Chapter 21
Side Quest, Part 3
Amiel introduced Moonlight to the party the next morning. The party stared at the new protector. She was black and white and furry all over. She had Manuel's two-handed sword slung over her shoulder. The tigress cat-girl looked over at her charges. "My name is Moonlight, and I am a Tigress Archon. It's nice to meet you. So, is it true that Manuel got beaten by a mosquito?"
"Yah. "He got a mosquito stabby thing right through his eye," said Zip.
"Well, once we get out of town, I will be staying in tiger form instead of this one," said Moonlight. " My tigress form is a lot better for fighting and tracking. I can teleport around, so I can cover a lot of ground looking for the dragon or other captured elves and the like. Almiel told me you would like to gain experience if we can find some things that are not too dangerous. You got beaten up by bugs, so I'm not sure what that would be exactly. I will cast a spell so all of you can talk to me when I am moving around; you just need to talk out loud and I will be able to hear you."
Moonlight cast her communication spell, and they left for their adventure. Then she gave the party several saddlebags. "I am going to stay in tiger form; this way I can carry some gear on the way and then carry back dragon treasure or something."
Almiel cast physical perfection on the group for 10 days again, and as he was feeling much better, he also threw his teleportation spell on Star, just in case.
One of the benefits of starting today was that they had much better ingredients to cook with. Since the caravan didn't need most of the cooking gear, they could let Star cook for everyone on a campfire without too much trouble. They carried some char cloth, so starting the fire was pretty easy with a flint stone and a knife to make some sparks. Unlike last time, the morning was pretty uneventful as they made their way north by northeast. They were encountering fewer thorns away from the path, but it was still tough to walk through the dense forest. They were all grateful to stop for lunch and lounge around while Star cooked for them.
They all got a portion of the stew and salad that Star had made and were amazed at how great it tasted.
"I guess if you are hungry, everything tastes great," said Tira.
"No," said Twixia, "this is really good. Spices sure make a difference."
Recharged from the best meal they've had in a great while, maybe due to it not being chicken? The party set off again, and soon they got a message from Moonlight saying that she had found a monster pig and was bringing it to the party so they could gain experience and get some more meat for the journey. Tigers do, after all, eat a lot. Everyone hid, waiting for Moonlight and the pig to show up.
* Roll for initiative
Surprise round
Moonlight was able to get the boar where she wanted it, and it was a perfect ambush opportunity. The boar was so focused on chasing the cat that he didn't notice the party until they attacked.
Everyone but Twixia got a hit on the giant boar before it realized what had happened.
* Round 1
The boar won the initiative and, in a target-rich environment, turned and attacked the person who had stabbed it in the rear. He tore into Olier, blooding him in a single gore attack.
In the close quarters, Star's large elven sword got caught in Twixia's armor, slightly wounding Twixia, and making Star drop the sword. "Not me! hit the pig. like this!" yelled Twixia, cutting off a piece of skin off the boar. Tira hit once, as did the wounded rogue, hoping this would finish it off. They reduced its hit points to zero and caused 4 health damage to the boar, but it had the ability to not fall unconscious until it reached negative five health, so the fight continued.
* Round 2
Olier got lucky on the boar's final attack, as his bronze chain shirt managed to deflect the boar's tusks.
Twixia and Zip managed to finish off the boar.
* Combat rounds end
* Each member of the party gains 200 experience. Almeil receives 0 experience as a single giant boar is too low in level to receive experience.
"I am so sorry, Twixia. Let me heal that for you," said Star, picking up her sword and doing the Spring Dance, easily healing the slight wound. Tira danced for Olier, healing most of the damage from his wound with half of her ability for the day.
"I learned to harvest, so I will cut up the pig," said Twixia. Moonlight had her cut off a nice hunk for her to munch on while they waited. The boar weighed almost a ton, so they wouldn't be taking everything with them anyway, so the tigress filled up on pork for the road.
They kept an eye out for valuable plants as they were traveling, but only found a few things to eat with their survival skills. About an hour before dark, they started setting up camp. Olier's new camping skills proved useful. The pork was not as good as lunch, as their skills told them to make sure to cook the monstrous pork meat well. The salad, combined with the plants they harvested, was still amazing.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
Just as they had finished a great breakfast and were packing and ready to head out, they were attacked by a squad of 7 dragon minions and an advanced dragon!
* Roll for initiative.
* Surprise Round
The advanced dragon made for Zip, as he wanted her for himself, the other dragons all attacked one person, or a dog or cat, each.
Tira had Uncanny Dodge because she was a sword maiden, so her defenses were not lowered even in surprise. Olier was due to get it at the next level, so he unfortunately had much lower defenses.
Tira was lightly bitten, as was Olier, but they managed to dodge the rakes. The dragon on Star missed completely; Twixia, Raythiel, and the doggie were both bitten and clawed quite seriously. Even worse, the party had lost the initiative as well and had to endure another round of attacks! At least the dragons had the choice of two rakes or a bite attack, not both since they were no longer pouncing. The advanced dragon approached the pretty woodling, trying to delicately grab Zip. He tripped on some tall grass and fell over at her feet.
