Savior
Chapter 8
They came within viewing distance of where Ishau was or should be. But it was gone now, sunk into the sea.
"I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so," Lanie said.
Kate was worried. "I've only got about a week's worth of trail rations left."
"Then I guess I'll have to go hunting more often," Rick told them.
"Now what?" Kate asked.
"There's only one thing we can do; we head for Mezro, the capital city. With luck, Mezro is still there. Beyond that, I don't know," Roy said. "Oh, and we can't go up the coast. We'll have to go through the jungle."
"Great, just great." Kate didn't like any of that.
"We better get started." Roy got his bearing and began walking.
They traveled for two days, stopping early every day and giving Rick a chance to go hunting. His first day out, Rick came home dragging a crocodile by the tail.
Crocodile meat is mild in flavor, with its firm and tender texture of succulent white meat; some have also compared it to a lighter version of pork.
They had leftovers for the second day.
They had traveled for a day when they came across something strange, the very dead and bony body of a Dragon. Rick and the others walked up to the head of it and stared at it.
"It looks like a Dragon to me," Kate commented.
"That's because it is, or at least it was. What's interesting are these tracks." Rick went down on one knee to examine them. "They're large claw-foot-like and go into its mouth and back out again. Fascinating." It was then that he decided to go into its mouth.
"Where are you going?" Kate asked, thinking Rick had lost his mind.
"They went in and out so we can, too," Rick insisted, so they followed him down its throat and into the belly of the beast. Rick came to a sudden stop; he saw someone.
"It's a Dwarf. …I think." Rick approached whomever it was cautiously, noticing a backpack with stuff strewn everywhere. He also saw armor, weapons, and a shield.
He knelt in front of them and lifted its head. It woke up and at first looked frightened of him, then changed its tune. "Human, free me before they get back. Hurry!"
"Why should I?" Rick asked, almost certain it was a woman since it sounded female.
"I'm a fifth-level Cleric of Moradin. Now free me before they come back!"
Rick moved around behind her and saw she wasn't just tied up but also tied to a short pole sticking up out of the ground. Taking out his dagger, he cut her free of the pole and then cut her loose.
While she massaged her hands to get them working again, he moved in front of her and cut her legs free. She was able to get up and began collecting her things and stuffing everything back into the backpack. Once that was done, she put on her breastplate and backpack, then picked up her shield and weapons.
"What's your name?" Rick asked her while she was picking up the rest.
"Gina. I know it's not much of a Dwarven name, but it's what my parents named me. Now, let's get out of here before they return." She hustled out of the body, down the throat, and out the head, then looked around. Gina chose to go north, and the others followed her.
Rick caught up to her. "You say you're a fifth-level Cleric of Moradin. What are you doing out here? I mean no offense, but we don't see many Dwarves out here."
She sighed and stopped. "Promise you won't laugh?" He nodded. "I got drunk and found myself on a cargo ship...as part of the crew. ME! …Later, I found myself in the city of Ishau."
Kate snorted loudly but didn't laugh – at least on the outside. On the inside, she was laughing her head off.
"Ishau no longer exists," Rick told her.
Gina sighed again. "Tell me about it. I got out just in time. I was able to find high ground and watched as the sea took it out. Trust me, I know. The entire city just got swallowed up. A few others escaped, but not many."
"How in the world did you end up inside a dead Dragon?" Rick inquired.
"Don't laugh… But I was traveling alone, minding my own business when these…creatures with heads like Dragons jumped me. I swear I'm not making this up. I'm too sober to make up a story like this. Well, at least that's what they looked like. The rest of their bodies were normal-looking, but they had heads like a Dragon." Gina began walking again.
She stopped after a while. "Where are we going anyway?"
"We're going north to the city of Mezro. Hopefully, it's still there. If it's not, we're in big trouble," Rick told her.
"Mezro? Never heard of it. But then I was on that cargo ship for a long time." She paused to let Rick lead for a change.
"So, you're a cleric of Moradin. Have any spells?" Rick asked her.
Gina shook her head. "No, none. I used them up trying to escape. I'll pray for more tomorrow morning."
