Daniel sighs as he inspects the internals of the teleporter pack. Just looking at it is giving him a headache, and Magnir was driven back by the 'tainted mana' coming out of it. Even the kobold women are keeping their distance, since something felt wrong the moment the hard shell was removed.
Inside is worse.
Daniel knew that the ladies who worked on it had requested some extremely valuable materials be summoned, which required budgeting a portion of all of their mana just to be able to obtain it, lest the Citadel be in a full deficit.
Given that Daniel has almost depleted the mana of the Citadel now, most likely, they have to be extra cautious until they can bring the levels back up to safe zones.
And, the material used for the teleporter pack is paper-thin sheets of sharmelkolle to make them durable, but there are hundreds of the plates slotted into the internals. Shock won't damage them, but even the strongest material in the world is going to be vulnerable at such a thin size.
And, the symbols on each of the plates seem, from what he can tell, to continue from one plate to the next, forming a complex network of a magic spell that Daniel wouldn't even begin to know how to decipher. While it's not overtly line-by-line symbols, he can't help but compare it to the times that he has seen HTML and other coding languages on screen, only to promptly worry about something else, since it was beyond him.
True, there is some shared overlap with the programming of a CNC or an EDM, but Daniel at least had the training for that. And, military equipment is very different than civilian equipment in a lot of ways.
Similarly, Daniel, at his peak, could recite some gibberish to cast extremely weak and simple spells, such as a small electrical spark, a tiny ember of flame, or a light breeze that a AA battery-powered personal fan would laugh at. Daniel can exhale more forcefully than the wind magic he briefly knew how to cast, only to lose and forget it all when the curse took hold of him.
So, to look at the programming language of a complex magic spell meant to give a magic-less human from another world the ability to teleport is almost like seeing the Ark of the Covenant as someone unworthy. He'd sooner take his chances on seeing Ryukana naked.
"I had heard from Roeta that Empresses Doephluev and Wenlianna were working closely together on those sheets, but I had no idea, your Grace," remarks Magnir. "The complexity looks… unmanageable."
"I certainly don't have the equipment to fix it if I break the device," replies Daniel. "And, the real problem is deeper in…" Daniel looks carefully, but no matter how he looks at it, he can clearly see droplets of water and what appears to be some kind of deposited salt between the closely spaced plates. If it were a simple radiator like on an air conditioner, where the paper thin fins are meant for heat dissipation by increasing surface area, a few droplets and salt deposits here and there wouldn't be much of an issue, even if they do ultimately reduce the efficiency even a little. The problem is, this isn't an air conditioner. It's this world's equivalent to an early computer, but for one specific magic spell. He's not sure if the magic spell can be shorted out, but between that and the contaminated mana, the explanation for the random teleportation is more clear. If anything, he's lucky they didn't get teleported into space, inside of a rock, or any of a million other horrifying possiblities.
Though, I guess if I got fused with a dragon… Daniel shoots a glance at Magnir after thinking this, and the dragon cocks his head. "What's wrong, my Liege?"
"Nothing. My mind wandered a bit."
Right. The real problem is… If the source of the contaminated mana is a solid instead of a liquid… He looks at the salt deposits again, some of which touch both plates they're sandwiched between.
"Can it be repaired, your Grace?"
"By hands more steady than mine," replies Daniel.
"Something is odd about the mana…" states Arachne, who looms over Daniel as she watches him work. She doesn't seem to be driven back by the tainted mana, but she can sense it apparently.
"That's what I'm working on figuring out," replies Daniel as politely as he can. He knows the Death Knight didn't ask to be made sentient, and she only received magic a day ago.
"No, Father," retorts the summoned warrior. "I mean… It's… not very different."
"Different from what?" asks the mechanic.
She cocks her head. "Everywhere." Her answer is concise, but also a bit unclear. At least, Daniel doesn't get it right away.
"Everywhere? Like the world's mana?" asks Magnir from his safe location a few yards away.
Arachne nods. "Yes. It feels the same, but… more. Like the sun."
"Like the sun…" repeats Daniel. His eyes widen. Wait… What if that's it?
He looks at his own arms and skin, checking for any signs that he might have overlooked. 'The sun'. He looks at Arachne. "Arachne, is it painful to you?"
She shakes her head. "No. Though, it is… unpleasant."
"You can back off if you need to."
"I refuse, Father. Not while you remain."
