Chapter 06 of Wayward Ranger by J Scott Miles

They came upon the dragon carcass again as they made their way back to the trail they’d been following before Tarna alerted them to the dragon’s presence. Aidan lamented the waste of not harvesting anything from the body, but he had no experience with dragons, and he didn’t want to start gaining experience in dragon harvesting on a green. Not if they’re as toxic as Elease says they are.

As soon as they were back in the vicinity of the body, Tarna left Elease’s side and went nose down, examining the area where they fought the beast. After a few moments, she growled.

“You smell them again?” Elease asked.

Tarna yipped, and Elease cursed. The ranger readied her bow and scanned the dense undergrowth around them, so Aidan brought the spear from his shoulder down into a ready position to mirror her.

“What is it?” he whispered as a surge of apprehension coursed through him.

“She got another whiff of kobolds,” Elease answered as she continued to scan their surroundings. “I’m sure that’s why that tiny green’s hoard was full of loot. It must have a clan of kobolds helping it and paying tribute.”

Tarna yipped again, and Elease lowered her bow but continued to watch the trees. “Are you sure?” she asked her familiar. When Tarna growled a response, Elease nodded.

“What’d she say?” Aidan asked.

“It was just a couple of them, and she thinks they’ve moved on again,” Elease replied as she went over to where Tarna was and knelt, inspecting the trampled grass. “They were probably scouts.”

Aidan followed and once he started looking, he noticed several shallow three-toed footprints in the soft ground.

“Come on, let’s put some distance between us and this kill,” Elease said. “I doubt they’ll follow us very far even if they notice our trail, but they’ll be back, and us killing the dragon will have surely pissed them off.”

“Why?”

“Because the sycophantic little groupies think of themselves as dragon-kin, even though I’m sure they’re far more closely related to common garden lizards.”

“Groupies?” Aidan asked.

“Groupies.” Elease frowned at him. “You know, like the hangers-on that all the top adventurers and heroes have flocking around them. The kowtowing ass-hats who hang on their every word, are at their beck and call, and are ready to spread their legs whenever the adventurers are feeling a little randy.”

Aidan grinned. He hadn’t known adventurers and heroes attracted such hangers on, but he figured it made sense. He’d seen the way small-town folk acted around traveling bards and minstrels, and he imagined with heroes it was on a whole other level. He was having a hard time imagining that type of relationship between a kobold and a dragon, though.

“Kobolds want to serve and mate with dragons?”

Elease laughed. “Serve maybe, mate with, I don’t think so, but who can say what floats their little boats? Kobolds definitely revere dragons, but like with hero groupies, the admiration is definitely one-sided. From what I’ve heard, dragons tolerate kobolds in their territories better than most other creatures, but only slightly, and only when the little shits are bringing them shiny things for their hoards.”

“Have you fought kobolds before?”

“Oh, yeah,” Elease replied. “Lots of them. They’re not usually much of a problem in ones and twos, but things can get sticky if they come at you en masse.”

“So, if you’ve killed lots of them. Does that mean you have the kobold foe title?”

“Gods no. Why would I bother getting a kobold title? Kobolds are little better than scaley lizard rats. No one is going around bragging that they’re a kobold slayer.”

Despite the indications there were kobolds in the area, and every reason to believe they would not be happy about what had happened to the green dragon, Elease still seemed to be in a good mood as they walked. She was certainly more talkative and even slightly less condescending than she had been before they killed the dragon.

They traveled south on one small game trail after another until the sun dipped low on the horizon, and then they started looking for a place to camp. Thirty or forty yards off the trail, they found a suitable clearing near a small creek, with decent camouflage and cover.

Elease pulled a bedroll from her pack along with a battered pan and some of the leftover panther meat. Aidan wondered if items aged or could still go bad while inside enchanted packs like hers, and he considered asking Elease, but there were other questions he wanted to ask more, and he could only handle seeing her eyes roll at him so many times in one day.

He collected sticks and moss for a small fire, just large enough to cook on. Then, when they were more or less settled and two slabs of meat were roasting in Elease’s pan, he ventured a question. “So, I’ve been wondering how your familiar connection with Tarna works?”

“Your ranger mentor didn’t have a familiar?” Elease asked with a raised eyebrow as she spread her bedroll beside the fire.

Aidan shook his head and sighed to himself. Ever since washing ashore, he’d been repeatedly made aware of just how little he knew about the Untamed Lands, or how much of the wider world worked, for that matter. The forest here was familiar, yet different in so many ways. Back in the kingdoms, the wild areas were no longer truly wild. Even low-level beasts like kobolds and goblins were a rarity, and all that remained of higher-level beasts were stories.

At home there are fanciful stories about everything, but now I’m wondering how many of those are true. I’m even wondering just how good a ranger, Ranger Dallen really was. There seem to be a great many things he either didn’t know or didn’t bother to explain to me. Before I left, I thought level ten meant something, but now I realize that out here I’m basically a fucking noob.

