A Monster Life Ch. 19-21

* Another episode of Ulric and his party of sexy adventurers is here, and the intrigue is showing a first sign.

I wish I could write faster because I really want to introduce some of the characters that are coming. It'll make for plenty more episodes though.

Enjoy the tale, and a big thank you to all who support me!

*

19 - Ambush

'Oh great, it's going to be cold when I wake up.' said one bandit to another while he watched thick strands of fog roll into the clearing. 'I hate fog.'

The other took a swig from the wine in his mug. 'Drink more then. That'll keep you warm.'

The first one laughed. 'Who needs that as an excuse to drink more?' he said and drank.

When the fog became thicker the bandits stoked up the two fires they had burning and a few of them wrapped themselves up in their blankets expecting the cold.

'It's as thick as soup.' grumbled one. 'As if it's cursed.'

Another one glanced around and held his dagger tight. 'Did anyone see something move in there?'

'What are you talking about, Remo?' grumbled Kels, the burliest one of the group and their leader. 'You're just seeing shadows.'

'Fog or not, I still gotta go.' said another bandit and headed for the edge of the trees.

Kels kept watch on the spot where the other faded from sight, then jumped at a crack of a branch and a muffled cry. 'Fedra! What happened!?'

'Tripped, damned! Hurt my face!' was the answer from a covered mouth.

'Damned idiot.' muttered Kels and drank. It seemed to him that every time they were stuck in fog every sound became louder. Rustling of leaves, creaking of branches, birds flapping their wings, creatures scurrying around. And he hated the cold damp.

He stopped drinking. Something wasn't right with this fog. The cold damp was missing. And the weather hadn't turned cold enough as usual to get fog. He looked around and counted the men he saw, and realised there were less than before. A short chocking sound at the edge of his sight raised his suspicion to alert level. 'Alarm! We might be ambushed!' he shouted and took out his sword as he stood up quickly.

The others around him became livelier and armed themselves. 'Took! Where are you?' one asked.

'Has anyone seen Horm?' asked another.

'Hey! Who goes the-' said another before the sound of wood hitting something hard cut him off.

'Attack!' yelled Kels and the next moment an arrow pierced the side of his arm and he cried out loud.

Trivian appeared from the fog with drawn bow while fighting erupted around them, and fired another arrow at Kels, but he stepped aside faster than expected and the arrow struck the ground.

Kels grimaced in anger as he lunged at and swung his sword at Trivian. Trivian held out his bow in protection, blocking the cut but the force of the hit cut his bow and tumbled him to the side. Kels held up his sword to deal another blow on Trivian but cried out at the stabs in his back and fell forward.

Bea hurried towards Trivian. 'Are you okay!?'

Trivian held up one half of his bow. 'Only mostly.'

Bea held out her hand to help him up when Trivian's eyes went wide, and grabbed her wrist and jerked her towards him before Kels could slash her with his sword.

He pulled one of her daggers from his back and threw it to the ground. 'You didn't think this was the first time I've been stabbed in a fight, did you now?' he grumbled and swung his sword back, and Trivian pulled Bea against him with his broken bow still in hand. 'That bow isn't going to help you any longer!'

Kels lunged forward to stab but Trivian pushed up on his knees, pulled Bea aside and thrust out an arrow with his other hand into Kels's throat.

Kels gurgled a cry as he clutched his throat, stumbled, and fell to his knees.

'The bow is only half of the weapon.' said Trivian and kicked against the back of the arrow to send it straight through Kels's thick neck.

Kels fell forward on his face and Elzbieta appeared out of the fog. She looked down at the body, then at the two young adventurers. 'Nice.' she said and gestured with her head to the side. 'But don't dawdle, we have a few more to take out.'

Bea nodded, retrieved her daggers, and disappeared into the fog again while Trivian grabbed a bow from the bandit's packs and followed her.

Not much later the fog had lifted from the clearing and the surviving and wounded bandits had been tied together in the middle while the group of adventurers looked around in satisfaction. 'Well done.' Elzbieta said. 'This was just like the missions I had before.'

Iphigenia wiped her sword thoroughly clean. 'I'm just happy we suffered no damage.'

Bea smiled at Ulric. 'I don't think I'd ever come up with creating fog by combining my water magic with Trivian's fire magic.'

Ulric washed his paws with water from a sack. 'I just thought of it in the spur of the moment.'

'Still, smart.' she said and turned to Trivian. 'You know, that was kind of awesome, stabbing that guy with just an arrow.'

