Something slammed into her from behind, forcing her to the ground. She almost sent a fist smashing right into the other person's face before she realized it was Princess Pointy-Ears.

  Oh, who was she kidding? Selvi wanted to punch the half-elf anyway.

  "What are you..." she began, but Gwenevrael shushed her and pointed up. A rather large and heavy-looking log came swinging across the trail and through the space where Selvi would have been. A second later, it swung back, not quite as fast.

  "Those buggies are smarter than they look," the ranger said. "Had their escape planned out really well."

  "Er, yeah." As her anger and rage receded, Selvi was realizing just how dumb she'd been. This did not make her any happier. "Thanks," she said through gritted teeth.

  "Don't get me wrong," said Gwenevrael. "I still don't like you, and I know you still don't like me, but if we're going to get our stuff back then we shall need to work together." The half-elf offered a gloved hand. "A continued truce?"

  Selvi took the hand and shook it. "Yeah, for now."

  "So what did we lose?" Gwenevrael asked, once everyone was back in the clearing.

  "All of our packs," Flora reported, "and the picnic basket, too. They tried to take my Staff of Plenty, but couldn't get it out of the ground. Left the canvas," she added as an afterthought.

  "At least we got our weapons," growled Selvi. Gwenevrael could only nod at that.

  "Got my broom, too!" Bianca announced. "But... but..." The little witch's eyes began to tear up. "My magic rod was in my pack! Gran'Mama gave it to me and told me to keep it safe and be a smart girl and figure it out and now she's going to be so mad and what am I going to do? WAAAAAAAHH!" She broke down as the other princesses stared.

  Cassandrella plopped down to the witch's left, and Flora to her right, then the two of them squished her in the middle of the biggest hug they could manage. The sniffly sobs were smothered in folds of homespun cotton and shimmery moon-silk.

  "Okay, okay. Mushy stuff aside," said Selvi. "What are we doin' to get our stuff back?" The barbarian growled. "Shoulda kept chasin' them."

  "And you'd soon have discovered just how many traps they've set on that trail."

  "Yeah, yeah. Rub it in, why dontcha."

  "If you would permit this intrusion, ladies..." A voice, long and sinuous on the vowels and slightly lisped on the esses, slipped through the mass of trees behind the princesses to surprise them as a light tickle on the ears.

  Selvi had her scimitar up and ready, and Gwenevrael had an arrow nocked before the last ess could finish.

  There was something standing in the shadows of the trees, though not even the half-elf's keen eyes could pick out the details at first. Some magic had kept it hidden from their sight, and that same magic made this person blurry and shadowed even as it walked towards them. Once the figure reached the sunlight of the clearing, the magic was dispelled, and the five princesses got a good look at their visitor.

  The... person stood tall like a man, almost as tall as Princess Selvi, but was like nothing they'd ever seen before. The body was stocky, with short legs and long arms, and its fingers and toes alike were tipped with thick claws. Its face was snout-like, with long lips and a tiny nose. A scaly plate of natural armor spread from its forehead, over its crown, and down its back. Tufts of fur stuck out between the scales. A broad tail hung behind it, also scaled. This newcomer looked nothing so much like a pangolin crossed with a human.

  "A what-o-lin?" asked Shelby.

  "Yeah, what's that?" chimed in Claire. Behind her huge glasses, the girl's eyes twinkled curiously.

  "Sounds familiar..." said Cynthia.

  "Yanno, a pangolin," said Uncle. "They've got some down at the zoo. Kind of like an armadillo, but with scales instead of banded armor. They can roll up into balls," he added.

  "Aw yeah, that's the one!"

  -tickety tappety tap- Uncle had his laptop out. "Look, this is what I'm talking about," he said, pulling up a Wikipedia page for the animals. That was followed by an internet video of baby pangolins for the girls to coo over while he grabbed some more root beer.

  "Okay, ladies," he said when he returned. "Whatcha gonna do?"

  "Attack it!" said Shelby.

  "No!" said Helen. "He hasn't done anything yet."

  "He was pretty polite..." added Claire.

  "... let's ask."

  "Okay!" said Shelby. "My princess doesn't lower her sim, shim..."

