{"sf1_id":1229977,"sf2_id":"Oe5vKWWm","title":"Ajani, Mentor of Heroes","author":"Lucia Damora","words":3511,"posted_at":"2017-08-22T15:31:47.000Z","tags":["Human","King","Leonin","Lion","Lioness","Mortal","Planeswalking","Polukranos","The Silence","gods","hydra"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1229977-ajani-mentor-of-heroes","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/Oe5vKWWm","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/59/1d/591df3a7-4703-4784-be97-f3a539eb7d0e","description":"Imported from SF2 with no description.","content":"Ajani, Mentor of Heroes\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nA warm breeze, touched lightly with the scent of olives and the distant sea, ruffled Ajani's fur. It whispered through short yellow grass and the bright green leaves of stout, timeworn trees.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nOf all the worlds he had visited,\u0026nbsp;Theros\u0026nbsp;felt the most like home. Even his own plane, Naya, was no longer the world he had known, having since merged with the other four shard-planes of\u0026nbsp;Alara\u0026nbsp;to form a whole but wounded world. But\u0026nbsp;Theros, protected by powerful, ageless entities, had always seemed unchanging. The locals called them gods, and for once it was difficult to argue.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nElspeth seemed to find it comforting, to think that minds greater than any\u0026nbsp;mortal's\u0026nbsp;were watching over her. Ajani found the idea less appealing. Bitter experience had taught him that any being powerful enough to be worshiped as a god was also powerful enough—and at least as likely—to destroy a world rather than protect it. The god-behemoths of Naya were just mindless beasts, their motions forming patterns of mundane migration rather than divine inspiration. The dragon\u0026nbsp;Planeswalker\u0026nbsp;Nicol Bolas, whose power truly was godlike, had manipulated centuries of religious and political development on the shards of\u0026nbsp;Alara\u0026nbsp;to facilitate his own selfish and destructive aims.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nStill, Ajani could not deny the might and majesty of the gods of\u0026nbsp;Theros, nor the beauty of the plane they safeguarded. Perhaps Elspeth had the right of it after all.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAjani walked the rest of the day, over rolling hills covered in scrub and up into the mountains, until he caught the familiar scent of\u0026nbsp;leonin. His people had been here, recently. He was still hours away from what he remembered as their territory, but it wouldn't surprise him if they'd expanded.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nHe made camp in the fading light, without stealth or subterfuge. His white fur would shine like a beacon in the darkness, and if there were\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;out here, they would find him.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAs the sun set, the stars came out, and Ajani gazed up, eager to see the show of light and color that played across the sky every night, stories of gods and mythic figures echoed in slowly moving constellations. The phenomenon was unique to\u0026nbsp;Theros, and it was beautiful.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nBut not tonight. Tonight, the stars were coldly indifferent, the space between them black and empty. Worse, in one corner of the sky, there was simply blankness, a void where no star shone. Ajani wondered what had happened, and what Elspeth would think of it.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nElspeth. His thoughts kept returning to her. He knew she had left\u0026nbsp;Dominaria, headed for the metal world of\u0026nbsp;Mirrodin. Ajani knew the\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;there and had planned to visit them—primarily as an excuse to look for her, if he was being perfectly honest.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThen other\u0026nbsp;Planeswalkers\u0026nbsp;had spread the word:\u0026nbsp;Mirrodin\u0026nbsp;is dead.\u0026nbsp;Phyrexia\u0026nbsp;has returned. For the sake of this world and every world, do not set foot there.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nHe feared for Elspeth, and even more for his friends on\u0026nbsp;Mirrodin. But he kept up hope. Even when worlds died and skies darkened, there was always hope.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nElspeth might still be alive.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe thought was a comfort he clung to as he drifted off to sleep.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nHe awoke, blinking at the dawn, staring up at a massive axe wielded by a young female\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;with gray fur. Her ears were folded tightly back. The faintest rustle in the scrub told him there were two more\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;surrounding him.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Identify yourself,\" said the young female.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"You are\u0026nbsp;Seza,\" said Ajani, yawning, \"and the last time I was here, you were too young to go out on patrol.