Warnings: Depiction of what's essentially an animal death.
Chapter 38: On the Road to Capstan Part 1: The Tainted Manticore
The room was dark so he reasoned that it was probably still early in the morning, although exactly how early he couldn't tell. He briefly considered pulling out his mobile phone to check the time, but thought better of it; The last time he'd checked it, the battery was running low so it was probably dead by now. And it wasn't set to Goldpaw time anyway. So he waited for his eyes to adjust to the gloom before throwing back the covers and padding to one of the windows to pull back the curtain. Stars twinkled overhead and the moon shone brightly in the night sky. He listened for activity either in the corridor outside his door or in any of the other rooms next to his but could hear none. From his guestimation it was well before five in the morning and decided that it would be best to return to bed and perhaps try to get as much sleep as he could before it was time to begin the day. But as he lay in bed, his thoughts inevitably turned to the conversation he'd had with Will.
The whirling in his stomach had settled now that he had a plan of action that didn't involve an unavoidable and untimely demise, but how on earth was he going to persuade Doloran to abandon his quest to restore his lost nation of Allegoria? Clearly he would need to gather some kind of evidence to convince Doloran that Allegoria was a lost cause, so how was he going to do that? And what was he going to tell the others? He frowned in the dark as his train of thought switched tracks to follow this new line of thinking.
Strictly speaking, his conversation with Doloran hadn't actually yielded that much more information than what they'd already deduced; They'd been dead on about him seeking to restore Allegoria, only the how he planned do it was wrong. It now seemed like he was going to try using the power of the kingsbonds to break into the dimension in which Allegoria was imprisoned, though whether his plan involved attempting to pull the entire kingdom through the breach and back into the world, or if he was just going to use the power to rescue his people, he wasn't entirely sure. Maybe it would even be both; Rescue the people first, then pull the kingdom from the void. From the way Doloran was speaking however it seemed to lean more towards the latter, or in other words both at the same time, but Roland had to wonder if such a feat would even be possible even with the power of all of the world's kingsbonds given what Doloran had said earlier regarding the Conductor pulling him from his own world and into Evan's. And that wasn't even getting into what Will had said about the dimension appearing to be empty.
He dragged his hands down his face. It was looking increasingly likely that he would simply have to play this by ear, until something came to him, or he gained more information that would allow him to make a plan. As for what he was going to tell Evan and the others, that was going to be nothing. If he told them that he and Doloran were soulmates, that would just complicate things, and they needed to remain focused and above all committed to foiling Doloran's schemes. The rest was just details that they didn't need to know, as it wasn't as if those details changed anything.
Roland decided to pass the time by checking Leafbook. Sure enough there was a flurry of activity from yesterday regarding the signing of the Treaty, including a comment by the platform's moderator.
As if the excitement of the events that happened only a few days ago wasn't enough, we have more news coming out of Goldpaw, folks.
The nation's ruler, the Grand High Roller, Master Pugnacious has just made an announcement to the people of Goldpaw explaining that he has signed a treaty called the Treaty of Alliance, joining Goldpaw with the upcoming Kingdom of Evermore in an alliance of nations.
The Kingdom of Evermore appears to be the name of the new kingdom founded by King Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, the erstwhile king of Ding Dong Dell.
Exactly what this treaty entails is currently unclear and what's going to happen next remains to be seen, but our guess is that Master Pugnacious has agreed to ally with King Evan in the event Ding Dong Dell moves against him, as the young king seeks to establish his new and growing nation.
What will King Mausinger make of this development we wonder?
Roland frowned as he wondered the same. He'd assured the others that Mausinger would be in no position to launch any large scale military ventures so soon after the coup, and that he'd be more likely to send out assassins or mercenaries to try to kill Evan instead, but that was based on what he would do if he was in Mausinger's shoes, as well as what was logical and rational. Roland had no idea how he thought, or what his current frame of mind was, so he just couldn't be certain. He let out a sigh and snapped the Leafbook closed. Whatever the case they now had Goldpaw on their side and he just had to hope that would be a big enough deterrent. And as for the assassins and mercenaries, well, they would be dealt with as they came.
