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SHIFT

Mission 007: Routine Mission

SHIFT Mission Briefing: We've had reports of a large manticore that has been expanding its territory. While there have been no casualties yet its territory is slowly encroaching onto settled land. Your mission is simply to relocate the manticore away from civilized areas before a confrontation can occur. Use of force will likely be required but it is preferential that you do not slay the beast. Manticores are endangered species and if anything happens to this one it will likely fall to one of you to replace it.

SHIFT Heroes Deployed on this Mission

William

Erakir

Alex

Kickaha

The manticore let out a savage roar as it charged the party of heroes. It came up just short of slashing a gray fox in two with his claws. William only managed to avoid the blow falling onto his backside and scrambling away. The manticore wasted no time though as he struck out with his scorpion shaped tail. William rolled to the side, but was unable to get completely out of the way as the strike tore through his green tunic sleeves leaving a dark shaped cut on his shoulder.

"Uggggh." William grunted as he was struck. "I'm hit! Why did it go for me anyway!?"

"I don't know!" Kickaha gave a shout. The phoenix child threw his green fire proof cloak over his shoulders as he slung a spell at the manticore. It wasn't a powerful one... Just a blast of sonic energy. But it was enough to make the manticore jump away from the fox. "Honestly, I have no idea how things went this wrong."

"Maybe it's because rather than take it by surprise, someone wanted to try talking the manticore into moving first!" Erakir dove into the grass next to William. The healer's robe fit tightly against her tigress physique as she lowered her staff near his shoulder. "Hang on... It's probably poison so this is going to take a moment." The tip of her staff began to glow as the cut on William's shoulder slowly melted away.

"Well I mean we didn't know for sure it was going to be hostile!" Alex gave a shout next. The green moon rabbit had his bow drawn and was knocking another arrow. "And I really thought the sleeping poison I coated these arrows in wouldn't take this long to take effect!" As he spoke he fired another arrow. It struck into the backside of the manticore. It was now one of many arrows that stuck out of the manticore's backside making it almost look like a giant porcupine. None of the arrows had so much as caused the monster to flinch yet. They had however made him rather grumpy.

"Really I'm shocked!" Kickaha spoke in a tone that implied otherwise. "I had heard that manticores were supposed to be famed conversationalist. I swear I read that in a library book at some point."

"Of course he has a quip even now." Erakir rolled her eyes.

"Guys is this the time?" William asked. He looked at the manticore. It had recovered from Kickaha's spell and shrugged off Alex's arrows. Now it was ready to charge.

"I'm afraid no matter how dire things get..." Alex held one arm to his side and shrugged. "Those two will always find time to be well them."

"Look I know this is my first time and maybe you're all more experienced... But I really feel we should focus on the problem at hand!" William protested. "We really need some form of muscle to hold that thing down so the rest of us can fight!" With this he looked at Erakir. Right now at over six feet of pure muscle the tigress was the most intimidating member of the group.

"What?" Erakir asked. "In case you didn't notice I'm slightly busy keeping the lot of you from dying. "Or would you prefer I have let you succumb to the poison?" The truth was Erakir had gained a certain amount of martial training recently. Most of it had been magically imparted by a rather annoying primate. However she had a job to do and she was quite dedicated to doing it properly.

"Ok one of them then...." William muttered as he looked to his other two companions. Of them Kickaha was currently bigger. The phoenix kid was a little over four feet. Alex was half the kid's size. Still... The size they were at right now wouldn't amount to a whole lot with what he was planning. That made the better choice Alex since he was actually an adult... But Alex was the only one proficient with a bow. He was the only ones who could reliably apply the sleeping poison. True, the arrows weren't working yet... But they were essential to the plan. Hit the manticore with enough and he'd be off to dream land. Then they'd be able to worry about relocating it before it woke. That meant... His only other option was Kickaha. "Hey kid!" He shouted.

"Hey I'm technically older than you!" Kickaha stuck his tongue out. One could believe that being in the body of a child for so long had made him less mature. They could believe that at least if they hadn't met him as an adult.

"That's not important right now!" William protested.

"GUYS PLANS!" Alex shouted. He had started to knock another arrow on his bow... But the manticore had apparently decided the last arrow in its back was one arrow too many. The manticore was now sprinting straight for Alex. The moon rabbit was forced to sling his bow over his back and drop to all fours to run. It was like watching a predator run down its prey. Alex was fast... But the manticore had size on his side and was quickly gaining. "HELP! PLEASE!"

"Look just work with me a moment!" William hissed to Kickaha. The gray fox through his bag to the ground. It was filled with an assortment of vials containing various liquids, powders and crystals. He uncorked several of them dumping them all into one flask and shoved a cork into it. He shook the flask hard to mix the contents, uncorked it and ran over to Kickaha. "Drink this!"

