Chapter 22
It took a little doing. Even sick, they were a proud people, and I was still just some 'random demi-human' who showed up out of nowhere. But, the Merchant's License, the mother of the sick child, and my serious tone chipped away at their pride, until one by one, I had people in a line, getting a bit of medicine.
Then one clever individual spoke the forbidden word, and the suspicion started all over again.
"What's this gonna cost us, eh?!" He asked from the back of the line as we got to about the mid point of the settlement's population.
I considered the party's overall wealth (not great honestly), against the apparent wealth of the settlement. "I'll accept coin or goods. I'm not picky." I looked to the guy next to him, "You! Yeah, big guy with the muscles!"
"Ya? What?" He asked, before coughing wetly into his sleeve, making the 'doubter' shy away from him.
"What do you dig up here?" I stuck a thumb towards the mouth of the mine shaft.
"Just about everything. Iron, copper, bit of sliver if we're lucky, lead when we're not." He shrugged, "Coal too down some places."
"I'll let you all decide what it's worth, but I want a little of everything." In the back of my mind, I figured that all the OTHER ore, mineral and crystal we'd pulled out of the ground upgraded the Shield, so why not more? "And, if you think my party's efforts worth it, see if you can convince the Smith to trade for a small anvil."
There was a wet rasping cough from the side, "You get this cough under control, and I'll give you what ever anvil you want."
"Deal. Now get back in line."
The line was almost done now, only a handful left to treat, with most of the settlement working with the rest of my party for setting up some simple water purification tools. Boiling was great and all, but there were easy ways to filter it too, and while a hundred or so people wasn't many, work would basically stop if they didn't have some kind of 'mass production' going.
The Master Smith, who might have been a very tall Dwarf, or a VERY stout human (almost as tall as he was wide, bald, beard, grumpy look...) got to the front of the line and gave me 'the once over'.
"It's you, innit?" He asked. "The Shield Hero."
"I won't lie and say no. But I'd rather not have any trouble."
"Nothing like what I heard. Well, maybe. They all slaves?" He asked, coughing into his elbow, then crossing his arms.
"They are." I said, still handing him the antidote tea I'd made everyone else, and setting the small bottle of leftover medicine next to the cup, "They only have three rules to follow. Do not lie, do not attack in anger, and listen to my orders when combat starts."
"Nothing else?"
"I need them to help me fight the Waves. But if they lie about being hurt, or they can't train with me to learn how to fight, or do their own thing when the fighting starts, then they aren't helping." I shook my head, "Ask them if you want. Though, Clive can't speak, so I taught him hand signs while Raphtalia has been teaching us all to read. Yes, even the dragon is learning. No, I don't understand how that works, but it does."
"Huh..." He sighed, then blinked in confusion, taking another breath, "Oh... the cough's gone."
I gave him a raised eyebrow, the apparent inquisition about my party over and forgotten. "So when did this start?" I asked.
"Little after our last big rain, couple weeks ago. Water here has always been a bit funny tasting. But there's a lot of metal in the hills. Never like this though." He took another sip of tea, "Huh... can actually smell this... Sure this is just for the water?"
"I take pride in my medicine." I replied, "But a proper cure requires more than a treatment. So, suddenly people were getting sick?"
"Well..." He looked thoughtful, leaning on the side of the makeshift stall we'd set up for me to 'sell' medicine, "Yeah... Was a week or so after the Sword Hero came through. He trekked up to Mirso." He motioned with his cup, sipped at it again, then continued, "They were having a problem with a great big beast. But, He and his party went up, then came back through a day later, covered with a little more wear on their equipment. Week after that, everyone from Mirso to the bottom of the hill was starting to relax..."
"Then the cough started?" I guessed.
"That's right. Just a little thing at first. Usually, the miners have a cough all the time. Me and my team too! Comes with the job." He shrugged, "But it wasn't just us. Usually, we just chew a couple leaves..." He gave his pockets a pat, then took out a leaf I recognized from the alchemy book, "And we're fine. But this lasted. Stuck to the women and a couple of the children who had nothing to do with the gritty work."
