Mutants Misplaced

Chapter 30

Remnants of Lokdrogyol

After having consulted their map, the path to Ivarstead was clear to them. They would continue north for a while and then follow a smaller path to the west and ultimately the village. Tyroth still thought that they should search for Raph and Mona, rather than worry about him. In the end they reached a compromise. As they would have to travel through part of the area they wanted to search, they would walk slightly spread out while looking for any sign of their friends.

Unfortunately, they still didn't find any trace of them. Both Leo and Donnie guessed that the fire, not to mention the fight between Tyroth and Lokdrogyol, had destroyed any tracks that might have been there. But no news are still better than bad news, and they were confident in Raph and Mona's abilities.

On their way, they passed by the remains of Lokdrogyol, and both Sephie and Devina were in awe of the grisly evidence of a battle that was hard to believe even took place. They were however brought out of their thoughts by Mikey.

"Hey! Check this out!" he chimed as he picked up something from the ground. Two of the large dragon's teeth that had been knocked out during the fight. Both were nearly a foot long and five inches thick at the base. Holding both in his hands, he got an idea.

"Look at me! I'm a walrus! Arf arf!" he said while holding the teeth at the corners of his mouth. The ridiculous display managed to get Sephie laughing, even Tyroth and the other two turtles laughed a little, while Devina was left confused.

"If you're trying to imitate a horker, you need one more tooth." said Devina.

"So, a horker is like a walrus with three tusks?" asked Mikey.

"I guess, if a walrus is like a horker with two tusks."

"Can't really argue with the logic in this conversation." said Donnie.

"Not sure what you're talking about, Don, but I'm keeping these as souvenirs." said Mikey. "Just imagine the look on our friends' faces back home when they see these fangs."

"I definitively would keep them. Bones and teeth from dragons are quite sought after." said Devina.

"For what reason?" asked Leo.

"Some believe that they can be used in medicine, but I've never seen anything that proves that claim, and most such remedies are made with clam shells or sabre cat teeth instead of actual dragon. But bones and teeth from real dragons are still valuable, and if in the hands of a very skilled blacksmith, it can be forged almost like metal. Decorations, furniture, jewellery, armor and weapons. It won't be long until various kinds of people will learn about this place and pick it clean of bones."

"Then we should take as much as we can carry." said Mikey and proceeded to try and pick up a bone the size of his arm, but it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. "Man, it weighs a ton! How am I going to haul this anywhere?"

"Strange." said Donnie, examining a smaller bone. "You would think that the bones would be hollow and very light to allow such a large creature to be able to fly, but they seem almost solid. They're durable, that's for sure."

"Okay, I'm leaving them. It's not worth the effort." said Mikey, deciding to keep only the teeth and tucked them in his belt.

Before leaving, Tyroth took one last look at the skeletal remains that used to belong to the spirit who now haunted his own soul. He clenched his fists, determined not to let Lokdrogyol win, he would fight him, no matter where.

Several hours later, they had reached a larger road that lead in the direction they were heading. After following it for a long time, the sun started to rise beyond the horizon, so the team stopped for a proper food break before the light became to strong.

Sephie's scales were almost completely grey by now, with only a faint shade of her usual green color. Her fangs had grown as well and were clearly visible even when her mouth was closed if she wasn't careful and made sure that she covered them with her lips.

It felt strange to try and hide only that feature, after spending many years avoiding humans completely and now being able to walk around in broad daylight like it was nothing. Ever since they got to this world it has been a real roller-coaster of events.

"How are you doing, Sephie?" Mikey asked when he brought her some roasted meat and water.

"All in all, not too bad I suppose. It's starting to get warm though, but that's all. Well, almost all. My fangs have started to itch."

"Oh? Is that bad?"

"I think it is because they are still growing, but it might be because of the thirst for blood. Have I told you that you look tasty by the way?"

Mikey gulped and carefully took a step to the side.

"Don't worry, I'm only teasing you." Sephie giggled.

"Phew. That's a relief, I don't like the idea of being a snack."

"Like I said, don't worry, I'm not giving in to the thirst, but that doesn't mean that it won't make itself known. By the way, what are you going to do with those teeth, another walrus impression?"

"Nah, although, I think little Sonia might like it. But, since it was Tyroth who killed that dragon, they should belong to him, or you, being his mate. So if you want them, they're yours."