"This seems ill advised." Kickaha responded. Despite his verbal protest he grabbed the vial and downed its contents with zero hesitation. The phoenix began to change immediately. His feathers vanished while he started to grow in size. His wings took back on the shape of normal arms, though they became much shorter in length on him. "Hey thought you said we needed muscle? They don't look like they'll do much damage."

"Oh the animal this potion is for isn't exactly known for their upper arm strength!" William explained. "But trust me when it comes to brute strength, he's the king."

"Oi!" Erakir gave a shout. "I swear if that turns out to be a pun I will whack you on the head. Hard."

"Uhhhh." William muttered.

"The king huh?" Kickaha mused as he continued to change. The weird thing was that some of his avian bone structures were staying the same. However most of his feathers were replaced by scales. The only plumage of feathers remaining ran down his backside and large stiff tail that grew out. A single larger feather stuck out of the very tip of the tail. Kickaha's beak gave way to a massive maw filled with sharp teeth. His body lurched forward as his center of balance shifted making it impossible to stand upright. Meanwhile Kickaha had continued to swell in size. The once scrawny four foot bird was now an eight foot tall prehistoric monster.

"I warned you." Erakir immediately bonked William on the head with his staff upon seeing Kickaha's t-rex form.

"OWWWWWW!" William whined. "Though you know if I used it on one of you we'd have had an adult one that would be bigger than the manticore.

"Why couldn't you just drink the potion yourself then?" Erakir asked.

"That would be ridiculous!" William asserted. "Look at the arms on it! I wouldn't be able to mix any more potions up like that!"

"STILL IN MORTAL PERIL!" Alex gave a shout.

"Guess it's my turn then." Kickaha muttered. "Alright let's get ready to rumble." With that he took off running towards the manticore, each step causing the Earth to actually rumble.

"HEY!" Erakir shouted after him. "Don't think you won't get whacked too! Just cause you're an enormous dinosaur doesn't mean my staff can't reach your head!"

Kickaha ignored the tigress while he charged the manticore. The manticore technically still had more mass on him than the young tyrannosaurus, but Kickaha was taller. He threw all his weight behind his head as he slammed it into the manticore knocking it away from Alex.

"Oh thank goodness..." Alex muttered as he quickly ran between Kickaha's legs getting behind the t-rex. Now that he was safe he drew his bow again and reached for another poisoned arrow.

"It's alright." Kickaha smiled showing off way more teeth than Alex needed to see. "I've got this." He looked at the manticore who was already back up onto all fours. "Alright then big boy. You ready for a blast from the past?"

"I hate you all." Erakir threw up her hands and turned away from the fight.

"You know he's really taking to this quite well." William mused. He smiled as he watched the fight between ancient predator and magical beast. "Many people might find that transformation disorienting or try to resist it."

"Maybe..." Erakir shrugged while still refusing to watch the fight going down. "But trust me, you won't be on these missions long before you long to just sort of roll with it."

The manticore swung his claws for Kickaha. The young t-rex quickly shuffled backwards and swung his tail around. It hadn't evolved to be used as a weapon... But it was still very thick and heavy. It was enough to knock the manticore out of his attack who was forced to strike back with his own tail. The stinger stuck into Kickaha's leg. He let out a groan but didn't back down.

"Guess I'm up again." Erakir muttered. "Can't have him dying from poison before the manticore goes to sleep from our poison."

"Wait how did you know what happened if you weren't watching?" William asked.

"A good healer always has situational awareness." Erakir replied as she lifted her staff into the air. A wave of warm light was released from the staff striking Kickaha and healing the wound upon his leg.

"Looks like this might be under control now..." Alex was carefully aiming with his bow. With the t-rex in the way the manticore didn't have time to worry about the tiny moon rabbit. However he had to be precise with his shots. The manticore and the t-rex were constantly going at it and shuffling around. A single stray shot might strike Kickaha by mistake. It would have probably been rather impolite to poison his own ally... Not to mention he really didn't want to lose his meat shield. So he waited patiently until he had a clear shot... And then let loose another poisoned arrow striking the manticore in its mane. This time it let out a roar of protest.

"I think we've almost got it." William smiled. "At the very last it has to be wearing itself down physically by now. And adrenaline is only going to help spread the poison through its veins."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAWR!" The manticore had an opinion of its own. It spread its wings and leaped into the air high above Kickaha. It then dove down at Kickaha with four sets of claws visible. It was aiming to combine its own weight with gravity to cleave the t-rex in two.

