The issue of where Ishiar was in the intervening time was never explained--apparently, all three of the girls felt too awkward to discuss the whole "Naga Thing," so they walked in silence for quite a while longer, more weary now of hidden ambushes and enemies. Latella was so shaken by the whole event that she screamed the first time a Kari charged at the group--before she knew what was happening, she had fired a white-hot bolt of energy at the beast that exploded against it, sending it flying. Before it even landed it started to disintegrate, flashes of red energy signalling it's demise.

"Hey, not bad...!" Ishiar said in surprise, abruptly breaking the group's long silence. "I knew you were a sorceress, but you never told me you were a good one!"

Latella was as surprised as anyone--she didn't know she could summon that kind of power, but in her panic, she had just thrown everything she had into one spell without thought, preparation or hesitation. And it had thoroughly fried a Kari in one shot. She simultaneously felt impressed with herself and mildly confused.

Rather than argue either way, she just shrugged her shoulders silently and kept walking. They didn't get far--the noise of the first Kari's demise had drawn three more. The tall spider-women towered over the three meek adventurers as their hooflike steps slowly brought them into view.

"...So, can you do it again or do I have to do this myself?" Ishiar said, her borrowed blade already in her hands.

Latella brought her hands close together and focused, drawing energy and building it into a ball of firey heat between her fingers.

"Not that way! Do it the way you did before!" Ishiar yelled as the three Karis began to charge.

Absently flinging her half-finished firebolt at a Kari, she summoned her will and attempted to shoot another bolt of energy like she had before. She felt energy surging through her. It threatened to overwhelm her and she couldn't focus it, causing it to dissipate and simply drain out of her. With frustration, she realized she didn't know how to do it again. She didn't have time to ponder it further as a charging Kari bowled her over. She spun and crashed to the ground, rolling over rocks and leaves as she tried to keep her bearings. It didn't take long--the second she looked up her vision was already filled with the Kari looming over her. It siezed her with it's front two legs and lifted her. She started summoning a spell to blast free of the creature but holding her wasn't it's plan. Rearing up suddenly, it flung her high into the air, positioned itself beneath her, and opened it's maw wide.

In one panicked moment, Latella looked down at that glistening mouth and the stomach beyond. *No, not again! It's only been like ten minutes! THIS SUCKS!*

Before she could land in the fleshy prison that awaited her, a bolt of white energy from Sudvana sailed through the air and knocked the Kari away with a bang and a puff of sparks. Latella landed just shy of it, hitting the earth painfully. Tired of being defenseless, she summoned fire to her hands again--only this time, she did it fast. She threw as much energy as she could into the searing ball between her fingers as she rose. She swung herself towards the Kari, still only inches from her, and let out a short scream as she shot the firey blast out of her hand. It knocked the creature back, a haze of flame and smoke consuming it as it screeched and backed into a nearby tree. She tried to form another bolt but she didn't have the energy--instead, she channelled what she could and a dull jet of red flame sprayed lazily from her hands, lapping angrily against the creature as it collapsed and died.

She breathed heavily as she fell to one knee, her lungs aching and her spirit strangely sore. She had drawn far more energy than she was used to and she could feel that fact as if it were a stinging ache inside her. Was this it? Was she really this weak?

Suddenly remembering her situation, she spun her head around to see what was going on with the other two. The second was apparently already dead. The third had Sudvana's lower half in it's mouth, playing tug-of-war with Ishiar who was pulling her with one arm and stabbing at the beast with the other. After a few hard strikes, the beast evaporated into red energy with a scream and Sudvana fell to the ground. Both girls were already breathing heavily, but Ishiar looked the least drained of the three.

Seeing the battle won, Ishiar looked over to Latella. "Is this you girls' first real battle?" she asked, subtly trying to control her breathing.

Latella nodded, suddenly acutely aware of the fact that she was still crumpled down on one knee.

"Yeah..." Ishiar continued, "it gets easier. But for now I think we should rest a bit." With that, she sheathed her sword and sat (collapsed) against a tree. "I honestly haven't been in that many fights myself. There's a reason those five Karis got me so easy. A warrior from Izee could have probably taken all five, but...I'm just not that practiced."

"I should have brought more of my enchanted items..." Sudvana said, sitting cross-legged where she had fell. "I didn't realize there would be this much danger."

"There usually isn't." Ishiar says. "I've travelled this route a few times...usually if you try to avoid the monsters, you can. I guess they just have it in for us today."

"I wonder...why..." Latella asked, noticing that Sudvana had the golden pendant in her hand and was silently looking at it. "Sudie?"