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nSeza's\u0026nbsp;eyes widened, and her ears sprang up.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Ajani?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nHe smiled.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"White fur. One eye. Big axe. Who else?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nShe lowered her axe and smiled shyly. Ajani sat up, rubbing his eyes.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"I had to be sure,\" she said. \"There are strange things in the wilds these days.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nShe signaled to her companions.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"This is Ajani Goldmane, a friend of\u0026nbsp;Oreskos.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nTwo other warriors, also female, stepped out from behind Ajani.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Aletha!\" he said, clapping a hand to the shoulder of the taller one. \"And... forgive me. You\u0026nbsp;are?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Koila,\" said the third\u0026nbsp;leonin. She looked to\u0026nbsp;Seza, who nodded reassurance. \"I grew up in the wilds, and came to\u0026nbsp;Tethmos\u0026nbsp;only recently.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Koila,\" he repeated, fixing the name in his mind, along with the image of her mottled golden fur and the notched scar above her nose.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Come on,\" said\u0026nbsp;Seza. \"Let's get you back to\u0026nbsp;Tethmos. You should see what\u0026nbsp;Brimaz\u0026nbsp;has done with place.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Brimaz!\" said Ajani. \"Brimaz\u0026nbsp;is king? And\u0026nbsp;Seza\u0026nbsp;leads patrols. Have I truly been away so long?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe four\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;walked together through most of the day. Aletha had always been quiet, and\u0026nbsp;Koila\u0026nbsp;proved even more so, so the conversation was mostly\u0026nbsp;Seza\u0026nbsp;catching Ajani up on the happenings among the\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;of\u0026nbsp;Oreskos. The queen,\u0026nbsp;Omala, had died in battle with humans.\u0026nbsp;Brimaz, her chosen successor, declined to seek vengeance, a controversial choice that had ultimately won him more friends than enemies.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nWhen Ajani had been here before, it was apparent that\u0026nbsp;Brimaz\u0026nbsp;might be king someday. Ajani had spent long hours in conversation with the young man about the importance of coexistence with humankind. Perhaps his words had taken root.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAt the border of the patrol's territory, his companions stepped aside for a brief conference in hushed tones. When it was over, Aletha and\u0026nbsp;Koila\u0026nbsp;waved farewell to him and turned back, while\u0026nbsp;Seza\u0026nbsp;gestured for him to keep walking.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"I don't want to take you from your duty,\" said Ajani, although he was grateful for the company.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"I know the way to\u0026nbsp;Tethmos.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nSeza\u0026nbsp;shook her head and fell into step beside him.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"It's not that. Things have been dangerous lately. The\u0026nbsp;minotaurs\u0026nbsp;are ranging more widely than usual, and in greater numbers. And there's no saying what the humans will do, now that...\" She gestured to the sunlit sky and faltered.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Do you know anything about that?\" he asked.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Not much,\" said\u0026nbsp;Seza. \"One day, the gods just... went away. Angry at mortals, or so the humans say. All I say is good riddance.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"And they left that ring of blank sky?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nShe stared at him for a moment, but on his previous visit he'd already earned a reputation for asking strange questions.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"That showed up a few days ago,\" she said. \"Our storyteller calls it the Moat of Oblivion, but he's as clueless as anybody else as to what it actually is.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThey were now well within the borders of\u0026nbsp;Oreskos, the\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;homeland. Nonetheless, the sun had set and the strange, scattered stars had come out by the time they crested a rise and saw the watch-fires of the den of\u0026nbsp;Tethmos, the largest single settlement of\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;on\u0026nbsp;Theros. Most of the\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;were nomadic—most\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;everywhere were at least partially nomadic, enough so that Ajani considered it part of their nature—so even their largest settlement could hardly be called a city. Still, it was bigger than he remembered it, with less open space within its brightly painted walls.