Moly Bush stood on an overseeing hill. All of Townston sprawled before them. The brick buildings with colorful finishing lay whole and standing. They admired the town they had sworn to protect through the lens of their spectacles. They planted their gnarled staff firmly in the dirt. The wind flowed around their broad chest while their feet were planted on the ground like immovable columns. A wind charm that hung from their antler swayed silently in the wind. They basked in the morning sunlight.

A month or so had passed since the coming and going of Hero's Prophecy. Although he brought with him the three with the most martial potential in the town, Townston had been doing okay. Prometheus had been sending less monsters this way. Them and a cadre of new warriors had been valiantly fighting against the forces of evil.

Moly had been... letting themself go in the past month. A lush carpet of dark green leaves had grown on his back. They somehow couldn't find it in themself to care. They're not when they had last washed their sash.

They turned to their back when they sensed someone approaching. From the crest of the hill arrived a grey-blue feathered dinosaur. They cringed a bit at Moly's state.

"Hey there, Moly," Transmogrifying Raptor greeted.

"To you too, mate," Moly replied with a nod.

"You're having multiple buds now," Raptor noted. "Your big blossom at the end of your tail is beautiful."

"More buds?" Moly said with a frown. They turned their gaze to their tail where several deep red buds had grown while a large rose blossom had adorned their tailtip.

"You look incredibly healthy, Moly," Raptor remarked. "They don't appear to be some sort of disease."

Moly sighed. "I know." They uprooted their feet from the ground and shook the dirt from their newly grown roots. Moly sighed and squatted to cut off the unwanted roots with their claws. "I just think I'm not cut out to be a parent yet."

Raptor raised an eyebrow. "You're a girl?"

"No-- I mean, I don't know, and I'd rather not know."

~***~

After a few days of travel, Hillock had finally arrived at Townston, the last known location of her father. It's been a month or so since she had heard of him. She's afraid of what had happened to him. He promised that he would be back in a week, only for him to disappear without a trace.

Hillock gazed out the curtained windows of the wooden carriage. They passed by brightly colored houses. Most of them were intact though some were in the process of being cleaned and rebuilt. The occasional tree and flower box flashed at the side of the streets while the brightly colored horses that pulled the carriage trotted on the bright yellow road. An eclectic variety of people roamed the streets. There were lizards and mammals, birds and insects, and plants and machines. Some were as tiny as an apple slice, sticking to the walls, while others were as tall as a spruce tree, overlooking them.

"Anxious still?" A voice inquired. It belonged to a Roy. Roy was a shy silver dragon. Her slender limber serpentine body rested on the seat while his amber eyes scanned the surroundings. The entirety of his length was clad in thin silvery white scales. A mane of red fur trailed his spine like flames and ended his tail with a brush-like tuft of hair. A pair of well-trimmed gold-brown antlers adorned his head, white whiskers hung from the sides of his nose, and wicked black claws adorned his hands.

Roy periodically wiped his polo with a red trim and embroidered clouds. Brown slacks hid his lower body. Whatever attempt Roy had made in appearing calm and collected had utterly failed. Roy was visibly nervous; he was crossing his fingers and rubbing his palms. The atmosphere quivered with his nervousness.

"A little bit," Hillock admitted. The two of them had travelled through some towns in search of his missing father. Roy was a chemist. He used to work in the same agency as her father's but resigned to start an apothecary of his own. Her father primarily acquired their medicine at his shop.

"We're here," one of the horses announced. "Town Square, Townston."

"Come on," Hillock urged and disembarked the carriage set her foot onto the pastel concrete of the town square. Roy followed suit and paid the horses their fare.

Hillock panned her pupilless lemon eyes across the square. Her plum-purple fur bristled in the breeze, and a silver line ran down her arms and legs. Her feline head sported a frazzled main of hair and a thin tail that ended with a tuft of hair trailed behind her. A casual set of clothes covered her torso. "Where do we start?"

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"The most logical place for us to ask would be the municipal hall."

"Well, if that's the case, let's ask the local for--"

Hillock's statement was interrupted by a crash that quaked the earth. They heard a loud roar followed by metallic screeching and whining. Hillock fell to her butt when she heard the sound.

As Roy leaned down to help her up, a large brown raccoon-like beast sprinted across the square. Its hairs stood stiff on their ends like needles and spines. Beady black eyes full of mischief scanned the area. The townsfolk attempted to get out of the curving path of the speeding raccoon, but some were unfortunately too slow to move out of the way and ebony claws dug wounds into their flesh.

The beast lolled its pink tongue as it ran. A squad of warriors wielding crude blades and clubs chased the agile animal. Much of their clumsy strikes missed the quick beast, and they bumped into each a lot in their pursuit. The beast danced around their attacks, playing with them.