I felt my gut knot at the mention of 'children'. I'd only seen one child today... "Well... I'm headed up to Mirso. Was hoping to actually sell, and make a profit on my medicine..."
"Well, if it makes you feel better, we're really thankful for this." He looked into his empty cup, "Lemme go find you an anvil." He took a deep breath through his nose, mumbling as he went to the smithy, "Egad... I need a shower... can smell myself again..."
"We're not staying." I said, "Tetsu? I'm sorry but I think I can... Tetsu?"
Tetsu was looking up the mini-mountain, back up the path we'd come from to get into the settlement. "Tetsu?" Raphtaila gave the underside of the dragon's chin a scratch with her fingernails. To a normal person, they'd be like claws, but to the dragon, they were apparently just right.
"I feel something..." Tetsu mumbled quietly. We didn't want to let on that she could talk. She didn't care if people found out (she was rather proud she was able to talk), but she did care that I cared. So was at least making an effort.
"As soon as we collect payment, we'll start up. The Smith says we might be most of a day getting up there. There's a lot of winding road." I explained.
"We shouldn't skip sleep." Usa said.
His attempt at being the Big Brother was admirable, so I gave his shoulder a pat, "True. But I want to at least start before we lose the last of the daylight. We'll sleep as usual, but we aren't spending the night here."
We all nodded, "What do you think is causing this?" Raphtalia asked.
"I've got a guess or two." I sighed, hoping I was wrong. "But if the people here do as you told them, they'll at least be okay for a while. I've got the Master Smith working on something a little more robust than a sheet metal distillery for pure water, and if they can get that done... But it would be best to fix things at the source. If that's the actual problem..."
I sighed, and Kunshu gave me one of those well meaning yet not very good headpats. Then she just clung to my arm like Raphtalia did when trying to get my attention. I couldn't just not respond, so I gave the giant bee her own headpat in thanks. "Ah, I hear some people coming." Usa said.
"The Shield makes me think of Clive's stomach." Raphtalia teased, giving Clive a light punch in the shoulder. "It takes in almost everything."
"gr..." Clive pouted, but then, "clickclickclick." laughing with the rest of us.
Yes, the 'people' were the blacksmith and his apprentices, delivering a bunch of raw ore. Great quality stuff too, but I had been specific in it being 'raw'. The Shield, however silly it was, seemed to like 'natural' things. Raw ore, fur, meat, scales, skin... And the load of assorted ore unlocked a bunch of new things.
Iron Ore Shield: Conditions met
Copper Ore Shield: Conditions met
Silver Ore Shield: Conditions met
Lead Ore Shield: Conditions met
Iron Ore Shield: ability locked: equip bonus: metalworking skill 2
Copper Ore Shield: ability locked: equip bonus: metalworking skill 1
Silver Ore Shield: ability locked: equip bonus: damage from demonic monsters reduce by 2%
Lead Ore Shield: ability locked: equip bonus: defence 1
"More sighs it seems." Usa gave me a pat on the shoulder, "But it's all helpful, right?"
"Most of it, yes." I nodded, "Even if some of these upgrades are under my actual skill from home, they are the foundations for other Shield forms..." I scratched at my chin, then gave my tail a pat when it got jealous. "Yes yes, a good tail."
"Are we eating first?" Tetsu asked, "Please say we're eating first?"
"We can eat on the wagon, but yes, you can have something first." I nodded, reaching up to scratch at Tetsu's chin, "But first..." I looked to (in my opinion at least) the real prize of helping these people. A nice little anvil. "Let's get this secured to the wagon floor first."
We had regained the main road and started upwards just as the sun was starting to set. Aside from many natural and a few mined out paths, it was pretty featureless. While I did take interest in the work that had been done to make the twisting path up the mountain possible for a wagon... well, it was really just rock. There were a lot of smaller paths though. If we weren't in such a hurry, I'd have gone to explore one of two, just to break up the monotony of dull brown rock and the occasional scrubby tree or bush.
