METEOR

As part of his assessment of the ecological damage, Meteor had been investigating the mainland-facing side of the island. Fortunately, the wind and water systems had prevented embers from spreading here… but the earthquakes had toppled many trees. There were hills where there used to be flatland. And flatland where their used to be hills. However, the beach’s black sands—perhaps because the beach was already a fairly desolate landscape—had survived.

But, by Requiem and Vayu, where the fuck had those obsidian stepping stones come from?! The weirdest fucking ecological damage he’d seen thus far.

Therefore, Meteor didn’t even notice Montgomery until he stepped closer to the stepping stones and spotted the dog. The canine’s white fur popped out against the black stones and sand, but maybe it was the dog’s miserable posture. Clearly, the visitor hadn’t enjoyed hopping across the stepping stones.

“You.” Meteor ‘greeted’ as he approached the dog, then squinted and sniffed.

“Montgomery, isn’t it?” Meteor’s golden eyes narrowed. Perhaps, as one cult leader to another, he should be more courteous. However… Montgomery was an idiot, because he seemed to truly believe in the fiction he peddled to his followers. But what Meteor couldn’t forgive was his inefficiency. They lived in a frozen hellscape, and, as a consequence, Meteor had witnessed Montgomery beg Valerius for food. If Valerius was inefficient because of his sadism, then Montgomery was inefficient because of his inadequacy. A leader provided for his followers. Even sadistic narcissist Valerius could provide.

“If you’re hoping for Valerius, my father is recently deceased, and I am the new pharaoh.” With a flick of his tail, Meteor gestured to the devastated forest behind him. “As you can see, I’m in no mood for generosity.”

METEOR

Meteor’s golden gaze narrowed. The canine must be desperate, to offer his congregants’ labor for a hot meal. Question was, how useful were the congregants? How about on an hourly labor per calorie basis? Chernabog was useful as all hell, but, even as a cold-blooded dragon, she consumed far more meat than vampiric Kole. The earth elemental was a resource worth the calories. Vale and Kole, clearing out the worst of the felled forests, were also worth the calories.

“Unless you suddenly have earth elementals, I doubt your congregants can do anything useful to the felled forest.” In which case, Montgomery wouldn’t be begging if they could grow their own food. Meteor glanced at the shoreline. “However.”

Knox had made a valiant effort denting the washed-up garbage, but it was one lion. They had miles of beach. She’d done well with Main Beach, but what of the countless other beaches? And the reefs?

Meteor’s golden gaze slid back to Montgomery. “The earthquakes brought hundreds, perhaps thousands, of kilograms of human garbage to our shores. Your congregants will clean this garbage. At least one of your flock is capable of swimming, correct? A basic skill, and necessary to clear the reefs of this garbage.”

“We’ll handle the garbage disposal once it’s gathered.” Meteor’s mouth turned up in a lopsided smirk. “And your congregants, so long as they keep working at cleaning our beaches, will earn their calories.”

METEOR

The lion watched the gears turn in the dog’s mind—externally, at least, based on any details in the archon’s face and body language—but he was not surprised that the dog agreed. The garbage needed to go as soon as possible, in Meteor’s opinion. Otherwise, the state of the reefs might not recover as fast, which meant depleting their coconut crab supply too fast. It took years for those not-sentient fuckers to reach giant size, and he couldn’t bank on Coconut Island supplying them indefinitely. But the reefs? Critical.

“Very well. But everyone you bring is expected to work.” Meteor’s tail tip twitched. “No elderly. No invalids incapable of seeing or properly handling garbage without assistance.” A smirk flashed teeth and fang. “You already know what cannibals do with the useless, don’t you?”

At the end of the negotiations, the lion watched the dog stretch. Why wasn’t he surprised the archon hadn’t bothered remembering the vizier who handled shit when the pharaoh couldn’t be arsed? Meteor scoffed, then lashed his tail. “Meteor Prometheus. Now that I’m pharaoh, I suppose my name will stick in your memory, hm?”