Chapter 27
The soldiers rushed forward at the lizard with their spears poised for attack.
With a swift and effortless swipe of its tail, the lizard sent a group of soldiers hurtling across the field as if swatting flies. One guy even did a full flip mid-air before slamming into a tree. It was both horrifying and undeniably impressive.
I winced at the scene, guessing that the dude would have to spend quite some time in the infirmary. To my surprise, he got right up, although he was still clutching his back in pain like he'd just fallen down a flight of stairs.
As the battle went on, it was obvious that the soldiers weren't going to go down without a fight. Their magical weapons and armor almost gave them an upper hand over the beast.
Almost, but not quite enough.
The lizard only looked mildly annoyed as their spears hit its scaly skin. Unfortunately, mildly annoyed wasn't going to cut it in this case. The beast was massive, fast, and pissed off. The soldiers were doing a good job at surviving so far, but they sure weren't winning the fight.
"Sam!" Laine's voice cut through the chaos.
I turned just in time to see him thrown off his horse like an unwanted sack of potatoes. He hit the dirt with an undignified grunt. A few feet away, Maxian had also been flung into the air and had landed back down with a priestly oof.
My horse was the next one to attempt its escape with a dramatic shriek as it tried to bolt.
"Hey, hey, stop that!" I yanked on the reins, trying to keep it in check. I was painfully inexperienced with horses, and this one made that very clear.
It bucked and twisted, probably considering whether it wanted to throw me off or just wait for me to slip off and fall on my own.
Simple horse riding wasn't working anymore. Time to try magic.
To be fair, I wasn't great with magic either, but it still seemed like a better option than getting trampled.
I reached for whatever well of power I had with immense focus and muttered, "Calm."
Instantly, the horse stopped.
It went from full meltdown mode to eerily peaceful in less than half a second, with its eyes half-lidded like it had just discovered the power of meditation- just been tranquilized.
"Oh," I said, staring at it in disbelief. "That actually worked."
The horse blinked at me. I blinked back. Then, as it calmly began to graze, I hopped off and turned my attention to the lizard.
The giant, murderous beast was still locked in battle with the soldiers. They were getting thrown around but kept finding their feet stubbornly charging at the beast repeatedly.
The thing's glowing, blue eyes locked onto me as soon as I stepped forward.
They were weird and off-putting. Too bright. It's too out of place. Like they belonged to something else, there was definitely some magic nonsense going on there, but I didn't have time to dwell on it.
Because it was looking right at me.
I tensed, sensing its intention to charge.
So, obviously, I beat the beast to it.
Magic pooled in my hands as heat started prickling against my skin. Fire magic seemed to be the best bet in a fight against an animal. It was supposed to be something most of them feared.
Besides, "set thing on fire" had generally been a pretty foolproof strategy throughout human history.
I focused my aim and thought about what a roasted lizard would even smell like.
And just like that, I let the spell fly.
A burst of light. A boom of magic.
And then…
Silence.
I blinked.
The lizard blinked back.
Everyone blinked.
Because instead of a fireball roasting the thing alive, there was now a giant, perfectly cooked roasted chicken sitting in front of it.
For a long, painful second, no one moved. Even the lizard just sort of stared at it, probably as confused as I was at the sudden appearance.
Then, slowly, it stepped forward. Sniffed. Took a hesitant bite.
Then another.
And just like that, the lizard completely forgot we existed.
I stood there in confusion, watching this giant murder beast absolutely go to town on my giant poultry.
I barely had time to process the absurdity of this situation when one of the soldiers—the same guy I'd handed my writ to earlier—came jogging up to me.
"So, uh… should we attack?" he asked.
I frowned. "Why are you asking me?"
The soldier gestured vaguely toward the lizard. "You're the one the general sent. And you just, uh… summoned food for the thing. So, I figured you had a plan."
I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Yeah. My 'plan' was to not die. Which, I think has been going pretty well till now."
The soldier gave me an expectant look. The others who stood nearby were also watching me, waiting for a response.
Great. Now, I was in charge.
I exhaled. "Fine. If you're gonna do something, do it now while it's distracted."
The soldiers immediately sprang into action. A few of them ran to a nearby catapult. It was a big, wooden monstrosity that looked very capable of launching something to breach through an entire castle wall.
"Oh, great," I muttered. I had a bad feeling about all of this but kept my mouth shut.
The lizard didn't even glance up and kept eating, completely unbothered by the commotion.
The soldiers scrambled to load a massive boulder onto the catapult before the lizard finished its meal. I watched as four of them strained to push the damn thing into place, their boots skidding against the dirt.
"Come on, heave!" one of them grunted.
"I am heaving, you idiot!" another snapped. "Maybe if you weren't built like a starved chicken…"
"Less talking, more lifting!"
After a lot of grunting, shoving, and cursing, the boulder finally settled into position on the catapult. One soldier, panting, wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Alright, ready to fire!"
"Where are we aiming?" another asked.
There was a long pause.
"…At the lizard?" someone said hesitantly.
"No, really?" Another muttered. "I thought we were aiming for the trees."
One suggested, "Uh, maybe the legs?"
Another soldier groaned. "No! The head! Always go for the head!"
"I dunno, it might just get mad if we hit it in the head."
"It's already mad!"
I screamed at them. "OH MY GOD! JUST FIRE THE DAMN THING!"
With a sudden resounding thunk, the catapult launched the boulder.
For a second, I almost thought they had it.