"I'll think about it, but thank you all the same."

While Mikey and Sephie talked, and the others were busy, a pair of eyes kept careful watch from the shadows of the rocky field, stealthily moving closer. A very large sabre cat, proud and strong with numerous scars all over its body. But the scars were not from battles lost, but from battles won, against other sabre cats, bears and hunters. It was king among predators and this was its territory, and it would not tolerate intruders.

But it hadn't lived so long without learning how to know what battles to avoid until a later time, and how to deal with different prey. You single out a target, the young, old or sick, whoever that poses the least risk. If it is a more powerful prey, you aim for vulnerable points like the throat or legs, then withdraw to safety, allowing the victim to bleed out, become weak and sick.

Sizing up the team, the beast set its eyes on a target and moved into position. Constantly letting its gaze sweep over the others, to be certain of where they were, the sabre cat was ready to pounce.

Just a little longer.

With its target now within reach, it launched itself against it with blinding speed and leaped onto the victims back, knocking it to the ground.

Mikey never knew what happened. One moment he was talking with Sephie, and the next he's face down in the dirt with something heavy on his back. His immediate reaction was to cry out in shock and try to shield himself from the sudden attacks of claws from above.

When Sephie saw this, she too cried out in shock. Drawing her daggers, she tried to help Mikey, but the large sabre cat slashed at her with its claws, not letting her get close to its prey. However, it was having problems with said prey, as Mikey's shell offered protection against the beast's claws. Having pulled his arms, head and legs as close as he could to his body, the claws only gave Mikey shallow cuts.

The sabre cat was getting annoyed, both by Sephie trying to attack it, and by Mikey's shell. It had never encountered anything with such protection before and didn't know what to do. Regardless, it never got the chance to to anything.

The rest of the group had also seen what had happened, and Tyroth never hesitated to throw himself against the beast once they knew what that was going on. Tackling the cat's side, it and Tyroth rolled around on the ground, wrestling to gain the upper hand, while the others aided poor Mikey.

After a short moment, the two finally came to a stop, with Tyroth pinning the sabre cat to the ground. Pulling back his hand, his fingers extended, mana formed a gauntlet around it with foot long blade-like claws for fingers. With one single thrust, he jabbed his claws into the head of the sabre cat, nailing it to the ground and killing it instantly.

As he pulled out his fingers and mana claws, he looked in surprise at his new weapon. He had never done anything like that before, but he didn't think much of it since Mikey's condition was more important at the moment. As he walked back, the others were already tending to the youngest turtle.

"How are you feeling, Mikey?" Leo asked.

"Shaken, very shaken, but not stirred. Do I still have all arms and such?"

"Looks that way, little brother." said Donnie. "All you got are a whole lot of cuts on your arms and shoulders, nothing serious, but a few might need stitching."

"I know a better way, allow me." said Devina. A warm light formed around her right hand and then swirled around Mikey's body, healing all wounds completely.

"There, that should do it."

"Awesome, I feel like new. Thanks!"

"My pleasure." Devina said with a smile.

"Glad to see that you're okay." said Tyroth as he got close.

"Thanks to you saving me. Thanks a lot, big T. Uh… what's with your hand?"

Confused, Tyroth looked at his hands and saw that he still had the mana claws on his right hand, blood of the sabre cat dripping from the tips. He wasn't sure how that had happened, he thought that it had already dispersed.

"When did you learn to do that?" Sephie asked.

"I'm… not sure. Right now perhaps? But it won't go away."

"Maybe it's because you have Lokdrogyol's soul within you." said Donnie. "He might unwillingly or unknowingly be giving you more power, but if you can't fully control it, that may become a big problem."

"Like I didn't have enough on my mind." Tyroth sighed, then looked at his hand. "Though, if I can learn how to control this, I think I'll like it."

"I wonder what more that is happening to you. We should try and pick up the pace." said Devina.

Tyroth once again looked at his hand. By concentrating he managed to disperse the mana gauntlet, which was a relief. But he was worried about what Devina said. He was going through changes, but the question was; what kind of changes?

They are well on their way to Ivarstead, but the road is not without its dangers, and Tyroth is still haunted by Lokdrogyol. What will become of this new power, and what more will happen?

At least Mikey manages to keep their spirits up, but that was a close call for the young turtle.

And, yeah, dragonbones don't weigh a ton, but they are darn heavy.