Chapter 28

Tetsu, still in her child form... Was looking up at another Tetsu, though as an actual dragon. The two dragons were obviously sizing each other up, glowing with their own aura of energy. The little dragon-newt's aura was much like my own, purple with hints of gold and silver. The larger, more mature dragon had a dimmer, almost black glow to it.

And by larger, it was easily five metres tall, bigger than the Zombie Dragon, though like Tetsu, it had no wings. It also had a similar but far more developed set of bone spines down its back, over its face and under the jaw. What ever Tetsu was, this was her 'full grown' size it seemed.

Behind the monster was the shattered remains of that obelisk I'd seen earlier. Was it a seal? Was that why my horns reacted?

Movement caught my eye, and I saw Van running the long way around the square. Even though he didn't look like a fighter, he wasn't making the amateur mistake of waving and calling my name. He wanted no part in what was happening there, yet, he was still running towards us.

"Sir Kodori-" He started, looking panicked but surprisingly not out of breath.

"Lord Van." I greeted, interrupting him as well, "Unless you can fight, escort the children back that way. I hoped the Kunshu and Clive were okay... "Raphtalia? Signal arrow."

Raphtalia took her bow out of its quiver, strung it, and found a signal arrow. The head of it had been replaced by one of her new glow stones, perfect for a night mission like this.

While she went about that, Van nodded, "I can do that, of course." He said, "If legends are true, that is the Tyrant Dragon Rex." He said as Melty assured the children, including Keel, and silently herded them towards Van. He looked almost like Takemikazuchi with the sudden mob of orphans around his legs. "Supposedly, the Legendary Heroes of a previous generation beat it, but couldn't kill it, so they sealed it here."

There was a near blinding flash of light, then a twang as Raphtalia fired her bow upwards.

"Figures I have to clean up yet another mess left behind by other heroes." I sighed, "Children." I said in the exact tone I used to get the attention of my own kids. "This is Lord Van. I trust him. He will lead you to safety, and after my party figures this out, my party and I will visit. Okay?"

Now he really looked like Takemikazuchi, as all the children looked up to him and gripped at some part of his pants or sleeves. "Be careful Sir Kodori." Van said, "This way, speak up if you can't keep up."

"Sir... I think..." Usa said, "I don't think she can win, but they're going to fight."

I focused my attention on Tetsu and the Tyrant, and I had to agree. The Tyrant was slowly growing too, as if it had been compressed, and now that it was free it was returning to its original form. "We're going to lure it that way, back through the side entrance. It will destroy everything if it gets to Van's territory or the rest of the town."

And before waiting for them to agree, I ran towards Tetsu and the Tyrant, the latter now tall enough to see over the rooftops of the three floor buildings around us.

(Yay combat?)

Tetsu and the massive dragon were staring each other down. Both were growling, but while the smaller of the two sounded aggressive, the larger seemed almost amused. Amused that this tiny dragon-newt-human was not only enough to wake it up, but that it was for a challenge!

After such a long time asleep, it was content to growl, and stare, and wait for the other to either back off (and become its first meal in several hundred years) or attack (and still become its first meal in several hundred years).

Behind the Tyrant, there was a sudden flare of light, a shooting star returning to the heavens. But it spared no attention to it, to do so would show weakness to the little dragon-newt. But it was getting hungrier as its body finished growing to its proper size again. So it took in a deep breath, its chest slowly puffing up as it filled its lungs.

And it roared in Tetsu's face.

Windows all around the square of its former tomb shattered, the ground vibrated, the loose bits of Tetsu's clothes snapped in the wind...

Now the Tyrant was puzzled. The little one held its place, didn't stop growling, didn't even flinch. Instead, it raised its tiny human claws, and struck it in the nose.

A little shock wave emanated from the impact, "You take back what you said!" Tetsu yelled, her anger helping her to ignore the pain of what amounted to hitting an immovable object at nearly full power.

This time, the Tyrant started to growl in anger, and with a little wind up, made to slash at her with a front leg.

"Tetsu! Jump!" Kodori called out, her hands linking together as she, Melty, Usa and Raphtalia ran towards the two dragons.

Tetsu jumped. Her Matriarch said jump, and so she did. Even as she felt the wind of the Tyrant's claw sweeping through the space she'd just been standing, a sudden blast of cold night air pressed against her front, sending her backwards, out of range of the snapping jaws that tried to devour her.

"Boss!" Tetsu, unconcerned she was now on a rooftop, looked down at the Tyrant, and past it to Kodori, "I was gonna teach it a lesson!"

"Good! But we're leading it away from all the breakable stuff!" Kodori called out, "That way! Fighting retreat!"

