“This be a soul bound mount,” he explained. “They be sturdier and at ye beck and call. They be expensive but worth it. They don’t have the rental fee, and if they get hurt, they just disappear until ye summon them again. They don’t fight, but they be faster—one hundred percent faster than your speed walking—and need only half the rest and feed as a normal mount. Be ye interested?”
“Yes!” blurted Bokaj. “How much are we talking about here?”
“Four hundred fifty Gold,” the Dwarf said apprehensively.
We all whistled. That was steep, even with our good luck and funds from the gods.
Bokaj stepped forward with an appraising look on his face. “Well, that’s a bit steep for us, especially since we don’t have that much coin. We spent a good deal getting ready for the ruins we cleared out. Now we’re on our way to fight the next minion of War. Is there any way you could drop it down a bit? Maybe say, half?”
The Dwarf looked shocked. “That lot was ye?” Bokaj and the rest of us nodded. “I canna do half. Four hundred?”
Bokaj winced visibly. “How about two seventy-five?”
The Dwarf bit his lip and shook his head before holding up a hand. “I canna go that low either. These were difficult to procure.”
“I guess we will have to walk then, guys.” Bokaj looked over his shoulder and winked slyly.
“Hold fast, sir Elf.” Swelles put both his hands up in front of him. “I canna go that low, but how ‘bout three hundred fifty gold and an agreement that when ye come back, ye buy me a round and tell me a tale?”
“Sold.” Bokaj dug into his pockets. “Do you take platinum?”
The Dwarf’s eyes grew large, and he nodded three times. My friend dug out and counted thirty-five platinum coins and handed them over. Swelles looked at the coin and then at Bokaj and then sprinted inside quickly. Just before it seemed like we had been fleeced, he bolted out with a handful of items.
He pocketed all but one and gave it to his customer. It was a simple piece of wood roughly the same size as the Dwarf’s whistle.
“Now, hold it afore ye and focus on it,” he coached. Bokaj did as he was told. “Now, touch it with your mana.”
Bokaj continued to focus as his hand lowered toward his crotch before saying, “Mana.”
“Dude, what a time for a joke about your junk.” Balmur laughed. The poor stable master looked concerned, but we weren’t going to explain the joke if he didn’t get it.
Once more, Bokaj focused, and a dull blue glow emanated from his hand, and he opened it to show a whistle like Swelles’s but made of ice.
“Woooaaah.” I heard Jaken whisper.
“Blow it, lad,” encouraged the Dwarf. The guy was walking into these now.
No one went for the easy jab but watched captivated as the Elf used the whistle. There was no noise from the whistle at all. Maybe it was broken?
A second later, a large, white polar bear with claws and teeth made of pure ice appeared in front of Bokaj in a burst of arctic wind and snow. The mount was about the same size as some of the bears we had seen after clearing the dungeon. It was surely big enough to ride. It turned to the Ranger and sat in front of him, swatting playfully.
The rest of us were sold instantly. We all forked over the platinum to get our mounts and attuned to our whistles.
Balmur’s mount was a chameleon the size of a horse that appeared inches from its owner’s face as it released its camouflage. This was awesome because then they could scout ahead; if the thing could stealth the way Balmur could, he would be able to move faster. Its eyes roamed every which way, and it slithered it’s tongue out in affection at Balmur.
Jaken’s was a pure white stallion with armor that came charging into existence from our left, appearing gradually. He reached out and stroked the horse’s glorious mane, and he laughed when it snuffled at him and tried to shy into him.
Yohsuke called to his, and I was pretty sure that Swelles crapped his pants. The nightmarish creature burst from the ground and flame rolled out from the area. It stood proudly, wings flared, front hooves clawing at the ground with flames burning the grass. Claws gouged the earth at its flank, and its beaked jaws screeched in defiance. It looked like a bone griffin with wisps of purple flame emanating from it. Holy shit.