Trivian blushed lightly and wagged his tail. 'A little trick I learned during early hunting, when predators came too close.' he said. 'But thanks for saving me before.'

Bea wagged her tail. 'Thanks for saving me after.'

Iphigenia watched the two and chuckled. 'Let's go drop this rabble off at the guards and see Rufert about closing the quest.'

***

Rufert read the note from the guard stating how many bandits were locked up and how many were killed, and looked up at Bea, who had handed it to him. 'Good work.' he said and looked at the others. 'I'm glad we didn't have to deal with those bandits for too long a time.' He took the guild cards from Bea and Trivian. 'You certainly deserve your points.'

Ulric growled in Kaui's ear and she handed Rufert their card. 'My master requests you give half of the points to Bea and Trivian. They were the ones who took out the leader.'

Bea and Trivian turned their heads towards him at once. 'Really!?' she asked and Ulric nodded. She jumped forward and hugged him tight. 'Thank you!'

Trivial smiled. 'Indeed, thank you. You didn't have to.'

Ulric dismissed it with a wave of his hand. 'My master says it's only natural to reward you for what you've done.' said Kaui.

Bea looked up at Ulric. 'You know, if you have a need for another fighter in your group, or for other uses besides fighting..'

Ulric coughed and blushed while Iphigenia giggled and Elzbieta stared blankly at him. Kaui cleared her throat. 'My master is very flattered but thinks you're too young and inexperienced to go adventuring far from your home already.'

Trivian huffed. 'Bea, stop teasing others.'

Bea giggled, let go of Ulric and hopped back to Trivian. 'Jealous?'

He poked her nose. 'And stop teasing me.'

She stuck her tongue out at him and grabbed his arm while she winked at the others.

Rufert handed the cards back and they all were satisfied with their status. 'A few more quests under their guidance, and I think you've gained enough experience to work on your own.' he said to Bea and Trivian.

Trivian looked at Ulric and his group. 'Is that okay?'

Kaui smiled. 'My master will be glad to help you when he can.' she said and looked at Iphigenia and Elzbieta. 'And so do we. But first we go celebrate our successful mission.'

***

The other patrons at Monna's inn congratulated the group when they heard about their success and drank to their health, and each time they recalled what was said about the fight, Ulric's cunning plan and the powers of Bea and Trivian grew and the fights became bloodier, but the group enjoyed the cheerful mood and let it be.

'So, the mighty fearful black canine is actually a sweet puppy.' said Monna with a wide grin when Ulric retrieved a tray of full mugs from her counter. He blinked at her and she laughed. 'I heard you gave Bea and Trivian half of all points. That's quite a high value for beginners.' He grinned and shrugged, and she laughed again. 'Let me treat you to a special drink as a thank you.' She reached down for a bottle and cursed, then picked up a tray covered with a cloth. 'I totally forgot to bring these to my sister. I baked sweet breads and wanted to give her some for after their meal.' She looked at Ulric. 'But now it's too busy to leave.'

Ulric held up his hand, pointed at the tray, and tapped on his chest.'

Mona smiled bright. 'Would you? I'd be grateful.' He nodded and took the tray from her. 'Thank you, these taste best when they're fresh from the oven and my sister really loves them.'

Ulric smiled at her and headed over to the group's table to drop off the tray with drinks. 'I'll just be out to bring these to Monna's sister.'

Iphigenia sniffed the scent. 'Yum. Don't go eating them yourself on the way.'

He smiled at her. 'I'll save my hunger for something else later.' he said and left while not only she, but Elzbieta and Kaui as well tuned a little hotter under the collar.

He took the quick route through the back streets and both Ameda and Roran were happy to see him with the treats. 'I'd give you points if I could.' chuckled Ameda and smiled at Ulric. 'So, how did the collaring of your girls go?' They were happy, right?'

Ulric blushed and grinned slightly in embarrassment and Ameda laughed just as heartily as Monna. She smiled at him. 'You better take very good care of them, or I'll be unhappy with you.' Ulric smiled back and gave her a resolute nod and short growl. 'Good, Tell Monna our thanks.'

Ulric went back on his way, chuckling lightly at the cheerfulness and caring the two sisters displayed towards others, and was surprised when the Shadow Wolves appeared in the middle of the wider alley he used as a shortcut.

The bulldog leader moved up to him. 'The people here are beginning to think highly of you and your bunch of wenches. We don't like it when you're stealing our turf.'

