Encounter with The Manticore (Read Only)

Celestia wrote:The human tensed up for a moment when she handed his coins back to him. She understood why. She actually had more in common with the human than she could have ever imagined. When she was young sneaking and fighting were her specialties.

The moment they came to stop Astral jumped off the horse. She did not want to be on that thing any longer. She was glad they were going to stop and camp here for the night. She watched as the human evaluated the camping spot. He relied primarily on sight. Humans were so freaking handicapped. How the heck did they survive let alone be the only threat to dragons. Astral thought back to the time she wasn't around when her grandchild was captured by humans and turned into a pet. To this day Aari had permanent mental scars that kept her from functioning normally. How strange it was she was so interested in humans now and getting along with this one.

Svadilfare took off to grab some firewood. Astral just sat down and experimented with how one rested comfortably in this form.

The forest became silent but not in respect for the night soon to come. It was in fear of the arrival of The Manticore. Servius Eirene Koinonia stalked through the woods not far from Brysur. The winged lion had never been to the city by the sea but he claimed the paths leading to it as his hunting ground. The leathal tail of the great beast lashed back and forth as its owner ceased to move. The face of Servius wrinkled and twisted into an expression most frightful as his maw opened, the top lip curling back to expose lethal teeth. The Manticore could smell so much more this way... a few times he made this gruesome face as he turned his head in different directions. An extremely familiar smell filled the nostrils of the feline. Humans. The bipeds were a favorite meal of Servius'; they were small but this meant he could eat many. A prey more suitably sized for a winged lion would take much less time to get. Humans were much more fun to catch and it amused The Manticore to watch them try to fight back. And Humans deserved to fill the belly of Servius much more than the simple prey his kind tended to hunt.

Servius continued moving through the forest, following the scent of man. He had already had his fill for the evening but there was nothing wrong at all with a hunter picking out his breakfast ahead of time. The Manticore could toy with his next meal, make them beg for a swift end. With a growl, Servius slowed, prowling with a level of stealth only a cat could achieve, even a 70ft tall one. The night was on his side, cloaking him from the inferior human eye which only had the sun as an ally. The Manticore had no such limitations, The Manticore was superior. The closer he drew to the human, the more the winged beast wanted simply to pounce and dine. But his stomach would hold no more for now and to kill the biped would be a waste of meat. Near the edge of the forest, Servius stopped and crouched. The scorpion tail swayed silently behind, itching to puncture flesh, to fill The Manticore's prey with toxin. The keen eyes of the feline scanned the ground. His nose told him the human was close.

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Svadilfare looked for small trees to take wood from. With the sun sinking fast he didn't want to climb bigger ones. While he checked for weak branches, Svad listened for any sign of predators. There was usually a Manticore in this area but he hoped it had moved on. He hoped Celestia had stayed put this time. The last thing he needed was worrying about her getting into trouble. He didn't disbelieve that she was a hunter... his wife was one herself and just as good a warrior as he. He'd never asked but he was certain she had been born in Gynaikes. What Svad didn't believe was that Celestia could possibly look after herself against anything that could defend itself. And so he questioned why he had allowed her to come along. Caught up in gathering wood, the Kryoan warriror didn't hear a growl. It was low but close enough he should have heard... if he weren't breaking tree branches at the exact moment it happened.

The human seemed so confident she didn't bother keeping an eye on him. She was busy having the hardest time figuring out how humans rested. Lying on her back was the most comfortable but her instincts screamed at her. Other than that lying on her side was the only other thing that worked but under the hard cold ground it was not at all comfortable. She was really beginning to think the humans had it much harder than the dragons. She was ripped from her experimenting though when the distinct odor of a manticore entered her deceptively human nostrils. It was night and the human had no chance against that kind of creature regardless of time of day even dragons remained wary. Using her powers she looked to see how close it was to herself and Svadilfare and it was upon Svadilfare. Astral teleported without sound behind the human before calling his name to get his attention. She'd then create a small amount of fire in her hand that looked as unimpressive as possible yet burned twice as hot as a FireWings. The disguised goddess tossed the ball at fire at the manticore stalking them both to illuminate the threat to the human and hopefully scare it off with such a hot flame. In the mean time she tried to speak to it telepathically. "Halt, this is the goddess of the moon and stars Astral. These two humans are under my protection. Find some other prey."

