Airship Mauled

by Darkonshadows

Chapter twenty one, Cult Evasion: The Resilient.

-Velvet-

My floof remained untouched thus far, but dancing through the thestrals took quite a bit of my stamina. I had to do it while balancing an adorable killer monster on my head and an adorable snuggle obsessed turtle.

I would just have to pace myself better next time. For I am elegance, I am power and I am the gorgeous Velvet!

The fact that I hadn’t awaked the one called Sugar had me sighing in relief. I heard she could get a bit cranky and that she was really, really dangerous. I’ve never heard of an Al-mi’raj before, to be fair I’ve never heard of a sea turtle dove either.

Everyone was quite serious about not disturbing Sugar and the danger she represented. This is actually the farthest I’ve been from my home really, so I accepted their knowledge on this creature.

Looking back over my shoulder as I followed the others up the path. I saw determined RC, arrow avoiding Jacky and ballistics blocking Blade fighting off the thestrals that gave chase.

“Excuse me, but why don’t you use arrows?” Jacky was a bit uncouth in my eyes. Considering the happenstance around her earlier years of being raised by pirates, it is actually somewhat understandable. Aside from books, this is kind of my first time meeting a pirate, or mercenaries, or insane cults and all the other things I’ve done have been exhilarating.

“My bow isn’t good at shooting them.” Jacky held three paper clips, a small rounded stick and one of Kuril’s recently emptied ink vials against her bow string. Upon releasing the string these object flew in an arc almost like they were arrows, three thestrals went down and one was dazed by the shattering of glass against their skull. “Mom, will we drop by Ponville to pick up party supplies in a few days? I have a new deep rooted appreciation for my party cannon.”

“Of course we will my little chick.” Kuril was quite an affectionate lady and cared for her children, though the good natured sniping between her and her by blood daughter was confusing to say the least.

The attacks from behind dropped off and we were at the stairs to the monastery when Jaded decided to bring something up.

“Before we go any farther I got something important I must say to Fizzle.” Upon Jaded, the kooky kitty that she is, turning to the ever brave broken horned Fizzlepop. She stated something that was apparently comical to everyone that was family to her. “Fizzle, I think I might be… gay. Like really gay! So chances of me ever being comfortable with a male being in our relationship is likely to be very slim.”

There was this long and arduously silent pause, I thought that they were about to turn on her. Instead they just burst out laughing at her, which seems quite insensitive to her feelings from my perspective. There’s nothing wrong with being… otherwise predisposed towards the fairer gender. What was so funny about having such passion?

I might have had a reasons to live on the outskirts of my town and I was uncomfortable with talking about my erstwhile looks to other does. Oh sure, my father and mother probably knew I might have had leanings. I wasn’t about to outright it confirm it for them yet.

I did have something of a reputation to keep up with being of noble descent, plus there’s my being a town guardian which isn’t much of job when the town is never attack more than once or twice a year. Plus I wasn’t the only guardian the town had, just the best out of everyone else and that’s a fact I was proud of.

“Well gee, I could have told you that Jade!” If the laughing Fizzlepop knew that, then why did Jaded looked so surprised? “I mean we are dating after all, but is now really the time for this?”

“Well given that we don’t know where Screaming Star went, I’m pretty sure he’s setting up a kill zone ahead of us.” As Jaded spoke we ascended into the monastery room. “I wanted to air out that revelation before we got into trouble with him, Bahamut and Hollow when he finally catches up to us. It seems exactly like the right time for Bahamut to pull a dick move and attack us, while we’re busy with many other things.”

Wait a moment. If they were dating and Jaded was with Fizzlepop, then how can she only be coming to the conclusion that she is gay now? Unless… oh dear, there’s probably some cultural issues here methinks.

“I know this is actually a serious topic for you to bring up kitten and I’m sorry for laughing, but you have to admit with the way you, Maries and Fizzle act together I wouldn’t think the situation to be any different between you even if you were bisexual.” After saying that Kuril gained a concerned look, did she not like the fact that her daughter was attracted to one of her other children? Also was Maries the name of the chimera? Pausing at the top of the stairs and closing the entrance behind us, Kuril moved closer to her daughter and gave her a gesture of comfort by wrapping an arm around her and squeezed her. “I’m so glad you found yourself kitten, at least you don’t need a map.”

