Lightning Rod

by SilverNotes

Flurry

During her career, Kisu had gotten a reputation for always being up for a game of chess.

It wasn’t always chess, specifically. She and a kirin agent had once played several rounds of Go, and this wasn’t her first time roping someone into Bao. Some of the creatures she’d been thrown together with had been more fond of cards than board games, so she’d made the effort to learn nearly anything that could be played with a standard deck as well. Because it wasn’t about the game, in the end.

It was about whoever she was playing with, and getting a measure of them. How they thought, how quickly they acted, how good they were at hiding their emotions, and more. And someone who beat her and prompted her to improve her own skills may just end up with a friend for life. So far, Beetle hadn’t quite reached that accomplishment, but with some more time, he might. Kisu never had a moment where she thought victory was a sure thing, kept on the tips of her hooves as the game went on.

She didn’t know how much of a changeling’s expressions and body language was actively controlled–she knew it was to an extent, or the fact that Damselfly and Ladybird had not yet learned zebra body language in detail wouldn’t matter–and how much was the magic drawing on their subconscious. It made trying to read him intriguingly difficult, unable to know for certain if any slip was a slip or a deliberate misdirection.

Unfortunately, today, the match didn’t reach a conclusion, as Kisu lifted a hoof from her piece and the room was suddenly bathed in scarlet light, an alarm that reminded her of a distressed goose blaring at ear-splitting frequency. Both were already on their hooves before the captain’s voice joined the alarm, the walls resonating with the magic used to spread it throughout the ship. “All hooves on deck! We’ve got a storm, a live one!”

Then, cutting through alarm and voice alike, there was a clap of thunder so violent that the ship lurched beneath Kisu’s hooves, and she briefly wondered if the tremors would shake it apart. Then she and Beetle looked at each other, nodded, and ran.

When they emerged on the upper deck, the driving rain hit them with a force that nearly sent them back down. The purple-black of storm clouds roiled above, below, and all around them, blotting out any sign of the sun, and light pulsed in time with deafening booms as if some great cosmic being were striking war drums.

The captain had her talons dug into the rain-slick wood, and the crewponies were in the air, zipping around in colourful blurs as they tried to be everywhere in the smothering storm at once.

With a crack, one pegasus hurtled backward, tumbling tail over snout. Once he righted himself, he shook, stray sparks from the lightning strike dancing through his coat. “They’re cloud demons, Captain!” he neighed over the howling wind, “They won’t yield!”

The hippogriff dug her talons in more, glaring into the clouds. Kisu saw one briefly shift into the shape of a face to glare back. “Then if they won’t tame, bust them! Show no mercy!”

Now that was what Kisu wanted to hear. Ordinary storms, that was the realm of the pegasi, but cloud demons…

Life and magic. And she was good at ending both.

Kisu took a deep breath, dove within, and found the thin barrier between the physical and immaterial. Several orichalcum knives emerged, and a moment later, she got to find out what it sounded like when a storm screamed.

She couldn’t enjoy it. That was the first hoof down a path that ended in stone, to start to enjoy the destruction she was capable of. But she could allow herself a bit of satisfaction that the knives still danced as well as they had back then. Swooping and twirling around her head as her eyes glowed golden, she put all but the most dexterous of unicorns to shame as she lost herself in the beauty of the knifework.

A flicker of green and roar of something other than thunder caught her attention, and she saw the last of the flames fade as Beetle, still in his guise of a zebra, was suddenly holding a shield that appeared to be made of shining, black stone.

He smiled at her, she smiled back, and he reared up on his hind legs before chucking the shield as hard as he could at a cloud demon’s snarling face.

---

The Hall of Squalls was older than the kingdom itself.

No one knew who had built the ruins that had stretched across their land before their arrival, the buildings that had sought to compete with the towering mountains themselves for height and majesty, seemingly created for some kind of giants. The migrating hedgebeasts and satyrs had merely found them, seeking shelter from a storm that had hounded them for several moons, following them from one potential safe haven to the next.

The first ray of sunlight had been spotted from those sheltering in the remains of the ancient palace, and so they had made the land their home, and used the ruins as the foundation for the seat of their first king.

The throne had been through many owners, of many species, but the one who lounged upon it now was a satyr, fur like blizzard snow from his simian head to his hoofed legs, his regalia more like blackened armour and his crown’s points twisting like horns.

Many of those who had won over the Families to be elected king were young and vibrant beings, just old enough to have proven themselves competent in the work required but not yet having had the spark of enthusiasm and desire to learn snuffed from them. However, there was technically no requirement for such a thing, no maximum age to rule. There were little to no requirements at all, save to be an adult, because it had been believed that placing too many limits could see them interpreted and tightened by a current monarch to ensure that only an heir they alone approved of would take their place.

The current Storm King–his name no longer mattered, because once crowned, all were simply “The Storm King” regardless of their bloodline, their earned titles, or even their gender--was older, and those who had presented him as the best choice had claimed that it gave him wisdom. He had seen much, and could think further ahead than recent young, short-sighted kings, so they said.

He and only he could see the path ahead. What needed to be done.

An amulet lay heavy around his neck, etched with the symbol of the kingdom and glowing with a faint light, and for those who bowed before him, it was hard to tell whether the occasional thunder-like rumble came from it, or from the creature who lurked at his side.

