The sound of twisting and scraping metal made Kuro’s skin crawl. Each swipe the ground dragon made with its claws or a whip of its tail was followed by crunching of metal. Chomper followed the almost pitiable ground dragon as he leapt on and off taking more and more off of it for a hearty meal. It was like watching someone trying to keep an extremely aggressive hornet from stinging them, but the hornet was winning.
"M-monster!" Caius cried out as he retreated towards town.
Kuro ran in passing the fleeing Caius towards the desperate ground dragon. Halfway there, Captain Noelle appeared by his side placing new elemental stones in her weapon.
"You look like you have some sort of plan, anything I can do to help?" Noelle said as she slapped his back.
"Just one, but it’s crazy and involves me getting directly underneath it," Kuro sighed. "Could you get it to hold still?"
Noelle gave an excited grin with a nod while she charged ahead of Kuro. Despite how worn out she looked she had enough determination in her eyes for Kuro to trust her. He swallowed hard hoping he would be worthy of her faith in him.
Getting closer, each piece Chomper took off revealed a lighter shade of leathery skin that Noelle took no time recognizing. The two of them swarmed the ground dragon. Noelle bashed every spot that Chomper tore at, making the dragon roar weaker and weaker with each blow. It swiped at the two of them in hopes one final swing would put an end to their stings.
Pale yellow eyes with dark slitted lines darted place to place following the two. They grew in equal parts rage and hopelessness with each slash missing their mark. Chomper leapt and ran along the dragon's back spotting a single piece of armor left to tear away. The dragon shook hard to push the pest away, but Chomper lunged towards his mark tearing it away in one fell swoop. From below, Noelle laughed as she glowed with another burst of magical energy and blasted the dragon with a wave of icy spikes that formed a jagged prison around it. An ear piercing screech filled the air before the dragon turned its eyes full of rage toward the exhausted knight below it. Noelle mustered her strength to run, but her legs gave away leaving her to hold herself up with her mace. She gave a defiant grin
"GET WIDER AND EXTEND!" Kuro roared.
The earth shattered below Kuro while he was flung through the air by the staff's expansion. It thrust hard into the ground dragon’s underbelly launching it into the air as a dark pillar shot into the sky. Kuro found himself flung into the air while the black wall widened and struggled to keep his hand on it. His mind raced to match the speed he was flying to keep at the very least a finger on it. Noelle’s ice spikes shattered with the staff bursting through leaving a haze of dirt and snow when Kuro lost grip and rolled through the field. It stood there while a reptilian shadow soared overhead before it came down to a thunderous crash in the woods beyond.
Pain shot through every corner of Kuro’s body. Pain that he hadn't felt since he tried to pull the holy blade, but this time he was filled with relief. He limped to his feet and explored the dust filled battlefield calling out for Nolle and Chomper. A dark figure bounced in the fog and leapt at Kuro. Scales and claws lunged past Kuro as he barely dodged out of the way. Kuro shook his arms up ready to fight when another dark figure pounced on the lizard man pushing it aside. A wall of black fur stood between the lizard and Kuro making the scaled enemy retreat into the woods.
"Hey… Kuro," greeted Noelle as she rolled at his feet.
Chomper stood there in front of them growling with his teeth bared toward the city walls. All manner of lizardfolk dashed avoiding them intimidated by the large black canine barking at every single one that came near. At last, only a dwarf of a lizard folk was the final enemy to scurry back into the woods.
"I'd say we won the day!" Noelle cheered while she laid on the ground motionless.
"I guess we did," Kuro chuckled painfully.
"I hope it's not too much of a bother, but could you help me back to town," Nolle requested. "I seem to have overdone it and can't move."
“You bet, just let me grab my staff,” Kuro smiled as he pointed towards the tower of a weapon in the field.
Kuro approached the staff and placed his hand on it. It was taller than any building that he’d ever seen. A single glance to the side showed its shadow reached into town and beyond. He smiled at all the possibilities that could come from the staff and shrunk it down to its usual length so he could lean on it. Once in Kuro’s hands, the staff left a deep enough pit that the bottom was out of view.
When Kuro returned to Noelle she was able to sit up and had Chomper in her lap. She pet him affectionately on the head and once she stopped he demanded more by pawing at her arm.