Sometime later – he wasn't sure how long – Roland heard activity from somewhere in the corridor outside his door; Muted knocking followed by the sound of muffled conversation. It didn't take long for the one responsible for the sudden activity to reach his room. Knock, knock, knock. "Good morning, this is your wake up call. Are you awake?" Came a voice through the door.
"Yeah, I'm awake."
"Would you like the candles lit for you, sir?"
Roland glanced around the still dark room. It was going to be difficult to move around, or get dressed in the pitch black. "Uh, yeah. Please."
A dogfolk woman dressed in typical state employee attire stepped into the room with the handle of a candle holder clasped in one hand. In the holder was a red candle and the flame flickered and wafted in the breeze created by the motion. She wasted no time with small talk, instead went immediately to lighting the candles, moving around the place with the candle in hand, until a soft, warm light was flooding the room. She turned to face Roland and smiled. "There you are, sir. Is there anything else I can do or get for you?"
"Uh, no thanks. I'm good."
"Very well. I will be returning at ten minutes to six to escort you to breakfast."
So about half an hour. "Great, thanks." She offered him a shallow bow before departing. Once he had washed up and dressed, he first blew out the candles one by one, throwing the room into darkness once more, before stepping out into the corridor.
Aranella, Tani, Batu and the higgledies were already waiting before their bedroom doors and all appeared reasonably bright eyed for the hour. "Good morning, Roland," they greeted him in unison.
"Higgle pig," the higgledies chorused, raising a hand in greeting.
"Morning," he replied.
"How is your headache?" Aranella continued. "If it still troubles you, we may be able to ask for some soreaway."
"Thanks, but there's no need." He managed a smile, though with a small pang of guilt; For all of their kindness and concern he was still deceiving them. "It went away after some rest like I thought it would."
"That's good," said Tani.
"Aye," Batu agreed. "Ye wouldn't be wantin' te spend the day travellin' with an achin'ead."
"I sure wouldn't," Roland agreed. The sound of a door opening drew their attention. Evan and Lofty were now emerging from their room, with Evan rubbing the sleep out of one eye, yet judging by Lofty's half-lidded eyes and their slack postures, both had yet to fully awaken. "Good morning," the party chorused regardless and received a mumbled greeting in return, which had the higgledies giggling.
"It's too early for this, mun," Lofty complained and Evan hummed his agreement.
"Not a morning person I see," Roland commented with some amusement.
"You got that right."
"Not this early at least," Evan replied.
"Some food in yer bellies will be pickin' the two o'ye right up," said Batu.
But Lofty perked up immediately. "Food?" He asked, looking up and down the corridor.
"Amazing," said Tani as the others shook their heads in a mixture of amusement and exasperation, and the higgledies laughed. "If you whispered the word food into his ear while he was asleep, do you think that would wake him up?"
Aranella chuckled. "Something tells me that it most certainly would," she replied.
"Higgledy pig," the higgledies agreed, nodding their little heads.
"The attendant should be returning to take us to breakfast soon," said Roland. "So they won't have to wait much longer."
"Why don't we have something to snack on while we wait, mun?" Lofty suggested.
Aranella folded her arms. "Certainly not. That will spoil your appetite."
"Is that even possible?" Tani asked rhetorically.
"Even if it isn't," she said, shaking her head, "it will certainly set a bad example for Evan." Lofty huffed and Evan raised a hand to his chin as he pondered on whether or not he thought that was true. "You'll just have to wait."
"Some patience won't kill you, Lofty," Roland added.
Lofty sulked and folded his arms. "Then maybe I'll go back to sleep."
"Then you'll miss out on breakfast."
He threw up his hands. "I can't win, mun!"
"Our mighty Kingmaker, everyone," Tani snarked, gesturing towards him.
"When you say you're a thousand years old," said Aranella. "Is your equivalent age in human years something more like ten?"
Lofty stepped back in offence. "The cheek!" He objected.