"This might be bad..." Kickaha muttered. "Or would be... But you might be shocked to know my arms are not as useless as they appear." Kickaha gestured with his claws. In an instant a bolt of lightning leaped out from them striking the manticore in the air. There was a loud crack of thunder as the manticore fell out of the sky landing with a loud thud.

For a moment it was still. Then the manticore rose to its feet again. It began to step forward but seemed to lose its footing and collapsed again. The beast looked around frantically for a moment but then seemed to lose focus. Its eyes closed and its breathing slowed. It had finally fallen asleep.

"Well that took long enough." Alex muttered. "I'm going to have to look into more powerful poisons in the future."

"Well I guess... That's one problem solved." William stood up and put his bag back on. "Now all we have to do is move it. Luckily we already have a large beast of burden. I guess we'll just need a cart to load it into."

"I object to being a burden!" Kickaha responded. He stuck his massive tongue out from his maw. "A nuisance, a scamp and maybe even a rapscallion but not a burden."

"But that's not even what I-" William started then stopped. "You're misinterpreting my words just to get a rise out of me aren't you?"

"No idea what you're talking about." Kickaha tried to smile and look innocent. With so many teeth it only made him look predatory. "How long does this last anyway?"

"Oh you know it'll wear off eventually..." William responded. Then he quickly muttered one more thing under his breath. "When it gets overwritten by something else."

"What was that?" Kickaha asked. He didn't get a chance to get an answer before Erakir approached him. The tigress gripped her staff by the very end and so she could give the t-rex a good whack on his head. "OWWWW!"

"That was for the rumble joke." Erakir responded. She then proceeded to bonk him two more times "And that was for the other two."

"Is this punishment really necessary?" Kickaha asked.

BONK!

"Still all things considered that was... A lot easier and faster than normal." Alex muttered.

"That was easy?" William seemed doubtful. "From what I recall that manticore almost had rabbit stew."

"Well just..." Alex didn't want to voice his thoughts that usually everyone managed to screw up at least twice by now.

"Why wouldn't it be easy?" Erakir asked. "This is what a routine mission is supposed to go like. Honestly, I'm just happy to see you guys are almost catching up to me. I mean aside from the point where you kept getting poisoned. But hey, improvements all around." Erakir spoke the next words in a complexly flat voice. "So good job I guess."

With the manticore defeated the next order of business was transporting it. Erakir and William departed to a nearby town to fetch a cart. Alex and Kickaha were left to watch the manticore. Every few minutes Alex was sure to apply more of the sleeping poison. Now that it was unconscious he could just drip the poison into the creature's mouth. He shivered the first time he did it. The beast's mouth was large enough to swallow him in one gulp. Things he didn't want to think about... And another reason that made his job so important.

"Don't want him waking up till long after we're done with him." Alex spoke as he dripped more poison into the manticore's mouth.

"I guess that makes sense." Having born the brunt of the beast's attacks Kickaha was also determined to see it stay down. A giant murderous manticore awakening in the cart and catching them off guard was something even he would consider a dire situation. "Should probably make sure it's tied down pretty good too. Maybe tie its tail up." Having been pricked by its poisonous stinger Kickaha wasn't in a hurry to experience it a second time. As a result when the other two returned the manticore was heavily poisoned and tied up. Erakir quirked an eyebrow at this as they returned.

"Considering how resistant it was to the poison..." Alex explained. "I didn't think overdosing was a huge risk... But I really wanted to make sure it didn't start moving so I tied it all up."

"And I supervised!" Kickaha responded smugly. "I would have helped but..." He waved his tiny t-rex arms.

"Uh huh yeah." William laughed. "But hey you'll get to help now! After all there's a big job only you can do."

"Why do I feel like you're setting me up for a punch line?" Kickaha asked.

A moment later Kickaha had a cart strapped to him. Alex, Erakir and William sat on a bench in the front while the manticore had been loaded into the cart's back.

"Just for the record..." Kickaha lectured. "That kind of joke only works when you haven't already announced your intention to do this to the person. Come on now!" He seemed to be more upset about William's attempt at humor than he did about being made into a beast of burden.

"Oh hush already." Erakir replied. "Put those giant chicken legs to work and get to walking."

"Chicken?" Kickaha huffed. "I'll have you know these are at least turkey leg quality!"

"Is there a version of that potion that leaves him unable to talk?" Erakir asked.

"Well yes I suppose so..." William seemed. "But I thought that wound be counter-productive to us working together as a team."

"You thought wrong." Erakir replied dryly.

"Hey come on let's just be happy!" Alex said. "The mission is almost over, everyone is ok! And nothing weird or world ending happened this time!"

"Do weird or world ending things normally happen?" William asked.