“You’re supportive of her?!” I seriously didn’t mean to yell that out loud, it was a slip of the tongue really. I was quite ashamed as soon as I had asked, mostly because I was projecting my own personal hang ups with the fact that my parents might not approve of one of the few things I can’t change about myself. The stares I was receiving weren’t flattering to say the least. “Sorry, I just feel that you've been a bit upsetting to Jaded’s feelings on the matter personally.”

They took my words at face value with a shrug as we exited the room and everything was quiet in the monastery.

“I’d be kind of a hypocrite not to, almost all Abyssinians are bisexual and rarely are we ever gay or entirely straight. Whatever rumors you hear about Abyssinians and the word ‘stupidly open’ are most likely true.” Everyone turned a little green at hearing that from Kuril, except Jaded who likely already knew about it and was unflustered. “I’m one of the few that went for something monogamous, we herd as much as ponies do and sometimes… well… let’s just say that happy accidents are fairly common in Abyssinia.”

“Why do I have mental images now?! Why?!” Fizzlepop cried out clutching her head with her hooves and trying to hide the fact that her entire head was now as red as her mane. Kuril moved Jaded over to Fizzle and she squeezed them together.

“It just means you’re growing my little filly, that and I just reminded you that you’ve seen my precious tom cat without her shirt, cloak, pants, shorts or any clothing on at all for that matter.” Petting her further embarrassed daughter’s mane softly as we moved forward, Kuril came to a stop just shy of exiting this section of monastery out into the open. We all stopped and waited to see why Kuril did. “To test my kitten’s theory… we need the most infamous adventurer’s tool ever.”

Rope?

It wasn’t rope, Kuril pulled out and unfolded a long collapsible pole and smiled at us.

“The general ten foot collapsible pole… only ever beaten by the eleven and a half model which is three times more expensive for whatever reason.” Really, why would one and a half feet cost so much? I didn’t voice it, but Kuril’s ears flicked and she looked at me with a small smile. Did I say it out loud? “No, but you were thinking it loudly enough. In any case you’re not a true adventurer if you don’t carry a ten foot pole or at least some rope on your person.”

I jumped in shock, what the… how did she just read me like that?

“It wasn’t exactly hard.” Moving to the corner with a careful grace using the pole as a walking stick, she peeked out into the filtering moonlight from the courtyard. “Our days are so messed up... I am not seeing anything and it’s too quiet out there. Kitten’s right, its Screaming Star setting up an ambush for the unwary.”

“How can you be sure?” Daring asked moved up looking at the empty courtyard and the lightly falling snow rippling in the wind. Nothing was going on out there.

“This.” Kuril took one end of the staff in both her hands and swung it out into the open quickly. What we heard next was a continuous series of thuds as the pole seemed to vibrate in her paws. Once it ended, she pulled the pole back and the part that had been out in the open was completely perforated with crossbow bolts. “Huh, they are really good shots. I mean it is one thing to hit a target as small as a pole, it’s another to put a number of shots straight through it in a concerted effort.”

A second later some kind of large blob creature dropped from the ceiling above us and Kuril backed up in shock dropping the pole full of crossbow bolts. She stared at the horrible blob monster as the pole sunk into its briny jiggly monstrously ugly swamp like depths and then it simply sunk into the cracks in the floor.

“Mom… was that what I thought it was?” Jaded said a little perplexed and astonished. “I thought you said that something that impossibly stupid couldn’t possibly exist!”

“How was I to know they actually exist?! Look can we talk about this strange encounter later and start running while they are all still reloading their crossbows!” With that Kuril shot out into the courtyard and everybody followed her.

“What was that thing and how do you both know about it?” From what little I could see, the thestrals were almost done reloading. I best prepare to make a maneuver to cover our backs.

“Quick version, its name is complicated to say. It’s a creature that has the ability to find ten foot long or pole shaped objects within a thirty mile radius, then it eats them.” Jaded ducked a crossbow bolt as at least forty or so thestrals started following us out in the cold snowy tundra of the mountain. I hope this airship of theirs can still fly.

