Chapter 29. Dragon hunters

Unlike my new dragon I still couldn't see squat in the night light but she seemed adamant that someone was there. So I started to make my way in that direction, after making sure I had my duel spear of course but I left it in my inventory for now. Being invincible didn't mean I suddenly knew how to win a sword fight with people that thought themselves good enough to kill a dragon.

"How many are there?" I asked as I started to walk.

Tarakona matched my pace as we got closer, frost seeming to drip from her mouth as it stayed in a perpetual growl.

I did some mental calculations as Tarakona had landed around sunset with it being close to midnight now. That meant they had injured her a decent ways away if they were only catching up now.

[Five. Two mages, two shield users and a blade user.]

Oh. Magic.

What the hell was I supposed to do about that?

I tried looking through my previous rewards but apart from my Void inventory and trespassing I didn't really have anything that would stop a mage.

Current quest: Prove to livestock Tarakona that she is safe on your farm.

Reward: Owner and livestock gain immunity to rapid temperature decline.

There was also my new quest as it had been a day since I accepted the one to travel to the Centaur village. The reward was nice and definitely catered towards my new frost dragon but still didn't help me. I was also really hoping getting rid of the hunters somehow completed it.

Tarakona

Comfort too low. Production stopped as a result.

Production quality: F-

Well I should have expected as much. Wait production stopped? That's new. Zeldi had been just above twenty percent when I first got her and she was still producing so I wonder what the cut off percentage is? I want to assume twenty but it could be fifteen.

Tarakona comfort requirements:

And just like Zeldi had been I didn't quite know Tarakona's comforts.

Tarakona (Dragon)

Status: Angry

Position: Nest maker

Product: Dragon Eggs (F-)

Harvestable: No

Still gave me access to this screen though. Was I trying to distract myself? Maybe a little bit.

Unfortunately I ran out of space to keep procrastinating as the boundary came up and I stopped just before crossing it.

"Where am I looking?" I whispered trying to spot anything in the darkness.

[Right in front of you.] Came the reply.

We waited for a bit neither of us moving until a shape formed out of the darkness with a lamp that started to glow a ugly shade of red.

Tarakona growled and the ground in front of her froze. This frost carried on forming until it reached the lamp holder. The red light however seemed to slow the gathering frost and stop it from completing reaching it's holder.

"You must be a healer, and a powerful one at that to bring that dragon back from death's embrace." The stranger seemed to hiss in an oddly feline way.

That was proven correct a moment later when a tail as black as midnight waved lazily behind him. If he wasn't wearing a hood I'd be expect cat ears.

"Something like that." I said back checking my inventory to make sure my spear was still there.

A twig snapped somewhere behind him to remind me he wasn't alone.

The stranger shifted his shoulders and revealed a shield the size of his body along his back. "Good. Dragon parts sell for a lot so being able to regenerate them will increase our profits."

"That's assuming I'll be helping you." I kept my voice even but there was still some bite to it.

The cat man laughed. "You expect to be able to stop us from taking it? Who do you think you are?" He stepped up closer, not close enough for the boundary to stop him but close enough he could touch me if it didn't activate.

I rechecked the conditions of trespassing to make sure and only myself and my livestock were able to enter at night. Traders were allowed during the day but anyone else was blocked.

"Just a man who's going to make your life harder." I responded watching his cloak part as he walked.

He had an impressive set of armor on underneath that seemed to be made of dragons scales and a build that said he knew the hard life. There was also a scar along his jaw in a pattern that resembled three claws but whatever had caused it was definitely smaller than Tarakona.

"You and what army..." He trailed off as he tried to grab my shoulder. The boundary line flared up to stop him.

"No army. Just me."

Tarakona made a sound that could have been amusement but was hard to understand.

"What is this?" The cat man hissed as his fist came up and he struck the boundary line. It flashed to show it was there but didn't yield.

"My land, and your not welcome." I stated. He didn't seem like someone who would just give up so easily but I really doubted my chances of winning a fight.

The twang of a bowstring broke through the night as the arrow bounced harmlessly off my chest. I tried following the trail it came from but was met with only shadows. The red light was robbing me of whatever night vision I had.