In the middle of battle, the beast crouched and sent spines flying in every direction. The spines broke skin and injected venom into their bloodstream. The struck warriors suddenly became stiff and immobile. Four of the five warriors that pursued the rampaging playful beast fell; spines fortunately missed the last one by mere millimeters.

One of the warriors, the one with red-orange skin and a spiral horn growing from their forehead, breathed a stream of tangerine flames. The fire brushed the flank of brown beast and set alight to its needle-like hairs. The hair smoked like sticks of incense. The now harmed and panicked animal turned tail and fled... to the direction of Roy and Hillock.

Roy stood frozen in place while his companion had already wound her legs to leap out of the way. They hadn't thought of monster attacks whilst they travelled and did business in the towns. They hadn't encountered hitches like this in the previous towns and had completely forgotten about it. His yellow eyes locked at the beady black eyes of the oncoming monster.

The brown beast sped across the pavement, leaving its slow pursuers in the dust. The animal sprinted to pounce upon the dragon. It bared its ebony claws against the serpent.

Roy, ruled by instinct and fear, exercised his ability to control air. Lightning crackled around his arms as roiling air produced static electricity. He threw a electric punch to the pouncing beast. Thunder exploded when the fist connected with the beast; a bright white flash erupted from the punch and arcs of electricity jumped off their bodies. The smell of ozone wafted from the impact.

The brown beast crashed onto Roy as a twitching wreck cooked by electrical burns. Roy fell on his back and scrambled to get the beast off him. He stood at the side to acquire control over his irregular breathing.

The red-orange-skinned warrior rushed to the beast and plunged their blade into the beast's heart. The beast weakly struggled to get away. Eventually, the beast ceased all struggle; life faded from its eyes, and its breathing had stopped.

"Hey, have you dealt with the escaped beast?" A voice called out. Roy turned to find the source to be a tall green lizard. They stood with intimidating air as blood and gore stuck to their scales. They stood taller than many of the locals. Their broad chest were thick with muscle and strength, and they bore their weighty awesome form on thick muscular arms and legs. A bronze antler grew from the left side of their skull. A mat of greenery covered their back. A thick thorny tail was attached to their backside. Rose buds and a large bloody blossom on the tip grew on their tail. Spade-like claws meant to scoop viscera from their prey adorned their hands and feet.

The sash they wore was stained with blood. A necklace of teeth and bones hung from their neck, and a staff of dark gnarled wood was held in their hand. They seem not a bit unsettled by the blood they bathed in. Roy found himself utterly weak at the knees.

"Yes, Shaman Moly, the beast had been subdued," the horned-warrior replied.

"Good," the large green lizard replied. They paced to survey the damage. They noticed the people lying on the ground, and knelt to inspect them. They procured spectacles with thickest lenses Roy had ever seen from unseen pockets of their sash. "Hmm. Feverish and bruised, no broken bones, poisoned. Somebody get Doctor Raptor over here."

"I'm already here, Moly," a shrill screech came from above. A large black bird of prey descended from the skies. Vermilion feathers lay interspersed among the black ones. Chartreuse eyes judge the victims laying prone on the square. Clutched in its talons was a black briefcase, presumably containing medicine.

Roy slowly took a few steps back, but his companion, Hillock, had boldly approached the two awe-inspiring figures.

The large bird suddenly released a flash of light and in its place was grey-feathered velociraptor with turquoise eyes in a doctor's coat. They leaned into the victims and diagnosed them. They opened their briefcase and retrieved a pair of clean gloves and began pulling the spines from their bodies.

"Excuse me," Hillock spoke. "Would you kindly point us the way to the municipal hall? We're new here and we're kind of curious whether a certain individual had been seen passing through here."

"It's that way," Moly answered.

"Thank you."

Hillock started towards the direction Moly pointed them. Roy nervously followed Hillock in her footsteps. The municipal hall stood proudly in the corner of the road. It bore its plastered cracks and bare walls with legacy. Doric columns held the roof overhang above its front porch.

They entered the buidling's lobby. They found it strangely quiet. The few offices were empty with the exception of the office of the treasurer. Only a janitor mopping the floor and the secretary sitting behind the information desk was present in the lobby.

"Excuse me, my father has been missing for a month and had been would like to inquire whether he had passed through here," Hillock asked.

The secretary turned her eyes to Hillock. "You'd have to ask the police captain, except the police captain had been away for a month now, so you'll have to ask the mayor who is currently busy. Are you willing to wait for a while until they come back."

Hillock smiled. "Yes."

The secretary the gave a form. "Here, fill this up while you wait."