The First Legendary Beast Master

The next morning, when they came down for breakfast, the city felt unnaturally silent and empty. Tense, as if it was waiting for something that Karl had missed the signal for.

"What happened last night? The city feels different." Karl asked as an unfamiliar barmaid brought over their breakfast, a scramble of eggs, potatoes and onions sprinkled with cheese.

"The fleet deployed three hours ago. They're going to engage in a sea battle against the incoming fleet. The Governor decided that it was too much of a risk to let them storm the docks with the Lord otherwise engaged." She explained.

Karl looked around at the rough wooden walls of the tavern, well-worn everywhere that saw regular contact after decades of use.

"Surely, they wouldn't have sent someone at that level to the city by ship." Karl asked.

The barmaid shrugged.

"Beth and the boss both took the morning off, and even Old Jared is geared up and waiting at the docks, so this time might be something serious. I know you're travellers, but are you going to stay for the fight if the fleet lands, or are you going to head out of town? I'm that grumpy old bastard's sister-in-law, I can check you out of your room if needed."

Karl shook his head. "We were originally going to take a short trip to the Dungeon today, but we wouldn't want to come out to find a fight in the middle of the city, so we should likely hold off.

Maybe we'll go visit Jared at the docks. If nothing else, I can stand on his blind side so nothing sneaks up on him."

The replacement barmaid laughed at Karl and shook her head. "I wouldn't worry too much about him. He can handle himself in a fight. But the militia bonus will cover his overdue tab, so if you could keep him alive, I wouldn't complain."

Tessa smiled at the woman, who obviously had some personal attachment to not only the regular staff, but to Old Jared the sailor.

"Well, then that settles it. After breakfast, we will go wait by the docks and have a cookout. Keep everyone's spirits up while they wait." Karl decided.

The barmaid smiled. "There is a butcher three doors down the main street towards the docks. Tell them that the Laughing Dragon sent you to them, and they'll get you a proper discount on meat for a cookout.

The parties traditionally come after the battle, but we've had more than enough warning this time, and they might not make it to shore anyhow."

Karl stopped in at the butcher, who was about to close up the shop for the day first thing in the morning, in case the attack did make it into the city.

They were on a main road from the gates to the docks, and it would be a priority for an invasion force to take and hold, so they could block the gates and prevent reinforcements.

"Butcher, can we get a hundred kilos of meat before you close? I want to have a cookout on the docks while we wait for the invasion fleet. A morale boost for the militia." Karl called, stopping him from locking the shop.

"That's not a bad plan. I will bring the barbecue wagon. It's made for special events." The butcher agreed, a joyous smile wrinkling his leathery face.

Karl grabbed the wagon when the demon pulled it into the street, then Thor came out in Cerro form with an expectant look.

"You're right. If there are wagons to be pulled, you definitely get first dibs." Karl agreed before hooking the massive scaled beast to the leads.

"That's quite the skill. He looks like he would be a brute in a dock charge as well." The butcher joked.

Tessa smiled as she hopped up on Thor's back. "Between the two of us, I doubt that any enemy could remain on the dock if we charged."

Thor's initiative served as motivation for the others, and they all came out of their spaces in beast form, though Rae was using [Night Haunter] to be invisible and incorporeal.

If they got the people at the dock used to their presence early, there wouldn't be any misunderstandings if the fight really did reach land. Find your next adventure on empire

The beasts got some strange looks when they arrived, but some of that had to do with the barbecue wagon that Thor set up in the cargo staging area by the port authority building.

The wagon was ten metres long and had a large black barbecue drum on each side, making it an easily identifiable sight.

Karl reached into the pits and wrote a fire rune in the ashes of the charcoal that had been burnt for the last roast.

There was more in the bottom of the wagon, but the magic brought the drums up to temperature immediately.

"Just adjust the spell power to set the temperature. It should last until you move the cart or mess with the ash." Karl explained.

The butcher smiled and adjusted the temperature, then began to load the racks with meat.

"Someone is confident." An aging soldier with a cutlass on either hip chuckled.

"Preparations for the victory roast need to be made in advance, or we'll get hungry.

Is there some sort of order here? I have a Ghostfire Thunderbird in the sky, and I would like everyone to know he's friendly." Karl replied.

"I'll see to it that the Dock Master understands. He's responsible for the defence of this section. Don't worry about the locals, they'll figure out that your friends didn't come off a boat quickly enough."

A few of the locals, Demons in partial armour over casual clothes, laughed at the assertion. It was hard to miss a massive Cerro in the crowd. But there also wasn't likely to be a Naga Queen among the attackers, and they would probably all be in uniform anyhow.

The morning wind blew the smell of roasting meat from the staging area across the docks, and the tension began to leave the militia on the docks.

If someone was already preparing for victory, they must know something that the others didn't. Or so the common logic went.