"Who are you?" The cat man asked again this time with more interest than he had before.

"As I said. Someone that's going to make getting your hands on my dragon harder."

"Your dragon? Whoever you are that dragon was downed by us, we have an order from the Baron of these lands to kill it. So unless you want to piss off..."

"Yes." I interrupted.

"Yes what?"

"Yes I want to piss off the Baron. Doing the same to you is a bonus but humor me with my question. Apart from living what has Tarakona done that should result in her death?"

"You named it already? You're dumber than you look. It's a dragon." He answered as if that was all that was needed.

"Going to need more than that." I spat back. "What's to stop me from killing you because of what you are?"

"You can try." He hissed as two more arrows flew from somewhere in the trees. One hit me in the head and bounced while the other did the same to Tarakona's snout.

[Master those arrows are tipped with a powerful narcotic. To me it would make me sleepy, you however it would stop your heart.]

Good to know.

I didn't really have any way to kill him except for my spear in my inventory.... Okay scratch that I have the perfect way to make them hesitate.

I was about to do something really risky. I was so glad yet again that Zeldi wasn't here or I wouldn't be able to hear the end of it.

Stepping up close to the cat man I got up in his face hoping his pride would force his hand. It did perfectly. He pushed his chest out in an effort to look intimidating as I approached but all I needed was a single moment.

My moment came when he reached out and wrapped his hand that wasn't holding the lantern around my neck. The boundary was behind me so it didn't stop him but all I wanted was the armored glove, and I needed to be touching it.

The metal was cold and his grip instantly stopped my ability to breathe, I tried to look like I was panicking but in truth I was praying this worked.

Reaching both my hands up to his arm I grabbed the metal bracers and prayed. Then I mentally sent the whole set of armor into my inventory. It was one thing after all.

The cat man dropped me on instinct the added bulk disappearing with the armor.

"What did you do?!" He screamed as his claws came out.

"Took your armor. Going to be hard to kill a dragon without it." I danced back into my land as his claws almost reached me and threw his armor to the ground far enough into my land he wouldn't be able to get it.

A fireball formed in the shadows and flashed out only to hit my head and dissipate. Couldn't even be burnt. Good to know.

Another fireball formed in the shadows illuminating another feline man but instead of aiming for me it was sent above my head. I thought whoever had cast it missed until I saw it's trajectory.

It was aimed for my house.

"Nooo!" I cried out. Zeldi was in there.

She would be safe but our food and her clothes. Not things we could replace easily.

Tarakona moved quickly despite her bulk to intercept the magic with her tail. The fireball exploding in the air but far enough away that it didn't hit the house.

They can't enter but it still doesn't stop them attacking.

I stepped forward after he bounced back from the boundary grabbing the lantern and doing the same thing I'd done to his armor. The light vanished but his claws moved faster than I expected cutting grooves in my abdomen while an arrow sunk itself into my left thigh.

I let out a cry at the pain attempting to get back onto my land but another arrow found my other leg and I collapsed. This one had some kind of rope attached that pulled me further away from my land before I could react.

They knew! Dammit they figured out the boundary.

"Tarakona! Freeze them!" I called out as I hit the ground and tried to keep my stomach from opening further.

[But Master you'll be caught in it.]

"Do it!" I yelled out feeling the effects of the narcotic. My limbs grew cold and numb far quicker than anything I expected and I dropped them too my sides as they stopped listening to me.

Please Zeldi have been right about deed owners resurrection, because I'm going to be testing that real soon.

Claws sunk into my back and I was lifted up by the cat mans single arm. Some part of my bones groaned from being used like that but I couldn't find the strength to resist.

"Your dragon can't kill me human. Even without the heat lamp or did you forget?"

He followed this up by bringing his shield up between Tarakona and himself. I coughed out a laugh and with whatever strength I still had threw my weight into the shield and sent it into my inventory as well.

"How about now?"

A voice called out from the trees. A warning perhaps? I didn't know I was loosing consciousness, the last thing I made out was Tarakona taking a very large breath before everything went black.

Deed owner has died.

Livestock Zeldi will be given the choice of resurrection.