How fortunate for the human that The Manticore was without hearing. But Servius did not need to hear; his eyes and nose were all he needed to navigate the world. Right now his nose navigated him toward another scent: a dragon. The Manticore's eyes scanned the trees... no dragon was to be seen. The winged beast hated dragons as much as humans. He avoided them when he could, fought them when must... Servius even killed one, once. With this one so close to a human, the lion reasoned it must be on the hunt as well. Another growl left The Manticore's maw. He would not allow an oversized lizard to steal what was his.

And then a light appeared. Fire. The Manticore could see the bipeds it illuminated; one bore a sword. And then the fire-bearer threw a sphere of it at Servius. The winged lion with a scorpion's tail roared and jumped away from the flame. And then something very strange happened. For the first in his life, Servius heard a voice, but where it came from he had no idea. Stranger still was to whom the voice belonged. A goddess? "A dragon deity protecting bipeds? What are they to the world? Will they give back what was stolen? No god came to my aid. I will not bow to one who allowed the attrocities these humans committed. I will not obey one who allowed its kin to wrong me so." His tail lashed at the air and loosed three quills at the bipeds. The predator had wanted sport, but if these wretched creatures would dare to attack, he would feed once more tonight.

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Svadilfare heard a growl this time. He slid down the little tree he'd been perched in, grabbing his sword. As he tried to see what had made the noise, he heard Celestia's voice behind him. He turned to look at her, wondering how she had gotten here without him noticing. But there was no time to wonder nor be astounded by her use of magic. She summoned a flame from nowhere and tossed it into the woods. Svadilfare wasn't surprised by what he saw in the darkness. "A Manticore!" he shouted as he raised his sword and wished he had brought his other and maybe his shield. And then saw a glint, three actually... toxic quills. Of course if they struck him or Celestia, there would be no need to worry about toxins: they would already be dead. Svadilfare grabbed Celestia's arm and pulled her behind the tree. One quill struck the Manticore's side of the tree while the other two struck the ground on either side. One had been dangerously close to where the female was standing. "Those things will kill us faster than that beast will itself if it catches us. I will try to lead it away. You stay here. Understand?"

Welp it appeared the manticore had a vendetta against well everything at the moment it seemed. He wasn't fond she was protecting them. She was still adjusting to the fact that she was doing it herself. Her puny display of magic was avoided by the manticore but at least her human companion was aware of the beast now. Astral yelled out in surprise when without warning the human pulled her behind a tree. She realized one of those quills would have hit her if she hadn't moved but she would have been just fine. Then again this was probably for the best. She needed to use as little magic as possible. She didn't know much if humans could use magic but if they could she figured it was pretty pathetic. A flame in her hand would be easy to excuse or at least she hoped.

Svadilfare told her his plan to lead it away. Why he was leading it away she wasn't entirely sure but it worked with what she was going to have to resort to. The moment he was out of sight Astral transformed back into her dragon body and launched herself into the air before landing in front of the manticore to halt it from pursuing the human. "I have no intention of harming you. I ask not that you bow but if you will not respect my authority I will dish you a taste of it."

Celestia didn't say anything but Svadilfare hadn't really expected her to. The man pulled a knife from its sheath and hurled it at the front left paw of the Manticore. Of course so small a weapon would hardly produce pain beyond that a thorn would. But it was hoped the sensation would be enough to get the creature's attention. And it did. Svadilfare took off as soon as the overgrown feline locked eyes with him and launched three more quills at him. He quickly glanced over his shoulder, trying to judge where the quills were going to end up... at little easier said than done in the dark. While the roots of a tree saved him from one, he narrowly missed the other two. One caught the bottom of his cloak, ripping it, and the other ended up just inches in front of him. He saw it just over his head and swung his sword up, cutting it diagonally in half. Then he ducked behind the nearest tree, waiting for the Manticore to get closer.