Ulric raised an eyebrow and stared at him.

The bulldog growled low. 'You'd better leave this place quickly before we do something about it ourselves right now.'

Ulric's eyes radiated a slight red glow and the bulldog gripped his axe tighter in an effort to suppress his growing fear. He focused on the assurance he'd get help if it came to a fight and that the black wolf was too friendly to actually kill without good reason. 'You can't always keep an eye on the women.'

His heart stopped when Ulric seized his throat at once with a sharp snarl and lifted him from the ground. Fear took hold of his mind and he dropped his axe to grab Ulric's wrist and wrestle free from the claws piercing his neck.

Ulric snarled at the others when they reached for their weapons and they froze at the sight of his murderous intent. He stared each of them down and looked up at the struggling bulldog, thinking about taking him out and be done with him, saw the fear in the bulldog's eyes, and threw him to the ground. 'Don't ever get in my way again!' he growled while the coughing bulldog looked up at him, then chased the other members aside with another growl as he headed for the other end of the alley. He noticed blood on his claws and the tips of his fingers and nearly bumped into a guard when he wiped them.

The guard looked at him for a moment, then recognised him from the stories he'd heard and gave Ulric a nod. Ulric returned the nod with a friendly smile and continued on his way.

The bulldog coughed while he leaned against a wall to help him stand up. 'Shit! I don't think he'll back off, or that we can take him down without more help.'

A figure cloaked in black appeared from the dark shadows of a recess. 'Don't worry, thanks to your help I already learned something very useful.'

The bulldog looked at him. 'How can we take him out then?'

He glimpsed a wicked smile when the figure spoke again. 'By dying now.' it said and before any of the Shadow Wolves members could defend themselves it moved in a flash and slashed their throats with steel claws attached to the gloves it wore.

The figure wiped the blades of the glove. 'Thank you for your support.' it said, and headed down the alley in the other direction.

When Ulric entered the inn, the mood inside was bright and a cup with Monna's special drink was pushed into his paw. 'Drink up, Wolfie!' said Iphigenia with a wide, tipsy grin. 'This stuff is really good!'

Ulric chuckled and drank. His ears and tail pricked up at the sudden heatwave rushing down his throat and the tingling that followed it. 'Wow.' he wheezed. 'Strong.'

Iphigenia giggled and pulled him over to their table. 'Come, Monna gave us the whole bottle.'

Ulric watched Monna grin and raised his cup to her, then indulged in the festive drinking mood with the others.

***

Ulric woke up slightly dazed and only remembered drinking with everyone, then heading for bed for their rest. He turned his head and found all three girls snuggled up to him and sleeping peacefully. He smiled softly at seeing Kaui resting her head on his abdomen. He hoped she would accept him fully, not so much because he'd find pleasure in it if she became intimate with him, but because she'd actually enjoy it as much as Iphigenia and Elzbieta did. He'd feel guilty otherwise if he had to heal her when it was needed, or what she'd feel in the shared link when he'd be intimate with the others.

He wanted to enjoy the moment longer but his bladder notified him that it was high time to drain it. Gently he moved the girls heads and slipped from the bed, and headed outside to the outhouse where he found relief in what felt was like draining an entire lake.

After he was done he stared up at the clear sky and the blanket of stars that he could never witness back in his own world. A sudden sadness took hold of him and he sat down on a bench nearby to take a longer look at the pattern of star dots and the ring and the blue moon which was the only one visible now, while wondering if time had passed just as fast back home, and if the people he knew had noticed he went missing and might be worried about him. He wondered if he could really go back home with the power of the demon lord.

How much time he'd been staring up at the sky, he didn't know when he heard footsteps. He looked aside to see Kaui approaching him, wrapped in a bed sheet. 'Can't sleep?' she asked.

'Nature called.' he said. 'You?'

She smiled gently at him. 'I thought I sensed worry from you.'

He smiled softly back at her. 'Just feeling a little homesick.' he said and looked up again. 'I thought of my own world and life when I saw all these unfamiliar stars here.'

Kaui sat down next to him and looked up. 'There are some things I miss from before I ran away to join you guys so I understand, but I won't know how it feels to you when it comes to being away from an entirely different world.'

Ulric took a deep breath of the fresh night air. 'Thank you. Understanding is enough to make me feel better.'

They looked up for a while longer when Kaui yawned. Ulric chuckled. 'We'd better get a bit more sleep.' he said and stood up. Kaui nodded and smiled sleepily, and he held out his paw to her. She smiled up at him as she took it and stood up.