"Right, right," Daniel inspects the plates again, and he does his best to inspect the magic crystals that power it. For someone with no mana like himself, seeing them lose their glow is the closest he can get to being certain they've run out of mana. The ones on the teleporter still seem to have a fair amount of light coming from them, though it wouldn't be able to light up a room or anything. That said, there's no telling if it has enough mana to return him home.
"Daniel!" calls out Glizumi. The three Fievegal members look at their kobold guides, "Monster!"
"This close to town?" asks the human. "You said you could see the buildings from the air, right?"
The dragon nods, but he reminds Daniel, "The lesson was hasty, though. It could be a simple large animal."
"Ah, right."
Magnir has made sure the kobolds know a few words to alert the group, and 'monster' can mean large beasts or their magically-mutated counterparts since it's more important that everyone is on guard, regardless. Moelka and Levvikami, who went to check on it while Daniel and Arachne were talking, return quickly, warbling and yipping to Magnir as he tries to listen to them.
"It is weak," states Arachne as she lifts her head high to look.
"They're saying it's a rakehorn. They're territorial, but not necessarily aggressive," explains Magnir. "If you'd like, I can go exterminate it to remove any risk."
"Rakehorn, huh?" repeats Daniel as he thinks. "What do the ladies say?"
Magnir looks down at the gathering of kobold women staring up at him with pleading eyes.
"They want to hunt it, it seems, your Grace."
Daniel sighs. "We still have a ton of garatin meat. Actually, I think several tons. Not to mention the rest of our rations."
"Understood, my Liege."
"Tell them that if they let this one slide, I'll give them a void bag full of food that should last them a good long while."
The dragon nods and translates, and the kobolds become excited. They begin cheering, and Moelka warbles a very tender phrase, before the mechanic hears his own name. Whatever she said, it was some kind of praise towards Daniel.
"Father, Mother is still available if you have excessive energy."
"Quiet…" retorts Daniel dryly, knowing she's making a jab at him. "They're insistent." He gives her a smirk, but returns to task just as quickly. "Now then, I believe the source of the mana is the solids, which are encrusted deep within the components. I don't know if I can clean all of it out, and… From what you have said, I am beginning to worry that it is the magic equivalent to the anti-magic stones, which is actually releasing dangerous energy we called radiation. The more intense it is, the more damaging it is. And, it can cause pain and nausea in the short term if the concentration is high enough. If that's what this material is… I think we've discovered radioactive magic stones."
"Is that… good?" asks Magnir.
"Sort of. It makes the material very dangerous in ways we don't yet understand. And, either I'm going to die a miserable death, or my mana-less-ness has helped me once more." He looks at Arachne. "You really should stand back, Arachne."
"No."
Daniel sighs. "Fine. Then, we'll both step away."
"Before that, Father…" Arachne leans down closer to the box. "May I have your trust? I… feel something that I think can work…"
"You have my trust, Arachne, but please be careful not to break the teleporter. The ladies who worked on it include Hekate and Doephluev. One will chew my face off and the other… Well, a guilt trip would be the best I can hope for."
"I will be careful," replies the Death Knight. She holds her palm over the device, and her voice starts to speak with a more ethereal tone, like it is echoing off of the wind itself.
There's a quick flash of light, and then swirling energy. Daniel has seen large amounts of mana many times now, thanks to his companions, so he recognizes the swirling colors for what they are. The source is the strange part.
Regardless, Arachne keep chanting, and the streamers of magic power begin swirling inwards in front of her palm after coiling around her wrist and forearm, condensing into a tightly packed point of glowing light.
It goes on for several long moments, causing the air to blow in a breeze strong enough to flutter the tufts of fabric like material on Arachne, as well as Daniel's clothes.
Suddenly, loud pops sound out, startling Daniel into shielding his face. His instincts tell him that he's being shot at, but after four such bangs, the 'shooting' stops. He looks, and white smoke is risking and being scattered from where the magic crystals were.
Arachne continues her spell, and the glowing sphere of mana has seemingly condensed even further, but also grown in size. There is rather intense light coming from the epicenter of her spell, which seems to be pulling in massive amounts of mana.
And then, she finally relaxes, and a small orb like a pearl drops into the snow, causing steam to rise from where it immediately melts the snow around it.
Daniel looks at the steam, and then the disintegrated diamonds, and finally to Arachne. "Arachne?"
"Father… I am sorry. I promised to be careful, but I destroyed the magic crystals. I beg your forgiveness."
