Hunters of Terra Dolor (Role Playing Section)

[Frostlich1228 (Alt)]

"I would've never guessed your people would bother much with fashion..." Sylvie noted, "And It's strange to think of a place where the sexes are so... Divided..."

"The roles of our people are clearly defined. When you break those customs you are shunned." Lyr put his hands behind his head, "Though that is public life. Personal life is much more loose. Marriage is the most important thing to an Ophidian who follows customs. In our language we do not have a word for promiscious or something of the like. That is how powerful out way of life is. To be a letch when it is not called for is beyond disgrace. People have been banished for less. That is why women usually do not wear much. It is a test for men, and for the women, we men have our own tests for them."

"A test... But... Promiscuity is natural, it is how you further your people as a whole..." Sylvie argued, a little confused. "You shun desire and instinct so much you test your men? My people have no concept of marriage or... Monogamy... I believe is the word. It damages the future of our home to be so selective and well... Picky."

"Not at all. Married couples usually have many, many children. To be a harlot means to spit on everything a family means. I would chastise my mother on this point but she is not married, nor Ophidian." He looked at Sylvie, "Your way is the path to suffering. Love is something to cherish with a single person. True love. Would you sleep with just me because I asked?"

"Personally? No. The others of my clan, I can't say the same." The Maiden admitted, "Love is not absent in my village, it is merely secondary to procreation and survival."

"Sounds like a savage way to live," Lyr contested, "Though coming from the son of a notorious murderer, theif and rapist it sounds hypocritical."

"You're not wrong. It is savage. Just like the goddess we revere, the goddess we aspire to be like." Sylvie explained, pulling her legs up onto the branch.

"You praise a god?" Lyr asked in surprise, "I take it back, you people aren't savages. You are just plain idiots." The golden haired Ophidian tightened his features, "The gods are an almagamation of everything reality represents. And they are flawed beings not worthy of praise. You shouldn't be praised for doing a duty. It is a responsibility for a reason. The greatest example of a waste is the god of partying. Honestly. The only thing closer is the one for screwing. Talk about worthless, prime examples right there."

"I agree. It seems like a strange waste of power to party all the time or sleep around." Sylvie laughed, "But Ahusirra is not one of your conventional gods. She isn't one of them, her goals further all life."

"I don't believe in the gods. Only one's proved themselves. The others can all get fucked for all I care about 'em. Tell me, what has your goddess actually done for you? I am not talking about some mystic stuff either. When has she ever been there to be with her people?"

"She doesn't need to be there personally." Sylvie stated, narrowing her eyes. "Our crops grow all year, our mothers never miscarry, the forest itself protects us from monsters and bandits. You can see these as plain as the sun in the sky."

"I'm going to give you a good idiom to remember. A tree can make a million matches but it takes only one to burn down a forest. I'd sooner call it luck then a goddess' bogus claim of help. If she was so great, she would rejuvenate the desert instead of flaunting with the cult of tree-fuckers."
Lyr snapped at her. "You see why the gods sicken me now? What's the point of them if the world is shit anyways. What have the gods ever done for Ophidians as a whole? Where is our god? Nowhere. There is no god for Ophidians. We have a legend. About an Elder snake god. He's a destroyer. That something to idealize?"

"So you would rather call it luck than coming to the conclusion that the gods simply do not favor your people? Perhaps the reason Ahusirra doesn't help the Ophidians, is because they've strayed too far from the natural way." Sylvie explained, becoming obviously agitated by his choice of words. "They hoard gaudy trinkets like dragons, forbid intimacy outside of a meaningless pact, and even the very sexes of male and female are at war with eachother. There is ignorance, then there is willful blindness towards the good she has done for my people, she has even chosen me, gifting me with powers like all of my mothers and grandmothers before me. Putting your fingers in your ears and covering your eyes doesn't make these things pure chance."

Lyr sneered. "A god's role is not to be subjective with their favor, that is the point." Waving a hand dismissively, he said, "That and what special powers could you possibly have? Pushing up daisies? Dead people do it just as effectively."

Unamused, the tree branch he was sitting on glowed green and wrapped around him, binding his arms to his sides and preventing him from moving with their tight grip. "There, comfy?"

He narrowed his eyes, his arms glowing as the branches snapped like they were nothing. "Very. Though the branch is a bit crowded." He slammed his fist down so her half broke and fell with her on it.

Thankfully, with another application of magic, a branch below Sylvie twisted up to catch her. "Your magic is powerful, it is fueled by apathy, or just jealousy?"

"It's fueled by light." He snarkily replied.

"It's not my fault your people are suffering, you know. My people prosper under Ahusirra... I can't say I know her methods, but maybe her people come first." The Neren'tevan woman said, "She is even willing to accept and care for any who revere and cherish nature. She takes in the suffering if they change their ways and nurture life."

"Sounds like a bad deal if I have to change myself to make myself worthy of some higher power. If she wants praise from my people, she'll have to earn it, just like all the other gods. They don't get anything they don't earn. That's the Ophidian way. You earn your status, your earn your mate, and you earn the right to be praised. My people don't do shortcuts."

"So you 'earn' things by robbing, raping, and destroying life. That's how you seem to want to earn things, by stepping on everyone under you." She replied, tired of his individualistic view. "You seem to think it's a daunting task to cherish nature, when it's not. It's only hard because your people can't stop molesting the land for even a small gain. If you see an oasis, you destroy it. Where we see life, you seem to see only a means to profit damn the cost. Like my goddess would care about earning the respect of such a close-minded, short sighted race."

Sylvie chuckled grimly. "I think I finally understand why your people suffer the way they do. It's all self inflicted. The inevitable consequences of your toxic way of life and refusal to change. And until you learn you are destroying yourselves, you'll never stop digging your hole deeper."

Lyr's eyes flashed, an unseen force blasting Sylvie from the tree and into the ground, "Don't ever compare me to them! You take back what you said!" He yelled, forming a spear of light.

 

[Frostlich1228 (Alt)]

Clamboring up off the ground, Sylvie prepared her magic, being unfortunately unarmed. "Why not? You seem like you have pride in your people's destruction of life..."

"Shut up!" Another force of magic shot at her.

She held up her arms, but still went flying back a few feet. "You're... The one who started this, talking down to my way of life, the goddess I revere... But you didn't see me try to attack you! Keep this up, I'll be forced to defend myself..."

"Try I believe is the word you are looking for because there is no way you will beat me." Lyr called down, jumping at her with incredible speed to smack her around.

The world almost slowed down for the Huntress as a wall of roots erupted from the ground in front of her, covered in green vines similar to the kind found growing up the walls of the manor. Sylvie held herself down, sending the wall forward, upturning dirt as it moved to ram into him.
In a mere matter of moments, however, the wall was blasted apart, Lyr's movements slowed only a small bit.

Suddenly, one of the roots from the wall reached out as it was destroyed, wrapping around Lyr's leg, twisting it and trying to whip him into the ground as other roots reinforced it. Lyr protected himself with a runic shield of light, taking the blows so that he wasn't taking, much physical damage. Then Suddenly there was a bright light that blinded Sylvie. The Huntress quickly covered her eyes, trying to give her eyes a chance to recover. Thankfully, her life sense gave her enough of a idea of where Lyr was to keep track of him.

Sylvie planned to let her instincts take over, however, Kva's words during their sparring match popped into her head. "Think carefully...? Fine..."

Instead of ramming Lyr with yet another root, she quickly located a plant nearby that could help her and thanks to her intimate knowledge of the garden, she knew just the one. Using her magic, one of the larger flowers, pink with a red center, grew forwards, launching a large cloud of pollen into the Ophidian and covering him in a red dust.

Rubbing his eyes, Lyr shook his head and pulled up his scarf. "You think I haven't dealt with sandstorms worse than that?" He formed ten spears of light, all aimed at impaling Sylvie.

As he said that, Lyr began to feel sleepy, almost sluggish, the pollen having some kind of alternate effect. "It's not just pollen... It's also has the side effect of slowing down your actions and dulling your senses."

The Ophidian shook his head, "As if... You think that'll stop me." He growled, "I'm going to kill you..."

"You insane little... You think just because you're Ms. Havenbrook's 'son' you can do whatever you want?" Sylvie growled, "I'll show you how wrong you are..."

"This has moved way past mother. You've taken this way past that you bitch!" Lyr venomously spat out. He formed more needles of light at all angles around Sylvie, yelling out as they all descended simultaniously.

With the speed of the attack, Sylvie had little ability to dodge the massive attack. Now truly feeling as though her life was in danger, the Huntress instinctually released as much of her magic as she could, radiating an aura of green magic.

Sylvie gazed at the Ophidian with a commanding, feral glare. Her magic pumped wildly through every vein of her body as she screamed. "ENOUGH, STOP!"

As she screamed, Lyr could feel an intense urge to stop his attack fill him, overwhelming and powerful as if her words were so forceful they demanded to be heeded.

Lyr grunted, dropping to a knee while grating his teeth together, "I won't... Stop. I can't... Forgive... Anyone... Who compares me.... To him!"

Still glowing, the Huntress moved forward a step, but was clearly struggling. "You... Would kill some one... Over something so... petty...?"

"You wouldn't... Understand!" Lyr bowed his head. "You don't... Get it."

"Then... Why do... You... Defend them?" Sylvie huffed as she spoke.

"Because my people are diverse, and unique. The outside world doesn't get just how much of a rich culture we have. We are all just... Rapists, murderers... Even my own mother can't look at me without remembering the face of my father! You happy? My father was the one who raped Lady Havenbrook!"

Sylvie's eyes widened, then grew narrow, "I... I may have... I didn't mean to imply you were... All rapists... But you can't stop hurting the land... You say my... Goddess needs to earn your praise... But don't you think... They could do better? They could earn her help...?"

"It would be impossible. The gods have ignored us for so long that the Matriarch would, never accept just nationwide acceptance of them again. They would need a reason to believe. That is why the gods must act first. Our people are too different that I dont think you would ever understand but that is the way of things." Lyr spoke softly, clenching his fist, "And comparing me to my father... Is the greatest insult one could throw. One to kill over. Our system of honor means a lot where I am from. Our adherence to our rules is what keeps the rest of us civil."

"Then you still have room to change... But I can at least say I'm sorry, the way you defended them, I figured you weren't different... I... I shouldn't have assumed..." Sylvie said, the light around her fading as her breathing became more and more pained.

"Whatever you're doing you should stop." Lyr ordered her, moving forward and wrapping his arms around her to keep from falling. The Huntress' survival instinct faded as he held her. She coughed violently, a small line of blood running out of her nose.

"You alright?" He asked, picking her up bridal style. Despite being fifteen, he was stronger than most, it helped she was so light.

"Y-yes... I... I've never done that... That strong before..." She explained.

Lyr sighed, "Guess I should feel proud I made you fight that hard. I'll take you to the infirmary. Just get comfortable, alright?"

"Alright.... I won't... I won't tell Ms. Havenbrook about this..." Sylvie said, looking up at him. "I refuse to hold this against you..."

"Thank you. Get some rest." Lyr said softly.

"You too..." She replied, closing her eyes gently. Lyr held Sylvie so her head rested on her shoulder, making the short walk back to the manor both extremely annoyed and somewhat guilty.

 

[ExoGrim]

Dahlexpert and ExoGrim
Magic Practice

Havenbrook manor/guildhouse
July 12, 3349
Courtyard

Elma was training some of the new spells she learned, she made five circles around her and fireballs came out of them she then made a wall of ice up to her waist and had ice spikes come out of them. “Alright not bad, I need to get better maybe if I get learned wind magic to keep melee fighters away from me.” Elma turned to Sam who’s the size of a regular dog now, Elma walked to her dire wolf and petted him. “Huh I still need to learn how to summon a familiar that’s one on one in magic, well I’m not going to learn just sitting here maybe there’s more I can learn in this book.” Elma went back to her spell book wondering what else she could learn.

As Elma went through her books, she would notice that one of them was missing… specifically one on earth magic.

“Huh now that’s weird, I had a book on earth magic here where did it go?” Sam started to howl at one of the bushes and Elma followed Sam, Sam howled again and Elma saw a young woman with many scars on her. “Um hello, I believe you have my book.”

The young girl was reading the book when the wolf started howling. The moment she looked up, Elma was in front of her. Terror seemed to fill her eyes as the Thrope child noticed the Human woman. “Ummmm… do you w-w-want it back?”

“That would be appreciated.” Elma noticed the fox ears on the woman. “Oh you're a Thrope? Oh I take that you took my book because you know earth magic?”

The Thrope hesitantly handed over the book. “Ummm… yes. I-I don’t mean to steal from y-y-you… I just wanted to learn.”

“Well that’s good in all but you shouldn't steal all you had to do was ask.” Elma sat next to the orphan. “Now then who are you? I never seen you before are you. New to the guild or just around the area?”

The child continued to look at Elma with a look of fear. She lifted her arms to rub them, revealing that she had no right hand. “My name’s… Terra. I’ve only been here for a few days.”

Elma looked at the orphan’s hand and sees that it’s missing, this caused Elma to throw up a little in her mouth.”U… Um your hand what ugh...What happen to it?”

“M-m-my owner took it.” The former slave responded. “It was punishment for… for rebelling.”

“Rebelling? Wait, your a former slave? I’m… I'm sorry for asking I didn't know.”

“I-i-it’s okay.” Terra answered nervously. “Most people don’t know from the start…”

“Still, that’s a shame. I never met a slave… well a former slave any way, so where are you from?” Sam started to sit next to Elma putting his head on her lap.

“Themosa…” The slave girl answered with a slight bit of hesitation.

“Hum well that’s good to know, I’m from Mirandia. So you traveled a long way to get down here… how did you do it?”

“Yeah… I guess…” The Fox Thrope stated. “I never thought about how far I was going… and I forgot what time it was during the travel. According to the doctors, it’s a miracle I lived.”

“Yea as a former slave with nothing and escaping with, I’m guessing no food or water, yea you should be dead. Ou and by the way my name is Elma. It’s nice to meet you. Now stand up.” Elma slowly stood up and offered her hand to the orphan.

The slave girl did not take the hand offered to her. “Umm, I’m Terra… It’s nice to meet you?”

“You told me your name already silly but you didn't know mine, anyway I want to see what you can do with your earth magic I’m curious of it.”

“Ummm… I guess I could show you.” Terra responded, getting to her feet and revealing the chain shackled to her left wrist.

“Um what is that?” Elma said looking at the chain connected to the woman.

“Oh, it’s my weapon.” The Thrope answered, even though it was technically a half truth.

Elma tilted her head. “You using the very thing that kept you imprisoned as a weapon? That’s ugh that’s...interesting.”

“I can show you… how I use it.” Terra told Elma. “I-if you want me to.”

“Sure because I’m actually interested, but don’t you want it on your side and not, you know, not on your wrist?”

“It’s fine…” Terra stated. “It’s not as bad as you would think.”

“Well if you say so, anyway show me some of your earth magic.”

The Thrope nodded in response. She flicked her wrist, the spike at the very end of the chain stabbing into the ground. She grabbed ahold of the chain and pulled it… the ground around the chain being removed from it’s location. She swung the large rock in a wide rock, the earthen material exploding upon impact a pillar near the entrance.

“Wow, that’s impressive. I see why you still have the chain, even though I still don’t agree with it out of personal taste.”

“Thanks…” Terra replied, blushing a little. “I practiced a lot when I wasn’t working.”

“Well you could use more practice. I mean nobody's perfect but you got the basic down. And mean the bar basic but it's a start, so you can keep my book I hope it helps you. I just read it just to read it. I never developed any earth magic.”

The Thrope child didn’t seem to believe her at first… looking at the mage in surprise. “Really?”

“Yea why not. I mean, I’m trying to learn other forms of magic like lightning and wind magic mostly wind for melee fighters.”

“Okay, thank you.” Terra said before walking off to head back to the infirmary.

“Hum a person with earth magic, that’s interesting. She’s also a former slave... how very interesting. This guild never disappoints.” Elma went back to her training with her fire ice and light magic.

 

[Black0ut]

Frostlich1228 & Black0ut
The Great News (The Terrible fight.)

Havenbrook Manor
Erin's lab

The door to the lab opened as a certain Light Elf stepped out. Pulling out a flask, he took a small sip, a drop accidentally spilling on the white lab coat he wore. Cursing softly, he tried to rub out the new stain before grumbling in defeat. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of candy. He stared at it with a morose expression before sighing and heading back into the lab. "Need to finish that report... Erin will have my head otherwise." Jay murmured voicing his thoughts allowed, as he sat down at his desk.

Suddenly, with the only warning being a quick series of footsteps outside, the door opened revealing a Thrope with obvious Fly Eyes, having removed them temporarily. "Erin? Erin are you here?"

Jay quickly turned around at his desk, startled and surprised. "Whoa! Scared me there. She's, um, currently out at the moment, but I can help you if you have a question or if you need answers."

"Oh...Jay, right? It's good to see you again." Betty smiled, stepping forwards, "I um... Actually had some news for her."

"Okay, and, uh, what's the nature of your message?" The Light Elf asked, scratching his head gently, as he pondered what important news had brought her to the lab, but failed to recall who she was.

"Um... Well... It's kind of... Private... News..." Betty said, tapping her fingers together. "I guess I could just wait here for her..."

"Oh... well she might be awhile. Something to do with one of the other researchers..." Jay replied, before staring at Betty for a moment, trying to recall where he had seen her. He snapped his fingers and smiled, "Flame spitter. You were the one who wanted to use a weapon that could spit flames and the like! I remember I was there for a few tests of yours, extinguishing flames and explosions, but life and a job called me away. Did you get the thing to work?"

"Not quite yet... I did manage to make a Stun Gas launcher though." Betty answered, "And I believe we spoke on Lover's Day Eve, over food."

