The Ranger: Ch. 19

'Being alone in the center of the mountain for basically ever, I can understand the smells and crackling fire.' Grayson says, is there any way we can do that here?'

'Yes, I'll look into it,' Cintha answers.

A Trident of the Drowned - a magical trident that seems to be useful under water? Not that useful for most but, still cool.

And a Blink Dagger, that teleports you, line of sight distance to within 3paces of the target giving you the advantage and it has lightning damage, sounds, dangerous for both parties.

"What about her Elf rod transformation thingy, is that in the Gnome place?" I ask Yesime.

"We hope," she replies, she is pressed into my back with Boulder behind her, and unlike Boulder, looking back to see what is going on just whips my hair into my face slapping me around.

"Should we go there first? Tia made that out to be the most important?" I ask and Tia looks back at us and then starts down towards the ground.

On the ground we slide off, Sandy and Tia head off into the woods.

"Would you rather go get the elven rod so you can come into the city?" I ask her and she takes a deep breath.

"I would like to be with rather than waiting at the woodline," she pauses, "I'm not sure I'd be helpful based on what I've heard you going through from Yesime and Sandy." We sit for a moment and she speaks up again, "Have you seen the elves here?"

"No, not from my world either, heard of them, but never had any dealings with."

Tia nods, "They are not known for hanging out with the sub races, as they call you, and we'd have all but a dwarf in our group."

The ladies are walking back in, Boulder is just sitting on the ground cross-legged, meditating, probably praying not to fall off Tia, I know that was the first thought I had. She says it's impossible, but we won't know until something happens.

"An Elf in our party would get everyone's attention," Yesime says, "Not nearly as much as "all this" she waves at Tia, "it would both cause and prevent issues from happening."

"It's your stuff Tia, we go where you wish." I add as I don't want her second-guessing anything when it's all about her to begin with. I expect her to be a lot like Cinthia.

'A bitch,' Cinthia says as a statement

'Strong-willed,' I answer and chuckle at how proud she was of calling herself that.

"I would also like that to stay in your town more, I'd have to make someone a familiar to get the pack bond with just one person.

"What's the downside of that?" Yesimie asks and I can see the wheels turning.

"You already have a bond, it would undo the bond and could cause all kinds of issues when you transform into the wolf."

"What are the benefits?" I ask.

"Immune to fire, able to talk as you do across the bond, can also see through their eyes if I concentrate, can locate them anywhere, almost immune to any mind spells, charm, sleep, spike, fear."

"What are the downsides if you don't have a bond already?" Boulder asks, Tia looks at him and then raises and eyebrow, he is someone without a bond.

"You already meditate, and as a monk, you might be better able to keep your wits about you whenever you feel overwhelmed as I've been around a while so the downside, it can feel like the weight of the world coming at you, it's a bit daunting, for some."

"IF, we continue on together, that, sounds interesting." Boulder says, "My capital or this one?"

"Yours, it is my most important but, I want that water blast as nothing cleans my scales better." Tia says and we all climb back aboard.

Looking at the map we shared with everyone, even at Tia's speed we passed over into the Kingdom of Helderland, but stopped short on Hathoverpor, close to the name of the last place we were in Wistoverpor, and, instead of turning right we'd have to do another full day to get to Fulgrum.

We stopped a little further out so we don't scare everyone as were not staying, goodbyes and see you in the morning later, we head off to the city.

What is Fulgrum like? What should we expect.

The average Gnome community normally has a mayor who is the richest merchant lord, along with a few more amongst about a dozen clans, Fulgrum has five of those at a whopping 2000 gnomes. The Ancient city was sectioned off that way so they filled it in, they try to keep to the way, but the center is a mess of a place, the council of five are profit oriented, but, there is no poverty like in human cities. There's no thieves guild is the biggest difference to what humans are used to.

Still in the human city we ask at the gate about a nice place to stay the night and it we were told straight ahead, just past dusk and the roads are still pretty full, lot's of shops facing out into the main road into the center of the city, prime land to have. I did grab what looked to be meat on a stick that smelled like venison. I hadn't seen a dear around Rivertown.

"Are you really going to get that?" Yesime asks as I talk to the guy and nod for one. I take a little bite and it is hot and juicy, and then hand it to Sandy.