Rick hung back, letting Roy take the lead while he fell in step with Kate. "Our little group is getting bigger," Rick commented.
"I noticed. You're a Savior," Kate told him. Rick scoffed at being called that. "Well, you are, Rick. You saved me, saved Lanie, and now you've saved Gina. All women, I wonder why that is?" Kate looked at him.
"Just lucky, I suppose. I'm not interested in them. There's only one person I'm interested in," Rick said, watching her.
"You?" Kate asked him.
That got him to burst out laughing. "No, silly." He didn't tell her who, but she thought she knew and gave him a smile.
They traveled uneventfully for the day until Roy decided to stop. "Why are we stopping?" Gina asked him. "There's still daylight left."
"To give Rick a chance to hunt for food so we don't have to use up our trail rations," Roy replied. "What little we have left, that is."
"Oh." She looked skyward. "Looks like rain tonight."
"I know. Yet another reason to stop early so Rick can go hunting," Roy told her, and he set up the tent.
"What a great tent!" Gina was impressed. "Who are all of you?"
"My name is Roy. I'm a seventh-level Paladin." He pointed to the slender woman close by. "This is Lanie, a first-level Vassal of Bahamut. The young woman there is Kate, a seventh-level Sorceress, and you've met Rick. He's a seventh-level Ranger."
"Pleased to meet you. Very pleased because I was to be sacrificed or worse back there," Gina told him.
"We're happy to help," Roy replied.
"Do you mind if I go inside?" Gina watched as Roy shook his head, so she went in.
"Oh, WOW! It's bigger on the inside than the outside and has climate control as well. Very, very nice," Roy heard her say. "I wonder who gets the bed?"
oo0O0oo
Rick came back towing another Croc by the tail. "We're going to eat tonight," Rick told them. They got a fire going, put the Croc on the fire, and let it roast while Rick went out into the jungle to collect berries he trusted.
"This isn't bad," Gina commented. "Now if I just had a beer to wash it all down."
Kate stared at her. "Isn't drinking what got you into trouble in the first place?"
Gina shrugged. "That's because I had too much to drink. That's the difference."
Just then, the sky opened, and a deluge fell. Of course, they all rushed into the tent. And when I say rain, I mean a downpour. It was raining cats and dogs.
Gina pointed at Flame. "What is that thing?"
"That's my Animal Companion. He goes everywhere I go. Say hi, Flame," Rick said. "He doesn't bark, at least not yet, but he's just a puppy."
Gina's jaw dropped at what she saw. "His paws and tail are on fire! Surely that isn't normal?"
"It is for him," Rick replied. "I don't know what he is exactly, but he's mine now. I'm trying to train him not to set things on fire, like the bed and the tent for one."
"That's two things, but whatever," Gina told him as she sat on the bed, and Lanie did as well, while everyone else got out bedrolls and sat on them.
Since Rick was close to the tent flap, he looked outside. "It's raining hard, and the fire is out already."
"So, who gets the bed," Gina asked, ignoring Rick.
This time, it was Roy who answered. "You and Lanie for tonight. We alternate who gets the bed, except for Lanie, since she doesn't have a bedroll or much else."
Gina looked over at her. "Oh, why is that?"
"Because the Yuan-Ti captured me," Lanie replied. "They never did find any of my things."
"Yuan-Ti?" Gina didn't know what those were.
"They're half snake, and they worship snakes. They're pure Evil," Roy explained.
"Oh." Finally, Gina was silent as she took off her armor and most of her clothes, then lay in bed and relaxed.
Rick, Roy, and Lanie took off their armor, and Lanie lay down on her side of the bed. Roy got in bed and Rick unrolled his bedroll, laying near Kate.
"I could use a drink," Gina muttered under her breath.
oo0O0oo
Come morning, it was still raining, but everyone needed to go outside and relieve themselves. One after the other, each made a mad dash outside, peed, and came back inside soaking wet.
Lanie had to suffer in soaking wet underwear since she had nothing to change into. The other four could change, and bashful Kate did so with her back turned. Gina wasn't nearly as bashful and changed in front of everyone who got to see everything, including her pussy.