“Where did you come from little buddy?” she asked while shaking his paw.
“Oh, that’s my dog,” Kuro answered not to give more information away.
“It’s so cute! I could just squish these cheeks all day!”
Kuro let out a laugh while not making much eye contact, “Let’s get back to town, I’ve got a bed with my name on it.”
“Yeah, I could eat a steak or three,” Noelle smiled holding her hand out for Kuro.
The two marched into town with Noelle on Kuro’s shoulder. They both used their weapons to help support the other arm and within a few moments they arrived to the cheers of the town’s defenders.
“Captain Nolle is back!”
“She stopped the dragon!”
“Who’s that adventurer?”
“Did he help?”
From the crowd, Milly popped out and ran to the approaching two. Her face looked hot and eyes were puffy.
“Don’t keep her waiting,” Noelle gave Kuro a push and waved him off.
Kuro nodded and went to meet her. His legs had new life to them finding a spring in his step. Milly struggled to hold back tears as she jumped in for a hug. The tears however broke free for her to wipe them on Kuro’s shoulders once she had him in her arms.
“Idiot, you’re going to end up killing me from worrying about you,” Milly cried.
“I told you I’d make it back, once I make a promise I intend to keep it,” Kuro laughed.
“You betcha,” she sobbed. “Stop laughing at me!”
“I can’t help it, I just laugh when I’m happy about something.”
Milly took Kuro’s arm to help support him as they walked closer to town. Cheers greeted the returning heroes from the defense somewhat embarrassed Kuro while pride stirred in his heart. He wasn’t usually the center of attention in a positive light and it was an odd feeling for him. Soldiers and adventurers came from the town gate and lined up before him making a pathway towards the entrance.
“ARREST THAT MAN!” a voice pierced the crowd.
Caius emerged with a platoon of soldiers to the confusion of the onlookers. They blocked Kuro and Milly’s path into the town with weapons drawn. On instinct, Kuro pushed Milly behind him towards Captain Noelle and straightened his posture ready to defend himself if necessary.
“What’s the meaning of this!?” Kuro demanded.
“Yes, I’d like to hear an explanation, my lord,” Captain Noelle interjected with a sour look on her face. “What kind of greeting is this for the hero of the day?”
The crowds murmured and whispered for rumors to spread like wildfire. Caius stood there smug confident that he would get his way.
“This ‘adventurer’, my dear Captain, is a demon tamer. You know just as well as I do that consorting with demons is one of the taboos decreed by the Goddess herself and forbidden by imperial law!” Caius proclaimed. “I witnessed it with my very own eyes that he commanded a demon to fight by his side!”
“That’s ridiculous!” Noelle protested. “If that’s true, where is this demon?”
Kuro struggled to keep his eyes ahead knowing that the very “demon” they’re talking about was the small pup at Milly and Noelle’s side. He pursed his lips to avoid giving away Chomper’s identity. Although, it was the very first time that Kuro even considered that the dog he knew could be some sort of “demon” since all “demons” were extremely aggressive towards humans.
“He probably sent it off somewhere! Whether or not he did is of no consequence and by my authority I place that man under arrest!” Caius ordered.
“Kuro!” Milly yelled, reaching for her weapon.
“This man saved the town, there’s no reason to arrest him!” Noelle barked while stomping her foot.
“Should we arrest the girl too then? Hmm?” Caius mocked.
Without a word, Kuro raised his hand to signal for Milly to stop while he dropped his weapon on the ground to show his surrender. Soldiers lept onto Kuro and twisted his arms hard behind his back and threw him to the ground to place restraints on his hands. Cauis laughed as the soldiers picked him up to lead Kuro to the prison while Kuro shot daggers towards Caius as he passed him.
“I won’t let him get away with this!” Noelle yelled after them. “I’ll take care of your party member too!”
“Don’t worry Kuro, I’ll get you out of there!,” Milly proclaimed.
Kuro nodded towards the two and kept his eye on them until they would disappear from his view. Milly was being held back by Noelle as she reached her hand toward him with tears streaming down her face. Kuro had many ups and downs in his life, but seeing Milly that way shattered his heart.
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