a wooden porcupine ruling over the sea.

Preet couldn't believe his eyes. Just landing on this rock seemed like a bad idea so he didn't want to imagine living there. So much wood. They'll need to replenish that frequently. Forget being scared, did they have an ounce of common sense? What if a storm came by? He could see waves easily towering over the rocks and engulfing the camp completely. And what about the sea creatures?

The kea at his side said "Aaaah scalies, look at them...not giving a pluck about anything." which he thought, summed it up pretty well.

The campfire was roaring, daring the elements to come at it. Preet could smell squid being slowly cooked over the fire. They had a good catch. The squid was so large the lizards had to cut it in half so as to be able to cook it. Its rubbery flesh had darkened from the heat of the flames.

Even though the falcon had expected tough odds, he was surprised by how organised the quetzals were. He had expected a ragtag bunch of lizardmen with primitive weapons, not a bloody fort in the middle of the sea!

The reptiles had been scanning the skies...they immediately spotted the garudas descending and started taking positions. Large crossbows were pinned on the turrets, their bolts moving with the ship as the weapons rotated to maintain aim, following its gradual approach. They were big enough to damage the yantra and maybe even bring it down.

High heavens, they're hideous! So this is what a featherless chicken would look like, thought Preet. Generally shorter than lowborn the quetzals were scaly and scantily clad. They wore only loincloths of fur or leather with the occasional satchel or weapon support. Apart from the skin which provided some (very minimal) defence, they carried no armour.

They had short, lean arms and held pikes, spears and swords as weapons, gripping them firmly in their clawed but nimble hands. The legs ended with the familiar talons and a tail, sometimes used as a third arm, lashed around with precision.

But what really caught Preet's attention was their skin. He had heard that quetzals changed the colour of their skin but he hadn't imagined it so vivid. One moment pulsating from orange to bright green the next changing the shade, getting a darker tone, then shifting patterns, alternating between colours. The lizards did not seem to control this change, it was more of natural reflex, like breathing or walking. When in groups the clusters and Still...it appeared as if some managed to have a degree of control, he noted. They tended to maintain their colour longer than the others.

One of the gulls pointed at the chief, or Ch'ola Xaxx, as he preferred to be called. The quetzal was trying to assume a regal pose in the middle of the square, near the fire. He was able to maintain a faded bright green tone and was the ruler of this kobold, yes kobold, of about forty quetzals. The lizard face was smiling and his yellow reptilian eyes were gazing intently at the birds. His features made the smile seem dangerous, as if he was about to spring his tongue at a particularly tasty trap. Behind him a cluster of lizards, they're shifting colours would confuse many but the garudas had outstanding vision and were able to discern the individual silhouettes of the soldiers maintaining guard in formation.