Shaggy charged about in his four-legged form. He zigzagged through the wooden spikes placed in the ground as spears flew about him. The kobolds were at least loyal to their master. They didn’t even flinch as werewolf Shaggy charged them. A few even left the safety of their wall to charge at him and Rita. Shaggy snapped his jaws around another cudgel-wielding kobold and ripped it from the ground. Crunching loudly, Shaggy twisted his head and spat the disgusting lizard out before finding his next target.
Rita was slicing easily through a pair of kobolds with a skill and grace that belied her age. But she still had to dodge the odd javelin or spear throw though. But it appeared Shaggy was the target for most of those. Further back was Vick, using his assault rifle to pelt the wall with gunfire. Any kobold stupid enough to stick their head out for too long got a bullet to the brain. Shaggy swiped an enormous paw into another charging kobold and looked for Tom.
The link told him that the slim pack member was fine. But Shaggy had lost sight of him before the battle. Another three kobolds charged him with spears raised and Shaggy forgot about his most cowardly pack mate. The kobolds slid low and tried to thrust their spears into Shaggy’s neck. Shaggy felt the spears brush his matted fur and scratch his skin before they snapped. His new demon wolf form seemed even tougher than he normally was. Although the large horns sticking out of head were a pain.
Rita arrived in front of him, decapitating two of the kobolds as she ran. Shaggy leaned forward and bit into the last one. He waited for the crunch again before he spit the thing out and glanced at Rita. The woman’s silver metal armor was smeared with kobold blood and her hair was sticking up in odd places. But through the sheen of sweat on the older woman’s face, Shaggy could see the massive grin she was sporting. Waving into the sky with her sword, Rita asked.
“Do we help her?”
Shaggy glanced up at his wife and the summoner. The pair was gliding through the air slowly, shooting magical beams of energy. A purple shell protected his wife as she responded to the summoner’s attacks with her own magic. But the summoner had his own shimmer of air protecting him. Shaggy smiled as he saw his wife cackling as she bombarded the harried-looking summoner. Turning back to Rita, he yipped and shook his head.
Rita returned the nod and looked back toward the one wall defense the kobold’s were still crowding around. Shaggy turned his own massive head to Vick, who was standing fifteen behind him, and issued another bark. Luckily, the link seemed to translate his words, as the shooter gave him a two-finger salute and continued firing at the kobolds. Shaggy figured if his wife was in trouble, Vick would be the first to see it and respond. He was about to charge the wall again when a loud crack sounded through the cave.
The kobolds on and around the wall screamed and shouted gibberish as green liquid seeped into the foundations of the wooden wall. Shaggy grinned as he felt and saw Tom at the right side of the palisade throwing glass jars of acid he had collected. Shaggy gave a howl of triumph as the right-side of the wall crumbled. But Tom was now under attack and using his clawed glove to defend himself. Rita grunted, sounding annoyed, and charged forward to help, and Shaggy joined her.
Above, loud booms sounded and purple magic lit up the dirt walls. Shaggy wanted to howl again as he charged over a few more kobolds. The poor things were cannon fodder to him, and barely a challenge to his pack. Figuring his pack was fine, Shaggy stomped on a few kobolds and used them to catapult himself over the wooden wall. As he did, he focused on shifting, letting the man take over for the wolf. His bare feet hit the thin wooden walkway just below the other side of wall and grinned at the stunned kobold archers. They turned their bows on Shaggy, but he dove in, claws at the ready, ripping into them.
The wooden wall shifted and Shaggy laughed as more and more of the wall he was standing on collapsed into the dirt. He fell, claws first, into a pile of kobolds as his pack mates surged forward. Rita and Tom circled to the other side of the wall and dashed around the few remaining kobolds. But a feeling of alarm from Vick wiped the grin from Shaggy’s face.
“ENOUGH!” The summoner’s voice echoed through the cavern.
Shaggy glanced up in time to see his wife floating backward as if pushed. But otherwise, she seemed unharmed. The summoner, on the other hand, was sweating and the air shield around him was wavering. The summoner thrust both his hands forward as Shaggy gave Vick the mental order to start firing.
Bullets cracked against the summoner shield as his arms did an intricate dance in the air. Levy hissed loud enough for Shaggy to hear and shouted a warning.
“He’s summoning something else!”
Shaggy grinned as the surrounding kobolds turned to dust and disappeared entirely. They were in for the boss’s second phase now. Rita and Tom rushed to Shaggy’s side as he stood ready and waited for whatever portal or monster would appear. As he did, he gave Vick a mental order to stay on the summoner. Whatever was being summoned would probably disappear when its master was dead.
Levy surged through the air as well. She pelted the other magic user’s shield with bolts of purple energy. But whatever was happening couldn’t be stopped. Once the summoner finished his intricate arm dance, he uttered a muffled word and Shaggy felt the world shift. The dirt beneath his bare feet crumbled and Rita grabbed his pants and ripped him backwards as Tom also rushed away. They stumbled further and further back until whatever was raising from the dirt had shifted enough of it to make a large hole.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Shaggy righted himself and gave Rita a nod of thanks as from out of the hole a large dirt-colored claw rose. Another claw joined it as Shaggy watched, astonished. Each claw was about the size of his body and whatever was dragging itself free of the hole was going to be much bigger. Shaggy fought his stunned paralysis and dashed forward hoping to do as much damage as possible. As he got closer, a large dragon head made of dirt and rock dragged itself from the ground. It was a dragon made entirely out of dirt.
