//------------------------------// // 32: Under De Swamp // Story: Dark Body, Light Soul (Or the Tale of the Stalfos) // by Garino //------------------------------// Chapter 32: Under de Swamp So the way it's looking now, it's six against one, enemy's favor. I say six against ONE because the dog I helped had suddenly lost his spine and ran behind me for cover. Sighing, I took a defensive stance, challenging the pack to pick a fight. I bet you just wish you could go one day without a fight, don't you? Bard chuckled. More like fifteen hours, but honestly, who's keeping track? I asked. I readied my sword, which wasn't charged: I had felt tired after using the healing spells, which meant I was probably out of mana. Knowing that no mana meant casting from my own health, I decided to play it safe. I tapped my sword against the ground, ready to begin. Two dogs charged me, one on either side so they would flank me. Tricky bitches. Thankfully, I can be just as tricky, if not more so. I threw my shield at the right dog and slashed at the left dog. I heard two yelps as both dogs retreated back into the pack. As my shield flew back to me, I caught it and turned to the group. I tapped my sword against the ground again. "Who's next?" I asked. The other four stepped forward, spreading out. Just like the previous group, they planned to surround me and take me down. I grunted; how am I going to deal with all four of them if they all planned on attacking me head on? I decided to repeat the process from last time. When they charged, I threw my shield at the right dogs and slashed at the left dogs. While I hit both of the dogs on the left, the shield only repelled one on the right. The remaining hound, which had one helluva tackle, hit me and pinned me to the ground. He grinned at his prize, ready to attack the throat. As he went for it, though, he yelped in pain and turned around. Behind him was the black dog, its mouth clamped down on a tail. The leader forgot about me and attacked my new friend, leaving me with the other five to deal with. When I turned to the pack, though, three of them ran, tails between their legs. The other two, one from each attack, had lowered their heads and bared their fangs at me. Instead of waiting on them, I decided to launch the attack by charging at them, shield raised and sword lowered. Both had jumped, and time slowed down. Just like my fight with the king, I thought. Left dog's front right leg. Right dog's mouth. Left dog's tail. This time, I hit the spots in that order. I used my shield arm to hit the left dog's front right leg, hearing a bone-shattering *crunch!* My sword sliced the right dog's head in two by going through his mouth. Finally, I somehow grabbed the left dog's tail with my shield hand and, using what strength I could gather, tossed him into the wall. Now, you would think that with slicing a dog's mouth, it would cause a spray of blood. I thought so, too. But instead, the body lingered for a moment before vanishing in a cloud of blackness. The other dog wasn't getting up, but it was still alive. Three runners, one dead, and one incapacitated, I thought. Let's deal with the leader now. Turns out I didn't have to worry about the leader. Looking behind me, I saw that the black dog had ripped his opponent's throat out. He barked happily as the body disappeared. He walked a few steps towards me before stumbling and falling. I sighed. "Guess you got injured from fighting these goons, huh boy?" I pointed out. The dog could only nod. He got up again and walked towards me again, this time a bit slower as focus was on staying up instead of getting to where he needed to be. I sheathed my sword and picked up the incapacitated grey dog that had attacked us. Maybe one of the others could tell me what it was. Our trip back to the stairs was a lot slower than mine was to the torch since I now had more weight, doubled with an injured dog walking by my side, trying to stay up. And I didn't think to bring the torch with us, either. Not until it was out of sight and we couldn't see three feet in front of us, anyway. After about an hour of slow walking, I saw a light by the stairs. Figures that THEY would have some kind of light, Bard said. I know. Least they could do was throw one down to me when they kicked me, I replied. Either way, I called out to them to get their attention. "WHERE WERE YOU, DANIEL?!?" Wisp yelled. ...well, if THAT'S how I'm gonna be greeted, I might as well go back topside and forget about the group. But, as it is, I need as many allies as I need, so... "Heard a noise and went to investigate," I answered. "Found a pack of dogs attacking this one, so I intervened." While Wisp was clearly annoyed at my actions, the others looked at the newcomer with interest. Morva was being carried by Shiira, still out like a light. Marcy examined the dog, looking at the wounds both new and old. "Seems like that pack did a number on you, boy," she mused. "I'd take care of you here, but we need to keep moving. Should we keep him?" The dog barked, as if wanting to tag along. Shiira, Wisp, and Jack simply shrugged their shoulders and started to converse with each other, not really caring about him. Melody had started to pet him, making him happy for the attention. Morva was out like a light, so he didn't have a say. Drac glared at the dog, obviously not liking the idea. But, if he had any objections, he kept them to himself. "He can come along," he said. "We'll patch him up, but he'll be Daniel's responsibility. So keep an eye on him," he ordered me. I gave a quick salute before the question came to mind. "Um, what breed of dog is he, exactly?" I asked. Suddenly, everyone went silent. They looked at him in confusion as he tilted his head, possibly not understanding my question. I didn't think I was going to get an answer. "Let's get going. The real hideout isn't that far away," Drac finally said. Yeah, didn't get an answer. ---Later, one turn before the REAL hideout--- "...and that's what happened," I finished. After confirming that it was a complete waste of time to carry around the grey dog, I had dumped him off to the side and left him. Our new friend had jumped onto Marcy's back, trying to keep his balance on the potion maker. Everyone else, except for the still-KOed lizard, was walking or hovering behind Drac. We were about to turn the corner before he stopped us. "Before I let any of you in, you each have to make a promise: this location does NOT exist. What happens in here, STAYS in here, no matter how awesome or humiliating the memory. If you break this promise, you will wish you hadn't. Am I clear?" "Yes, sir," we all answered. Including Morva, who was still somehow still out of it. Impressive, all things considered. "Very well," the vampiric lord said. He motioned for us to turn the corner. As we did... ...I was still disappointed. Just a lot less so than before. In front of us was a huge mansion. Three stories high, had a front yard garden and gate, and it seemed like the whole place was cleared out just for this one house. All around, there were creatures tending to everything: earth ponies in the garden, pegasi flying around and washing off stray spots on the house, and through the windows, I caught a unicorn (in a maid's outfit! SCORE!) dusting off the sill. I could only imagine what exactly was inside. (In case you were wondering, I WAS expecting it would be a castle. This was Dracula, after all) "Fillies, gentlecolts, and undead of all ages," Drac chuckled, "welcome to my humble abode." He then said something in a language I didn't quite understand. We walked past the gate, through the gardens, and into the mansion. And let me tell you, there was nothing 'humble' about this place.