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nSeza\u0026nbsp;and Ajani were no outsiders, and the gates were open. They walked through unchallenged.\u0026nbsp;Seza\u0026nbsp;spoke with a nearby guard, and the two were ushered into the king's hall.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThere was a fire roaring in the middle of the great hall and a boar roasting over it, the air filled with the succulent smell of seared meat. A group of\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;sat around the fire. The largest and youngest of them sat facing the entryway, and he rose when Ajani and\u0026nbsp;Seza\u0026nbsp;entered.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAjani was tall for his kind, but\u0026nbsp;Brimaz\u0026nbsp;was taller. The gangly adolescent of Ajani's memory had grown broad-shouldered and self-assured, with sharp features and a full, flowing mane.\u0026nbsp;Brimaz\u0026nbsp;wore fine clothes and a thin, jagged crown, concessions to his station, but the tracery of scars across his exposed shoulder marked him as a leader who did not shy from the front lines.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Brimaz, old friend!\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nBrimaz\u0026nbsp;stepped forward, so that Ajani had to crane his neck to look up at the king's face.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"That's King\u0026nbsp;Brimaz, now,\" he rumbled.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThere was no sound but the crackle of the fire.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAjani stared into\u0026nbsp;Brimaz's\u0026nbsp;golden eyes. Few people could bring themselves to look directly into Ajani's pale blue right eye and the tangle of scar tissue that had once been his left, but\u0026nbsp;Brimaz\u0026nbsp;had never shied away.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe corner of\u0026nbsp;Brimaz's\u0026nbsp;mouth twitched.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAjani let himself smile.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nBrimaz\u0026nbsp;snorted, and soon the two\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;were chortling and embracing.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"King, now, is it?\" said Ajani, regarding the young monarch at arm's length. \"Shall I call you 'your majesty?'\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Fah,\" said the king. \"Brimaz\u0026nbsp;will do. But I did have you worried there, didn't I?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Not for a moment,\" said Ajani.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Of course not,\" said\u0026nbsp;Brimaz, eyes twinkling. \"Sit. Eat. I'm sure you've traveled far.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nBrimaz\u0026nbsp;wasn't fully aware of Ajani's true nature as a\u0026nbsp;Planeswalker, but he surely knew that the older\u0026nbsp;leonin's\u0026nbsp;origins, and his frequent travels, had nothing to do with any place the\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;of\u0026nbsp;Oreskos\u0026nbsp;had ever heard of.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"It's good to be back,\" said Ajani.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAjani and\u0026nbsp;Seza\u0026nbsp;took their seats. One of the king's advisors peeled hunks of slippery meat off the boar roasting in the fire pit and handed them to the newcomers. Ajani gratefully bit into succulent pork, grease dribbling down his chin.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"My thanks for your hospitality,\" he said around the mouthful of food. Beloved visitor or no, business before sustenance was an offense not even he would be forgiven.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThere were small conversations going on around the fire, none about matters of consequence.\u0026nbsp;Only when Ajani was licking the grease from his paws did he speak.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"As I said, it is good to be back.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"But that is not why you return to us,\" said\u0026nbsp;Brimaz, smiling. \"You have come to counsel me, or ask me for something, or urge me to action. I recall the ways of Ajani Goldmane, stranger and friend.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAjani smiled.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"You know me too well,\" he said. \"Someday, perhaps, I will come here simply to see my friends. It would be worth the journey. On this occasion, I'm afraid you're right. I'm here looking for your help.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Ajani is a friend of\u0026nbsp;Oreskos,\" said\u0026nbsp;Brimaz. \"What help do you need?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"I'm here looking for a friend of mine, a human,\" said Ajani. \"Her name is Elspeth.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"She is, like you, from far away?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAjani nodded.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"And she's in trouble?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"If she's here,\" said Ajani, \"I hope that means she's no longer in trouble.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"But if she is like you,\" said\u0026nbsp;Brimaz, \"I'd imagine trouble has a habit of finding her.