"You will love this," I say to her and look at the other two, "Want one?"

Both said no, so I got me one and then handed it to Yesime, "Take a bite, I'm serious, it's really good."

"Listen to him, he knows the truth!" The vendor says in a loud voice. "You will love these and they are really good."

Raising it in the air, "Yes it is my man," giving him a wave. Yesime takes the tiniest of bites, and then takes a bigger one, her next move was to look at me with pleading eyes.

"One more please." I turn back to the guy and he laughs watching our little scene play out.

The Rhamstadt Inn was a cheaper in, lot of locals in there around the bar, all but one table was empty, wander up to the bar and wait for her to come over.

"Whatcha need?" A skinny dark haired woman with the lock over her face, big smile.

"Two rooms, and baths?" I ask and wait.

"Yes, how many? Name?"

"Two and Kae, best ale you have also."

"Best ale?" She raises and eyebrow, I don't think there's but one.

"Nevermind, the last place hired the wrong brewer." I answer. "Four ales."

"Baths ready after dinner?" She asks.

"Sure, I pull out the pouch and her giant smile came back in full force.

"Five gold."

"includes breakfast?"

"It does now."

"Nice, thank you."

"I'm Maleena, will bring it over, interesting table."

"You have no idea," I chuckle and walk back to the table. "She's bringing it," I say back at the table.

With the map rolled out on the table, "Looks like we are bout halfway,' measuring the distances with his finger. Boulder nods, Sandy next to him, he points moves the finger all the way over to the east. "This is Goblin territory, not a place I've visited yet."

"Me either," Sandy says looking at it "Most of the names I know from the stories, she glances up at me, no reason for us to go there, ever."

"You enjoying being one of four people to ride their wyvern over the land and water to see the world?" I ask Sandy.

"Almost as much as that stick of beef." Sandy says and we chuckle as Maleena walks over with four cups of ale.

"Food?" She asks.

"Choices?" I asks and she nods, "Bread or no bread."

"Bread," we all say, Sandy was telling Boulder about her time down in the ruins with Tia.

"How are you doing? You okay about the familiar thing?"

"What?" She looks at me shocked, "Yes, I enjoy, well, all of this, but I'm not giving up my team and friends and she pushes across the bond, 'this,' causing me to smile and cover her hand. She was radiating happiness and put her hand over mine. "This has been an amazing trip so far."

"The scenery has been great, yeah, tomorrow is going to be all day in the air, I'm going up early." I briefly thought about putting a chair outside the door like at home, but Sandy has way too many sharp everything to joke around before bed.

'It would have been funny, and when she bit you it would have been funny twice.' Grayson says.

"What took you so long," I say and she snorts a little cackle standing almost in front of me waiting for the door to open.

"You like Boulder?" I ask as they spent most of the night talking.

"Yes, but, I think many of his stories are not real." She says, she has been dressing in pants, bracer for the bow and nice tanned hide boots, looking more like a ranger than I do, diving into bed naked and pulling the sheet up to her chin, watching me with glee.

"Take your time," she says leering at me, she giggles when I get the pants off. "I can't believe this is actually happening." she says in a whisper.

"Believe it, you are just as much my woman as Sabina and Evaine." I say, "On your belly and turn this way, I want to see what you can do with that tongue."

"Yes! I practiced, you watch and see." She flips around and rubs her cheek along the shaft, when she licks it her tongue is easily twice as long, she licks around and gets all the good spots, pulling her lips over her teeth when she bobs down the first time.

"Oh! That was, ugh, really good, do that again." I say shocked and she grunts and picks up the pace. I go from scared to death and semi-hard to full-on hard and take her head in my hands to pull her off. "Move over, I want in here also."

She flips around again and gets right back to work, 'that's my girl!' Cinthia sends. 'I'm rooting for her.'

"Your crazy tongue is going to make me cum already," I says a few moments before it unleashes and Sandy takes it all in.

"Good?" She asks after wiping and swiping and licking every drop.

"The best, ever." I say pulling her up.

"Really, you mean it?" Sandy asks quietly, "You like to say nice things to me, even if it's not true."

"Of course I like to say nice things to you, your mine, and of course I mean it, did you see how fast that was, it was crazy good."

"Really, really?" Sandy asks.

"Stop that." I laugh. "You are just fishing."

