First Encounters In Cape Hope

Outside, I was greeted by the sights of what once was a small village burdened with new construction. The warehouse, while larger, looked older than the surrounding buildings. The one next to mine, in the direction Mindy turned, looked to have just a small area for storing fish with piers behind it for small fishing skiffs. Only one of which was currently docked. I was tempted to stop and take a closer look at the woman who seemed to be part crab while she and the man who was probably her husband packed fish in ice-lined crates, but thought better of it. It was a clear indication that here there be monster girls though.

Further up the road that ran along the coast, I could see a large dark wooden ship, I counted four masts, which had to be the Dauntless. It was tied up to a pier next to another warehouse. One that was both larger and clearly newer than my headquarters. I could also see a small group of armed men walking our way.

Mindy saw them too obviously and skipped ahead to talk to the man in the lead as they walked closer. I stopped and took the opportunity to look the group over before they arrived. At first, I thought there were four men and two scantily clad women before I realized one of the armored figures was definitely female. The man I presumed to be the guard captain, that Mindy was talking to, was lightly armored compared to the other three and wore a silver dueling sword on his hip. Stalking next to him was a woman with short dark grey hair that was more like fur, and matched the color of her actual fur. Her forearms and legs from the knees down were furry, hands and feet like paws. The wolf's ears and tail confirmed a werewolf. She was clad in only a scrap of cloth tied about her nearly flat chest and a short, tattered skirt. She was also wearing cuffs and a collar, with a chain leading to his belt. Interesting. She looked unarmed, but didn't need to be cause werewolf.

The other scatily clad woman was armed with a bow and quiver of arrows worn over her back. She wore a very short green sleeveless dress that barely came past her hips and looked nearly human, until you noticed the long, pointed ears and pale green hair. This guy had an elf. That was pretty balsy. From what I knew, the extremely sadistic elf clans did not much suffer their sisters to be taken. Or their captured humans to live very long... The heavily armored woman had a huge sword over her back, and both of the men had spears. All made of silver, as the heads of the elf's arrows were no doubt.

As the grizzled older man, whom I assumed was the guard captain, stopped before me, he clasped a fist over his heart and gave me a nod. Mindy skipped back over to my side to show where her loyalty lay. "Greetings, Prince. I've been looking forward to meeting you since word came of your embassy here. The whole town has thrived, and the nation has done well, by the trade Master Trader Nakona has brought us. But where are my manners? Captain Themos of the Emperor's Home Guard at your service." He gave me another nod, like a shallow bow, and I noticed he'd slipped free the chain on his belt. The werewolf, which had been eyeing my companions, took that as a signal to start stalking around our group. He paid no attention to her though, and kept his eyes on mine. "So what brings you to our shores then, Prince Guy?"

I had to wonder how much it was a coincidence that his group matched mine in number, if you discounted Mindy. They all seemed pretty confident. Also, the armored woman seemed to have some kind of blueish mist seeping out from under her helmet. Weird, another monster girl obviously. Well, I certainly wasn't planning on starting trouble in the friendliest of the three nations. "Greetings, Captain. I have been sent on a mission. An oracle has foreseen danger to a group that recently came to your shores, landing here. I have been charged to find them and prevent an ill fate befalling them."

He raised one greying brow. "Indeed? There was such a group that made landfall not long ago. Would you happen to have the names of your quarry? And incidentally, proof of your pedigree?" He was still acting casual, but I could tell this was more of a serious shakedown than he was letting on. Did some of these women have serious connections? Or maybe he suspected this was just a smokescreen for a more nefarious mission. Home guard must mean he worked directly for the Emperor himself.

"But of course, Captain." I gestured to Mindy, and she handed him the list of names I'd given her. While he was going over that, I pulled my signet and 'official' papers from my pouch. They were no Psychic Paper, I hoped they'd hold up.

By this point, his werewolf had circled my group and made her way back to his side. I passed him my paperwork after he'd given Mindy the sheet back, and gave him a good look at my ring. As he went through those, he actually looked impressed, instead of the casual boredom he'd been hiding behind. Rolling them back up, instead of handing them back, he looked at her. "And?"

"Two humans, two werewolves, one other. I don't know what the hell she is." The dark grey-haired wolf glared up at Maleficent, who just looked down her nose back. Obviously, unruffled by the scrutiny.

