The Barbarian Sage buried the big rhino in a hug, which was rather impressive considering his arms barely cleared the sides of his head. Old Nog nuzzled him.
"By the Ancestors, it's good to see you again, Jogo," said the big rhino. He had a deep, wheezing voice. "Thought you might never come back."
"Course I'd come back! Just never could find the right time, after all these years… but you called, damn you—what else d'you think I'd do?" He sighed, looking around. "Hells, but I've missed this place."
Nog rumbled, then looked the Sage up and down. "You've gotten skinnier," he pronounced.
"You've picked up a few wrinkles yourself!" laughed the Sage.
"Have I?" Nog looked down at himself, then harrumphed. "So I have. Well, what's a few more? I can still teach the whippersnappers a lesson if I've got to!"
"Don't doubt it a minute."
The Sage cast his gaze about, taking in the whole of the camp. "Tribe's a bit smaller than I remember."
"You know how it is in these Plains," sighed Nog. "Those uppity Mambas, acting up again. The Suneaters are always a pain—and of late these Blast Eagles swooping in, thinking they've got a claim to King of the Plains! But we've been dealing with it all, like we always do."
Nog snorted. "Only now, we've got to get these blasted Monsters off our backs too… bah!"
"How many of the Horn have we got left?"
"Few dozen," sighed Nog. "Not enough to make hunting teams anymore. They're all on guard nowadays. Have to be."
"Right—" The Sage glanced over at Zane. "Remember when I said there's a lot more other Godbeasts than there are Rhinos?"
Zane nodded.
"Well, that means we can't afford to lose very many of the Horn—that's those white-streaked warriors—at all."
"Wouldn't be a problem in the West," said old Nog. He turned a rheumy eye on Zane. "Don't you get the wrong idea, lad. We Titan Rhinos've still got a damned strong place in this Galaxy."
"That's the Western Desolate Wilderness," said the Sage.
"There's Titan Rhinos in their thousands out there—rulers of all that tread the Plains," harrumphed Nog.
The Sage nodded.
"Tell me about these Monsters," said the Sage.
Nog did.
They started popping up about half a year back, right after they'd been through a grueling war with the Suneater Lions and a costly border dispute with the Void Mambas. Just a few Monster Princes at first—the Tribe could drive them off easily enough.
But more kept coming, and in hordes, too. After a few months, the first Monster Kings arrived, and that was when the real trouble started.
Nog had killed one. But there were still two at large, pestering the Tribe in ambushes.
"More're pouring in by the day," said Nog, bristling. "Damned pests!"
"Hm," grunted the Sage.
"The great tribes've made a truce. No more squabbling 'till we get rid of this damned infestation."
The Sage jerked up at that. "It's gotten that bad?"
"So we've been whittled down a little," said Nog grudgingly. The old Rhino descended into a coughing fit; the Sage hammered his back until he was fine again.
When he came back up, he raised his horn high and proud. "But we'll be damned if we let a little thing like that get to us. Mountains rise and fall, but the Titan Rhinos stand strong. We've faced down worse before. We'll blast these beasts—we'll see to it!"
A fierce and fiery spirit had taken hold of the Rhino—his eyes flashed. But only for a second. Then he sagged a little and went back to coughing.
"That's the stuff!" said the Sage. "We've come to give a bit of help. I've brought the lad with me—blast me! I haven't even told you who he is yet, have I? This is Zane. The lad I've been telling you about."
He pushed Zane up to Nog, patting him on the shoulders as though showing him off.
Zane gave the Rhino a wave. "Hello there."
Nog squinted at him, taking him in. Then he stomped a little closer, took a sniff, and blinked. Zane blinked back.
"Good ears," Nog decided.
Zane wasn't sure what to make of this.
"Alright," said Nog. "Enough dark-cloud talk—no more war this eve! Next Monster Wave isn't for a few days, and you'll get your fill of that at the War Council tomorrow. For now…"
He waddled up before the bonfire, turning to face the whole tribe.
"Hear me, Rhinos of the Eastern Wilds!" His voice boomed across the Plains, and every Rhino there perked up at it. "This right here—"
He nudged the Barbarian Sage with a horn. "Is a good friend of mine, from back in the Three Kings Era. You've heard the tales of the Barbarian Sage, Beast-King of the Plains of the Ancients, the Rhino Who Dented the Glacier himself—well, here he is, in the flesh!"
This seemed to mean something to the Rhinos gathered. They looked at each other, then at the Barbarian Sage with renewed interest.
The Sage grinned. ''Lo there!" he boomed.
"He's saved my life countless times. He's done a great service to the Tribe. He and his lad are, and forever will be, honored guests of the Titan Rhino Tribe. I, Old Nog, decree it!"
From all around them, there was a great swishing of tails—some kind of Rhino acknowledgment.
Then Shaman Guri shouldered her way to the fore.
"It's no secret we've had some hard times of late," she said. "We've lost good Rhinos of late. But keep your heads up, Rhinos of the East. The Rhino never forgets. And when one of our best what all these damned Monsters're doing on our land, well—he's come to help even the score!"
Then there came a rising stomping; Zane gathered it was the Rhinos' version of clapping, or maybe cheering.