  "Scimitar."

  "Right. Doesn't lower her simmy-tar, but she asks him what he's doing. Um, it is a 'him', right?"

  Uncle shrugged. "Hard to say, just by looking. The voice sounds more masculine, though. Anyhoo, the pangolin-man greets you again, and introduces himself as L'shoopfloopshup."

  "Wow, say that again!" Claire said.

  "L'shoopfloopshup."

  "Ten times fast!" demanded Helen.

  "L'shoopfloopshuplshoopshupfloopshup..." Uncle screwed his face up, crossed his eyes, and stuck out his tongue, much to the amusement of the girls. "But you can call him Louis," he said. "Please."

  "Okay, um, Louis," said Gwenevrael as she relaxed the hold on her bowstring. The magically produced arrow shaft flickered and disappeared, no longer necessary. "It is good to hear a friendly voice, but I must ask. What are you doing here?"

  "If I may?" The pangolin man sat on the dirt with his tail curled up around his legs. "I am traveling with a band of my brothers and sisters. We wander the world, hunting down tasty insects for food and sport. Perhaps you can guess where this is heading?"

  "Them," Flora said with a scowl. "The ants. They ain't natural, are they? Something felt wrong."

  "Ah yes, you are a daughter of the woods, are you not? No, the ant-men are not a result of nature's path, though if I am to be honest, neither are my people."

  "The forest ain't afraid of you, though." Beside the druid, Mr. Chitters gave his squeak of approval.

  "And happy am I to hear that. The truth is, my comrades and I have been tracking this contingent of the ant-men for some time now. They appear to have settled in these woods, and we believe they are preparing to contact their queen at the home hive. Should that happen, then an invasion may be imminent. It occurs to me that, as natives of this land and recent victims of their rapacious nature, you might desire some aid and give the same in return?"

  "What the heck's that supposed to mean?" asked Selvi.

  "He's saying that we can all help each other," said the ranger.

  "Why doesn't he just do it himself?" The half-orc eyed the pangolin man suspiciously.

  "It is enough to say that the numbers do not favor my band," said Louis. "The workers are of little concern, were there not so many of them. Then there are the warriors, which are a much more difficult matter. And the leader of the outpost, well... Even with the assistance of you ladies, we will have our hands busy."

  "But we'll get our stuff back?" asked Bianca. The tears had dried, but her eyes were still red and angry.

  "That, and whatever else you may want from their hoard," promised Louis. "My people's objective is death to the ants. We care not for the rest."

  Gwenevrael nodded. "I think we can agree to these terms." Beside her, Selvi wasn't looking happy, but the barbarian wasn't saying no, either.

  "Good." Louis hopped to his feet and bowed. "If you would follow me to my camp, where we can rest and prepare?"

  The princesses grabbed everything that was left to them and followed the pangolin man into the forest.

  "So when you get to his camp," Uncle was saying, "you see six more of Louis's friends doing various things. They don't all look like him; some are more armadillo-ish, while others look like anteaters, or even hedgehogs. They introduce themselves, but all the names are just as hard to pronounce."

  "What are we doing now?" asked Cynthia.

  "Preparing, I guess," Claire answered.

  "But how?"

  Shelby raised her hand. "I'm gonna talk with someone to make battle plans."

  "Magic users should also take time to make sure their spells are ready," Uncle noted. "Er, yes?" Katelyn was tugging on his sleeve. "What is it?" The girl pointed to a note on her sheet. "Okay, Bianca can make some potions, too. One of Louis's friends will help there."

  "I'll ask Mr. Chitters to help me find some animals to help us!" offered Cynthia.

  "Gwen will go with Selvi to talk with Louis and his boss," said Helen.

  Uncle clapped his hands. "Well then, sounds like we've got stuff to do!"

  "Fifty buggers, you say?" Selvi was staring at a rough map of the area, drawn in reddish-brown ink on animal skin. It was simply done, with little triangles for trees and circles for rocks, but it still looked more accurate than the one the princesses had.

  "Plus five warriors, the leader, and three others besides." Louis's leader was a long-nosed, shaggy person, with light cream and brown fur. His voice was booming and nasal, and his name had been officially shortened to Phil.