I awoke suddenly, a sharp pain behind my eyes, my heart hammering in my chest. Frantically, I looked around, but only saw and heard the sounds of my sleeping party. From outside the wagon, there was a quiet 'pop' of our little campfire, then a shifting noise as someone poked it.
As quietly as I could, I sat up, stood, and stuck my head outside through the canvas flap behind the driver's seat. This brought a new smell of... something foul. A hint of rot, but something else that made the pain in my head feel like it was wiggling around. I couldn't help but grunt in discomfort, holding the side of my head and looking towards the only source of light besides the stars above.
"click?" Clive asked.
I looked down at him from the driver's seat, smiling at first when I saw Tetsu's big dragon head on his lap. But then I saw that Tetsu was looking back at me, the eye facing me twitching in pain much like my own under my hand.
"Something in the air." I said quietly, very carefully getting down and going to them. "Tetsu? What is it?"
The reply was laced with an underlying whining noise, her 'humanoid' voice speaking over the 'dragon' whimpering. "I don't know... but... it hurts. In my chest... my head..."
I looked at her, letting my eyes wander over the various status windows the Shield status screen gave me. But I found nothing there to hint at what was wrong. She wasn't poisoned, I wasn't either. But there was certainly something wrong, and we were both feeling it. "Clive? You feeling any of this?" I asked.
He shook his head, one of his eyes suddenly drifting to the side, then up, "gr."
Kunshu, mindful that the buzzing of her wings would wake up Usa, was crawling down the side of the wagon's canvas 'dome', her clawed 'hands' and 'feet' hardly making a sound as she came over to us. "Is anything wrong?" I asked her when she got within reach.
She lifted two of her arms, and carefully covered her antenna with her hands. Something was bothering her too it seemed. "click?" Clive asked, reaching over and tugging lightly on one of Kunshu's middle 'arms'.
The giant bee took the hint and did that 'I'm a fuzzy backpack' thing she did. "Seems you have things in hand." I said, "But just for tonight, so we can rest..." I took out some of the 'anti inflammatory' medicine, leftover from when Raphtalia and I were rapidly growing, "This will help, I hope. And no, it's not bitter."
"Thank you master." Tetsu pouted, letting me pour a bit into her mouth, past the row of pointy teeth.
"Gonna have to get you a toothbrush..." I gave Tetsu's nose a pat, then turned to Kunshu, "You too." I brushed a hand over her fuzzy shoulder, "Just a sip."
It was weird to watch her drink. But then again, she was a supersized bee. Her face might have passed for human in dim light, but her mouth opening was a bit of a horror show. Again, I missed Sir Skitters...
"Don't forget to sleep." I said to Clive, "I intend to be in Mirso before bedtime tomorrow."
He nodded, his body relaxing, but his eyes shifting around independently to keep watch.
The pain medication helped but I could still feel the subtle wrongness in the air. It wasn't just the smell either. Kunshu, poor thing, had basically refused to do more than cling to Raphtalia's back while we continued the climb upwards. Thankfully, we hadn't taken any wrong turns, and whatever disaster the Waves brought, they hadn't destroyed the signposts some helpful soul had hammered into almost every fork in the road.
With the corruption in the air, it wasn't needed. But on any other day, the multitude of mining roads that covered this little mountain would have made this trip much harder. As it was, Tetsu knew exactly where she was going, but I could tell the pain was getting to her a lot more than she let on.
Oddly enough, the 'Animal Slave System' didn't have the 'can not lie' option that the basic 'Slave Mark System' had. So when I asked, Tetsu put on a brave face (so to speak, since her dragon form only had 'bite your face off' for its default expression), she said she was fine to keep going.
It was around lunch where I found out exactly what we were dealing with.
I felt dizzy, my entire body was convulsing, and I think I had bitten my tongue. There were voices around me. Something... no, Clive? Yes, Clive had picked me up... Someone gripped my hand... I was set down... Something wet touched my lips and the bitter taste of medicine washed away the horrible feeling clinging to the inside of my mouth.
It felt like I'd just woken up from a fever dream. My body was cold, my eyes were burning, I was itchy all over, and I felt a bit drunk.