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The Manticore loved nothing more than prey that ran for its life. The puny biped dared to fling its metal wepon at Servius. It barely did anything, only serving to annoy the beast. After locating and sending a few quills its way, The Manticore was ready to give chase. But something stopped him. A dragon landed before the winged lion and started speaking. Servius recognized the smell of it, the dragon he'd smelled earlier but not seen. His tail raised, the stinger at the end set to strike, like a snake. This was no EarthWing, so he could paralyze it. His eyes watched the maw of the small reptile. "No Dragon holds authority over a Manticore anymore. Not even their deity. These are my lands, you trespass. Humans are my prey; you prevent me from hunting. Tell me, lizard, what is so special about these Humans above all others? Tell me and I may spare them, allow them... safe passage. Attack me again and I shall feast upon a Dragon tonight." Servius hissed and circled the dragon as he spoke, waiting for even the slightest sign that it intended to attack him.

"The only thing that makes them special is my interest in them an interest you have no business knowing. Also you do realize I'm immortal right?" Astral then launched herself at the manticore with enough force to knock him on his back. She would use her magic to keep the manticore's limbs from moving including the tail as she stood proudly upon his chest. "I'll give you one more chance to flee before I rip your throat out for your insolence." With that Astral would hop off the manticore and release him. If he continued to attack she'd ignite his body on fire till he left.

After the manticore left Astral would return to the spot Svadilfare had told her to stay at and transform back into a human. She would then stay obediently till he returned.

Servius stopped circling the dragon goddess to read her response. But he hardly digested it when the winged lizard launched herself at the brute. With how close she was, he had no time to react but that was the least of his worries. The Manticore couldn't move save his head. If Strength had choosen to take a physical form, it would choose a Manticore. So it is understandable, the bewilderment Servius felt when he was taken down by a dragon no bigger than a Manticore cub, and not even an EarthWing. To make it worse the dragon pinned The Manticore down. The brute growled and bared his teeth. The small deity spoke again then released Servius, allowing him to move again. "My kin were slaughtered by humankind and yours. Dragon and Manticore perish together and you do nothing. A prideless Manticore seeks to fill his empty belly with a human or two... and this is where you intervene? I felt no ill toward the deities of Dragonkind. But now I see you are heartless, uncaring lest it suits you." Servius got up and growled at Astral. "Astral. Goddess of the Moon and Stars. Servius Eirene Koinonia. I will not forget our encounter nor shall I worship you or any god again." And with that, The Manticore opened his wings and took to the air. A roar echoed through the night as he flew away.

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Svadilfare had since come out from his hiding place and was sneaking back to where the Manticore had been. He intended to get behind the creature and... well attack it. When he was close enough to see, he saw the Manticore pinned down... by a Dragon? Where had that come from? And suddenly the Manticore left, the Dragon leaving immediately after. But he couldn't see where the latter went. Svadilfare ran to the tree he'd left Celestia at, hoping she'd stay there. "Celestia-- Oh, there you are..." Svadilfare was surprised to she had actually stayed put. He sheathed his sword and only then realized his knife was still in the paw of the Manticore. Well, he had two more. "Did you see a Dragon just a few moments ago?"

Astral rolled her eyes. She didn't know where it was exactly but she could sense he was lying about something maybe all of it. I mean who holds no ill will towards the gods proceeds to threaten a goddess. It didn't matter what she did that creature was going to hate her either way. She did feel guilt for not being around for that massacre though even if she probably wouldn't have done anything. She needed to figure out exactly what role the humans played before she could make a decision like that. Then again that hadn't been a concern before so maybe she would have wiped them out.

Thankfully it didn't take long for the human to return to her. He asked about a dragon and she considered lying so as not to worry him with the idea that a dragon could still be around. Course there was a dragon around so one could see it as lying by pretending she was human. Still it wasn't necessary so she would avoid it. "Nope just you me and the manticore that left. I didn't realize you were so cool to have been able to drive off such a dangerous creature. I thought for sure if something special didn't happen you were going to die. But hey turns out you needed that pair of eyes to watch your back after all or else you might have been manticore food. Maybe now I could come with you into the desert?" Astral asked trying to look as cute as possible.

Svadilfare narrowed his eyes at Celestia's answer. It was by far the strangest thing she had said today. "I know what I saw... there was a Dragon. It drove the Manticore away, not I. And flattery will get you nowhere. You may have stayed put, but in no way did you help me with that beast. We need to get back to the outcrop, make sure the horse didn't bolt... and before anything else decides to kill us." He picked up the branches he'd collected and started walking back to the outcrop. He shook his head at Celestia's request, her claim that there had been no Dragon. He knew what he had seen. And she seemed to think he had taken on that Manticore on his own. Well, he probably could have, but not at night.