"That seems about right. Gods, how time flies." Jay relaxed into the chair, more at ease than before. "So, how do you know Erin? I mean, surely you're not a messenger for the guild... are you?"

"Um... We're um... You know..." Betty chuckled awkwardly. "Together...?"

"Oh... Oh! Right... sorry. Although I'm happy Erin had somebody, with the whole deal with- " The Light Elf began to blurt out before catching himself. A new job and I'm already losing my common sense...

"Her parents?" Betty finished, sighing slightly.

"Yeah... her parents." Jay replied cautiously, recalling the tragic news. "How's she holding up?"

"She's doing... Better. Thankfully, zhe news I have for her is good." Betty smiled slightly.

"That's great, she needs some good news in her life." Jay responded, relaxing as he felt sure Betty had no idea about Eliza.

"I actually kind of forgot you were working down here..." Betty admitted, "I must keep missing you somehow."

"I... I do tests and specialize in purification methods for elemental corruption... still trying to come up with a better way of dispersing the corruption in a faster, more cost efficient way. Erin has been giving me some leeway on my research, but, uh, I kinda don't want to blow up the lab or embarrass her, so... I kinda... maybe take a corrupted object and test my theory elsewhere." Jay explained, rubbing his head nervously.

"Zhat's a little dangerous is it not?" Betty tilted her head to the side.

"A bit. But not overly so. Usually nothing over a small elemental burst of energy occurs." Jay explained, keeping the fact that Erin had no idea that he was testing outside.

"Well. Nozhing ventured nozhing gained as zhey say." Betty chuckled shrugging lighty. "Alzhough, a responsible girlfriend would let Erin know zhis."

"Are you suggesting I haven't told her about my activities?" Jay inquired, raising an eyebrow at the Fly Thrope.

"I'm just kidding Jay." The Fly said, "You don't have to worry."

Jay visibly relaxed, eased by her comment, but still slightly on edge. "I see." The Light Elf responded awkwardly, before fishing into his coat for the candy he had earlier. "Would you care for some candy? I have a plethora of candies ever since one of our...experiments was transferred away to a different facility for better testing."

"Oh..." Betty sighed deeply, "You mean Eliza? I wasn't sure you knew about her."

"I thought she was mystery only me, Erin, and probably Miss Havenbrook knew about. I took care of her when Erin wasn't around, or bribed her with candy when she wouldn't listen. I was off doing some testing when she was taken... and drunk myself into such a stupor that I don't quite remember that week. Sylvie was so upset with me... anyways, how do you know about Eliza?"

"You've probably heard her mention Amam. Zhat's me." The Fly Thrope replied, "Erin and I are her Moms. I actually bought her most of zhat candy. She's... Our Daughter..."

"Oh... I'm so sorry for your loss. It... must be difficult with her gone." Jay sympathized, a morose expression replacing his normally neutral look.

"Well... It is... Very..." Betty said solemnly, then she spoke up, "But zhe good news is related to Eliza actually! We received a call from the lab zhat took her."

"And what did they say?" Jay asked with guarded optimism, not wanting to let his hopes get up. They wouldn't just let her go... not as far as my understanding of scientific procedures goes... unless there's something else at play, but what could that be?

"I..." Betty stopped herseld for a moment, realizing it was meant to be kept between only a few people. "Zhey need our help... Somezhing big. In exchange, zhey are willing to give us Eliza back..."

"To hazard a guess, this big threat will have to be substantial, if they're willing to give up a demon...something truly terrifying to fight against. But at the very least, she'll be home, right?"

"Mmhm..." Betty nodded, "But I would do anyzhing to get her back."

“Would that include killing an unarmed man, or an innocent person?" Jay asked, raising an eyebrow at the somewhat disturbing declaration.

"Zhey are torturing my daughter... What do you think?" Betty crossed her arms. "I wouldn't enjoy it... And I would see to it zhey get what's coming to zhem..."

"But by killing or harming them, are you truly above their level? Or are you deluding yourself by suggesting that by harming these malicious individuals, that you're doing justice?" Jay asked, frowning slightly. "Because if it's the latter, that's not justice, that's barely veiled vengeance."

"I never said I would kill zhem." Betty pointed out to the Light Elf. "Putting zhem away forever would be enough Justice for me. I can't promise I wouldn't hurt zhem a little bit though."

 

[Black0ut]

The Great News (The Terrible fight.) Cont.

"As someone who's been through the whole revenge business, hurting the people who wronged you in the past won't make you feel better in slightest." Jay warned, his face sinking more into a frown than before, "It also tends to pan out rather poorly and not at all in your favor."

"So are you suggesting I let the scientists zhat are Torturing my Daughter: Your Friend. Go? Scot Free?" The Fly said, her face turning slightly aggressive.

"Calm down. If I feel too threatened, I might be inclined to restrain you..." Jay threatened, several orbs of water appearing to validate his threat. He paused, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "I am not here to piss you off nor am I trying to threaten you into submission; I'm just here to tell you that revenge is a shit way to live your life, especially if you've suffered at the hands of others, because all it does is either pull others down with you or inevitably hurt the ones you love."

"So I was right zhen. You don't. You don't want zhem to pay at all for zhis." Betty looked away, holding her arm. "Is it zhat you just don't care what's happened to her?"

"Have you been tortured, Betty? Do you have any idea what it's like to be crippled? I'm the one who knows exactly the level of torture Eliza is experiencing." Jay whispered harshly, more orbs of water appearing "So, no, I do care. I'm just trying to advise you on the best course of action."

"Zhat makes it worse! You know what she's going through and still want to see zhem face no consequences!" Betty continued, raising her voice. "I don't understand you. You should want zhem to face justice more zhan anyone!"

"There is a difference between justice and revenge, Betty. One satifies yourself and makes you no different from the monsters you battle; the other justifies yourself and doesn't makes you the bad guy." Jay explained, gritting his teeth in anger. He suddenly stood up, and walked over towards the Fly Thrope, towering over her with a glare.

"Are you trying to intimidate me?" The Thrope figuratively stepped up to his challenge. "Besides, she's MY daughter. Not yours. Even if I wanted to kill zhem, zhat's my choice to make."

"Then you'd be spitting on the name of this Guild and on it's leader. That girl may be your daughter, but I doubt she wants her mother to lose her morals." Jay said, raising his voice as well.

"Why don't you quit acting so high and mighty? So... Pretentious, zhinking you know what's it's like to see your child suffer! You may know personal suffering, but Zhat's a far cry from seeing zhe suffering of your own child!" Betty put a hand to her chest, "I would gladly have taken her place if I could've!"

"And what does that accomplish? All it ends up being is the same damn situation: Eliza and Erin would want you back and they would be in your position!" Jay groaned, shaking his head. "For all your brains, you sure as hell aren't using them."

"You don't understand! I could handle it, she's just a kid!" Betty stomped lightly, "Could you really be so above it all if zhey tortured Sylvie!?"

The Light Elf paused, half-ready to yell out an argument as the words hit him. He was silent for a few seconds. "No. And I would hope there would be someone there to stop me from doing something I might regret." Jay argued, his voice a bit softer.

"I just... I just want to see zhem face something... Although I'd never get it through typical means. Zhey'd never accept Eliza as my real daughter, or even a person really... And zhey probably have enough pull with zhe government zhey would win regardless..." The Fly explained, calming down. "Sometimes one must go outside zhe law for such zhings. The Law does not encapsulate justice, sometimes it is more unjust zhan anything."

"While that may be true, if you jump outside of those set boundaries, and go after those people, you'll either kill them or hurt them. In either case, all you do is bring more trouble and more danger to your family. If you truly care for Eliza, don't do what I think you're going to do." Jay said tiredly, walking past Betty, opening the door.

He paused, and turning briefly back to her before he left. "And for the record, I am, alongside Erin, the person who has known Eliza the longest. I already took an arrow to the lung when she was just an egg. Perhaps you should try to realize who your allies are, because you seem to want to alienate them."

The Fly quickly turned around, "But you threatened me! I never made a move on you!"

But the Light Elf had already left, the water orbs he had in the lab disappearing into the ether.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Dahlexpert, Frostlich1228, MarineAvenger, & ZombieSplitter53
Cleaning Up Someone Else's Mess
Part One

Western Mirandia
Village of Silverslim
July 20th, 3349

It was high noon, but a terrible overcast left the land dark and gloomy. The sleepy town of Silverslim moved about their business with little care for the lousy weather, if they noticed at all. Thus far, Mirandia wasn’t too different from Serasam. Large, open cities here and there with plentiful small towns dotting the landscape. It was a bit warmer, and had more tree lines farther to the east, but in this town, it seemed like just another sleepy village.

Betty and Erin had been sent here once the team made it to the country and, unfortunately, we forced to split up. There were ten chimera in total, and with different minds, different instincts, and different speeds of travel, they had not stayed together for long. Three of them had been spotted north of Silverslim heading south, so here they were.

Leading the group was Kva Minerva. While Erin had seniority, she was hardly the most adapt Hunter or leader, and gladly handed over the reigns to the more experienced fighter. The rabbit Thrope sat near a side stand selling corn cobs covered in cheese and spices, munching hers and watching Kva. “She seems so intense,” she said to her lover. “Like… she’s calm, I mean, but like she could snap at any moment. That’s what I see, anyway.”

“I know what you mean…” Betty replied, taking a bite out of her own cob of corn. Erin had offered her one and the Fly couldn't bring herself to refuse. “I've heard some zhings around the Manor about her. Quite zhe mysterious type…”

“Mysterious… mysterious can be bad…” Erin glanced over at Betty. “We can trust her, right?”

“All I know from zhe rumors is she's some kind of Battle Priest of Taydar…” Betty added, “Alzhough, I'm not sure what she has to gain from betraying us…”

“I hope we don’t have to worry about someone that follows Tectune’s father. Though that isn’t what I meant exactly.” Erin shrugged. “You know, she could just be out for herself.” She slowly shrugged. “Sorry, I shouldn’t being looking at our allies like that, should I? I’m just not used to being on a mission like this.”

Betty suddenly wrapped her arm around Erin’s waist, “Whatever goes down, I won't let anyzhing happen to you. You don't need to worry.”

“Thanks.” Erin took a deep breath and stood up. “Hey, Miss, um… Ms. Minerva?”

Kva turned her head as she heard Erin’s voice, her arms crossed as she stood a few feet away from the two of them. “Yes? You're not having second thoughts, are you?”

“N-no, of course not!” Erin cleared her throat. “I’m just wondering if you have experience with Chimera.”

“Combat Experience I assume?” Kva replied, her voice coming off as hollow under her mask. “Not Here. At Havenbrook. But to answer your question, I have some.”

“Can you… Elaborate?” Betty returned.

The Death Priest sighed, “I trained under a Monster Hunter. I've fought a few. Not any like the huge one that's supposedly on it's way though.”

“Right…” Erin folded her arms. “I’ve only had laboratory experience. Small things. It’s the only thing you can legally get away with in Themosa. Anywhere, really. Betty, did you have any experience with hybrid creatures before Havenbrook? I’m pretty sure you haven’t since joining.”

The Tinkerer just shook her head. “Nothing really. All my experience with monsters comes from after I joined. Like zhe Basilisks. Even zhe Gargoyles.”

Erin nodded. “Well, it is something. Besides, like I said, mine were small. Not military brand.” She gave Kva a nervous laugh. “But you have a ton of experience elsewhere. As one who delivers many a creature to the god of death, I bet you don’t even fear reapers, right?”

“If it's the time that Taydar wills me to pass on to his plane, then there is no reason to be afraid. Even if I were afraid, my fears would do little to change the inevitability of my death. Why live and die fearing an outcome you cannot change?” Kva Explained, cracking her neck.

“R-right. Good point?” Erin sulked back a bit. Before she could think on it any longer, there was a commotion not far from them. A few people ran south, the sound of an explosion up north turning everyone’s heads.

“I take it Zhat's our Chimera…” Betty said with a hint of determination as well as fear.

“Then both of you, get ready.” Kva ordered, unsheathing her rapier, “We're going towards it. We can't let it do too much damage to the town.”

Erin pulled her large staff from off her back, taking several deep breaths to steady herself. The rumbling of something large and heavy quickly started moving toward them. There was another explosion, a plume of fire flying up. “That’s either fire magic or fire breath,” she said to the others as she prepared herself.

Finally, rushing through a hallway and ripping out chunks of the adjoining wall, and large creature emerged. It was reptilian in nature, ten feet tall, about twelve feet long, with leathery yellow-orange skin. It’s feet were closer to that of some avian creature, like the talons of a great condor tearing into the ground to keep itself steady. Two long tails whipped about, sending carts and post box flying as it’s long neck craned up, an obvious animalistic attempt to make itself look even bigger and scarier. Its lips stretched, making it almost look like it was smiling, with rows and rows of shark-like teeth underneath.

Erin stared at it, her heart racing faster and faster. There were many reasons why her career as a hunter was a short one. The terror she felt and the urge to flee was just one of them.

Betty quickly readied her gauntlet, holding Erin’s shoulder for a moment to hopefully instill some confidence. As the beast stared, Kva half turned towards the two of them, saying, “Starstorm, since you lack experience in this field, stay back. Attack from afar. Betty and I will fight up close, I'll keep it's attention while Vhemmina attacks from the back and sides. Understood?”

Erin slowly nodded, clearing her throat and giving the bravest, “Understood,” she could muster. She slowly stepped, and began chanting. A green aura started surround the end of her staff. The chimera watched her, its reptilian eyes following the glow with curiosity. It was a military-made monster, but this one at least did not seem to be without its primal animal side. That didn’t make it any less dangerous though, and it stepped towards her, the food stand they had just been at crushed under its weight.

Kva stepped forward, facing down the large beast with no fear as she readied her weapons. The Whip-Wielding woman put it to good use, unfurling it with a crack then sending it towards the Chimera’s face. The long spiked barbs on the weapon quickly did what they were designed to do, catching onto the scaled skin of the creature and tearing a patch of it off viciously.

Meanwhile, Betty used her distraction to quickly make her way to the side, cutting through a building, now with a large hole in it and waiting for a moment to strike. The beast roared in pain, and turned its attention to Kva. It barrelled at her in a furious rage, chunks of the ground flying as it neared. Its neck snapping forward in its attempt to take a rather large bit out of her.

Kva ducked quickly and elegantly to the side of the obvious attack, stepping forward as it missed her to lunge at it's exposed flesh.

“Earthly prison, I call upon you,” Erin whispered. “Encumber my foe. Let them move not an inch. Number 24. Shell of Stone.” The ground around Erin shot towards the creature and encased its legs. It pulled at the, its incredible strength quickly started to make it give way. “Now! While it’s stuck!”

Kva smiled slightly under the dark mask as her rapier shifted upwards from the vulnerable spot, now going for it's eye. The blade skewered it though, blinding it but not going deep enough for a kill. The Priest then pulled it back with one quick motion, the blade glowing slightly.

At the same time, Betty moved in to strike, going for the back leg of the creature in an attempt to cripple it. Her punch struck, easily delivering enough for to crack the bones of the creature, if not shatter it all together. It finally broke free, but it couldn’t support its weight on its shattered leg and collapsed. Howling in pain, it snapped its head around in anguish, slamming it against the side of buildings and into the ground. It searched desperately for the woman that had taken its eye, but she was easily able to stay in its new blind spot.

“F-find a way to keep its head still!” Erin called out, charging another spell. “It might not be able to move, but its reach is still dangerous!”

Nodding in acknowledgment, Betty moved to strike its front leg. Upon breaking that one the Chimera fell forwards, roaring from the pain.

Following her plan, Kva took a slash at the other leg after swiping her whip across it to make it vulnerable, then cutting a number of tendons in the monster's leg, causing it's front to fall flat on the ground. “Wind sickle!” Erin shouted, and blades of wind flew forward. The creature lashed and snapped, its neck unpredictable, but the base of its neck was still, and from there the entire appendage came crashing down, the rabbit thrope having to dive out of the way to avoid being crushed by the severed head.

Upon falling, Kva quickly impaled the monster through the same eye as before, but this time pressing it into the weak spot of it's skull and into it's brain, the rapier glowing brightly as it hungrily absorbed the blood of the now dead Chimera.

“Well… that wasn’t so h-hard.” Erin slowly stood up. “I, um… at least it didn’t shot fire at us, right?” She laughed, but her smile slowly faded. “Why… why didn’t it shoot fire at us if it could?”

“I… I don't know…” Betty said, walking up.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Cleaning Up Someone Else's Mess
Part Two

Kva looked over to the Fly Thrope, then past her, “It's not impossible that this wasn't the one who shot that fire.”

Erin closed her eyes. “Do you… hear a… hissing?” she asked. She quickly turned to Betty, and shot a huge fireball at her. Moments before it hit, another fireball flew over from another angle, and the two blasts cancelled each other out before they could incinerate her. “There!” She shouted as she pointed in the direction the other blast had come from. There was something there, but unseen. The light seemed to bend, and they could just make out a shape before it darted away and was lost. “I-it’s camouflaged!”

“I-It's invisible!? And zhey couldn't have told us zhis!?” Betty said, pulling out her pistol as she searched for any more distortions.

“Witch.” Kva turned, her senses on alert. “You wouldn't happen to have anything to help track it, would you?”

“I, um… I-I… if I had a sample of it, I could track it, but that would require finding it in the first… um… oh!” Erin looked around. “I-I have an idea! Um… the pavement! Destroy as much of it as you can so you expose the dirt underneath!”

Betty placed a hand on her gauntlet’s valve to increase it's power, then slammed it into the ground, sending a shock wave that destroyed and turned a large amount of the road to rubble. However, at this power, the force was enough to send her back a few feet, being caught by the dead body of the Chimera and sliding down it to land on her feet.