"That would explain a lot if it was," Roland commented, with a barely restrained smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"The disrespect!" Batu threw back his head and belly laughed as Aranella chuckled, Tani and the higgledies giggled, and Roland allowed the smile he had been suppressing to blossom on his face. Even a tired Evan joined in the laughter over Lofty's indignation. "This is how you treat youer Kingmaker is it?"
"Apologies, Yer Mighty One," said Batu, not looking the least bit apologetic. "But yer quite a character fer yer size. An ye be'avin' an appetite te match t'would seem."
"Are all faeries like you, Lofty?" Evan asked.
"More or less," Lofty replied. "We're a small people see so we're all, shall we say, larger than life. We all share a love of comedy, but we have particular appreciations for different things. For some it's music, for others it's literature, or paintings, or sculptures, or architecture, stuff like that."
"So the others have appreciation for different kinds of art. But your appreciation is food," Roland stated more than asked.
"I have an appreciation for art as well, like! The culinary arts, see."
He blinked. "Oh. I see."
"When you put it like that, I begin to understand why you like food so much," said Aranella.
Lofty grinned and placed his hands on his hips as he proudly declared. "I'm a faery of culture, mun."
She folded her arms. "Well, I wouldn't quite go that far, Lofty."
"I would!"
"Yes, so I see," she sighed as the others chuckled.
"I see you are all ready to attend breakfast," the attendant said with a hint of amusement, drawing their attention to her return.
"Lofty sure is," said Tani, gesturing to Lofty for the attendant's benefit.
"You got that right!" He agreed.
The attendant smiled and inclined her head. "Very well, then please follow me." They fell in line and she lead them out of the guest wing and through the rest of the building. As it was still early in the morning, the corridors lacked the bustle of activity they had previously seen during the daytime and early evening. In fact it was almost eerie how quiet the place was, and amplified the loudness of their footfalls on the carpeted floors.
The attendant lead them into the dining hall where Ya Ya was waiting patiently for them to arrive, already seated at one of the dining tables. She got to her feet as the party approached. Instead of her usual attire, she was wearing a sleeveless berry red tunic-dress with white trim over a white, long sleeved top and dark maroon knee length trousers. "King Evan and his entourage, Lady Ya Ya."
"Thank you, Sue Yin," Ya Ya replied.
"Is there anything else I can help you with this morning, Lady Ya Ya?"
She shook her head. "No, thank you, Sue Yin, that will be all for today. Please return to your duties."
Sue Yin inclined her head in a bow. "As you wish, Lady Ya Ya." She bid the party farewell before departing.
"Good morning to you all," she greeted them, pleasantly.
"Good morning," they chorused.
She gestured to the table, "Please, take a seat."
As she retook her own seat, they all joined her at the table and examined the food that had been prepared for breakfast. Covered bowls of what was revealed to be some kind of rice porridge once the lids were removed had been laid out for each of them. There were dishes of stir fried mushrooms and mixed vegetables for seasoning, as well as cuts of a variety of meats that were marinating in some kind of sauce, a platter of what looked like dumplings, and gold jugs filled with water and juice for drinks.
"Crikey, mun!" Lofty exclaimed at the sight. "Now that's what I'm talking about."
"Are you sure this is breakfast?" Roland quipped. Breakfast for him in the past had usually consisted of buttered toast plus a spread of his choice washed down with a cup of coffee, and even the sky pirates didn't usually eat this much in the mornings. He was also pretty sure that it was more food than had been served for lunch yesterday.
"But of course," Ya Ya replied with a smile that was both amused and confused. "Congee can be either sweet or savoury according to one's personal preference, though I confess that I may have enforced the savoury choice upon you, as a hearty breakfast will serve us well for the journey ahead."
"Aye," Batu agreed with a nod. "I can't be arguin' with that."
"That's fine," Roland added. "The pirates usually load up on protein in the mornings as well, so this is pretty much what we're used to. Just more."
"Very good," Ya Ya replied. She gestured to the food as she continued, "Then please help yourselves to as much as you can eat. I will be bringing the rest with us."