"Oh he's exaggerating!" Kickaha piped in happily. "He's not much more of a veteran than you! I mean things aren't really world ending! Just world threatening! Or maybe world endangering! Oh or perhaps world hassling!"

"Ignore him." Erakir rolled her eyes. "I always do."

"What exactly happened on your previous missions?" William asked.

"Not a whole lot." Erakir shrugged. "Had some monsters, and a guy that was full of himself. And then there were faeries. Nothing really out of the ordinary."

"She's not painting the full picture!" Alex protested. "From what we understand now... Apparently we messed with the summer and winter faerie courts."

"That sounds bad." William replied.

"It is!"Kickaha replied.

"It was unfortunate to get involved..." Erakir conceded. "But it's not as if we're at active war with them. As long as we steer out of the way in the future there's not much to worry about. Besides, didn't they fit you out with some cold iron arrows just in case?"

"Well yeah..." Alex muttered. "But they made it sound like they could be done with all of us with the wave of a hand."

"If they were that big a threat I don't think we'd have actually been able to foil any of their plans." Erakir replied. "You worry too much."

"I see..." William spoke in a slow tone. He didn't entirely agree with Erakir. And while she seemed confident everything was fine and Kickaha was well... Kickaha. William and Alex found themselves feeling ill at ease now. They kept a watch on the trail and the nearby forests as they traveled as if expecting something to pop out at any moment.

Nothing seemed to come. Instead after several hours the cart reached its destination without any problems. Nothing attacked them and the manticore never woke up. Kickaha bit down gently on the manticore's nape to avoid hurting it and dragged it out of the cart. It didn't even move.

"Dang." Erakir bent down and touched two fingers to the enormous beast's neck to check its pulse. "Hmmm, still alive, and still breathing too. It's going to be fine... But Alex... How much of that poison did you use?"

"Enough." Alex responded.

"Think you need to cast a healing spell on it before we leave?" William replied. "My understanding is the goal for it is to survive."

"It'll be fine." Erakir said. "Probably going to have one heck of a headache when it wakes up. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near it."

"Then I guess that's it." Alex replied. "Mission accomplished! We can go home!"

"Huzzah!" Kickaha let out a happy roar. "In fact I dare say it a second time! Huzzah!" Everyone else flinched at the roaring dinosaur and looked to the manticore concerned it might wake. It didn't even stir.

"Seriously, how much poison did you use?" Erakir was awe stricken.

"ENOUGH!" Alex repeated.

"Guess we're done then." William replied. "Time to head back home. I call driver's spot!"

"Oh oh I want shotgun!" Kickaha replied.

"You can't call crossbow!" Erakir replied.

"Why not?" Kickaha did his best to manage pleading juvenile t-rex eyes.

"First off." Erakir muttered, and then reached up and bonked Kickaha on the head. "And second off, you can't ride in the cart at all, you have to drag it."

"Sorry pal." William smiled. "But you are bigger than the entire cart."

"Bigger than you..." Kickaha muttered to himself as he returned to the front of the cart so he could be strapped to it again.

It only took a couple of minutes for everyone to get setup. With Kickaha strapped to the cart William held the reigns while Erakir sat in the passenger spot and Alex between them. Everyone was in a hurry to get out of there as fast as possible. They had beaten the manticore once but weren't eager for a rematch.

Once the group had made it more than an hour out they started to calm down. Even if the manticore woke now there was no chance of him tracking them down. Now they could just enjoy the ride back to headquarters.

"So think anyone has ever come back victorious from a mission on a dinosaur drawn cart?" William asked.

"Not likely." Erakir shrugged. "I mean the dinosaur drawn cart sure. I bet that's happened at least three times. But victorious? Unlikely."

"So wait is it really a first?" Alex gave Erakir a stare. He was pretty sure the mission he had been on was technically a success.

"Welcome to the club of barely competent." Erakir said smugly. "You'll find it's a small circle! But I guess you're all in it now for not screwing up! Except you Kick."

"Heeeey!" Kickaha whined. "I'm halfway competent at least and you know it!" This got a laugh out of William and Alex, and a glare from Erakir.

The laugher soon died though as they came to a sight in the middle of the road. There was another cart, one with a canvas covering. It was currently tipped on its sides and parts of it looked broken.

"Well that's not good." William muttered. "What do you think. Bandits? A monster?"

"There's always got to be at least one last problem doesn't there?" Erakir huffed and cross her arms as she got out of their cart and approached the wrecked one.

"Let me take a look." Alex jumped down. Erakir was good at judging wounds and medicine... But when it came to woodwork that was where Alex excelled. He studied the cart's frame for awhile and paused looking around.

"Well don't keep us in suspense." William said. "What is it?"

