Chapter 23: Meat Taxi

People from beyond the gate worked to recover the scattered and broken arrows from the muddy road as the forest filtered sunlight continued to fade. A few Mall-Mart employees, lead by an elf woman in a blue dress, examined the large severed dragon tail. Rebecka glanced at them, then Sigyn, who seemed incredibly irritated the least of which was likely due to her injury. At present, her severed tail was almost the size of Sigyn's whole body. Where the extra mass came from was a mystery.

I have no idea how that worked, Rebecka thought to herself.

There are numerous ways to achieve a similar affect with transdimensional folding, or store the extra mass with a quantum pocket. But, she probably just used magic, Aettartangi explained dryly, as if rolling its non-existent eyes.

The big dragon woman crossed her arms over her scale covered chest as she growled out a snort.

"Can you reattach your tail? Shrink it down with magic or something so it fits again?" Rebecka asked while leaning against the side of the wagon. She was too exhausted to walk anywhere but didn't want to sit in the mud. She was dirty enough from the fight with Melee and running around as a severed head as it was.

"No," Sigyn snorted.

Melee cradled her Standard, Fray, in her arms as she pursed her lips. The animal had become a dull mint color, similar to Melee's hair instead of the glowing pink it had been during the fight.

"Perhaps the villagers can hold a feast tonight?" Melee offered.

Rebecka and Sigyn both slowly turned to stare at the magical girl with looks devoid of any amusement.

"Did you just suggest folks eat part of my friend, after you attacked us and cut my head off because some rando told you we were the ones eating people?" Rebecka asked flatly.

Melee blinked a few times as she thought on the matter, then hung her head. "My apologies. The world I am from is very harsh. One must do what they can to survive."

"No way in Hel are y'all hard off enough here to resort to cannibalism yet," Rebecka said. She turned to Sigyn. "You said they've got some sort of mega store here, right? And Rifa mentioned we're real close to Broadfield which is a farming community with river access. Really, Loki's flames. The gall of suggesting anyone eat your tail. My gods."

Sign snorted again before glancing down at Rebecka with only her eyes. "Aettartangi can eat it."

"What?"

"You can barely stand, Rebecka. You're wrung out from Aettartangi hijacking your body. It's spent too. I'm fine with your axe eating my tail. No one else."

"Yeah, but what about you?" Rebecka asked. She leaned down to get a better look at Sigyn's stump. It was scarred over, similarly to how Steve's hand had looked after the healing magic.

"It'll grow back."

"You're sure?" Rebecka asked.

Sigyn shrugged. "If it doesn't, then it doesn't. I'll live. My tail is blocking the path for the cart. Having Aettartangi eat it will be the fastest way to clear the road. We can stay here until the morning while we figure out the new...party member situation, then get the first boat to South Port."

I get to eat the tail? Aettartangi asked.

Yeah, can you? Sigyn's magical and shit, Rebecka asked.

Any magical properties she has have dissipated from the tail since it was removed from her body, Aettartangi said.

"Okay. Aetty's game. I guess it's gonna eat your tail."

Once everyone was out of the way Rebecka wobbled to the gold and white wall of flesh and scales. Unfortunately, they formed an audience to watch what was about to happen rather than outright leave the area. She couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious despite Aettartangi being the one who'd actually be doing anything.

What do I need to do? You were an axe when you killed that skinhead at the castle. Do you need to be in that shape? She asked awkwardly.

Place your hand on the tail. I will take it from there.

Rebecka moved over a couple steps toward the taller portion of the tail so she wouldn't have to lean down. Sigyn's scales were smooth, and cooler than she expected, but still warm enough to suggest they had once held life. It had been sitting in the mud for well over an hour now, but the size had prevented it from losing all of its body heat.

Initiating consumption.

Did you need to say that?

No, but I wanted to let you know I'm about to begin, Aetty said.

Bon appetit?

Itadakimasu, Aettartangi said.