"I've never fished." Sandy says immediately.

"What I mean is, you were fishing for more and more compliments from me. You know you did great, I know you did great, how about we just agree you are great?"

"Okay." She looks around, "Uh, can I go see Yesime?"

"You going to tell her everything that happened, aren't you?" I ask and she nods sheepishly.

"Go on, you can boast a little if you want." I say and get a bunch of kisses and she throws just her outer clothes back on and runs out the door.

'Wake Up!' I feel myself whip the blankets off and shake Sandy, 'Cinthia is with Yesime, put the fire out!'

I take over control of my body as we turn the corner into the common room, there are three in there setting various parts on fire, two turn and have knives out quickly.

Wildshape into Cave Bear while never slowing down, it can take more hits than the wolf, I both move towards the closest one and expand to take up a good amount of space swiping the closest who screams before he is silenced, the other stops so fast he slips onto his butt and I wiff in the air, he rolls and runs for the door, the third is trapped in the bar area, so scared he is just staring at me, so I transform back and pin his shoulder with an arrow.

Sandy is now past me and heading right at him 'Don't kill him, Find out who hired them." I turn and start moving the water to the fires and then do a check around the building to make sure it's all out. There's a body under Yesime's window, They see me, seeing them, so I climb through the broken window, there's another on the floor. "Either one still alive? Sandy has one in the common area." I send over the bond also.

"This one, outside guy never made it in, Tap to the temple for this one, he'll be out a while." Boulder says rooting through his gear, "no tattoos, I'll check the one outside."

"Bring this one to the commons," I say to Boulder and Yesime, leaving to check on Sandy.

'Maleena is up,' Grayson says, 'she's unhappy'.

"What the fuck is going on, What have you done?!" She is yelling at Sandy as I enter right before the others.

"I came downstairs and they were setting fires in this room, one got away, I put out the fires." Turning to Boulder and Yesime dragging the other guy, I walk over and help put him in a chair.

"Two broke through our window, one outside dead and this one." Boulder says, "No tats, insignia, nothing."

She rushes to cleanup the mess the dead guy on the floor is making.

First I drag him out the front door and Maleena curses at the blood trail that went with him.

'Use your shape water to clean it up and push it out the front door." Cinthia sends and seems the least we can do, people are wandering in from their rooms to see what happened, opening the door, the original size of shape water was larger than a bath tubs worth and I had to pretend I meant to cover the entire floor while pulling it several times just to clean the spot and move it out the door, I need to practice.

People were asking all kinds of questions, Sandy's guy was bleeding from a dozen places, Maleena put her bedding under him.

"He says the iron ring hired them to make us go away, these three to start the fires, kill us and climb out our window, the others for Yesime!" She pokes him hard where his neck meets his shoulder, his head tilts down to cover it. "And Boulder."

"The Iron Ring?" I ask.

"Assassins guild, these" Maleena looks over the guy in the chair, "are local thieves, probably sub, sub, contracted."

We hear the voices outside as the city guard walk in looking at all the water and the guy laying off to the side.

"I recognize him," is heard as he passes the body outside the door, entering he looks us all up and down, the guy in the chair, he walks over behind the bar and motions for Sandy to move out.

"What did they do?" He asks Maleena and she tells them the story, the guy in the chair is slapped and splashed awake, "I ain't carrying him if he can walk." One guard says.

As everything is cleared up the Sun is not yet up so it is darker in here without the fires.

One of the guards pushes through Sandy and she pushes him back, he turns to backhand her and both Grayson and Cinthia are standing between them, Sandy had a flame spell in her hand and the main guy is yelling at everyone to calm down.

"Please don't disrespect my apprentice and bodyguard." I say to the guard who is now leaning back against the far wall, in shock. Grayson winks at Sandy who smiles for the first time since getting pulled out of bed. Those two vanish and I wave at the stove, "put it there, for a little more light in here." Sandy's eyes get big and I hear Cinthia explain how to transfer instead of release.

'Can I?' Yesime asks.

'Might as well, we're not staying much longer,' I send back, so she does the same and both are excited to try that in the bond sharing back and forth, I focus on the main guy, "My other apprentice and bodyguard."

"And him?" He looks at Boulder.

"Our guide, taking us to his capital as soon as this is cleared up," I point at the one behind the bar, "it was an assassin attack, but contracted out to these guys, who had no idea what they were dealing with."