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAjani nodded again.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"You should talk to\u0026nbsp;Lanathos,\" said\u0026nbsp;Brimaz. \"He is a human chronicler who's trying to learn about our ways.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Does that mean you've been taking my advice about reconciliation?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe rest of the\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;around the fire pit had been talking among themselves, content to let the king and his old friend speak in a semblance of privacy. Now they were quiet, ears cocked forward, listening.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"I have, where it seems prudent,\" said\u0026nbsp;Brimaz. \"But as it happens,\u0026nbsp;Lanathos\u0026nbsp;came to us. Not everyone trusts his motives,\"—a glance, there, to some around the fire—\"but he is harmless. He tells us stories, and he listens to ours. I don't know why he finds us worthwhile company, but a human who listens to our grievances is refreshing enough to let him remain. He spoke with human traders recently, so perhaps he's heard news of your friend.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"There is much I want to ask,\" said Ajani. \"About your people, old friends, the sky...\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"...but you are worried about your friend,\" said\u0026nbsp;Brimaz. \"Go. Speak to\u0026nbsp;Lanathos. Catching up can\u0026nbsp;wait.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nLanathos\u0026nbsp;the Chronicler was an older man whose neck and lower face were covered in rippling burn scars. His white hair was cropped close, and he stood in front of a roaring fire and told his tale with the passion and intensity of a master storyteller.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"...and so\u0026nbsp;Polukranos\u0026nbsp;returned!\" cried\u0026nbsp;Lanathos. \"Knocked from his place in Nyx by the careless fury of\u0026nbsp;Purphoros.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nLanathos\u0026nbsp;glanced meaningfully at the starry sky and exaggeratedly rolled his eyes. Such irreverence would land him in court in any of the human poleis. But here, the\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;chuckled. Either the man was playing to his audience, or he was every bit the iconoclast they were. Ajani wondered how different this story had been when\u0026nbsp;Lanathos\u0026nbsp;had heard it.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"You all know what happened next—how\u0026nbsp;Nylea\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;Heliod\u0026nbsp;bound\u0026nbsp;Polukranos\u0026nbsp;beneath the earth, to slumber there forever and leave the mortal world in peace.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPolukranos\u0026nbsp;was some kind of massive celestial hydra who had to be bound in the stars to keep mortals safe. Ajani had heard the story of his fall and imprisonment the last time he was here.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"But, my friends, the gods have a different definition of 'forever' than you and I do,\" said\u0026nbsp;Lanathos. \"For\u0026nbsp;Polukranos\u0026nbsp;awakened to threaten all of\u0026nbsp;Theros\u0026nbsp;once more!\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThere were murmurs now of genuine alarm, as though\u0026nbsp;Polukranos\u0026nbsp;might charge over the horizon at any moment. Ajani smiled. The\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;were a good audience, when they deigned to be.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"In eons past he devoured an entire city, and no less than a city would sate the hunger of his fifty heads,\" said\u0026nbsp;Lanathos. \"Meletis, now, would be the target of his savage might!\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nMore of the crowd murmured. One cheered, but was swiftly shushed. It was\u0026nbsp;Meletis\u0026nbsp;that had enslaved the\u0026nbsp;leonin, long ago. They considered it their true homeland, and many hoped to one day recover it. The thought of the city in peril, even in a story, seemed to cut both ways.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"The earth shook with his steps and lakes formed in his footprints. He devoured everything in his path, rampaging from the\u0026nbsp;Nessian\u0026nbsp;Forest to the Plateau of the Four Winds, where the tyrant\u0026nbsp;Agnomakhos\u0026nbsp;was vanquished. Nothing stood between\u0026nbsp;Polukranos\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;Meletis. Nothing... except the Champion of the Sun!\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe crowd cheered. Ajani wasn't surprised to hear that this was a story from the\u0026nbsp;Theriad, about the half-mythical Champion of the Sun. Despite being blessed by the foremost of the human gods, the Champion was a popular figure among the\u0026nbsp;leonin, and Ajani had heard many stories from the\u0026nbsp;Theriadon\u0026nbsp;his previous visit. Perhaps it was because stories of the Champion, unlike the god-stories popular in human lands, focused on the acts of mortals rather than the quarrels of the gods. The Champion had\u0026nbsp;Heliod's\u0026nbsp;blessing, but her trials were her own.