"Who is going to meet her? And who is going to try and convince Lord Kaelvar to stop?" Chronos asked.
"I have to go; it would insult my family name not to be present when I can still move." Naerith said.
"I will go as well. This Lord Kaelvar sounds like the type of fellow to respect courage, so he won't respect the lizardfolk if one of our leaders isn't present." Vaelith also chose to go.
"In that case me and Lyla should also go to represent the Leighla kingdom and the Tri-Goddess's battle priests. I refuse to believe that the king won't have an army here soon to reinforce us." Chronos decided.
"Alright with everything settled we have preparations to make and you need more rest." Vaelith informed them as she pushed Naerith back into her bed.
Nodding she started to drift off to sleep. Chronos suspected that the naga matriarch had just used a potion to cause drowsiness but didn't say anything. She really did need more rest, when she had first woken up, she had been so tense that she could barely sit up straight.
Leaving the infirmary log Chronos went to train, it would still be a few hours before they were ready to set off.
While training he watched as Vaelith coaxed a serpent out of a bag nearby, fed it a potion then attached a small leather letter carrier to it and gently set it in the viewing pool in the middle of the camp.
That was both interesting and concerning as Chronos couldn't sense any difference between this snake and others he had seen in the swamp. If the naga's were determined enough they could have eyes and ears in every corner of Dracon Fen and nobody would notice.
That is, if they hadn't already scattered them elsewhere. Thinking about his travels through southern Dracon Fen, he now realized that several creatures had been watching him far too intently to be normal.
As dawn arrived the camp quietly became more active. Warriors left to switch with the guards in the surroundings while the naga's prepared potions and breakfast for those leaving and returning.
The noise slowly woke up Lyla as well and she came over to join Chronos in his training.
"How long do you think Gregory and Sariah will keep sleeping?" She asked.
"Gregory is already awake, he's pretending to sleep while gathering information." Chronos replied.
She turned to stare at Gregory for a minute before realizing that his nightweave threads were extremely thin and extended as far as they could reach.
Just as the two sleepy heads had gotten up to eat a male naga entered the camp, giving Chronos a shock. He had thought that all nagas were female as he had never seen a male before.
As he watched this newcomer, he realized that he was much larger than he thought. Vaelith was 4-5 meters long but this male naga was 7 meters long, possibly more. He was powerfully built and his tail was nearly twice the diameter of any naga he had seen and unlike the female naga's he didn't have a cobra hood around his head.
His body was covered in dark green and brown scales allowing him to perfectly hide within the swamp. The scars on his body looked like roots had formed on or under his scales to heal him and down one of his left arms was a dark organic pattern that faintly glowed from time to time.
He was wearing armor made from enchanted bronze and hardened bark that was designed for flexibility and brutal close quarters combat. He was wielding a barbed spear made of reeds that Chronos couldn't identify and had a bone hook blade at his waist, that would be useful in close quarters or for grappling.
But his most defining feature was his eyes; they were bright green and glowed when he looked at Chronos.
Recognizing the pattern on his body as a spirit contract Chronos was slightly upset. His clan had been trying to form a spirit contract throughout their entire history but had never succeeded. Without a spirit contract other beastfolk clans, including the naga, would subtly or openly look down on them.
Now that he had the system, he realized that his clan couldn't be blamed for that. He had never heard of a spatial spirit, and spirits wouldn't contract with a creature that lacked their element.
A contract was meant to help both sides grow but if you didn't have the right element, you couldn't help the spirit grow so they would refuse the contract every time.
The male naga smirked when he saw Chronos then slithered over to take a spot by Vaelith.
Over breakfast Chronos informed the others about Naerith and the plan to meet with the merfolk leadership.
"I don't like this, it's too risky. What if they don't believe you or capture you instead?" Gregory asked.
"Vaelith is making plans with the lizardfolk to attack the merfolk if they try to harm us. We'll use the distraction to escape, and she seems certain that they can do it." Chronos said.
"I still think we shouldn't take such a risk."
"Perhaps, but if nothing is done, we'll have to deal with another thorn and I really don't want to do that."
"I think it will work out. If all else fails, you can just tell the battle priests and the dragon paladins about our capture. I'm certain that they will come to get us." Lyla said.
"Alright but give me a warning howl immediately if something goes wrong."
Gregory still didn't like this plan but relented after Chronos promised to give a warning howl if something went wrong.
"By the way what's up with the male naga? I didn't even think they existed until now." Sariah asked.
One of the lizardfolk sitting nearby answered her.
"Male nagas are rare but not unheard of. They are built for war and unlike the female nagas they have the ability to contract with spirits. If it wasn't due to how few are born, then the female naga's would never settle for a lizardman. Sethriss there is even more special as he was born on the day of the wetland, it's a day of celebration to honor the swamp, and was blessed by the rotmother."
"Indeed, male naga's are our ideal man but that doesn't mean that all female naga's want a male naga." Vaelith had slithered over to them to speak with Chronos. "I've made contact with Lysira and we'll be leaving to meet her in an hour. I hope your preparations are finished in time."
"We're ready to go whenever you are. By the way, what do you plan to do about the merfolk after the tear is dealt with?"
"Isn't that obvious? We'll kill them until they are forced out of the swamp." Sethriss rudely hissed.
Sighing, Vaelith said, "Forgive Sethriss, he doesn't understand your worth Chronos. As for the merfolk, I'm still considering the best way to deal with them."
Sethriss snorted in derision, refusing to accept that someone who couldn't contract a spirit would have any worth.
"Then my suggestion is to have them agree to build a fortress on the border of the ocean and have it placed under the joint management of the swamp tribes and the merfolk. You can use it as a trade post for both races and assurance against pirates or naval fleets that may try to conquer the shore regions of the swamp." Chronos suggested.
Vaelith's eyes sparkled as her merchant spirit was ignited.
"An interesting proposal but would they accept? Lord Kaelvar is unlikely to accept unless we can prove our worth in this war but perhaps the Wavecaller house would be willing to work with us. Hm, I need time to think about this." She quietly hissed to herself.
"Well, you've got an entire war to sort out before your negotiation. Good luck with that," Chronos chuckled as Vaelith drifted off into her thoughts.
As they slithered off, Lyla turned to Chronos.
"Are you fine with him?"
"Yeah, growing up in a noble house you learn to deal with plenty of unpleasant people. The easiest way to deal with those who feel inferior but don't have a position to flaunt is to just ignore them until they go away and if he causes a problem then I can always beat him up."
Gregory put his hand over his face in embarrassment at Chronos' simple way of thinking while Lyla thought that it made sense. Certainly, much better than making a compromise and she might even get a chance to bash someone's head in.
Smiling, she finished her meal then went to see if there were any useful potions that she could bring. Other than two water breathing potions for herself and Chronos nothing else caught her attention.
Joining Chronos outside of the camp's gate they patiently waited for Vaelith to arrive with her bodyguard.