The Rise Of A Porter

Arnold wanted to visit this 'queen' these humanoid monsters were talking about, but he wasn't there alone. He couldn't act without the consent of the others as he was there as their leader, not some vigilante. Moreover, if he agreed to an alliance without thinking of the consequences and things end up going south then not only his reputation but also his family's reputation would be torn apart. 

This he couldn't accept. The Blacks had helped him and Nicole when no one else did. He couldn't let their hard-earned reputation go to waste because of his mistake. 

The nagas were still expecting an answer from him, but he had to discuss things with the others first. So, Arnold asked the nagas to wait for some time, while they decide on how to proceed with their request. No one expected the nagas to oblige with their request but they did. 

"What do you guys think?" Arnold asked the others once the nagas were out of earshot. 

"What is there to think? They are monsters. We are humans. How the hell are we even supposed to work together?" Kolt was the first to speak. 

Johnny nodded in agreement but he was the only one to do so. Even Azyriah didn't support her long time friend. She had her own opinion. 

"The warriors on our side are strong. There's no doubt in that but most of them are inexperienced. They might not be as efficient as we think they are against the lizardmen. The nagas, however, know their opponent better than us. The way they handled the three elite lizardmen is proof that they have better tactics to fight against the lizards than us."

Arnold smiled as he too was thinking along those same lines. The inexperience of human warriors would sooner or later come to bite them in the ass. But by siding with the nagas, Arnold could minimise the loss on their side while getting the valuable information regarding Devon at the same time. 

"Okay... So tell me how will you tell the others that the monsters whose hands have been soaked in human blood will now be fighting alongside us?" Kolt retorted, "Humans and monsters cannot coexist. End of discussion!"

"I agree with Kolt. The others would never agree on fighting alongside monsters. Especially, against the ones who mercilessly killed hundreds of our men the last time we tried retaking the swamps." Johnny reiterated, "Moreover, these nagas are essentially snakes. What makes you think they wouldn't betray us?"

Complete silence. Both sides were making equally valid points. It doesn't matter what Arnold thought, no one would agree with fighting alongside monsters. No matter what the reason was. Arnold knew fighting alongside monsters was possible. After all, most of his elite summons were technically monsters themselves. 

But Arnold still thought there was a chance to convince Johnny and Kolt as they were the only ones protesting against the idea right now. 

"Why won't they betray us... Good question." Arnold finally broke the silence, "Technically speaking. We're standing in the middle of the territory owned by the nagas and God knows how many of them might have already surrounded us. There are trap doors everywhere so if they wanted to attack us, they could've already done so. Just imagine, what would happen if hundreds if not thousands of nagas suddenly jumped us. Do you think we'd manage to get out of that mess unscathed? I'm not saying we should blindly trust them, but still, the enemy of an enemy is a friend."

"You're right that no one would trust fighting alongside monsters and they don't need to. Hell, they won't even know that we have an ally in the swamps. All they need to do is, to not attack the nagas and I have a perfect excuse for that."

"What excuse?" Johnny asked. Just like Kolt he too was getting a bit irritated. Just the idea of working together with monsters made his skin crawl. 

"An excuse that will allow us not to act against any monster other than the lizards." Arnold smiled, "You do know we'll already have our hands full with them so it would be wise not to unnecessarily attack other swamp dwellers like the Nagas. Also, the mermen won't be able to harm us so that'll only leave the nagas who will secretly be our ally. Good enough for an excuse don't you think?"

Both Kolt and Johnny went silent because Arnold was right... The excuse could work. And with that, the argument came to an end. Arnold called for a vote just to make sure everyone was on the same page. Everyone except Kolt and Johnny agreed to hear out the naga queen. Arnold shook his head but was understanding. He couldn't force his views on others. 

****

Arnold talked with the nagas and agreed to their request. Since Johnny and Kolt had already expressed their strong views against working together with the nagas, Arnold decided to not bring them along with him. So he gave them the task to guard the trapdoor until Arnold and others came back. Talos and Bad-Breath were also ordered to stay behind and help the two. While Arnold, Nina, Nicole and Azyriah jumped through the trapdoor. 

The concealed trap door in the eerie swamps marked the entrance to the naga's underground abode. Beyond the door was a series of ramps beyond which was a large, damp room. Arnold half expected it to be covered in large bones, rat droppings and dirt, but to his surprise, it was squeaky clean but not in its entirety. The halls were lit up with the help of a series of flaming torches.

The nagas quickly handed torches to their guests. 

Arnold's torch allowed him to see quite a distance where various triggered traps had claimed a few lives. As they kept moving forward they found multiple skeletal remains of lizardmen, battered and claimed by time itself.

"What is this place?" Nina mumbled. 

"These traps are the only reason why the Lizardmen don't dare to attack us. Without these traps, we are quite vulnerable while were outside the city." The elderly naga explained to the humans. 

Arnold nodded and they continued onwards as the two remaining nagas walked behind them. 

Further ahead was a single path. Its twisted trail led passed pillaged rooms and soon they entered a ghostly area where the path ahead of them forked into five different paths. The nagas unhesitatingly started walking towards the rightmost path. Soon another similar clearing appeared in front of them. This time they took the middle path. Similarly, they crossed 6 more of such clearings.

It might not have seemed like it, but this catacomb structure was yet another trap. Each of the five paths led to a different clearing, which again led to another clearing. This pattern was placed to trap the invaders inside and inevitably lead them to their death. Out of the 390,625 paths only one lead to the naga capital. Arnold couldn't help but think... Just who had the brains to come up with something like this. 

They eventually made it to what was likely the entrance to naga city. An enormous wooden door stood in their path. Dried blood splatters are all over it, somehow untouched by time and the elements. Arnold step closer to inspect it and as he did, the elderly naga pulled him back. 

"The door has been embued with a curse. If anyone apart from a naga were to touch the door, they would die in the most horrible way. You might want to step back a bit." The naga said and performed some kind of magic and soon the doors to the hidden capital of nagas parted to let the visitors gain access.