"I'm... Not sure." Alex responded. "Something did this very recently. The wood is very new, recently finished. Like it was the first time the cart has ever been taken out. But something smashed the front axle completely... Could be a monster if it slammed into it, but could also have been a blunt object. I found tracks leading away from the wagon."

"That doesn't seem too weird." Erakir replied. "Especially since we guessed something attacked it."

"Well that's the thing." Alex muttered. "I only see one pair of tracks. They're small and human shaped... I think a child."

"Doesn't seem to out of the ordinary." William muttered. "I mean if a kid was being attacked why wouldn't they run off?"

"You don't understand." Alex said. "I don't see any tracks for what attacked this... Or any monsters or bandits. Just the child's. Would think you would see more tracks, at least of other victims, or their remains."

"Maybe it gobbled them right up." Erakir replied. "Either way, it's really none of our business."

"It's a lost child on their own." Alex retorted with an edge to his voice.

"I didn't say I wouldn't do anything." Erakir replied with a huff. "Simply that it wasn't our business. So which direction did it go?"

"Into the woods from here." Alex responded. "The tracks are fresh, I'll have no difficulty following them." The moon rabbit crouched low to the ground as he began to creep towards the woods.

"Guess we're on a new adventure already." Kickaha started to walk after him.

"Hang on Kick!" William called. "Maybe you should come a bit behind us. If there is a frightened child running from a monster... Well we probably shouldn't open with prehistoric monster. And if it turns out to be some kind of trap... Prehistoric monster is a pretty good ace to spring on people."

"I getcha. Stealth mode." Kickaha muttered.

"I don't think you can do stealth looking like that." William replied.

"You'd be surprised." Kickaha flashed a toothy smile. However he kept his distance letting the others advance without him.

Alex didn't have difficulty following the trail. Whoever left it hadn't done much of anything to keep anyone from picking it up. They couldn't have made it easier if they wanted to be followed. The prints left in the dirt were clear. A human child without shoes had left them. Grass had been disturbed, twigs and vines pushed aside as something ran through them. It wasn't long before they found who the tracks belonged to.

Just as Alex predicted it was a human child. She looked to be somewhere around the age of nine or ten. She wore a bright blue and green dress that now had several tears on it but no shoes. She was curled up hiding beneath the roots of a large oak tree. She was trying to hold back sobbing and occasionally making choking noises from her effort. Her golden colored eyes stared at the heroes uncertainly as they approached.

"Huh well there is a girl." Erakir gripped her staff protectively as she slowly scanned the area looking for possible threats.

"Hey... Come on!" Alex was the first one to approach the girl. "Don't cry... We're here to help. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Who... Who are you?" The girl asked. As she did she tried to move back further beneath the tree.

"It's ok! Look! I'm a friend!" Alex replied. As he spoke he watched the girl. He noticed she had her eyes set on his bow and quiver the entire time. He slowly unstrapped them from his back and set them on the ground. That appeared to make the girl less scared.

"I had friends..." The girl replied. "But they're all gone. They were supposed to protect me... And now... And now..."

"That's okay it's okay!" Alex said. "Look tell me what happened."

"There... There was magic! And... A monster! And he had friends! And... Now they're all gone!" The girl replied.

"Look I need you to calm down." Alex said. "The monster isn't here... But we need to know what happened."

"But I'm all alone..." The girl sobbed. "No one to protect me..."

"I'll protect you." Alex replied.

"R... really?" The girl crept slightly forward out from under the roots.

"Sure!" Alex smiled. "We can all help! I don't want to brag! But we already defeated one monster today!"

"Consider myself at your service as well." William bowed. "William Swiftfoot, charmed to make your acquaintance." The introduction got a giggle out of the girl.

"I can help too!" Kickaha responded. The trees parted ways as the dinosaur made his way forward. The girl let out a gasp but made no attempt to run. "There's nothing here scarier than me right now after all!"

With that the three turned and looked at Erakir. She had been looking at the girl with a thoughtful expression this entire time. She paused when she noticed everyone staring at her.

"What?" Erakir asked. "Look stop staring! Do we need to get so sappy here? Fine whatever, I'll help too but I'm not making going to make a big deal out of it."

"You... You really mean it?" The girl asked.

"Absolutely." Alex replied. "So please, tell me what happened."

"Well in that case..." The girl crawled out from the roots and stood up. Suddenly there was a regal air about her and her dress was no longer torn. "The pact has been sealed." And then with those words she vanished.

"That's not good." Erakir gripped her staff tighter while looking around.

"Pact? What pact!?" Alex asked.

"I'm not sure... But I'm pretty sure we just got tricked." William muttered.