The men turned their backs and changed their shorts for clean, dry ones. Kate smiled since she got to see their naked butts.
It continued to rain all day, trapping them inside the tent. They found out very quickly that Gina was a motormouth. She talked practically non-stop about almost everything, most of which was forgettable.
They ate leftover Croc for dinner and had trail rations for breakfast.
Rick looked out of the tent flap and told them what they already knew since it was pounding on the tent. "It's still raining. It's a good thing our little tent is on a rise, or we would float away."
It continued to rain almost all night, but when they woke it was to the sound of silence. This time, they all went outside, their wipes in hand, and did their business. It had rained so hard and so long that it was a swamp.
They remained trapped in the tent until things dried out somewhat. Rick ventured out to do some hunting and returned with two iguanas that they soon learned tasted like chicken.
"Not bad," Roy commented. But finding enough dry wood to cook with was a bit of a challenge.
They stayed outside in the humidity until it got dark. Then they went into the tent and slept. Come morning, they went outside to pee. They learned it was now dry enough that they could continue. So they put on their armor, took down the tent, and put it away. Roy led them.
It was about mid-afternoon when they came across a small river. It wasn't that wide, but it was wide enough and had an edge on the far side. Beyond that, there was a cave.
Roy looked at everyone when he asked, "Do we jump it?"
Rick's immediate response was to jump the river. He made it with two feet to spare. Lanie went next. Kate ran and jumped the river, then Roy did, leaving Gina on the other side.
"It's kinda far for me. Tell me what's on the other side and in the cave, and maybe I'll try it." Gina was just too damn short for it.
On the inside of the cave, they saw another pool of water. This one looked too far to jump, but what was on the other side made their blood run cold.
It was a DRAGON, a green-colored dragon. "Spread out and back up slowly," Roy told them quietly.
So they backed up carefully and spread out some. Kate decided to cast Fireball at it. They all saw a little red ball leave her hands and explode in a Fireball, hitting the Dragon, who instantly woke up.
Kate cast another Fireball and hit it, doing damage to it.
Tail thrashing, the Dragon rose to its feet and moved to the pool's edge.
Kate tried casting a third Fireball and struck it, doing more damage.
The Dragon jumped into the pool, swam to the other side, and came out.
Kate cast her fourth Fireball and hit it, causing damage to the Dragon.
Roy overcame his shock that Kate would do such a thing. He was thinking about withdrawing, getting away from it, but changed his mind. Now he and Lanie were charging at it. They both swung at it and hit it, doing damage to it.
Rick fired four arrows at it, hitting it all four times, counting his lucky stars.
While all that was going on, Gina heard the Fireballs going off. She took a running start at it and jumped. She made it by an inch and flailed her arms to keep from falling backward.
Kate cast her last Fireball and hit it, doing damage. Then she saw it was still standing. "Uh-Oh." She was in trouble now. She had underestimated what it would take to kill it. Yes, it was big, but it didn't look that old to her.
It bit her, and she ended up in its mouth as it raised its head and chewed. Kate screamed. Being bitten hurt – it hurt a lot, almost killing her. If the bite didn't kill her, the chewing would.
Roy and Lanie both swung at it. Roy hit it, but Lanie missed. It was a rare miss, but it happened.
Rick fired four more arrows, but to his dismay, only two hit it.
Gina came charging in and saw a giant green Dragon with Kate in its mouth. So she did the only thing she could do – she swung her hammer at it and struck it, damaging it.
It bit Kate again since she was in its mouth. Kate screamed and went limp, only moments away from death.
Roy swung again. So did Lanie, while Rick fired four arrows at it.
Rick hit it all four times. That damaged it, but didn't kill it. None of their blows did. Then Gina hit it again and did damage to it. To her surprise, it fell to the ground, dead or at least dying.
Rick dropped his bow and rushed to Kate. He took out a potion and poured as much of it as he could down her throat.
Roy knelt and lay hands on her, healing some of her injuries but not all of them.