Sudvana looked up. After a moment, she shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. Just bad luck I guess."

"When we get to Laurenti, we need to get weapons." Latella said, forcing herself to her feet. "Real ones."

She didn't want to think about what would happen if she ran out of energy and had to fight with her bare hands. Now that she'd been in a fight--and in a Naga's digestive tract--she knew she didn't want to lose again. As she thought about it, she realized she'd need new clothes, too--until now she hadn't even noticed the cold breeze against her skin where her silk vestshirt had been dissolved. There was a great, uneven hole in the chest, exposing her bra which had, itself, started to show bits of skin underneath. The bile had dried, giving it a sort of flaky, crusty quality. She grimaced--though a bit gross, it would be more dangerous to remove her only protection now. While it had precious little value as armor, monsters were known to become a lot more ravenous and aggressive when presented with a completely naked girl.

Latella knew the feeling. There was something primal that welled up inside her when she saw a completely naked girl--she got a burning urge to either hump them or eat them, and it never really seemed to matter which--assuming she didn't just decide to do one right after the other.

The three girls spent a good ten minutes resting silently in that spot before Ishiar stood up. "Well," she said at last, "I think we should go. We really should make sure we get to Laurenti before nightfall." Days on this planet were not long; they had, at best, an hour before Idjana set, and perhaps another ten minutes after that before Oranos did. Then there would only be the illumination of the more distant stars--blue Remoro, red Ehalla, and the glittering clouds of stars and light beyond. While the night sky was breathtaking, it was still harder to see where one was walking, and certain monsters only hunted at night--monsters which were more than happy to prey on girls foolish enough to leave their beds after Idjana had set.

They resumed their walk, still altering their course constantly to avoid monsters in the distance. Their path took them through more light forestland, with precious few paths except Ishiar's memory to guide them. Finally, just as the firey orb of Idjana was touching the tips of the mountains, they spotted Laurenti.

The city was larger than Latella remembered, but then, it had been a while since she'd been here; she scarcely recognized it. The buildings were about twice as tall as a girl, made out of some black and red material resembling polished marble. Iron framework held the corners together and each building's roof ended in a point, giving them the look of squat, miniature towers. As the girls approached, Latella realized that's exactly what they were--several warriors manned small firing windows in each building, and they were arranged in a defensive pattern around the city. Further beyond them were more conventional buildings; stone, wood, and the occaisional brightly-colored cloth tent. In some cities the size and materials comprising one's home was an indicator of wealth and status, but some girls just preferred the feel of the elements and slept in silken tents even if they were wealthy enough to afford better. Latella was never one of those girls.

The guards at the city's parameter gave polite nods as the trio walked into the town. Evening though it was, there were still many people bustling in and out of buildings. The night girls were just waking up, whereas the girls who preferred to work and play under the light of the main suns had not yet gone to bed. These were often the busiest times of day, the twilight between day and night bringing together all of a town's inhabitants.

Nobody gave the three newcomers a second glance; warriors returning to town with half-digested armor was nothing new in a city like this. As they found themselves standing in one of the smaller central squares, Sudvana spoke up.

"So where does, um..."

"Mishara?" Latella inserted.

"Yeah, where does Mishara live?" Sudvana finished.

"I'm just now realizing I can't remember." Ishiar said, her eyes scanning the horizon for a familiar landmark. "In fact, I'm not sure if I've ever actually been to her house."

"Well, that's dandy." Latella mused. "Shall I ask someone?"

"Yeah." Ishiar answered absent-mindedly as she turned to a nearby villager. "Excuse me, miss, do you know where Mishara lives?"

"Mishara?" the girl repeated. "Is that the half-angelwing, half-guardian person? With the green armor?"

While Ishiar didn't remember green armor, she definately remembered Mishara being dual-class angelwing/guardian. And while girls born with two classes were not unheard of, they were a minority, and angelwings even moreso.

"Yeah, that would be her." she said.

"I'm not sure where she lives," the villager answered, "but right now she's at the Rubent Emerald inn."

"And where's that?" Ishiar asked, mildly surprised at the unfamiliar name.

"It's the big one on the third east road. It's got a big green crystal and a big red crystal above the door. You can't miss it."

"Thanks, babe." Ishiar said.

"Hey Ishiar, what's an angelwing?" Sudvana asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's one of the birth classes."

"Are they half angel?"

"No, it's just a name. Angelwings are sort of like priestesses or valkyries. They use light magic. They're really nice, too. I think their official job is to just be nice to people."

"So they are like angels. Is that where their name comes from?"