"You think!?" Erakir hissed. "Now I don't know what kind of ridiculous thing is going to happen but-" before Erakir could finish her sentence the tree directly behind her was cleaved in two. She had just a brief moment to process what had happened before it was upon her.

A massive red creature with a lion-like body, large wings and a scorpion tail. A large amount of arrows stuck out of its backside and one even stuck out of the side of its mane. It looked absolutely livid.

Erakir's ears flattened as she realized she was in trouble. The manticore swung its massive paws down at her. Her brain screamed at her legs to move but she wasn't fast enough. Not to get out of this way, not from this close a distance.

"ERAKIR!" William shouted as he grabbed a potion from his pack and threw it at Erakir. It shattered against the ground as the liquid erupted out of it landing upon Erakir's paws. A puff of smoke covered her entire body just as the manticore's paw slammed down upon it.

Everyone stood in silent dread for a moment surveying what happened. The manticore slowly lifted up his paw waiting to strike the next target. Beneath it were Erakir's robes and now broken staff. The tigress herself was noticeably lacking.

"E... Erakir." Kickaha looked absolutely devastated surveying the scene. No one knew what to say or do as they stared down the monster.

But then they were all interrupted by furious squeaking coming from the forest floor. Everyone looked down to see an absolutely furious looking rat running across the forest floor. Its fur was white but it had blue tipped ears just like Erakir.

"What did you do?" Alex asked.

"I panicked! It was the only thing I could think of!" William explained. "I didn't have any potions that I thought would make her able to withstand the hit... So I thought the next best option was making her a smaller target that could slip away!"

The rat that was Erakir stopped at William's foot and stared up at the fox. She squeaked angrily at him but currently seemed incapable of normal speech.

"I didn't have a lot of time to be choosy!" William had a general idea of what she might be saying.

"Why didn't you just use it on the manticore?" Alex asked.

"Pretty sure it wouldn't have worked." William replied. "Judging from how it reacted to poison I think it has a pretty powerful constitution for shaking off foreign substances."

The manticore responded by letting out a roar and charging again. This time Kickaha was ready. He met the manticore mid charge pushing back at it with its head.

"So I know I can't be the only one wondering this..." Alex spoke as he grabbed his bow and began to search through his quiver for more poisoned arrows. "But how is that thing here? We left that thing way back."

"I don't know but it's clearly angry!" William shouted. "Are we sure it's the same manticore."

"They're not exactly common!" Alex shouted. "And he still has all of my arrows sticking out of him!"

"Guys I don't want to alarm you..." Kickaha was slowly being pushed backwards. "But he's stronger than the last time we fought him..." As Kickaha spoke he tried using the same trick as last time and fired a bolt of lightning from his tiny arms. The manticore roared in pain but was not flung back. "I might be in trouble." Kickaha was forced to take an entire step back as the manticore stabbed at him with his tail. With Erakir currently a tiny feral rat it was doubtful she would be providing much healing.

"Clearly you didn't use enough poison after all." William replied. "Hope you're ready to pelt that thing full of arrows."

"Trying but it's not easy."Alex was aiming his bow. "Got Kickaha in the way making it hard enough to aim... But with all the plants for cover... Individual shots are going to be hard, and he needs a lot to go down."

"Then we better get you a better vantage point." William dug through his pack before combining more bottles together and then handing the potion to Alex. "Drink up."

"Do I even want to know what it's going to do?" Alex asked as he drank the potion. Much to Alex's surprise as he drank the potion his size didn't change much. He might have lost a couple inches, but his bow was still decently sized for him. The former green rabbit's ears did suddenly get a lot wider though. Meanwhile a membrane formed along his arms that stretched against his side. Once it had grown in all the way it was clear he now had wings. His muzzle was narrower and his paws were much smaller. His toes were more flexible though which would allow him to easily grip things. It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened. He was a bat now.

"Take your shots from above!" William instructed.

Alex nodded. The bat wasn't able to hold the bow in his hands and fly at the same time so he had to grab it with his feet instead. He flapped his new wings taking into the air and getting above the fight. Loading and aiming the bow was a bit tricky using his feet... But he was fairly certain he could manage it now that he had a mostly clear shot.

"Now we need to get you back in the fight." William scooped Erakir up off the floor and quickly ran to put some distance between him and the manticore. Once a safe distance away he began to dig through his vials again.

Above the trees Alex was doing his best to strike the manticore with arrows. It took a few tries before he got the hang of firing a bow with his feet; but he was making slow progress hitting it. Only three new arrows now stuck out of the manticore's backside. Just like last time though it didn't appear to be nearly enough to keep the manticore down. Alex just hoped he had enough poisoned arrows left to finish it off. At this point exhausting his supply was becoming a real worry.