“Nice one, Betty!” Erin closed her eyes. “Cover me.” She said as a fireball materialized from the side of a building behind her, flying straight for her back.

Seeing the blast coming, but unable to do anything in time, Betty yelled for Kva. The B rank Hunter quickly turned and upon seeing the fireball reacted by sending an arc of blood from her weapon, cutting the flaming ball in half halfway to it's target and causing it to detonate early, splattering boiling blood everywhere.

Shocked by this, Betty had wondered how exactly she had done that, but quickly regained herself, firing a shot from her gun towards the origin of the attack.There was a shriek of pain, and some drops of blood, but the creature moved away before they could capitalize. Erin, unaware of how close she had come, continued her chat.

There was a stirring to Betty’s side. The large creature was moving. She had just enough time to realize there was no blood coming from the neck wound as another head erupted forth, slimy mucus dripping from it as it turned to look at her.

Thinking quickly, Betty intentionally fell backwards and onto the ground, reaching over to her weapon and spraying paralysis gas into the face of the Chimera, hoping to at least stop it for a moment. It blinked fiercely for a moment before it’s head dropped. Its tongue rolled out of its mouth as it uselessly tried to move, but couldn’t at the moment.

“Be ready!” Erin called out. She tapped her staff on the ground, and the dirt on the ground flew up to for a ball. “I-I’m about to be useless, so please don’t let me die!” The ball of dirt exploded, and all at once, the entire square looked like it was in the middle of a desert blizzard. Erin covered her eyes, but both Kva and Betty already had eye protection, allowing them to clearly see the invisible creature, the dirt outlining it clear as day. It was standing a few feet from Kva, ready to pounce.

As it pounced towards the Death Priest she quickly morphed into smoke, the monster passing through her as she reformed above it. Kva quickly sunk her blade into the creature’s back, swiping it repeatedly with her spiked whip. It seemed to have little defense against attacks, it design focused on offense and staying hide. It’s skin was made to reflect light, not attacks. It didn’t take much to take this one down, and its skin turn a bloody black as it flopped down.

“I-is it over?” Erin asked. “Can… Can I stop now?”

“No, Betty!” Kva exclaimed, hopping off of it's back. Despite the fact the Fly was several feet away and out of ammo, she quickly devised another ranged option to finished it off.

Picking up a slab of the road she had destroyed earlier, Betty tossed it up into the air, reared back, then punched it, shattering it and sending a Blunderbuss-Like spread of sharp stone shards into the now even more weak body of the creature. It shrieked in pain, squealing uselessly before breathing its last.

As silence descended, Erin took it as a sign to drop the cloud of dust. She smiled at the sight of the downed beast before grimacing a bit. “Poor creature. Made to fight. It deserved better then this.” She grimaced again, this time at the large amount of goo that dripped on her shoulder. “What the hell?” she muttered, turning to find what could only be described as a mastiff the size of a worg standing over her.

Kva growled internally. “Dammit!”

The B Rank nimbly leapt off of the body of the first Chimera’s corpse, landing in between Erin and the monster in time for it's attack, planning to take the brunt of whatever it did herself, knowing that if she dodged it would most likely kill Erin. It slobbered and drooled a bit longer before lunging at her, lifting the woman up and swallowing her whole. She found herself in its body. It’s unusually gelatinous body, which quickly started to burn at her armor.

Erin jumped back and held up her staff, forming an extra large fireball. “W-w-what do I do?! She cried out. “I… i-if Kva is still alive in there, I-I might kill her if I attack!”

“I-If… If she's in zhere, she must be burning... !” Betty quickly deduced, “Wait! If we can make it swallow dirt, it might be able to absorb zhe stomach acid, buying her time!”

As she ran, Betty yelled towards Erin. “Get it to attack you! When it opens it's mouth, make it choke!”

“Got it!” The Rabbit Thrope ran to the left. Adrenaline and worry for her compatriot made her forget her fear for the moment. She tossed the fireball, making it burst in front of the creature and sear its flesh. “Hey, you ugly dog… slime… thing!” She tossed a few more smaller fireballs. “Who ever thought of mixing anything with a blob! Come and get me, ugly!”

The creature ran towards her, its flesh squishing against the ground, its legs losing their shape for a moment before reforming as it ran. At leaped over her and in her way, but Erin was ready. It snapped at her, and Erin formed another fireball that burst in its mouth. It hacked and coughed, its lungs seared.

As Betty finally reached the creature, she blasted up dirt into it's mouth at an angle by striking the ground. As the dirt as dust mixed with the slime of the creature, Betty spotted what looked to be an arm inside of it. The Fly Thrope quickly put her entire upper body into the creature’s mouth, grabbing ahold of the limb and pulling with all her strength.

As Kva began to slide could, Betty swore she saw red as spikes of blood shot out of the creature’s throat, ripping it apart as Betty freed their team leader.

Kva hit the ground with a squish, her leather melted in most places, one half of her signature mask dissolving from the acid still clinging to it. In the places of thinner armor however, was spots of dissolved flesh, likely where she drew blood from as she was pulled free.

“Damn it.” Erin ran to her side. “Nourishing Terra, hear my plea. Heal the one who suffers so. Fill them with your warm bounty. Number 12: Healing Bounty.” Erin’s hands glowed a faint green as she started healing Kva. “I-it won’t be disabled for long,” she warned Betty. “If it is like a usual slime, though, it has a core. Find the core, and the whole thing goes.”

Quickly looking over the creature, her accurate eyes spotted what looked to be some kind of dark object nestled in the slime’s belly. The Fly quickly pulled out her gun, her attempt being interrupted by a frustrating click. Instead, The Engineer threw the gun into the undulating mass, then ran forward, punching it towards the core with her gauntlet on low power as not to shatter the gun. The core shuttered and wobbled before popping, and the creature fell into a pool of viscous goo. It let out a whine, like the dog it appeared to be, before melting away and dying.

Erin sighed. “Kva… are you alright? Please don’t be another to die saving me.”

The woman was still for a moment before finally sitting up, looking at Erin. “I'm fine… It's not that bad…”

Betty sighed with relief as she walked forward, “Kva… Thank you… You didn't have to do zhat, but you did. You have more armor zhan her… if she had been swallowed in zhose robes...”

“You would've pulled out a pile of meat…” Kva finished, looking at Erin.

“Y-yes, well… no offense, but given you superior armor, I…” Erin chuckled. “Well, let’s just say I am happy things turned out alright. And I have every intention of compens… compensate…” A large shadow loomed over them. Erin turned her head in horror to see the first chimera lifting its neck, ready to bite Betty in half.

Before it could, however, something let out a loud, piercing shriek. Another being, humanoid in shape but with pale blue skin and large wings, flew over and slashed the chimera in the face. It snapped, but the new one dodged and slashed, beheading it once more. The chimera’s neck bubbled, preparing to regrow again. The newcomer lifted its hands, its claws glowing a deep red. It plunged its claws into the open neck, searing it closed. After a moment, the largest chimera finally stopped moving, dead at last, and the new creature, a female-looking demon, turned and started approaching the three, a furious rage on her face.

“Is… Is zhat…” Betty said, unsure, taking a few tentative steps forward. “It can't be… Can it?”

“B-Betty, stop!” Erin shouted. “Y-you’re going to be killed!” Indeed, the female demon looked poised to strike, a battle lust in her eyes.

“Betty!” Kva yelled, standing up slowly. “Get back from It!”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Cleaning Up Someone Else's Mess
Part Three

“B-But… Did zhey… Did zhey do somezhing to her?” Betty’s gauntlet hand twitched as she stood there, contemplating. “E-Eliza…?”

The demon stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening in surprise. “A… Amam?” Her body slowly started to shrink in size.

Betty’s eyes watered and tears fell as she ran forward to embrace Eliza, wrapping her arms around the demon. “Eliza! I-It, is it really you!? M-My Baby! H-How're you here…? You're not supposed to be… Here…!”

Eliza’s body returned to how it looked when Betty had last spoken to her. Erin gasped loudly. “Is… is it really…”

Eliza held her mother tightly, crying herself. “The… th-the lady… a-at the lab, she… she said they weren’t going to let me leave! They said… she said… they were going to go back on their deal. That… they would never let me see my Amam again.”

“Zhose… Zhose awful people… I knew it…” Betty said, trying her best not to swear. “But… How did you find us here?”

“Did you… hurt anybody?” Erin asked, fearing the worse.

Eliza slowly shook her head. “The lady, Mary. She… she made a hole in my cage and left the room. She… she said where you were, and then just… walked out. I was confused. I was scared. I thought… I though it was a trap! I thought that it was another of their tests, and they would catch me if I tried to go, and it would hurt. But I wanted to see you again! So… so I tried. And… a-a-and I got away! I flew as fast as I could, looking everywhere! I could smell those monsters, and I knew you would fight then to save people. But… but then I saw one of them was going to eat you, and… and…”

“You saved me sweetie, you saved Amam…” She said, holding her closer than ever. “I don't care what I would've had to do. I don't care if I had to make a deal with zhe Old Ones themselves! I would never have stopped until I found you…”

Erin slowly stepped forward, placing her hands on Eliza’s shoulders. “You did good finding us. You did really good. Amam and I agreed to fight these monsters to save you. And you came to save us. It… it worked out quite well, didn’t it?” She sniffled, barely holding back tears. “Oh, um… Ms. Minerva, this might seem a little odd, but… this is our daughter.”

When she looked back, she saw that Kva had stripped off her clothes and made a small pile of them, currently wearing an only undergarments and her still melting helmet. “I see. Well. She seems very dear to you both.”

“Oh, she is. Ever so precious.” Erin kissed the top of Eliza’s head. With a chuckle, she said, “Though we should probably cover her up before someone says something.” She looked Kva up and down and blushed. “And we should… p-probably do the same for you, huh?”

Betty looked down at herself, the sleeves and gloves of her armor also melting from small amounts of acid. “M-Maybe me too…”

“But Erin… What do we do now?” Betty asked seriously, “We can't let Tecunte win, we have to get the rest of zhem… But zhey went back on our deal…”

“Well… This was a Locate, Kill, and Clean-Up operation.” Kva noted, “How about we skip the clean up?”

Erin smiled at that. “Good idea. We need to go meet up with the others, and we stopped the chimera from causing any more trouble. If the locals start asking questions about where they came from, who’s business is it of ours?” She placed a hand on Eliza’s arm, trying to ignore the fact that she was a bit taller then her now. “Come on. We deserve a break. And some time to be together once more.”

“Agreed.” Betty smiled, taking off her gloves before taking Eliza’s hand, “Let's get out of here sweetie. We're going home soon.”

Eliza nodded, leaning against her with the most delighted smile possible. Erin turned to Kva. “You wanna come too?” She frowned. “Look… I get the whole secret identity thing, but if you don’t take off the rest of that helmet…”

“It's not just an Identity thing… I am only allowed to take it off when someone dies…” She said, noting some light coming through where it wasn't supposed to be. “But you are right…”

Erin exchanged a look with Betty. “I’m sure several people died from these Chimera. Does that count?”

Betty nodded, “As sad as zhat is… it is true…”

Kva looked down, perhaps out of a strange embarrassment for the normally calm woman. “Very well. You are right…”

The Death Priest slowly reached up and clasped the bottom on her helm, hesitating for a moment before lifting it up. The first thing they noted were her thin, dark red lips, then her narrow nose. As the helm was removed even more, their eyes were pulled to her ears, long and pointed, confirming that she was in fact, a Dark Elf.

But the most stand out features were her bright Red Eyes, almost glowing, and her utter lack of any hair whatsoever, her head completely shaved clean to the point it shone slightly. She blinked a few times, setting her gaze on Betty and Erin. “Promise me. You won't tell anyone what you saw today… Not even the magic.”

“It certainly is a unique kind of magic.” Erin blinked a few teams. “B-but of course, if you wish to keep it secret, my lips are sealed.”

“As are mine.” Betty said, making a zipping motion.

“Good. Thank you.” Kva replied, placing her helmet between her body and arm. “I might even be willing to give you two something.” She said chuckling, winking slightly as she walked past.

Betty just looked dumbfounded for a moment, before asking Erin. “Did she just… hit on us?”

Erin chuckled. “Hard to say. Though between you and me, learning a little more about her powers would be a nice reward. Come on, let’s go before she leaves us behind.”

*****​

Northeast Mirandia
Aloalo Forest
3:23 p.m.

The woods around the Havenbrook hunters was hot and humid. Early summer in this part of the country was bad enough, but the closed, humid conditions of the forest made it far worse.

Bea was lucky, the Bat Thrope wearing light clothing to help with movement. On the other hand, Charter had his bulky armor, while his sister wore her thick robes. "Why not let yourself be free of this heat?" Bea asked, tugging at Elma's sleeve. "Are you not wearing anything under that perhaps?"

Elma tugged her robe away.” Hey that’s no one's concern besides Character are you alright?”
Character is not wearing his helmet because of the heat.” I’m fine, I been through this for years just don’t wear chainmail.”

Bea sighed, placing her hands behind her head. "It is nice to get out with allies. I am not used to this. I am stealth assassin mostly, and go on missions alone most of the time. So I do not make friends. Though few at the Manor are my friends either. They find me odd because I am still getting used to local customs. It is lonely. They also say I talk too much, but this is only so because I never have anyone to talk to."

Elma made a small ice spike in her hand and gave it to Bea."Here this should cool you down, and don't worry about it I don't mind it have you met my brothers girlfri-I'm sorry his soon to be wife Esmerelda she's a librarian that talks a lot and is always happy, and will soon be having my brothers child. Congratulations again bro."

Charter smiled a little about hearing his new child being mentioned. "Yea going to be a dad but let's focused on the current situation." Charter turned to his sister. "Were not going to have another Stormrend incident are we Elma?"

Elma shook her head. "N... No well I will try and help here after all were fighting creatures not people this time so I will try."

"You better because any incident like that to many times and Mina might cut you louse."

"I understand no more screw ups."

"Ah, yes! I am remembering!" Bea took a bite off of the tip of the icicle. "You are the scared one who ran away, afraid of a tanuki's illusion. It must be very embarrassing for you, young one. So very embarrassing."

Elma made a light growl. clearly embarrassed by her last mission.

Charter patted her head. "Sis that was your first mission ever so now you have some experience so just calm down alright?"

"I am agreeing with your brother," Bea said in an encouraging tone. "You are inexperienced. And have a different upbringing. I am from a place where we are taught from the early age that killing and dying is a part of life. You are spoiled little rich girl who is pampered and faces no danger until joining guild. I understand."

Elma growled at hearing that not wanting to admit that it's true.

"You are Elma your not like me and Bea who have been training since we were young. Now true you have trained to be a great mage you're still inexperienced."

"I know I get it I'm trying alright?!"

"Oh, dear." Bea placed her hand over her mouth. "I have put the foot in my mouth again, yes? My apologies. I am from a small section of a big city where we are... blunt. This is another reason I... have no friends. I meant no offense, and did not mean to upset." She rushed in front of Elma and took her hands. "You are from a place and lifestyle that is quite different from a Hunter's Guild. I understand your frustration. I am from a place and lifestyle quite different from Serasam. Your struggle is hard, but you are brave for even trying, and I have the confidence in you. When the danger is real, you will be pulling through. This is right, brother Charter?"

"She's learning i'm being a kinder teacher then when I was taught, but she will get it eventually and she's learning she's definitely a lot better than who she was when she first came here so keep trying Elma you'll be a great mage eventually."

"Agreed." Bea released her hands. "I shall scout a little ahead. Please, hold head high and be alert. Chimera are deadly, and we will need you help." She jumped up, flapping her leathery wings enough to get her up to the treeline, then jumped from tree to tree to get ahead of the group.

"And she's off." Charter looked at Elma. "Now Elma the monsters were facing are monsters here alright, now remember so try and stay calm."

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Cleaning Up Someone Else's Mess
Part Four

"I know I know I will try my best."

A minute later, there was a clicking sound. Elma was unsure what it might have been, but in his experience, Charter recognized the sound of someone locking a crossbow bolt in place. There was another. And another. And another. At least four bolts pointed at them. They were surrounded.

Charter looked at Elma and shouted. "Elma make a shield now!"

"Um OK?" Elma made a ice circle barrier around the two." Um Charter what's going on?"

"Were surrounded, crossbow men the question is where did they come from."

"What do we have here?" From the trees walked forth an unexpected sight. Ophidians occupied the nearby desert, but none were known to like in this forest. Yet four of them stepped into view, aiming their crossbows. Three were mostly humanoid, though the forth had a serpent's lower half and an elongated neck.

"Humans, stalking around our forest."

"Lost travelers, perhaps? In the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"No one comes through here unless they have to." The largest, most snake-like narrowed her eyes. "I bet they sent the creatures. As I thought. This is a human conspiracy to drive us out."

"We did not send in the creatures you're talking about we were hired to kill them, so I suggest that you lower your weapons before we come out of this dome!" Charter shouted.

"He...he's telling the truth, were with the Have Brook guild and we were hired to kill the monsters your talking about."

"If that is true, then you mean us no harm... and you would be willing to prove it." The leader of the group placed her crossbow on her belt and drew her sword, pointing it in a challenging manner. "You will drop you little shield as well as your weapons. Only then will I believe you."

Elma drooped the dome and the woman sees Charter with only his sword in hand. "Very well then if that's what it takes to get you to trust us."

Elma held her brothers arm. "Wait Charter we don't have to do this, we.. we have a job to do.

"Then I'll end it quickly."

The three Ophidians raised their crossbows and their leader grit her teeth. "Drop it to the ground or it will be your head that drops!"

Behind in in the treeline, Charter noted some rustling. Bea stuck her head out, a trio of throwing daggers at the ready.