"It's alright," replies Daniel. From what he can tell, the delicate-looking spell plates didn't take any direct damage, thanks to the positioning of the crystals in partially-external parts of the pack, since they need to be accessible to be swapped for recharge. The mechanic asks, "What did you do?"
Arachne looks at the spot in the snow where the strange pearl dropped. She explains with a soft tone, "I used a spell to try to extract the mana for myself, but it was too much, so I tried to charge the teleporter crystals. When they exploded, I was left with no choice to force the mana into one place, and…" She reaches down into the snow, finding the pearl and retrieving it. It has a similar color to what he could see of the 'salt deposits'. She allows him to take it, and he inspects it. It still feels warm, but it also has a sort of static tingle coming from it.
When he looks at the plates of the teleporter, he immediately notices. None of the 'salt' is present anywhere.
"The deposits… I understand absorbing the mana, but… What happened to the solid material?"
It's starting to make sense, but Daniel doesn't like the implications. Or rather, he's worried about the consequences, particularly on himself, Arachne, and anyone else close to what is now a pearl in his hands. The smart thing to do would be to drop it, but like the other unhealthy or dangerous things he has done in this world, he has avoided worse scenarios from some outside factor about Zenkon itself. And, more importantly, his gut is telling him that it's fine.
Like a pearl, the small sphere roughly the size of a shooter marble has a luster very similar to the complex sheen formed by a highly rated nacre for the natural counterpart.
"Can I ask how you knew how to do that… uh… P-Princess?" It strikes Magnir, and for that matter, that Daniel has accepted referring to Arachne as his daughter, but it hasn't really been confirmed if she's a princess by that same logic.
Arachne answers without addressing the title, "Yes, Sir Magnir. I have observed Mother modifying simple spells, and the one spell I could cast without mana of my own was a leeching spell to take mana from my enemies to restore my own lifespan. It was written into me when I was summoned."
"I see…" replies Magnir.
Before the conversation can continue, a loud bellowing that sounds like a cross between a lion's roar and a cow's low rumbles over a small hill ahead of the group.
"""Monster!""" exclaim Moelka, Sodenizia, and Tulztame in near unison, while Glizumi runs to Magnir, and Levvikami runs for the nearest large rock to hide behind.
"Ah… right…" remarks Daniel as he stands up. "The magic crystals…"
Huh… Am I broken? thinks the mechanic from Earth to himself. He feels rather calm, in spite of how big the creature sounds. On Earth, he wouldn't want to come across a bull moose or a wild lion out in the open, because he knows he wouldn't stand a chance. But here… that was so… tame. "Magnir, try to startle it away, but don't drive it towards town. If it doesn't back down…" The human approaches the dragon and hands over his revolver. "Try to minimize the overkill."
Magnir laughs a little, but he accepts the mundane weapon.
The dragon jogs up the hill, and Daniel can hear deep scraping on the ground. The rakehorn is very close, and it's preparing to charge now that it sees its target.
Magnir takes a deep breath, and he clicks his teeth, sparking his pilot flame. When he exhales, a stream of impressive fire stretches out before his relatively tiny humanoid form. He keeps the flames high with the intent not to ignite the surroundings.
Just as quickly, though, Magnir suddenly cuts off the flame and braces himself before something explodes against his crossed arms, pelting the ground all around the group while Magnir tumbles through the snow. He bounces several yards each time like he was hit with impressive speed by a truck.
"Magnir!" Daniel is on high alert now, and Arachne immediately places herself between Daniel and their attacker.
The dragon coughs as he sits up on his hands and knees, and he spits out some combination of blood and probably a bit of ignityal remaining in his mouth. The kobolds immediately react to the sudden attack, and Magnir shouts, "Magic! M-Magic beast!" He keeps coughing, but it doesn't seem like he's in any worse condition than that.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Daniel immediately puts his hand on Nemaisol's hilt, and Arachne takes a few extra steps away from Daniel to intercept attacks without risking him. Meanwhile, Moelka jogs to something on the ground before dashing like the other four into scattering. Immediately, Daniel can't help but recognize a similar strategy which was used to try to capture him. The mechanic tucks the magic pearl into his pocket to address later, and he orders, "Arachne! I'm checking on Magnir! Keep the ladies safe!"
"Yes, Father." Arachne plods forward quickly, and Daniel runs toward the blue dragon, who is climbing to his feet.
"You alright, Magnir?" asks Daniel urgently.