Without even looking up from its meal, the lizard casually swiped its tail like a bat and the boulder ended up changing direction mid-air and came hurtling back at us. The whole spectacle reminded me of a tennis game.
There was a brief moment where everyone stared as the giant rock soared high above, turning in a graceful arc, heading right for…
"Oh, shit," I muttered.
I looked down.
There, in the exact spot where the boulder was about to land, stood my horse.
It was still grazing.
Panic surged through me. "MOVE! HORSE, MOVE!"
The horse lazily lifted its head. Its ears flicked. Its eyes drifted up to the sky, tracking the massive boulder plummeting toward it.
Then, after a long, thoughtful pause…
It went right back to grazing.
I clapped my hands, whistled, and even flailed my arms like an idiot; anything to get the attention of that stupid animal.
Nothing worked.
"Laine," I said, voice hollow. "It's not moving."
"Yeah, I can see that," Laine muttered.
Then the boulder hit.
A dull thud shook the ground beneath our feet, followed by a cloud of dust and a thick silence.
I stared at the impact crater, my brain refusing to process what had just happened.
Laine let out a low whistle. "Damn."
Maxian solemnly placed a hand over his heart. "A noble sacrifice."
I exhaled through my nose. This was my fault. I had made the damn horse too calm.
Because of my own foolishness, I was now going to have to walk the rest of the way.
I turned back to the lizard, now thoroughly pissed off.
I stomped toward it, stepping over bits of debris. "Alright, listen here, you oversized handbag," I growled. "You're gonna pay for that."
The lizard, still chewing, glanced at me like I was some mildly annoying background noise.
I clenched my fists. Magic crackled through my fingers.
Time to see how this thing would handle a real spell.
Laine stared at me, unimpressed. "If you were capable of it, why did you not end up doing this earlier?
I adjusted my grip on the reins, feeling slightly smug despite myself. "Didn't think to at the time."
Because, really, I hadn't. The idea of controlling the lizard had only occurred to me after it crushed my horse and left me with no other options. But now? Now we were riding the damn thing like it was a prize-winning stallion.
Maxian and Laine were seated behind me, gripping onto the makeshift saddle balanced on its back that I'd conjured up with magic. The reins- also magic, looped around the lizard's thick neck. Instead of charging wildly at everything in sight, it was now calmly carrying us through the Wailing Woods.
I had to admit, I was pretty satisfied with myself.
The sun had started dipping lower, casting long shadows through the twisted trees. The Woods were eerily silent. No rustling in the underbrush. No distant howls. Nothing.
Laine noticed the silence, too. "You guys realize we haven't seen any other beast since we got here?"
Maxian nodded. "Probably because they're afraid of this one." He patted the lizard's armored side like it was an old friend. "Probably not a lot of beasts able to contend with one like this in the forest."
That made sense. This thing was huge. If I were a regular monster, I wouldn't want to pick a fight with it, either.
Still, something about it bugged me.
I glanced at the lizard's eyes. They were different now—no longer glowing blue, but two dark, slitted pupils. They almost looked normal.
I frowned. "Weird."
Maxian was still focused on the map we'd been given back at Brexha. I figured it was a good time to ask. "Alright, Maxian. Where are we headed?"
"The mountains," he said, tracing a path with his finger. "I talked to some of the soldiers before we left. They said if anyone knows what's going on, it's the Dragon Worshippers."
I blinked. "People live here?"
Laine snorted. "Uh, yeah? You don't remember? Donald, the dude who kidnapped us, tried to start a war against them."
Oh. Right. That guy.
"And we're just assuming these people are alive?" I asked. "With all the beasts going nuts here?"
Maxian shrugged. "Worth a shot. We don't have any other leads."
Then he sat up straight, thumped his chest like a self-righteous idiot, and declared, "Besides! This is a perfect opportunity for me to guide the heretics of this forest toward the righteous faith of the Sky God!"
I sighed. "Save the converting speech for when we know they're willing to listen."
Maxian smiled innocently. "Of course."
I wasn't convinced by any of it. This was definitely going to end badly.
Darkness crept in steadily, as the last traces of daylight vanished into the night. The mountains were still at least two days away according to Maxian so for now we had to figure out where to sleep for the night.
Preferably somewhere not crawling with monsters.
After a bit of searching, we found a small clearing near a waterfall.
Clean water? Nice.
Actual solid ground? Even better.
The only problem?
The things watching us from the tree line.
They looked like a cross between wolves and hyenas with thick, muscular bodies, hunched shoulders, and too many teeth. A pack of them stood at the edge of the clearing, growling as their blue eyes glowed in the dark.
Laine hid behind me. Maxian muttered a prayer.
I placed a hand on the lizard's head.
"Think of them as flies," I told it.
The lizard made a soft, rumbling noise. If I didn't know better, I'd say it looked amused.
I gestured to Laine and Maxian, and the three of us climbed off the lizard before it started moving again.
The wolf-things didn't even get a chance to react before the lizard pounced, snapping one up in its massive jaws.
The others scattered, but it was too late. The lizard stomped forward, its tail and claws whipping and slashing around.
The growls soon turned to yelps.
I dusted off my hands. "Problem solved."
Maxian looked vaguely disturbed.
I patted him on the shoulder. "Let's just set up camp before something else tries to kill us."
And so, while our new steed casually feasted on the yelping wolf-hyenas, the three of us got to work.
Just another normal night, I guess.