With guts, body parts, and green smoky meat just about everywhere around us, we took a few minutes to relax. Even if the fight hasn’t taken that long, if we forget the part about running for god knows how long, we needed time to get our breath back. With the flare gone, only some small patch of fire was illuminating the night.

Seeing some vague movement far away, I thought it may have been a stray plague dead coming to die, but was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Gnash. With Hybry on his back, he quickly noticed us and ran straight at me. Almost jumping on me, he sent me a barrage of licks as I tried to calm him down.

“Sorry to have worried, we’re fine, you can stop licking me now.”

When he finally grew tired of painting my armour with his saliva, Hybry didn’t waste a second and took his rightful place in my arms. Being in the perfect spot, his three heads assaulted mine with endless snuggles.

“It's okay, I missed you too. Let's go home.”

After checking on Latie, she was ready to leave this damn place once and for all. With Gnash leading the way, we walk leisurely toward Lendwrek location. As we were all tired, Tara seemed to be the only one truly on guard. Honestly, at this point, if another horde of them appeared, I was ready to simply run away without fighting them.

Two hours of darkness later, we finally noticed some green colour far away. Speeding up our pace, it wasn’t long before we took our last step in the plagued land and finally touched some grass again.

“We made it, finally.” Latie said.

“Yeah, I don’t want to see that shitty dead forest ever again.”

“Same,” Looking around, her eyes searched for something but didn’t find anything. “By the way, where is your dragon? I don’t intend on going back on foot, you know.”

“Right behind you,” Trying to hold my laugh, it was funny how she didn’t notice the giant fire-breathing lizard behind her.

Blowing in Latie's hair, Lendwrek was lying right behind her, as if he had always been there from the start. Noticing him, Latie let out a surprised cry that I wasn’t about to forget.

“Uhhaaa, Oh, you’re there, sorry I didn’t see you.”

As we weren’t in shape to get back to Dawnriver just yet, we decided to make camp a bit further away from the plagued land. Setting up a campfire, we relaxed safely around the soothing sound of crippling wood.

Hearing my stomach growl, Gnash's stomach immediately followed mine in his hunger. Starting to move toward Lendwrek to take some ration hidden in his saddle, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned my head. There were Tenta green tentacles holding a ton of leaves, before I could understand its intent, it quickly pushed the whole thing down my mouth, not leaving me the choice of what to eat.

As I was too busy fighting Tenta tentacles to feed Gnash myself, Hybry popped his heads into the bags on Lendwrek's saddle, trying to find something edible. It wasn’t long before he found the one containing all our food, and grabbed big pieces of jerky in all his three heads.

Going up to Gnash who was observing my situation, the hydra offered him one of the meat chunks he was holding on, and the dog accepted the gift with joy. Devouring it in a single bite, the meat vanished before Hybry had the time to finish his own meal. As I was fighting against Tenta and the mountain of healthy leaves it wanted me to eat, Hybry gave Gnash even more meat chunks, and I was stuck watching the delicious jerky disappear in front of me.

Eating not too far away, Latie was writing some notes she didn’t want to forget, before going to sleep on the bare grass not long after. Before she was truly asleep, Tara offered her a hammock made with the small amount of web she was able to produce, and the researcher slept the night away in comfort.

In the time we were away, Lendwrek had spent his time hunting the local wildlife. It was shown by the pile of monster bodies not too far away. Seeing as we won’t need him until morning, he turned toward a new occupation. Butchering his hunt. Separating a black bear from the pile, he used his claw to open the corpse. Being the size that he was, it took him multiple attempts to make a clean cut across the skin and open the inside of the bear without damaging his trophy too much.

As she was smaller, with scythes more appropriate for precise laceration than simple claws, Tara decided to help him in his new hobby. Taking one of the dragon's prey, she finished her work far faster than him, with no mistakes. She even took the time to guide his claw and help him along his own butchering.

Normally, butchering my familiar prey would be my job, but as I was forcefully fed and tired, I wasn’t able to object. At least now, they both would be able to help in cutting open any monster when needed, which was pretty often considering the amount of sport they normally do.

When I was finished swallowing a stupid amount of leaves, I found Lendwrek and Tara deep asleep, with their entire harvest packed in webs and hanging from a nearby tree. Only Gnash and Hybry were still awake, as they seemed to have found the show quite entertaining. With my hammock maker asleep, I didn’t want to wake her up only to ask her for a special bed. Like all of us, she gave her all today and deserved a good night's sleep.

