Chapter 5: A Life or Death Mission

It's been a full twelve years after the first mission, and word of their might spread, they were given the name, The Dragon Slayer Family, or Dragon Slayers for short. Maclin is an official member of the Baile army, he is striving to be the general but has a long way to go. Maclin is the first choice for an away kingdom mission. Lancalot has dedicated most of his time to reading, and uncovering mysteries of the world. Valinteena spends most of her time with the livestock. Milena is drunk all day, then sleeps. And When Lazariss isn't sleeping he is either helping with minor things in the kingdom, or secretly honing his skills. He does it in secret to avoid fights with Maclin. You see Maclin believes that he is more worthy of the Dragon Blade and challenges him for it but has never won yet. And now we resume our story with Lazariss.

Lazariss "no clouds, Birds making lovely music, perfect day for a nap. Or at least it would be if you weren't here, Lancalot."

Lancalot "you don't sound very happy to see your own brother?"

Lazariss "not when you interrupt my naps. Why are you here?"

Lancalot "there's an um disturbance at one of the pubs."

Lazariss "Milena?"

Lancalot "Milena."

Lazariss and Lancalot get down from the rooftop that Lazariss was sleeping on, and head to the pub.

Lazariss "how is Maria Doing?"

Lancalot "oh she's a delight. And full of surprises as she showed me last night."

Lazariss "seriously? Huh, I'm sure she won't be the last. What is that your reading today?"

Lancalot "oh this wonderful book? It's called-"

Lazariss interrupts him "on second thought don't tell me. You'll go on for it for quite some time, and I'll just fall asleep."

Lancalot "what doesn't put you to sleep?"

Lazariss shrugs unable to think of anything, he then asks, "which pub is it?"

Just as he says that a chair is sent flying through the window of the pub they were standing in front of.

Milena's voice "I said another round! What's wrong?! You better not be running dry on me!"

Lancalot "I think you'll know it when we get there."

Lazariss "somehow I think your right."

They both walk into the pub as People run out terrified, and the pub keeper is giving Milena more rum, and shaking in fear. There are smashed tables and chairs everywhere. The only ones still intact are the ones Milena is using.

Milena "burp. Ahh that hits the spot! Keeper more!"

Lancalot "hey Milena, how are you doing?"

Milena "hey, it's my brothers, it's good to see you! It's been to long!"

Lazariss thinks to himself "she's talking like we haven't seen each other for a year or something." He then speaks "we saw you just this morning."

Milena just smiles and drinks her rum happily.

Milena "felt like a long time to me! Burp!"

Lancalot "huh, Milena."

Milena "that's my name, hehe. What can I do for my older brothers?"

Lancalot "father has requested our presence for an urgent meeting, now."

Milena "I'll be there when I finish up here."

Lancalot "I think you've had enough. Plus, if you keep it up the pub keeper will be out of rum and a job."

Lancalot reaches for Milena's mug to take it away from her. In a mere second, Milena loses her smile, and reaches for her scythe on the floor, and swings it at Lancalot.

Milena "don't ever tell me that I've had enough! Raahh!"

Milena swings at Lancalot, he blocks with his nun-chucks and is sent flying back and hits the wall. Lazariss draws his sword.

Lazariss says sarcastically "you just had to try and take her rum away, didn't you?"

Both Lazariss and Lancalot play defense not wanting to hurt Milena, even though she intends to hurt them. Milena is furious, every swing from her scythe is strong enough to smash solid rock. With every word she yells, Milena delivers a devastating blow.

Milena "don't! Ever! Touch! My! Rum!"

Lazariss is blocking with the flat of his blade, and Lancalot is blocking with the chains of his nun-chucks.

Lazariss "we have to end this soon, or the entire building is going to collapse!"

Lancalot "working on it!"

Lazariss and Lancalot manage to pull off a combo counter and nock Milena back for a minute.

Lancalot "I've got an idea! Follow my lead."

Lazariss "come up with another half second plan, right behind you."