Kickaha was busy holding the manticore off. It was physically stronger than him now and he was rather concerned about how fast it shrugged off his spell. The young t-rex jumped backwards away from the manticore as he began to try a new spell. It was a bit difficult making the proper gestures with his arms but he was starting to get used to it.

"Since lightning didn't do anything let's try fire." Kickaha muttered as a ball of flames appeared between his hands. The ball flew outward from him striking the manticore right in the face before exploding into a vortex of flames. "Bulls eye!" And then the manticore proceeded to walk forward completely unharmed. "What the heck!? Are we sure this is the same manticore!?" Kickaha stumbled back clumsily just in time to avoid the beast's stinger.

"Pretty sure." Alex said. "Unless someone uses completely identical arrows to me and shot a second manticore in completely identical places."

"Well he wasn't able to shrug off spells last time!" Kickaha complained as he threw his weight against the manticore. The best thing he could do right now was to savagely beat back it. The manticore was stronger... But its strength was wild and uncontrolled. Kickaha could be more deliberate with his strikes as he did his best to weave away from the monster's claws and bite at its mane. The manticore arched up its tail as if preparing to strike again... But instead of lashing out the stinger launched from the tip of the tail aimed straight for the dinosaur. Kickaha was forced to flee behind a tree for cover only for the stinger to go most of the way through the tree and stop inches from his flank. "Well that's new."

The manticore let out a roar as a new stinger grew in immediately to replace the one it had thrown out. It began to whip its tail back and forth and launched the stinger again. As soon as one was gone a new one grew in. Soon it was sending them flying throughout the entire clearing.

"EVERYONE TAKE COVER!" Kickaha shouted. He suddenly found himself greatly disliking his large size as best he could do was run away placing as many trees between him and the stingers as possible.

Up in the air Alex had it a bit better. He had a clear view of the stingers before they were launched and had much more freedom to move around. Very few of the stingers even flew upward and those that did he was able to quickly fly out of the way of while returning fire.

William and Erakir were a bit less lucky. William had quickly been mixing a potion up to try and change Erakir back into something that could cast spells again. Erakir sat on his shoulder while he worked mixing the ingredients but the potion wasn't done by the time the stingers came flying. William dove down onto the ground to avoid the stingers and he and Erakir were unharmed. Unfortunately, the stinger pierced the branches of the oak tree they were under severing one of its branches. The branch came crashing down landing atop William's pack crushing many of the glass vials within.

"Oh... Oh that's not good." William quickly ran over to his pack trying to salvage what he could. Liquids were bubbling out of it pouring over the oak branch that had landed atop it. William's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen and he tried to dive for cover. He was one second too late. There was an explosion of liquid that jumped out... And a moment later William's hat, boots and clothes fell to the ground as a foot tall gray furred squirrel leaped for over. "The potion got mixed with acorns." William complained. He tried to get back up on two feet. He was small, but he still seemed to have the use of his hands and voice so it wasn't the worst possible scenario.

"Squeak!?" Erakir ran up on all fours and addressed him.

"I'm working on it!" William muttered. "This was not according to plan!" He looked at the broken remains of his pack and then to Erakir. "I... I think I can still make something just help me find the right ingredients! My stuff is everywhere! I need a mana crystal! A light blue one!" With that Erakir and William scrambled looking for the potion ingredients.

Kickaha had escaped the volley unscathed and was circling back in. As he did he summoned another spell. He remembered the blast of sonic energy had been effective in the last fight so was going to give that one a try. The t-rex let out his own primal roar as he cast the spell and charged in. As the thunderous echo was released from his hands he had hoped it would knock the manticore back and he could finish it off with a head butt. Instead just like the previous spells the manticore seemed to shrug it off and met Kickaha at full strength knocking the dinosaur backwards onto his back before striking at him at his tail. Kickaha scrambled but on his back he was defenseless. What was he supposed to do anyway? Every spell he tried bounced right off the manticore!

"Oh!" Kickaha's eyes widened. They bounced off the manticore. That meant he needed to try slinging spells at something other than the monster. He thumped his tail against the ground to channel magical energy into the Earth itself. He could see the manticore preparing to pounce upon him. He didn't have time much time.

The manticore reared upward onto its hind legs preparing to strike the killing blow. Then suddenly the beast went rigid as it fell over awkwardly as something snagged its hind legs. It looked down in confusion to see that its legs were now buried in thick mud. The manticore roared furiously and tried to pull free only to find that its forelegs had gotten stuck when it fell over.