  "What others?" Gwenevrael leaned in, tracing the map with one of her knives.

  "The leader caste of the ant-men like to keep pets," explained Louis. "A few days back, the ants caught a few bandits. The fools were trying to steal food, I imagine. In any case, they're working for the bugs now, whether they like it or not."

  "Which is why your assistance is appreciated," said Phil. "The three pets are strong in ways we cannot work well against. But they do not see well in the dark, which is why we shall wait till late in the evening to attack."

  The ranger nodded. "I can see in the darkness, and I believe half-orcs can as well, right?"

  Selvi grunted.

  "That still leaves the others, though..."

  Claire had her hand raised and waving frantically. The tips of her oversized hair ribbon wobbled like a pair of floppy ears.

  "Yes, Claire?" Uncle didn't quite sigh.

  "Since my magic is all holy moon power and stuff, do I have a spell that lets people see in the dark?"

  "No, that's not actually a cleric's spell usually..."

  "Can I ask for it anyway?" She pulled nervously on her glasses.

  "Ask me?"

  "No, ask the Moon." The little girl stood on her seat so they could look eye to eye. "Can I ask the Moon for a spell like that?"

  Uncle considered for a moment, then made a quick calculation on a piece of scrap paper. "Okay. Since your goddess is actually in the sky right now, visible and about half full, I guess you can ask her for a boon. Roll your big one, add in your wisdom modifier — that's a plus three, by the way — and we shall see."

  A goldenrod orange twenty-sided die clattered across the table, coming up 19.

  "Whew..." Uncle whistled. "And with the modifier, that's a twenty-two. Okay then, you get a new trick in your level two spell slot, instead of one use of Align Weapon. It's called, um..."

  "Moon Eyes Shine Bright!"

  "Er, sure. Let's go with that. It grants low-light vision to yourself and two other people, for one night."

  "Thanks, Uncle game-dude!"

  Flora sat on a tree stump at the edge of the camp, listening to the sound of the woods. Birdsong had faded with the light of day, to be replaced with the buzz of insects. It was easy to meditate and open her mind to the voice of nature — and wow, was it an angry one. She could hear it in the bristling of the pine needles, in shrieks of the hawk and the whining of mosquitoes. There was something in these woods that the woods did not want, and this princess knew what that thing was. She cradled her lute and strummed along to the magic in her head, calling out to all the little ears that were willing to hear.

  She'd been right, earlier. Nature absolutely hated those ant-men, as much as it could hate anything. With a pluck and a twang of the lute string, she was telling Nature exactly what was upsetting it, and how to make it stop.

  Bianca spent most of the afternoon with a hard-shelled member of the anti-bug squad named Mmshuthrashl. The witch called her Mim. Mim was the healer of the group, and had dozens of little bags of spell components on hand. Bianca's little cauldron was put to good use, and soon she was filling a dozen tiny vials with a light green liquid.

  "This one's full of jumping magic," she was explaining to a wide-eyed Cassie. "Slurp one down and you'll be bouncing like a bunny rabbit for a few minutes." She waved to the other colors they'd already finished. "Blue is Mim's special health potion. Everyone's getting two of those."

  Cassie took her share of the green and blue, tucking them into the pockets of her moon-silk robe. "What about this?" she asked, reaching for a vial of red liquid.

  A pale, slender hand grabbed the cleric's wrist. The little witch was stronger than she looked, and her face was deadly serious. "Mim made that one for me, special. That one's dangerous, and it's all mine," was all she said.

  The moon princess looked into her friend's eyes and saw all the tales of witches reflected within them. She couldn't help but shiver a little.

  Now it was late into the night. The Moon had come and almost left, sinking slowly behind the mountains. Some of its glow remained in the night sky, along with thousands of twinkling stars. Bianca knew the constellations well, and thanks to Cassie's new spell she could see well enough by their light to navigate above the tree-tops with ease.

  To the north, beneath the constellation of the Dragon with its burning red eye, there was a clearing. Flora had described it quite well. All the trees there had recently been chopped down and chewed up by the ant-men, and now a gaping hole opened in the middle.