"Sir!" Raphtalia's voice cut through my own self assessment, "Sir! Can you hear me?!"
"Should we give him more antidote?" Usa asked.
"Master..." A giant head nudged my foot.
"R..." I tried to speak, but had to cough first, the same kind of wet hacking wheeze that the people of the settlement had. "Relax..." I mumbled, "Help me sit up..." Clive's arm was behind my back, and they made a group effort to lean me against the nearest wagon wheel.
"What happened?" Raphtalia asked, her hand patting my own. "You said, 'let me get some water', then..."
The sudden shock of what happened made me forget what I was doing when it DID happen, but her reminder brought it back. "This area is cursed." I coughed again, accepting a half empty medicine bottle from Usa and sipping at it. "One problem with that thing I do... It needs energy from..." I tried to gather more words, but thinking was kind of hard.
But they didn't rush me. I had to admit, after all the crap this world had thrown at me, the looks of concern on their faces made me feel good. Warm and fuzzy, like Kunshu. "Sir?"
I shook the warm fuzzy feeling away as Tetsu nudged my foot again. "Sorry." I sighed, feeling the medicine work its way through my body with every heartbeat. "It's magic, but instead of 'Hear my words and understand them'," I quoted a common phrase from many of the basic spells we were all trying to learn, "It's more like... 'can you give me a hand'. I'm directing, not commanding."
"So that's why you need water to make ice, instead of just... making ice from nothing?" Usa asked.
"That's exactly it." I nodded. "I tried to pull water from the air. Something I've done dozens of times since I got here. But when I tried here... The energy was bad. I wasn't expecting it." The cold feeling over my skin and the shivers were all but gone now, so I started to move my legs so I could stand. "Huh... Help me up?"
Again, as always, they all helped me up, made sure I was steady, then backed off. I didn't bother suppressing the warm fuzzy feelings this time. "Is that what I'm feeling then?" Tetsu asked, stomping closer and lowering her head so she could touch her snoot to my hand. Or rather, the same hand Raphtalia was still holding. I had to ignore Raphtalia's moment of pouting when I let go, but she joined me in comforting Tetsu.
"Probably." I said, "Kitsune are sensitive to this kind of thing, and you and Kunshu have a little of my 'touch' on you." I looked over my shoulder at the Shield.
"If this is effecting you so much... Should we hurry onward?" Usa asked.
Even with the lingering pain, I couldn't help by smile a little. The Usa of less than a month ago would have suggested we turn around. "Yes. We'll have to rely on the water we're carrying, and if we find a well or spring, purify it like we did down in that settlement." I looked into the Shield's status screen, "Let's hope there are still people in Mirso."
Mirso.
At least, I assumed it was Mirso. Like the little settlement, it had its own sign, and was well fortified with actual wood and stone walls. Not like Riyute, with its nice chest high wall meant to keep out the occasional wild dog or whatnot. But a four metre tall wall. This, up here on the little mountain of mines, was a serious attempt at a fortress town.
Except, even from here, I could tell it was sick. It wasn't just the miasma in the air, or the foul energy in the ground. The stench coming from this place was what I imagined the black plague to smell like.
By now, we all had a medicine soaked bandana over our faces (Tetsu had a towel), but even through that, we could all smell the sickness on the other side of the gate.
"Turn back..." The gate, made of thick wood banded with iron, had a little head high slot in it. Behind that, I could see the bloodshot eyes of someone looking at our little caravan. "Unless you have medicine, turn back."
"We do have medicine." I said, "I heard some adventurers came by recently. Where was the monster they killed?"
He coughed, looked at us, and I could see the doubt on his face. He was weighing the risk of letting a well armed group of people into a town that was probably too sick to defend itself. A moment later, his eyes vanished from the little portal, and with a grunt, something behind the big double doors was removed. Then with another grunt, the door started to open, but stopped when a little rock got wedged under the metal frame.
We were just in time. He was hardly strong enough to push open the door himself.
"Let's go. Seems we have some work to do first." I said.