"I will be," replies the dragon with a scratchy voice. His breathing is a little ragged, which is surprising to Daniel. The mechanic knows that dragon are mortal probably better than most people on Zenkon, but he knows what it takes to kill them with pinpoint attacks on weak points. As for brute force, it takes significantly more force to rattle the apex predators enough to breathe hard or even cough.
A magic beast or a monster… Not an ideal party to deal with them, and I don't have the railgun or the Dragonslayer. I also can't use the Fiendbreakers without a tie to Xyreko.
The monster roars again, and Daniel can hear rocks cracking and exploding. He winces, hoping Arachne will be safe. She's very powerful, but she's primarily a melee combatant, meaning she has to get very close to the enemy to be able to employ her strength.
BOOM!
Daniel flinches when he hears a very recognizable sound, and both he and Magnir look in the direction of the unmistakable sound.
Magnir realizes he dropped the revolver, and he quickly rasps out, "My Liege, the revolver…"
"It's fine for now. Just cover your weak points."
The dragon nods, adjusting the parts of his helmet to lower the mouth piece to protect the rest of his face. Dragons themselves are highly fire resistant, so his helmet's vents allow enough of the flame out to be useful, and the backblast won't kill him. That said, it's not ideal. But, the revolver is powerful enough if it hits a weak point to cripple or kill a dragon, particularly in a much smaller, softer form. Like Hekate, the dragons can still take a beating, but their weak points are relatively larger in proportion to their bodies.
Of course, Daniel's instincts as a man and a sometimes-overwhelmed patriarch of a large family scream at him to put himself between his loved ones and the enemy, but he can only do so much. He has to put faith in Arachne and Magnir, since they are leagues above him in strength. His brain knows this, but his instincts still push him to stay in the fight as well.
"Can your rifle stop it?" asks Magnir as they jog towards the hill.
"Gwen has it," replies Daniel. "She was going to flaunt it to some of the Mattarglos nobles, I think."
"Ah… That's… inconvenient!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The two flinch with each shot fired, and the monster roars. Given the quick sequence of shots with the heavy revolver, which goblins have to wield like a human would a 12 gauge shotgun, the shooter has to be Arachne.
The two men rush to the top of the small hill that is obscuring their view, and they find Arachne sliding on the ground as she focuses on keeping three of her spider-like legs planted while the fourth and her left hand hold the antlers of an elephant-sized mammalian creature with moose-like antlers. Unlike a typical elephant or moose, though, this creature has armor plates similar to a rhino, but made out of actual stone. Having already experienced the lightning bears, wind weasels, snow giant, and water crab-rays, Daniel isn't stunned by the magical element of the creature, so much as its size. He only ever saw elephants in zoos, and this would definitely be the largest of the herd if it were mixed in, even before its massive tree-like antlers that have wide flukes.
The rakehorn is able to make superb use of its 'earth' element magic to grant itself solid footing, and it even tries to disrupt Arachne's footing by distorting the ground under her blade-like 'feet'. She has the strength to push through, flexing her legs to keep from digging too deep into the frozen ground and getting stuck, but it has the advantage at pushing her back.
And, her right hand has the revolver, which she already finished the remaining rounds in the cylinder. Daniel can see the whitened scratches and large cracks and chips in the rakehorn's skull armor. Three shots hit its forehead, and the last two were aimed at its left eye, but were only able to wound the eye and take a chunk out of the forehead rock armor.
"Minimize collateral. Take it down quickly," orders Daniel.
"As you wish, my Liege."
Magnir launches himself forward with his strength, causing snow to splash away from in front of him. Daniel instinctively shields his face in reaction, but he only catches a small breeze of cold air.
The dragon slams the monstrous rakehorn with his fist, knocking it back as it bellows in surprise and rage. The much larger beast remains on its feet, and the kobolds cheer as they engage their own strategy. Sodenizia, Levvikami, and Glizumi all have bolas that Daniel will need to ask where they came from. Knowing the crafty little lizard women, they made them when Daniel and Magnir were paying attention to other things. That said, the five women have proven rather safe and friendly to be around. They're cunning, but not particularly malicious.
As for Tulztame the eldest and Moelka the quietest, they are working on tying a tripwire by tossing ropes to each other between its legs and carrying the ends to the nearest rocks. Seeing them makes Daniel physically nervous, since the giant beast could easily misstep and give any of them caught the quickest weight loss program in the world. But, the seemingly fearless little women don't hesitate to engage the monster as Magnir and Arachne keep its attention.