*Round 1
Star and Tira were both missed. The advanced dragon at the feet of Zip tried to get up, but its feet were still tangled, and it fell at her feet again. The dragons on Raythiel, Twixia, and her dog all hit their bite attacks; Twixia and her dog familiar went down with a whimper and a whine, respectively, and Raythiel only held on due to Almiel's spell. Moonlight was bitten badly, but her damage ward flared and took the damage.
Tira cast a cold touch on her blade but missed her dragon.
Star, having raised her strength at 4th level along with the perfection spell, swung twice and her dragon went down.
Raythiel cast disappear on herself and her poor dog, and they vanished from sight.
Olier ignored the dragon on him and tumbled over to the dragon on Twixia and stabbed it in the back, drawing its attention away from Twixia.
Moonlight clawed the dragon attacking her, and when it didn't quite die, she lightly clawed it a second time, and it died.
Zip retreated from the advanced dragon to try to avoid being carried off.
Things didn't go very well for the dragons, but woodling, so the combat continued.
Round 2
The advanced dragon took off after Zip, but again was too delicate with its bite and missed Zip, who was actively dodging now instead of being protected ala Inspector Clouseau.
The dragon on Raythiel charged the tiger, and Moonlight put a claw on its forehead to stop it from biting her. The dragon on the dog charged Star, but Star once again danced out of the way. The dragon on Tira looked like it was about to bite her, but suddenly, Tira was behind the advanced dragon on Zip as she triggered her ritual teleport spell. The dragon that Olier had left charged him in revenge for being ignored, bit Olier again, and added a claw for fun. The last dragon that was on Raythiel chased after its leader, Zip, hoping that it would get lucky.
Raythiel went over and cast a healing spell on Twixia, healing all of her wounds; the perfection spell was gone for her, but she was fine. Twixia grabbed her sword and stood up, feeling for wounds. Olier used the distraction to sneak attack her dragon, and it went down. He turned to finally face his own unwounded dragon. Star danced, her finely wrought elven sword flashed twice, and another dragon minion fell. Moonlight bit off the dragon's head that had charged her and settled in for the second breakfast that had been delivered to her. "Thanks for the food," she said, putting her paws together. Tira missed the advanced dragon, but hit with her second attack, and the cold spell went off as well. It wasn't enough to kill the monster, but he knew he was out of time. He had to make this next grab work!
* Round 3
The dragon, who was now unengaged because the elfess he was attacking had teleported away and then almost killed his boss with a single attack, and he saw another squadmate easily dispatched by the tigress, decided he needed to do something else." The mistress will eat you all!" he cried bravely, and then, just as bravely, he ran away.
The dragon on Zip finally got her in his mouth! It was as good as the rumors said! He moved a bit away from Tira and had his dragon minion trooper step between them. The dragon minion chomped down on Tira. The enraged dragon on Olier bit him yet again and would have finished him but for the physical perfection spell. Olier's commoner levels combined with this rogue level gave him an additional fourteen hit points.
Zip's plan had worked, as she had won the grab by virtue of her bonus to grapple. She gave the advanced dragon a tongue piercing, and exited his mouth and dropped to the ground. Her bloodlust kicked into high gear as she smiled up at the surprised dragon choking on its own blood. Tira cheered her on, cast another cold touch spell on her blade, and killed the dragon minion that had just bit her in a single attack.
Star danced over and protected her servant; her devastating sword attacks killed the last dragon on the field.
* The battle is over, and a redemption quest is issued.
* Star's party receives 633 experience each; Almiel receives 0 experience as two dragon minions together are too low in level to gain experience. Twelve hundred experience points were lost to the system for the shield or blessings. I am transferring experience to shard #31, as per the notes.
* Issuing first alignment quest to Olier. "Without healing, go and rescue the creatures captured by these dragons in their nearby den by yourself."
"I have something to do; don't follow me or heal me." said Olier, and he walked into the forest, following the trail that the dragons had used to ambush them back to their hideout. He went as stealthily as his wounds would allow him to.
"What is he talking about, Star?" said Raythiel, who appeared as her spell's time limit wore off. "Arf?" asked her dog.
As Zip was walking back, she said, "How about Dragon Food for the dog's name?"
Tira danced and healed her wounds. "If warriors can't heal themselves, they should be nice to healers. How about dragon food for the dog's name?" asked Tira.
"Well, get to work, Twixia; I guess we have some time while Olier takes on his quest," said Star. "If he dies, I guess we will know and try to get his body."
The girls settled into processing dragon meat and parts, while Moonlight continued packing away extra supplies inside herself. Just a few tenturns later, Olier returned, holding hands with and supporting two goblin warriors.
"Your alive, Oiler, what did you have to fight?" questioned Tira
"Just cowardice," said Olier.
Star and Tira used the last of their healing magic on the goblins and Olier, and Olier was still wounded. The goblins were two of the warriors that the party had hired.
"That other dragon seemed to know where the Green Dragon is; why don't you follow the leader, Moonlight, and not let him warn the Green? You can guide us with landmarks.
"Sounds good; let's go kill an evil dragon tomorrow," said Moonlight.
"Arf!" agreed Dragon Food?