Lancalot points to the rum behind the bar table. Lazariss nods understanding the plan. Lancalot moves behind Milena while Lazariss has her attention. He then restrains her with the chains of his chucks, Milena kicks furiously to get free. Lazariss grabs a bottle of rum and uncorks it. He puts the open end in Milena's mouth. As the rum flows down her throat, her cheeks turn red, and she stops kicking. Lancalot then let's her go. As soon as he does, she jerks the bottle away from Lazariss and chugs it.

Milena "that hits the spot! What the hell are you two waiting for?! Let's go to that meeting!"

Lancalot "I stopped trying a long time ago."

The three of them head to the castle for this urgent meeting their father has requested. They walk through the door to the meeting room, and it's made plain and clear that everyone has been waiting awhile for them.

Leon I'm tempted to ask what took so long, but we could here the fighting from here."

Lancalot "yeah, getting Milena here was a bit more difficult than we thought."

Lazariss "a bit? I've got bruises over broken bones."

Milena just smiles innocently. Merlin slaps Lazariss on the back, his hand was infused with magic and healed him instantly.

Maclin "If you two train more often then this wouldn't have happened."

Lazariss "oh shut up. If I recall correctly, Milena kicked your ass last week."

Maclin stands up clenching his fists, "that was only because she caught me off guard!"

Lilynette annoyed yells, "shut up and sit down, all of you!"

As fast as they can Lazariss, Milena, Maclin, and Lancalot sit down in their chairs and stop talking. Merlin goes to the back of the room and listens.

Leon "let us begin. The Kingdom to the West, Cath Reidh has requested help from us."

Valinteena "what is it this time?"

Leon "King Kevin believes that there is a group of rebellion fighters in his borders who plan to attack him and his people."

Lazariss "why can't they handle a few rough fighters themselves?"

Leon "because King Kevin is more worried and busy with a strange illness that has been affecting the people of his kingdom. They were hit by this strange illness a couple of weeks ago."

Lancalot "perhaps I can help. I have read many books on common and strange illnesses. I have enough experience with this kind of thing to help them effectively."

Leon "I agree and your right, but I have something different in mind for you Lancalot."

Milena "so who's going then?"

Leon "I'm glad you asked. Maclin, Milena, and Valinteena, the three of you will be going to Cath Reidh."

Valinteena "no! I refuse!"

A sudden silence fills the room. No one expected Valinteena to suddenly yell or speak against her being assigned to the mission. It caught them all off guard.

Valinteena "I don't care about the lives of a bunch of humans, their illness is their problem. Who cares if they all die, it wouldn't be that big of a problem anyways."

Leon "I'm not sending you there to fight. The West kingdom is very proud of their large supply of farm animals. I'm sending you there to help move the animals from the cross fire and protect them."

Valinteena smiles cheerfully, "what are we waiting for? Let's get going."

Valinteena runs out of the room, Maclin and Milena follow her as they head to Cath Reidh.

Lazariss "well if that's all there is; I'm going to go take a nap."

Leon "not so fast Lazariss. I have an assignment for both you and Lancalot."

Lazariss "well there goes any and all nap time for me for the rest of the day."

There is a sudden loud noise outside, and a lot of commotion can be heard clearly from inside the castle. Maclin and Milena's voice can be heard arguing.

Lilynette "I'll handle it."

She kisses Leon on his cheek and jumps out the window to where Maclin and Milena are causing the commotion.

Lancalot "I'm glad I'm not going with them now."

Leon "you and me both. Now for your assignment. You are going to be delivering chickens to a village not too far away."

Lancalot "why not send Valinteena on this one?"

Leon "because you will be delivering the chickens as a source of food."

Both Lazariss and Lancalot "oh."

Leon "yeah. And we've got more than enough chickens to spare."

Lazariss "why do we need to make the delivery? Why not send a couple of soldiers or something?"

Leon "because the village is in the Temo forest."

Lancalot "the Temo forest?"