Svad was relieved to see his horse was still at the camp. He gave the mare another apple then started cutting the branches down to more manageable pieces. When he had enough to get a fire going, he sat and began the process of starting a fire. He found a flat rock and quickly struck the edge of his sword with it. By doing this, if he applied the right amount of pressure with the rock, he created sparks. And the hope was that the sparks would ignite the wood. But after doing this for several minutes, Svad still didn't have a fire. So he tried adding a piece of his cloak to the pile of wood. After a few more minutes, he finally saw a glow; fire in its infancy. Very gently he blew on the bit of fur... but it didn't result in a full flame. So he started again... and again. After the fourth try, the Kryoan finally had a fire going.

As the fire crackled and popped, providing light and warmth, Svadilfare unpacked a large fur blanket and laid it out on the ground. It was only then that he bothered to see where Celestia was. If she had followed him immediately after he walked back here, he hadn't noticed.

Astral was taken back by Svadilfare's response. He seemed to expect her to have seen the dragon despite her knowing said dragon was small, black, and humans eyes struggled to make anything out at night. That and he gave her no credit for illuminating the manticore. What did he do, hide behind a tree? She was beginning to wonder if when things really came down to it she had been wrong about him. Astral followed the human back without saying a word. She sat down cross legged as she found that to be the most comfortable human sitting position and watched as Svadilfare made a fire. She didn't realize that was what he was doing at first not until he started making sparks with his sword. After his second attempt to start the fire she got fed up and snapped her fingers to make it light up instantly. The snap was just for dramatic effect and to make it known it was she who had made it suddenly go up in flames. Otherwise she didn't speak at all.

Apparently Celestia had zero patience, because she took it upon herself to light the fire after his second attempt. Svadilfare didn't hate magic, he just hated how it made some people act, how impatient it made them. He sat down on the fur blanket and looked at the fire. For a long while he stared at the flames, listened to the sounds of burning wood. Eventually, he got up to take some bread and dried meat from the saddlebag and offered some to Celestia. "If you're hungry..." he said quietly and set it down on the blanket if she didn't take it. Svad then sat back down and ate his own. "There are some fruits in the saddlebag if bread and smoked meat don't suit you. I'll get us some fresh meat in the morning... or perhaps you can, seeing as you're a hunter." After that Svad ate in silence, going back to staring at the fire. His thoughts drifted to his children and his grandfather. The elder was usually sick and nothing helped anymore, not herbs or magic. So Svad only hoped he would be there when his grandfather passed and was determined to finish this mission as soon as possible.

His gaze lifted to Celestia. She hadn't said a word to him since she'd asked to continue with him to Ammos and he declined, in so many words. Well how could he not, when she thought she had really been helpful with that Manticore? All she had really done was bring his attention to the creature... The Kryoan sighed. In a way, she had saved his life. And perhaps that was why he hated the thought of letting her come all the way to Ammos with him. But it wasn't that she saved his life, no he was grateful. It was he didn't trust her. He didn't know what it was, but something about Celestia was amiss. Perhaps it was how she followed him around. He shook his head again; maybe he was just being paranoid. With another sigh, he asked, "Where did you learn magic?"

Astral wasn't hungry never was except that one time in the other dimension, but she gladly accepted the food wanting to know what human food was like. She wanted to try the bread first since it was so different and looked over it while the human spoke something about getting food in the morning and her hunting. Taking a bite it was very strange. Her teeth didn't sink into it rather it was just kinda crushed like a whole bunch of really really tiny bones breaking as she bit down. It was also very dry and kinda stuck to her saliva. After that was finished she moved on to that. It was also more different than she expected. It hardly had any flavor and was really tough. Was also really salty. It was fun to chew though and the salt made it interesting enough. Astral stopped moving abruptly mid chew though when Svadilfare asked where she learned magic. She finished what was in her mouth with an obvious gulp. This was exactly the thing she was hoping wouldn't happen and only now did she process he wanted her to go hunting the next day. How the heck was she suppose to do that. She didn't know how to hunt as a human and if she did so as a dragon, how was she going to explain the dragon bite marks in the neck of whatever she caught. And the magic, she couldn't lie about being taught by humans or something she didn't know enough about them to pull it off. Oh well here went nothing. "I was taught by dragons actually." Astral said hesitantly. "Everyone who wanted to know magic in my tribe watched dragons do it as part of learning. I only learned the basics and from there it kinda cultivated itself."