Did you watch the anime on my phone?

Not yet. I learned that word from your histories. I would like to watch some anime when possible. It sounds fascinating.

"Is something going to happen?" One of the Mall-Mart employees, with one arm crossing his chest to hold the other at the elbow asked, nervously.

"My siblings and I got to see a Testing ceremony when I was young. However, Aettartangi didn't do much at the time, but this should be different since the dragon said it needs to feed. I've heard stories that it's amazing," Thrima said excitedly to some of the gathered people.

Just get on with it or you're gonna disappoint the cute catgirl, Rebecka said.

Acknowledged.

Her palm tingled as dozens of metal vines emerged from her flesh to pierce the thick scales of the tail like bullets through rice paper. She could feel weaving their way through meat and bone as if they were an extension of herself, tracking their way through the entire structure of the tail. Then, even more of the thick metal threads grew out of her forearm to dig into the area around where her hand was resting. These too, she was keenly aware of as they moved, not just consuming the flesh but also studying the composition down to the DNA. After a few moments, the tendrils poked out of the scales in countless locations, then doubled back around until the entirety of Sigyn's severed tail was neatly wrapped in thin metal cords. A sensation rushed through her that she couldn't quite name, something close to relief and happiness, just before Aettartangi bit down, crushing everything in on itself. She could feel it converting everything to energy. Her fatigue vanished as the vines shrank in on themselves and returned to her hand, leaving nothing but a pool of blood and large crater in the mud where the tail had been.

"That was amazing!" Thrima cheered.

***

The party passed through the gate. The plan had been to reach the Cisel River, then take a small boat to South Port where they were to board a larger ship for the mainland. King Nygard had assured Rebecka that word had been sent to both locations about her mission, but she wasn't sure how or whether the people of Broadfield had gotten the message. Melee attacking the party didn't scream 'This town knew you were coming.'

"We had hoped to get on a boat to use the river and save time but this whole deal, the bandits we faced the other day, and the storm have fucked up that plan, so we're behind schedule," Rebecka said.

Thrima's ears perked up. "My Aunt has a barge we can use."

Rebecka glanced down at her. "It big enough to carry ten people, a horse, and a cart?"

"It is."

"Can we use it at night?"

"Yes, but she went up stream and won't be back until tomorrow morning," Thrima said.

"Shit. Fine, that will have to do."

Dyr stopped the cart after rolling it onto a patch of cracked asphalt, "What is this place?"

Rebecka had never seen a Mall-Mart before, but aside from the weird mishmash of dystopian and medieval shit around it, the place looked like every other big box store she'd be to. Thanks to the tall trees of the forest surrounding the area it felt like someone had built an ugly gray building in the middle of a renfaire. She almost laughed. Aside from all that, it reminded her of a much larger version of the Mythic Grocery her cousin worked at.

"That, would be a Mall-Mart," Sigyn said. "Come on, they have a path through it you can use for Baby and the cart."

"How do you know that?" Dyr asked.

"She reads minds, remember?" Rebecka said.

Dyr's ears turned pink. "Sigyn can do what?"

The dragon shook her head with a snort and strode toward the building. She waved one hand in the air. "They've sorted most of the store's stock already to give to the local refugees and towns people. I'll be electronics. It's not like they have a need for any of that stuff here. You have that talk with your axe, Beck. Far from me."

Rebecka hung back at the wagon as Rifa consoled Dyr who had clammed up from embarrassment. The new members of the party lingered nearby. She shut her eyes a moment before turning around and getting to work.

"Okay, everyone. If you're in the party, please, do what you need to prepare for a long trip. Speak with your loved ones, gather supplies, get some rest if you can." Rebecka turned to Thrima. "You're sure your Aunt will be okay with us using her barge tomorrow?"

The catgirl nodded cheerfully. "Absolutely. Anything for the Blade Wielder."

"Don't call me that. I'm just the meat taxi."