"With pleasure, mun!" Lofty exclaimed.
As the others heaped seasoning and meat onto their congee, Roland felt a tug on his trouser leg and looked down. The higgledies gazed back. "You want up on the table?" he asked and they nodded. So he held out a hand for them to step on and carefully raised the hand to the tabletop. They jumped off and immediately ran to the dishes to examine the food they contained and poked and prodded the dumplings in fascination and amusement.
Roland helped himself around their antics before joining the others in hungrily and eagerly shovelling the food into their mouths. Once everyone had eaten their fill, Ya Ya packed away the leftovers into covered dishes that vanished into her arms band. "Are we ready to depart?" She asked.
They exchanged looks before Aranella replied, "About as ready as we'll ever be."
"Very good. Then let us be off." She lead them out of the dining hall and through the entrance hall to the panelled doors.
"Safe travels, Lady Ya Ya, King Evan," said the gatekeeper as they passed, a sentiment that was echoed by the guards as they departed Goldpaw itself.
"The manticore stables are just down the way there," she said, gesturing ahead to a small settlement that could just be seen in the dim, early morning light, nestled among the trees and at the foot of a small mountain belonging to the same mountain range that loomed over Goldpaw. It was to the left out of Goldpaw to the party's collective surprise; They must've missed the stables in the deluge they'd fought through on their approach.
The manticores were mid-sized creatures that roamed both the Calmlands and the Heartlands but seemed to favour the open plains, a preference that would hopefully keep them away from their growing kingdom. They had the appearance of a centaur but crossed with a chimera, in that they had a four legs and two arms, but their tails were reptilian like a snake and had a cat like face with a big, poofy, dark brown mane. The tails also had a head of its own, meaning it had eyes in the back of it's head – or more accurately eyes in the back of its tail, but its level of intelligence was ambiguous as well as its degree of control over their shared body, and Roland also wondered how the two communicated, whether vocally or mentally.
Their bodies were asparagus and forest green in colour, though whether fur or scales it was hard to say, and they had two enormous horns curling out of their mane on either side of their forehead. They were also about the size of a large draft horse, and the party had elected to keep their distance from such a foe where they could.
"I can't wait to ride a manticore," Tani confessed, her fists raised in excitement and anticipation as Roland squinted at the settlement in curiosity.
"Oh, me too!" Evan agreed, mirroring Tani's posture.
There seemed to be a lot of activity going on and Roland didn't get the impression that it looked all that promising. "I think they might be in trouble," he said.
Ya Ya blinked "Really?" And followed his gaze, her expression becoming a concerned frown. "I think you may be right." She continued as the others exchanged troubled looks, "We should make haste."
They hurried across the bridge and followed Ya Ya's lead down a well worn path lit by stalks of bamboo housing burning candles placed at intervals, and lined with deciduous trees on either side. It was just early enough in the morning that the monsters had yet to become active, or a patrol had cleared them out ahead of the party's departure, either way encounters with the local monster population were kept to a minimum, for which the party was grateful.
As they drew nearer to the settlement, they spotted a group of dog folk running to intercept them and Ya Ya picked up the pace, forcing the others to follow suit. "Lady Ya Ya, thank heavens!" The lead dogman exclaimed in relief.
"Whatever's the matter, Jing Li?" She asked.
"One of the manticores, they've gone wild," he explained, gesturing wildly back the way he'd come. "It's like they've been cursed or something, though," he shrugged and shook his head, "we cannot say by whom or… why."
The party exchanged looks at that. "This manticore, it wouldn't happen to have been taken over by an aura that has the appearance of purple flames would it?" Aranella asked.
Jing Li blinked, looking surprised. "Why yes it has."
Ya Ya turned to the party. "Then you have encountered this phenomenon yourselves," she stated rather than asked.
"We have," Aranella confirmed with a nod. "And from the sound of it, it would appear that you," she gestured towards her, "have as well."