"But I hate those!" Tetsu yelled back, bending her legs, taking 'aim' then jumping as hard as she could towards the Tyrant's head, "Boop attack!"

"Get its attention!" Kodori called out, raising a hand then making an Air Strike Shield appear above the Tryant's nose to prevent it from opening its mouth and snapping Tetsu out of the air. It worked, but the Spectral Shield shattered as soon at the Tyrant put more than a casual pressure onto it.

Tetsu hit the Tyrant's nose and caused another shock wave, her little foot crashing into the bony snoot. But again, there was almost no reaction. From below, Raphtalia ran by its leg, her katana sweeping out and slashing it with all her might.

Except with a skittering ring of steel on steel, her blade didn't even scratch it, the keen edge not biting in the slightest!

"What? Nothing?" Raphtalia exclaimed, not stopping for a second try, but running towards the side entrance they'd infiltrated in from.

Damage or not, it got its attention, and with another (less impressive) roar, it started to tromp towards Raphtalia and Tetsu.

"Sir?" Usa started, "How..."

"I can run a bit of defence for them, but I'm starting to see why the other heroes couldn't kill it." Kodori replied, "Run ahead, do not engage until we're out of here. If you draw its attention in too many directions, it will dig in and fight."

Usa pulled ahead, a naturally fast runner. Melty on the other hand was already looking a little out of breath, "Sir... Even if..."

Kodori slowed down, then picked up Melty and put the princess over her shoulder, "Cling to my back, catch your breath, don't cover my eyes."

Clive and Kunshu saw the signal arrow, and the direction in was going. Before it had started to arc back towards the ground, Kunshu had become a backpack for Clive, and he jumped out of the tower. She could, for a short distance, fly while carrying him, but instead the Empress Bee slowed their fall, aiming for the nearest rooftop in the direction of the side gate. Once Clive's feet hit the peak of the roof below, Kunshu's wings settled, and the archer carried her towards the next jump.

This happened a few more times, jumping roof to roof towards the outer wall of the town/fortress. Each time, Clive would jump with all his might (considerable considering Kodori's manipulation of his stats, and his own training at being able to get to good 'sniper positions') and Kunshu would make sure he landed softly. But finally, in sight of the wall, Clive made the first sound aside from his feet and breathing, that he'd made since firing his bow last time.

"Grr click?" He said, pointing towards the not so distant, but still too far to jump outer wall.

"click click!" Kunshu replied, her middle arms letting go of Clive's back, and wrapping around his chest instead.

And Clive jumped, Kunshu's wings suddenly vibrating up to full speed, the two of them not quite flying, but making a long long arc gracefully through the air, until the Empress Bee slowed her wings and the two of them landed at the innermost edge of the walkway on top of the wall. Had anyone else witnessed it, they might have gotten applause. But alas, not even they could tell the story about it.

Kunshu let go of Clive and crouched down, her slender form almost motionless, but her bulbous abdomen throbbing as she recovered her 'breath'. Clive did his duty and took position beside her, rearranging his quiver so he could draw as fast as possible, and look back towards the way they'd just come to cover what he thought would be a retreat.

And a moment later, after a few crashing noises, a roar of something VERY large, and a sudden shattering of a brick and wood house, he saw that it was in fact, a retreat.

If his eyes could widen, they would have. As the dust cleared, he saw what the party was running from. But even so, he readied his bow, pulled it back to maximum draw, and let both his eyes focus on the oncoming dragon's eye.

(Kodori)

A little voice in the back of my mind was practically cheering at all the potential loot we could get from this dragon. Scales that Raphtalia's sword slid off of. Bones that could withstand Tetsu's full power punches and kicks. Claws that made a mockery of the brick and stone around us as it flailed (and missed) the party...

There there was the much louder voice telling me to think about that after we'd all survived.

Oh, and then there was Melty, who was an expert at getting carried on someone's back. Once she'd gotten off my shoulder and got her legs around me, she was almost as unnoticeable as Kunshu when she clung to me. Her voice was loudest, but again, she showed discipline, and wasn't screaming, but casting her magic, yelling out the spells (mostly waves of compressed water that were 'heavy' enough to keep debris from falling on Raphtalia, Usa and Tetsu) and pointing out dangers the others might not be seeing.

My job was simple. Every time it looked like Metly might not be able to keep part of a falling house, or a spray of cobble stone from the Tyrant's flailing claws or tail from hitting them, I'd throw an Air Strike Shield out. If Melty used a blast of water (smaller than the one she used on the stairs, but more 'water' than 'blade) I'd turn it into ice so it would have more effect. I wanted to get it out of this Keep before getting in the front.