The Captain nodded and snapped his finger at her, causing the werewolf to hand the free end of her chain back to him as she knelt down, and rubbed her face on his leg. Well-trained apparently. He finally handed my paperwork back and gave me a proper salute. "Third son, but still in line for the throne. Two werewolves that look human, and something no one has seen before, and a whole slew of human women working for him. I suppose these three are all wedded to you?" I nodded, they were certainly bound. "Your king must be taking this pretty seriously. I've been instructed to be all sorts of welcoming and helpful should any of your kingdom's people show up. The Emperor is quite enjoying the prosperity this trade has brought. It is definitely the same group, only they've split up. Captain Dascaros is doing us a favor by training recruits for a new push into Fiend territory. Their half-elf ran off on her own soon as they got here. The rest split up into two parties, one headed north, and the other took the road up the coast. You're free to talk to Captain Dascaros any time you like. I'll have the guard at the compound informed to let you in. Now, if you would indulge an old man's curiosity, just what is she? Some kind of Valkyrie or Succubus?" He must be impressed indeed if he thought I had a succubus, but then the royalty in this land probably had them. And many would be being controlled by them, but he wouldn't know that. Or what his Emperor really was.

Telling him I didn't know would only put him on alert, close to the truth shouldn't hurt. "Maleficent is special, much like my werewolves, think of her as a Malef Dragon."

He sucked in his breath at that, and some of his crew took a step back. Yeah, dragons were dangerous, and I could have just told him she was some kind of harpy to keep him at ease, but dragonblood could explain away my own strength without giving away my nature. The fact that I wasn't fawning at her feet like usual for a man mated to an evil dragon should only impress him more. "I see." he coughed, seeming unsure of himself for the first time. Probably just realizing that his group of six probably couldn't take Maleficent on her own, let alone with the rest of us. And he didn't know the half of our surprises. "It would seem they really considered this mission important to send someone like you. Just head up to the compound anytime, anyone can point it out to you, but if you keep up the shore road, you can't miss it. Good day, Prince." With that, he gave me a deeper bow than he had before and turned to march back the way they'd come, with his crew close on his heels. Probably in a hurry to report this to his superiors and get special guidance for dealing with a foreign prince who could command a dragon. Shame, I'd wanted to ask about the monster girl with mist coming out from under her helmet.

Once he was out of earshot, I turned back to my crew. "Well, that could have gone worse. Let's go Mindy."

The short ravenette set out for the ship again as we followed. "A Malef Dragon?" Maleficent asked, with a chuckle in her voice.

"Evil dragons, known for being very powerful and deviously cunning. And no, I do not think the similarity in name is a coincidence. Almost certainly due to your own legend somehow. Even in realms that have not heard of you, there will be echoes. Interesting that he should guess Valkyrie though, probably because of your feathered wings, I can only imagine. The Angelic species should be nearly unheard of here." Which was a shame, an actual Valkyrie would be a great catch. I did need four more monster girls for that side quest. Maybe in The Land of the Four Gods...

"Are dragons not shapeshifters here then?"

I shrugged as we kept walking. "Most of the true shapeshifters are of the Mimic family anymore, but dragons are very powerful and not even the Mamono Lords could completely alter them. Many can still change back to their full dragonic forms for a time. Most of the time though, they look like women with horns, dragon wings, and a tail. Also, much like that werewolf, or Kat, the lower part of arms and legs will be more beastial. Scales with big claws in a dragon's case. You three are going to stand out that way among most monster girls here. Some types have more human limbs, like that elf that was with the guards, but make no mistake, she was still very much a monster girl. I think it has to do with how much the original monster looked human before the corruption."

"So if we get corrupted, we'll start getting furry like she was?" Cass wanted to know.

Giving her a serious look, I nodded. "Yes, and become much more interested in sex and being bred by me. Hopefully, if that does happen, it won't interfere with your other abilities, and more so that Ella and Elsa can keep it from happening."

By this point, we'd reached the pier where the large black ship was tied up, next to another warehouse. This one looked much newer, was definitely larger, and had a whole crew moving things in from the ship. Mindy had run off ahead to announce me. Fingers crossed the Master Trader wouldn't out me as a fraud, it would probably look really bad if I had to silence him.