"Yes," Ya Ya nodded with a sigh. "This is not the first time such an incident has occurred." She shook her head before continuing, "But we will have time to compare notes later, this must be attended to immediately, although…" Her confidence deflated somewhat as she admitted, "Captain Ya Pi is the one in charge of handling the matter of these tainted monsters," she shook her head, "not I."
"Worry not, lass," said Batu. He gestured to the party as he continued, "Ye'll find yerself a tainted monster slayer in all o'us'ere."
"Then you mean to say you have actually faced such a fiend yourselves?" She asked looking both amazed and hopeful.
"An'lived te tell the tale," he confirmed with a nod and grin.
"Higgle pig," Runcible agreed with a nod.
"Actually it wouldn't be wrong to say we've handled two," Roland corrected. He gestured as he added, "Only Batu and Lofty haven't."
"Well that's two more than I," said Ya Ya.
"But when you say 'tainted monster slayer', you mean to say there is no other way?" Jing Li asked, his expression one of sad resignation. He shook his head as he asked, "They cannot be cured of such an affliction?"
"If such a cure exists then I am afraid that we have yet to discover it," Aranella replied, her expression both sympathetic and apologetic.
"As do we, unfortunately," Ya Ya added.
Jing Li hung his head and his companions did the same. "I see," was all he said.
"We feared as much," one of them confessed.
"But we still hoped," added another.
"We want to research tainted monsters and look into a cure when we have the means," said Evan. He looked downcast as he added, "It just won't be soon enough."
"We had plans to do the same," Ya Ya explained. She folded her arms and sighed. "Unfortunately recent… happenings shall we say, have put those plans on hold for the time being."
"Yes," Jing Li nodded, his expression a grimace. "It was hard to miss the blaze that nearly consumed the city only a few days ago… But as you say," he shook his head, "there is nothing to be done, and no reason to delay the inevitable."
"Indeed," she nodded and gestured ahead. "Lead on, Jing Li."
The party followed Jing Li up the path to the manticore range. Two stablehands were waiting at the gates to let them in, and hurriedly swung them open to allow them passage.
They passed by an open stretch of land with jumps and other obstacles on the left, and on the right was an area where giant poles had been hammered into the ground for the manticores to sharpen their claws on, if the claw marks were anything to go by.
"Look!" Evan yelped and pointed ahead.
A manticore was currently leaping around as the stablehands did their best to evade its attacks, and some were bravely fighting back with improvised weapons that were actually just whatever tools they could get their hands on. It had grown to the size of its larger cousins and purple flames licked its body, just as they had done with the tainted hedgehound.
Behind the altercation there was building off to the right where the stable owner lived, and possibly some of his stablehands as well, and the stables where the manticores were housed was off to the left. The manticores themselves were huddled in the doorways of their individual stables, hissing at their tainted pack mate. They were about half the size of their larger variants with a coat that was much lighter and redder in colour, horns shorter and stubbier and a mane that was smaller and less bushy. Just as Ya Ya had said, they had seen the lesser manticores roaming the wilds but had assumed they were juveniles that had reached the age where they struck out on their own.
"We have to help them!" Evan cried and made to shoot off ahead, but Roland stopped him with a restraining hand on his shoulder.
"Hold on, Evan, we need to make a plan first."
"But…"
"He's right, mun," Lofty counselled. "We can't just go rushing into a fight with a tainted monster like." Evan deflated in reluctant agreement.
Roland folded his arms. "All right, we know the manticores have an elemental weakness to fire, or at least that's what worked best against them when we had to fight."
"That's correct," Ya Ya nodded. "The manticores are weak to fire."
"Well, we'd better hope this one still is."
"Should be mun," Lofty reasoned. "It's still a manticore like."
"Sure," he agreed. "We'll also need to focus on pinning its movements somehow."
"Them eyes in the back of its head weren't'elpin' none with that," said Batu.
"No…"
"Our soldiers have found it useful to attack the tail in order to keep it off balance," said Ya Ya.
"That sounds like good advice," he replied. He then assumed a thoughtful posture as he absorbed the information and looked to the others as he formulated a plan of attack. "All right," he nodded as he allowed his hands to fall to his side, "I think I've got something."