As I was about to spend the night on the grass, tentacles grabbed my legs and pulled me up in the air. Thinking that it was another of Tenta's attempts to feed me even more grass, I gave up and closed my eyes, ready to enjoy the taste of more leaves. Instead, it dropped me into something comfortable, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself in a hammock made of tentacles. Being a few feet above ground, the tentacles offered a different kind of elasticity as the web Tara produced, but still soft enough to feel relaxing.

Now ready to sleep, Hybry jumped on my chest and snuggled comfortably, using my breasts as soft pillows. Without any place on the hammock or I left, Gnash settled down just under the bed, and we all fell asleep after a very exhausting day.

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When I woke up, the sunlight welcomed me with open warmth. Seeing that Hybry and I were the last to wake up, I found Latie still lost in her notebook. Feeling hungry for more than just leaves, I approached Lendwrek, who was still lying in his sleeping position. If it wasn’t for his open eyes, I wouldn’t know that he was awake.

In the bag where I kept my rations, there was only a little food left from the binge-eating Gnash and Hybry had done yesterday. When I left Dawnriver, I thought that a single bag of food would be enough for 2 to 3 full days, but I was so far from the truth. Next time, I would definitely need to bring more bags brimming with food, or at least ingredients to make a proper meal. With the amount of monsters Lendwrek hunted yesterday, there was an abundance of meat stocked in Tara web. As it had been sitting here for hours, I thought that it was probably not safe to eat. Even if my affinity protected me from food poisoning, the idea of eating spoiled meat was not appetizing, so I left it for those who didn’t mind it raw. Hanging beside the meat was another smaller sac of meat. The difference was that this one had been soaked in salt. Tara was, after all, smart enough to use our stock of salt to cure some meat. The quantity was only around a few pounds, but it was enough for breakfast.

Restarting the campfire, I was glad to have some mana again, even if my reserve was only around two-thirds. When the salted meat was grilled, a juicy smell filled the camp, and it was enough to draw Latie to the delicious meat. Giving her a skewer, we ate a warm breakfast, perfect to start the day. She did eat some dried ration before, but no one could resist some juicy meat. The proof was right beside me with, Gnash and Hybry pleading me with their eyes to get some. Unable to resist them, I gave them the leftover, and we began packing up. It was about time we got back to Dawnriver.

With a sac of web filled with monster material tied to the saddle, we all climbed on the dragon, secured ourselves with some web and took off toward civilization. With the sun almost blinding me, I left control of the flight to Lendwrek and enjoyed the pleasing cold wind on my skin. Gnash was a little scared of being this high, but being sealed in Tara's web made him able to withstand the altitude without panicking.

Two hours of calm, meditative wind passed without anything happening. Flying above the road dirt road leading to Dawnriver, I detected something a bit further ahead. Signalling Latie of what I found, we both saw a caravan at a stop with a lot of people around it. Flying a bit closer, it wasn’t hard to guess what was happening.

Close to twenty shady-looking people were trying to kill what appeared to be the caravan knights and two adventurers. There were also some more knights in armour lying around. I used my vines to get a closer look and check on them. Most of them were still alive, as their heart was still beating. The same couldn’t be said about the ones attacking. They were effectively dead, and I didn’t need my plants to see their lifeless body with plenty of holes and broken parts. Even if they already lost more than a dozen allies, they intended to get to the end, as they still had the numerical superiority.

“A bandit attack,” Latie said. “It has been a while since the last one was reported.”

“Honestly, it doesn’t seem like they need help,” With how high we were, it was hard to see clearly what was happening, but with my detection ability, I was able to get an idea.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

One of the two adventurers was fighting with a big great sword, while the other one kept the bandits away with his spear. With numerous of their friend's corpses lying around, the bandits were right to keep their distance. The remaining knights were working with one another to kill the bandits one by one. Their main strategy was to overwhelm a single isolated opponent and jump to the next one when finished.

“Should we help?” I asked.

“Why not, just incapacitate them quickly. They should be able to handle the rest on their own, these adventurers seem quite competent.” At her words, a smile grew on my lips.

“Tara, Hybry, you’re both up for a challenge?!”

With their excited approval, I told them the plan.

“Lendwrek will fly close to the ground and on my signal, you both shoot the bandits down. Tenta and I will make sure they don’t escape or try anything funny. We have one go and that’s it, we won’t touch the ground, and we leave the mess to our friends down there. Be sure to not shoot at them! Lendwrek you heard? Get us close!”