Well she was already the strangest person he had ever met she might as well test the waters of human open mindedness. "It is actually my theory that dragons and humans kill each other because neither understand anything about the other. Both viewing the other as monsters."

Svadilfare... didn't hate Dragons per se. After all he'd never really had trouble with them; if he saw one, he went the other way before it saw him. But he certainly didn"t like them... although baby ones were pretty cute. Still he found it a little interesting that one could actually learn something from a them. "Dragons? I didn't think they allowed humans close enough to do such a thing." Svad chuckled a little, though without much humor, when Celestia told him her theory. "I think that is true of all beings. But I don't expect to see that change in my lifetime, so why worry about it?" He added a few branches to fire then moved to lay down on his back. He looked up at the night sky, searching for constellations he knew. "But is it not fair for us to be afraid of them? They live so long while our lives are fleeting. They are bigger and stronger... We are utterly powerless against them. Get some sleep. We need to be up before the sun to hunt." He turned over onto his side, facing away from his odd companion, and closed his eyes.

"I never said they knew we watching and learning from them." Nor did she plan on saying that they didn't but that should at least throw him off to something that seemed more likely. There was no way dragons would intentionaly teach humans magic. "Probably will be a change that will never come to pass." He seemed to have quite an open mind. She considered opening up to him so she didn't have to keep dodging the real reason she was so odd.

"Well life isn't fair but yes there is nothing wrong with being afraid. You just never know where you might make a friend." Astral had a hard time with that comment. She could only speak as a dragon as she had no idea what it was like for a human.

The human told her to get some sleep mentioning that they would be hunting when they awoke. She wasn't going to have a choice. Astral was just going to have to hunt something as a dragon and hope that by some miracle which was stupid for a goddess to hope for he didn't annalize how it was killed. Otherwise she'd have no choice but to hope for the best. In the mean time though while she pretended to sleep she would keep an eye on the dragons of the world until Svadilfare woke. She still had a responsibility to them.

Several hours later...

The sky was turning when the Kryoan woke. The stars were going into hiding to make way for the sun. But the sun was slow and still waking itself. It would be at least half an hour before it passed the horizon. The fire had recently gone out, but there were still hot embers at the bottom. Svadilfare got up and tended the fire. Once it was going again he looked over at Celestia. She was still asleep. Part of him wanted to wake her up but he decided to let her wake herself. Svad left both swords behind this time but took his shield. If that Manticore came back, at least he could defend himself; his knives were all he needed to hunt.

Leaving the outcrop behind, he ventured into the forest and immediately looked for signs of prey. It didn't take long for Svad to find deer tracks; they were fresh. He climbed a tree to get a good vantage point and scanned the area. Finding nothing, he returned to the ground and kept going, following the tracks. Eventually he found the deer drinking from a creek. Slowly, Svad crept toward the deer, staying crouched. The deer looked up and Svad thought it had heard or smelled him. But it only walked forward and lowered its head again to graze.With a small inhale, the warrior inched a little closer and pulled his left arm back to throw a knife. His eye followed the edge off the blade, the tip of it pointing to the deer's left front leg, right above the hoof. Exhaling, he swung his arm forward and let go of the knife. His aim perfect, the blade struck its target and the deer tried to bolt but with where the blade hit, it lost function of the leg and fell. Svadilfare stood upright and walked over to the deer, watching as it struggled to get up. He kneeled beside the creature and pulled the knife from its leg while he pet it. And then he gave the deer the quickest death possible by breaking its neck. When it was over he pet the deer again, put his away, then stood and threw the deer over his shoulders. Normally, he would have taken the time to prepare the deer for cooking, but not knowing whether the Manitcore was still in the area, he decided to do it at the safety of camp. So he carried his kill back and wondered if Celestia had woken up yet. He hoped she had and gone hunting. He intended to preserve most of the deer so they wouldn't have to hunt everyday; so whatever Celetia caught would make up the bulk of their breakfast.

