AN: My precious orange-haired medic is going to be in the new EO game. I AM CONTENT. Anyway, finally getting back into the action, but not in a way you'd expect, I hope once more~ I'm happy to announce that this saga will have 27 chapters. And I've already worked out which project I'll be working on after I finish this novel :3 Won't say what~ Anyway, hope you enjoy reading~!

Chapter 21:

Drayce clenched his jaw tightly as the taller, far bulkier Bronson approached them. His face was set in a determined expression as he cracked his knuckles in preparation for using them. Drayce hadn't a clue how strong he was but he was adamant that he wasn't going to lay a hand on any of his teammates.

He was going to have one hell of a time getting past him, that was for sure.

As Bronson paused in his steps and pulled himself into an offensive stance, ready to lunge forward at any second, Drayce positioned himself directly in front of the others. He lifted his shield and subconsciously readied himself for that jarring sensation of something crashing into his shield. He could still feel that impact the first time he encountered that wild dog those few days ago.

He anticipated to be as bad or worse than that.

"Huh?" Tomlin suddenly uttered. "What's that?"

Drayce glanced over at the necromancer to find him peering at him. "What's what?"

"That's…ancient celestian sigils," Tomlin murmured before a truly wicked grin spread across his lips. "Heh. What are you hiding there?"

Shit. He noticed the case containing the Moon Legacy.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Drayce said as he hastily shifted the wooden case back behind him and under his jacket. "It was a gift from a friend."

"Is that so? I don't believe that," Tomlin practically purred at him before he smirked once again. "Change of plans, lard-ass. Either grab that dragoon or the thing he's carrying. Both preferably. The Boss would be really interested in them."

Bronson nodded his head sharply. "Anything for the Boss!" he cried out as he lunged forward.

Drayce felt himself go tense and briefly heard Blayke cuss a few words under his breath behind him. Grab him? They were intent on kidnapping him now because they spied him carrying a strange box on his person? Honestly.

Fine, whatever, target him all they want; just leave his guildmates alone.

Besides, he wasn't going to simply let them grab him without a fight!

"Here, have a Decoy Shield to the face!" Drayce shouted as he summoned his shield in the pugilist's path.

Bronson didn't have time to utter a word before he literally ran face first into a decoy shield that materialised right in front of him.

It stopped him dead in his tracks and he fell to the ground in bewildered and shocked. And yet he…

H-he broke it? He destroyed the decoy shield in one hit. Damn, he must have one hell of a hard head. Or he was actually a lot stronger than he looked. Damn it, Drayce didn't think he would be able to fend off someone that much stronger than him.

"Typical," Tomlin somehow simultaneously spat with annoyance and sighed with exasperation. "I'll have to do it myself."

Summoning a light green mist with his hands, he lifted his coffins to either side of him and an expression of intense concentration appeared on his face. His eyes practically rolled to the back of his head as his lips moved, as if mumbling something.

As if he was summoning something. A wraith.

Shit.

"Don't duck now~"

Before Drayce could do anything to knock Tomlin from his concentration, Fiorello cheerfully yelled a mild warning before something tied in a herb pouch was flung, with some force, straight into Tomlin's face. It hit him square on the nose and upon impact burst open to splutter a strange tar-like substance over the entirety of his face, but especially his eyes.

Tomlin's head immediately reeled back and his mouth dropped open in surprise. He soon began to splutter as his coffins fell to the ground with a loud thud. He stumbled back a couple of steps before he wailed loudly, his hands all but clawing at his face. "What the hell?! Shit, god, the fuck?! I can't see!"

"Such a foul mouth," Fiorello chided cheekily as he bounced another similar herb pouch in his hand. "Maybe I should use poison next time."

Oh right, botanists also knew how to blind a target. That was obviously was Fiorello had done. Tomlin didn't need to see to summon his wraith, but it was more than enough to unsettle and distract him.

"Nice shot, Fio!" Drayce complimented.

"Of course," Fiorello chirped cheekily. "I have impeccable aim."

With the two momentarily incapacitated, Bronson rubbing his forehead in a frustrated manner and Tomlin scrubbing furiously at his eyes, Drayce wondered how they should proceed with this debacle. Stay there and allow it to continue or walk away? Because, seriously, they were more of an annoyance now.