  She was flying over the hole right now. It was a deep black circle in the middle of the dirt and grass. Bianca carefully pulled out her new red potion, held it out at arm's length, and let it fall.

  With a whoomph, the hole was no longer dark and black. She liked it better in bright red, actually, though she barely dodged the rising fireball.

  There was the signal! The fading moonlight was as bright as day thanks to Cassandrella's magic, and to Princess Flora's eyes the explosion was brighter still. She could see ants from where she was perched, high in a tree. Louis said the buggers couldn't see too well by night, and she trusted him on that. She trusted her new furry friends more.

  Flora raked her fingers across her lute with a loud twang. As loudly as she could, she sang:

  My eyes have seen the horror of the coming of the squirrels!

  With their sharp-sharp teeth and bushy tails they aid us pretty girls.

  With the rabbits and the deer they make those buggies hurl!

  Fuzzy-wuzzies rule the world!

  Not half bad for an afternoon's composition, if she did say so herself. From the bushes all around the clearing, the fuzzy-wuzzies burst into action, descending on the worker ants as they poured from the fiery depths of their hill. Anyone who thought rabbits were weak had never seen a mother bunny take on a snake in defense of her young. Those teeth weren't just there for nibbling carrots!

  "Um, thank you for the musical selection, Cynthia," said Uncle. "With your encouragement, all the local squirrels and rabbits are busy biting legs off of workers, while the deer are trampling the bodies." He rolled a die behind his divider screen. "Your 'Battle Hymn of the Fuzzy-Wuzzies' even attracted a badger, which is currently trashing a squad of worker ants by the north end of the clearing." A red piece of plastic marked the spot. "Let's just give him some space, 'kay? Badgers aren't the friendliest sorts."

  "Wow, that was awesome!" shouted Cynthia. "Thanks for lettin' me try it."

  "No prob, kiddo." Honestly, he'd stretched the definitions of most of the animal-handling spells and skills on that one, but she'd rolled well, and it really was funnier this way. "So, who's up next?"

  Arrows flashed overhead, streaking through the air from where Princess Pointy-Ears was hiding. Selvi scowled. Just like an elf to stay in the trees where it was safe. She preferred to get down and dirty. Brandishing her scimitar, Selvi Khan's-daughter screamed defiantly and rushed into the chaos.

  Ahead of her, an armadillo man was barreling through the worker ants, leaving wide gaps in the enemy's defenses for her to pass. Behind her, Moonie and the rest of the bug-eaters followed. Her ears told her that, though she kept her eyes forward.

  The little bugs were no challenge at all, and dangerous only because they wouldn't stop for anything. Her scimitar cut them down left and right, while her boots stomped bug bits with loud crunches.

  One. Stomp. Two. Stomp. Three. Stomp... This was maybe the most boring fight of her young life!

  With a shriek, more ants swarmed from the hill. These newcomers were twice the size of the workers and looked even bigger when they stood tall and upright on four legs. Thick forearms wielded nasty-looking spears, shields, or axes.

  "Awright!" the barbarian shouted. "Now that's more like it!"

  Unlike the half-orc, Princess Cassandrella hadn't been in a real fight even once in her entire life. She had her moon-silver armor, yes, and her scepter doubled wonderfully as a head-thumper, but that didn't mean she was in any way prepared. Mistress Mehl's basic combat course at the Academy hadn't included anything about giant bugs, for crying out loud! Someone should make a complaint, she decided.

  But first, there was the problem at hand. When the warrior ants made their appearance, all clicking jaws and waving spears, of course she was scared! Who wouldn't be? And when she was scared, there was only one thing for a young moon princess to do. She prayed.

  "O Bounteous Moon! Grant me thy light, so I may squish some buggy butt!"

  Her blessed mother may not have approved of that prayer, but the Moon didn't seem to mind. Cassandrella's scepter glowed with a soft silver light, and then it was gone, replaced by a piece of the shining moon in the shape of a sword.

  "Moonlight Crescent Cut!"

  Princess Fiona finished her song with a flourish, to signal that it was time for all fuzzy animals to make themselves scarce. Most of them listened, if they hadn't already scampered away, but that old badger on the north side continued fighting and biting like a hungry man battling for the last plate of flapjacks.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6