"Father!" calls out Arachne, and she has more emotion in her voice than normal. While Daniel hopes she's not changing as a person, he'll have to worry about that later. She tosses the revolver, immediately marching up behind Magnir as the dragon breathes fire in the monster's face, causing it to swing its head. It has some control of the ground under and around its feet, but Daniel suspects that it used its massive antlers with its elemental magic to launch projectile stones at the blue Einherjar earlier. It may actually be guiding its mana through the massive antlers, since they are the most heavily armored in stone, more so than even its head or torso. When it thrashes its head, it tries to cast up gravel and dirt using magic to intercept and dampen the flames as it stumbles back. Magnir keeps the same distance by jogging after it, and its feet tangle with the tripwires and bolas that the kobolds are throwing, and Moelka dives clear of her rope as the beast works close to her.
In the meantime, Daniel reloads the revolver as quickly as he can, dumping the casings to the ground for now to focus on getting more bullets down range. Arachne swings wide of Magnir's flame breath, and she pounces on the rakehorn when it trips and begins to topple.
The Death Knight takes hold of the rakehorn's left antler, which is pointed upwards, but a surge of rock from the ground pushes upwards to catch the beast by its side, preventing it from toppling all the way to its side as it claws with its massive hooves to restore its footing.
Sodenizia, Tulztame, Glizumi, and Levvikami work together to gather and tie off the bolas to the nearest solid objects they can. There's mostly just big rocks around them, but it's better than nothing, and they seem rather adept at bringing down large creatures, if only to buy themselves time to escape.
Kaeralegier, do you mind finishing this? thinks Daniel.
"{No, but don't draw me while you're holding that pearl. It's solidified mana. I can negate it, but it'll be a violent reaction. I can't transform if I can't hide myself with negation.}"
Please tell me more once we're done here.
"{Of course. Sorry about that.}"
No, no, I'm glad I don't have to get vaporized to learn.
The sword-bound goddess' voice laughs in Daniel's mind while he takes a breath. He is no longer the weakest person present, but the petite lizard women are more skilled at fighting monsters than the mechanic from Earth, even after everything.
The human quickly studies the monster as Arachne does her best to keep its head pinned down, and Magnir jumps to latch onto its other antler, bracing himself against its bucking so he can try to break the limb off with his fists. Before that, he breathes fire on the narrow shaft of the stone-covered bone-like material to try to weaken it.
The intense heat only prods the monster into thrashing even more violently, and Magnir is nearly dislodged from the antler.
Daniel could go for the same strategy he used on Mulmonbargonaed, but the red dragon's eye was proportionally a much larger target and not 'pocketed' the way the rock armor of the rakehorn protects its eyes. To get a decent angle on the monster's brain to ensure a lethal hit, Daniel would have to get precisely the right position pointed into its eye.
However, the similarities to an elephant or a moose don't end at the antlers or the size. The rakehorn monster has large elephant-ear organs, but it also has much smaller, movable ears that protrude from its 'helmet'. The 'elephant ears' look more like frills used to fan the beast's back. Like the ears, though, they require flexibility, which means there's no armor around the 'shoulders' of the organs where they attach near the base of the skull.
Magnir and Arachne are struggling to fight it because of its strength and durability, and they both weigh less than the monster does. It bucks its head and manages to pull Arachne off of her feet. Her weight still provides uneven leverage on its head, but it does have the strength to buck her. Similarly, Magnir slips from the antler, and he has to duck to avoid being clubbed by it when it swings by again. The rakehorn is trying to build up the rock and soil around it from the mountain to try to stabilize and armor itself. If it creates a shell, it will be very difficult to maintain leverage for Arachne. If it regains its footing, it likely will be able to buck her off as well.
"Let's pray Geira doesn't find out about this…" grumbles Daniel as he eyes his target. He's not acrobatic or speedy like the superhuman companions or even the gatonines in his friend circle. He's as normal as a human can get.
I am making fifty railguns and fifty twenty mils when I get back… thinks Daniel to himself, and he can hear Kaeralegier snicker at him again.
The mechanic runs forward, mindful of the field-goal-sized antlers swinging around. He goes wide to try to avoid their swing arc, since the monster could easily pulverize all of his bones to dust with a 'tap' of its massive antlers. Time is running out though, and Daniel shouts as he changes course, "Magnir! Keep its antler up!"