Then I saw our 'goal'. The side gate and the wall it was set into. I also saw Clive, already waiting on top of the wall, a speck of glittering metal on the arrow he had drawn. It gave me an idea, but my logical mind had control, and told the noisy part cheering about monster loot to shut up.

"Melty, water on that gate! Can you hit it from here?" We were still a good distance away, but closing fast.

In reply, her legs gripped my middle tighter, and she held her hands out over my shoulders, a dark blue magic circle forming between them.

I'd gotten the timing of her spells down by now, and knew I had just enough time to call out, "Tetsu! Put your back to the door! Get everyone over the wall!"

In the span of about three seconds, five things happened.

From the top of the wall, I heard the heavy 'thrum' of Clive's war bow.

Tetsu punched the Tyrant on the nose, but planned to bounce off, her much smaller body flying backwards towards the big wooden gate.

Melty shouted, "Drifta Aqua Blast!" Letting out a torrent of water, between the Tyrant's legs, but coming up short of the door (but making Tetsu shout an indignant 'hey! That's cold!' as she got soaked).

There was a metallic 'CHING!' as Clive's arrow ricocheted off the side of the Tyrant's head, just missing its eye.

And I slid to a halt, dropping to one knee as my hands finished their dance and I called out, "Hyoketsu!" And slapped my palm to the water slick cobblestone.

My SP dropped to nothing, my HP dipped a little, my MP bar became a theoretical particle wide, my horns felt like I'd just poured molten metal over them, and the sixth and seventh things happened.

From my palm, a wave of energy rippled over the water Melty had created, and froze. From my palm, under and up the Tyrant's legs, and onward toward the door, the ground became icy and slick. The ice had no hope of trapping the massive beast, but the cobblestone under its feet could support its weight. This meant it the ground under the ice would remain firm and most importantly? Flat.

"Out of the way!" I gasped out as loud as I could, spotting Raphtalia and Usa leaving through the smaller 'service door', and Tetsu throwing herself out of the way of the now rolling Tyrant Dragon Rex.

The massive body of the Tyrant hardly slowed down as it smashed through the door, taking part of the wall with it.

"Just..." I gasped, Melty getting off my back and helping me keep upright as I started drowning my HP/MP/SP problems in potions. "Just as planned."

"What do you-" Melty started asking, nearly having to yell over the sound of the VERY upset monster dragon. Then there was another crash, some trees shattering, then another crash, and another, and a much quieter one...

"No wings on that one. We're on top of a small mountain, and the servant's entrance faces a small forest, then a VERY long drop." I felt my stomach twist at the sudden influx of mixed potions. "Let's... burp, bleh... Let's get everyone together, and follow it."

Maybe a minute later, the seven of us were doing a quick vitals check. Usa and Raphtalia had a few small scuff marks from flying masonry. Tetsu was bruised all over, but still in fighting spirit (as well as visibly healing while I looked her over!). Clive was almost out of arrows (five left) but unharmed save for sore fingers. Kunshu was tired, and VERY hungry, using three of her four upper limbs to hold a ripe Fox-berry while she ate it as fast as she could, while the forth limb held a fresh one. Melty was experiencing the same troubled stomach from potion use as I was, but recovering. And I was in nearly top form.

"Are we going after it?" Raphtalia asked, using some healing ointment on herself as we marched through the trench the Tyrant had made on its way through the thin strip of forest.

"I wanna bite it!" Tetsu growled, the rags of the leather covers I'd put over her hands flapping around.

"Why did you stay in your child form?" Usa asked.

We all looked at her (except Kunshu, who was almost literally eyes deep in the second fruit now).

"You said I could only change if I couldn't run away! I was a good girl, right?" A hopeful look, then, "Yay!" I gave her messy hair some headpats. "Oh..." She shook her head side to side to dislodge my hand, "I felt it! It's got one of those things! Like the other dragon!"

"Aha, a weakness... maybe." I nodded, "Okay, seems like an easy climb down..." I looked over the edge, the valley below almost shaking as the Tyrant roared at us from the bottom. I looked left and right, "There." It was a small lake, "We'll drive it that way, along the bottom of the valley, towards the lake."

Most of them started to nod, it was a good idea. The lake looked to be a bit of a basin, with only a few ways (that I could see from here at least) ways into it, but enough open space to fight. Or run away. If we had to run, we could leave it there, out of the way of 'people' for a while, and it would have little reason to leave. With the lake there, and likely fish to eat, it would have a reason to stay put and make a 'lair' for itself.

But only if we couldn't kill it. I wanted those scales...

"How are we going to get it to go that way?" Usa asked, looking down at the Tyrant as its big eyes looked back, its roar shaking the walls of the canyon again.