She squealed when the sheet snagged under her foot and pulled free, and tumbled forward into Ulric's arms. She held him tight. 'Sorry.' she said softly while she wished to feel his body against hers for a bit longer.

Ulric embraced her gently. 'Hey, I have no trouble with naked young women hugging me.' he said and chuckled.

Kaui giggled and blushed and found the courage to hold him a little tighter, and he stroked her back softly with his thumbs.

'Oh, lovebirds, there are some here who'd like some of that as well.' said Iphigenia while she leaned out the open window of their cabin.

Ulric watched her grin mischievously and stuck out his tongue. 'Don't worry, you'll get your share.'

She licked her lips slowly. 'That's a promise.' she said and disappeared back inside.

Ulric looked down at Kaui. 'Well, time to be everyone's cuddle toy again.'

Kaui giggled and let him go with some reluctance. 'Mine too?'

He pushed her snout up gently with one finger, leaned closer, and kissed her softly. 'Do you really need to ask?' he whispered.

She blushed hard while her heart raced, and shook her head slightly.

He smiled softly at her, took her hand, and walked back with her to the cabin to snuggle up with the others and get a bit more rest before their next appointment with Bea and Trivian at the guild.

20 - Escape

Loud knocking on their door and Monna bursting in woke the gang up at once. They stared at her with wide eyes while she grabbed their clothes into her arms. 'Quick! Come with me! Take everything you have!'

They understood there was something urgent and gathered their belongings while Kaui asked what was going on.

'You're in big trouble!' Monna said while she led them back to the inn. 'I just received a warning that the guard is coming to arrest you lot, or at least Ulric. You have to hide right now.'

'Me!? Why!?' asked Ulric.

Monna opened the trap door to the cellar. 'Seems they found the Shadow Wolves murdered in an alley a short while ago and someone had seen you coming from it with blood on your paws.'

Ulric froze at the memory. 'I did have a run in with them and wounded that bulldog when I grabbed his throat but I never killed them!'

Monna pushed him towards the stairs when Kaui translated what he said. 'I don't believe you did it, which is why I woke you all up, but the guard isn't known to trust strangers and you won't stand a chance of proving your innocence unless someone saw it all happen.'

Rattling of the handle and urgent knocking came from the front door while Ulric went down into the cellar and the others followed. 'Keep absolutely silent.' Monna said and closed the trap door behind them. She went over to the front door and opened it after ruffling her hair and putting on a frown.

The captain of the guard knew her well enough not to make her angry but catching the black canine and his group was their highest priority. 'Sorry, Monna, but we've come to take your guests.. That foreign canine has murdered the Shadow Wolves.'

'Then you've come too late.' she growled. 'I just found out they left their cabin with everything without paying what they owe me!'

'You're kidding!?'

She stepped back and gestured towards the back of the inn. 'Check for yourself, all their stuff is gone!'

The captain gestured with his head for two of his men to take a look. 'Any idea where they might have gone to?'

'I have no idea! I never heard of any plan that guy and his women had to go somewhere!' Monna said. 'And they fooled me into thinking they were such good people!'

'Ulric and Kaui and the others?' asked a kid walking up to them.

The captain turned to the boy. 'Yes, have you seen them?'

He pointed back. 'I saw them outside the town heading for the forest.'

The two who were sent inside came back. 'Nothing indeed. They're gone.'

The captain turned to Monna. 'Don't worry, we'll catch them.' he said, then turned to his men. 'Let's go!'

Monna and the boy watched them run away in pursuit, and she stroked the boy's head. 'Come back later and I'll give you one of my famous sweet buns. And don't forget this is our secret.'

The boy smiled up at her and wagged his tail hard. 'Okay!' I hope they'll be safe.' he said and hurried away.

Monna returned inside after locking the door and let the gang out of the cellar. 'We've sent the guard into the forest, that'll keep them busy for some time.'

'Thank you.' said Kaui. 'You really saved us.'

''Not yet. First you need to get away unseen and to somewhere least expected.' Monna said and a devious smile appeared on her face as she looked at Ulric. 'Not to mention, dressed. Although I don't mind this sight.'

They realised they were still naked and Ulric chuckled although he did feel embarrassed, but it was too late to hide what had been seen already. Monna went into the kitchen while they dressed and prepared their packs, and returned with several bundles and water sacks. 'Here, something to keep you going so you won't have to stop to hunt soon.'