The dragon glances at the human only once before moving quickly to stay directly under the rakehorn's antler opposite of Arachne. The ground is now sloped up towards its head, with a rocky and uneven texture, thanks to the monster's magic. It's literally trying to bury itself if only to separate itself from its attackers, protect its body, and put the antlers in direct contact with the ground, which will likely boost its power.
The otherworlder runs in a low stoop, keeping the revolver in his right hand while he flexes his left hand. He has to keep his head low, and thankfully he does.
WHOMP-CRACK!
A terrifying duo of sounds matches the ground shaking directly under Daniel's feet, and he stumbles, falling to his hands and knees. He can't help but look, finding Magnir holding up the antler just as the mechanic requested. The sheer size of the massive stone-armored structure and the creature Daniel is trying to engage at close range briefly starts to sink in.
Just a video game. Just a video game… The human from Earth repeats his mantra. It doesn't work as well as he'd like, but it is enough to distract him at least, and Magnir grunts, "G-Go! Quickly, my Liege!"
The moose-like giant bucks its head again, and Magnir stumbles as he loses his grip. The antler swings away from Daniel, and he scrambles forward to dive out of the way as it swings towards him again, passing several feet above, but it feels like mere inches were all that stood between the frail human and an instantaneous death… if he's lucky.
Magnir tries to brace the side of the rakehorn's head to restrict its movement, and it snorts and bellows.
Meanwhile, Moelka and Glizumi have rushed up the growing mound around its head, throwing rocks into its eyes, which causes it to roar in rage.
It strains and struggles, nearly gaining enough footing to completely overpower Arachne, who is the only one holding it relatively still at all. Her heavy frame is fairly stable, but her weight is the key issue and the factor for which leverage will turn the tide quickly.
Daniel ducks behind the frill and grabs onto the flexible arm that allows the rakehorn to fan itself with the ear-like organ.
That's when the breakaway scenario happens. Gravity shifts and his footing leaves him as Daniel desperately braces with his left arm hooked in the shoulder of the frill, and his boots leave the ground quickly. He nearly slips straight into nausea from the force of the movement, and the kobolds cry out as they scatter away from the creature on both sides. It is still partially tangled with ropes, but it merely stands up, thrashing its head to launch Arachne in front of it. The Death Knight stumbles, and the ground in front of the rakehorn immediately dissolves. It just opened the way to launch forward in a charge.
Daniel is dazed by being smacked against the rakehorn's neck from its head swing, and the wind is briefly knocked out of him. He groans as his vision blurs and pain shoots through his back, but he forces himself to press the barrel of the gun to where he thinks the soft spots are. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that he's up where he is, fear is starting to find him again.
Focus, Daniel, urges the mechanic to himself. Family. Your family needs you.
The mechanic pulls the trigger.
BOOM!
GrooooOoooarrr!
The rakehorn stumbles as it lurches to the side just before it can bullrush Arachne, and Daniel's shoulder nearly gives out from the force of being pulled violently along with its movements. But, he summons as much of his mind as he can to focus on his hand, pressing it against something solid again and pulling the trigger once more. He didn't have much hope for the revolver to be able to kill the rakehorn, but if it did stand a chance, not going through its skull directly is likely imperative. The mechanic once heard that, back on Earth, cows had to be euthanized at a fairly specific angle through a spot on the forehead that is particularly weak, but the rakehorn has solid rock over that area, assuming the same was remotely true.
Regardless, the second shot causes the rakehorn to drop its head quickly as it lets out another long, pained bellow. Daniel is cast to the ground on his back, tumbling painfully down the sloped wall of the rakehorn's protective mound.
Just as its roar ends, Magnir dashes in front of its muzzle, exhaling a thick, sticky black smoke directly towards the nose and mouth at the moment the rakehorn is inhaling.
Daniel has seen this smoke before. It's what happens when ignityal is forced to burn in the presence of the dragon's venom, which the adults have impressive natural control over both. The smoke itself is rather toxic, but supposedly, not especially painfully so. Not nearly as much as being bitten with the venom, at least.
The rakehorn stumbles backwards into its small little alcove, bumping its backside against the back wall, and the tangled ropes catch on corners of the other walls, causing it to briefly lose footing and drop to its front knees for a moment as it pants and huffs, already wheezing as it noticeably loses strength.