"Oh, that's easy. Tetsu? You may change forms now. And when you do, I want you to throw all these trees it knocked over, and as many boulders as you can find, over the cliff and onto its head. We'll throw smaller stuff, and use magic, while going in that direction."

"Oh! You plan on clogging up the ravine, while luring it that way!" Raphtalia said, "Okay!" She paused, "Oh, here Clive. I didn't use many, but..." She handed over a good portion of her arrows. Not as long, but just as sharp.

Clive shook his head, then pointed at her bow, holding out both hands. He knew it was better to have the right arrows for the size of bow. Raphtalia didn't even hesitate, and handed them all over.

"Let's go. Time to finish the job and clean up."

The terrain sucked. With little road to follow, it made for some treacherous hiking. But, with a combination of Clive pelting it with the occasional arrow, Tetsu hurling down logs like spears, and the rest of us taunting it and throwing the biggest rocks we could safely throw off the edge without risking a fall and joining it (prematurely) at the bottom, we lured it as close to the end of the ravine as we could. From here, it was a huge field of short grassy ground, the small lake, and the somewhat distant but very nice looking forests and mountainous terrain.

If you have to run away, leave a distraction behind. It wasn't the dungeon, but it was still a good line for the 'Rules'. Most of the time, we tossed a bit of food, or wounded a monster so the 'bigger threat' would settle for an easy meal instead of running after us. But this time, it was just... a nice 'territory' to settle in, until we came back with better weapons.

"Getting down will be a problem..." Usa said, his one good hand coming up and rubbing over his face.

"Not really. Raphtalia?" I changed the Shield to the Rope Shield, "Tie it to the bottom, then run out into the field. Kunshu? Are you okay now? Can you carry someone down?"

Kunshu detached from my back, then stood behind Melty.

I was hoping she'd pick Usa, but I trusted her to know her limits.

"Okay, Raphtalia? Not the middle." I pointed, "A bit over there. As soon as it starts after you, we'll come down."

"Do you want me to keep throwing stuff at it?" Tetsu was having a lot of fun it seemed, "It's not hurting it, but it's getting REALLY angry." She giggled, "And... ya!" She tossed down a person sized boulder, the Tyrant roaring as it bounced off its nose.

"As soon as Raphtalia gets its attention, I want you to wait until we are all just past... that ledge there." I pointed to a spot about half way down. "Raphtalia? When we get there, get its attention, then run towards the water. As soon as it turns its head away from you Tetsu, I want you to jump on it."

Tetsu was less than half the Tyrant's size, but I trusted her to be able to survive, and distract it long enough for the rest of the party to get down. "And the rest of us?" Melty asked, looking nervous, but like a rookie adventurer, not a Citizen, working up to fighting, not trying to find excuses to leave.

"Okay. As soon as we get down..."

"Do I keep throwing stuff?" Tetsu interrupted me.

"Yeah." I nodded, "Now..."

(Combat! Switching perspectives.)

Kodori let out some rope from the Shield, and made a simple set of loops so Raphtalia could rappel down the cliff side in reasonable safety. Before her departure, Raptalia chanted a spell, and vanished from sight. Even the rope around her vanished, but it still left most of the rope visible.

While Raphtalia started down, Tetsu and the others were simply making a mess of the ravine mouth. Mostly for effect to keep the Tyrant's attention focused on them, most of what went over the side was to clog up the exit, not harm the monster. Still, with every boulder or tree, Tetsu did a little cheer when she hit, or pouted when she missed.

Clive was the only one actually trying to hurt it. But Raphtalia's short bow was not up to the task of puncturing the Tyrant's eyelids, let alone the thick scales. Still, the dragon at the bottom understood the potential danger of the annoying shards of metal that slipped through the rain of debris...

It attacked. There was a furnace red glow deep inside its gut, an elongation of its neck, an expansion of its throat, and with a great ROAR it sent a pillar of flame upwards towards the six still on the cliff.

"Good to know." Kodori said as everyone backed up hastily an she waved an Air Strike Shield into existence to keep as much of the liquid flame from falling on them as she could. Once the attack passed, she looked over to check Raphtalia's progress, or rather, how far the rope had gone down. "Phase two."

Tetsu came back with a flaming tree this time, and heaved it over the side. As it whooshed through the air, Kunshu got behind Melty and attached herself to the girl's back. With a quick thrum of noise, and an alarmed squeak of surprise, the two started down the cliff, out of the Tyrant's line of sight, a little further from where Raphtalia's descent had started.

There was a tug on the Rope Shield. "Usa." Kodori said, taking a turn around a solid tree with her rope still spooling out, "Hold on."

The Rabbit Demi-human nodded, put his good arm over Kodori's shoulder, waited for her to grip his wrist, then hopped up and wrapped his legs around her middle. "Good luck Clive." Usa said.

