NOVEL NEXT BECMI Chapter 173 – Further Down the Road to Adventure
"Disperse and get far from this place, fools, or your names will be tainted by association with this idiot," the elfin whispered, dry as a tombstone, and all of them heard it and shivered. Within the hour, Pike's company would be scattered and riding in all directions to get away from this place and the elfin mage who had dealt with them so easily.
"You-you won't take me alive!" the mercenary captain swore, tensing to charge her and die.
A very large black form suddenly became visible directly above him. Powerful claws reached down, grabbed him by his upper arms, and hauled him effortlessly right out of his saddle as he screamed in shock and fear, the glowing Sword in his hand falling to the ground with a powerless clatter.
The monocled head of the monstrous Bat, somehow holding position without beating its wings, bent its head down to give him a view of very, very white fangs, and a very bright scarlet tongue licking those fangs.
Pike almost fainted dead away. Its breath smelled like fresh blood...
"I assure you that I can," the elfin said, the reins of his horse somehow in her hand and not panicking despite the terrifying predator just overhead. "Now, I believe the caravan master has some questions for you, Idiot Pike. You will answer them clearly, energetically, and completely, or I will stake you out here for the jackals, and you will die very, very messily at the jaws of scavengers just like yourselves, Nifl taking your soul in as she lovingly does all cowards and traitors."
He slumped as he drifted by her, seeing his fallen Sword was now held in her other hand, hanging helplessly by the claws of a Bat large enough to grab and carry off a horse, completely defeated.
She didn't smile, she didn't gloat. If anything, she looked completely bored at the entire series of events.
Somehow, that made it all worse.
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"Did she even Cast a single spell?" Laurentine whispered in awe and envy.
"Not that I could see," Isadora whispered back, still shocked they hadn't had to unleash any magic at all upon the raiders. They were pretty certain they could have taken the whole force apart without too much effort, especially since the idiots had decided to bunch up into battle lines, not exactly the best tactics against Fireballs and the like.
"I knew she had a Bat Familiar, but how did she get one that was so huge?" Hammel had to almost protest, looking up at the sky. "And it can turn Invisible, too!"
"Could it take out one of my Air Elementals?" Entelia asked proudly. She'd Summoned in a minor one to chase down the shaman of the raiders, who'd been trying to make off with the bulk of the payment given them to hit the caravan.
"The thing was big enough to lift and carry off that mercenary idiot and his horse together," Braun muttered cautiously, craning his thick neck to make sure Lady Edge wasn't close enough to overhear and be offended. "Where did she find such a monstrous thing?"
"Raised it as a pet. I asked," the Mick answered the question, making them all jump as he strode up on them. Without a word, he tossed the mercenary captain's Sword to Rika, who was startled to catch it. "Learn to use aught more than a bow," he said bluntly, she only having a knife at her waist. "I'll work with ye on it." His eyes swept over the rest of them, and the student wizards suddenly had the feeling that this fellow with no magic was actually out-ranking them. "The caravan master be paying the Lady to deliver the idiot to Absoglor authorities, got his confession all nice and written up and signed. There be a fair chance he'll not survive to stand trial, but House Ruhaldin be getting a nice black eye out o' this regardless, an' the local factor likely be disappearing into an unmarked grave as word gets out.
"Mount up, we're pulling out in five, and we'll be in the city in an hour."
Warriors and mages alike hastened to their Disks, one of the cargo ones soon carrying the trussed-up figure of Crondius Pike. His breeches looked like they'd soiled themselves at some point or another during the questioning, with the monstrous Bat looming over him and occasionally licking his ear or cheek or neck hungrily.
Well, obviously the Bat wasn't going to eat him. Lady Edge said she'd stake the idiot out and bring in some jackals to eat him alive, so that would have happened. Still, the man had sung like a canary, and now Lady Edge had a stiff letter to deliver to the House Garond representative in Absoglor, while the Mick had a confession and a prisoner to deliver to the Magistrate there.
They'd also been paid a fair penny to spread word of the encounter through all the inns and taverns they could spread through, as well as hire a few street-shillers to hawk the story. House Ruhaldin was not going to like dealing in public for a short while at least, but the Mick was given to understand such things were fairly common amongst the great Houses, just being caught at it so blatantly was not.
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Well, that was what happens when you run into a random assortment of wizards out on a class trip or whatnot, the Mick considered, standing on his Disk as Lady Edge glided over in front of them all. There was a minute shivering on all the Disks as she took control, and to the calls and cries of the caravan they'd saved from being ransacked at the least and wiped out at the worst, they took their leave with cheerful waves worthy of proper heroes and whatnot. They picked up speed until they were moving at the unbroken pace of a galloping horse, headed down the trade road towards the foothills and out of the Bleaklands.