But they were still blocking the path and Drayce didn't want to risk any of his teammates' safety by standing a foot closer towards them.

Using the sleeves of his hoodie, Tomlin managed to rub some of that junk off of his face and he immediately spun around to glare angrily (and a little disgruntledly) at him. "Oh, I'm beginning to think you're not worth the fucking effort."

Drayce felt a grin spread across his lips in preparation to make a sarcastic comment in response. However, a movement behind the small necromancer caused him to pause before a sense of dread appeared in the pit of his stomach and he immediately reached for his shield and gun once more.

"Personally, I think you've got more important things to worry about," he said as he swung his shield around in front of him.

"Oh, do I?" Tomlin spat.

"Like paying attention to your surroundings, dipshit," Drayce said as he slid his cannon into his shield and prepared to bunker down. "That Wild Dog is looking pissed."

Despite the fact that Tomlin had no reason to actually believe his words, he still spun around to look. He soon stiffened in utter surprise when a large-mouthed, red-furred monster charged toward them from down a long, winding pathway.

"Aw, shit!" Tomlin immediately spat once more as he summoned his coffin and attempted to scramble away, down another path that teed off from where they blocked Drayce and his guild. "Move it, Lard-ass!"

Bronson looked over his shoulder as well before a rather comical expression of fear appeared on his face and he immediately leapt to his feet. With his arms flailing wildly, he attempted to catch up with Tomlin.

"Drayce!" Faelen suddenly shouted from behind him. "There's another one!"

Two of them?!

Drayce immediately whipped his head around to see another wild dog amble into view. While it didn't appear as aggressive as the one that was charging at them, it was still likely to enter the battle anyway because that was what the aggressive bastards did.

But could they handle two of them? Either at once or one after the other?

Shit…

Without a second thought Drayce threw up a Decoy Bunker in front of the charging wild dog while he sent another in the direction of the second, hoping to use the agitating properties of his decoys to lure that one away. Best to deal with these loud-mouths one at a time.

"Drayce!" Blayke called out to him in alarm.

"It's fine!" Drayce immediately called back, hoping to be encouraging. "We've defeated one of these guys before and we can do it again!"

"We could do without those other dumbasses on the field," Blayke growled as he readied himself to perform his flame chain attacks.

"Ignore them," Drayce commanded. "Concentrate on working with Kamali and Faelen on fighting this aggressive one first. I'll keep everything else away."

"Don't do anything reckless!" Blayke shouted at him before he threw himself into battle against one of the wild dog.

"You, too!" Drayce shouted back before he turned his attention on the pair of bandits who had lingered behind for some reason.

He had figured they would have made a run for it by now. Were they actually hoping to use the cover of battle to their advantage? Or were they simply weighing up their options?

"Tch. Don't have time to deal with those mutts," Tomlin suddenly spat as he lazily looked back and forth between the two red-furred monsters. "We've got enough info anyway. The Boss will be interested to know about that dragoon. Hop to, lard-ass. Let's get out of here."

"Right!" Bronson said loudly (which seemed to be his usual volume) before he unexpectedly grabbed Tomlin with one arm and began to abruptly sprinted off with him hanging limply under his arm.

"The hell? Hey! What are you doing, lard-ass?! Put me down! This is ruining my dark, edgy persona!"

"Run now, mock later!"

For such a muscular guy, Bronson was fast on his feet. He was also smart enough to get out of the way when monsters were involved.

"This isn't over, Pretty Boy!" Tomlin yelled back as he thrusted a fist in the air. "We'll be back for you!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Drayce shouted back dismissively.

Typical bandits. Leave when things got tough.

Anyway, good, they were gone from the battlefield. He didn't know how they were going to return for him but it was probably nothing more than an empty threat. For now he had more important things to worry about.

"Guys, you concentrate on defeating that one first!" Drayce ordered as he turned his back on the more aggressive of the wild dogs and looked at the second one, of which was becoming agitated with all the noise and battling. "I'll keep the other busy and stop it from ambushing you!"