Clive nodded and switched to his larger bow, his last four arrows looking lonely in his quiver.

Kodori and Usa were about half way down, Kunshu and Melty were just getting ready for their part at the bottom, and Tetsu was down to her last big rock to throw when Raphtalia 'got it's attention'.

"Crescent Moon SLASH!"

The attack was already in motion as the colour returned to her body and she became visible again. Her blade clove through the air like the instant of a mirror's reflection of the sun, and actually bit into the back of the Tyrant's leg, just behind the knee. But as soon as the dim glimmer of blood appeared, the tip of Raphtali's katana snapped off, the flesh too tough, the edges of the beast's scales too sharp. Now missing the last finger length of her blade, she waited just long enough to see the Tyrant start turning around...

And started running.

The Tyrant's long body looped back on itself, the tiny cut behind it's knee hardly worth noticing. It seemed more angry that a tiny animal had dared to bite it at all. With a full body shake to get some of the detritus off its back, it let out a short roar, almost a bark, and took a single heavy step after the fleeing snack.

It was just lifting its leg for a second step, when a dragon about half its size SLAMMED into its back. Just this once, Tetsu didn't make any noise until after she'd landed, the bulk of her body on target, her scaly butt planting square into the spot just behind the Tyrant's shoulders. "Take That!" Tetsu crowed as her sudden weight drove the much bigger dragon to the dirt, its entire body laying all but flat on the ground.

"GO!" Kodori shouted as she got to the bottom of the cliff. Hardly waiting until Kodori's feet were firmly down, Usa let go and started running towards the water. Once free from the Rabbit, Kodori ran towards Tetsu and the Tyrant.

While that had been happening, Melty and Kunshu ran/hovered towards the lake. Kunshu, roughly half way there, did an almost right angled turn and started flying straight up. Not far, but enough to be hard to spot, and stay safe from an upwards blast of fire. Once there, she simply waited, her spear held firmly with her four upper arms.

Down below, Metly's task was much more arduous. As soon as she got within range of the lake, she stopped, took a deep breath, and started casting. It was her weakest water spell, the first one she'd ever learned. While not very old, she had been encouraged to practise diligently by her mother and tutors, so even her weakest spell had a respectable kick to it.

No where near enough kick to harm that dragon, but certainly enough to dig a very shallow trench in the sand by the lake shore.

Up at the top of the cliff, alone now, Clive contemplated. While most would see his lack of words as him being unintelligent, it really just meant he spent more time thinking, than speaking. The use of a bow was an inspired choice by Kodori, making his slow to focus eyes an asset instead of a liability in combat. He did feel a little left out, way up here. But his job was likely the most important, even if the rest of the party was going to try and make sure the only excitement he saw was the battle.

He thought of wind speed, making a tiny fire so he could judge by the flow of smoke how to adjust his aim. He thought of where to position himself, so he found a spot that gave him just a little cover to stay out of immediate sight, yet still give him the best view.

And he thought of breakfast. Because he couldn't help himself.

"Take that! And that! Bite bite bite!" Tetsu was punching, scraping with her claws, biting, and pulling on the bony armour this way and that, to keep the Tyrant from getting its balance. Sadly, for all her exuberance, strength, and superior position, at best she might have been bruising it.

Still, she tried her hardest! It was in her nature to do so, even if 'restraint' was a little lacking at times.

But the Tyrant finally managed to get both its hind legs under itself properly, and while it couldn't reach upwards far enough to grab Tetsu, it instead got on all fours and started wrenching itself from side to side, throwing as much of its weight around as it could to try and dislodge the annoyance on its back.

Then two things happened. First, one of Tetsu's many attempts to claw through the Tyrant's thick hide met with a hint of success! One of her hind claws caught itself between a bone plate and the edge of a scale, and dug in! Just enough to draw blood!

"Yeah!" Tetsu roared down at the beast as it continued to shake back and forth in great heaves.

But like a trying to carve something with a dull blade, when Tetsu tried to dig that single claw in, it slipped out, skittering off the Tyrant's flank. Now with only three points of dubious contact, Tetsu lost her balance, then grip, and was thrown off the bucking dragon.

Her roar was a bit higher in pitch (but she would later deny it was a scream), and she landed roughly a fair distance away. But just as the Tyrant regained its footing and started towards its downed 'rival', a shower of killer icicles slapped against the side of its face and upper body. In no danger from the sharp but fragile missiles, it only paused a moment before facing the direction of the attack.

"Get up!" Kodori called out to Tetsu, "We need to delay just a little longer!"

Tetsu, already on her way back to her feet, growled, "Yeah! I'm gonna bite this guy! Bite him until he submits to us!"