"Got you." Kickaha smiled. "You might resist my magic... But the ground itself isn't so stubborn." Transmuting dirt to mud had not been a difficult feat. And with the manticore as heavy as he was, he was sinking right into the mud. Kickaha groaned and began to stand back up. He had only changed the ground directly beneath the manticore and was still in a safe area himself... Yet he felt unsteady as he stood. Then he became aware of a sharp pain in his leg.

He looked down and saw the problem. One of the stingers from the manticore was sticking out of the side of its leg. It must have got him when it struck. That meant the poison...

Kickaha tried to focus his senses. He had to finish he fight while the manticore was stuck in the mud. That wouldn't hold it forever. He could feel his body growing weaker from the poison though. He didn't have much left himself. That meant he'd have to give everything he had in one last blow.

He lowered his head to charge... Then suddenly felt some of his strength returning to him. There was a warming sensation coming from his wound.

"Honestly..." A white and blue rat spoke up that was clinging to the side of Kickaha's leg. "I can't leave you alone for five minutes." Erakir had regained a humanoid form even though she was still a rat. Without the use of a properly sized staff the range of her magic was limited so she had scaled right up Kickaha's leg to get to the wound. A warm light was coming from the tips of her paws as she held it over Kickaha's wound. The stinger slowly pushed itself out as his flesh was knitted and the effects of the poison faded.

"Alright here we go..." Now at full strength Kickaha charged. He head butted the manticore with all his strength in the face. At the same time Alex continued to rain down arrows on it. The manticore let out a yelp of pain and then finally ceased struggling to free itself from the mud. Its eyes closed again and then it was silent.

"Did... Did we do it?" Alex flew down and floated in the air next to Kickaha.

"Think so..." Kickaha was panting heavily as he watched the manticore nervously unsure if it would start moving again. "I... I don't know if I knocked it out or if the poisons did it... But it's done."

"Probably a combination of both." Erakir replied as she slid down from Kickaha's leg. She was still only around six inches tall but was happy to have the use of her voice and her magic again.

"Okay so..." William scurried up to the sight of the fight. He had salvaged what he could of his potion ingredients and rolled them into a smaller pack he had made from some of the torn cloth. "Does this mean we have to transport it back again?"

As soon as he asked the manticore's body began to glow with a bright light. The manticore's body began to lose its shape and was soon just a large ball of light. It floated in place for a few moments before shattering and completely vanishing. The forest was completely silent for a few moments... Then the silence was broken by the sound of excited clapping.

"Absolutely wonderful." It was a woman who spoke as she seemed to appear from nothing. She appeared to be in her thirties now. She wore the same bright blue and green dress as the young girl, but also wore a crown of flowers in her hair. She wore no shoes and had pointed ears and gold colored eyes. "And don't worry, that wasn't the real monster. Just a facsimile I made to test you. I thought the first one was a bit easy so made some adjustments."

"Who are you?" Alex was the first to react. He had his bow ready and pointed at the woman.

"What a rude question." The girl spoke in an annoyed tone. "You should never ask a girl her name. Names have a certain power after all... If you must refer to me as something... Then I suppose Queen Summer will do. And I must say... I'm so happy you all agreed to work with me... But I needed to make sure you were up to the task."

"Sorry but I don't think we ever agreed to-" William started to say.

"You clever thing." Kickaha spoke in an annoyed tone. "That was quite underhanded. I would almost find it respectable had you not done it to me."

"So you've figured it out?" Queen Summer smiled. "Oh yes, the pact has already been made."

"It was a trick..." Erakir muttered. "I knew it couldn't be as simple as it appeared."

"Well... We can just refuse right?" William said. "I mean pact or no it wasn't made in good faith! She can't force us!"

"That's right!" Now that Alex knew who he was dealing with he had a plan. He switched the arrow on his bow to one of his cold iron arrows and aimed directly for the queen's heart. "This is cold iron. I'm pretty sure this will actually hurt you. Now we don't want another fight, so maybe it's best we all leave."

"Oh? You would shoot your queen?" Queen Summer asked. "Right after you agreed to protect her?" She took a step toward Alex.

"I... I..." Alex slumped as he removed the arrow from his bow. "I can't."

"I can understand." William replied. "A certain level of chivalry is hard to suppress."

"No I literally can't!" Alex explained. "My body... It won't fire the arrow no matter how many times I try!"

"That's right." Queen Summer explained. "You made your pact. You promised to protect me. And I will hold you to that promise. The seasons turn. Winter nears. Summer must have her knights. It's only fair. After all... The last knights I tried to raise were taken from me. Now... Off we go, we have preparations to make."

"Look you just can't-" Kickaha started to say but didn't get a chance. The Summer Queen waved her hand and suddenly the clearing was empty. There was no sign of the queen or the party of heroes. Everything was silent.

SHIFT

Mission 007: Routine Mission

Mission Status Unknown