Few had seen a cloud demon so close, nor had seen one who was so thin. They were usually towering creatures, full of the magic stolen from those they tormented. This one was smaller than the king, but still no one wished to meet the voids that pretended to be eyes as wispy arms curled their fingers around the edge of the throne.

The Storm King never once looked at the lurking cloud, simply sweeping his gaze over the bowing hedgebeasts. All of them were massive examples of their species, their hulking bodies encased in similar black armour, masks obscuring each of their faces, and he examined them for a long moment before pointing at the one in the centre of the group. “You.”

The hedgebeast froze, then slowly got to his feet, approaching the throne. “My king–”

The old satyr’s three-fingered hand raised to cut off the words. The other hand lifted the amulet. “Do you accept the gift that I offer?” The beast nodded. “Good.”

He raised the amulet, and the Hall shook with the rumble of thunder.

The high ceiling vanished in a swirling of black clouds. Those who hadn’t been chosen slunk backward, giving the indoor storm fearful glances, but the one who had been merely raised his arms high, reaching toward the roiling sea of black as if seeking to touch it.

Instead, it reached out to him, as lightning arced down, enveloping his form in blinding white light.

What emerged was no longer a headbeast, and as the clouds faded again, lightning continued to spark along a long, scaled body. A bipedal stance had been replaced by quadrupedal, and clawed paws tipped each limb. Quills had grown larger and sharper, now tinged with blue, and three burning eyes opened, tiny pupils swimming in lakes of gold. Armour lay shattered upon the ground from the transformation of the body beneath, and a now much more lupine face smiled, baring a row of fangs.

The newly-reborn beast howled, and the Storm King gave the results of his handiwork a low chuckle.

And all the while, the cloud demon watched.

---

Kisu suffered a lot of nightmares, but sometimes, just sometimes, she had good dreams. Some of them had childhood memories at the core, when the scents of her father’s kitchen wafted back to her and she recalled the first lessons on how to cook. Some of them had her life blending together with the books she loved to read, taking her on adventures she’d never had with creatures who’d only ever existed in print.

But some? Some were a lot like this. The reminder that she could still dance, and having some friends with her who could keep up.

Beetle’s shield required things to ricochet off of, and so he needed to throw it carefully, with a mind to what the overall path he needed was, and what parts of the ship could give it to him. Not to mention that, with him never once shedding his disguise, even here–she would have to compliment him on his discipline, as she’d seen many changelings instinctively revert in response to danger–he needed to make all of the throws with hooves. Yet it was working, and the green sheen of changeling magic over its dark surface tore through the howling clouds and left them recoiling.

Ladybird was nearby, and had announced her presence earlier with a crack that had almost rivalled the thunderclaps. She was similarly still in her zebra form, wielding a whip grasped in her teeth, using neck motions that could make Kisu’s own neck ache just from looking at it. For the most part, she struck out with it, but at least once, the whip had shone as she managed to wrap it around one of the clouds and pull it into the path of Beetle’s shield.

And Damselfly…

They’d donned their own zebra skin upon coming on deck, and they were armed as well. The weapon was a bit like a cannon, but thinner, and the mechanism for firing looked different. Not to mention that instead of cannon balls, it fired gouts of green changeling-flame that had the cloud demons shrieking.

And all the while, Kisu danced. Her knives spun and slashed, and she kept her own head and hooves moving to keep track of each strike. Her bad leg changed the rhythm of the motions, and the slick deck came with the risk of slipping, but her body still remembered what she was meant to do.

The pegasi were all flaps, hoof strikes, and bites, and together, they were forcing the storm back, slowly. It was an endurance game, of whether they would tire before the demons did, and even as Kisu’s body knew the steps to the dance, she could feel the sweat in her coat. There were accounts of cloud demon attacks that lasted days, and she didn’t know anymore if she had that kind of stamina.

There was a new rumble, and with it came a new light, a beam of piercing teal ripping through the clouds and narrowly missing the ship’s balloon. Kisu was left blinking spots from her eyes, her coat standing on end from the magic saturating the air.

All at once, the cloud demons seemed to decide that enough was enough, and they vanished as swiftly as they’d come, leaving them with a sky painted red by the setting sun.

There was another airship hovering nearby, smoke rising from its cannons, and Kisu took a moment to catch her breath before approaching the hippogriff glaring holes at the new vessel. “A timely rescue,” she commented dryly. “Friends of yours, Captain?”

She shook her head. “They’re flying Storm Kingdom colours, but that model of ship… It’s very popular with privateers.”

Kisu’s mouth thinned with a thoughtful frown. “Well then, let’s give our saviours a friendly greeting… and be ready in case they aren’t as friendly as we hope.”

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Kisu took a deep breath, dove within, and found the thin barrier between the physical and immaterial. Several orichalcum knives emerged, and a moment later, she got to find out what it sounded like when a storm screamed.

Knife-wielding assassin who specializes in killing the immaterial. That sounds familiar.

Nice to see what the changelings are capable of, especially when maintaining their cover. The question is just what the Storm King has planned. This could get very nasty indeed.

[redmar]

This is a nice chapter it's good to see that the changelings are competent in dealing with difficult situations while keeping their disguise.