"Apparently, so you are leaving our city." That didn't sound like a question.

"Go gather our things," I say to the group and pull out my bag, count out 10gold and hand it to Maleena, "We had no idea anyone even knew who we are, "I drop four into the guards hand two for him and one each for the other two, "I apologize for the mess we leave behind."

They were all suddenly in a much better mood, he asked a few more questions, "Oh, there's one out back under the window he tried to get in, he was with that guy." I answer and he sends a guard out to see.

We head out as soon as they get back downstairs.

"What was that?" I hear one of the guards.

"Don't care, just want them gone before the real ring shows up." Right before the door closes and we head straight for Tia, I doubt they could do much against her, but, if they sent the real assassins to her thinking we didn't qualify for them?

She was waiting for us and listened to each of us filling in pieces as Yesime told her the morning's story.

"Go? Or food first?"

"Food!" Sandy says and Yesime agrees.

"You saw the cave bear form?" I ask Sandy and she nods, "Do that instead of the wolf when hunting, fighting or fleeing, it should be bigger.

She shifts and her version of the 9 foot tall, 2000pd bear is just larger than my wolf form, about 250pds with three times the claw length.

"Wow, you look fierce!" I say and get a huff, Yesime and I go wolf and I notice Yesime is doing all the work, 'Sit back and watch, let her free,' I send her.

'What?' Yesime sends back.

'Your wolf, let her take over when you can so she can use her skills, she'll appreciate it and you can learn how to really hunt.'

Her wolf is yipping with excitement as she brings me her kill, I take a piece and nudge it back to her.

Sandy rips into hers as she catches it, we need to be quick as they are waiting on us, not quite an hour to catch, eat, and get back.

"Boulder volunteered to be my familiar after this morning, at least until we get the items stolen.

"How do you feel?" Yesime asks,

"It's like having a mountain share its deepest thoughts down upon you, have to learn to block what I can, other than that, nothing is different." After cleanup, we climb aboard Tia,

'Oh! Going to have to meditate for a while, touch is much stronger.' Boulder sends to Tia.

'Yes, I felt it, you are my first familiar.' Tia replies, 'it seems your profession is suited for this.'

"Heh, I should have paid more attention to this part of the training, the fighting and ki was more interesting until this morning.' Boulder starts focusing on just the breaths in, and then the breath out transitions until he was thoughtless. The average person lasts a few seconds to a few minutes, monks can go until the thoughts are seen from the outside and not engaged, it's here they learn of their ki and its control while observing the various ki energy spots in their bodies and in others. You can enhance your own, or extend its reach and affect another's.

We rest for the first time after the interruption last night, when we land mid day, Tia asks Sandy to shift again and gushes on her form, Sandy is shy for the first time since I've met her.

We have the sides for everyone's lunch, Sandy brings us back a kill to roast, stretching our legs real quick.

Hot and juicy, thick sliced sandwiches with melted cheese has got to be up there on best food ever, and it's out here in the middle of nowhere.

'I miss that the second most,' Grayson says.

'If Cinthia can push to touch me, I bet you can push to taste food." I answer and I feel his hopes rise.

'You think about me touching you constantly,' Cinthia says, of course I do, She's a giant stacked warrior mage way above my looks AND was my first.

'True, true,' We all chuckle at Cinthia's reply.

Most of the places we pass over look like tribes merged together, each touching but the Merchant Lords' homes are almost perfectly separated and easy to spot.

Tia brings us in for a landing.

"Getting to places at dusk, seems to be our timing," I say to Tia, "it'll be cool to communicate again."

"Cool, I remember that saying," Tia looks at me, "it's been eons since I've heard it."

"So different world or from the past?" I ask and Tias head pulls back.

"I was wondering, but alternate timelines and parallel universes also qualify." She saw she lost me on that and smiled. "We can talk about that at a later time."

"Okay, good luck Boulder," I say and pat his shoulder as I walk by, I thought I might have been onto something there about being from the past, and now I don't think I know enough to even guess.

I give you Thanks on this Thanksgiving day, as you can tell with some of the errors, most chapters are written in one or two sittings, checked once or twice (kinda), - click follow if you want the new to pop up on your page ;), thank you for reading my abstract art.