"Look lady I'm not dropping my weapon and I would be a fool to trust people that have me surrounded, and want me weapon less. Now I suggest that you put your weapons down or a dire wolf will come and maul you."

"There are no Dire wolves in this part of the woods, fool!" The lead Ophidian pointed her sword at his neck. "I am calling your bluff!"

"Bad idea, snake!" Bea jumped out of her tree and through her knives. They hit the three crossbow cords, disabling them and leaving the three Ophidians exposed.

Charter whistled and four dire wolves appeared lead by one that’s heavily armored.” Now then I suggest you rather work with us or leave.”

The snake woman looked at the four beast and slowly nodded. "Very well. We... will allow you to help us. But then you must leave!" She pointed her sword, cautiously, to the west. "One of the beasts is a short distance that way. We go to destroy it before its companions return. Follow us if you dare. Or flee like cowards. I care not which you choose."

She gave the wolves one last cautious look before slithering off in the direction she had pointed, the others following along. Bea walked up behind Charter and said, "Could have gone worse. Are we to go off on our own or join them. They could make for good leather shields."

"We help for now we could use some allies." Charter looked at Elma her legs shaking in fear. "Elma come on you improved a bit you haven't ran off."

Bea placed a hand on her shoulder. "You are mage. You are to stay in the back. I trust you to be watching my back. Come. Let us catch up before..."

She was cut off by one of the Ophidians letting out a blood curdling scream.

"And that's our que come on let's see what going on with them." As Charter and Bea went to the sound immediately Elma started to step back a bit, but Slone nudged her forward.

"Hum thanks buddy."

The group quickly found themselves in an artificial clearing, caused by a large creature destroying the trees surrounding a small lake. "A zolom," Bea whispered in surprise. Three of the Ophidians were firing their crossbows at, ironically, a giant snake. It had dark green scales and a hood by its had. In addition to striking lightning fast with its fangs, it shot a blade at the tip of its tail just as fast, nearly running one of its foes through.

As for the fourth Ophidians, he laid near where the Hunters entered, split in half at his belly with his skin sizzling and bubbling.

Elma surprisingly didn’t vomit at the sight of guts on the ground.

“Form up Slone you and the others keep it distracted Bea see if you could help the Ophidians!”

"On it, Captain!" Bea darted forward, and tossed several daggers. While a few bolts were stuck in it, most of them, along with the daggers, tossed right off. "Scales are pretty thick, Charter!" Bea yelled and switched to her trick scythe. While she failed to injure the creature, she managed to get its attention. For her trouble, she got a glob of viscous fluid that she barely dodged and which melted the ground she had just been standing on.

Charter Coated his crossbow with the armor penetrating enhancement and fired at the giant snake, that did some damage to it but not the snake was focused on Charter and went after him. Charter go on Slone and started to ride away getting it's attention while the other direwolves bit into the monster.

The chimera screeched angrily, and slashed its tail back, running one of the wolves through and tossing it to the side. "Damn it." Charter continued to fire at the monster.

Elma still shaking in fear, at the sight of the wolf being ran through and the man being cut in half. Come on Elma everyone is in trouble and they can't get trough that things scales. but if I were to freeze it. No I can't I could die I don''t have armor like everyone else, but Elma looked at Charter being chased firing his arrows at the giant monster. "No I have to help them." Elma took a deep breath and used her staff to launch some ice spikes at the giant monster trying to get it's attention.

Most missed our glanced off, but a large one ripped a chunk out of its side. It screeched loudly and charged at her.

"Elma!" She heard Bea yell. "I know you're scared, but you have to let it get close! Through up an ice shield right before it attacks!"

"Ge... Get close to it, you said I could stay in the back!" the Creature came charging at Elma it's tail looking to cut through her but Elma made a ice shield to block the attack and lock the beast in place.

It shot a glob of acid at the ice, which quickly melted it. But while it was stuck, Bea jumped on its back. Running up to its head, she flipped in front of it and slashed her scythe across its vulnerable eyes.

The beast thrashed about in a fit, stabbing its tail and firing acid randomly in a panic. "The beast is blind!" the lead Ophidian cried out. "Slay it while it is causing a ruckus!" She rushed its left side and stabbed her swords into the creature.

Elma fired ice spikes into the chest of the giant creature, While Slone climbed up the spikes allowing Charter to use his sword to cut the monster's head off. "Nice one sis, look at you being useful?" Charter could see Elma vomiting in the bushes.

The Ophidian leader laughed. "Let me guess. First monster kill? My daughter had the same reaction." She smiled at Charter. "I misjudged you it seems. You are quite brave for a human."

"I'm an honored knight it's mam, and as for my sister she killed monsters before this is her first time helping on a mission so i'm guessing it's her nerves it's nice to see my baby sister growing up."

"Well, either way, you are a friend to us. Thank you for helping to protect my men." She started to extend her hand for a handshake before she felt something hit her back. Turning her head, she looked at something long, a greenish pink, slimy, and covered in warts on her back. "The hell...?" She muttered before an electrical surge flowed through the object and into her, her body jerking and squirming uncontrollably. In a matter of seconds, she was cooked alive. The object retracted, yanking her into the lake.

"No! Damn it what the hell was that!" keep your guard up people were not out of this yet."

A pair of reptilian eyes poked out of the water for a moment before ducking in again. The object, appearing to be a tongue, shot out and barely missed Bea. The tree it hit instead crackles and burst into flames before the tongue returned to the water. "We can't fight like this," Bea said. "We need to find a way to get it out of the water."

"Um I think I could do that." Elam said raising her hand as if she was in class. Elma went near the water and put both her hands in it, her eyes went red and slowly she used her fire magic to boil the water.

"Nice sis you're doing a lot better this time then on your last mission."

It didn't take long for the trick to take effect. Front the center of The lake burst forth a second chimera. It was frog like in many ways, but it's front legs were feline. Emma's eyes were drawn to its mouth, however, that of a crocodile's, which was heading straight for her.

Elma screamed in terror and backed up but fell down on her but. Thankfully for her Slone and the other wolves pounced on the creature sinking their teeth into the frog like monster.

They injured it, but had to let it go as the taste of the mucus coating it was too horrid for them. The chimera began jumping to and fro. It slammed into Charter, knocking him to the floor, then did the same to one of the Ophidians, then Slone. Back and forth it bounced, two quick and slimy to get a good hit on.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Cleaning Up Someone Else's Mess
Part Five

"Elma." Bea dropped to her side. "Are you inured. We need your help. I think I know how to stop it but I need your help."

Elma placed a ice wall between her and the monster." What is it i'm guessing it has something to do with my ice or fire magic?"

Bea nodded. "The Chimera all slit up and went different ways. So why did these two come to this forest? Because it's hot! Even though they're man made monsters, they are still made of ectothermic animals like reptiles and amphibians. You understand?"

"So you need me to make thing hot and muggy for it or do you want me to freeze the area to slow it down?"

"The second," Bea answered. "You keep concentrating your ice into shields and spikes, but can you spread it out instead? Make it really, really cold?"

"Ou well then in that case I have a special attack i've been working on, you might want to take cover." Elma grabbed her staff, and concentrated all her magic into it. Elma spun her staff around and slammed the butt end into the ground. The area around the guild and the monsters became almost like a blizzard with ice and gust slurping around them."

The chimera shot out its tongue, which latched onto Charter's armor. For a moment, he thought this was it. He was about to be electrocuted to death. But nothing happened. Following the tongue to its owner, the Chimera's skin started to turn pale. Its eyes slowly drooped until the shut, and the creature laid down.

"Y-y-yes!" Bea cried out, shivering fiercely. "I-I-I kn-n-n-new itttt. R-r-reptiles a-and amph-ph-phibians g-g-go to ssssssleep i-in th-th-the c-c-c-cold."

"I'm sorry if you're a bit cold, I recently learned the spell and have been dying to use it did I go a bit overboard with it?"

"No sis you did good, Charter said while still on the ground."

Bea looked over to the Ophidians, both hunched over from the cold. She ran over to the chimera, shifting her weapon into a sword and slicing off its tongue, just in case it could still electrocute Charter, before stabbing the creature in the head. "G-great j-job. I-I-I think y-you can s-stop now... p-p-please."

"Ou right sorry!" Elma lifted her staff off the ground and the blizzard instantly stopped ." Wow that was amazing and I just learned that spell a few days ago to! Oh right but does anyone need healing?"

"I-I could... if you don't mind," one of the snake men said, limping over and holding a large gash on his arm.

Elma did what she was told, and started to heal the snake man's wound.

"Wow look at you sis, you relay came a long way haven't you i'm proud of you sis."

Elma smiled at her brother for the complement.

"Thank you," the Ophidian said. He looked up, and his eyes widened in shock. He quickly shoved Elma to the floor as the second Ophidian tried to stab her in the back. Missing her, he stabbed the first one in the side instead.

Elma looked at the Ophidian in shock that someone tried to kill her. "Wa... Wa... Why why are you trying to kill me, I.. I did nothing wrong I tried to help your friend and you tried to kill me?!"

"B-brother?!" the injured Ophidian cried out. "Why?!"

"Ton... em... cnat... sotp... slef..." The enraged Ophidians head jerked to the side, drool leaking from his mouth as his blood red eyes locked on Elma. "Uoy... nur!" He screamed, rushing at her with his sword raised.

Elma tried to crawl away but couldn't get very far but she made a ice berror around her to protect herself. Charter finally got up and tackled the man and punched him repeatedly.

"What the hell are you doing why are you attacking my sister!?" Charter yelled.

"Ton... wnat... smtihoeng... ctornol..." The man reach up. Despite how painful the punches we're, he seemed to completely ignore them as he attempted to choke Charter out.

"Alright let's try and do this." Elma slammed her staff to the ground and used her light magic around the area, seeing if there were anything posing the man.

Everything around her turned a deep blue. Everything, that is, except for a creature on the back of the man's neck that glowed red. Before she could say something, it fell off him and darted to the side, zooming over to Bea. The Ophidian quickly let go of Charter's neck and cried out in pain, like all the pain inflicted on him hit him at once.

“Bea look out, there’s a small creature coming your way don’t let it attach itself to you!”

Bea scanned the tall grasses around her for the creature, but saw nothing. It was too fast, and it wasn't until it jumped on her back did she know where it was. Before she could react, the slug-like chimera moved up to the back of her neck. Her head jerked and her muscles twitched before she slowly turned to Elma. Her eyes turned red, blood leaking from them, and she charged.

Elma started to run from Bea, not wanting to fight her. "Charter help me there's something controlling Bea and it's attached to her neck don't let Slone or any of the other wolves get near it."

Charter was busy catching his breath, but put a blue liquid on his sword. When he slashed his sword at Bea when he did that water came out of his sword pushing Bea into the river." Elma help the man that was cut by his brother, I will handle Bea."

"O-okay." The Ophidian flinched, holding his side. "What should I do?"

"You stay down and let me handle this." Charter looked at Bra coming out of the water. Alright so whatever is controlling Bea is on the back of her neck so let's see if I can make it quick and kill it.

Bea snapped her neck back and forth. "Nur... Crahetr... ton... hrut... paesle..." She screamed angrily, and rushed him with incredible speed, shifting her weapon into a scythe and attempting to remove Charter's head.

Charter ducked his head and pulled out his dagger and cut her side, when Bea was down Charter saw the creature controlling her. Charter attempted to use his throwing knife to kill the parasite.

Bea rolled out of the way at the last moment, the knife instead digging into her shoulder. It was apparent the chimeric parasite knew it was vulnerable and would protect itself, even at the cost of its host. Bea lifted her legs and kicked Charter away.

Charter stumbled back and went back into his bag and poured a white liquid over his dagger and his throwing knife." Alright let's try that again but me going a little bit faster." Charter ran to Bea and started to use both his dagger and throwing knife in unison going faster the what Bra and the parasite expected.

Bea slashed her sword but it only glanced off of Charter's armor. When he got around her, she moved her hand over the parasite to try and block it.

Charter elbowed her noise having her recoil in pain and Charter quickly stabbed the parasite on Bea neck dropping Bea into the water." Bea you alright?"

She gasped loudly, and held her arm in pain, the throwing knife still in it. "What was... I was... I-I couldn't... Elma! Is Elma okay?!"

Charter pointed to Elma still healing one of the Ophidian." My sister is fine, I freed you of the parasite so you were only fighting me."

"Damn it!" Bea slammed her fist against the water, splashing herself in the face. "I should have been stronger. I... I'm sorry..."

"Things happen it's just the way thing are, we should probably go check on the last remaining Ophidians."

The Vampire Bat Thrope reluctantly followed. Both Ophidians sat next to the lake, Elma finishing on the more injured one and working on the second. "Thank you," he said as she removed the bruises all over his face. "And... sorry for trying to kill you."

"You weren't yourself you were being controlled, besides i'm sure that won't be the first thing today trying to kill me."

Charter sat next to his sister ans smiled at her." Wow look at you this is only your seconded mission, and so fare. You help killed a giant monster you healing everyone you spared one of us killing these guys because you figured out he was being controlled. I'm proud of you sis great job today."

Elma kept her head down steal healing the Ophidian but under her hair she was smiling gleefully.

Bea stood nearby, keeping the ashamed look to the side. When the Ophidians were better, they both stood up and bowed their heads. "You have freed us of the deadly beasts that threaten us, and we are grateful. We will make haste to our village and make sure no one bothers you on your way out. Beware, though. It is said a creature far greater than these has been spotted to the west."

"That would be our next target," Bea stated. "Time to go meet up with the others. Hopefully they had better luck than us with their targets."

"Yea let's hope they did, though I say this was a good mission." Charter turned to his sister and patted her head. "You did great work today Elma great job."

Elma smiled at the praise she was getting." Um thanks Charter, we...We should get going."

The Ophidians bowed once more, and ran off. Bea yanked the knife out of her arm and handed it to Charter. "I'll... lead the way. Come on." Without another word, she rushed off back into the forest.

Charter put his knife back in it's sheath and him and Elma fallowed in pursuit.

*****​

Central Mirandia
Navoa Plains
12:02 p.m.

The sun was high, the sky was clear. It might have been too warm if not for the cool southern breeze and low humidity. The grass danced in the wind, there was the smell of flowers in the air, and a top a small hill was a beautiful cherry tree. In a word, it was picturesque.

Deer in smiled for one of the first times while on a mission. This beat a dank cave, or a creepy forest, or a haunted castle. Sure beat the hell out of his nightmares of being murdered back at the Manor. "Least I always die in the arms of a pretty lady," he muttered.

"Fantasizing about the way you want to go?" Eraqus asked curiously, turning his head.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Cleaning Up Someone Else's Mess
Part Six

Ferron laughed nervously. "N-not exactly. Just... happy to be somewhere nice for a change. Even if... Chimera..."

"Yes, our foes won't be easy ones. Though we have our secret weapon." The team leader smiled down at Drayce. "Feel good to be on a mission again?"

"Not really. I am reminded why I hate them. So boring..." the Thrope complained, "Besides, he annoys me! He doesn't shut up." The dragon pointed accusingly at their shared companion.

Ferron blinked a few times, sulking his shoulders. "I'm just... trying to make conversation," he said sadly.

"No one wants to hear about the long list of all the dream women you have! It is stupid!" the younger teen growled.

Ferron fell silent, lowering his gaze. Eraqus sighed and shook his head. "Don't worry, Drayce. You won't be bored for long. Three of the Chimera are in this area, and they are far stronger then any dire wolf or human."

"Well direwolves are really weak, so that doesn't mean much to me." Pulling his hood tight over his head, the teen looked over at the elf, "Isn't that right Eraqus?"

Eraqus frowned, not liking his tone, but said nothing on it. "Just keep your eyes open. We should find them..." He was interrupted by a loud roar and some screaming ahead. "...pretty soon."

"Our bad luck charm worked." Patting the Havenbrook Guild's second in command, Drayce expanded his wings, soaring into the sky with one big gust.

Ferron only frowned deeper, his already low self confidence taking a bit by being put down by a teenager. Eraqus had to urge him to keep going forward.

It seemed the Fairaven mages were not without a sense of nostalgia. Below Drayce, terrorizing a group traveling by wagon, was a traditional looking chimera. It contained the body and head of a lion, goat horns and hooves in the front, the back talons and wings of an eagle, and a nasty looking viper for a tail.

The dragon frowned a little, almost disappointed by the lack of creativity. He inhaled deeply, sending a volley of five regular fireballs down at the monster.

It smelled the air, and looked up at the incoming attack. It took off, flying towards the fireballs. It maneuvered expertly, dodging around the volley, before launching a fireball of its own at the last one. They collided and exploded, the Chimera flying through the smoke to tackle the dragon boy.

The two collided, Drayce sinking his claws into the beast to hold on as he unleashed a close range breath attack.

The Chimera roared in pain and started beating its hooves against Drayce's chest, each blow like a high speed cinder block. The tail stretched below and behind Drayce and sunk its fangs into his shoulder.

Drayce let out a yell as the beast slightly penetrated his scales, but the victory was short lived before he sunk his fangs into the tail, mangling with this claws before ripping it off.

The beast cried out in fury. It bite down hard into Drayce's other shoulder as it pushed and started a dive, intent on slamming the boy into the ground.

Drayce grit his teeth, building up more fire in his mouth that was different from the last. He unleashed his torrent of chaos fire, lighting the beast in the magically infused flames of death.

It squealed in pain and released him, flying to the side and tumbling to the ground. By this point Eraqus and Ferron had caught up, the former working on gathering the panicked civilians while Ferron took aim with his bow.

The dragon Thrope tried to straighten out but he failed as he slammed into the ground hard. Lying on the ground, he didn't want to move. He felt extremely sleepy, and he didn't like feeling exhausted.