He quickly summoned a decoy shield to allow him time to organise himself into a defensive stance. He also threw on up behind him, behind the noise of the battle in order to lure that Wild Dog's attention towards that instead of Blayke and the others. It would also be easier to fight with its back turned.

He would summon as many decoy shields as necessary. Concentrate on one wild dog at a time. He trusted the others to fall into a rhythm and defeat that other wild dog. They had done it before and they would do it again.

All Drayce needed to do was to stop the other one from interfering.

The wild dog quickly broke through one of his decoy shields and looked directly over at him. So Drayce immediately set about summoning another one, again right in front of him. But this time it did something he hadn't expected. Oh, it ran into the decoy shield at full force and didn't destroy it on impact. But instead of reeling back in an attempt to break it, it brushed past it and headed straight for Drayce.

Shit!

Drayce lifted his shield in front of him and tensed in response for the incoming impact.

The Wild dog rammed its gigantic head face-first into Drayce's shield which sent him stumbling back from both the force and the surprise at said powerful force. He managed to stay on his feet thankfully, and managed to maintain his grip on his shield. He even managed to prevent the ferocious beast from getting closer to the others.

However, he did slip up.

Literally.

His leg somehow slipped out from behind the shield in his attempt to prevent the monster from pushing him back further. And somehow that wild dog noticed. It actually noticed that tiny slip of endangerment. And took advantage of it.

The wild dog momentarily stopped pushing on Drayce's shield to drop its foul, open mouth toward the ground and hooked one of its large protruding fangs around Drayce's ankle.

It then bit down on his leg.

Unwittingly, Drayce screamed out in pain and surprise as he fell to the ground, landing heavily on his back and unfortunately releasing his hold on his shield. Pain raced up his leg and he felt the monster's fangs piercing the skin of his calf and ankle.

The sudden pain was extraordinary.

"Shit!" Drayce grunted as he tried to grab onto the grass in order to prevent the wild dog from dragging him and tossing him about. With its power and strength, it could easy hurl Drayce around with a simple thrash of his head.

"Drayce!" Blayke shouted his name in alarm, but Drayce didn't pay him any attention.

"God damn it," Drayce hissed as more and becoming constant sharp streaks of pain raced up his leg.

He gritted his teeth and managed to sit up, and stomp his other foot into the wild dog's face. He then lifted his gun and pointed the muzzle directly into the monster's beady little eye.

"Let go," he grunted before he pulled the trigger.

A loud crack echoed sharply through the air and the wild dog abruptly released its jaws from around Drayce's ankle. He abruptly pulled it back and dropped to the ground.

The wild dog bucked its enormous head back in shock and pain, and yet it remained standing menacingly over him. Drayce had to lower his cannon in order to scoot back, to put some distance between them. But despite lacking one eye, of which blood was pouring from, the wild dog immediately turned its good eye in Drayce's directly and narrowed in on him.

The destroyed eye was nothing to its primal rage, it seemed.

It was beyond pissed.

Drayce desperately lifted his cannon again, to hit it anywhere when a white blur suddenly leapt onto the wild dog's back. A loud growl was heard before a roar of pain. Drayce looked up to see that Nashoba had managed to leap onto the wild dog's back and plunged his teeth into the flesh behind the monster's neck. He ripped and bit at the flesh, thrashing his head back and forth violently.

The wild dog howled in pain as it proceeded to try to buck and shake Nashoba off of its back.

Because of Nashoba's efforts, Drayce was able to lift his canon and aim for the mutt's chest. He knew he wouldn't be able to kill it outright, but he hoped to be able to hit something important to hinder it.

A loud, thunderous crack of gunfire rang out and it was soon followed by a yelp of pain.

He managed to score a direct hit to the monster's chest and appeared to have had the luck to strike something vital at that. Nashoba seemed to sense the monster's staggering steps and leapt back. He kept low to the ground, his teeth bared at the ready.

A strange sound was suddenly heard, like that of bubbling water, gurgling even.

Blood suddenly began to spill from the wild's dog mouth and it tilted to the side before it fell over completely, slumping bonelessly to the ground.

