CHAPTER XXXV
in which Ra'jira burns someone, Glad practices peaceful diplomacy, and Haas and Krom fight some Tuskers ...
Journey to the Center of the Earth
As agreed, Grunt leads the Silver Foxes through the Tusker dug tunnels to his clan's encampment, making some small talk along the way. They learn that there were others in the clan who disagreed with the chief but they were silenced when he killed the most vocal of challengers. He insinuates that the Tuskers see their attack as a conquest by right of might and desire the land and metal materials from within Brenthia, remaining skeptical that his chief can be reasoned with. They are let through a collapsed tunnel checkpoint guarded by Nagulg with surprisingly little trouble. Mostly, the Tuskers encountered find them amusing and rib Grunt about being taking prisoner by a lizard, joking that he'll be demoted from a killer to a digger.
Inside the encampment, Haas makes her intentions known and is told to wait. The Tuskers gather around the new curiosities, prodding the Silver Foxes and reacting to each in various ways. Glad tries to be sociable and inadvertently introduces the concepts of diplomacy, glass, and alcohol into their society. Krom is challenged by a Tusker who wants to take his hammer, but is convinced to delay their fight until after they talk to the chief. A Tusker makes a grab for Haas' necklace pouch and she ends up in a standoff that leaves him heavily sedated and her with a gaping hole in her cheek. The group is vetted by a mute, masked Tusker mystic of some sort who eventually allows them to talk to the clan chief, Thrik.
Haas gives Krom the floor to make the case for his country. Put on the spot, he explains the greater strategic implications of a conquered Brenthia considering that there is a suppression-trigger friendly Centaur army right outside the gates. Glad helps him make the case by mentioning that both the Tuskers and Brenthia only stand to lose if each weakens the other. Whoever wins faces a superior threat, one interested in conquest and submission. An enemy capable of cowing pillars. To give credit to the idea of LeShrac as a mutual enemy, Haas mentions the long standing feud between Jurlim and Shul, who is surely pulling the strings behind LeShrac. Thrik is mostly dismissive of an alliance or halting an attack. Though he doesn't care either way and mentions that they have Brenthia in a corner, Glad convinces Thrik that Shul, who has destroyed Mercayan and now holds Equinos, likely outmatches Jurlim now. Only a coalition can stop him. One of Thrik's soldiers also intervenes, seeing reason to some of the arguments and mentioning that it would be unwise to let another army take their spoils of war. Eventually, Thrik agrees to parlay with the Brenthians, giving them three days to meet the demands for tribute in exchange for a ceasefire.
Before they return to Brenthia with the news, Krom has his fight with the Tusker who challenged him. The Tusker proves a tough foe, able to harden it's skin and blunt a good bit of the impact from Krom's attacks. While they fight, Haas shrinks and is prepared to assist if things look dire. Glad doesn't. He drinks and cheers on with the rest of the onlookers, one of whom uses Ra'jira as a cleaning cloth. In retaliation, Ra'jira swaps a trinket from the rude Tusker out for an explosive that ends up incinerating his leg. This causes a commotion, but Glad barks orders at nearby watchers that allows the fight to continue uninterrupted. Krom uses his explosive shield, which gets damaged, to repel his opponent and the brittling ability of his hammer to unarm the Tusker. But he soon finds himself in a grappling match with his opponent and relies on earth magic to bury the Tusker up to his head. Having agreed to a death match, Krom uses two swing from his hammer to mostly decapitate his opponent. Then, the Silver Foxes, having provided some last entertainment, journey back to base.