Instead of answering his question about familiars, Elease pulled a glass bottle from her pack and said, “In celebration of Tarna and my first kill on our journey to become dragon slayers, I’m going to pop the cork on this elvish red.”

She split the wax securing the bottle’s cork with her knife, then popped the stopper out with a practiced motion. In a small wood bowl, she poured a generous helping of the wine, then placed it on the ground for Tarna. The wolf glanced over at it but went back to the raw panther haunch and bone she was working over.

Elease put the bottle to her mouth and tilted it back. When she pulled it away, she smacked her lips and sighed. “Ah, now that’s the good stuff. No one does wine like the elves.”

After another long pull, she passed the bottle to Aidan.

“Okay,” she said. “Now I’m ready to take on the laborious task of educating you. At least a little. So, familiars. Well, as a ranger, after level ten, we have the ability to bind ourselves to an animal or beast companion as our familiar. It takes upgrade-points and there are restrictions. I don’t recommend jumping into anything too early or without really knowing the companion, though. Getting out of the binding once it’s in place involves one of you dying, which is not a place either of you wants to be.”

Aidan tried the wine as he listened. The dark burgundy liquid tasted more like brandy than wine to him and burned all the way down his throat, but it wasn’t bad.

“The animal or beast also has to be willing,” she continued. “Which can be a real bitch to determine, because before you’ve bound them, it’s pretty much impossible to understand what they’re saying. Unless you’ve unlocked a Beast Whisperer ability or something similar.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“But once you’re bound, you can understand them?” Aidan asked, genuinely curious. “You and Tarna seem to talk.”

“Yeah, it’s a little hard to explain. When she vocalizes, I still hear the same wolf sounds you hear, but I’m also able to interpret it internally into words. I also get impressions of her mood and sometimes her wants. Like when she’s hungry.” Elease turned her head to glare over at her wolf. “Or like now, when I know she’s not in the mood to drink with me.”

“Can any animal become a familiar?”

Elease tilted her head from side to side as if considering the question. “Most can, I think, but again, determining if they’re willing can be tricky. The smarter and more expressive they are to begin with, the better. I mean, as the ranger, all you have to do is initiate the process, and then they get a prompt to accept. At least that’s how Tarna described her end of the process to me once we were bonded.”

The half-elf took another long swig from the bottle and held it out to Aidan again.

“Familiars definitely get a boost to their stats in the process, especially their intelligence,” she continued, “although sometimes I think my pain in the ass over there is too smart for her own good now.”

Tarna snorted in a way that sounded a bit like a laugh and crunched down on the bone she was chewing.

“Yeah, before meeting you two, I thought familiars were more like well-trained pets who did what they were told.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tarna’s head come up to glower at him, so he quickly amended his statement, “But Tarna is obviously nothing like that.”

Elease laughed again. “Don’t let a familiar hear you calling them a pet. That’s about the fastest way to get on their shit-lists.” Elease took another swig. “No, my Tarna certainly has a mind of her own, and what we have is probably closer to a marriage than anything else. Not that I’ve ever been married.” Elease belched, then giggled. “I told you this was the good stuff.” She belched again, then got to her feet. “I’ve got to pee. So, listen you perv, no peeking while I have my pants down. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you looking at my ass all day while we hiked. My trusty familiar will be keeping an eye on you.”

Aidan blushed as Elease walked off into the growing darkness toward the creek. He poked the hunks of meat in the pan again with the end of his blade. Before she’d warned him against peeking at her, the thought hadn’t even occurred to him. But since she’d mentioned it, suddenly all his mind wanted to do was turn his head and try to catch a glimpse of her bare backside.

He tried to shake those thoughts from his mind and forced himself to keep his gaze directed into the fire, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t help thinking about her. She’s undeniably attractive. Physically, at least. She’s full of herself though, and obviously not used to sharing. She definitely reminds me of the few rich kids and noble brats I’ve met. And my attraction for her has to be at least in part due to a lack of other options out here.

He knew that was a lie and sighed. No, my attraction to her is because she has a butt like a perfect stone-fruit.

Not for the first time, he wondered how old she was. If she were human, I’d say she’s just a few years older than me. And I wouldn’t have a problem being with an older woman. But as a half-elf, she could be twice that, or maybe more. Although I’m not sure that would bother me either.

He poked at the meat again, trying and failing once more to shake the half-elf from his thoughts. Damn this wine. How strong is it anyway?

He sighed again. I know one thing for sure; it has been way too long since I had some relief. I may have to sneak away later just to relieve myself of some of this tension. That way I can get back to concentrating on survival and figuring out what I’m going to do once we get to this town, instead of fantasizing about my damned travel companion.

A loud splash and a scream from the direction Elease had gone redirected his thoughts.

Something’s got her.

Grabbing the spear he’d kept beside him all evening, Aidan was off and running in that direction. Tarna was faster though, and the wolf was out in front of him, crashing through the brush and creating a sound deep in her chest that left no doubt she meant to kill whatever had made her companion scream.

When they reached Elease, they found her knee-deep in the small creek.