None of us was keen on another life-threatening situation so soon after the last one, but this was just easy target practice. Descending to only thirty metres above ground, a bandit finally noticed the big lizard coming from the sky in broad daylight. Tapping Lendwrek's shoulder, he gave the signal.

“ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!”

Jumping from the roar, both the bandits, knights and adventurers looked at the immense creature coming for them. Some of them looked so scared that I was sure they shit their pants the moment they saw my dragon.

Before they were able to react properly, Tara and Hybry rained both acidic spit and plague breath on them. Seeing that we were friendly, the two adventurers quickly took advantage of their enemies, still surprised. Swinging her big sword, the woman with fluffy silver wolf ears, decimated the closest bandit in one chop, cutting him into two. Afterwards, she immediately rushed at the second one and smashed his side with the side of her blade, sending him deep into the forest. The snap coming from his bones put a smile on the wolf woman.

The other adventurer, a young-looking man with black hair, positioned himself perfectly and skewered two bandits at once. He didn’t waste time and quickly searched for his next target.

The knights took advantage of the advantageous situation to secure their injured friends. The bandits were too occupied with the main show to pay them any mind.

With absolute hell rain coming from the sky, multiple bandits died in one lucky hit in the head. With a melted brain, they didn’t have to hear their friend's painful scream, as the acid and poison did their work on them. One of them did try to send a single fireball our way, but I blocked it using the water inside my flask. He didn’t get the time to try a second time before Hybry showed him why you don’t shoot at me.

Now done with our work, we ignore the rest of them and let the adventurers and knights do their actual job. Before we could totally be out of range, a tall guy came up front with a sword, aiming to cut my dragon head. Instead, Lendwrek just spitted on him, the poor guy combusted into carbonized ash before he could see his mistake. The sight of their comrade being almost disintegrated was too much for the bandits to handle as they ran away into the forest. Not that they were able to escape with only four of them left and Tara web-tying them up.

The adventurers looked at me as they put their thumbs up with smiles as we flew away. I could see some tension leaving their body as the fight was over.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, and I took pleasure in showering my familiars in praise. Later, as the sun was reaching noon, the city finally appeared in our sight, and we made a straight line to the guild.

Now in front of the guild, we decided early that I would leave Latie here and head straight home afterwards. As the final pay was to be decided by her report, I would come get the money later in the day. In that time, I could relax and eat a proper meal.

Saying our goodbye, Lendwrek took off and landed a minute later on the Shining Bedding Inn rooftop. Now back home, Mendry welcomed me with a warm snuggle. Seeing that both Tara and Hybry were fine, the immense female dragon, then, took a look at the new companion I brought home. Unfazed by the dragon's stare, the plague dog let her sniff him until she fully understood what he was. When it was done, we left the dragon couple alone and headed inside.

Reaching my room, I entered and immediately took place on my dear hammock made with webs and a cozy warm blanket. While Tara claimed the bed, Gnash settled on a pillow that the spider tossed him. Hybry, as always, took my pillow boobs for himself. It was almost a common agreement between us that we would take the next few hours to catch some real sleep. The night we had was rather short, and nothing could compare to sleeping carelessly in our personal bed. Everything else could come later.

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Waking up to the calm sound of someone knocking on the door, I took my hydra in my arms and headed to the door with Gnash immediately in toe. Leaving Tara to her beauty sleep, I turned the door handle to see Reylia about to knock again.

“Hey, I saw that your dragon was back, so I thought I check on you.” She smiled.

“Thanks, I guess.”

“I wanted to ask you for more material. The last ones we got from you were of amazing quality. If you want, I can come back later. You look tired.”

“No, it's fine, really, we just finished our nap,” At my words, Gnash appeared between my legs and greeted the elf by sniffing her.

“Oh, you got a new familiar! How cute!” Ignoring the decaying and malnourished look of Gnash, Reylia began petting the nasty-looking dog without hesitation.

Not resisting some good petting, Gnash didn’t waste time showing that he appreciated the affection by licking her hand.

“His name’s Gnash. Even if he’s a plague dog, as long as you don’t let him bite you, you be fine. Now, you said you wanted some material. You’re in luck, I just got a fresh hunt from Lendwrek this morning. Want to take a look?”

“Yes please!”