Kate jerked awake and looked around. She saw Rick, realized where she was, and screamed, "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
"I killed it. I killed it. I actually killed a Dragon!" Gina was beside herself with joy. She had never, ever killed a dragon before. Let alone one this big.
Never mind the fact that Kate was the one that did the most damage to it.
Kate was out of the Dragon's mouth, hugging Rick and kissing him. It was a hard kiss, one filled with need that she did in front of everyone. Naturally, Rick returned her kiss.
Kate broke from the kiss and looked at him. "Hi."
"Hi," Rick answered.
The next moment, Roy rounded on Kate. "Just what did you think you were doing?" he bellowed at her. "You could have gotten us all killed!"
Kate cringed. "I'm sorry. I thought it was young and that I could kill it."
"Well, you were wrong. You're damn lucky you're not dead." Roy glared at her. Still seething, he stalked off and headed for the pool.
Rick looked at Kate, released his hold on her, and followed Roy. "How do we get across? There's a Dragon hoard over there somewhere."
Kate followed them with Lanie and Gina close behind. "I've got a potion of Water Breathing. It has about six doses in it. Three of you could go across and take the potion with you for the trip back." Kate dug out said potion and offered it to them.
Roy took the potion out of her hand. "Rick, Lanie, and I should go." He looked at Kate. "Six?" She nodded.
Lanie went first, followed by Rick and then Roy. Potion in hand, the three jumped into the pool and knew it worked. They came out the other side and walked deep into the cave.
What they saw had them all smiling. "Jackpot City!" Rick exclaimed. They saw loose gold, silver, and copper pieces in addition to a work of art, a breastplate, and a weapon. No, make that two weapons and a few gems.
"Take only the gold," Roy ordered. "We'll count it later. I'll take the gems, the artwork, the breastplate, and weapons."
Lanie reached over and touched Roy's arm. "The breastplate might fit me."
"Alright, you put it on and take one of the weapons then," Roy told Lanie. Everyone got busy.
In the meantime, Gina cast Cure Moderate Wounds on Kate twice, and she was now fully healed.
"Thank you, Gina."
"It's what I do, Kate."
oo0O0oo
"What's taking them so long?" Kate was worried. There wasn't another Dragon over there, but there might be something else.
"Look!" Gina pointed. "There they come now."
"What took you so long?" Kate yelled across.
"We had to separate the gold from the silver and copper pieces," Rick shouted.
Kate blinked. "Oh… You found gold?" she asked rather loudly.
"A lot of gold," Rick replied. "We filled our backpacks with it and couldn't put another thing in them. We had to leave every one of the silver and copper pieces, and there were lots of them, too."
Roy produced the water-breathing potion and took a swig of it. He handed it to Rick, who took a swallow. Rick handed it to Lanie, who drank the last of it. Together, they jumped into the pool and nearly sank to the bottom with so much weight on them. They managed to swim across and got help from Kate and Gina to get out.
"We found gold, an art piece, gems, a breastplate which Lanie is wearing, and two weapons, one of which Lanie is using. It took time to separate all the gold from the pile," Rick told her.
Everyone but Lanie went up to the eighth level after this encounter.
Gina went up to the sixth level. She gained second and third-level spells and a few skill points.
Kate gained a fourth-level spell and some skill points. And she could now cast five third-level spells and one fourth-level spell.
Rick gained Swift Tracker, a second-level spell, and some skill points.
Roy also gained a second-level spell and some skill points.
Kate studied her three spell books and chose to know Dimension Door for her fourth-level spell.
Rick selected Barkskin for his second-level spell, while Roy selected Zone of Truth for his second-level spell.
All five of them got busy counting coins. Then, they added up the total: 12,566 gold. It meant 2,513 gold for each of them plus one.
They estimated all six gems at 550 gold pieces each and the artwork at 1,234 gold pieces.
Kate cast Identify on the breastplate and both weapons. "The armor is a +2 Breast Plate of Command. The weapon is a +3 Greatsword of Frost Brand, and the other is a +2 Longsword."
Lanie gladly took the breastplate for now, at least until she could make another set of Platinum Armor. She also took the +3 Greatsword since she didn't use a shield.