Most of the town was silent. I didn't want to make the pun 'dead quiet', but aside from us, the little town of Mirso felt like a graveyard. Except one place. In the middle of town was a Church. Like most Churches (three out of four worlds at least, since Orario didn't really have them), it was just a little more fancy than the rest of the town's construction. That wasn't saying much, but where most houses were stone walled and topped with clay and wood, this building was nearly ALL wood, with nice glass and bits of metal trim along its multi-steeple rooftop. Being on a mountain meant good lumber would have been a bit of a problem to get up here.
But this Church, aside from standing out like a child a year older than all the other children in a crowd, had lit torch stands around it, and movement behind the (very clear) windows. I could feel, as much as see, that this one spot had a different energy than the rest of town. I didn't want to call it 'divine' but you didn't need Gods to have Faith.
"Here Sir." The guard said, "Pastor! A Merchant has come with medicine!" He called out. He was sounding almost healthy after the bottle of medication we gave him at the town gate, though after calling out he had a small coughing fit and spit out a glob of greenish crud.
A moment later, a man just past middle age opened the door. Unlike the guard before we'd given him some medicine, he didn't look like he was half dead. He didn't look healthy, but it was more of an 'over worked' look, than a 'fever for weeks' one. He also had the robe and hat of the priest I saw back in Melromarc, by the dragon hourglass.
"Ah, praise the four!" He said with a tired smile, "Someone has gotten our..." He paused, looking at us, "Oh... The messenger didn't make it, did he?"
Hearing him 'praise the four' gave me a little hope for fair dealing. "We came up from a south east path into the mountain, and brought relief to a small mining settlement on the way. My party and I discovered that the water in their wells has gone sour, and are looking for the source of the poison." I held up the Merchant's License, "That said, we won't leave the people here to die before we go find it."
He looked at me, then the rest of us (including Kunshu as she uncurled slowly from Raphtalia's back, "I will do my best to meet your prices." He assured, "It's all I've been able to do to make the Church into a sanctuary, but if everyone is in here, no one is out there working, except our fearless guards." He gave our escort a tired smile, "Thank you for bringing them here."
"Seeing as how they made it, and aren't coughing out their guts?" The guard shrugged, "After some of their medicine, I think I'll take a double watch." His words were exactly what I'd hoped he'd say, hopefully encouraging a bit more trust from the Priest.
"I'll tell your replacement then." Then to us, the old Pastor motioned us forward. "Ah... Your dragon will have to-"
"No way!" Tetsu said, her clawed hands working to get her out of the harness, before she transformed into the dark skinned dragon-newt with a ruffle of fabric and very localized smoke. "I don't wanna stay out there alone!"
She clung to my arm, and I shrugged at the surprised Pastor, "That's how it is." I said.
"Then that's how it must be." He replied, still wide eyed, but not panicking.
"Ah, give us a moment. Clive? Help me with one of the little crates."
My party and I spent an hour or so helping the people inside the church. Like most churches (again, three out of four worlds agree on this common design), there was a raised platform for the preacher, and rows of benches or chairs for the people to sit and listen. The pews (fancy name for those benches) had all been moved to the side, and almost every bit of floor space was now for a sick villager. The healthiest were helping with chores. Boiling water, making thin soup, checking on people...
The few side rooms in the building were for the worst cases, and yes, one of them had a well. It was also bad, but they had already figured out that boiling it first made it... less bad.
In Orario, if we had a problem like this, we'd abandon the site, move, and plant our feet again elsewhere. But in Orario, a ten year old adventurer could do the work of a normal twenty year old adult. We would rather secure a place to rest, than stick to a lost cause.
But while we helped distribute medicine, refine their water purification, or just hold a child's hand while someone else held them up so they could drink, the Pastor told me his suspicions on what happened.
"A short while ago, after the first Wave, a dragon appeared near here. Aside from it occupying an old mine, it left us alone at first."
"At first?" I asked.
"Well," He smiled thinly, "Every creature gets hungry. One of the farming settlements, on the northwest side of the mountain, is mainly for farming. It made a meal of their livestock every couple of days."
"No manners." I nodded.