"Let's hear it, mun," said Lofty.
"Tani," he gestured towards her, "you're our best shot, so I want you to focus your arrows on its head."
Tani grinned and thumbed to herself as she declared, "Leave it to me!"
"Batu, someone's gotta stay on top of its tail." He placed a hand on his hip. "You think you'll be able to handle that?"
Batu nodded. "I reckon so."
Roland turned to Aranella and Ya Ya. "That leaves the three of us working to try and topple it." Then he turned to Evan. "And Evan, when we do – or maybe if we do, that's when you hit it with your best fire spell, all right?"
Evan nodded. "All right."
"You'll need to be hanging back and staying out of the fight as much as you can. Although you can take some potshots at it if you think they'll land, you should otherwise save your magic." He shook his head as he continued, "I don't think this thing is going down without a fight."
Evan glanced at the manticore before nodding again. "Right."
"Higgle pig hig," said Frumious.
"Frumious by hyur," Lofty gestured to Frumious, "says he can help Evan with his fire magic," he translated.
"Hig hig piggle," the higgledy clarified.
"He can help Evan can cast his spells with less effort."
"Oh, thank you Frumious," said Evan with a grateful smile.
Roland placed a hand on his hip as he said. "Then it looks you'll be sticking with Evan, Frumious."
Frumious saluted. "Higgle."
"What about me, mun?" Lofty asked, his hands on his hips. "You're not leaving me out again, are you?"
"Not this time," Roland assured him with a shake of his head. "You seemed to have figured out a way to power someone up without accidentally powering up the enemy as well, so we're gonna need those power boosts." He gestured towards him as he added, "I'll leave you to decide on who needs it and when."
Lofty grinned and nodded, pleased to be included in the fight this time. "Right you are, mun!"
"Higgledy pig!" Runcible shouted, raising his tiny fists in objection as Wiff-waff nodded his agreement with arms folded.
Roland needed no translation, so he replied, "As for you two, provided it doesn't have that weird attack like the one that threw you off the tainted hedgehound, then we could definitely use your help. We're gonna throw you onto the manticore, and then you guys should know what to do from there."
The two higgledies saluted. "Higgle pig hig!"
"Is everyone clear on what they're doing?" There was a chorus of affirmation. "Then let's get in there." He turned to Jing Li and his companions. "Jing Li, you guys should get your people clear."
Jing Li blinked. "Y-yes… of course." He and his companions ran on ahead.
"Aranella, Ya Ya. Depending on which of you is closest, you'll be grabbing a higgledy and getting ready to throw them."
"But Roland," Ya Ya objected. "I can't see the higgledies to know where they are."
"I think I can fix that problem, mun," Lofty cut in before Roland could say anything. "I've not tried it before like, but I think I can make it work."
Ya Ya blinked at him. "Tried what before?"
"Giving someone the power of Sight, mun."
"The power of sight?" She repeated looking very confused, as the others exchanged looks of similar expressions. "But I have sight already…"
"Not that kind of sight, mun," he replied, shaking his head. He turned to Roland. "You lot go on ahead, like. This'll only take a moment if it works."
"All right," Roland replied, a hand on one hip and one eyebrow quirked. "Join us when you're done here then." They turned away to face the manticore, calling forth their weapons as they did. At Jing Li's word, the stablehands were breaking off and attempting to flee the battle, but the beast lunged after them. "Tani!" He barked.
Tani wordlessly nocked an arrow in almost the time it took one to blink and let it fly in one swift motion. The arrow struck the tainted manticore's horn with a chik sound and rebounded, falling harmlessly to the grass. But it had succeeded in doing its job; The manticore turned its head – and attention – away from the stablehands and onto the party.
"Get ready, everyone," Roland warned. "Here it comes."