Kodori, the Book Shield in front of her, let out another wave of sharpened ice. Harmless to the Tyrant, it still acted like an animal, flinching slightly to protect its eyes and giving Tetsu just enough time to recover, scrape her claws along the ground, and start running at the much larger dragon.

Her velocity made up a little for her lack of size, but even so, the Tyrant hardly seemed moved by the sudden fury that cannoned into it. Tetsu clawed, and kicked, and even tried to bite its wrist, but with an almost contemptuous swat of its long heavy tail, the Tyrant slapped the dragon away, back towards Kodori.

The Shield Hero sent another spray of ice at the dragon, then pulled a little clay pot from the glowing gem on its cover. "Potion!" She said, tossing it at Tetsu. Even a bit disoriented from the sudden tumble, she snapped the little pot out of the air and swallowed it whole, the brittle clay breaking apart on the way down to her stomach.

"Clay makes my mouth dry." She pouted as her body started to glow ever so slightly with the effects of the potion, "He's very tough!" All serious again, she got on all fours, ready to charge.

Seeing the two of them together, the Tyrant's belly started to glow red again.

"Two Foxes!" Kodori said, "GO!"

Tetsu and Kodori ran in opposite directions as the blast of flame left the Tyrant's mouth. The massive tunnel of flame tracked towards Tetsu, but the smaller dragon knew what to do and jumped into the air. The flame still chased her, but a moment later an Air Strike Shield put itself between her and the fire, protecting her even as she used the flat spectral surface to change directions back towards Kodori.

Seeing the two snacks meeting up again, the smaller jumping on the larger to get away, the Tyrant skipped the fire and went straight into a chase.

It had only been a couple years, but it felt like a lifetime ago since Raphtalia had played in the sand. But that is what she was doing. Melty was still doing the most 'work', but Raphtalia still put up a good showing, the two of them using might and magic to start flooding the beach front. They couldn't make a pit, or even extend the lake, that would have taken days. But they could start making the beach and scrubby grasses near it into a very shallow marsh.

Off to the side, not exactly a capable digger despite him being a rabbit, Usa was at the edge of the marsh drawing out a magic circle. Like any magic user of the world, his magic created its own magic circle in the air in front of him. But Kodori had insisted that drawing it out in a 'material' way, would make it stronger.

He kept his doubts to himself, but even if it didn't improve his magic, he still needed to be very close to the water to make this work.

"They're on the way!" Raphtalia called out, "It will have to do! Get ready!"

Usa uncoiled his whip and flicked it out so it would lay in the thumb deep water. Once done, he laid down, putting his ears under his helmet and doing his best to hide in the shallow grass. Melty on the other hand, took a deep breath, scrubbed the sleeve of her nice (but now rather dirty) dress over her sweaty forehead, and cast one last spell.

"I am the source of all power, hear me and understand! Lock my foe in an icy embrace! Icicle prison!"

Just off shore, a little past the opening of the little tench they had worked to dig, an iceberg the size of Tetsu surged out of the water. The upward thrust of the ice pulled in more water from the lake, filling the shallow marsh just a tiny bit more.

It was the best they could do with what they had, as Kodori liked to say, and with a sigh she hustled off to hide in the grass like Usa and Raphtalia, the instant ice floe becoming water again.

(Kodori)

Seeing the final touches to the trap spill onto the shore from my vantage point atop Tetsu, I decided that my party deserved a special dinner. And if this worked? It would be dragon meat. My trip to the other side of the Gate to Falmart taught me how to make it, so maybe it would work here?

If it didn't work, I'd raid Rabier's castle for ingredients.

"I don't see anyone!" Tetsu said up to me, all four of her legs propelling us forward.

"That's the point!" I said back to her, though I did see the glint of Usa's helmet, and a little speck of blue dress. "Remember the plan! Please, remember the plan!"

"But I want to beat him!" She growled, slowing down just a little so the Tyrant would think it could catch up. We had to keep it focused on us, keep those animal instincts engaged.

"Use everything for the next encounter!" I leaned a little forward for balance and gave her bone plated skull a pat, "That includes information when you can't win the first time. We will kill it, now, or later."

"Fine!" She said petulantly, "I'll do my best either way!"

"Good! I plan on cooking after this. Ready?"

"Yes Boss!"

I gave her one last pat, looked over my shoulder, got into a crouch on her back, and jumped.

(Back to action! (guitar riff))

As soon as Kodori's weight left her back, Tetsu slammed on the breaks. Digging her claws into the ground, leaning, and drifting her body like a car into a near perfect 180 degree turn, she got herself braced to face the Tyrant as it charged towards her. Even with her opponent being so much bigger than she was, she roared a challenge into the face of the oncoming disaster.