"Just so. Shortly after the Summoning of the Four Heroes, the Sword Hero and his party came to deal with it. They passed through town, met the beast in its lair, and slew it." He smiled a little, "It was a good day."
"But?"
"But nothing." He shook his head. "We had a little celebration, though the Hero was eager to be on his way. Then for a little while, we put it out of our minds. The mine the dragon took was all but abandoned, so we didn't even bother to check on it." He sighed, "That's where we made our mistake."
"Damn." I said, my tail flicking the back of my head, "They didn't clean up."
"Likely not. A short time after that, before our first cases of miasma sickness, another small group of adventurers went to see if the dragon left behind any treasure. It's a well known fact that dragons past a certain size start to gather treasure to them, almost as surely as the bones of people seeking to slay them."
I found myself missing Hagane. Even as a metal cat with a dragon's soul, he had a little pile of loose coin under his big cushion that he slept on. "They didn't come back, did they?"
"No." He shook his head, "It was then that I knew we had more than just a cough making its rounds in the village."
I nodded, "As soon as we're done here, and you give us directions, my party and I are going to go there. That idiot probably left a giant rotting dragon corpse, and its leaking into your ground water."
"Quite a harsh judgment, for a fellow Hero." He managed a fatherly smile, despite the dark rings around his eyes.
I was a little surprised, but my gamble had been on point. "So you know who I am then?"
"Fox demi-human are rare. And only one has been spoken of since the Summoning." He shrugged, "You are here when we need you. I certainly won't complain."
The smile softened the self serving tone of his comment. "Where I am from, the job isn't done until you clean up after yourself. Be it the dishes after dinner, or a monster in the field. Next time I see him I'll remind him, but that can wait."
The Pastor himself led us to the town gate that led to the old mine. Even gave us a little history too! The mine was the first one set up at the village's founding, and had been picked dry ages ago. Instead of letting Mirso become a Ghost Town, like say, Cerro Gordo back on Earth, they instead set up other settlements. Mining, farming... Mirso wasn't really just a village, but a network of settlements with Mirso at the top serving as trade hub and distribution centre.
The others wondered why I seemed amused and fascinated by this weird bit of trivia, but my reply to that was, "I'll tell you about Orario next time we do story time."
On our way to the town gate, we also passed a large gravel field with a knee high wall around it. Yes, a graveyard. Like the Church, it also had those torch stands around it. When asked about the torches, the Pastor simply said, "It's the best I can do to keep the dead from rising, and the miasma away from the Church."
It felt good to see the same look on the rest of the party's faces. This one man was doing everything he could to keep the people safe here, and we all wanted to help him succeed.
Oh, Kunshu didn't have that look. She didn't have any facial expressions. She did however give the Pastor a well meaning pat on the shoulder.
We left the town behind, the miasma in the air getting more stifling as we followed the path upwards. The slope was gentle at least, but the air felt like a living thing, clinging to us like the smoke from a tire fire and smelling just as bad.
One of the other things the Pastor told us, was that the other side of the mountain was just as bad. Coming in from the southern path up the mountain, from the more familiar (and less antagonistic) direction of Riyute had let us skip the path up that led in from Melromarc. But, after we survived this, and recovered, I planned on going down the hill that way, bringing what ever help I could to the people unfortunate enough to have been 'helped' by Ren killing the dragon.
I was going to have to have a serious talk with that boy.
Itsuki, from what little rumour I could gather from our travels, had gone north. I wasn't sure if he had left the Country of Melromarc or not, but at least he wasn't causing trouble... Not that I could see at least.
"From what the nice man said, we should be there soon." Raphtalia said, one hand on the hilt of her sword, the other over her nose and mouth to hold the medicine soaked bandana in place.
Clive, Usa and I nodded. "This place sucks." Tetsu growled, "And... my head still hurts..."
"Can you breath okay?" I asked.
"It makes my nose sting." She replied with a pout, "Did we have to take the wagon?"
"I agree." Usa said, "about the wagon, not the cloth." He corrected, "It does save our legs, but..."
I pointed up, towards the canopy of the wagon bed's cover, and Kunshu, who was hanging from the ribbing that held it up. "We will probably have to break apart the corpse, then burn it. Depending on how long that takes, we may also need to sleep."
