Chapter 23 - Flying Lion
It was a quiet way back from the dungeon. We were tired and none of us really felt like talking really. Kiril could not talk to us even if he wanted to. He would have to get our attention and make gestures with his hands to communicate with us if he wanted to. But he, too, was not in the mood for chatting.
Unfortunately, that was not going to be the case for the entirety of our way back to the Peacemakers' guild. Around half way there, we saw a creature that looked like a lion running towards us in the distance. Everything, from its golden hair and its brown mane to its body shape, looked like a lion, except for the two huge fangs it had, protruding out of its mouth and the fact that once it was somewhat close, it took off and started flying towards us.
"It does not seem too friendly. Get ready!"
I drew my weapon and waited for the beast to approach us while Guen run a few meters behind me. I would wait for the lion to make the first move. The idea was to dodge it and hit it on the counterattack, or, if I could not do that, at least block the lion's strike and prepare myself to hit it back.
But, all of a sudden, a blue bird, flying at the height of my head, came from behind me and charged towards the lion with blistering speed, cutting through the air. So fast it created a wave of air that messed my hair, lifted my cloak and made the grass rustle.
This was not a normal bird. It was made out of pure lightning. Like a bolt of lightning had tangled and shaped itself into a majestic blue bird.
It charged towards the lion, aiming to take it head on but, despite its absurd speed, the lion was able to tumble to its left and dodge the bird that kept going forward.
Now, with the bird out of the way, the lion locked its eyes on me and charged.
I took it head on. Lifted my sword and blocked its open mouth that was coming straight for my neck. From there, after gaining momentum from the collision, I jumped back and let the lion's force create distance between us so I didn't get hit by the claws that were sure to come next.
I could have definitely dodged the lion's strike and that would be the safer way to go, but that would ruin the whole plan.
Right before the lion got rid of the backwards force created by me blocking it and moments before it was ready to charge once more, the blue bird that missed the first time, had turned around and came back, diving head first on the lion's back with a sound that resembled both a bird shriek and a thunder.
Hitting the lion's back, the bird exploded into thousands of tiny strands of lightning, half of which spread in the air and disappeared, while the other half flowed through the lion's body, electrifying it.
The lion let out a loud growl, paralyzed and in pain from the lightning strike.
"Idiot," Guen chuckled to herself as she unclasped her hands.
It fell down to the side, still unable to move, with black smoke coming out of its toasted body.
Kiril dragged himself towards the lion to examine it.
"Kiril, wait! It's not dea—"
The lion snapped its head once Kiril was close enough and grabbed him with its mouth by his human legs.
It started shaking him left and right, getting its teeth deeper and deeper into Kiril's shins and thighs, purple blood splattering all over the place. But Kiril, having his legs rendered useless earlier that day, could not feel anything on his bottom half and was not affected by what would otherwise be excruciating pain. Instead, he did his best and started throwing punches at the beast, which were not able to do much damage at all, since he did not have a way to put weight behind them. His own pure muscular strength was not enough to make the lion even flinch.
It did not take long for Kiril's legs to yield against the lion's razor-sharp teeth and soon they got separated from the rest of his body as the lion closed its jaws, letting Kiril free in the process.
Purple blood was flowing from his legs and onto the green grass like a river that had no place in the middle of a field.
He was still not feeling the pain, but he was feeling the blood loss, making him dizzy and his movements slower. He wanted to crawl back behind me, but he had trouble finding the strength to move his arms and pull his weight, even reduced as it was now. He would not make it in time as the lion was just about done devouring his legs and was about to come finish the rest of its meal.
He may not have had the time to come behind me, but I was fast enough to get in front of him instead. I ran towards him and with a fast swing of my blade, I was able to wound the lion's right leg as it was about to step on Kiril.
It was not a severe injury, but it hurt enough to make the lion growl in pain and fly backwards to make distance between us.
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Guen had predicted this and had already created another lightning bird that she sent flying towards the lion.
It was able to dodge the bird by slightly lowering itself, which gave me the perfect opportunity to follow up with a [Gale Slash]. Swinging Illuminator upwards, I cut through the lion's flesh, splitting its stomach open from the lower end to the upper and continuing all the way to its chest.
Blood and organs fell from its insides before the animal landed, lifeless, on the ground. I could spot bits and pieces of Kiril's legs between the mess that was the lion's insides.
Defeated [Flion - Lvl. 11]!
Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!
We finally defeated the beast. The fight was over, but my heart was still racing. I looked at Guen that was checking on Kiril.
"He is fine, just passed out like an idiot."
I walked up to him and took my last whole healing potion out of my pouch to give it to him. He was fine now, but with all that bleeding, I could not be certain that would still be the case for the entirety of our journey back.
I popped it open and was about to give it to him when I realized I did not know how to do that. That's right, he did not have a human mouth. It did have a spider mouth though and Guen said it would be safe to put the red liquid there, although I preferred my own idea of making him ingest it through his nose.