Kodori hit the ground, rolled, and came to a stop a few paces from Usa. Quickly she crawled the rest of the way, gave Usa's work a quick look, and nodded, she then opened the Book Shield to the appropriate page, and waited.

Melty, once she had thrown herself into the tallest patch of grass she could spot within range of the little marsh they'd made... well she just took deep breaths. Mentally, she was exhausted, and the MP potions she'd had earlier were still making her a little queasy, something Kodori had called 'potion sickness'. So, she relied on the more natural methods she'd been taught to recover her mental stamina. Of course, seeing a building sized dragon looking like it was about to run over Tetsu was not helping her keep her calm.

Raphtalia was nowhere to be seen, but that was rather the point. And Kunshu, still hovering in the air, motionless save for her wings, waited with the infinite patience of a computer waiting for the right command to be entered.

The Tyrant slammed into Tetsu with all the fury and rage of a rabid beast. It led its charge with its mouth, opening wide just before it crashed into the smaller dragon, its arm length teeth dripping, its breath furnace hot.

But Tetsu knew how to handle 'the big mouth'! Kodori, Raphtalia and even Clive had used the exact same technique on her when they sparred in the morning! She didn't try and stop the charging monstrosity, but used her longer arms to brace against its upper and lower jaw! From there, she only used her hind legs and claws to keep her balanced as she was pushed backwards. Like a fast moving train hitting an unbreakable train car, Tetsu was pushed along until her feet started leave a shallow wave through the newly created marsh.

Now she dug in, firming up her arms and legs, curling her toes just a little more. It wasn't until she'd sunk almost to the knees in the softening ground that the two came to a stop.

"NOW!" Kodori shouted.

The Tyrant, its front 'arms' too short to swipe at Tetsu while its head was lowered, reared back, opening its mouth to bite again. Tetsu, not wanting any part of that, and under orders to especially not want any part of that, jumped backwards awkwardly once, then twice, leaving the circle of muddy marshy ground, the vicious bite narrowly missing her even with all that effort to get away. Despite her size, she still managed a neat spin on one leg, bringing her to a halt behind Kodori and Usa's spot on the grass.

Then three people stood up from the grass.

Melty, in her (formerly) nice blue dress, had to force the words of her spell out, "I am the source of all power! Hear me and understand! Water Shot!" The most basic of spells, equivalent of throwing a large pillow sized ball of water at someone, it was most commonly used to put out fires, or to shoo away animals trying to dig up your garden.

But it did what was intended, soaking the scaly hide of the massive dragon. And as soon as she saw she was on target, she turned and ran towards the cliff.

While she chanted that, Usa and Kodori stood up, the grip of the Rabbit-man's whip just touching the edge of the magic circle he'd carved into the ground, "We are the source of all power! Hear us and understand!" They chanted together, correcting the grammar of the spell to account for them both. But in the second verse, they diverged.

"Heaven and Earth meet!" From above, a spear landed in the centre of the marsh, right at the suddenly opponent free Tyrant.

"Lightning Strike!" Usa called out.

"Lightning Surge!" Kodori shouted, an Air Strike Shield appearing in front of the two of them.

(Kodori)

I wished I had made a second copy of the charm I'd given Usa. Also, Delly would have been proud. From above, a lance of crackling energy slammed into the lightning rod in front of the Tyrant. From below, a similar blast of electricity rose to meet it. The noise almost burst my eardrums, the heat set the grass everywhere near by save for behind my Air Strike Shield on fire, and through squinted eyes, I could see the skeleton of the Tyrant as the electricity arced through its body. I could even see the 'core' Tetsu had felt, a jagged shard of purple right behind its sternum.

Light and sound faded, and for a long precarious moment, the massive bony black scaled dragon just... stood there. Then with painful slowness, it started to tip forward like a falling tree.

But before it had finished its fall, the instant its toothy maw touched the leftover water and marshy ground, it slammed its clawed hand down to halt itself, the eye facing Usa, Tetsu and I flicked open, and a long slow growl bubbled up from its throat.

Seeing that the entire plan had left it with a layer of soot and two cuts, I made the call. "RUN!"

On my command, we all started running back towards the cliff. The Tyrant, while still shaken, was recovering fast, and seeing us turn away, started to really work to get back on its feet to chase us down. I had to start making choices.

"Usa, on Tetsu! Tetsu, run towards Melty!"

We almost tangled up with each other as I moved aside, Tetsu reached for Usa, and Usa tried to lever himself up on the dragon's back. But after a little stumble, we were running properly again, Tetsu pulling ahead of me and pointing me in the direction of Melty. Behind us, the Tyrant was making its first heavy stomps to get started towards us.