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"There she stood!\" said\u0026nbsp;Lanathos. \"Armor shining, spear held high, white cloak whipping in the four winds. She strode forward and shouted a challenge, and the hydra's fifty heads turned to face her.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Now, the Champion was a stranger to these lands.\u0026nbsp;Meletis\u0026nbsp;was not her city. But no one else was there to defend it, and the Champion would not let it fall.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"She was a speck before the great body of\u0026nbsp;Polukranos, whom even the gods could not kill. But she had a weapon, a weapon\u0026nbsp;Polukranos\u0026nbsp;had never faced: a spear, forged by\u0026nbsp;Purphoros, blessed by\u0026nbsp;Heliod, shining with the light of the sun and the will of the Champion. She leveled her spear and charged.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Polukranos\u0026nbsp;saw this lone mortal who dared to face him, and fury awakened in him. He opened wide one slavering maw and swallowed the Champion whole!\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;gasped. Ajani frowned. Was this the end of the\u0026nbsp;Theriad? Had they never heard it before?\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Ah,\" said\u0026nbsp;Lanathos, \"but the Champion of the Sun was wise as well as mighty, and she proved a difficult morsel for\u0026nbsp;Polukranos\u0026nbsp;to devour. Just as he swallowed her, she lashed out with her spear and sliced the hydra's head nearly off its neck. She jumped to safety, and the head was maimed, but not fully severed. It could not grow back!\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"For days, they battled. Each time\u0026nbsp;Polukranos, in his mindless rage, tried to swallow the Champion, she cut her way out and left another head useless. The gods watched, helplessly bound by the Silence of\u0026nbsp;Kruphix, as a mortal killed their prized pet one head at a time.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAjani wondered if this \"Silence\" was something like what was happening in the sky now. It wouldn't surprise him if such things had happened before. The memory of\u0026nbsp;Theros\u0026nbsp;was long, and the gods unruly.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"At last, the Champion faced the final head of the mighty\u0026nbsp;Polukranos. He had learned that swallowing her would only lead to pain. He tried to step on her, but she set her spear to skewer his mighty feet. He lashed out with his tail, but she nimbly dodged. When he faltered, she dashed up his tail, ran across his back, climbed his last thrashing head, and drove her spear into his eye.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Polukranos, eater of poleis, beloved of the gods, was no more. All that remained on the silent plateau was the Champion of\u0026nbsp;Heliod, her spear shining in the sunlight.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nLanathos\u0026nbsp;bowed expansively, and the\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;murmured appreciation. No doubt the storyteller understood by now that\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;were much more subdued than human audiences.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAs the crowd dispersed, Ajani made his way over to the chronicler.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"A fine story,\" he said.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nLanathos\u0026nbsp;bowed.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"My name is Ajani. The\u0026nbsp;leonin\u0026nbsp;of\u0026nbsp;Oreskos\u0026nbsp;count me as a friend, and I'm glad to see they consider you the same.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nLanathos\u0026nbsp;chuckled.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Friend to most,\" he said. \"Pest, propagandist, and spy to others. As with anything, it depends on who's telling the story. But I seem to have King\u0026nbsp;Brimaz's\u0026nbsp;trust, and that's enough for most people.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"It's enough for me,\" said Ajani. \"I was hoping you could help me find a friend of mine, a human. Her name is Elspeth.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"That's an unusual name,\" said\u0026nbsp;Lanathos. \"So's Ajani, when it comes to it. Where did you say you're from?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nIt's always the storytellers who ask, thought Ajani.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Far away,\" said Ajani. \"Over the mountains, and then some.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nHe'd thought it an innocuous answer, but he could tell right away he'd said too much.\u0026nbsp;Lanathos's\u0026nbsp;bright eyes widened.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"There are people across the mountains?\u0026nbsp;Leonin\u0026nbsp;and human? Have they cities? Temples? Knowledge of the gods?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAjani held up a hand, and\u0026nbsp;Lanathos\u0026nbsp;paused in his breathless litany.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Later,\" said Ajani, \"perhaps, I will answer your questions.