Chapter 73: Mistflower 19: Tlaca

Despite Benji and Wren being clear in what the culprit of the disappearing rabbits was, the rabbits of the lower floors still went out of their way to make life difficult for Muqu and me.

Because they lived so far form us they didn’t had a real bond with us or knew exactly who we were..

The upper floors stood behind us while the lower ones were against us.

I hadn’t seen Benji in the weeks after our fight with the scorpions. He was occupied in maintaining order in the lower floors and going after the scorpion that had escaped.

I never doubted the rabbits but I was getting the feeling that 2 leader figures for such a large burrow might not be enough.

Mishelly helped out where she could but 1 extra rabbit didn’t seem to do much.

We had more freedom to move around but we still had night shift rabbits as guards in case the rabbits of the lower floor would try something.

It was uncomfortable and uneasy.

Muqu and I had become good friends as we both had been caught up in this unpleasant situation.

“Azu, I still think I should leave. My presence creates discord between the rabbits. I have already asked a lot by having them shelter here.”

“I know, but I want to at least help them defeat that last scorpion monster. I will leave with you. They have given me much. I wasn’t planning on staying here forever and this might be a good time to leave.”

I chugged more energy drinks.

I had finally gotten the recipe to brew these myself. Wren had told me that there was a possibility that a movement would start to kick us out of the burrow so she helped to prepare us. We want to leave before that happens.

But how long should we wait? Benji hasn’t asked for our help. Did the scorpion flee? We don’t know and today is the day I find out.

I walked into Mishelly’s room. She was kicking a tree stump. Some sort of exercise.

“Hey, Mishelly. Can we talk?”

Mishelly stopped kicking, turned around, and sat down as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. “Sure.”

“Can you tell us what the status is on those scorpions. I would like to help defeat it but as you know, we don’t feel welcome anymore and we think it’s better to leave.”

“I see... The scorpion hasn’t returned ever since. Gramps has his hands full with the lower floors. I’ve been there several times but it’s not looking good. If you want to leave, I won’t stop you. I’m sorry... after all you've done for us...”

Mishelly’s ears drooped.

“It’s not your fault. Thank you for being my friend. The Cockroach is trying to revive again so I will leave with Muqu and deal with that.”

“More problems... do you mind if I send some rabbits to tail you from behind? If you ever need to relay information to us or need our help, they will be there.”

“That would be nice, thank you. Please tell your grandfather that I wholeheartedly thank him for what he has done.”

Mishelly was looking at the ground and nodded. “I will tell him...”

“I would also like to extend my gratitude. You took me, a fairy in even though my kin has been a pest and a blight to this world.” Muqu made a polite bow.

“I will pass it on. Don’t...don’t feel as if you need to rush to leave. Take your time.”

“We will consider it, thank you Mishelly.” We left Mishelly’s room but I couldn’t help but think that she seemed depressed.

“Where will we stay after we leave?” Muu asked after she handed me her belongings to put in my dimensional pocket.

“Before I came here, I would fight these beasts that always have nice homes. Nothing approaches it as every jungle creature knows that a large beast lives there an it’s convenient as it’s often close to water and has many things we need. The only thing we need to do is kill the beast and clean up any skeletons and poop it left behind in it’s lair. “

“Do all beings in this world live like this?”

“Ehh, no, just on this continent. Although…I might be the only one hunting them down for their lairs.”

“I see, so where is the closest one?”

“Uh… that is a good question.”

I thought about Muqu’s question throughout the rest of the day while we prepared to leave the burrow.

We procrastinated for a week when Benji came in. “I’m sorry for not visiting earlier. I’m glad that you haven’t left yet.”

“No worries, you must be busier than we can imagine. We just wanted to thank you for your hospitality and uh… do you know where the nearest large beast lives?”

“Large beast? Oh the Tlaca! There is one to the southwest. It is an enormous eagle that lives in a cave. Some reports state that its cry can burst your eardrums. It might be louder than the average fairy, sorry Muqu, so beware.”

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“No I agree, my kin is noisy. Thank you for the information and thank you for the hospitality.”

“Is there anything I can do? I understand that you won’t be staying but maybe…”

I put up my hand to stop Benji. “You’ve done more than enough. Thank you. Mishelly will send some rabbits after us in case we ned to exchange information.”

“Very well. I will ensure that your departure will be smooth. I might not be able to be there when you leave however.”

“Don’t worry, we will leave now. Thank you Benji.”

I finally got the motivation to leave after speaking with Benji. I signalled Muqu and she nodded.

He walked us to the entrance and handed us a map of the area and gave us some tips.

“Untill we meet again.” Benji said as we flew off.

I never was great at goodbyes and instantly regretted leaving. But it had to happen. I couldn’t stay there forever.

We couldn’t fly too high else the fairies and several flying beasts or Tlaca, would attack us.

The population of fairies continued to decrease over time. Did the rabbits kill them all off or was something else happening?

Muqu looked around as confused as I did.

“Muqu, I’m not complaining but where are the fairies?”

“I’m unsure but I’m worried. If something defeated them that’s fine but… if they found their way to the place the spirits live then…”

“Wait?! You think they went to the spirit world?!”

If I remember correctly, spirits were the breath of this planet so if the fairies get there and eat all the spirits then we’re doomed… It would almost feel better to know that all the fairies would be here…

Why is life so complicated?