Astral didn't stir as Svadilfare left to go hunting. It wasn't until she was sure he was gone that she bothered getting up again. Oh he left his swords. She could probably figure out how to kill one in a human manner now, but it didn't really matter. He wasn't going to let her come with him into the desert. Maybe if she brought something really impressive to him he'd be too distracted to notice the bite marks and let her come with him all the way. Transforming into her native form Astral launched into the air. She didn't like hunting during the day a black dragon stood out more than anything in the day sky.

It didn't take her long to spot her human down there. The closest creature to him was a deer so maybe that was what he was after. She needed to figure out what she was going to get. The little dragon had no idea if what they liked humans would like too. She could make it to the ocean and back probably before he made it back to camp. Oh the spaz fish. It was called that because dragons that had never had it before would freak out at the unusual citrus in the meat. It was delicious though so it wouldn't take long for them to get used to it. (Think lemon peppered salmon cooked with butter.) Heading out to sea at top normal speed it wouldn't take her long to get to the ocean. She caught 6 spaz fish before heading back to camp and she'd make sure she got back before he did. Dropping the fish off near the camp fire she would transform back into a human and wait for Svad to come back.

Not long after Astral returned to the camp, Svad arrived with the deer. He set it on the ground and immediately got to work skinning and gutting it. "You caught fish?" he asked as he glanced over to see what, if anything, Celestia caught. "That's good. It won't take terribly long to cook. This will..." he said, gesturing to the deer. "...But it'll last a good while after it's preserved." When he was finished dressing the deer, Svad started cutting the meat into smaller portions. He put one piece and set it close to the fire to start cooking it. He got up and went through the saddlebag, looking for the herbs and salt he bought in Brysur. Finding them, he covered the meat with it, then wrapped them in cloth. He put the those in the saddlebag then left to go to the creek and wash his hands.

When he got back Svad filleted the fish and put them on the fire as well. He checked the deer meat and turned it over. "Do you want any of the deer?"

Astral had found the other day she wasn't overly fond of meat prepared by humans. She would much rather have the rare fish she had caught but raw but that would probobly look weird to the human who cooked everything. "Nah I'm good. I ate some fish before you got here." Astral lied. If he didn't find this fish delicious she didn't know what else she was going to do to try and convince him to let her come with him. Hopefully she wouldn't have to and she waited till he was finished with the fish and gave them a try.

"Alright then." Svadilfare grabbed a couple of the fillets and took a bite. It had an odd flavor.. but a good one. He chewed it slowly, trying to think of the flavor. Citrius? "Hm. What kind of fish is this? I've never had it before." He turned over the deer meat again then took anothe bit of fish.

"We call it a Spaz fish. There are much bigger ones deeper down in the ocean the adults. That sour bit is a lot stronger in them. I know many other unorthodox creatures mostly fish since that is my preferred food, but others too. If you take me with you into the desert I can tell you all about them." Astral begged again. If this didn't work she had one last ditch effort to try. If she had to do it she was both looking forward to his reaction and had trepidation about it.

"Or you could tell me about them on the way to the desert. Spaz fish, huh? Interesting name. You know, we're quite a ways from the ocean... So if they're an ocean dwelling fish, how did you get them?" he asked, raising a brow. The deer meat was finally done, so Svad moved it away from the fire to cool down before he ate some.

"I said the adults are in the ocean you can find the young ones in like creeks and.......oh supernova!" Astral exclaimed as she kicked at the ground with great force showering dirt in the direction of her kick. "Look all I want to do is learn about humans alright and you are nice and I like you for more reasons than just that. You are worried about other humans killing you because you are an assassin. I can offer protection nobody else can and nobody else would. The reason I can do this is because I'm a dragon the same dragon that drove off that manticore for you actually. Can't have my guide getting eaten now can I. To prove her point she started shifting back into her dragon form before his eyes. At the end of it she was the same height but on all fours far longer in length with black scales and a mass an elephant wouldn't scoff at. Not that elephants were sentient. Dragon muzzles weren't the best for the human language so she would just speak to him telepathically. "Surprise!"