“Are you okay?” Aidan asked breathlessly. His eyes were still adjusting to the relative darkness, after sitting in front of the fire for so long, but there was just enough moonlight filtering down over Elease to see her.

“Gods damn it,” Elease swore. “I’m fine.”

“What happened?”

She glared at him. “I was walking back, and I slipped.”

On the muddy bank just above where Elease was struggling, he could see several long tracks in the soft earth where it looked like Elease had slid down the bank and into the water.

“How drunk are you?” he asked, trying to keep the laughter from his voice.

The half-elf’s mouth set in a hard line, and her eyes tried to bore through him. She attempted climbing up the slick bank again but lost her footing and slid back down into the water.

“Do you need a hand?” Aidan chuckled.

“No,” she replied through gritted teeth, but when he extended the spear down to her, after a moment’s hesitation, she reluctantly reached for it.

As soon as her hand closed around the shaft, just above the double-fluted tip, her eyes widened, she lost her grip, and she fell backward into the water again.

She came up sputtering. “I just got a notification. That’s a fucking epic weapon!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing with—” Her words cut off mid-sentence, and she turned her glare towards her companion. “Did you know it was an epic weapon when you showed it to him?” Elease asked accusingly.

Tarna wasn’t paying any attention to them, though. The wolf’s ears were up, as was the fur of her neck, and her eyes were fixed on some point upstream.

“What is it?” Elease asked, the accusation in her voice slipping away.

A chittering erupted from the undergrowth, followed by snarls and snaps, almost like a crude language. Although not one Aidan could place or understand. He knew exactly what the creatures that burst from the bushes a moment later were, though.

A trio of kobolds ran at them, their large amber eyes peering out from beneath pronounced brows, and their elongated alligator-like mouths open in a menacing show of teeth. Despite their small stature, their bodies were corded with muscle under scaly skin, giving them the appearance of formidable warriors. One held a crude club in his clawed fingers, while another wielded a stone-tipped spear, and the third brandished a long steel knife.

Tarna launched herself at the closest one, and in two bounds she’d crashed into the kobold with the spear, knocking it backward with her greater weight. The next nearest kobold brought its club down onto the wolf’s back, drawing a yelp from her.

Aidan ran to help Tarna, fighting through the growing buzz he felt from the elvish wine. He leveled his spear at the third kobold, the only one with a metal weapon. His target had turned to attack the wolf as well, giving Aidan a clear shot at its unprotected flank. He took advantage of the wide-open opportunity and drove his spearpoint into the creature just above the waistband of its crude loincloth. The kobold screeched and flailed as he skewered it, throwing its head back and dropping its blade.

Kill: Kobold raider, Level 9. Experience 85. Upgrade-points 3. Harvestable corpse. Loot-drop none.

The things death notification flashed before Aidan’s eyes, but so did another notification.

Congratulations, you’ve chosen to bind the Spear of the Lynx. While wielding your soul-bound weapon, you will be granted Movement of the Lynx. Plus 2 to Dexterity.

Immediately, his body felt noticeably lighter, freer, and quicker to respond to his mental commands. I think I even feel a little less drunk.

His thoughts about the spear were cut short when he saw more kobolds emerging from the undergrowth, however. He yanked his spear free from the dead kobold with a jerk, then struck out at the one with the club.

Tarna held a kobold by the throat and was shaking it fiercely when Aidan tried to stab the one beating on her back. Unfortunately, it didn’t appear as though simply possessing an epic soul-bound spear made him any more skilled at wielding one. His thrust missed its mark and just scraped the kobold’s torso.

The club wielder spun and batted Aidan’s spear away, almost wrenching it from his hands.

With his new movement enhancements, the blow to his weapon didn’t carry him quite as far off balance as it might have otherwise, and he was able to bring the spear swinging back in an arc that caught the kobold across the shoulder with the knife edge of the tip.

The thing squealed and hopped away, holding its arm.

Tarna’s kobold lay dying on the ground while clutching its ruined throat. The wolf turned and engaged two more, who had directed their full attention to Aidan. As her jaws clamped down around another one’s arm with a sickening crunch, Aidan felt a searing pain flare in his upper thigh.

He half-spun, half-fell, ending up on the ground, looking back in the opposite direction. More kobolds approached from the direction of his and Elease’s camp, two with small bows, another with a rusted sword that was way too big for it, and several more with crude spears.

Down in the creek bed, Elease had her knives out, fighting with two more kobolds.

Shit. We’re being overrun. How many of them are there?

One of the kobold archer’s little bows twanged, and Tarna yelped.

Aidan staggered to his feet, and even though he realized there was an arrow sticking from his leg, he grit his teeth through the pain and charged the ten or fifteen yards separating him from the kobold archers.

He hacked, slashed, and thrust at the little beasts. Notifications flashed before his eyes, but he ignored them as he did his best to wield his unfamiliar new weapon.

After who knew how long, Aidan found himself covered in cuts and gore, panting with effort, and without a foe to fight. He scanned the carnage around him and the scatter of kobold bodies. Then he heard a whimper from a few feet away, and his heart lurched into his throat.

Tarna. Gods, no.