Ferron rapidly shot at the Chimera. The good thing was he managed to draw its attention away from the fallen dragon boy. The bad news was it was now focused on him, spewing fire as her ran.

As Drayce stared up at the sky, an unusual face met his. Standing over him was a brutish looking creature, almost human but bigger and more animalistic. It had a light brown face with dark brown shell-like skin on its outside. It stared curiously into his eyes.

"A-a... Aaa..." His left hand twitched, his right hand reaching over for a ring on his middle ringer.

The chimera, a gorilla crossed with a shelled animal like an armadillo as he would later be told, grabbed his leg and lifted him like he weighed nothing, leaning forward and sniffing him.

With a bit of effort, the Thrope finally was able to reach the ring, slowly pulling it off. Drayce's body began to heat up, his eyes flaring with power as the wounds in his shoulders closed up. The dragon Thrope smirked, his body lighting on fire as he formed two orbs of chaos in his hands, throwing them into the Chimera.

It cried out in pain, it's softer belly igniting. In retaliation, it hit him him a punch that sent him tumbling. It rolled into a perfect ball, and with an unknown ability to tell where it was going, rolled towards him like a gigantic ball of death.

Drayce smiled, bringing back his hand. He threw forth a massive projection of it with chaos magic, the rolling Chimera slamming into it. The fingers wrapped around it, throwing the beast into,the air like a ball.

It slammed into the ground with enough force and weight to leave a small crater. Eraqus ran to the boy's side, sword in hand. "All civilians accounted for and safe, at least the ones that made it." He gave the partially transformed boy a cautious look. "What's the situation?"

He let out an evil grin, "Situation is under control," his body continued to grow more and more scales.

"Oooo... kay." Eraqus swirled his sword. "I'll... go help Ferron with the lion thing trying to eat him. Call if you need help." He ran towards the fleeing Ferron, tossing a fireball in the other creatures path.

Meanwhile, the gorilla chimera climbed out of its hole, looking no worse for wear but sporting an angry pout.

Drayce expanded his wings, flapping them multiple times. Crescents of dark energy flew through the air like boomerangs towards the tanky monster.

It quickly curled up, and the magical attacks left little more then nicks on its back. It seemed it would take more then that to break through its shell. Uncurling and angrily slamming its first, it slammed its fist in the ground with enough force to propel it up, then turned to send a flying fist towards the boy.

The dragon boy jumped backwards, letting the creature slam into the ground where he had stood. Lunging forward, he smashed their skulls together.

The chimera recoiled in pain, curling up and beating a retreat, though Dryace didn't fare much better. He was seeing starts, like headbutting the front of a train.

Not being able to see clearly, Drayce decided on merely burning past the thing's armor. Inhaling deeply, chaos fire shot forth, though unlike Drayce without any restraint. This version of him held little regard for collateral damage.

The gorilla-like creature didn't move. Maybe it was too hurt. Maybe it was too afraid. Maybe it was too beat down by the attack. But by the time Drayce finally stopped, the curled up creature laid still as stone, partially melted plates steaming. The land around it was scorched to Hell. On top of the nearby hill, the beautiful tree Ferron had been admiring was a gigantic torch.

Drayce dropped down to his hands and knees, admiring his work. Smoke billowed from his nose and mouth, which was twisted maniacally.

"Drayce!" Eraqus and Ferron ran over. Behind them, the other chimera lay dead, a pair of arrows in its eyes and huge gash in its belly. Eraqus gave Drayce a worried glance, gripping his sword tightly.

Drayce looked back, staring at Eraqus with his hand on his weapon. Putting a hand on his side where the puffy scar was near his heart, the Thrope took a step back, fumbling for his ring and slipping it on a claw. When he did that, it slowly began to turn back to a hand. "I-I'm... Alright."

It took a moment for Eraqus to realize that he might be scarring the boy, and quickly moved his hand to his side. "I'm sorry, Drayce. I didn't mean..." He slowly approached Drayce. "I just wanted to make sure you were... okay."

Ferron looked between them. "I, um... I thought... that was pretty cool, Drayce."

The dragon blinked several time before nodding. "N-Nice... Shooting and not... Being a chew toy."

Ferron chuckled nervously. "Yeah, well... Just barely. That seems to be my forte. Just barely escaping while distracting others."

Eraqus knelt in front of the boy and placed his hands on his shoulders. "You're not hurt, are you? You took some nasty blows there."

Smoke billowed off the young teen, his scales retreating to their normal positions on his neck, shoulders and forearms. Rubbing a hand where the chimera had bit into him, the flesh felt mended. "I'm fine. That chimera is a stone wall, but his hits didn't hurt that bad I suppose." His eyes were downcast, like he was worried about something.

Eraqus waited for him to say something. When he didn't, the Elf said, "Listen, I know I'm not Lady Havenrbrook, and I haven't given you much of a reason to trust me... or even like me. But you can talk to me if something is wrong."

"I..." Drayce looked around, taking in the destruction around him truly for the first time. "I... I can't... Control..." His eyes glistened with tears as he stepped back, shedding his cloak and robes. His wings flexed and he ran away from the men, taking to the sky. Before Eraqus and Farron could follow, the Chimera began to arise again, with a second coming towards them ready for a fight.

After a while, three birds flew by his side. They were beautiful with delightful plumage, all nearly identical save for one being blue, one green, and one red. They circled around him, obviously trying to get his attention.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Cleaning Up Someone Else's Mess
Part Seven

Drayce snarled at the birds to get them to go away, but when they refused, he groaned. He flew low to the ground, hoping they would leave him alone. He landed on a steep hill with long grass, sitting down and pulling his legs close to his chest. This was the first time he was without his baggy old looking clothing. It seemed that beneath his attire, he wore a sleeveless black shirt that was a little tight on him and somewhat short so that it didn’t just reach his waistline and a ragged looking pair of black, baggy trousers. “Stupid birds…” he grumbled, sniffling as he wiped his eyes.

“Hey, you don’t know anything about us,” the blue one stated as it circled above him.

“Yeah!” Agreed the green one. “I’m pretty smart… I think.”

“Great… now the stupid birds talk,” the dragon Thrope whispered to himself, looking up and yelling, “Go away!”

The red one landed a few feet in front of him. In a flash, it took the form of a young woman, one that looked somewhat familiar. “You’re looking a bit pathetic, boy.”

His watery eyes hardened a bit, “I don’t want you here! Go away. We can’t fight right now. I don’t want to. My wing hurts. I have a cold. Your face is stupid.” He seemed to be saying any excuse that just came to mind.

The busty woman folded her arms. “Well… at least it sounds like you can remember me. Don’t really appreciate the insults though.”

The blue bird, transforming into the goddess Nayrun, placed a hand on his wing. “Would you like me to heal you, little one?”

With his cheeks puffed out in annoyance, he stubbornly nodded. “My whole body aches.”

Nayrun held her hands out, a warm feeling filling his entire body. Forore, transforming from the green bird, took a seat next to him. “That was an impressive fight. You had no trouble taking hits from the big monkey.”

“Ape,” Nayrun corrected.

“Whatever.” Forore nudged her head towards her other sister. “Nid was impressed, even if she’d never admit it.” The power goddess just watched Drayce, her cold eyes studying him.

“I… I can’t fight like that. Never again. I am too dangerous. I don’t know how to control my power unless I wear my ring.” The young teen looked down at the piece of jewelry made of meteorite. His memory was getting so bad at this point, he could not remember the name of the old dragon who forged it for him with his own breath.

“I… n-nonsense!” Nid pointed at him angrily. “We had a deal, boy! I release you, and you will give me the fight I desire… the fight I deserve, as soon as you have fully recovered. You… I am a goddess! You can not break your promise with me!”

“Well there’s nothing I can do. I either lose myself completely or can’t fight at full power so...” he stuck out his tongue at her and gave her a big raspberry that was long enough to turn his face red and leave him huffing.

Nid’s eyes widened, her face reddening in embarrassment and frustration. “You insolent little brat! Gimme one good reason why I shouldn’t smite you right now!”

“Now, now,” Nayrun said, waving her head. “No reason to get all huffy. Sis has a bit of a temper, you see.”

“She can’t smite me anyways. Then she would well and truly lose her chance at a fight with me. Her hands are tied.” The thrope said, giving her one last sticking out of his tongue as he leaned against the green haired goddess.

Forore sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You know… you would have to be able to go all out to defeat my sister. Or even have a chance. So why does it matter how much control you have?”

Drayce looked down at his chest, reaching down and pulling his shirt over his head. Reaching down, he placed his fingers along the scar under his breast, “The last time I lost control, I destroyed that entire caravan who imprisoned me. Killed them all. And then I went to a town to kill some more. It took Grandpa and a ballista bolt near my heart to take me out of it. And then, in the field… I burned so much. Destroyed what shouldn’t have been. All just to kill that Chimera.”

“Pft, so?” Nid shrugged. “They’re just mortals. Weak mortals that had to use tricks to contain your power because they were weaker than you. They are a copper a dozen. That tree you burned was worth more.”

“It was a pretty tree.” Forore shook her head. “But be more sensitive. He is a mortal too, you know?”

“Yes, a mortal with enough power to draw my attention.” Nid turned away. “And now he wants to pack it in because he might hurt some pathetic humans.”

Drayce snarled, flying forward with enough force to send Forore tumbling down the hill from the aftershock. He collided with Nid, the two rolling around until they came to rest with Drayce on top of her. “You shut up! Humans are better than you are! Ferron was right, women with bigger boobies are dumber, because you are the dumbest of them all!”

“I will find this ‘Ferron’ and rip out his guts!” Nid snarled right back at the boy. “How can you defend those pawns? Those sheep? Did you already forget what they did to you? You are a masterpiece of power, a Thrope turned dragon! One of the most powerful mortals in the world, and they treated you like a stage show animal. You… were a stage show animal to them. They laughed at you! Humiliated you! They… deserved… to burn.”

“But not all of them! Eraqus says I am his friend, and so does Mina! Esmeralda gives me the best head pats! Aemilia said she really liked being my girlfriend. Humans hurt me a lot, and hunt me. But they also have given me a new home. I can’t remember my old one more and more every day, and the old man says he refuses to break his promise to my mother and tell me how to get home.” he brought his face close enough to hers so their noses touched, “So don’t ever think so low of my family. You don’t have a right, puny brained goddess.”

Nid breathed heavily, in and out, clearly not used to being talked to like this. Before she could snap and say something to set Drayce off even more, Nayrun placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Let us… relax a little, yes? It is unwise to get into such a tizzy when you just got out of such a big fight.” She giggled. “You can trust me, right? My boobs are small and cute, which means I have a big brain.” She looked past him. “You alright, sis?”

The courage goddess sat up, grass and leaves in her hair, her eyes spinning about. “Why’s the world going round and round?”

Drayce slowly sat up, staying on the red haired goddess’ waist. Normally the sight of a half stripped bare teen on top of a woman in such a way would have been a scandalous sight were they not safely miles away from where any person would be. He slowly chuckled at the sight of Forore.

“Can you kindly get the hell off…” Nid started before Nayrun placed her hand over her sister’s mouth.

“Now, I think I have a solution to our dilemma,” the wisdom goddess announced. “Now, surely, for the sake of getting the most out of a fight, you would want to battle Drayce when he is at full strength and has full control, right? No use testing his metal if he is blind with rage.”

She removed her hand, and Nid muttered, “I guess not.”

“Right. And Drayce, surely you wouldn’t want to simply give up on your fantastic strength when you could possibly channel it and use it to protect the humans you like. Is this not so?”

“Yeah but… I can’t channel it.” he said slowly, confused as to what she was getting at.

“Well, there are plenty of options for you to learn control,” Nayrun insisted. “Why, I myself could instruct you on learning some inner peace and supplementing your brawn with a healthy dose of brain. What’s more, there are a number of gods and goddesses that could teach you control. I realize you have no reason to trust many of them, but you trust Uladan, right? I am sure, given the proper motivation, both our parents could make for decent instructors.”

Drayce nodded once, “I… suppose that could work. Yeah.” he leaned back down again to get face to face with Nid. “Until our fight, you can take my left eye. That way I cannot break my promise with you. Humans call it eye for an eye, right?”

Nid chuckled. “That… isn’t exactly what that expression means, but if you really want to give me such a piece of collateral…”

“Just my eyesight. I think extracting it fully would be painful…” With a deep breath, he got off of her. “When I beat you, Nayrun can restore it. If Aemilia can go without two, I can live temporarily without one.”

“You really are a brave one.” Forore walked over. “I think I’m starting to see what Nid sees in you.”

Nid grinned, and held her hand over his left eye. A blue flame flowed from it. She held the flame in her palm, looking into his now pale eye. “I will keep it safe and secure,” she assured him, closing her hand. “Just don’t get yourself killed by hitting something in your blindspot.

“And you don’t… um… trip cause… um… you’re…. Top heavy!” He thought of finally, donning his shirt once more. He waved at the other goddesses, flying off to head back to town to meet up with the other teams.

*****​

Central Mirandia
Pikerd Fields
July 24th, 3349
12:22 p.m.

Several day had passed since the separate teams had defeated their own groups of Chimera, but one still remained. One that had stayed unusually quiet despite Fairaven having had referred to it as ‘the biggest and most dangerous.

Not content with waiting any longer, nor waiting it for it to make its presence known by way of the destruction of some unsuspecting town, Erin had devised a way to lure it. Casting something of an animal summoning spell, it was designed to attract as many animals at once. The hope was to repel normal animals while attracting one made up of several different creatures. For thirty minutes, it hadn’t worked, but Erin insisted they give it more time.

Meanwhile, Eraqus stood with an apprehensive look. It was clear that something weighed heavy on his mind, something distracting.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Cleaning Up Someone Else's Mess
Part Eight

Betty looked over at him, a lot of her mind herself, but willing to give him some time. “Eraqus? Is everyzhing alright?”

Eraqus sighed in frustration. “No… not really. Drayce flew off in the middle of our fight. We finished off our targets just fine, but… he didn’t come back. Maybe it was a bad idea to bring him along. I don’t know what I’m more worried about. Whether he’ll come back or not, or what Lady Havenbrook will do to me when she finds out about this.”

“I'm sure he'll come back, we saved him.” Betty pointed out.

Eraqus slowly nodded. “I hope you’re right.” He slowly looked around. “Where’s the d… the girl? You didn’t want you to help us fight?”

“I don't want her to get hurt. She whined, she wanted to protect me. But… I couldn't in good conscious put her in danger…” The Fly explained, “Especially after we were just reunited.”

“Understandable. I just… wish we had more help. The whole reason we brought Drayce along was his incredible power…” He gave Betty a small, grateful smile, and walked over to Charter. “If this works, we’ll be in for quite a fight. You and Kva will need to take over if I fall for any reason, alright?”

“Understood. Although if that happens Ms. Havenbrook would be inconsolable, so try to keep your blood inside you.” The Dark Hunter in question said, walking up to the two. She was wearing a new set of leather armor that she scavenged from a destroyed storefront, the locals weren't too interested in stopping her.

Eraqus looked her up and down. “Looking good for a woman who was eaten alive. Not something I envy you for.” He glanced over to Elma. “Will she be okay for this fight, Charter? You said she did well in the last.”

“She will do fine Eraqus, she did great in the last fight hell she was practically by herself in that fight and handled it well. She’s a powerful mage that I knew but i didn't know how powerful she was, she will be a great asset to us in the fight… If she holds her nerves that is.”

“We’ll need her. And soon.” Erin lowered her staff. “Get ready everybody. It will be here any moment now. Elma! I’ll need you to work with me. If we use our spells in tandem, they’ll be much more effective.”

Elma nodded her head in agreement. “Right I learned that ice magic is most effective against these things, so I can take the bulk if needed Erin .”

The group was able to see the approaching Chimera long before it had arrived, swooping down from above the clouds, quite a distance away. As it came closer and closer, its size stuck a chord of fear in even the bravest of hearts. The most frightening thing about it was its shape, long and slender, with four legs and mighty wings, it was shaped like a dragon, though made up of a hodgepodge of various animals. A deer, a goat, a snake, a lion, an eagle, a lizard, a horse, a bat. All coming together to form this terrifying creature that swooped down from above, heading straight for the Havenbrook Hunters.

Betty’s weapon arm quivered slightly at the sight of the massive beast, however she pulled herself together as best she could taking aim and firing her pistol at the creature as it plummeted towards them. It landed with a mighty thud, dirt pluming up into the air. So much of it rose up that is obscured the creature as it slowly leaned its head forward.

When nothing happened at first, Bea whispered, “Maybe it isn’t hos-” The Chimera let out a roar that threatened to deafen everyone, and shot out a stream of fire the incinerated the grass and trees where half the group had been standing moments before, reducing it to ash.

“Attack!” Eraqus yelled. “Mages, support! Heavy hitters, target its sides! Runner, hit it from behind! Avoid its teeth and claws!”

Kva moved forward brazenly, using her traditional strategy of ghosting out of the way of it's swipes with her mist form, then delivering a punishing blow, tearing off scales with her whip.

Elma was shaking when she saw the creature, her legs trembling Elma herself shaking like a small animal but she calmed herself down and started to launch Ice spikes into the creature hoping it will do something to the monster.

As for Charter he pulled out his crossbow and poured the green liquid over his crossbow and the bolts giving them an increase in penetration hoping he can pierce the monster skin.

The creature yelled out in rage as damage was dealt, but a lot of it was small in the grand scheme of the gigantic monster. “Oh, man!” Ferron complained, running along the creature’s side. “I did not sign up for this…” He fired again and again, hitting the creature in more vulnerable spots, but felt he was doing nothing. He made his way to the back, a strange creature sitting on his shoulders and gripping his tightly. “Gonna have to do this the… the insane way…” His eyes widened as he dropped to his knees and bent his back, just in time for the tree-sized tail to miss tossing him into the horizon.