The potion made Kiril's wounds stop bleeding and immediately close and heal themselves, but he stayed unconscious. Guen helped me get him on my back, I wrapped his arms around my shoulders and we continued on our way back that way.
His chelicera was slightly touching my trapezoids as I was carrying him, which at first tickled me and then gave me a creepy crawly sensation when I realized what was the thing that was touching me - He could not wake up fast enough.
Nor could the end of the journey come, but we eventually made it all the way back to the City of Prosper's walls. As per usual, there were two guards at the entrance, keeping suspicious people from getting into the city. There was also another guy next to the pearly gates, sleeping, but he did not have anything to do with the guards.
Having an alive [Spider Fiend] on your back that you want to bring inside the city's walls was—unsurprisingly—considered suspicious enough for the guards to stop us. I was about to explain the whole situation to the guards, starting from all the way to when I was in jail and how I met Jack, but the guards saw Guen was with me and allowed us to come in. They seemed to recognize her.
We were inside the city, and that was good, but from there we needed to find our way to the Peacemakers' guild and that was not as good. I did not know how to get there, since Jack was the one leading the way and I was the one looking at different buildings. I did know it was a white building with gold details, though it did not help that much considering this was a pretty accurate way to describe the majority of the city's buildings.
Guen was there to save the day once again. She actually knew the way that led to the guild's headquarters. This time I made sure to memorize the path. One turn right, two turns left, another right, followed by another left after a three-minute walk and finally one more left turn two streets after the fountain was not the way to go, but the right way was now engraved in my memory.
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There was a huge discrepancy between the quietness of the city and the loud noise inside the guild and, just like last time, I had an urge to put my hands over my ears the moment I stepped in.
The innkeeper, who happened to also be the guild master, saw us enter and greeted us.
"Hey! It's the Anthir and... Guen? You came early this month. And late this night. Wait, is that a [Spider Fiend]?"
"Hey racist geezer," I said.
"Hey idiot geezer," Guen said.
We walked up to the counter and signaled the innkeeper to come closer.
"Where is Jack? I suppose most people here don't know about his condition," I whispered as I looked around at the people drinking tankard after tankard and drunkenly singing songs. "We brought an ormon fruit."
The innkeeper looked around, making sure no one was looking at us or approaching the counter.
"He is upstairs, in his room. He doesn't look very well. Wrel is there watching over him and their color is getting more and more similar by the minute. Sanor is out, searching for ormon fruit around the city, but he would already be back if he had any success with it."
"We are going to put an end to this poisoning right now," Guen said.
"Yeah, there is nothing to worry about anymore," I agreed. "We are going upstairs. But first, give me your biggest tankard of ale for the road."
The innkeeper looked at me skeptically.
"You did not clear the dungeon, Anthir, did you? Do you have the money to pay for the ale? This is the reason you got into this situation in the first place."
I smiled and without taking my eyes off him, I pulled all my coins out of my pouch, letting them fall loudly on the counter. Ten gold coins, awarded for completing the demon side quest.
"Need more?" I said.
The innkeeper chuckled and went back to bring me the tankard I asked for.
"Not too bad for an Anthir, I guess."
Guen and I walked upstairs to Jack's room and I took the already half-emptied tankard with me.
I knocked on the door and entered the room. Seeing a random goblin—not Wrel—sleeping on the bed with a carefree snore made me realize I had just walked into the wrong room. I stepped back out, closed the door and went to the one next to it, which thankfully was the right room this time.
I knocked and walked in once again and this time I was met by a passed out, green-ish Jack laying on the bed face down and a worried Wrel sitting on a chair next to him.
The moment the door opened, Wrel turned to us and a smile formed on her face.
"Jinden! You are alive!"
"Of course I am"
"Of course he is. I was there to save the idiot's life," Guen added.
"Oh, hi, Guen."
Apparently, Wrel knew who Guen was too. Potentially, everyone in the guild did, as it seemed.
"I suppose you brought an ormon fruit with you, right?" Wrel asked.
"Yeah, it's right here," I said. I put my tankard on the nightstand next to Jack's bed and took the fruit out of my pouch.
I was holding it in my hands and turned to Guen for the next steps.
"He won't turn into a demon if I try to give it to him, right?" I asked her, remembering the outcome of the last time I did this.
"No, you idiot," Guen said as she gave me a good punch on the head. "Just smash the fruit and pour its juices on the poisoned wound. Also, make sure to keep some of it in a glass so he can drink it later."
And that was what I did. I brought the fruit over Jack's bare back. It looked much worse than I thought, as the skin had almost started atrophying and melting around the wound. I wondered if a healing potion would be enough to fix this after we got the poison out.
I squeezed the fruit with my own two hands, trying to break it and make the juices flow over Jack's back, but then I remembered we have technology available.
I took my sword out and lightly pushed the blade against the fruit, making a small hole. I poured some of the juice in a glass so he could drink it later and poured the rest of it all over his open wound.
I hoped for the best, yet, looking at what happened, it seemed far from it.