Leon "yes, that's where the letter I received said to deliver them."

Lancalot "so you received a letter from someone in the Temo forest? But who could possibly live there? The Temo forest is one of the most dangerous places in this region."

Leon "that's going to be your job to find out."

Lazariss "wait, letter?"

Leon "yes, I received a letter through a carrier raven."

Lazariss "so let me get this straight, you received a mysterious letter from a carrier raven that asked you to deliver a bunch of your kingdoms chickens to a supposed village in the Temo forest, and your going to send your sons into this forest, not oh I don't know hired mercenaries or someone who has gone into the forest and come back out alive. And it's well known that people who go into the Temo forest never come back, or if they do it's in pieces."

Leon "yes. But my sons are some of the strongest warriors in the country, and they have weapons that can emit fire at will, and just one of these said weapons can devastate an entire army."

Lazariss "…ok you got me there."

Lancalot "once again our father wins a battle of words."

Leon "the crates have already been loaded onto a wagon. There waiting for you at the front gate."

Lazariss and Lancalot leave the room and head for the front gate. Now that they had their orders, they go their separate ways. We will be looking at Maclin's group first. The kingdom Cath Reidh is a good distance away from Baile, even on horse back with no extra weight holding them back it will take them three days to reach the kingdom. When they reach Cath Reidh the common grounds and the higher up residences look like a ghost town. There is a light mist surrounding the kingdom, and it looks as if no one has been residing in the housing areas for a while.

Maclin "what the hell happened here?"

Milena "this doesn't look good at all."

Valinteena "where is everyone, and more importantly where are the animals?"

King Kevin "it may not look like it, but most people are held up in their homes, while the sick are being treated."

Maclin "your majesty."

Maclin, Milena, and Valinteena start to bow their heads, but King Kevin raises his hand to stop them.

King Kevin "the sons and daughters of Leon do not need to bow to me."

Maclin "so an illness did all this?"

King Kevin "yes, the illness and fear. Someone put something in the rum, and water."

Milena "the rum? Monsters!"

Maclin "don't worry King Kevin, we will handle it from here."

King Kevin "may the Gods watch over you all."

The sound of stomping feet on the ground echoes through the air, just outside the gates of Cath Reidh a large army of rough soldiers is heading towards the kingdom. There are about three hundred or so heading to finish what they started.

Maclin "huh, it looks like there are a couple hundred heading this way. I can see why they are such a problem. Milena you're with me, Valinteena you go and rescue those animals that they have."

Valinteena runs to where they keep their livestock with great speed. The rough soldiers ignore her because their target is the kingdom. Maclin puts on his gauntlets and slams them together as sparks fly from the impact. Milena draws her scythe and spins it around just for effect.

Maclin "let's do this."

Milena "this is for the rum and the wine motherfuckers!"

Both Maclin and Milena charge at the rough soldiers' head on. With one destructive punch, Maclin shatters a man's shield and the shockwave sends all the men on his right and left flying off their feet. Milena uses her style she calls "executioner style" and takes off the heads of the rough soldiers one by one, each one with a single swing of her scythe.

Milena "come on you bastards! I'm going to kill all of you!"

Maclin "she's fired up."

Now for the other side of the battle, in the common area's there are rough soldiers who are searching houses for wounded and sick to kill, they are also killing and animals they find just to fill their blood lust. As one of the men raises his sword to kill a chicken, Valinteena strikes him down without anyone noticing until it was too late.

Soldier "out of the way woman, or are you just eager to die?"

Valinteena "you're not getting past me. And if you think you can, then go ahead and try."

The men charge at Valinteena, she swings her mace at them, crushing two of their skulls at once. She makes quick work of the next two and simply separates their legs from their torsos.

Soldier "what the hell is she?! She's not human!"

Valinteena "I really do hate humans. They are nothing but trouble, it would be better if you all just died."

Valinteena waste no time and through one man's chest, and the force splits his body in half.

Soldier "no wait! We surrender!"