Only when the wild dog fell still did Drayce realise that his breathing was erratic and he was covered in sweat. And he was gripping his gun tightly. With white knuckles, no doubt.

He then heard another loud gurgled roar and he turned in time to witness the other wild dog collapse to the forest floor with a crush, literally kicking up grass and fallen leaves as it did so.

Drayce's shoulders sagged with relief. Good. Blayke, Kamali, and Faelen had managed to defeat the other wild dog. And they appeared mostly unharmed. A few dints could be seen in Blayke's armour and shield, but they were standing.

Hah, which was better than Drayce was.

His leg was absolutely agony. Wow.

Dropping his weapon to the ground next to him, Drayce reached down to look at his leg. And he barely supressed a grimace. His leg armour was dinted and the metal torn where the wild dog had bit him, but it appeared as though the armour was able to fend off the majority of the attack. His leg, though bloody with puncture wounds and gashes, was in relatively one piece. He could wiggle his toes, so that was a good thing, right?

But he probably wouldn't be walking on it for the next couple of days, though.

Man, Ashton was going to be equally worried and pissed. Hah. Drayce could expect him to be in full-on care-taker mode the second he returned to the Crescentia.

"Don't move your leg," Fiorello suddenly ordered in a stern manner and Drayce automatically pulled his hands back. "And lay down; I'll see to this."

Suddenly feeling drained, Drayce allowed himself to flop back down onto the grass and he draped an arm over his eyes in an attempt to block out the sunlight that streamed through the leaves.

He tensed when he heard the sound of paws scraping against the soil and grass but when a moist nose nuzzled his cheek, he relaxed.

"Nashoba," Drayce murmured as he opened his eyes and lifted his hand to gently touch the wolf's muzzle. "Thank you."

Nashoba emitted a small whine and licked his cheek softly, much like he did in the aftermath of their first encounter with a wild dog. Man, he owed Nashoba a large steak after this. Two even.

"Drayce!"

Drayce suddenly found his vision filled with the faces of three of his guildmates. Faelen was above his head while Kamali and Blayke were on the left and right of him respectively. All of their expression were similar; concern and fear.

"Is everyone else all right?" Drayce immediately asked.

Kamali nodded his head, his face slightly pale. "We're fine, all of us," he insisted.

"There's no other enemies?"

"N-none," Faelen was the one to answer with a slight quiver in his voice.

Drayce felt himself relax somewhat. "Good," he murmured as he closed his eyes and grimaced when he felt Fiorello tugging and pulling at his boot and the leg of his pants.

The botanist wasn't saying anything, though. Was that a good thing?

Hah, he was sure his leg looked worse than it was. After all, Fiorello had the Ariadne Thread. If it was another of major concern he was certain the brouni would have activated it already.

"There were only two of them, right?" Drayce asked as he opened his eyes and rolled his head to the side to look up at Blayke.

Blayke's brow was slightly furrowed and his eyes seemed to be darting back and forth between looking at Drayce's face and at his leg. His expression wasn't that grim. It was grim enough, sure, but he wasn't cussing him out so his leg wasn't in that bad of shape.

"Yeah, I couldn't see anyone else," he said in regards to his question, immediately knowing who he was referring to.

Drayce was comforted by that and nodded his head. "Caelem mentioned others," he frowned and furrowed his brow in a show of unease. "Those two…That pugilist doesn't seem very bright, but he is strong. He broke my Decoy Shield with his head. He was probably the one who had grabbed Caelem. And that necromancer is flighty but he wouldn't be ordering that pugilist around unless he has some kind of talent."

Their confrontation was mostly all words and despite that hint of hostility and that pugilist's willing to 'grab' him, they knew nothing else about them. Were they all bark and no bite? Or had they dodged a bullet today and the wild dogs' attacking them had potentially ward off a more pressing threat?

They should probably just count themselves lucky for now and get out of the labyrinth.

"They said they would come back for you," Blayke said, reminding Drayce that Tomlin did indeed shout something like that.

"Probably an idle threat," Drayce said dismissively. "The necromancer seemed the type to think he's cool and edgy. Probably thought it made him sound menacing."

Blayke pressed his lips together tightly into a thin line. "I'm not so sure…" he murmured.

