Mandilyn’s attack did absolutely no damage as she tried to cut across the back. The reflective scales the creature had absorbed all of the damage dealt. She landed on the cliff opposite the massive monster. It sliced a chunk off of where she landed.

“Gah!” She yelled, “This is pointless!” The piece of the rockface slid off the side, revealing a clean and precise cut. She watched as Avelyn was hanging on as much as possible, the Leviathan smashed into the crevices of the rock walls coming out with no discernible damage.

The rabbit-girl sat down to recover all her lost energy and possibly come up with a plan. As the minutes went by, she couldn’t formulate a single one. The creature’s scales were too hard for someone like her to smash through and Avelyn was too busy keeping the thing above the surface of the lake.

“I probably could have guessed all this was your doing,” stated a familiar voice.

Mandilyn turned around to see Estelletoria with another person next to her, a child who strangely looked very similar to the bee-woman. Blonde curly hair, neck fur, and blue eyes. It seemed that she was timid and hid behind the older bee-girl’s legs, but somehow her general aura betrayed the situation.

“Well, well, if it isn’t your highness,” Mandilyn teased, turning to stand up, “What brings you here, aren’t you supposed to be building a hive?”

Estelletoria crossed her arms and frowned. “I was until several trees near it were cut in half, so I followed the destruction and magical signatures until I got here.”

Mandilyn planted the glaive into the ground and leaned on the wooden part, “Then, since you’re already here, want to help? We could use your help against this thing.”

“Sorry, bunny, but fighting isn’t exactly my forte,” Stated Estelletoria. “Besides, I have to take care of the little ones for now.” She pushed the child in front of her, who stubbornly skidded forward in the dirt towards the bunny-girl.

“Oh?” Mandilyn said, kneeling to the same eye height as the younger bee-girl. Being closer revealed that she was slightly lighter skin toned than her mother and while her mother had a generally calm and soft expression, she had a very tough and aggressive appearance, much like a wasp. Mandilyn smiled, tapped on her nose, and then introduced herself, “I’m Mandilyn, what’s your name?” She waited several seconds and received no answer, just a blank, angry stare.

“Nisandra, introduce yourself,” Estelletoria commanded, flicking the back of her head.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Nisandra rubbed the back of her head and scowled. “I’m Nisandra.” She paused and noticed that her mother wanted her to continue with the rest of the greeting. “…It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mandilyn.” Her voice carried the same sophisticated aura as Estelletoria’s voice did.

Estelletoria sighed and placed a hand on her daughter’s head, gently going around the curve of her head. “It’s always manners with this one. I pray that you’re not offended by her rude behavior, Mandilyn.”

Mandilyn shook her head. “Not at all! It’d take a lot for a kid to bother me.” Mandilyn put her thumb and index finger on top of her chin. “Maybe I could help her learn some manners? I’m great with kids, after all.”

“I’ll have to think about that for a little while,” said Estelletoria. “As the eldest, Nisandra has to learn to care for the hive when I’m busy.”

Mandilyn’s smile quickly faded as she remembered that there was a fight on their hands. She turned around to see the Leviathan retreating back into the depths of the lake and a flying drake-girl colliding with a tree, causing a small crater in its bark. While upside down and stuck in the tree, the drake girl angrily yelled, “Where is help from my pack!? I cannot do everything alone!”

Mandilyn grimaced and looked away from the fuming drake-girl and apologized, “Sorry, Avelyn.”

Avelyn pried herself from the tree and rectified her positioning. Even with her hardened scales, a thin trail of blood raced down from her head. Avelyn snarled, “Don’t let this happen again, buck-tooth. Now, where is Arslan?”

Mandilyn looked over the cliff expecting to see him still on the ground level. Confused, she agreed, “Where is Arslan? He should be down there.” She jumped down to get a better look, and upon landing saw everything was still there, the bag, the arrows, everything was left untouched. Arslan just was gone. Behind her, Estelletoria descended, struggling to carry Avelyn even with the help of her daughter.

Avelyn let out a small burst of fire from her mouth, “If he deserted the pack, I’ll hunt him down and take his head.”

“Whoa, easy fire-breath,” Mandilyn exhorted Avelyn. “Don’t jump to such a drastic conclusion. I don’t think he’d leave us without saying something.” Upon hearing that Avelyn let out another fire burst. Mandilyn noticed that Estelletoria and Nisandra were looking at something in the distance and she had to confront them. “What are you looking at?”

Estelletoria turned back to them and pointed in the general direction of the area that had the most cut down trees. “Tell me, what do you two see over there?” she asked.

“Trees, dirt, nothing.” Avelyn still angry listed off.

Mandilyn shook her head and added, “Nothing, why?”

“Because,” Estelletoria started, “Arslan is over there.”

“You’re joking, aren’t you?” Mandilyn questioned.

Estelletoria shook her head and explained, “I’m not sure how much you know about my race, but we can see the magic in things, and I can recognize his signature anywhere.”

Avelyn hastily began the journey to the clearing except she was heading in the entirely wrong direction of where he was currently hiding. Estelletoria tried to stop her, but her voice wasn’t getting through to the drake-girl. Mandilyn had run in front of her and had to persuade her to let Estelletoria and Nisandra lead the way. She snarled once more, “Fine! Go, bug.”