My own whistle turned into crystal in the shape of a lightning bolt. I blew into the whistle and heard the crash of thunder. I looked around and saw that no one seemed to have heard what I did, so I waited for it to come eagerly. Black lightning flashed and hit the ground in front of me, tossing me back three feet. Where the bolt had touched the earth, a gate opened, and a myth stepped through.
The beast reared and kicked its fore hooves out before standing still, surveying me with regal eyes. Black skin covered its muscled body head to hoof with gold streaks of lightning that almost seemed to move as it stood there. He shook his head, flinging his white mane about, and regarded our surroundings before looking back at me. I didn’t realize until then that the beast had horns sprouting from his forehead above his eyes that curved gracefully back toward his mane.
I stayed where I was and cast Nature’s Voice.
“Hello,” I started. He looked at me in surprise, poking his head slightly forward more.
“It speaks?” it asked in surprise. “How do you speak Kirin? And why am I here?”
“I speak the languages of all beasts,” I said simply. “As for the why of you being summoned here, it’s because I need a worthy mount. I don’t know how the process works, but if you would be so kind as to let me ride you, I would appreciate it.”
“Ride me?” he asked incredulously. “I don’t even know what you are, let alone if you are worthy to treat me as transport. How do you think to prove yourself to me? Prove your worthiness to an heir to the lightning.”
I stood and dusted myself off. “What do you think, Kayda?” She came to me from her perch in the tree nearby and landed on my shoulder.
Show, she replied simply through our link.
The Kirin looked at her with obvious curiosity and came closer. Kayda ruffled her feathers at him, and her constant static loosened a bit. It zapped his nose as he got too close, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. He snorted and sneezed, but that was all.
“I will show you my own lightning then,” I said. “If you’ll stand back?”
“No lightning you could ever conjure would harm me, thing,” he said dismissively. “Hit me with your strongest bolt directly. Let us see what you can do.”
I just smiled and nodded. I turned to my now-mounted friends and gave them a thumb up. They nodded and watched.
Luckily, one of the new abilities I had gained as a Druid was Charge Spell.
Charge Spell – Doubles the damage output and mana cost of the next spell cast per every 5 seconds held. Restrictions: Maximum hold time is 20 seconds. Will raise enmity generated by the caster and attract enemies or hostile foes’ attention. If casting is interrupted, spell backlash will harm and stun the caster for the period held.
While it was risky, I could do a lot of damage on a sneak attack if I was well hidden or away from my target. Otherwise, I’d be a sitting duck with a duck season sign strapped to his ass.
I triggered the ability and held onto my Lightning Bolt spell. My clenched fist began to spark as lightning sought to escape my grasp, but I clenched harder and focused. After five seconds, I felt a pulse. Five seconds later, I felt two. Then three. Then one long one, and I unleashed hell on the Kirin before me.
The lightning blast shot into the beast’s chest, and he reared up. I thought I had done more damage than I intended, but all I heard was a grunt. Then he disappeared. I tried to use the whistle, but it wouldn’t work.
“That be a drawback, lad,” the stable master explained. “If the mount is attacked without a rider, it returns home. Ye can summon him again in a couple of hours.”
Did I just get played, I asked myself.
“Can our mounts hold another person?” Jaken asked.
“No,” the Dwarf said. “They can carry their owner, but that be it without the movement being severely decreasing.”
“What about a small animal?” asked Yohsuke after a second.
“Oh?” The stout man thought for a moment. “I suppose he could try it. I can’t say that I know outright.”
Jaken smiled and took off on his charger at full speed, then looped back around to stand before me. I shifted and leapt my foxy self into his arms, and he took off again. There wasn’t a noticeable decrease in speed, so we decided to give this a try for a while. Although I hated to admit it, this was much faster than we had moved with Melal—and we had been booking it.
We set out west from the stables. The ride was so boring through that first bit of forest that I fell asleep. The guys let me nap for a few hours. Then it was time to summon my mount again.
