"... thank you, that could have been bad…"
"It's no problem, really." the lamia smiled warmly. "Although I do wonder how you managed such trouble."
It wasn't long before the rest of the caravan passed through the city gates and soon the band was passing through crowded streets the caravaneers slowed by the massive caravans trying to filter through the crowd.
"That was a close one," muttered Fey. She glanced at Rina who was slithering by her side. "I didn't know you had that much influence."
"Hmm, well more than most would think, I have to keep my tail dipped in city politics, or rather my wallet. Oh, it seems you are about to see the reason why that is, here comes the legionaries and the city's leading lady."
Fey looked around in surprise seeing that the caravans had ground to a halt behind her. Why what was was soon made obvious by the tramping of many feet.
Through the crowd, which was desperately trying to make way, came a hundred mounted cockatrice caballus, iron lances held high and feather pennants flapping in the breeze, all marching past in formation. Then behind them came heavy horse cavalry, bridle bits rattling and chargers snorting, their metal-shod hooves striking a beat on the stone, an impressive sight, the singing voices of the soldiers rising above the hubbub of the crowd.
Wind may blow and rain may squall!
Far from home and hearth and hall!
From Foe and wild we guard you all!
For here we stand or here we fall!
Oh woe The Legions! The Shining Shield of Bine!
By Sword and Arm! By Brawn and Might! it's here we Draw the Line!
Bang the drums and fight the fight!
Hold the line Segmentata Knight!
Ware the wild and ignite the light!
The Legion ain't comin' home tonight!
Oh woe The Legions! The Sharpest Spear of Bine!
Then came, to the crowd's enthusiastic approval, the First Cohort. The ultra-heavy infantry, wearing enchanted Repletus Segmentata Lorica, a type of armour that covered every inch of a person's body. Atop their helmets mounted longitudinally was an arced crest with short plumes of pitch-black horsehair. Double in number of a regular legionnaire's cohort and likely double the skill, they were Bine's finest and most veteran warriors, according to Rina's murmured commentary anyway.
Fey looked on in amazement at the sheer military might on display, then, at the back, something else caught her attention, which was somewhat inevitable considering the size of the person. It was a bipedal dragoness standing at a stunning nine and a half foot tall, her body eye-catchingly curvy, her hips flared and her chest astonishingly large, breasts large enough that Fey suspected that a short human could curl up inside the mass of just one. Immense was an understatement.
Her near-white cream scaled front side contrasted with her dark-violet scaled back, her long thick tail swaying behind her, her massive partial plate lorica armour clanging with each step of her clawed feet which near cracked the cobble underneath. She exuded extreme immutable dominance and power with every singular stride. A gigantic sword was set across her back, although it could barely be called a sword, more a rough slab of brutal looking iron sized to her immensity, it looked enough to cleave a carriage in two with a casual blow.
Fey stared up at her as she passed her jaw hanging open.
Then, to her horror, the dragoness paused, her nostrils flaring as she sniffed the air, then slowly, time feeling like it had frozen over, the dragoness turned and stared at Fey.
Fey swallowed nervously.