The next morning they all pack up camp and get ready to head out. Cain found a large round tent in Graska that is perfect for the unusual sleeping situation he finds himself in, now with an added Dragon.
The tent is set up a lot like his bedroom, one big bed and a lot of cushions and rugs. Kone has decided that Laura is a summer only nap partner, being naturally cool to the touch, due to her Ice aspect. Scratching under her chin where the scales are thinner reveals that her body temperature is actually high, her scales just give off cold.
For the day's travel Laura transformed into her Dragon Pixie form, mimicking Elmira and taking a spot on Cain's shoulder that mirrors the one the Pixie took buried in Mythryll's hair. While her Pixie form wears a dress that matches her scales, her feet are bare and clawed, having no trouble holding on to his leather coat.
If the information is right, they should start seeing Ogre border guards by the end of the day. The further they go, the quieter the Forest gets. All the small creatures and birds that normally make the Elven Forest a lively sounding place are gone from here, and a sense of danger is left behind.
"Why is there only one of her?" Vala asks quietly, pointing at the Dragon when she finally gets bored of riding along and flies around to get a better look at the area.
"Her form finalized after casting, just like yours did. Next casting she will get her duplicate. I just haven't found the perfect moment to mention it to her." Cain smiles at his Demonic Companion.
"Might as well do it now, while we're not in combat. She's likely going to freak out at having a clone." Vala points out. Valid point, the arrogant little dragon might not react well to being cloned.
"Hey Laura, how do you feel about having a twin? You see my summoning magic clones the summons, so soon there will be two of you." Cain says a delicately as he can.
"Two Dragons as mighty as Laura? The world will tremble at our feet!" The Pixie shaped Dragon declares, making Vala laugh.
"Alright then, here we go." Cain casts the spell again and Pixie Laura disappears to reappear in all her duplicate draconian glory in front of them.
"Ah yes puny human, I mean, Master Cain. This is magnificent. Oh the fun I will have with me." The two declare in unison, leaping up to fly between the trees.
They are playing a form of flying tag in the woods while the group advances, the Dragons flying remarkably quietly through the woods. In his mind, Cain knows birds don't make much noise when they fly, but somehow it feels wrong for something so large to be so silent.
A few minutes later, they both return with a happy look on their face. "There's a village up ahead full of Ogres. The place is totally trashed, but there's some sheep left. Can we have a snack?"
"No snacks until after we have dealt with the Ogres." Cain says resolutely. Letting their newest member skip the first fight to take an extra meal would just set a bad example.
"Fine then. I'll follow your lead, but this had better end with food." Laura reluctantly agrees.
"I thought Summons didn't need to eat?" Mythryll asks Laura with a confused look.
"Hey, don't tell him that, he looks like the sort that might starve us, using cakes and cookies only as rewards for good behavior." Laura whisper shouts back. Cain wonders if she thinks he can't hear her, or if she's making it clear that sweets are non negotiable.
They can hear and smell the Ogres long before they can see the village, they're celebrating something, likely the victory here. Yellow Tusk Guild is larger in actual members than the Darklight Host, so they split and take both flanks to prevent the Ogres from encircling the group. The rest of the strategy is simple, just eliminate the Ogres.
"Laura, you're up first, pass by overhead with a breath attack, and we will follow it into combat. After that, attack however you think is best. We've got lots of healers, so don't be afraid of taking a hit or two." Cain informs the Dragons.
"We're on it. Just watch us wipe out Ogres." They say in unison, leaping into the air.
The Darklight Host follows their lead through the remaining trees and put into the open. The Ogres are shocked to see Dragons attacking and raise a huge amount of ruckus, drowning out any sound the attacking Guilds might be making in their way in. Even the dozens of attackers running through the fields near the village don't take most Ogres attention from the incoming Dragons and the huge fog of icy Mist spreading through their ranks.
At first the ice fog seems to be doing very little, more of a distraction than an actual attack, but slowly the ice is climbing up the Ogres legs from the freezing Mist, slowing them and turning the weaker Ogres to frozen statues. The Opal Prismatic Dragon might not be a large one, but her breath is top notch, stronger than her monochrome Kin even before factoring in all the bonuses she gets as a Summon.
The Green Orcs all cheer in impending victory, making their way through the Ogres from the sides just as Cain calls out the remainder of his summons and the Darklight Host charges into combat through the destroyed front gates.
These Ogres are on par with the ones attacking Sunnybrook, mostly level 55 and 60. The breath attack of a level 91 Dragon was already enough that they were doomed, the massive number of attackers that came afterwards were just overkill. Very messy overkill.
The Ogres quickly annihilated, the Guilds are going door to door checking for survivors, the Ice Breath froze all the doors shut, but didn't really seep into buildings, so the collateral damage shouldn't be too bad. There's not much to find though, the Ogres were thorough, as far as anyone has seen, if it didn't flee, it's dead. Even the sheep Laura found had been skinned and were roasting over a campfire. Both Dragons are standing nearby, waiting eagerly either for confirmation of snack time, or for the sheep to be fully cooked. Cain wasn't yet sure.
The search of the village turned up one lone survivor. An Elven tree singer named DudeBro. A transfer, guessing by his name. The Orcs invited him to come along, but he's intent on heading back to Sunnybrook, fully traumatized by the events here. He was just passing through for the evening and was helping fix the floor structure of a house with his class skills when the Ogres attacked, so he stayed hidden in the crawl space.
The village is now deemed secure, so Cain goes looking for his Dragons. They should be over by the campfire, if they haven't finished up the roast sheep yet.
"What are you doing?" He asks, finding Laura wrapping an entire sheep in giant leaves.
"To go box, so we have a snack for later." She says as if the answer is obvious.
"Just give it here, and I'll put it in my inventory, that way it's just as fresh when you eat it as it is now." Cain explains.
"I knew there was a reason we liked you. Store away noble Summoner." Laura declares in her best haughty tone.
"Now come along, everyone is about to head out. The village stinks of dead Ogre, so we're going to find a better spot for the night."
There are signs of Ogre patrols both large and small having frequented the area, so they keep traveling until they find a hidden and secluded area. Nobody wants to get attacked in the night after all.
The hidden area they find is not large, so everyone is camping in just three huge tents. Male and female Orcs separately with the entire Darklight Host sharing the third. A patrol schedule is set out and Laura declares she will set defenses. It seems she has an innate talent for enchantments, a racial hidden ability. Today, she will be using an area enchantment that will last until they leave and trigger an effect similar to the fog of her breath should any Ogres enter the area around camp.
She insists that she can make permanent versions for items and much cooler ones than this, but a Dragon Breath type enchanted tripline sounds pretty great to all the weary travelers.
With nearly everyone vying for the one bed, the Darklight Host tent is in chaos. Cain and Kone have forfeited already, opting to take the cushions, and Laura and Misha have already lost at rock paper scissors. The competition is intense, but in the end, Mythryll, Char and Dimnys claim the three coveted bed positions.
Candia doesn't seem too upset though, she's curled up with Laura, not bothered by the cold, while most of the others are still picking spots or standing guard. Vala volunteered to be on duty all night, but the Orcs shot that idea down, saying that the patrol rotation keeps everyone from getting lazy and off their guard.
Taking the cushions seemed like a simple solution, but turns out to be an even more crowded option than the bed, as Cain wakes up in a tangle of bodies yet again, but with a furry tail wrapped around his neck and a Felian draped across his head.
No matter what, cats will be cats.