Shaggy tried not to smile in amazement as he slashed at the creature’s clawed hand. His claws sank deep into the dirt body of the dragon and created two large rends in the skin. But the wounds were quickly healed as more dirt moved to fill the wound. Shaggy grimaced as above the summoner cackled. The dragon roared and flailed its head around. Plumes of dirt flew from its mouth as its jagged stone teeth ground together. Shaggy grunted as dust filled the air.
“Keep it occupied! We have to kill the summoner!” Levy shouted from overhead.
Shaggy raised a clawed hand in acknowledgment, but Rita’s shout brought him back around to the dragon.
“BOSS!”
Shaggy didn’t have enough time to defend himself as a giant dirt claw slapped him across the cavern. He briefly wondered if this was what the kobolds had felt like as his head slapped into the dirt floor. His legs flipped over his back and soon he was spinning through the air, end over end. He didn’t know how long he spun, but once he came to a stop, he righted himself and let his healing do its work. Off in the distance, he could hear the dragon roar as Vick’s rifle cracked repeatedly.
Shaggy had to shake his head over and over. Willing his eyes to stop spinning. Once he had collected himself, he realized he was across the damn cavern on the other side of the dragon. Rita and Tom were ducking and diving around the thing as Vick and Levy chased the summoner. The bastard was trying to make a break for it, but Levy and Vick were hot on his tail. Shaggy grumbled and blew out a breath, collecting himself. He ignored the roaring and the worried feelings of his pack as he felt the shift take him again.
He blinked, and he was the wolf again. No snapping or twisting, no twinge of pain in the middle of his back. He felt whole again. The wolf inside gave a howl again as he charged, horned head down like a bull. He knew he could leave the summoner to Vick and Levy. They were the only ranged members of the party right now, plus he trusted his wife. Besides, how many times did a werewolf get to fight a dragon?
Shaggy could feel Rita and Tom drawing the dragon’s attention away from him. Tom was using the last of his acid to melt the dirt body of the thing as Rita backpedaled away. Avoiding the dirt dragon’s massive swipes. Shaggy’s charge turned into a leap as he flung his lupine body onto the dragon’s back. His claws dug into soft dirt as he scrambled up the thing and to its neck. Once there, he snapped his jaws and hung on.
The dragon screamed.
Either in pain or indignation, Shaggy couldn’t tell. Although he figured it was the latter. The dragon twisted its neck back and forth. Sending Shaggy’s large wolf's body back and forth. But he kept a hold of the soft dirt that made up the neck. But it wasn’t easy. The dirt turned to mud in his mouth and he had to let it shift out of the corner of his mouth. Every chance he got, Shaggy had to readjust his grip, all while keeping his footing on the dragon. He could feel his pack mates trying their best to help distract the dragon. But it was understandably more concerned about the giant werewolf on its back.
Soon enough, the dragon had had enough. It stretched its neck to the ceiling and gave a bellow. An enormous cloud of dirt and rocks spewed forth from its mouth and collided with the ceiling. The entire cave shook as Shaggy’s body was pelted with large rocks from the dragon’s dirt breath. He tried to send a message of retreat to his pack, but all he got was stubbornness and resignation from Rita and Tom. Shaggy growled as he ripped his teeth through the dragon’s dirt neck before he dove back in to tear the damn thing’s throat out.
But as he did, his footing collapsed, and the dragon lost all cohesion. A pile of dirt hit Shaggy in the head as he fell from the dragon’s back. Dirt carried and buried his hind legs as he fell until he was stuck half-in, half-out of a large mound of dirt. The dragon’s roaring was gone, and the cave was eerily still. Shaggy sniffed the air, but his nostrils were filled with dirt and mud. He huffed, trying to dislodge his nose and his body.
He was buried pretty deep, and he could feel the relief and mirth coming from Rita and Tom. Vick was more... sullen? Shaggy tried to turn to where he felt Vick. But with his body stuck, it was a genuine issue. He sent an order for help, but Rita and Tom were now actively laughing at his predicament. He growled in their direction as he shifted back. But as he did, dirt filled the hole he was making. But the shift was happening now. He didn’t think he could stop it.
Dirt rose as his body got smaller. But before he could be buried, an obsidian colored arm dove in and gripped his own. Using it as leverage, Shaggy leapt from the dirt tomb and freed himself. He wanted to glare at his pack, but his wife’s soft lips against his own made everything leave his mind. He fell into the kiss, delighting slightly at the awkward coughs he heard from his pack. Served the bunch of jackasses right.
Levy stepped back from the kiss and grinned at him. She was covered in sweat and dirt. She looked exhausted and Shaggy thought he probably looked the same. But he grinned back at his wife and blew out a breath. She bit her lip adorably and glanced around. They were standing on the remains of the dirt dragon, in the middle of an underground cave, beneath a modern city. Shaggy shook his head as he and his wife said the same thing at the same time.
“This game is awesome.”