“Is it more dangerous than the thestrals?” Fizzle leapt as she kept pace with Jaded and avoided getting several crossbow bolts in the back.

“Fire, fire! Get them you imbeciles!” So that’s Screaming Star, well he sounded like how everyone described him. His voice would do so well in a punk rock band, but instead he chooses to be a second in command militaristic cultist. Jaded pointed her left hand over her shoulder and fired a ball of energy, seconds later there was the sound of a crossbow firing and very loud vocal screech. “Ow, my hoof!”

Jade let out an evil sounding snicker as she ran, she doesn’t like anyone trying to harm Fizzlepop at all I take it. I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side at the very least.

“No, they are more annoying than dangerous.” While Jaded was given us the quick run down, I jumped and stomped all four of my hooves into the snow a large wall of ice intersected multiple cross bow bolts and cracked with each hit.

As a testament to my skill with ice magic, it didn’t break and caught every crossbow bolt perfectly. RC took a moment to use my ice wall as cover to shoot a thestrals wing.

“You know we’re just leading them to the airship right?” Why was Jacky bringing that up now? “It’ll be pretty hard to do anything while being shot at, we have to do something about those thestrals and the darkness cannons already look like they are turning towards us.”

“Blackcap… remind me… how long has it been since your luck last sporadically enacted uninhibited and unmitigated vengeance against us?” What did that have to do with anything Fizzlepop?

“Oh dang… it’s been hours since anything seriously bad has happened to Jacky… or us by proximity!” There was a look of horror on Jaded’s face. This was matched by Blade, Fizzlepop, Jacky herself, Kuril and even Snickers look very visibly upset on my back. In fact Snickers clamped her flippers down to my back and whined pitifully as if expecting some drastic world ending event.

A large shadow fell over us and the darkness cannons stopped aiming at as and started to track something else… something humongous.

Even the thestrals started to frantically back off and away from us. The cannons were firing at the much bigger than previously seen dragon, they weren’t doing a single thing to him.

-Bahamut-

It was time to play with the mortals, those souls who are heroic shall face my wrath and be stronger for it should they come out the other side still standing. It is time to test their resilience, their resolve and their collective strength.

The puny cannons of corruption and darkness just slid off of my scales, the gnats really shouldn’t even be trying.

I’ll also be doing the priest’s group a small favor, should they survive that is. They won’t immediately notice it, but they will notice… my might!

My jaws split open, building with unstoppable power.

All who have seen it and lived through it know its very name by heart, as it is etched into their very souls. The priest however knew its name before we ever met.

Curious that… even if it was never previously etched into her soul. It certainly would be now!

-Jade-

“Mom… use every vial of delayed wall you have and then sustain the shield like our very lives depend on it.” Mom started throwing potions without incanting their purpose, the battle barrier was hovering above her shield immediately. “Velvet… put as much ice between us and him as you can. Reinforce mom’s walls first and foremost. Daring… create a tornado of protective air around us and put your all into it. Everyone else… brace my mother when she gets the barrier into position.”

“Jade, he’s about three times the size he was previously.” Yes Fizzle, I’m very well aware. Gods can do that as you very well know. “Do you seriously expect us to survive what he’s doing?”

“Yes, because if we don’t… then we’ll end up disappointing him.” Everyone quickly scrambled to follow my orders, it wasn’t long before he would fire what he was known for. “This is Bahamut’s test of heroes, the Mega Flare!”

“Does he think we’re heroes?” Asked Jacky who was looking a bit worried at the gradually building sun in Bahamut’s jaws.

“Yep… heroes always rise to a challenge, even if it is one of the scariest challenges in existence.” This was not one of things I ever wanted to be on the other end of, like ever! “If we survive this, let’s hope he doesn’t hit the airship!”

“Big if Jade, big if!” Fizzlepop tried to light her horn, I immediately stopped her by grabbing it and then pulling her into a deep passionate kiss. I gave her a sharp look, we quickly braced mom.

The world soon went impossibly white.

Author's Note:

A exceedingly small time skip in the next chapter. The reason will be explained quite quickly.

Like that, only more beam like.

Comments

[WARGAMES]

Dragon, mouth jade knows name, fus?

Aww