I cast my speaking spell and blew the whistle once more. There was no flash of lightning this time; the Kirin just stepped into being at a brisk trot.
“My name is Zekiel Erebos,” I introduced myself. “My friends and I vanquished one of the lesser minions of War plaguing this region, and we ride for the next. Will you render us aid as a friend, or need I find another mount who will stand ready?”
His eyes went a bit wide as he listened to my spiel, but he stayed quiet a moment after I finished.
“I asked our elders about you,” he said quietly. “They felt the stirrings of the Gods and their plight but didn’t know what to make of it. Then the Mother of All proclaimed a Lightning Roc was lost to us, one of so few left, but one of her clutch lived on because of a Druid and his friend.”
He stepped forward with his left hoof forward and bowed his head a bit.
“You have our thanks, Zekiel Erebos.” He stood up once more, his head held high. “I will carry you so long as you will have me. The Lightning is your friend, as are the Kirin.”
“Thank you,” I said, slightly taken aback. “What do I call you? Do Kirin name each other?”
He snorted. “Do you think us savages? My mother named me well, I am called—” and as he said his name, it sounded like electricity.
I looked at him in confusion, but he seemed to understand.
“You may call me as you like, Zekiel Erebos,” he allowed.
“My friends call me Zeke,” I said. I stepped up to him and tapped his shoulder. “I will call you Thor.”
“Is this a name to be proud of?” the Kirin asked uncertainly.
“Where I come from, he is the god of thunder,” I informed him. “He is a mighty warrior and revered by all in many fashions.”
I swear, the Kirin grinned, and I got an eyeful of his sharp, shark-like teeth. Oh fuck, I was supposed to go near him?
“That name will do,” he said proudly. “Come, we must make haste then.”
And so we went. My mount was willing to work with me. We didn’t always need to talk, and he was understanding since I had only ever ridden a horse once in both lives. It wasn’t pretty. Did I mention I had a tail now? Because that thing was a nuisance. One: it ached on top of being saddle sore, and two: it tickled Thor. His laughter was entertaining, but eventually, he started to get sore from laughing.
After I face palmed hard enough to actually do damage, I shifted into my human form. I looked down at my hands and saw that my skin was the same color as my fur. I didn’t have a mirror to check my other features, but it would do.
“Better?” I asked smugly. Thor nodded and kept a running.
That night, we spent the evening under the stars, opting to keep our tents in reserve for later on when cover was less likely. Our mounts had been dismissed, and we sat around a small fire with our cook tending to some food we had brought along.
“I’ve been meaning to ask, man,” Yoh started. “What is that sword spell you have?”
“Oh, that’s Filgus’ Flaming Blade,” I said and summoned it for him to see. I felt the pull of mana, and a burst of flame shot from my fist. The blade of roiling fire took a solid form about the same size as a short sword. I discovered after some experiments that the length of the sword could be changed from long sword to short sword and vice versa.
“That’s tight, dude,” he said as he turned to look closer at it. “How much mana does it cost? How long does it last?” I filled him in on the stats of the spell and the considerations to take into account. It disappeared if dropped or let go and only lasted ten minutes.
“I only really took it because I lost my weapon once at an earlier stage and wanted to have a weapon as a backup that I could rely on until I’m re-armed. The elemental damage it does is nice, though.”
“Yeah, bro, Astral Blade is legit, but the unaspected damage was getting to be an issue in my mind because it’s just flat damage.” He stirred the pot in front of him absently. “We got really lucky that we found that Astral Adaptor that we did. I wonder if there are others.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it, man. The gods can’t interfere too much, but we’ve been incredibly lucky so far. Makes me think that they’re helping how they can,” Jaken interjected.
“We have Mother Nature with us, as well,” I said, turning my eyes to the sky and smiling.
“What?” Bokaj asked. “That’s not a thing, right? Is it?”
“Yeah, she’s the one who gave me my Druidic powers,” I said as a breeze blew gently through the camp. “She’s also the one who gave me the quest to find Kayda.”