"Do you think those torches the Pastor gave us will work?" Usa asked.
I looked at the torches in question. Wrapped with pure white cloth (that was sill pure white despite the purple haze in the air) my Status Screen marked them as 'Warding Torches'. "The Shield tells me they have some power against the fog in the air." I shrugged, "I doubt they'll do much past keep the fog off, like they were doing at the church, so we'll save them if we need to sleep."
"Gr... click-click." Clive asked.
"What monster would want to stay in this?" Tetsu replied, "If it wasn't for Master, I'd have stayed back!"
"buzz." Kunshu agreed, her head turning so she could look at me with one of her unblinking eyes.
"I'm going to kick him in the shin." I said as we all stopped to look at the scene.
A few minutes ago, we had stopped the wagon at what looked to be cargo loading point. Above that, were a pair of wooden chutes that had many scuffs and stains from dumping crushed rock and coal. Pretty efficient for a primitive world. Park a wagon bed under a chute, dump ore into it, cart it to either Mirso or another place to process it into usable metals...
Anyhow, after parking the wagon and getting Tetsu out of the harness, we walked up a nice chiselled stone stairway (with places for ropes and the like to help move things up and down them), and to the main staging area for the mine that used to be here.
It had the remains of a good ore processing set up. They had partially collapsed with age, but there were a quartet of big clay and brick smelting furnaces, a smaller one under a caved in wooden roof that was probably the blacksmith's shop to repair mining tools... Primitive, but the people of this world clearly knew their stuff.
Up another wide stairway we went, and there, past a few more leftover bits of abandoned industry, was the corpse of a dragon. It had died on a stone platform, almost like an altar, though it looked to be the ruin of another small building.
If nothing else, Ren and his party had taken this beast to pieces. The wings were shredded. The tail ended in a stump. There were slashes and missing bits of flesh and scale all over it...
It was dead, but it had been bleeding and oozing putrid fluids all over the ground. It was so foul, that not even carrion eaters had gotten near it. Not even flies were interested in this foul feast.
"I think I'm going to be sick." Usa said.
Clive gave him a pat on the back, nodding. Yes, not even the iron stomach of Clive wanted to try this.
"Yeah, definitely going to talk to him about this..." I sighed, "We're going to have to break it up a bit before we can burn it." I continued, using my eyes to navigate the Shield's inventory menu, "At this point, I doubt the Shield can use any of it." I started handing out pickaxes, already thinking of where to start.
"Master..." Tetsu trailed off, her clawed hands holding the sides of her head, like she was hearing something, "It's..."
I felt it too. With a sudden pulse that had the eerily familiar feeling of the Dungeon about to lose its temper, mixed with a sound that reminded me of when we'd messed around with Kyoto's dragon veins...
The dragon started moving.
The tar-like pools of blood that had been seeping into the ground flowed backwards and back into the gaping wounds left in its body. The thin membranes of the wings regrew and knit back together. One of its feet that had been hanging by a thin scrap of scale and tendon, slurped back onto the stump of its leg and became whole again.
Worst of all, it's status, the weird 'system' that showed its name and health bar was... glitching. This was something dangerous, and not just because it had been leeching into the ground water.
I started backing people up, "We're going to have to kill it. Clive, high ground. Usa, hide behind something solid and wait for an opportunity."
It started to push itself upwards on emaciated forelimbs, bone and sinew creaking as it moved, slime and pus oozing from its mouth as its neck cleared itself like an old hose coming unwound.
"Tetsu, work with Raphtalia, do not charge until I have its attention. Kunshu, when you can, pass by its wings with your spear. Do you understand me?" I asked in a clear, zero nonsense tone. When I got no reply, the shock of seeing something so... vile... getting up again... I changed the question a little, "Are there any problems?"
"NO SIR!/Growl!/Buzz!"
"Move!" I charged forward as the zombie dragon rasped a roar into the air, its jaw almost insect-like, with two lower halves that split open, a middle spike, and its upper jaw. What ever Ren had taken from this monster, it certainly wasn't any teeth.