The manticore roared and lunged at them, clearing the space between them in a single bound. Aranella and Batu dodged left, while Roland and Tani rolled right, while Evan leapt back. Tani nocked another arrow as soon as she had regained her feet and let it fly, drawing the manticore's attention once again. It tried to send her flying with a great sweep of its arm, but she rolled under it as Roland ducked. He felt a great whoosh of air as the manticore's arm passed overhead. While its main attention was on Roland and Tani, Aranella darted forward and slashed at one of the manticore's rear legs, and as it recoiled the leg in pain, Batu followed up by bringing down his hammer on the head of the manticore's tail.
As the party moved away, Lofty beckoned Ya Ya as he said, "Come down by hyur, mun." Ya Ya knelt as instructed, allowing Lofty to jump onto and then seat himself on her shoulders. "Now close youer eyes." She closed her eyes and felt Lofty's tiny hands cover them. "Now open youer eyes and See!" He declared as he quickly removed them.
Ya Ya blinked several times expecting to see some kind of alteration to her vision. "I don't see anything different," she said.
"Higgle pig?" asked a voice and she looked down.
"Oh!" She explained, surprised and startled to find a small red thing that looked very much like a small flame with horns staring back at her curiously.
"Higgle pig?" it repeated, tilting its head to one side.
"You can see him now can't you mun?" Lofty's question was more of a victorious crow than an actual question.
"Yes," she gasped, clapping her hands together in delight.
"Higgle pig!" The little red thing exclaimed happily while jumping for joy.
"Then it worked!" Evan exclaimed enthusiastically. "Lofty, you did it."
"Course I did mun," he replied as he smugly folded his arms. "There was no doubt."
"You're a higgledy aren't you?" Ya Ya asked of Frumious and Frumious nodded.
"Higgle pig." He raised a hand to wave at her. "Higgle pig hig."
"This is Frumious," Lofty introduced after he'd hopped down off her shoulders. "And those two over there are Runcible and Wiff-waff."
"Nice to meet you at last, Frumious," she responded politely.
Frumious inclined his head in greeting. "Higgle."
"Now you can see him like, it's time to join the fray, innit?" Lofty reminded her.
Ya Ya looked up in mild alarm. "Oh! Yes, of course." She had momentarily forgotten the battle in her excitement and quickly got to her feet. She hurried to join the others, just as Batu was bringing his hammer down on the head of the manticore's tail, and both heads roared in pain. "I'm here!" She announced. "I'm ready."
"Did it work then?" Tani asked. "Can you see the higgledies now?"
"I can, yes!" She confirmed with almost childlike glee. "Just like my grandmother could!"
"Perfect," Roland cut in. "Now we throw the higgledies at the manticore." As he quickly but carefully grabbed Runcible, Ya Ya scooped up Wiff-waff. "Try and aim for its mane," he said as he pulled back his arm in preparation for a throw. The manticore had gone after Aranella and Batu, so the two soon glimpsed an opportunity and two higgledies went sailing through the air with a shrill cry of delight to land in the manticore's mane.
The beast started at the higgledies phantom touch, rearing up on its hind legs and tried to shake them off to no avail. As soon as it was safe for them to move, they wasted no time in climbing up to its head, where they began repeatedly stabbing it – or rather poking it lightly – with their tiny swords. When it tried to claw them off they moved out of the way by hopping onto its giant horns, and it roared in frustration.
"Well done higgledies," Ya Ya praised.
Tani smiled as she replied. "They're doing what they do best."
"All right, it's distracted," said Roland. "Ya Ya, Tani, let's take it down."
Ya Ya and Tani both nodded, their expressions becoming focused and serious. "Right." Ya Ya drew her sabre while Tani quickly swapped to her spear. Tani moved first, thrusting at the tail's head so that it recoiled away, allowing Ya Ya and Roland to make their move. Together they darted forward and slashed at the manticore's hind legs. Both heads let out a cry of pain, but the manticore recovered quickly. It reared forward on its forelegs and kicked at Roland and Ya Ya in retaliation. They both raised their swords to block the attack, but the force behind it sent them flying.
"Roland! Ya Ya!" The others cried.