"Worry-wart," Drayce teased before a sharp streak of pain from his leg caused a hiss to pass his lips and he gritted his teeth.

"Antiseptic," he heard Fiorello explain shortly. "It'll pass."

"Yeah," Drayce murmured before the pain slowly began to fade and he felt himself relax, not realising that he had been tensing his body until then. "Feeling better already."

He pressed a hand to his forehead, anticipating difficulty in returning to the Crescentia. With his shield and weapon, both of which are pretty heavy, he would more likely than not need aid in walking.

Shit, the Moon Legacy!

Drayce immediately began to feel around on his left where the case containing the Moon Legacy was situated. "Kamali, the case?"

Kamali shifted on his kneels to also pat down Drayce's side and after a moment he breathed a sigh of relief. "It's in one piece, thankfully. You've protected it well."

Thank goodness for that. Would be devastating if anything should happen to it now. It would have made everything they've done so far be a complete waste. Caelem's pain be for nothing. He couldn't allow that.

"Faelen, any idea where we are?" Drayce asked as he sunk back against the grass.

"O-oh, ah…" Faelen stuttered. "I-I think we're in the most u-upper left corner of the floor."

"Are we? That far, huh?" Drayce commented for the sake of talking before his furrowed his brow slightly in thought. "Oh, hey, isn't this is where we need to get that soil sample?"

Blayke gave him a disbelieving look. "We've got more important things to worry about," he chided.

Drayce managed to wrangle a cheeky grin to his lips as he looked up at Blayke. "Come now, since we're here, right?"

"Unbelievable," Blayke murmured, truly exasperated. And yet there was a hint of relief in his eyes.

He was truly worried for him, wasn't he? They all were.

"I'll…I'll get a sample," Faelen murmured, seemingly glad for something to do.

"I've done all I can for now," Fiorello announced around a sigh. "Let's get you back to the Crescentia."

Ugh, here came the hard part.

"Yeah," Drayce murmured before he gritted his teeth to find the strength to pull himself upright.

He managed to that with Blayke and Kamali's immediate help. He looked down at his leg to see it heavily bandaged. Started from mid-shin down to his toes, his ankle carrying the vast majority of the supportive dressings.

No obvious signs of blood, though, so that had to be a good thing.

Drayce grasped Blayke's hand in his in an attempt to be pulled to his feet but a strange tingling sensation on his left side caused him to stop dead. He immediately turned to look at his side where the case containing the Moon Legacy sat. And it was…

"Huh?"

"What is it?" Kamali immediately asked with obvious concern. "Are you hurt elsewhere?"

Drayce shook his head and grabbed the wooden case to lift it up to show everyone. "No, it's…I can feel it vibrating."

Kamali's eyes widened and he lifted his hand to touch the container also. His eyebrows shot toward his hairline in surprise. "It is. Then that means…?"

Drayce immediately glanced at their surroundings. "Are they gone?"

Everyone looked around cautiously also. "I can't hear or see anyone," Faelen answered.

Drayce gripped Blayke's hand tightly again and found the strength to stagger to his feet. However he couldn't put any pressure on his injured foot as it caused that sharp, jarring pain to race up his leg. So he had to balance himself on his good leg and let Blayke lift his arm over his shoulders, gripping his right wrist with his hand while the other slipped around Drayce's back to support him.

"We need to pull out the Moon Legacy," Drayce said as he struggled to remove the lid of the container with one hand. "Keep watch for me."

"But-" Faelen began to protest.

Drayce understood their reluctance. They had just endured a battle against two wild dogs and before that a confrontation with a pair of antagonistic bandits. And had any of them been hurt instead of him, he would have immediately insisted they return to the Crescentia to recover. He would never put the health and protection of another at risk for a potential treasure.

But since he was the one that was injured and everyone else was in good health, it was fine. Besides…

"We don't know how long the Moon Legacy will be able to maintain itself," Drayce said. "The sooner, the better. Don't worry; I'm fine. And I'll be sure to rest after this."

Although the others were reluctant and worried for his health, Drayce knew that he couldn't miss this chance. So he opened the container concealing the Moon Legacy…