"Look out!"
I ducked under the leaping timberwolf (that's what everyone had called them.) and cut its wooden head off with a backhanded slash. It fell apart and began knitting itself back together until I light it on fire with my breath. We'd only traveled about an hour when we'd been attacked by the wooden monsters. They weren't hard to break, but having to light them on fire to kill them was a real pain. Gem blasted one and called out to me.
"Drake! A little help?"
I snapped my claws and said "fyair" causing the wolf to ignite Incinerate! style. I ducked as Cinders sent a ball of flame towards one that was behind me. Grip smashed two with his axe before groaning.
"How many of these things are there?"
Cleghorn demolished a half dozen with one swipe and growled,
"Too bloody many!"
One of them ran towards Gem but I stopped it with a spell I'd invented.
"Dro quoira!"
It flew towards me and I aimed it at its friends as it wriggled in my telekinetic grip before blasting it through two more wolves. They all went to pieces and Cinders ignited them with a quick spell. The remaining monsters retreated once they were sorely outnumbered. I wiped my forehead as the cost of my spells caught up to me.
"Sheesh, good riddance to those jerks."
Everyone whole heartedly agreed as I retrieved Sunny from the tree I'd put her in. I'd read about the creatures in this world and there definitely was a variety. You had adorable ones like the Blue-Eyed Cuddle Snake, a snake that lived in northern climates that was a popular pet due to its friendliness and beautiful coloring. It had white scales with bright blue eyes and a low body temperature so it constantly sought out warmth. It was incredibly docile, coiling around creatures of all size from rabbits to ponies in order to absorb warmth.
But then there were the disturbing ones like the Glumrang. The Glumrang was a large reptile similar to an alligator but huge. It has either deep purple or dark orange scales depending on its habitat. It has no teeth so it has to swallow its prey whole. The most disturbing part was that it preferres to eat its food while still alive. It would splatter its hapless prey with its potent gastric juices which had several pheromonal compounds that, when a creature came into contact with, cause feelings of lethargy and euphoria. While said prey was doped out of its mind the Glumrang would slowly swallow it whole. It then spends the next few days digesting its meal. My book also had several fascinating descriptions of how it would run its tongue along it mouth to help increase the amount of gastric acid flowing into its stomach helping dissolve the meal faster. Thanks book. But the worst part is the fact that due to the sense of euphoria caused by its acids, those who are rescued from a Glumrang will attempt to find it again so it can eat them. If that isn't messed up than I don't know what is. Sounds like something the internet would come up with. I dunno, maybe lamias are worse given they hypnotize their prey and either eat or enslaved them while turning their brains to sludge. I swear, how do people here even leave their homes in this world.
We continued on our way, keeping an eye out for more nasties as we did. We entered a field of flowers and, when half way across, Leaflet gasped in horror.
"No! No no no!"
I looked around but just saw bright yellow blooms everywhere.
"What?"
She pointed to the flowers.
"This is Giggleweed! Amd we just... just...."
Her words slowly slurred as her cheeks tinted red and she started to giggle. We all slowly began to follow as a feeling of joviality and mirth filled our heads. Grip snickered,
"Pff! H-hey Leafy! What's so... so fu-*snirk*- funny about these?"
She giggled again as we all staggered around, hugging eachother and laughing.
"They! They make you- BWAHAHA! Go loopy!"
We all sunk down as we began to laugh out tails off. Fortunately we made our way out of the meadow but just sat down in the trees laughing and hugging.
"I-I swear you guys! I'm almost happy for once! Usually I have to-BWAHAHA- play a video game to be *snicker* happy. I'm always so full of barely suppressed anger and hatred!"
Everyone laughed and rocked back and forth. Cleghorn slapped my back.
"Yoor hilarioos! Thas good stuff!"
We continued that way for quite some time.