"He's brought his lad too. And he might be born man, but the fires of Fate say he's got as strong a Rhino's soul as any we ever saw. The great Bonfire'll rage ever on. There's good young Rhinos holding the flame all over this Galaxy—keep heart!"
There was more stomping; a few Rhinos even bellowed.
"Now," said Nog. "I'm starving—and I'll wager our guests are too. Let's show 'em a hearty Rhino's welcome!"
***
Quickly, dishes filled the Plains. A buffet. Blue-streaked Rhinos unloaded giant pots, where all the Rhinos came together to slurp. The main course was a stew—not the Shaman's own, but a darned good one nonetheless, a light-gray goop topped with golden spices and bits of minty leaf.
𝔾𝕣𝕦𝕓 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕨 [ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟 (ℂ)]
It was the most normal-looking high-grade treasure Zane had ever seen. It tasted like beef, but a little saltier and chewier.
Then there were things that looked and tasted like a grape tart, but blown up to proportions meant for giants. Four were dropped near the middle of camp, enough to feed a dozen Rhinos at once. Each would've been an Inner Faction disciple's heirloom treasure.
𝔹𝕒𝕠𝕓𝕒𝕓 𝔽𝕣𝕦𝕚𝕥 𝕋𝕒𝕣𝕥 [ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟 (𝔻)]
There were barrels of leaf-wraps stuffed with roots that exploded with sweet juices at a bite.
𝔾𝕦𝕣𝕚'𝕤 𝕎𝕣𝕒𝕡 [ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟 (ℂ)]
There were giant tubers that taste like potatoes, lightly cooked and salted.
𝔻𝕖𝕤𝕠𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝔾𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕘 [ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟 (ℂ)]
These the Rhinos liked to dip in massive bowls of green paste that tasted sour and far too burnt to Zane, but they all seemed to enjoy it—he figured it was an acquired taste.
Whenever they wanted to drink, they'd drop by the watering hole—an endless font of Heaven D-grade glacier water. There was also some lime juice off to the side.
As he feasted, he sort of expected to stand out. At least to get a horde of questions, or to be stared at the whole time. That was the human reaction.
But he might've well have been just another Rhino. He grabbed and chomped and slurped right alongside them—they didn't seem to make a fuss out of very much. They seemed quite happy to go with how things went.
The Sage and Zane were simply among them now. It seemed no trouble.
The food preoccupied all of them well enough. All the dishes were incredibly dense with essence—he'd never seen Heaven-grade treasures so huge, gobbled up so quickly. And they weren't some thrice-distilled World Tree Faction elixir, or some sacred fruit left to bathe in sacred light ten thousand years.
They were simple dishes made of simple ingredients—only each ingredient was incredibly high-grade.
A few Rhinos—mostly younglings—did come up to him later during the feast, after most of the eating was done. They were vaguely curious about him—pretty much everything—though none were pushy. They gave him quite a few sniffs and licks. He made some fires for them, which they found mesmerizing.
The Barbarian Sage had his own little herd—mostly older warriors of the Horn, it looked like. A few Rhinos there had golden streaks on their horns and their fair share of wrinkles. The Sage was laughing so heartily some juice came out his nose.
"Then I said—'Well, you so-called Suneater—try eating this!' And chucked him right up there—ol' straw-fur didn't know what hit him!"
This seemed to tickle quite a few of them. As the feasting wound down and a few Rhinos started trickling off, Zane headed over to the Barbarian Sage's side—there was still a question in his mind.
"That Nog fellow," said Zane. "He's an Empyrean."
"That's right."
"And these Monsters still bother the Rhinos?"
They might be the strongest Monsters he'd ever come across.
"Well—they don't have to match him at his peak, see," said the Sage. He glanced around—Nog was plopping himself down beside the bonfire again. He gave a big yawn and settled onto his belly.
"He'd never admit it, the proud old fart. But most of these days, I'd guess, he spends sleeping. At his age, it'll take a great effort just to summon his powers. If it were just one Monster, sure—he could wipe it out pretty easy. But a horde, a wave? It gets to be a lot."
Zane considered this quietly.
"Old Nog's been around since the dawn of the Chaos Cycle," said the Sage. "Many his age choose to fade into the universe by now—gets to be tiring living that long, even at Empyrean. Only… he knows what'll happen to the tribe if he's not there. 'Specially now."
Made sense.
Just then a youngling wandered over and gave Zane a headbutt.
"What's up?" said Zane.
The little fellow's speech skill didn't seem all the way there, but he got his point across just fine.
"Come, come," squeaked the little Rhino. It blinked up at him, all excited. Then it nipped at his trousers and pulled him along.
The Rhinos didn't seem to do much talking out loud—much less than humans, at any rate. Then again, he figured they didn't need to. They got their message across well enough.
"Is it time already?" The Barbarian Sage chuckled. "This oughta be good. You have fun out there, lad! Put in a good showing—might just earn your Sacred Bone right here!"
"…?"
He went along with it.
He was led to a chalked-up circle on the edge of camp, where two Rhinos threw themselves at each other full-force.
It was that sumo wrestling game he'd seen earlier.