“Is there any way we can know that the spirits are getting eaten?”

“I do not know. I have never been in a situation where I have experienced this and I’m sure my kin won’t tell them out of the kindness of their hearts…”

Misha had always seemed to be a messed-up race to me. My race has so many flaws and strange behaviors which made me wonder how we still exist. Muqu’s race also sounds messed up for different reasons.

Are humans the only race that isn’t messed up? Although they tend to wipe out anything different from them, more than other races do.

Is ‘messed up’ the norm? what would a race that’s not messed up be like?

The obnoxious sound of buzzing and giggling women appeared and I shot [Azure Spears] at the source. High-pitched screams confirmed a hit and we continued flying undisturbed.

“Do you have any natural enemies?”

Muqu stayed quiet for a bit, shot down some of her kin and sighed.

“We do but their appearance wouldn’t be good news for this place either. Most of our kn get slaughtered by them between the dimensions or in the interstitial space, they will wreak havoc if they enter this space. We call them the Karum Kalbu, the cleaners. They…will probably destroy this subdimension while attempting to wipe us out.”

“What are they like?”

“We don’t know. They don’t have an appearance. All I know is that several races have once found out how they looked like and it terrified them.”

“That doesn’t seem assuring…how did they find out if the Karum Kalbu have no appearance?”

“I…I don’t know. Maybe we just can’t see them. the only thing that indicates it’s presence is the sound of a bell.”

The sound of a bell? Is it like how the fairies each have a sound relating to them?

“So is it a fairy? You also make sounds. You for example make whispering sounds.”

“They could be, we just don’t know and I’m trying to keep the sound under control, please tell me if it becomes too loud.”

So a fairy is hunting other fairies? So do they hunt themselves too? It sounds like circular logic as their own kin is keeping themselves in check but what if those cleaners just enter dimensions left and right and end up destroying them? they won’t be different from other fairies and something needs to deal with them.

We neared the lair of the Iair of the Tlaca so I made a mental note to pick up the conversation after we defeated the beast and had a comfortable residence.

More fairies got shot down and we spent some time to ensure that we wouldn’t get ambushed by fairies while fighting the Tlaca.

They weren’t strong, just obnoxious. They were quite manageable in these numbers but swarming was their main tactic. Their strength never was an issue, it was their disgusting appearance first, their loudness second and the fact they traveled in swarms third. The order is my personal bias but this invasion would have been a thousand times more pleasant if they weren’t ugly and noisy.

The lair was a large hole in a mountaintop.

Be it natural or artificial was none of my concern. It was difficult to reach it without flight. It’s unlikely that fairies would come close to it as Tlaca seem to have established dominance over the fairies. The fairies are stupid but not that stupid, I think.

Flying Tlaca had the surrounding airspace for themselves as if their existence repelled the fairies and every fairy that entered it’s airspace got attacked mercilessly and devoured.

It’s great to see that the native species of this planet aren’t completely hopeless against them.

I smacked several fairies into the Tlaca’s lair with my folded fan. A deafening shriek erupted from the lair and it caused me to fall and caused a headache.

Whispering sounds got louder and Muqu caught me.

“My head and ears. Benji wasn’t exaggerating.”

“Why did you provoke it by smacking fairies into it’s lair?”

“I thought that he might need a snack. He might be less fierce if he doesn’t see us as his next meal…”

“That’s an interesting thought process but I don’t think it worked.”

An enormous blast of wind shot out of the lair and an enormous 4-winged eagle appeared. I’m not familiar with 4 winged eagles but I know that 4 winged dragons exist and their extra set of wings makes them masters of flight, only bested by the kings of the sky, the phoenix.

Its 4 wings suggested that we would be severely outmatched in anything flight related. This might have been a bad idea…

Fleeing isn’t an option. Hiding is unlikely as the term ‘eagle eyes’ has a similar meaning as [ hawk eyes’ so fighting is the only option.

I wish Benji had told us that it had 4 wings but they might have never seen it, only heard it.

“Muqu, we need a plan. Flight isn’t an advantage against this thing. We need to either clip its wings or force it into a situation where it can’t fly. That is… if we can hit it…”

The Tlaca was hunting down fairies inn its vicinity and it confirmed my suspicions. Its size didn’t hinder it from accelerating to blinding speeds, make near impossible turns midair and even hovering.

What is this freak of nature?

“Why don’t we flee and find another one?”

“These types of creatures will focus down fleeing targets first.” I said as I pointed my fan a fleeing fairies that got singled out and gobbled up. The ones that didn’t flee got ignored until all the fleeing targets had disappeared.

“Assuming it didn’t notice us could get us killed. We can’t flee or make any movements that would suggest we are here to threaten its territory. The best we can do is send a trap for when it will eventually focus on us.

Would a [Meteor] work? This Tlaca certainly is agile enough to evade it. [Meteor] also has a unique weakness; while it can push flying targets to the ground, it’s true damage comes from impacting the ground. It is relatively easy to counter. All is needed is to disperse it before it hits the ground. Not many are gutsy enough or have the skills to do so but this Tlaca could very well use it’s speed to crash into it and send the [Meteor] off course.

These Tlaca have proved themselves to have high intellect so it wouldn't surprise me if that happened.

It would certainly put targets on our backs after it fails which won’t benefit us at all.

What to do?