Valinteena slams her foot on his throat crushing it. Blood flows from his mouth. Valinteena raises her mace above her head.

Valinteena "sorry, but we weren't told to take any prisoners."

She brings her mace down crushing his head. She then finishes the rest of them off not wanting to risk the safety of the animals. The battle rages on for two hours, only because Milena and Maclin take their time. In the end Maclin, Milena, and Valinteena come out as the victors.

Valinteena "I hope father will be proud of me."

As Valinteena finishes on her end, Maclin, and Milena reach the end of their fight with the rough soldiers and finish off the few that remain. Afterwards Valinteena regroups with them.

Maclin "let's tell King Kevin that our work here is done."

They head to the castle and enter the main room. Inside are rows of sick people laying on the ground as they are being treated.

They head to the castle and enter the main room. Inside are rows of sick people laying on the ground as they are being treated.

King Kevin "excellent work, I expected nothing less from the children of King Leon, the Dragon Slayer."

Maclin and Milena stand tall and proud of their work, while Valinteena could honestly care less. She just wants to hurry up and leave.

King Kevin "as a reward, here are three crates of our finest rum, and yes they are free of any poisons and such."

Maclin "by the way, did you find out-"

Milena interrupts him "rum!" she then hugs the crates.

Maclin "as I was saying, did you figure out what the strange illness is?"

King Kevin "yes, and it's not an illness, poison, or virus. It's some kind of venom."

Maclin "venom?"

Now we go to the Temo forest (Temo means Black) where Lazariss and Lancalot are traversing the thick forest to deliver five crates of chickens. The Temo forest is always covered in a light fog, though it can still be seen through. And as the names says, one cannot see very far into the forest, and the clearing is pitch black. On the second day Lazariss and Lancalot are still trying to find where they need to deliver the chickens, a trip that should have taken a single afternoon. But Lazariss and Lancalot keep getting turned around and have terrible sense of direction. There constant arguing over which way is the right way to go isn't helping either.

Lazariss "I'm telling you we are lost."

Lancalot "We wouldn't be lost if you would stop saying; hey that looks the same as before, every hour!"

Lazariss "You know you don't have to listen to me every time."

Lancalot "Shut up. I've got a bad feeling about this."

Lazariss "That is the third time you've said that."

Lancalot "Well I do!"

Lazariss "yeah, me too. How far is this so-called village anyways? We've been riding for two days now."

Lancalot "we would have been there already if we didn't keep getting turned around, and if you didn't fall asleep four times. That's why I'm leading the way now…hey are you listening? Oh, come on again?!"

Lazariss dozed off while Lancalot was talking. They continue to ride along the only path they could make out. Eventually they reach a clearing and it's rather large. In the clearing are twenty-four or thirty houses, and there is no fog or mist in sight. Half of the houses are made of wood, and the other half are stone. One house stood out from the others, it stood in the middle of the village and was taller than the rest.

Lazariss "think this is the village?"

Lancalot "most likely. And I'm willing to bet that this bigger house is where the leader of this village resides."

They stay on the wagon and move closer to the house in the middle. Lazariss and Lancalot take a good look around the village but can't find even a sign of anyone around or living in the village. Keeping their guards up Lazariss and Lancalot as the wagon moves further into the village. Suddenly Lazariss senses something wrong and jumps off the wagon.

Lancalot "what's wrong?"

Lazariss "shh! Listen."

Lancalot closes his eyes and focuses on the sounds around them. He hears a faint rustling. Lancalot stands up and puts his hands on his nun-chucks, while Lazariss puts one hand on the handle of his sword.

Lazariss "we are being watched and hunted."

Lancalot "yes, but the question is by who or what?"

The dark outlines of what is watching them appears in the shadows of the trees just outside the village. Something wraps around Lazariss' leg and pulls him into the shadows.

Lancalot "Lazariss! Damn it, what is going on here?!"

Whatever is hunting them is moving from cover to another without being seen and blinding speed. Lancalot manages to catch a glimpse of what is in the shadows, and to him it looked like a snake.