Magnir jogs to Daniel, pulling him away from the rakehorn as it slowly wilts, almost seeming to age decades before their very eyes. It's not actually deteriorating so much physically, but it does become very weary, and the rocks around its head and body are the first to start to crumble.
Daniel coughs, and he drops to his knees as soon as they come to a stop a few yards away. Magnir has also doubled over, clutching his stomach as he braces himself.
Regardless, the dragon is first to check on the other man. "My Liege?"
Daniel waves his hand, reassuring him that he'll be alright. Regardless, Arachne positions herself to defend the human, watching him with continuous glances. And, it's only a few moments before the kobolds join the other two, jogging in close to regroup and check on Daniel as well. That said, they do keep a couple yards of distance between them, repulsed by some unseen force.
Moelka is the only one to power through and run up to Daniel, calling his name. "Daniel!" She cups his cheeks with her reptilian hands, studying him all over for wounds. He has some bruises and scrapes, and his jacket ripped in a few places, but he'll survive. He mostly had the wind battered out of him, and is sore now.
Daniel asks, "The rakehorn… Is it… contaminated now?" Now it's his turn for his voice to barely be above a whisper, and every word presses pain through his chest, while his lungs threaten to descend into coughing fits at any moment.
Magnir looks at the rakehorn as he wearily backs away from Daniel, as if the mechanic has an offensive odor to him. The rakehorn's breathing has slowed, and its eyes seem a bit glassy. "No. It looks like it has already lost most of its consciousness, so that seems to have been enough. The venom vapor will start to break down after a few hours. So, as long as we bleed and submerge the meat in cool water for a day or so before preparing it, there shouldn't be any traces in the meat."
Daniel nods. He didn't want to go out of his way to kill an animal they don't need just because they could, or at least, he thought they could fairly easily. But, since it turned out to be an actual mana-mutated monster, which are unnaturally aggressive, the right answer seems to be to exterminate them whenever possible. Since they're still plenty edible as monsters, Daniel doesn't have to let it go to waste, though it'll take forever for the seven of them to go through all of the meat they've piled up on this adventure alone.
Actually, now that I think about it… I wonder if Arachne needs to eat?
He looks up at his magically synthetic daughter. She does have a mouth, and everything about her seems biological. But, he hasn't really paid attention to whether or not she needs or enjoys food.
I'll make her try something when we make dinner. Actually… Aren't the strange membranes on her… longer now?
As he's looking at the Death Knight, he notices that the fabric-like membranes on two main parts of her body have grown distinctly larger. They form a sort of natural jabot collar garment over her chest, and a drapery portion of a skirt over her abdomen, like natural clothing that her body is producing.
The mysteries keep growing…
For now, they need to make sure the rakehorn passes, and they'll store it to clean and prepare later.
Daniel gently puts his hands on Moelka's, giving her a smile to reassure her. She doesn't seem to buy it, and she says something in her warbling tone.
"She says you need to fix your magic wand," translates Magnir.
Daniel manages to laugh, but it causes him to cough. "Right after I take a bath, apparently," jokes the mechanic as best as he can with his exhausted voice.
"It's not the smell, my Liege. It's… the mana."
Again, Daniel is reminded of the marble of mana-flavored radioactivity he has in his pocket. "Ah… Right…"
I'll definitely need to make nice with Chaos and Order if this thing sterilized me… thinks Daniel somewhat humorously to himself. The rakehorn finally exhales one last time before it slumps forward, losing the last of its strength.
"If you don't mind, Magnir; please go gather it once you confirm that it passed."
"Of course, your Majesty," replies the dragon. He walks briskly towards the unmoving creature, and the kobolds stay clustered, with Moelka cuddling with Daniel by sitting on his thigh. She begins humming a rather beautiful tune with a soft sound that reminds Daniel a little of a small alligator, but more gentle than the intimidating growls of Earth's living dinosaurs. They have several lullabies and healing songs they'll sing, which sound very similar to this. While it doesn't possess any magical qualities, Daniel does feel himself relaxing as Magnir stores the monstrous rakehorn.
Sodenizia whines and complains, which prompts Moelka to reply a little smugly to the youngest kobold. Sodenizia growls, and she dashes close to Daniel as well, crowding in as she starts humming a song of her own.
Daniel laughs. I can't wait to be home with everyone… I might actually miss these ladies…
Their next stop as a group is the town, and hopefully a comfortable parting takes place for them once they know where they are so Magnir can fly himself and Daniel home.
Though, that assumes the population of the town can help them.
***