None of the raiders should be able to reach the city before them, at least not without killing their mounts, the Mick mused after he considered their pace, and if they were not fools a-more, they'd have heeded her words to disperse in all directions instead of going back.
Still, some might have it in their heads to get a reward for bringing news back to Ruhaldin, not realizing they were some of the proof that needed to go away to save some face.
Anyhoos, it wasn't his problem to deal with. Zipping down the road at the magical speed of flight was all he had to concern himself about now… unless those mercs had the fun idea of trying to spring an ambush, something he really didn't see happening with an unseen Bat the size of a dragon flying leisurely overhead.
"Hey, Mick," Braun asked carefully from behind him. "The Bat. It got a name?"
The Mick had to smile at that. "His name… is Duum!" he replied with bland relish.
Braun pursed his lips, reading into that quite well, and having no wish to test the truth of it.
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Just passing through. No hunting. Just passing through, no hunting…
Duum had to remember to keep his cries subsonic or ultrasonic in nature, so as not to alarm those below him. His shrieks could easily bounce off the hills and stones below and cause a bit of a panic, much like a dragon roaring its way along might.
Those too weak to interfere with him could sense the power behind his echoes, and knew not to bug him. The powerful and sapient who could hear them understood the courtesy behind it, and had to make the decision to get up and confront something that was going to be in and out of their territory without touching anything, and if it was worth their time and effort to do so.
Generally speaking, it was not. Anything big enough to actually pose a threat to him would draw the interest and ire of Mistress, and that, well, that would be the end of things soon enough, Duum thought happily.
So good to have a kind and loving mistress, keeping him well-fed and seeing all these new and wonderful places!
Goblin and orc were not the best of meals, but nobody minded when he took them, so as targets of opportunity they were fine. Whenever Mistress moved to the Bleaklands to engage in some hunting, he definitely stayed well-fed.
Ogres seemed to have excellent livers. He had so informed Mistress, who he was certain would pass it on. The elves were good about keeping snacks around for him once they found out what he enjoyed. He even liked some of the fruits and berries, although Mistress' Really Good Apples were exceptionally hard to beat...
He was pretty sure a couple of those clouds of dust in the hills were remnants of the sellswords leaving the area, having left the trade road as soon as the terrain was more friendly to them. If they were staying in the area, they'd likely be pursued by other humans as brigands shortly, if what little he knew of laws and punishment was true.
Mistress had told them to go, and if they had the slightest bit of sense, they would, and not look back.
The rolling hills did go on for more miles, but the road was better made here, Federyn workers from the city able to work on it with the protection of soldiers and settlers in the area. The mountains themselves had been too much for them, and given the amount of monstrous life in the area, the native creatures weren't friendly, either.
The key part, of course, was the Federyn Wall, a line of black he could see on the horizon, one that stretched for hundreds of miles across the northern frontier of the human nation. It wasn't a perfect defense, and it most certainly didn't stop everything… but it had cut off casual raiding, stopped many creatures from drifting into human territory, and by and large done an excellent job providing more security for the country of merchants, allowing more people to settle and expand into the north, proving it money well spent.
Really rather well-spent and far-sighted of them, something he'd been told not to expect of most humans… or most other beings, really.
Mistress' plans span four thousand years, Duum thought smugly, always happy to play up his wonderful and thoughtful and oh-so-dangerous mistress. He let off one of his regular echoing bursts… and then rolled sideways instantly, far too quickly and smoothly.
The Invisible red dragon hurtling down from out of the sun couldn't change course fast enough, and snapped into visibility as it plunged through the space Duum had just been in. He could see its burning yellow eye move to follow him, so he knew it had magic that could see the Invisible. Sparks and cinders vented from its nostrils as it began to bank and turn.
Normally, the dragon would be a faster flyer, and it was bigger than he was, and indeed it was a dragon, so naturally it must be mightier and stronger and more dangerous than any kind of a giant bat, even one with strange markings and… a monocle and hat?
Duum pulled his Lance off the side of his chest, and the Lance of Duum expanded to its full thirty-foot-length as he grasped it in his hind claws, folded up his wings, and plunged down at the target now conveniently below him, pulling out of its dive and slowing down, totally not in the right position to deal with a giant Bat with a giant Lance dropping down upon it from above.
It was maybe the same size as the other one he'd helped Mistress kill, and that had been some time ago. His Invisibility fell away as he dove to the attack, but crimson lights were playing across the tip of his black Lance as he accelerated much too quickly, wings adjusting instantly as the dragon, naturally also a quite heavy flier, tried to get out of the way of the charge, and simply couldn't…
Mistress was going to have more to sell in Absoglor when they finally got there…