There was nothing I could do to stop the beast, I knew that. With what we had on hand, our current 'best' was to slow it down, and hopefully trap it here. Now my job was to make sure we all got out of the trap.

Tetsu and Usa got along side Melty, and Usa hauled her up onto Tetsu's back in front of him with his good arm. Tetsu slowed a little to keep balance, but were still getting further ahead of me. Meanwhile, the Tyrant was getting closer and closer, long heavy stride by long heavy stride. Also ahead and above me, I spotted a moving figure of black gold and silver making its way towards the cliff.

They needed time. So, I went through my list of 'what I could do', planned on the order of how, and turned to face the Tyrant.

(Last time, I swear... for this chapter at least)

The Tyrant fully intended to run over the snack that had stopped in front of it. It was hungry, but deep down, past all the rage, a glimmer of what it once was still had enough pride to be offended that its food had dared to hurt it. It could eat later, the food that had hurt it needed to be hunted first, and this particular morsel would be crushed flat first.

It lowered its head in preparation to snap the two legged snack up, but as it twisted its massive head to the side so it could bite from the obstacle's left and right, there was a little noise, like a blade snapping off it's scales...

And suddenly, its entire world was made of stench. It hardly registered the noise of two more snapping objects as it recoiled from the assault on its senses. Through watering eyes all it could see was brown, all it could smell was the rot of sun baked battlefield of eviscerated corpses, all it could taste was material that should never ever go in one's mouth.

(Kodori)

I was... surprised. So surprised I almost laughed. The Tyrant wasn't the first legendary creature I'd confounded with a Marlboro Bomb, and I had no idea if it would work at all past the 'manure brown smoke cloud' I planned to use to run away some more...

So I'd used all three that I had on hand.

It thrashed, and kicked, and roared its torment in short gasping barks of noise, but then I saw a problem. So before it tried to breath fire, I started running again. It wouldn't harm me, but it would get rid of the obscuring smoke.

Behind me, there was a dull red glow, a gargling roar, then a chaotic torrent of fire that cast my shadow crazily in front of me.

Ahead of me, I could see Kunshu almost done lifting Melty up the cliff, and Tetsu scaling the cliff like some kind of weird gecko. As planned, Usa was running towards the ravine mouth we had blocked up. So long as I didn't lead the Tyrant to him, he could hide or crawl through the fallen rocks and trees until we could pick him up.

That just left me and Raphtalia, except the Tyrant was almost on top of me again. Its heavy footsteps vibrating all the way up to my hips with every step it took. Being limited to 'above average human' levels of speed was not working well for me.

"Sir!" Raphtalia called out.

I didn't reply, but instead squinted my eyes almost shut and turned away from the sound of her voice.

There was the 'clink' of a clay pot shattering, and even through my squinted eyelids it was as if a small sun had appeared behind me. Raphtalia had 'charged' one of her little glow stones as bright as she could, and hid it in a jar, and I'd vastly underestimated just how bright she could make one.

The Tyrant roared and thrashed, and its shadow loomed over me, the (alarmingly) familiar sound of a massive tail whooshing through the air with ludicrous momentum.

This wasn't how I wanted to get away, and it would surely hurt, a LOT. I accepted that though, and with a quick glance behind me to set up an angled Air Strike Shield, stood my ground, changed the Shield from the Book Shield to the Chimera Shield...

And as I enclosed myself in the Shield Prison, Raphtalia joined me in the dark, "Get do-what!?"

I knew she was a bit sweet on me, anyone with a pair of eyes and the smallest of clues would be able to tell. But as I wrapped my arms around her to protect her head, I was sure this was not the kind of 'private embrace' she would have wanted.

(Okay okay, THIS time is the last time)

Clive, all but laying on his back, his war bow braced in the arches of his feet, the string pulled back until just the back of the stiletto arrow head was resting on the arch of the bow, saw Raphtalia appear. He didn't want to be blinded, so he tilted his head back until the initial flash of near daytime light receded slightly.

Eyes still focused 'forward', he tilted his head forward again, adjusted his eyes a little, and only JUST managed to ignore the sphere of interlocked shields bounce up, carve a furrow off the top of the cliff about five metres to his left, and crash far behind him someplace back in the forest...

Half blinded by the sudden sunlight flash in its eye, the Tyrant tried to use its less dazzled eye to spot where its prey had gotten to. Spotting Tetsu as she clambered up the side of the nearly sheer cliff face, it tilted its head, took a deep breath, and...

Clive's bow shouted its bass note, and the shaft of Clive's arrow vanished all the way to the feathers in the Tyrant's eye.

NOTES!

Well, we'll call it a draw.

Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!

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