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nLanathos's\u0026nbsp;face reddened—something like lowering one's ears in shame, Ajani had learned, although there were nuances of human expression he still didn't grasp.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Of course,\" said the chronicler. \"You're looking for your friend.\" He rubbed his scar-mottled chin. \"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm the only human in all of\u0026nbsp;Oreskos\u0026nbsp;that I'm aware of.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Brimaz\u0026nbsp;said you spoke with human traders recently. Did you hear anything from them about a newcomer to their lands, a solitary woman who spoke strangely and carried a sword?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nLanathos\u0026nbsp;blinked.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Of course\u0026nbsp;I did. You just heard the story they told me.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAjani's ears swiveled back of their own accord. Was the old human making a joke?\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"I am looking for my friend,\" he said. \"Not the Champion of the Sun.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"What makes you think your friend isn't the Champion?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAjani let his ears fall entirely flat.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"I heard stories of the\u0026nbsp;Theriad\u0026nbsp;the last time I was here,\" he said. \"About the Champion training with the centaurs, and living among the\u0026nbsp;leonin. My friend is here now, and she never did any of that.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Ajani, you're speaking about the\u0026nbsp;Theriad\u0026nbsp;as though it were about a single person.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAjani took a deep breath and let it out.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Yes,\" he said. \"I am. Remember, I am from a distant land. If I've misunderstood, please, explain.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"The\u0026nbsp;Theriad\u0026nbsp;is about the Champion of the Sun,\" said\u0026nbsp;Lanathos. \"But that's not a person. It's a title, bestowed by\u0026nbsp;Heliod\u0026nbsp;on a worthy mortal in times of great need. The story of the\u0026nbsp;Theriad\u0026nbsp;is the story of all of them, from the first, whoever that was, to the latest—the woman who slew\u0026nbsp;Polukranos.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nSomething didn't fit.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"The latest,\" murmured Ajani. \"You told that story as if...\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nHis eyes widened.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"How long ago?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Recently,\" said\u0026nbsp;Lanathos. \"Very recently. During the Silence of the gods. A month ago, perhaps slightly more.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nHow quickly\u0026nbsp;Theros\u0026nbsp;transformed events into history, and history into myth!\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"In your story, the Champion fought with a spear,\" said Ajani. \"I've never known Elspeth to carry\u0026nbsp;one.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nLanathos\u0026nbsp;shrugged.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Details are like clothing; people change them to keep them fresh. When I heard the tale, it was a spear. When the traders who told it to me first heard it, perhaps it was a sword. These things change in the telling.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"And what about the setting?\" asked Ajani. \"The Plateau of the Four Winds. Do you think she was truly there?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Perhaps not on the plateau itself,\" said\u0026nbsp;Lanathos. \"I'd wager she really was near\u0026nbsp;Meletis, though.\u0026nbsp;Polukranos\u0026nbsp;threatening the City of the Twelve is the soul of the story. But don't think she's there any longer.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"What makes you say that?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Another story I heard,\" said\u0026nbsp;Lanathos. \"After she slew\u0026nbsp;Polukranos, the Champion was spotted at\u0026nbsp;Akros, which has been besieged by a horde of\u0026nbsp;minotaurs.\u0026nbsp;Brimaz\u0026nbsp;is aware of it, as a military situation, but I wasn't going to tell that story yet. I still don't know how it ends.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Thank you,\" said Ajani. \"You've helped a great deal.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"What are you going to do?\" asked\u0026nbsp;Lanathos.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Find her,\" said Ajani. \"Help her, if she needs it.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nHe smiled.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"After all, the Champion always has companions.\"\u0026nbsp;","series":{"name":"Theroes","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1229627-seasons-in-setessa-part-2.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1230399-desperate-stand.json"}}