At the mention of her name, the bird ruffled her feathers and picked at the Level 3 Vole that she had killed while helping our cook and Ranger find dinner. She was doing well enough in her own hunting here lately that I didn’t have to worry too much anymore. She still had a little attitude problem with people touching her, but she was okay with the party.
I had worried about her and Tmont; the panther had been absent the whole ride, but that was because when her master was mounted, she took on a passenger size. That size was that of a kitten, weighing a negligible amount as to not interfere with the speed of the mount. Since she could fly, Kayda didn’t need a travel size. The cat had wisely abstained from screwing with the bird, mainly because she had something against being shocked, I guess. Who knew.
“But she’s a real entity?” Balmur asked.
“Yup!” I laughed at their looks. “I don’t think she’s as powerful as the gods, but she’s up there, and as far as I know, she’s looking out for us.”
“Thanks, Mama!” Jaken said laughing. A swathe of leaves dumped down on him, and we all laughed.
The food was ready a short while later, and we ate before bed. We kept a guard for watch. The Elvish members of the party volunteered to take watch considering that they only needed four hours in a meditative state to get a full rest.
In the morning, we ate a light meal and mounted up again. By midday the next day, a bog was visible in the distance. We stopped to camp near a big tree along our route. Big was an understatement—the tree was huge; the bark was reddish brown and rough to the touch. We enjoyed our meal as the sun was setting, and as the golden rays of sunlight died, an entity separated itself from the tree.
Tmont was the first to notice it, and a growl let us all know something was going on. We stood and watched as our guest stepped into our camp, just out of the light of the fire. It appeared to be a man but covered in bark, leaves, and moss. It raised its hands to show it was unarmed and meant no harm.
It stepped into the light, and its moniker appeared.
Great Tree Dryad level 25.
If this thing meant us harm, we were in for a seriously heavy battle.
The Dryad began to speak to us in Druidic, its voice like wind moaning through the limbs of a tree.
“Have care, travelers,” it began. As it spoke, I translated. “Beyond the edge of this tree is the Nightmare Bog. There have been multiple excursions by Lizardmen into the forest as of late. They have migrated here, but we know not why. They cut and burn our trees, kill our people, and flee back to the Bog. They are many,
and they fall under the control of their chieftain, a mighty warrior who has slain many attempting to take the mantle.”
We nodded, appreciating the warning.
“Will you assist us in culling some of their brood?” it asked, and a notification popped up.
QUEST ALERT!
Does a Lizardman Shit in the Forest? - Lizardmen have been raiding the forest line and killing the Dryads while pillaging the wood and herbs they use to heal the land and keep the Bog monsters away. Will you assist them in culling the number of Lizardmen? Requirement: kill at least 15 Lizardmen. Reward: 20 Exp per Lizardman vanquished.
Will you accept? Yes/No?
“I’m in,” I said. “It gives us an opportunity to farm and hopefully level up a bit. The stronger we are, the more likely we are to succeed in our main quest, right?”
The group agreed, and the Dryad was so happy that he told us to let him stand guard over our camp.
That next morning, we decided on our course of action. Why screw around and beat up on the raiding parties when we could go right at the big bad?
Chapter Twelve
That wasn’t the plan at all. That would be reckless and stupid—right up our alley normally, I know—so we did the opposite. We went looking for the raid parties. Numbering at about eight Lizardmen each, they were going to be a little rough but hopefully manageable. The Dryad warned us that the Lizardmen would be around our level, so finding them and being crafty would pay dividends in the end I hoped.
We ate a hearty breakfast and spent a little while telling each other about our latest capabilities. Bokaj could speak to animals now, the same as me; he also had a healing spell and a spell that conjured a barrage of arrows.
Balmur got a spell called Languages that allowed him to understand any language as far as he knew of. He got Magic Shot and a spell that allowed him to climb any surface that wasn’t greased.
Into the Light (Axe Druid Book 1) Page 16