Lancalot "show yourself! There is no point in hiding anymore!"

Lazariss walks out from where he was dragged to and brushes leaves off his shoulders.

Lazariss "calm sown, everything's fine."

Lancalot "Lazariss, what is going on?! You're ok? What is it that just took you?!"

Lazariss "Jeez so many questions, just relax they're not dangerous or a threat. You can come out now. Like my brother said, no point in hiding anymore."

One by one the people that were hiding came out. Except they're not people at all. They are lamias, creatures with the upper torso of a human, and the lower body of a snake.

Lancalot "Lamias?"

Lazariss "it appears so."

Lamias are an all-female race, their tails can reach lengths of fifteen meters, and while they have scales on their tails the only other place on their bodies where you will find scales is their long-pointed ears. The color of the scales of a lamia vary, but the most common colors are red, green, light brown, and black. Their hair color is also the same as their scales. Most lamias don't like short hair and let it grow long, for most lamias their hair reaches down their back.

Lamia clothes is a bit risque, only covering the chest and below the belt. The clothes are made of a rare material that only they know of and have access to. Their clothes also have special designs and accents attached to them. The colors of these clothes are black, white, red, or grey. The accents are made of silver or gold, but gold is usually for lamias with higher authority than others. The last piece of clothing lamias have is a special type of glove, the clove covers their forearm, the back of the hand, but leaves the palm exposed.

Other than that, not much else is well known about lamias, because a couple hundred years ago many groups of lamias went into hiding to avoid speculation. Because of their snake like bodies many people feared them are cast judgment on appearance, and blamed people disappearing on them. So, to avoid it all they just left all the problems and kept to themselves. Now back to the story.

Lazariss "so, who ordered a couple crates of chickens?"

Woman's voice "that would be me."

A lamia a bit taller than the rest emerges from the group, her hair and scales are black, and the accents on her clothes are gold. The other lamias in the village are either red or green, and they have silver accents. It is clear to both Lazariss and Lancalot that she is the leader and has a great deal of authority.

Silvia "my name is Silvia, and I am the leader of this village. Some call me queen, but in truth I'm just the leader of this village."

Lancalot "my name is Lancalot."

Lazariss "my name is Lazariss. So, I'm guessing that you sent that letter to our father."

Silvia "indeed I did. Hmm? I have heard the tail of the legendary Leon and Lilynette the dragon slayers, I've even heard stories of their children, but I didn't imagine that the sons of Dragon Slayer Leon would be so charming and so handsome."

She circles around them getting a better look. The other lamias are whispering among themselves, and a couple are giggling.

Silvia "not bad, not bad at all."

Lancalot "you flatter us Queen Silvia."

Lazariss whispers to Lancalot "hey don't say or do anything that we will both regret."

Silvia "oh please just call me Silvia, after all you came all the way out here to deliver us the chickens you brought. Speaking of which. Please retrieve the crates."

A small group of lamias take the crates from the wagon and take out the chickens, then place them in a pin that they had prepared.

Silvia "oh and sorry for attacking you, we don't get many visitors, especially male visitors. So, we got a little excited."

Lazariss "sorry if I'm being a little rude Silvia, but why exactly did you attack us?"

Silvia "again sorry about that. You see most humans who come into the Temo forest are hunting for rare prey and if they find us, they try to kill us, or they are scared away by our appearances. It's just so rare for us to get friendly visitors. So, we acted on defensive instincts. Again sorry."

Lancalot "that must be very rough for all of you."

A lamia hugs Lancalot out of nowhere, wrapping her whole body around him tail and all and says, "finally someone who cares."

Lancalot "your all…very…passionate."

Lazariss "one more question. What are you going to do with the chickens?"

Silvia "oh because our supply of eggs is running low. And if there is anything a lamia loves, it's eggs."

Lazariss "I see."

A messager raven lands on Lancalot's shoulder. In this land instead of something like pigeons they use ravens to deliver messages across large and far areas. He takes the letter and reads it.