Leaving my room with Tara inside, we headed to the roof and intruded on the two dragons. Fortunately, they weren’t doing anything indecent other than cuddling, so they didn’t mind.

Taking the bags off the saddle, I let Reylia take a look herself, as I didn’t know the value of the materials inside them. At that time, I checked in the other bags and found my broken sword. The sword was nothing fancy, just an average blade that Lavanda gave me, but I still felt a little sad at the idea of needing a replacement. With the blade having snapped in half, there was no way to repair it unless I found a very competent blacksmith.

Without knowing where to start my search, I asked Reylia about her opinion.

“Sorry, I don’t know any blacksmiths, but I do know a few shops that sell decent blades. They might have something that catches your eye. I write you the name.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. By the way, how much for the boar tusks? They can make useful remedies, so I’m sure I find a use for them.”

“How about a silver each?”

“That’s too cheap, they’re worth at least four silver! I can’t scam you like that!”

“You’re a friend, you can scam me as much as you want. I did nothing for the tusks anyway, Lendwrek is the one who hunted it, so the money will go to his food.” Hearing that, the dragon licked his lips at the thought of the expensive food offered by the restaurant next door.

“Two silver each then, I won’t go lower! If you find more later, I buy them too!”

“Deal then. You heard that Lendwrek? Juicy meat for any tusk monster that you hunt, same for you Mendry.”

Now that Reylia found what she was looking for, we left the dragon to themselves, again, and moved the material bags to my room. Like that, I won’t need to go all the way to the roof each time I want to get them. As I already had a decent amount of money, selling the material to the guild could wait until later.

Getting late, I decided that it was time to go to the guild and get my payday. Leaving my spider to her sleep, I told Reylia that I was going to the guild, and she wanted to come with me, as she had nothing else to do. Apparently, Lavanda, Caryly and Phyralia all had their own things to do today, so she had no one to hang around, no one except me.

Walking through the city, the sight of my dog left quite an impression on most passersby. As they avoided the dog like the plague, we had a clear way, even during the busy time when most people were outside running errands.

Reaching the guild, it was my first time seeing the place so crowded. With most adventurers having finished their quest, the counters were overflowing with adventurers waiting for their turn to talk to the multiple receptionists and claim their well-earned coins.

Unable to find an empty line, we decided it was best to wait until the coast was clear. With nothing else to do, we talked about various things, mostly about my last quest, until the guild was much emptier.

Now free, Sophia signalled me to come to her counter. After stamping the completion stamp on the quest paper, she handed me a pouch full of shining gold coins. On top of the 30 gold base pay, I also received a generous bonus for the information we learned on the plague dead and the plague land. The total amounted to 52 gold coins. With that, I truly wouldn’t have to worry about money for a while.

Finished with our business, we were about to leave when I felt someone glaring at me. Searching the source of the stare, I wasn’t able to find it. With more than twenty people in the building, it could have been anybody. My only concern was to know if the source wanted to harm me or not. Excluding me, two other groups were standing out from the regular-looking adventurers.

One was a young woman with red hair wearing something close to a maid outfit. Even if she wasn’t looking at me, I could feel that she knew I was there. In front of her was a man with blond short hair, wearing an expensive-looking suit. My best guess was that he was a noble. Even if both of them looked different from others, the one thing they had that truly stood out from the rest was their companion. The best way to describe him was a single word: werewolf. Taller than everyone in the guild, his eyes seemed to glow with a feral yellow light as he scanned around, waiting for his master's order. When he and my dog looked at each other, I could swear they were ready to tear one another to shreds. As their group went straight to the guild counter on the other side of the guild, we didn’t have to actively avoid them.

“That's a werewolf,” Reylia whispered in my ears. “A once normal person, who succumbed to illegal magical experiments. Those like him are forced into slavery, as they are extremely unpredictable and feral.”

“Shouldn’t it be illegal, to own one?” I asked.

“Even if the process of making one is, simply having one as a slave is not. As long as they keep him on a tight leash, nobody will say anything about it, as they make good fighters.”

The other group standing out was composed of two adventurers with ten knights escorting a noble. Ignoring everyone staring at him, the man walked to a receptionist and handed her a quest paper. After she stamped it, he gave a money pouch to the two adventurers and left the guild with his escort of knights.

“Hey, I recognize you! You’re the one who was on that dragon!” Before I was able to leave, the silver-haired wolf-woman adventurer recognized me and introduced herself. These two adventurers were the A-rank duo called the Silver Night.