"Probably. So you'd never heard of them before?" Ishiar asked, mildly surprised. She turned to Latella. "You have, though, right?"

"I've heard of them," Latella answered. "Never met one."

"Well, let's go meet one, then!" Sudvana said as the three started walking.

The three girls passed by several lines of people, many of whom were clearly girded for battle; others carried trade goods in between the numerous buildings, while some stood on the sidelines chatting with one another. Now that they were further into the city, it seemed almost crowded.

"Are there usually this many people here?" Latella asked.

"Not that I remember." Ishiar answered. "I don't remember there being this many buildings, either." They realized the city must still be growing as they passed by an enchantress, using her magic to slowly shape a new building from the earth.

After a few minutes of walking, they came upon their destination. The Rubent Emerald was a large inn, and rather opulent from the look of it. Walls of polished black stone, etched with silver patterns and sculptures, stretched between shining pillars of golden metal. Green tapestries wandered lazily across the walls in the light evening breeze, and above the massive doorway was a pair of golden serpents slithering in a circle, a large ruby and emerald entwined between them. Under this was a small sign with glowing green letters: "The Rubent Emerald."

The entrance led down a shallow ramp into a small dining floor that appeared to be carved partway into the ground beneath the building. Strangely, it was made of polished stone rather than loose earth. This made the main room look even taller than it did from the outside. Lacquered wooden tables were laid out in a sensible pattern, while a few girls sat at bars carved from the same stone as the rest of the inn. Near the back of the main chamber there was a golden spiral staircase that wound upward to the private rooms on the higher floors.

They spotted Mishara in one of the corners, sitting on a padded stool and staring idly at nothing in particular. Her back was to them. Sure enough, she was wearing a shining green breastplate and combat skirt. Underneath them were Emerald-colored robes that draped over her body but were doing little to cover her shoulders or legs. If they hadn't been looking for her, she could have been mistaken for scenery among all the green tapestries. She had straight, raven-black hair that matched the leather scabbard she wore on a belt at her thigh. A curled, silver-handled blade with a single ruby inset in a basket hilt sat idly within.

Weaving between the tables and patrons of the inn, the three girls approached her. "Hey Mishara?" Ishiar called.

Mishara turned around. Latella was struck by her face--it was beautiful and smooth, almost sad-looking. Her eyes were a catching, perfect red that seemed to draw your sight towards them. She didn't look much like a half-angel type. She looked the three over quickly, a look of mild surprise evident on her porcelein features.

"I remember you, but I don't remember your name. I'm sorry," she said in a clear, surprisingly commanding voice. She smiled politely as Ishiar answered.

"I'm Ishiar. We've only met once or twice. This is Sudvana, and Latella." Sudvana greeted her nervously and Latella waved idly.

"So what can I do for you?" Mishara asked. Latella took her gaze from the woman's eyes and abruptly noticed her chest; she was breathing slowly, but with each breath there was a smooth, subtle movement of her breasts, propped up by the green metal breastplate. Latella felt a small droplet of saliva roll down her tongue, but she pursed her lips and licked it away--such thoughts were inappropriate under the circumstances.

"Do you know what this is?" Ishiar asked, motioning for Sudvana to bring out the golden pendant.

Mishara took it and looked it over for a moment. "It's an Ironbelly clan emblem. They're usually made of Blue Adamant; it's odd to find one made of gold."

"Oh, well, that's not normal gold." Sudvana said. "It's actually Sunsteel. Well, no. It's not Sunsteel, but it's got Sunsteel in it. It's an alloy of Sunsteel and something else. Starsilver, I think."

"It's not Starsilver," Latella began. "Starsilver glows at night. And Sunsteel is supposed to glow during the day."

"It doesn't glow, actually" Sudvana said, looking apologetically at Latella. "It's just really reflective with sunlight, or fire. It was hard to tell at first because it was covered in--er, well...stuff, but when I looked at it later I realized it was actually sunsteel. And it's got a little tiny bit of a glow there now, so it probably is alloyed with starsilver."

The girls all looked at the pendant. It did seem to have a bit of a glow; faint, but noticeable.

"That thing's gotta be worth a fortune!" Ishiar suddenly blurted. Sunsteel and Starsilver were both extremely potent metals; though they were very hard to enchant, they were amazingly powerful if one could pull it off. To alloy the two together would be even harder. Not that Ishiar had any idea why you'd even want to. Not being a magic-user or a smith, she knew little of the hows and whys of magical metal.