While Elma cast her ice spells, Erin slowly chanted to herself. To the others, she had done nothing since the fighting had started, but Elma could feel the power growing inside the rabbit woman. “Elma… in a couple minutes, I’m going to have to borrow some of your power.”

“What! But your a better witch then I am why do you need my powers for?”

“Don’t… sell yourself short.” Erin smiled. “You have plenty to contribute.” A glowing red orb of massive power appeared over her head.

Elsewhere, Bea flew up high, tossing dagger after dagger at the beast’s head. For such a large target, it was surprisingly difficult to hit in the eyes as it moved its head about. It suddenly looked up at her, and a snort from its nose was enough to fire a ball of flames that singed her wing, causing her to tumble to the ground.

“Bea!” Betty yelled, flipping a switch on her gauntlet and disabling the recoil dampeners. She then slammed the ground, launching herself up towards the large wing of the monster. As the Fly reached it, she reengaged her dampeners and struck the wing with the full force of her weapon. The strike snapped the fragile wing bone of the Chimera, causing it to shriek and quickly spin around, throwing Betty off towards the side and into the outer wall of a now abandoned building, cracking the wood of the structure slightly.

Charter slid across the ground, arms outstretched to catch the falling Thrope. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah… just a bit singed.” Bea quickly stood up again, and formed her scythe. Showing neither fear nor pain, despite the burning she felt, she ran for the monster once more. Slowly but surely, its wounds were building up. But would everyone last long enough to see through to the killing blow.

Eraqus rushed off to make sure the first casualty hadn’t been claimed. Firing fireball after fireball behind him, he charged into the old building, nearly tripping over the partially collapsed floor. “Betty! Betty, where are you!”

The Fly groaned as she sat in the indentation of the cracked wooden wall, rubbing her back, a few large splinters inbedded in her armor but not striking flesh. “Eraqus? I-I'm alright…”

“Can you move?” The Elf captain pushed aside several boards and beams. “Give me your hand,” he said, holding it out to her. “Need to… help the others if you still can.”

She gripped his hand quickly, allowing him to pull her out. “Right… I'm lucky zhat didn't break anyzhing…”

“Nothing on yourself.” Eraqus patted her on the shoulder. “Chimera wasn’t so lucky. Come on!”

Back on the back of the large creature, Ferron rushed along the spine, firing arrows into its back as he ran along. “Kva!” he yelled, watching as the woman practically danced along, slashing away. “I-I think Betty messed up on of its wings! Can you… I don’t know, get the other?!”

“I Can!” Kva quickly leapt off it's claw as it swiped at her, planting both her feet on the creature’s back. The Death Priest swiped the scales off of it then delivered a precision cut with her rapier, severing the appendage clean.

“Whoa…” Ferron slid to a stop next to her. “How…” He shook his head, knowing this wasn’t the time.

Done in front of the creature, Eraqus jumped up and jabbed his sword into the paw of its front right. It went in a little too well, as he was picked up and shook about like a leaf. He fell to the ground, and the same paw he had damaged came to pin him down.

Charter riding on Slone picked up Eraqus and dogged the paw. “Now is not the time for you to be resting my friend can’t have you dying now we have a monster to kill.” Charter fired his crossbow at the monster getting it’s attention.” Come on boy move it.” Slone started to run faster trying to evade the monster while Charter still fired crossbow bolts into the giant beast.

Eraqus held Slone tightly, looking around at the battlefield. The creature was broken and bleeding, but still fighting hard, while everyone else was running out of energy, and thus they were running out of time.

Despite her lack of participation thus far, Erin’s expression was one of deep focus and concentration. A large, yellow sphere of energy joined the red and green one hovering overhead. “N-now, Elma. Feel the energy in these magical orbs? I need you to form another one from the water magic you use to use your ice powers. It needs to be of the exact amount of power as them. No more, no less. Can you do that for me?”

“Um okay, I can try.” Elma did what she was told filled the magical orbs with her ice magic matching the amount power in the that’s in the orb.” A..Alright It’s done Erin now what?”

“Now we need to open its mouth. Hitting it anywhere else might not work.” Erin finally opened her eyes. “Someone get that thing to open wide! Bate a fireball!”

“I-I have a more… safe idea!” Ferron yelled from atop the creature’s back. Evidently, despite all the arrows he had pumped into it, it hadn’t seen him as enough of a threat to shake him off. “Betty! I, uh… I need you to hit it in the neck as hard as you can!”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Cleaning Up Someone Else's Mess
Part Nine

“Right!” Betty said, hopping over and just barely dodging a swinging claw as she pulled herself up it's front right leg, placing a foot against its body and jumping down for a hammer blow to it's neck with her gauntlet at full power.

With another mighty roar, the Chimera lifted its neck up reflexively. “Time to give it a try,” Ferron said to the creature on his shoulder. “Just do like I said.” Reaching back, the man pulled out a rather strange looking arrow. The arrow head was larger than normal, and there was a metal pole running through it and out the back. He took aim, waited, and fired. At that moment, the red creature on his shoulders, which could only be described as a monkey mixed with a cat, jumped up and produced a stream of lightning, which chased and struck the arrow as it hit the Chimera’s head.

The dragon like beast opened its jaws wide as it was electrocuted. “Elma!” Erin cried out. “Freeze its jaw!”

“Right!” Elma grabbed her staff and used it to make a spray of ice the ice started to stick to the monsters giant jaws.” Hurry Erin that won’t hold it for very long.”

“On it!” The orbs swirled about in front of Erin. “Almighty sages of the past, all knowing, all powerful. Deliver to my a fraction of your strength. My the fools who stand before me crumble before your might!” The orbs combined, a much larger sphere of pure energy ready to explode taking shape. “Number 99! Quad-Magic Attack!”

The magic flew toward the monster just as its jaw was breaking out of its frozen state, and it flew into its mouth and down its throat as said jaw closed. There was a few tense moments of silence as no one moved, not even the Chimera. Finally, there was the sound of a muffled explosion, blood bursting out of the many wounds on the creature as it collapsed like a ragdoll.

The spell down, Erin collapsed herself, crumpling to the ground. Elma for her part also collapsed after giving so much energy to Erin. Elma smiled weakly at her. “Good job. Couldn’t have done it without you. Literally.”

Charter smiled at his sister. “Heh, I’m so proud of her she still has ways to go but if the Elma from a few months ago can see this she will be shocked that she was this brave, great job sis.” Charter picked up Elma and put her on Slone.” Right might want to get Erin and put her on my other wolf, though I’m sure she won’t like it.

“I can handle carrying Erin back… or we could both get on a wolf?” The Tinkerer Suggested, walking up and wrapping her arm around Erin. “You were wonderful out zhere.”

Erin gave her a tired smile, holding onto her tight. “Wasn’t just me. That thing was too powerful to take down, even with my spell, if it hadn’t been weakened first.” She weakly reached up and brushed some soot from Betty’s hair. “Are you okay? I’m sorry I… when you fell, I almost abandoned my spell to go look for you. I know I shouldn’t have… but part of me wishes I had.”

Betty just shushed her by planting a kiss on her lips, chuckling, “I'm fine. Just… Zhink my back will be sore… For a while… Might need a masseuse…”

“Everyone, head back to town.” Eraqus said, rolling his shoulders. “Kva, Charter. We, um… we’ll have to come up with a way to destroy this thing.”

“Ah… Yes… We don't have to do that anymore, did we forget to mention?” The Fencer looked back, pulling her engorged red rapier from the body of the Chimera.

Erin smiled at him as Betty carried her away. “They tried to weasel out of giving Eliza back. They cut half the pay, so we do half the work.”

“Well…” Eraqus smiled at Charter. “Sounds good to me. Any objections?”

“Nope they're not my problem, now as for the body i’ll go talk to the council here my home will get some benefit from their mess I’ll be home in a few weeks don’t wait up on me.” Charter and Slone made there way away from the group hoping the Miridan council could get the monsters remains.

*****​

Thirty minutes later, Eraqus slowly circled the giant creature, rubbing his chin.

“Copper for your thoughts, sir?”

The Elf captain jumped and turned around. “Ferron! I… where did you come from? I didn’t know you here…”

Ferron’s head slumped down a bit. “S-story of my life, sir. But, um… are you okay?”

Eraqus sighed. “Not sure if it is right for Mirandia to get a hold of this thing.”

“Because it could expose Fairaven? They already tried to break the deal with us,” his fellow Elf reminded him.

“Which they’ll deny. Though no, I’m just afraid of what Mirandia could learn from it. What if they just make another monster… with the base of a dragon.”

“I’m sure there isn’t too much they would learn from it. I mean… it’s dead, and will rot to much for it to be of much use by the time they get to it, right?” Ferron smiled triumphantly at the fallen beast, happy to be a part, even a small part, in taking it down. “Oh!” He ran to the front of it. Mumbling, he said, “No one would mind if I took a small souvenir. Surely.” He pushed open its mouth. “Question is how I’ll explain it crossing the border…” He pulled out a knife, and stabbed it into the Chimera’s gums.

The creature’s eyes opened, and a huff of breath sent Ferron flying back. Eraqus ran to his side as the beast slowly stood up again. “Son of a…”

Ferron climbed to his feet, his knees shaking as her reached for one of the few arrows he had left. “W-we can t-take it, right? I-I mean… i-it took a giant explosion to the belly, right?”

“One that should have obliterated its insides,” Eraqus answered, pulling out his sword. “If it could survive that… what hope do the two of us have,” he added, pessimism thick in his tone as the beast glared down at them, blood red, murderous eyes ready to strike.

There was a loud whistle through the sky, both beast and the Hunters looking to see what had created it. A small ball of fire traveled towards the Chimera, hitting the side of its head and exploding in a much larger display than the size would have given off. Drayce hit the ground, sliding several feet and extending his claws, feet firmly on the ground. Eraqus would note his lack of clothing from before, missing his robes and cloak, instead wearing his sleeveless black shirt and baggy trousers. “I didn’t leave you two with this one… where did it come from?”

Eraqus let out a small laugh, both of humor and relief. “This is the largest of the group. We think it was hiding in the clouds.”

Ferron held an arrow ready to firing, glancing between the recovering creature and Drayce. “I-I-It’s survive being slash, stabbed, punched, shot, speared, having both its wings damaged, and an explosion inside it. I-I think we should run…” He eyed its gigantic legs, sighing at the realization that they had no hope of outrunning it.

Drayce grimaced, his body becoming more relaxed. “Eraqus…” His right hand balled into a fist. “What is this Chimera made of?”

“A, um… a lot of things,” the Elf answered. “From what we were told, it is a combination of a dozen or more animals, from goats to lizards, lions to snakes, horses to eagles. The data we were given had an ingredient left out. I’d say, based on the size and shape of the creature, and the appearance of its head… they somehow got hold of a dragon’s DNA.”

“I-it breathes fire like one, too,” Ferron added. “Do… is that a normal dragon thing? I-I don’t want to be racist and… you know, assume…”

“Both of you go.” Drayce told them both firmly. “I’d get as far away as possible.” the boy turned, giving them both a confident grin, his right eye glowing intensely, even his now silver left eye seeming to shimmer. “You’d just get in the way. But after I kill this thing, let me know where to find the bozos who made this. I’m going to find my home.”

“What?! Y-y-you’re strong, but… I-I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let a kid fight this thing all…” Ferron said, but Eraqus grabbed his arm.

“He’s right,” Eraqus reluctantly admitted. “We’re both tired, and Drayce can not beat this thing if he can’t go all out, and he can’t do that if we are here.”

Ferron, duty to Eraqus, worry for Drayce, and general cowardice fighting, he quickly nodded and started running with Eraqus. “Don’t die, Drayce!” The Chimera watched them run for a few seconds before, quick as a snake, its tongue shot out and wrapped around Ferron’s waste. “D-damn it…” He looked at Eraqus. “T-tell Titania… I think she’s cuuuu-” The tongue pulled him away.

Suddenly, the elastic muscle was severed, causing Ferron to drop to the ground. There was a strong gust of wind blowing from the other direction, Drayce surrounded by an aura of black, his right eye glowing so much, a wisp of flames danced off it. “Your fight is with me…” he growled, turning to the Chimera.

It roared angrily, all rage focused on the boy now. It lifted its front left leg, and talons flew towards Drayce with surprising speed, razor sharp and black as midnight. His wings extended behind him, flapping once to cause a slipstream of air to knock away the talons. Feet digging into the ground, he flew forwards with enough force to leave behind a crater, his right fist becoming engulfed with fire as he swung for the Chimera’s head.

The creature’s head swung back from the force of the punch, a couple of the excessively large fangs Ferron had desired flying out. Not stunned for very long, it jumped back to get in a better position, and opened it might maw. A torrent of flames, like a wall of pure fire, erupted forth, intent on burning the boy to cinders like it had to much of the surrounding land.

Holding his arms together in front of him crossed, the attack washed over him completely, disappearing completely from view. The beast kept the flame going, its instincts telling it this was needed for such prey.

“Damn it!” Ferron said from a nearby hill from which he spied. “Please tell me the boy is fire proof.”

“Fire resistant, maybe,” Eraqus muttered. “But I don’t think he’s ever been in such an inferno… if he is even still in one piece in there…”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Cleaning Up Someone Else's Mess
Part Ten

“You mortals worry too much.” The Elves looked with confusion at the three woman sitting nearby, wondering where they had come from. The one in red stated, “It will take far more than this to take Drayce out. He would not have caught my eye if he was this fragile.”

Finally, the beast let up, more out of exhaustion than anything else. The closest thing such a creature could have to a look of pride was on its face, observing not even ash where Drayce had been.

“You think that is a dragon’s fire?” A voice that carried on the wind yelled out, booming for a long ways off. Drayce floated down, his left side covered in blackened scales, his arm replaced with a massive dragon’s arm. His head was tilted to the side, his pants now burning shorts, his shirt completely burned away. His skin wasn’t even damaged. It only looked slightly tanned, sweat rolling down profusely. “This, is real dragon fire…” Opening his mouth, a huge torrent of black flames spat outwards, the breath attack fanning out.

The beast screamed out, a new cry of true pain as its front right leg was scorched and blackened. It quickly swung around, throwing it’s tree-thick tail into Drayce. The Thrope grabbed onto the tail with his right hand, using his left to begin slicing into it, the scales shattering away like the cheap knockoffs they were.

Ferron cringed. “Ugh… I almost feel bad for the monster.” Noting the odd look Eraqus gave him, he quickly said, “I-I said almost.”

“Is this the power you were looking for?” The woman in blue asked.

“This?” The lady in red smirked. “Don’t make me laugh. This is nothing compared to the power he’ll have once he is truly ready for me.”

Now looking desperate, barely able to support any weight on its scorched leg, the Chimera turned more feral. It chomped, it slashed, it even tried to simply slam into Drayce. It was relying on its size to get any hits to connect. With one wing broken and the other severed, it had nothing to Drayce’s maneuverability.

Any hits the teen seemed to receive merely knocked him back and left him him minor pains, the Chimera needing to draw deep on whatever it had hidden within it to defeat him. It jumped, away instead of forward, and Drayce could sense a great welling of power from within. Its skin visibly lightened as it drew on its very life force for one, last, desperate maneuver. It opened its maw wide, and instead of a flame, a beam of pure energy fired forth.

The woman in green gasped loudly. “That’s arcane magic!”

Drayce’s eyes widened, forming a barrier of black that was blasted away almost immediately, sending the dragon Thrope into the countryside, driving him down into the earth. “No!” Farron yelled out.

“Damn it.” Eraqus slammed his fist down. “If I knew it could do something like that…” He quickly stood up, but the woman in blue stood in his way. “Move! I have to finish this!”

“Even drained of its energy, you will not be able to finish it alone,” she countered.

“Then you do it!” Eraqus shouted. “I’ve already assumed your goddesses by your line about us mortals. Do something!”

“We… we can not interfere. Tell him…” She looked to the side and blinked in surprise. “Where… where did Nid go?”

Deep in the smoked earth, Drayce had his eyes half open, a fair amount of blood coughed up onto his chest. His dragon features having reverted, he looked normal at the moment, his intake of breath raspy. “Come on, kid!” Nid slid down, dropping to his side. “This thing is nothing! A fake! A fabrication! Barely even dragon.You! You are a dragon, Drayce! You have almost beat it!”

His eye slid over to her, clearly not able to talk due to the extent of his injuries. His left hand barely rose, before falling, the bones clearly broken underneath from the sharp pain. He looked over at the smooth black ring on his middle finger.

Nid quickly grabbed his hand. “I… I’m sorry Drayce. I can not interfere. You have to beat it. I… you might hate me for doing this after you swore not to again, but… it must be done.” With a sigh, she removed his ring. “You must vanquish your enemy.”

The last sentence barely met his ears, his eyes dilated as his body changed. A bestial roar shook the earth as a black shape flew from the hole, the two dragons colliding with one another, the smaller one vicious in its attacks. The Chimera fought with all it had, desperately clawing and snapping, but soon chunks of its flesh were dropping like visceral rain. In desperation, it slammed it head into the black dragon, sending him flying back. It quickly gathered up energy again, it skin becoming pale as death, and shot out another beam of energy, not nearly as powerful but still quite dangerous.

The dragon spun in the air, barely dodging the beam as it scraped against his left side. Full dragon form, there was no cognitive thought other than that he had been hurt, and he had to fight back. So he did, sending several fireballs at the beast, only to be hit out of the air by the massive tail he was not ready for this time.