Lancalot "hmm…it's from our brother and sister in Cath Reidh. That strange illness that the people have been suffering with turned out to be some kind of venom."

Lazariss "venom? Great now we need to find some sort of cure, don't we? Huh, more problems today."

Lancalot "to be more accurate, we need to make an anti-venom. But that could take days or weeks even with all the right materials."

Silvia "venom you say? I believe we can help with that. Lamias are also quite skilled with poisons, toxins, and venom, but we need a sample first."

Lancalot "luckily they sent that with the letter. Guess Maclin either thinks or knows that I can make an anti-venom."

Lancalot hands the sample over to Silvia.

Silvia "excellent. But if we are going to help you, we need to make a deal first. Or more specifically an equal exchange."

Lazariss "figures, a trade for a trade of sorts. What kind of deal exactly?"

Silvia "nothing complicated. You just have to spend the rest of the day in our village and visit at least once a week. So, what do you say?"

Lazariss "alright, seems fair and reasonable to me."

Lancalot "why do you want us to spend the rest of the day here, and come visit at least once a week?"

Silvia "It doesn't have to be you two every week. The reason being is that it can get quite lonely here, so some new and kind faces would be nice. Well deal or no deal?"

Lazariss and Lancalot "deal."

The entire village helps in making the anti-venom, and in only one hour there is enough anti-venom for half a country. Lazariss and Lancalot load the wagon and head for Cath Reidh. It takes them two days and nights to reach the kingdom, the anti-venom is given to every sick member of the kingdom and everyone who was infected made a full recovery.

Lancalot "wow strong and quick acting. Lamias are really good at what they do."

Maclin "Good thing you got here when you did, any later and there may have been more deaths. But don't let it get to your head, I am the one who saved this kingdom not you Lazariss!"

Lazariss "yeah yeah, I don't really care. You can be the hero of the year if you want, makes no difference to me."

Maclin is the oldest out of his siblings and Lazariss is the youngest. Despite the age gap Lazariss quickly grew in strength and skill and rose above his brothers and sisters. Maclin still can't accept that his younger brother could be stronger than him. To him he was supposed to be on top and teach his brothers how to be strong, not watch as the youngest rose above him, especially one as lazy as Lazariss. Maclin came to the conclusion that it was the Dragon Blade giving Lazariss his power and swore he would claim it for himself no matter what it took.

Maclin knew that he couldn't just take the sword as the Dragon Weapons choose their masters not the other way around. So, he would prove himself better by defeating Lazariss. He tried many trials from sparing matches, foot races, arm wrestling, fist fights, hunting, and so on and so forth; but every time Lazariss won, all two-hundred and thirty matches. This still angers Maclin, but no matter what he has not given up and won't any time soon.

Lazariss "come on Lancalot, we still have a deal to uphold."

Lancalot "how could I forget."

Lazariss and Lancalot head back to the Lamia village without telling their brother or sisters about it. When they got back, as promised they spent a whole day in the village. Meanwhile Maclin, Milena, and Valinteena head to the castle and enter the main room.

King Kevin "excellent work, I expected nothing less from the children of King Leon, the Dragon Slayer."

Maclin and Milena stand tall and proud of their work, while Valinteena could honestly care less. She just wants to hurry up and leave.

King Kevin "as a reward, here are three crates of our finest rum, and yes they are free of any poisons and such."

Maclin "by the way, did you find out-"

Milena interrupts him "rum!" She then hugs the crates.

Maclin "as I was saying, did you figure out where the venom came from?"

King Kevin "sadly no, it is a complete mystery as to how the rum got contaminated by the venom. I'm sorry but I cannot help with that."

Maclin "No worries your majesty. We will be taking our leave now."

King Kevin "safe travels to you."

Maclin, Milena, and Valinteena go home to tell their father that the mission is a success. By the time they reach Baile, Lazariss and Lancalot will have finished spending their first day with the Lamias to complete their deal.