Tani had to leap away as the manticore bounded after them and tried to pound them into the ground with its forelegs. They rolled out of the way in the nick of time and regained their feet, raising their weapons in preparation for another follow up. Instead the manticore roared at them, a roar that turned into a shriek when a fireball blazed through the air trailing smoke to slam into the side of its head. The force of the impact was enough to send it staggering to one side. Tani winced in sympathy, but looked away for a brief moment to shout a complement to Evan regardless. "Nice shot, Evan!"
"Ya Ya!" Roland shouted. While the manticore was momentarily distracted, he dashed forward and slashed at the manticore's right foreleg. Ya Ya was quick to follow his lead and slashed at the other, and he manticore reared up on its hind legs with another cry of pain. "Nella! Batu!" Aranella and Batu leapt forward to attack a hind leg each, sending the manticore toppling onto its back. Before it could recover, Roland shouted at Evan. "Now, Evan!"
"Right!" Evan raised his wand and Frumious, who was perched on Evan's shoulder leant forward holding out his tiny sword. Fire streamed from the point into the fireball forming at the tip of Evan's wand and it grew quickly, expanding from a small ball of fire to a fireball easily five times its size in only a few seconds. Once fully formed it was hurled at the manticore as it was regaining its feet, sending the beast into a roll and shrieking with pain.
Evan cringed, his ears flattening against his head and he muttered an apology under his breath as his eyes watered fiercely. As the manticore regained its feet, the higgledies who had been dislodged by the attack quickly ran back to Roland and Ya Ya. "Higgle pig, higgle pig!" They insisted, pointing at the manticore. But before either could respond, the beast let out an angry roar, the purple aura flaring with menace before it lowered its head and charged at them, forcing the party to scramble out of the way to avoid the attack. Even Evan and Frumious had to frantically dive out of the way to avoid being trampled. While its back was turned, Roland and Ya Ya seized the opportunity to scoop up the higgledies and throw them onto the manticore's back once more.
It jumped backwards and tried to shake them off in one movement, but the higgledies hung on. Before anyone could think to take advantage of the opening, it whipped around and leapt forward, covering the space between them in great bounds. It crashed into Ya Ya with the second leap and then into Batu with the next as they were trying to dodge out of the way, knocking them both to the ground.
As Roland hauled Ya Ya to her feet, and Aranella helped Batu he said, "Stay on it, people. We need to keep it off balance."
"Bah, that be easier said than done, matey," Batu grumbled in reply. "It be stronger than any one o'us; Maybe stronger than us all."
"I know. That's why we need to keep up the pressure." He raised his sword. "Come on."
Batu grunted as he swung his hammer onto his shoulders. "Aye, aye." As he and Aranella moved back into position, Tani covered their approach by swapping to her bow and loosing an arrow at the manticore's face. It raised its arms to block the arrow and lunged after her, raising a fist aloft and pounding it into the ground where her feet had been moments before. The dark aura surrounding it flared, and a wave of purple flames burst forth from where its fist struck the earth. The flames caught Tani as she was dodging away, sending her tumbling – with a yelp – into an uncontrolled roll.
"Tani!" the party cried as the manticore leapt after her.
Lofty quickly jumped onto Aranella's back. "Let's do something mun!"
She sucked in a breath as Lofty's golden aura engulfed her. Just as Roland had before her she felt the sensation of something unlocking within her, then she was racing forward, twin daggers held out and ready for action. She rent the air with a powerful flurry of strikes that left a trail of energy in their wake and the head of the manticore's tail fell to the ground. The manticore let out a devastated howl as it staggered forward before looking at its ruined tail. Tani wasted no time in using the distraction to scramble to her feet and regroup with the others. It seemed to become disorientated after that and the battle became noticeably easier.
Finally, eventually, after being bathed in the fire from another fireball spell, the manticore threw back its head and let out a great howl that had everyone cringing or covering their ears, before it slumped heavily to the grass. A tense silence fell over the stables as they watched the manticore for any further signs of activity.
A/N: I totally forgot all about Roland's mobile when I first wrote the earlier chapters, but I have since made an edit to correct that.