I woke from my dreams and memories. My massive duck wing had done its job and my belongings and I were dry. The warmth faded last night as my magic had only lasted so long. I could no longer feel the rain falling. I shifted my body to put away the giant wing I sprouted from my lower back. Pulling my clothes back into place I looked around at my makeshift shelter. I gathered and wriggled out from under the bushes and pulled my belongings.
I stretched my human body and felt my tight muscles relax. Making sure everything was secured on me I looked around and tried to remember which direction I had come from. Thankfully the forest was sparse enough that I could see traces of my muddy footprints. Barely there after all the rain but thanks to the skills I had honed over the ages were still sharp. I followed it back but didn’t make it far.
A group of thugs lay in wait surrounding the road like patient hunters. I thankfully spotted them from afar. Sliding behind a bush I started to count how many I could see. I studied each one checking for any dragon hunters among them. There had been one in my time that hired others to confront me. The squelching of the earth would keep me from sneaking up on them. I didn’t want the violence that would happen if confronted. If they would just take all my coins I could live with it. But they would demand I give them even the clothes off my back. I hung my belongings up on a few branches and decided to confront them and try to talk them into letting me go by.
I walked as quietly as I could up and then crawled sliding on my belly. I came up behind one and whispered, “who are we waiting for?”
Without looking back at me the man whispered back, “word is a merchant with just a little girl might be coming their way back to town. Boss says that his cargo is valuable.” Then he turned with a smile on his face. It vanished as he saw me. “Who…?”
Knowing their target ended my desire to be peaceful so I struck him, shoving a claw through the side of his head. The sound of his bone cracking under my piercing blow sounded through the area. Instantly a man not more then three arm widths away snapped to his feet. I curled and pounced. As I moved like a blur I let my skin turn to steel hard scales. My fingers now ended with the powerful claws. I let my body and muscles swell to as tight as my clothes could stand. He had his blade half drawn but I was upon him.
His cry was cut short as I swiped out the meat of his throat into my hand. His eyes went wide as he gurgled. I kicked him hard enough to shatter his ribs and send him rocketing into a tree. It buried its way through my leathers and stopped against my scales. I was more worried about needing to mend my clothes so as fast as I could I spin sending the back of a fist at head height. The man ducked as he pulled the knife back and rammed it into my stomach. I snatched his arm with one hand and the back of his head in another. Then I headbutted him so powerfully it shattered his skull. As I pulled back I saw his eyes had bulged from their sockets and felt the man’s blood splatter against my feet. He crumpled to the ground.
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A scream warned me of another man coming up behind me. I whipped around and brought my arm up to block a blow from a mighty club. I had to give it to him, my arm did go numb from the blow. The weapon and not shattered in his two handed swing but I could see the shock of the blow surprised him as his hands shook from the physical feedback. I let a quick breath burst from my mouth and envelop just his face. The brutal half transformation cut his scream short. The dust faded and showed how seamless his body formed into the end of a scroll. Three men sprinted in separate directions. I picked the one with the beast gear to chase and pushed against the ground so hard it left a furrow for my first few steps
Keeping a mostly human form greatly limited my speed but it would destroy my clothes even more if I let myself shift further. The man I was chasing was quick and darted through the area like it was the back of his hand. I slowly closed the distance and he looked back at me. A critical mistake as his foot caught in a root and twisted wrongly. He collapsed with a scream of terror and pain as I leapt on him.
“Please have mercy!” He cried. I ripped the weapon from his belt and threw it aside.
“Who is your boss?” I yelled. Grabbing handfuls of his tunic so tight I could hear the fabric start to rip.
“Harold the Bloody, that’s what we call him.” He cringed back as he looked terrified, “I thought demons like you would look over us not kill us.” His voice had turned to a whimper.
My blood went cold, “What do you know of demons?” This could be a greater threat than just mere bandits.
“The Boss talks to one. We bring him the people we catch and he gives them over in exchange for wealth and power. He is stronger than ten men. We… we can make a deal. I’ll bring you people and you can make me just as strong.” His fear turned into a greedy smirk.
“Where is your boss? I’ll get rid of him first.” I softened my body language and tone as if I was going for his idea.
“We have a small valley hideout to the east. That’s our main base. Come on, we can go and I’ll sneak you in.”
I pulled him up and patted him on one shoulder. Then I ripped out his heart in one swift moment. “Sorry, no witnesses.”
A look of confusion crossed his face as he collapsed. I would need to dispose of the bodies as best I could. Such savage deaths if discovered by the right people could point out my identity or location to a smart dragon hunter. The scroll I got from Redgrass indicated he was part of a small team that split up to cover ground so I couldn’t be too careless. I looked at my gloves and chest frowning at the amount of blood I had been splattered with.
If I wanted to be quick I’d have to use some magic to dispose of the bodies. If I used too much I would get closer to a forced slumber. It would take me a week or two to recover the spent magic. Touching the ground by the bodies I convinced it that with the water so soaked into it that it was more of a swamp. I rippled and collected that water until the men were laying atop mud. Slowly they sank into the earth. When I couldn’t see them anymore I let the water disperse and the makeshift swamp turned to dirt. A wave of exhaustion filled me but I grabbed my belongings and headed east through the forest.