In his own head, Drayce sleepily watched the fighting happen. He could watch, but it was like watching what was going on behind a thick window. However, he could not even move his body to reach for the glass. Tiredness clawed at his eyes even more, until finally, his eyes closed and he gave over complete control to the dragon within.

The next thing Drayce felt was… warmth, strangely enough. It wasn’t hot nor lukewarm, but the type of heat you felt when wrapped up in thick blankets. Shifting slightly, he found himself bound. It was odd, being restricted so, but he noticed that it indeed was a blanket. His cheek was laying against a soft shoulder, a hand stroking his back that seemed entirely too large. Looking up with barely one eye open, he saw a lady he had never seen before. Her face was pretty enough, by no means beautiful though. There was a plainness to her, a face that you could not pick out of a crowd. She had calm brown eyes, though her small mouth was pursed together in concern.

Her chest rose and fell quickly. Was she out of breath? Maybe, but it seemed strange that she was so stoic even if she had been out running. By why would she be running with him? In fact, where was he? Everything seemed so foreign, but he could regard this woman with such clarity. Suddenly, she stopped, and turned. Now she seemed worried, but also angry. Her mouth opened and she yelled, but whatever left her mouth was quiet and unintelligible to Drayce. She looked shocked, but that seemed off. She was just shouting angrily. There was another warmth this time. This time it rolled across his face slowly. It was very sticky, and an odd color. Suddenly he felt the wind blowing, but why was it so hard? Was it supposed to be stormy? He couldn’t recall. Suddenly he was surrounded in another liquid, but this time it was cold. So cold it made his bones ache. He opened his mouth and something rushed in. It was dark now. He tried to thrash, but the blanket constrained him. There was no soothing hand now. Why did that terrify him more than anything else as his eyes closed again.

Now he sat cross-legged, a frown on his face. Drayce remembered now. He had run away from home because Liandriana had scolded him for trying to fly when he had no wings. He hated when she brought up he wasn’t a dragon. He lived with all of them, so how was he not one of them? Now he sat alone in a cave, scowling into the darkness. Even if he wasn’t a dragon now, he would be one day. He would be the bestest and most strong dragon to ever live in the north!

He huffed childishly. He would burn them all. I know what it is you seek, young one. A dark, brooding voice told Drayce from the darkness. Two eyes the size of massive slanted boulders peered at him, the irises the color of the sun mixed with puke green. He giggled at the thought but the growl from the dragon chilled his blood. A massive head came from the shadows, scales seeming even blacker than midnight itself. But power comes at a cost. You awoke me from my slumber, and for that I should destroy this continent and slumber somewhere more peaceful. The hassle would require me to fully awaken, but these old bones only wish for more slumber. If I grant what you wish, you will leave this place, and never return. Do, and doom the world at your own behest.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Cleaning Up Someone Else's Mess
Part Eleven

Drayce bounced up and down, not even listening. This old geezer dragon knew he wanted to be a dragon, and better yet, could make him one! His blood was no longer chilled, it was extremely fired up. He nodded harder than he had in his entire life.

Hmph… Maybe the chaos sown by this untrained spirit will be penance enough for bothering me. Touch my claw. And remember not to come back. Destroy this world in my place, and let this old god slumber. A massive claw reached out, and the young child ran forwards, jumping up and grabbing hold tightly in a hug. The pain that followed afterwards seared itself into Drayce’s mind.

He flew now high in the air. His mother -her scaleless skin shimmering in the moonlight besides him- chuckled amusingly. “Your change was unexpected my boy. Given time, I knew your true nature would finally come out.” Drayce laughed. She would never know the truth, but he didn’t care. His wish had been granted. The wind did feel quite nice across his face. He smiled wide, but he shivered. The night air was always cold, and he knew frost would develop on his wings if he didn’t sleep close to the fire his mother made for him tonight. He wished he had something to warm him. His back felt colder than any other part of his body. That was strange for the dragon, and he wondered why it was like that.

Drayce’s eyes snapped open, goosebumps rolling across his body. He remembered. Sure, he had a few fragmented memories before but this… he felt whole memories. Many lay scattered, fractured apart in a jumbled mess, but there were whole ones among them. Tears flooded down his face, the young teen scrubbing at his face in an odd mixture of happiness, relief but the oddest emotion was a deep and profound sadness. Wrapping his arms around himself, he shook from how cold he felt, the fight going on behind the glass unimportant to him.

A pair of arms wrapped around him from behind. The arms glowed with a golden light, perforating the darkness of where he was. Looking back, he saw the face of the girl from before. She gave him a small, wry smile, as if he finally found her after a long game of hide and seek. She leaned forward, kissing his forehead, and giving his unkempt, spiky hair a slight jostle with her hand. She kept it there for a few moments, causing the teen to have color rise to his cheeks. She was dressed in a plain red and black kimono-like dress with a diamond in the abdomen that exposed her stomach a bit, as well as having the shoulders exposed. Black cat ears twitched on top of her head, which he reached out and tugged. The woman scowled and smacked his hand away, but not before letting out a silent laugh.

She pointed to the glass, causing Drayce to look at it and finally see. He and the Chimera seemed to be on even terms, but Drayce could suddenly feel pain creeping into his body. He stepped forward, finally realizing he could move his whole body. Running to the glass, he pressed his hand against it and pushed. It pressed in a little like it was plastic before rebounding back and forcing Drayce on his butt. Growling, he got up and ran head first into it: literally. Once again, he found himself on his rear. The woman was next to him, shaking her head, hand covering her face indignantly. Helping him up, the woman pressed his hand against the glass again. It felt noticeably feebler now. She dissolved into golden sparkles, Drayce tightening his face with determination and pressed again. The glass caved in, but didn’t quite break yet. He felt a warmth touch the small of his back, like a gentle caress. Yet the warmth spread through his body, and he felt the force of someone shove him from behind. He tumbled head first through the window and the darkness vanished.

A distance away, Ferron stared on in utter fascination and fear. For Eraqus’ part, it was taking everything he had not to rush in, especially as the beast slammed the berserked Drayce to the ground and smashed its good front claw into him over and over again.

“Negligent!” Nayrun shouted. “How could you be so negligent?!”

“What was I supposed to do?” Nid folded her arms. “I am not allowed to interfere and kill the beast, so he needed to.”

“And you don’t call removing the ring interfering?!” her sister countered.

“I won’t let him die for such a stupid reason like losing to this artificial… thing!”

“Doesn’t much matter,” Forore muttered suddenly. “He’s losing now. Seems even with the power boost, he still loses too much control for it to matter…” the goddess in green had to cut herself off as a shock wave rolled over the hill they were observing on, causing her to fly backwards.

The smaller, black dragon the beast had been stamping down on was no longer there. It seemed he had finally been delivered the final blow to kill Drayce. However, the Chimera’s claw was slowly being raised, and the others realized it was not of its own volition. Below, Drayce was back to human form, but pushing up the massive beast with one arm. He was entirely bigger than his normal self, looking like a man ten years older. His wild unkempt hair fell down below his waist, his body more muscular than before. The air around him rippled, the heat warping the air around him. He shoved his arm the rest of the way up, causing the Chimera to fall backwards as he slowly climbed out of the crater the rest of the way. His wounds seemed to have healed themselves, sealing themselves together as steam rose off his body from the sweat evaporating as it was made.

“Oh…” Nid smiled widely, licking her lips. “Better than I could have hoped for…”

The Chimera quickly regained its footing, and turned back. It went to chomp Drayce, looking to eat him whole if need be. Raising his left hand, a claw as massive as he remembered it being forming behind him out of pure black flames that seemed to illuminate shadows instead of light. Backhanding the Chimera, it was sent rolling across the ash covered field. The arm- controlled like a stringless puppet- disappeared soon after..

“Whoa.” Ferron squinted his eyes. “Is that really Drayce?” Eraqus simply watched on in silent contemplation. The Chimera slowly rose to its shaking feet, its charred leg collapsing. Using what little bit of life energy it had left to spare, it attempted a final blast of arcane energy.

Two completely smooth orbs of black formed in either hand of the dragon given human form, slamming them together to form one larger piece. The ball expanded larger and larger, forming a massive sphere of pure black that blocked out the sun for the observers not far away. A shadowy form of a dragon’s head formed around Drayce’s entire body, like the ball was emanating from its gaping maw. The ball suddenly condensed down to the size of a marble before Drayce roared, the image of the massive dragon head ‘breathing’ out a pure black beam that met the arcane one, and shattered it like it was nothing. That beam collided with the Chimera, sending it flying into the air from the pure force of it, shooting higher and higher until finally, there was an explosion of black flames. The shockwave so so strong that it blasted away the clouds in the sky into a perfect ring where the explosion had been, wind scattering ash in all directions. The Chimera Drayce had hit and sent into the sky simply… ceased to be there any longer.

The dragon head closed its mouth, and suddenly evaporated like it was mist. When it was gone, it revealed normal form Drayce, left only in tattered, charred shorts laying face down in the ash. Eraqus was at his side in record time, carefully turning him onto his back. “Drayce?! Are you still with us?”

It seemed time for panic was short-lived, the young teen merely snoring very lightly as he was unconscious. Weirder still than anything he had seen previous, Eraqus saw a smile on Drayce’s face.

Eraqus couldn’t help but smile back, and lifted him up. “Come, Ferron. Let’s return to the others.”

Ferron nodded. “I’ll carry him.” He took the boy. “He, um… might not like me much. Find me an annoying bad luck charm… but he did save our lives.” He positioned Drayce on his back. “Least I can do for him.”

The two walked on in the direction of town, Eraqus looking back to the hill they had been on. The women were gone, but three birds circled overhead. Two flew off, but the red one lingered, watching Drayce for a while before finally flying off to catch up with the others.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

MarineAvenger & ZombieSplitter53
Being a Havenbrook
Part One

Lyr twisted his back, looking to his right calf, the mangling he had healed with the help of Esmeralda. He sat with his shirt sleeves rolled up while sitting on the elf's desk, a thankful look on his face, "Thanks for this. Erin would have gone straight to Mina if she had found out about this on top of my absence."

"Now was it the big wolf that did this one, or one of the little ones?" she asked, looking it over to make sure she had done a well enough job. "Either way, it looks like it was painful as heck."

"Does it matter which one did it or not? I'm better now, so that is all that matters." Lyr shrugged, reaching a hand up and scrubbing it through his hair. "Just so you know, it was painful. I don't recommend it."

"Oh, trust me, I have a good idea. My boyfriend has a dire wolf, and those jaws... woof. I mean... their deadly looking, I was... making a woof noise because..." She giggled. "Anyway, why don't you want your mom to know about this. Isn't it her job to worry and stuff?"

"I don't need her worrying about me. Her problem is that she worries too much. All she needs to focus on is running the manor and making sure she and her baby is healthy. If she micromanages me to no end, how is she supposed to do either." The Ophidian slid off the elf's desk, clenching his left hand. "I am supposed to protect her. Not the other way around."

"Yes, but you can not protect her unless you protect yourself first." Esmeralda smiled. "So if you get hurt again, come on by. I love to help, and it isn't everyday I get to practice my light magic. Usually more focused on wind..."

"And you'll tell her nothing, right?" Lyr questioned stonily, wrapping his black scarf around his neck as he stared at Esmeralda suspiciously.

Esmeralda shrugged. "Boys will be boys. If you feel she worries too much, who am I to add to her worry. I mean... you took out that Dire wolf yourself, right? You can obviously handle yourself."

"Yeah... Obviously..." Lyr said cryptically, his face dropping a bit as he took his leave, "Thanks again." The door clicked softly as he stepped out into the hallway.

It wasn't long after that he ran into Eraqus. The Elf Commander had softened towards him in recent weeks. They weren't about to become blood brothers, but Eraqus no longer gave him a contemptful look. "Hey, your mother was looking for you. Said there was something she wanted to talk to you about."

"Did she say what about?" The Kemarian native asked with a raised eyebrow. "She usually just comes herself instead of sending a messanger."

Eraqus shook his head. "She said she would talk to you when have a chance, and seemed in no hurry. Said it was... something personal."

"I see this going only one of two ways. I suppose that is why you are likely vacating as far as you can get before I reach her office?" Lyr asked, crossing his arms across his chest to keep his hands from fumbling with his hair.

The Elf smiled lightly. "I'd be lying if I wasn't preparing for the worse. You did disappear for several days, after all."

"I came back in one piece. Since when is having a few independent days a crime?" The teen rubbed the back of his neck, "Wish me luck..."

Eraqus tapped his shoulder. "Good luck," he said, leaving Lyr to his fate.

With a short grumble, the Ophidian made his way through the manor, reaching the door of the guild leader's office. With a moment of hesitation he entered in.

Mina looked past a contract, smile as he made his way in. "Ah, Lyr. Good to see you. I was hoping to have a word with you."

"Eraqus told me as much," he shut the door, leaning up against it with a neutral expression, "About what?"

"Well, first thing's first." Mina placed the papers to the side. "Where did you disappear to the other day? Not that I was worried, of course. Just... curious."

"I met some friendly locals. If this place is to be home, I need to be familiar with it. Unless you'd prefer I would stay a hermit?" Lyr asked her with a smirk.

"No, no. Actually, if that is so, I'm happy." Mina smiled. "If you are making friends with the locals, it tells me you are fitting in. Just... please, the next time you plan to be away for a while, could you give me a heads up?"

"Well... I wasn't exactly expecting to be out so long. Just sort of happened." At the tightening of his mother's features, he held up a soothing hand, "B-But if it is within my power you will be the first to know."

"Good to hear." She stood up, wobbling a bit as she was still getting used to being a bit front heavy. "Are you getting along with the others here by chance?"

Lyr tensed a bit, looking away with a strangled noise, "I... Suppose..."

Mina frowned. "Lyr? What is it? More fights?"

"N-no, not at all..." He lied.

"Lyr, please." Mina approached him. "I need you to be honest with me. And I need to be sure things don't get out of hand."

"Well... She said she wouldn't tell but I almost killed a girl named Sylvie. She annoyed me when I tried to think and... And she compared me too much to my father. She soiled my honor." He grumbled, "I had to take her to the infirmary afterwards, but she managed to convince Erin not to tell. Somehow."

Mina sighed loudly, rubbing her brow. "Lyrrrr..."

"You know the type of man he was! Would you stand for such an insult to your character?" He retorted quickly.

"Of course not! And neither should you!" Mina took his hands. "But you are better then this. And far better then him, Lyr. You have nothing to prove, and you don't need to fight for your honor, son. I... I understand, I do." She lightly placed her hand to his cheek. "He was awful, and you are nothing like him. Please, don't lash out like that. Please."

His breath hitched again, finally sagging his shoulders, "Fine... I won't." He leaned forward, kissing her on the lips for a brief second and leaning his head on her shoulder as they hugged.

She ran a hand through his hair. "You... you know how proud of you I am, right? How much you have changed my view of Ophidians? How happy I am you came?"

"I know." Lyr said back to her, letting his hand go down to her stomach, rubbing it. "You're getting pretty fat. I am sure Kara finds it a bit annoying."

Mina chuckled. "She teases me relentlessly, but I know it is out of love. Honestly though, I can't wait to get the little bugger out of me. The morning sickness, the tenderness... the strange things I have eaten..."

"I don't want to know..." The teen said apprehensively, pushing the woman away slowly, "So was the only reason you called me here to interrogate me in your motherly fashion?"

"Actually, no. I wanted to get it out of the way first, though." Mina walked towards her window. "Have you met Bishop yet?"

"Hm? I tried, but he pecks at me too much. It is like the little bastard hates me or something." Lyr answered with narrowed eyes, instinctively rubbing his hand as if he had just been hurt.

"He is only being territorial. As much as I try, he is a wild animal, and not easily trained." She opened the window and whistled. "Something has changed with him, though. Something that might bring you two closer, and maybe even us."

"Us? How would a bird bring us closer?" Lyr asked skeptically.

The Raven in question landed on the window sill. It gives the Ophidian boy a cautious look, but makes no noise. It could be he did not wish to shout at him today, or it could have simply been that Mina was there.

A few moments later, another bird flies in and lands next to Bishop. For a moment, Lyr is puzzled, his mind going to a dove or a pigeon. He quickly noted the simularities between the birds, and found he was looking at a white Raven, an extremely rare leucistic version of the bird with snow white few and vivid blue eyes.

"Whoa... Aren't those things supposed to be extinct or something?" The teen scratched his head, "I know little enough about your country as it is."

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Being a Havenbrook
Part Two

"On occasion, one is born," Mina answered. "So rare are they that they are often hunted down for rich folk in need of an exotic pet to brag about with no knowledge of how to properly care for it, or any intent to bother, or by someone thinking they'd make some coin with white Raven quills. This one is special to Bishop, though. Been following him around for weeks now. Based on the size... might be a child."

"Birds of a feather flock together." Lyr noted with a sigh, "So what... You are going to take care of the stray bird?"

"No." Mina smiled sweetly at him. "You are."

"M-Me?" The Ophidian asked as he blinked several times. "You said the bird is rare and you give it a death sentence..."

Mina folded her arms. "You're saying that, if I gave you such a rare gift you would not treat it with the utmost care and love?"

"I've never had a pet before." Lyr said in a slightly embarrassed tone. "There aren't really a lot of creatures in Kemar that are tameable. I had a friend who kept a beetle but I don't like big bugs..." He walked forwards to the window sill, reaching out to pet the bird.

Mina placed a hand on his shoulder. "Take it slow. Let them chose you. The first impression here is the most important." She glanced at Bishop, who watched Lyr closely, judging him. His white counterpart simply looked at his hand to see what he would do.

Lyr sighed a bit, looking at the white bird with a cautious look, though in the corner of his sight Bishop got the same look. He held up the back of his hand extended towards the bird, a small light rune forming a circle in case he was pecked. He then let out a soft whistle, something he heard the morning birds due to one another when he snuck out in the early morning.

