Karl jogged down the road in front of Thor, who was nearly prancing with joy to have passengers. Especially passengers who were gratefully petting the rough scales around the carrier bags on his back.
Karl noted that they seemed to be becoming more smooth with age, or perhaps he was keeping his barrier up over them, as the sandpaper texture of the scales was not harming the Elves at all.
He wasn’t a dragon, but his scales were similar to Dragon scales, and the Elves had a ritual for polishing Nature Dragon scales in their home villages. The Green Dragons apparently liked to visit the Elves when they were young, as the Elves lived long enough for the Dragons to get to know them.
So, the Elves viewed them as an extension of the Nature Goddess, which in a way they were. All Dragons who came from the lineage of a Chromatic Dragon God could hear instructions from their species’ patron.
[There are more bandits. They have a wagon surrounded.] Rae informed Karl just as the sun was coming up.
[Remi, stay here with Thor. Hawk, keep an eye on the kids while I go with Rae and eliminate the bandits. If we can save a few people from the wagon team, we can have them smooth our entrance to the city.] Karl instructed.
Remi exited her space to appear on Thor’s back in a coil, where she could see everything going on around them.
[I will do my best to stay out of sight, you pretend the Golems are yours.] Rae insisted as she raced off into the distance with Karl chasing behind her.
The wagon, as Hawk called it, was actually a carriage with a very fancy sigil on the visible side, made of what appeared to be genuine solid gold.
There were a dozen guards around the carriage, all of whom seemed to be in the high Ascended power range, while the five bandits that were toying with them were all on the strong side of Commander Rank.
Karl noticed that the bandits all had the same red bandana that the fruit merchant had given him tied to their left arms, making them easily identifiable, even if they weren’t facing a force in uniforms.
But they were also well-trained as a group, and they fought well together, despite not having a single mage in their group.
In fact, there were no mages in either group that was fighting, it was all warriors and rogues.
Karl whistled to catch the attention of the carriage guards, who looked immensely relieved to see Karl, despite him still being in his shabby armour disguise.
It didn’t seem wise to change back and look like a Darklight Host member when he was close to one of their bastions without any idea how their organization functioned.
One of the bandits broke off to deal with Karl, and Rae called the Golems in between them.
The man screamed in terror as they appeared, and then the screams cut off with a rasping gurgle as the Golems pinned him to the ground and began to shred his body.
Everyone was so horrified that they completely stopped fighting for a whole ten seconds, just staring at the massacre as the wounded man begged for death.
Then the blood soaked golems turned to face the battle, and the bandits’ morale broke.
They didn’t even say anything, they just ran.
Rae recalled the Golems and started the hunt. It wasn’t her style, but Hawk enjoyed it, so there had to be something to it.
[Like this. Watch.] Hawk informed her as he swooped down, his five-metre wingspan barely avoiding the trees as he grabbed a warrior in his claws and pulled him into the air.
The man shrieked in pain, but Hawk’s claws had pierced his shoulder joints, and he couldn’t raise his arms to attack his captor.
Then Hawk doubled back and dove, hurling the body at another of the bandit’s comrades.
The two collided, tumbling to the ground in a tangled heap as Rae sent her Golems against the furthest two, who were now well out of sight of the battle.
Hawk hit the downed bandits with a [Rending Fireball] as he called his new signature bomb, and the bodies turned to a puddle of goo.
Karl whistled, calling Hawk over to land on his arm.
[Let Rae clean up the rest and gather the loot. These guys will never see through her disguise.] He instructed.
Hawk landed on Karl’s outstretched arm, then moved to his shoulder as Karl approached the carriage guards.
“Gentlemen, is everyone alright? I can ask a healing companion to join us if someone needs urgent assistance.” He announced as the guards stared at him.
There were a few guards still on the ground, but the others were more guarded against Karl than concerned about their coworkers.
“We will be alright, sir. Thank you for your assistance, we have a Cleric Class acolyte of the Darklight Host with us.” The leader of the guard team announced.
“Oh? That makes my life easier. You see, I gathered a number of Elven children from another bandit camp closer to Kanyigi last night.
They are coming this way with one of my bestial companions, and I was hoping that the Darklight Host might be able to arrange for them to be brought home, as they were kidnapped to be sold to slavers.” Karl explained.
“You managed to steal from the bandits?” The guard captain asked in shock.
“I suppose that is accurate. But I killed everyone in their camp first, so it’s not really stealing, I would call it looting.”
The guard looked terrified of Karl, but when the acolyte Cleric, as they had called her, stepped out, Karl saw that she was just a young teen girl, likely younger than Karl was, and soft, as if she had never seen combat.
After months on the front line, Karl knew that he had a slightly gaunt face and a thousand-metre stare that made him look as predatory as his partners.
[I got the good stuff. No overpowered bracelet this time. I will give the loot to Thor, he’s almost there.] Rae informed Karl as she finished her work and cleaned up the bodies.
Nobody was saying anything, and the cleric acolyte was casting her spells on the injured, who were beginning to get back on their feet, despite her magic only being that of an Awakened Rank Cleric.
As they approached, Remi returned to her space, so she didn’t terrify anyone. The Elven children looked confused that the snake had suddenly disappeared, but when they saw Karl, they relaxed.
Rae returned a few seconds later, after dropping the loot off with Thor, using an empty pouch on his harness.
The Cerro stopped next to Karl, who gathered the loot into his storage, and gave him a head ridge rub as Thor made happy rumbling noises that had the kids giggling.
Hawk returned to his space, leaving only Karl and Thor outside, but the guards weren’t relaxing.
“Where are the children?” The guard leader asked.
“In the pouches. It’s the best way to carry children on a fast journey. They’re all mostly unharmed, as Thor here is a Lightning Cerro, and his barrier has a regenerative effect that will have helped them heal from their injuries.”
They still looked rough, but the bruises had faded, and the few broken bones they had suffered were all repaired.
“You wanted to take them to the Darklight Host?” The young Cleric asked.
“Yes. I was told that they were the right place to bring kidnapping victims.” Karl shrugged.
“You would side with the Darklight Host against the Demon Guild Alliance?” The Cleric asked.
“Miss, I don’t see any symbols of allegiance on him. It could be a trick.” The carriage guard leader whispered.
“We should get going, those bandits will regroup with their friends and be back soon.” She whispered back.
But Karl’s hearing was far too sensitive to miss that conversation.
“They won’t be regrouping with anyone. I killed them all. The Golems hunted them down in the woods.” Karl informed the pair.
“What sort of monster are you? You don’t even let surrendered enemies flee?” The guard asked.
“Sure I do. If they’re in custody. If they’re fleeing, they didn’t really surrender, they’re just retreating. Don’t count that one on the ground in front of me, that was an object lesson.
I really do sound like the bad guy here, don’t I? I swear, I’m actually a rather kind fellow.”
The kids on Thor’s back all laughed as Karl stumbled over his words, while the guards stared at him suspiciously.
“I’ll tell you what, why don’t I lead the way into town, so I’m not at your backs, and then when we get there, you can help me get these kids to someone who can help and won’t sell them to slavers?” Karl offered.
The guard leader nodded. “That works for me. But first, I need to know what your class is. I can’t see your information on the status screen.”
You can see information about others on the status screen? That was news to Karl.