"Well, it's too small to be worth THAT much..." Sudvana said. "But do you know why it would be made of this, Mishara?" she asked, trying to bring the conversation back on track.

"Umm...The higher ranking ironbellies have different metals on their pendants. Their magic users wear bloodsteel pendants, and the officers and commanders have something else--I think it's some sort of enchanted adamant they make."

"Who might know who would have owned this pendant?" Latella asked.

"The Ironbellies," Mishara said simply, "or anybody who knows them really well."

Latella wasn't thrilled by that idea; the Ironbellies, while not as hostile as a lot of clans, weren't known for their love of strangers.

Just then, a strange sound came from outside. There was a subtle thump in the floor, and Latella thought she could hear some sort of commotion outside--running feet, clanking weapons and...was it just her imagination, or was there screaming?

Mishara seemed to notice it too. She hopped off of her stool and trotted over to the inn's entrance, the other three girls close behind her. What they saw when they looked outside prompted a stifled squeal of panic from Sudvana.

There was a giantess, easily a hundred times their height, running straight for the city. Stranger than that, she appeared to be pulling a gargantuan wagon behind her. It bounced over the rolling hills like they were stones in the road, and with each footfall the giant woman made the ground thumped harder beneath them.

"Now there's something you don't see every day." Ishiar said.

The villagers were in a panic. Guard were running back and forth, and it wasn't long before they heard the trumpets of the city captains calling together their troops.

"What do we do?" Sudvana asked.

"Well, we could hope it's not hostile--not all giantesses are, and with that wagon..." Ishiar answered, clearly perplexed by the unusual cargo.

Several other girls barged past them, hurrying to join up with their guard units. The four girls watched as the giant woman rapidly closed the distance between her and the city. It was only a few moments before she reached the edge. As she did, she reached over and did something to the wagon, causing two great, wooden ramps to descent from the wagon onto the ground. An army of monsters, from karis to nagas to armored lizard women, began swarming down the ramps like ants. At this point the city guard needed little more pursuasion and arrows began to shoot from the towers into the chaotic mass of beasts. The giantess reached down and ripped up the top half of a tower with terrifying ease, catching it's falling inhabitants in her hand and dropping them in her mouth. Latella imagined she could hear the swallowing sound as the giantess sent them all to their doom in her churning belly. She tossed the ruined tower aside and began swiping up handfuls of warriors and villagers, greedily stuffing them into her mouth as she swallowed them three and five at a time. The swarm of monsters below were washing over the city like a wave, devouring the guards with their sheer numbers. Latella could see a cloud of harpies whirling up from the top of the wagon, getting ready to descend and support their ravenous sisters.

"We need to get the hell out of here," Latella said urgently. She didn't want to look the coward, but from the looks of it the whole city guard was no match for this attack--there was no way an amateur like her could survive an onslaught of this magnitude.

As if to agree with her sentiment, a guardswoman in brushed steel armor rushed to the front of the inn. "Everyone come with me! We need to evacuate the city, now!"

Before Latella knew it, the whole inn had emptied and she was running alongside several hundred panicked villagers, all heading away from the giantess and her army of creatures. They were running in the direction that Latella and her friends had just come from, back towards her home town. There was precious little order in the throng of running bodies--they all seemed to be following a group of guards that were leading them in what was, at best, away from the danger. The Giantess, however, did not seem to like the idea of so many people escaping her wrath. She was thundering over the buildings, crushing many of them in her wake as she ran towards the biggest group of fleeing girls--which, Latella realized with some concern, was the one she was currently in. A giant hand descended not thirty feet from her as girls began screaming in terror, scattering like a school of fish from the attentions of the ravenous giantess.

Latella began to run as fast as she could, finding herself truly scared out of her wits for the first time in her life. She found it difficult to keep track of her companions in the panicked crowd, and before long she couldn't see any of them. At the moment survival seemed more important--if they had any sense they'd be running for all they were worth too. As the giantess plucked up one fistful of girls after another, panic threatened to overwhelm her. She couldn't think of anything but running, running as fast as she possibly could.

She almost fell flat on her face when she heard Ishiar and Sudvana yelling for her. They were huddling at the entrance to a small cave, looking like it had been awkwardly dug out of a large hill. Of course! The Giantess' enormous hands couldn't reach her in a cave! She abruptly switched direction, summoning the strength for one final sprint towards her waiting friends. The short distance she crossed felt like a thousand leagues, each second stretched into an eternity by her fear adrenaline. Just a few meters from the cave, she saw a look of panicked surprise come over her friends and felt the firm, enormous hand of the giantess clamp around her like a hot vice.