The feathered creature tilted its head. With a light squawk, it hopped to the side. When Lyr didn't move, it hoped forward, landing on his hand.

Lyr groaned a bit, reaching up with his other hand and running a finger over its head and down its back."G-Good, birdie..."

Mina seemed ecstatic. "You are doing so well. Patience. Kindness. If you can bond with her, you'll have a friend and ally."

"An ally? What do you mean? Isn't it just a pet bird?" Lyr questioned, the bird hopping onto his head which cause the Ophidian to quiver slightly.

"Oh, they are quite more then that." Mina giggled at the raven. "They are some of the smartest animals in the world, capable of long term memory and problem solving. Besides a companion, Bishop has acted as a scout, has alerted me to intruders, watched my back, and even defended me on more then one occasion."

"Well... Just so long as she doesn't poop on my head we will be fine. I have a very good memory too." He said as if almost a warning.

"I got you one more thing." Mina rushed over to her desk to retrieve something from a drawer. "You... you are family. And I want you to feel like family." She handed him a finely made patch. It featured a red and blue shield, on which was a jet black raven with crimson eyes, a large, golden key held within its beak. "It's... It's the Havenbrook family crest. I haven't even thought about it until... until you came along."

Reaching out, Lyr took the patch and looked it over. "Lyr Havenbrook... I like it." He reached out, holding the woman tightly, causing the bird on his head to flutter over to Bishop.

Mina squeezed him back. "Welcome to the family, son. You'll never need to find a new one again, I promise you."

"Thank you. I won't be able to pay you back. Ever." The Ophidian whispered.

"You'll never have to," Mina assured him.

"Thank you. I'll take... The bird... And try to think up a name when I figure one out." Letting out the same whistle, the white raven screeched and flew over, perching on his shoulder.

Alice laughed. "Best friends already. Good luck with this one."

Lyr nodded, petting the bird before it gave it a peck, her son closing the door with a string of curses.

Several miles away from the Havenbrook Manor...

There was the sharp smell of ozone in the air, several large beasts falling backwards from a small trading caravan. The lead wagon driver blinked several times in shock, looking down at the man who sat next to him. He laughed at the idea that this blind man was a hermit like he claimed going from place to place. His robes were too white, and he was too well kept. He had seen the sigil of Nemesis dangling from his neck on several occassions throughout their journey. He merely assumed he was a well to do priest, but this showed him differently. Three large monsters lay dead in front of them, cut down with a quick slash of lightning that seemed to come from a god himself. The wagon driver looked over shaking at the man sitting besides him, who leaned back, putting his foot up non-chalantly. "We can move now Mister. I didn't pay to dawdle." Turning his head, the man shook even harder at the gaze he knew wasn't really there, "I would like to get home already..."

The journey was quick from there. The driver wanted to be free of this burden as quickly as possible. They pulled in front of the manor with haste, enough to make the guards give a nervous look. But then, after the mention of a vampire in their midst, they were fairly nervous most of the time. "Halt! State your business!"

One person climbed down from the cart, throwing up a sack and walked toward the gate as the man quickly turned his wagon away and sped off with haste. Walking up to the guard, the man stated, "Get Eraqus for me please."

The guards exchanged a nod, one reluctantly running off as the other gave the stranger a nervous look. "Your name?"

"Eh, don't waste your breath. You won't need to know." The man said dismissively, waving his hand.

He scoffed, gripping his sword tightly. A few minutes later, Eraqus walked up. "Stand down," he stole the guard, and folded his arms. "You in the right place, stranger?" he asked with a small smirk.

"It's only been three months." The man responded back sourly, "If you have forgotten already I didn't punch you hard enough last time I trained with you. My mission in Helvan is finished finally. Thought it was time for me to see how thinks are back home for a small while."

Eraqus instinctively rubbed his chin, the memory of that mean right hook etched into his mind. "Come on. I have a lot to go over while we head upstairs." He sighed. "A lot."

"Hm?" Janne tilted his head, walking with the elf without a second look at the guard.

As they approached Mina's office, Eraqus said, "Just disarmed her like it was nothing. The shield has been enchanted, so she want be sneaking in again, but that won't stop an army of bandits and zombies."

"What are you on about?" The blind man asked with a bit of an annoyed tone. "Start from the beginning."

"Well at least precautions are in place. If they come at us with an army, they will be sorely mistaken on just how much they think their chances are good." With a wave of his hand, Janne continued, "After you."

Knocking lightly on the door and receiving no response, the Elf said, "She must be in her room. You, uh... want some privacy?"

Janne shrugged, "If you don't mind." When the elf nodded, the white clad man stepped inside for search of the noblewoman he had not seen for several months.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Being a Havenbrook
Part Three

He found her standing in front of a full length mirror, her shirt undone. She shifted left and right, staring down at her belly. "I swear, if I don't get my figure back after this..." She muttered softly.

"You've gotten fat..." Janne expressed, crossing his arms with a smirk.

Mina quickly spun around. "Janne!" She quickly pushed her shirt down. "When did you...?"

"Just got back now. Here to report my mission was a success. The massive griffin was slain. Stayed and did a couple of local stuff. Small siren nest, rock golem summoned by an amateur mage roaming the grasslands, that sort of stuff." He explained nonchalantly. "Got kind of bored so I wanted to see how things were after my excursion to the west."

"And... What, you just come in here?" Mina scoffed. "Three months, and no flowers? No candy? No expensive bottle of wine or some tacky little nicknack you thought I might find cute? Just a quick 'I'm back, and you're fat now'?"

Janne smirked, "I only just got here. I haven't even unpacked. Maybe I'll just give your presents to Eraqus instead. He'll get a kick out of them. He seemed happier to see me at first than you apparently. No hug, no kiss, no smile, just complaining I came to see you first instead of throwing gifts around?" He countered back at her with an aggravatingly knowing smirk.

Mina rolled her eyes and walked over, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "You're right. I'm sorry. I really did miss you. Sometimes I was afraid you wouldn't come back."

"Because I would die or find someone else?" The Hunter asked, putting one hand on her neck and rubbing her cheek.

"The former... but the latter did cross my mind from time to time." Mina took a deep breath. "There is something important you need to know."

"Hm? That is never a good segway to go from." He looked her over for a few moments, "Did Eraqus finally get lucky on a desperate night?"

She socked him in the shoulder. "No, stupid." She took his hand and placed it on her belly. "You did, remember?"

Rubbing his arm, Janne looked up towards the ceiling, "Huh... So I did. Are you sure you and him never..."

"Oh, would you stop, you sarcastic bastard?" Mina laughed. "You're ruining the moment!"

He smiled a small bit, "People celebrate in different ways. I didn't expect you to want a baby so badly with me. We were only friends for the longest time."

"I... I wasn't sure I wanted a child either." Mina slowly stepped away. "For a while there, I was questioning my ability to even be a mother. Or how you might react. But I've had several months to think about It, and... I've decided I'm happy."

"I suppose that is a good outcome. Though having a child out of wedlock would be bad. Guess I have to change that now." Janne grumbled.

Mina slowly looked back. "W... what are you saying?"

"Hm? Well, you have a reputation to uphold as our leader. It's only obvious you need to marry. Your enemies would have too much power to call you a harlot to discredit you. Though not if you are a married woman. It would also be better for the child to have an active father in its life."

Mina was flustered for several moments, needing a bit to regain her composure. "Y-yes, well... that, um... that is a very logical way of putting such a... heart warming idea," she muttered, wiping away a tear.

"Right, now we just need to find a suitable man." Carth continued on as if he had not even heard her.

Mina gave him an angry look, but it didn't hold. She quickly burst into laughter, falling back onto her bed and needing a minute to calm down.

Janne had stiffened for a few moments, taken aback by the woman's display. "You confuse me to no end. What has you so hysterical? If you've lost your mind, I will have to get you proper help. One which would not be pleasant."

"Oh, hush you." Mina leaned up. "If you won't say It, I will. Janne... will you marry me?"

"Hm? No... why... why would I? I can't raise a child. I am blind, and I am our only Hunter who does the more important contracts that take me away for long periods. I am not the best choice at all. Not to mention I am too jaded, and rough. And you're a noble besides the fact. Wanting to marry me really would be crazy."

Mina groaned, laying back again. "Janne, how many times do we have to go over this? You are why too hard on yourself, your lack of vision has never been a problem before, and since when did I care about nobility? Are you really saying some stranger picked for the job of being dad would be better then the actual father?"

"Yes," he deadpanned seriously. "I am not cut to be a fatherly figure."

"Well then, I guess the kid goes fatherless, and I get labeled harlot." Mina rolled on her side, facing away. "I love you, Janne. No other man is going to raise my child."

"I swear, you are too much of a child yourself..." the Hunter grunted out under his breath, "Fine, if you want to be stubborn, I won't let you self-harm because you are petty. I'll marry you." he acquiesced.

She slowly rolled over to face him. "Now was that so hard? Come here."

The man shook his head, "Nemesis save me..." he mumbled, smiling softly as he went over to her.

As he laid next to her and held her tight, she whispered, "Twelve years, and I still have yet to repay you for saving me. Twice."

"Repay me? Why? I already considered you repaid a long time ago. Besides, nothing was more satisfying than seeing you squeal our first year together. You would always be embarrassed when I walked in on you naked. You would slap me, only to realize I couldn't see anything anyways. And then you would slap me again out of making you so embarrassed. Eventually it worked though. You slept with me."

Mina laughed. "It was a bold play, working me over for twelve years to eventually get in my pants. I hope it was worth the wait."

He simply shrugged to mess with her head.

Mina snuggled close. "I love you, Janne. I'm sorry it took me so long to admit it."

"I may not have smooth skin, eyes or a father personality, but at least I have you." The white hunter told her in a lazy tone, running his hand through her hair, "I have ever since we were 14."

Mina nodded. "Ever since you helped me take my revenge." She sighed. "I... had this strange dream a while ago. It was about you. In it... You never came that day. You never found came to me at all. You stay in New Vento until you grew more and more bitter. You... You were a murderer. You killed all the nobles you felt looked down at you. And I was asked to stop you."

Janne frowned deeply, a tightness in his body betraying him. "I've thought about revenge a lot. There are a lot of people in this world I wish were dead. But part of being a follower of Nemesis is letting go of what you can't change. I can't change that I am mutilated and disfigured. But here I am... Nestled in the arms of a rather clingy woman who gives me too much love."

She gripped him ever so tighter, almost as if she was afraid to let go. "You're perfect in my eyes. You really are. Please... never give in to the darkness in you. I'll always be here to keep you in the light."

With a small chuckle, he gave her as many assurances he could before she was satisfied, giving the Havenbrook a long kiss she had been deprived of.

 

[ExoGrim]

Frostlich1228 and ExoGrim
Dark Secrets

Havenbrook Manor
Infirmary
July 27th, 3349
12:33pm

Sylvie's eyes opened, as she looked around, she recognized the infirmary after her mission to the mines. Her last memory was her fight with Lyr and subsequent overexertion, however, she had no way at current to know how long she had been asleep.

As the Huntress looked around, she spotted a Thrope on the bed next to her, one she hadn't seen around the manor before. She seemed to be a Fox of some kind, however, she was covered in scars, as if she had just done battle with a large cat of some kind. However, upon further inspection from her bed, Sylvie recognized the scars as Whip Lashs, just like the kind found of the back of her lover. Other notable aspects was the chain and rock, like she had just been freed from the ground.

Sylvie sighed as she recognized the signs, she must've been a slave, she had little doubt.

The Thrope was asleep, trying her best to recovery before Edminfar got back with her new hand. For the most part, she motionless... the only indication that she was still alive being the movement of her chest as she inhaled and exhaled.

As Sylvie watched her chest rise and fall, the Huntress moved a hand up to her nostrils, her fingers coming back with a small amount of dried blood. The Huntress had no idea how much she had recovered in her unknown amount of time in the infirmary, however there was a way she could test it.

The Huntress raised her arm slowly over the Thrope near her, using some of her own mana to heal her, rather than transferring, as a result she was only able to keep it up for half a minute before tiring some. However, despite that, the test proved successful as the energy began to repair some of the Thrope's more superficial injuries, making her immediately feel just a bit better.

Upon moving up to heal the Thrope, Sylvie would notice the bandages that covered her missing hand.

"She's missing a hand too..." Sylvie said to herself, "What happened to you?"

The girl's eyes slowly fluttered open, her head swaying a bit as she woke up. Her gaze seemed lazy until it set on the Huntress... slowly turning from tiredness to fear. She stared at Sylvie, paralyzed by the shivering running down her spine.

Sylvie noted the look in her eyes, like a deer cornered by Wolves. "H-Hey... It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm stuck in bed like you are..."

"O-o-okay..." The slave girl hesitantly muttered.

"You're new here, right? I don't recognize you." She said, sitting up, "I'm Sylvie."

The child's shivering intensified as Sylvie sat up. It started to look more like a natural reaction than a sudden scare or shock... as if something about the woman sparked unfriendly thoughts and memories.

The Huntress frowned, looking off to the side, "I'm... I'm sorry for what you must've been through to have a reaction like that... I-I don't blame you..."

"I-i-it's okay..." The Thrope told her, slowly realizing that the Huntress might be friendly.

"I... Recognize your scars. My current Mate has them too. He was a slave for a very long time." The Maiden explained, hoping to relate in some way to the young girl.

"Was... he from Themosa too?" The child wondered aloud.

"He's a Light Elf, from Helvan." The Human woman answered, "He has a hard time talking about what happened to him... So I won't press you about it."

"O-okay..." The Thrope murmured.

"There's no Slavery where I come from." Sylvie added, looking at Sixty's chain. "It's not natural. Stability should be built on community, not on the backs of others."

"Some people see that differently." The slave girl reminded her. "To others, it's about the profit."

"Sadly, you are right." Sylvie nodded slowly, "But thankfully you are away from that now."

"You have a point there I guess..." The child looked up at Sylvie. "I guess I should tell you my name... It's Terra."

"Terra. Like the Planet, Ground, Nature." The Huntress noted. "That's a lovely name."

"Ummm... Thanks." Terra looked away, her cheeks turning a slight pink.

"How did you end up here?" The Human woman asked carefully, "Keep In mind I'm not forcing you to tell me."

The fox Thrope took a moment to think. "I don't know. After I fled I got lost... wandered for so long I couldn't keep track of how many days went by. Eventually, I came across this place and found a way inside."

"Well. I hope you find this place accepting. We're both fish out of water in our ways." She smiled lightly, "Hopefully they're as understanding to you are they've been to me."

"Hopefully..." The fox girl muttered with little enthusiasm.

"Are you... Planning to become a Hunter?" Sylvie asked, giving her a more serious look.

"I have to repay these people somehow..." Terra informed the Huntress. "If it means fighting along side them, then I'll do that."

"I'll make sure to watch your back out there then." The Huntress smiled, "Consider me a friend."

"Ummm... Thanks." The former slave said, still not sure what to think of the woman in the bed next to her.

"You might be interested to know there are other Thropes from your home country here." Sylvie stated casually, "The most notable being the Head Witch."

"Okay." Terra nodded her head. "I'll go look around once I've recovered."

"Maybe I could even give you a tour once we're both out of here." The Green-Haired Human offered, "I think I've gotten the hang of this place enough for that."

"I'd rather explore this place on my own." The Thrope girl told Sylvie. "But, ummm... thank you for the offer."

"Right..." She frowned, then sighed, "I get it. You don't trust me. It's understandable considering..."

Terra remained silent, a slight bit of guilt on her face.

"I don't expect you to just immediately accept me. I... Shouldn't have pushed myself onto so much so quickly..." The Huntress explained, closing her eyes.

"It's not you..." The young girl murmured as she pulled her legs closer. "It's me..."

"What do you mean? It's not your fault if you're nervous around me."

"I'm not nervous." The fox Thrope corrected, a tear falling down her cheek. "I'm... I'm scared."

"I... I can see why..." The Human lowered her gaze. "I saw your hand..."

Terra lifted her bandaged stub. "There... There was worse."

"Worse...?" She muttered, silently shocked by the revelation. "Ahusirra..."

The former slave looked down at the blankets given to her... not saying anything further.

"I hope you'll feel more comfortable with Humans in time. What Themosan Humans do... It goes against Nature. Against the natural way." Sylvie said with a hint of venom. "Thankfully, those Humans are only a small but disgusting minority."

"Okay..." Terra murmured, tracing circles on the sheets of her bed with her finger.

"My people actually revere Thropes highly." Sylvie stated, gripping onto a handle on the side of the bed. "Don't take me saying this like I'm fishing for an apology from you. I'm not. Thropes are seen as closer to Ahusirra, our Goddess, do to their animal traits. We still don't see very many of them, however."

"Probably because she's fake." The Thrope girl muttered under her breath as she glanced the Huntress.

Sylvie picked up on her muttering, but not what she said exactly. "Well... Uh... We live in a very secluded place, deep in the forest. We don't get very many visitors in general, really."

The child remained silent, continuing to trace circles and gaze at the bed with guilty eyes.

The awkward silence was heavy in the air, it was clear that despite being here longer than her, Sylvie nor Terra had much experience with this.

Eventually, Sylvie just laid back, opting to end the conversation. It was clear, to her at least, that Terra simply didn't want to have it.

Terra slowly did the same as she pulled the blanket back over her body. Her eyes closed as she slowly drifted off to sleep. However, the sleep did not last long. She jolted awake when one of the nurses drop a glass cup, the sound of it shattering making her fear for her life. It was obvious that the trauma that the child faced was more than just physical... as if a part of her was still in those slave pins back in Themosa.

Sylvie quickly shot awake as well, and, upon noting the Thrope's slight shaking, sighed.