Now to get its attention... I switched to the Book Shield, flipped to a page marked with a blue ribbon, and slapped my palm to the page next to an angular diagram. Breaking the normal conventions of the Shield, I leveraged my otherworldly knowledge of magic, as simple as it was...
And summoned a cloud of killer icicles.
(switching to combat overview)
Kodori took advantage of the Dragon Zombie as it shook off the last of its lethargy. A half dozen pairs of arm length, spear pointed shards of magical ice slammed into its underside as it raised its head to roar.
Breaking off and away from her, Raphtalia hopped up on Tetsu's back, the powerful legs of the wingless dragon thumping the ground as it circled wide and to the right.
Clive ran to the left, aiming for a spur of rock jutting up from the ground, something that looked to have once been a natural lookout point, or a good place to hang a bright lantern for those miners who wanted to work a bit late. Ever helpful, Kunshu's wings picked up speed, and she gripped onto the lizard man's back with four of her six 'hands'. It wasn't easy for her, but she managed to save Clive from having to climb up a ladder that looked half rotted with neglect.
Usa on the other hand, lacking the bravery and both arms to grab and hold onto a running dragon like Raphtalia. Or a bow and a high point to snipe from like Clive... He ran forward and hid behind Kodori. He uncoiled his chain cored whip, the spike of metal on the end managing to glint in the light even through the miasma in the air.
The Zombie Dragon recoiled as the icicles slapped into it. It acted as if hurt, but its body was tougher than the ice. But it still had the effect Kodori was aiming for, drawing its attention down to her. Its empty eye sockets glowed a deep red as it looked at her, and someplace in its gut there was a gurgle of fluid and gas.
"Hold your breath!" Kodori called out, though with everyone spread out, only she and Usa would likely need to.
The Book Shield switched forms, turning into the Acid Worm Shield, the wide face and open maw facing the Zombie Dragon as its head lashed forward, mouth full of black smoke and bile.
The Shield started to glow, the sudden cloud of black/purple smog from the Zombie Dragon engulfing them. But it was here, with the monster's body at full extension, that everyone else in the part struck.
(Kodori)
The Shield was emitting a faint dome of energy around Usa and I as the toxic fog washed over us. It still made my eyes water, and behind me Usa was coughing. But the Zombie Dragon did exactly what I was hoping it would do. Like every dragon I'd ever fought, it stuck its neck out, braced itself, and made itself a massive stationary target.
There was a streak of silver and black as something fell from the sky and passed through one of its wings like it was made of paper. From high and to my left, there was a 'zzzt' as an arrow lanced through the air, and stuck into the beast's throat, vanishing up to the feathers in the rotten flesh.
Then, with a great crashing roar, Tetsu jumped in from the right, front and back legs all pointed forward with all her claws facing the enemy. Raphtalia, no fool, had jumped off a moment before, her brown hair and tail streaming behind her as she fell, sword first, through the Zombie Dragon's other wing, vanishing under it as she cut clean through it.
"I am the source of all power. Hear my words and understand them!" Usa chanted from behind me, his whip winding up with a slithering sound, like a giant snake uncoiling, "First Bolt!"
His whip snapped forward, but it 'cracked' with a literal lightning bolt as the metal tip lashed across the Dragon's nose. With a wet roar, it recoiled, making to swat at Usa and I, but Tetsu arrived, her dragon body only a quarter of the Zombie dragon's size, but still hitting with the force of a truck as her leap through the air smashed her into its side.
Braced, with much greater mass, and stronger than its withered form would suggest, the Zombie Dragon half curled into the flying Tetsu, and with a heave of its front and back right legs, threw her off. Angered by the attack, its attention left Usa and I, and it started to bubble and gurgle again, making ready to soak Tetsu and Raphtalia in toxic gas.
NOTES!
That's right, a cliffhanger.
Nya! So there!
Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!
aKAQg4bnYu for the discord!
And my actual book, Were Too? is on Inkitt.
And! I'm looking into getting some story themed merchandise made. Join the Discord to find out more!
