Fan Fiction ❯ Blade of the Slayer: Three Warriors ❯ The Liar ( Chapter 3 )

Blade of the Slayer

Chapter 3: The Liar

Sunset in Shore Town, and from what I had been told there was a dragonoid ready to strike. Ayla and I were on a building top seventeen stories up looking down at the main street, keeping our eyes peeled. Ayla was using a pair of binoculars while I just glanced at the random people walking along the street.

"How can you tell there's a dragonoid in human form here?" I asked, putting a hand on my sheathed sword.

"Usually, you can't." Ayla frowned. "They're very decently disguised, but some have the Royal Seal branded on them somewhere. It ain't too hard to spot: it looks like a triangular Celtic knot. It's usually on their shoulder or chest. Die hards have it on their foreheads."

" 'Die hards?' "

"The ones that totally believe all humans must die. They'll do anything to be rid of us all."

"Well then, the dragonoids better prepare to 'die hard' cause Clara Tomoe is in town." I declared with a smile.

"Yeah! You go, girl!" Ayla cheered.

***

Half an hour later, the sun had disappeared below the ground, and the stars appeared. A half moon shone at my back. City lights drove darkness away on the streets. There were still people walking around, but no sign of the dragonoid.

"I don't get it." Ayla blinked. "Uncle Magus said one was here…"

"He didn't say what it looked like in his human form?" I asked.

"No."

"Shoot." I cursed. "Well, let's stay out here for the night. He'll turn up sooner or later."

Suddenly, I felt something whack the back of my head, and I heard the sound of breaking glass. Ayla screamed in confusion, and I flinched. I felt the back of my head for any damage, but the voice of my assailant stopped me from drawing any conclusions.

"Alright, hunter! It's time you got yours!"

"Huh?" I turned to see an unshaven, uncleaned, homeless hobo. The green glass shards at my feet proved that he threw a glass bottle at my head. I was thankful I was an android and not a human. Come to think of it, I suffered no injury. "Alright, what do you want?"

He pulled out a gun and started shooting. Quickly acting, I pushed Ayla down to the ground, and fell on top of her to shield her. I felt two sharp pings in my back, and flinched. I had been shot, but I shouldn't have been hurt.

"Am I bullet proof?" I whispered to Ayla. I knew dragonoids were bullet proof…

"To an extent." She whispered. "If you take too much damage, you'll die."

"Kay." I answered with an understanding nod. I heard the hobo's gun click several times, indicating that he was out of ammo. I stood up unharmed as he threw the now useless weapon to the ground. "Get outta here." I urged Ayla while looking at her out of the corner of my eye. "I'll handle him."

"Is he a dragonoid?"

"Yeah. He called me 'hunter.' All dragonoids call me that." The hobo grinned at me.

"Then I'll fight too!" Ayla declared, unsheathing her sword. I pulled mine into the fray too.

"Show yourself and fight, lizard!" I demanded.

"With pleasure!" the hobo sneered. Suddenly, his skin just melted away. It was a rather gruesome sight, watching his skin and hair drip away like pink and red wax. I had never seen a dragonoid transform before, so it took me by surprise. Rather quickly, the waxy disguise dripped to the ground, and gathered into a pile around a pair of black, reptilian feet. Standing before Ayla and me was a six foot tall, black leathered skinned, muscular, four armed, snake necked, backward kneed, clawed, toothed, golden eyed, typical dragonoid.

"An EH dragonoid." Ayla identified for me. I pointed my sword at the creature, and stared it into its golden eyes.

"State your name and number." I ordered.

"Kappa, number 49." It rumbled.

"One number above T'Jassie…" I realized in surprise.

"So, you were the one who killed T'Jassie. You shouldn't be a challenge."

"…but ol' Joten was a number 60." I warned with a smirk. "He wasn't all that hard."

"Huh?" Kappa gave me an alarmed face. He bought the bluff, and I took the unguarded moment to attack. I swung my sword at him, but he caught my blade in one hand, and used two hands to push it away. I struggled to push it back, but he was really strong. Kappa used another hand to punch me in the face. I lost my sword, and I fell over backwards, skidding on my shoulders.

Ayla jumped into the fight to replace me. Kappa grabbed the hilt of my sword, and used it against Ayla. I heard the sounds of their blades clashing repeatedly as I raised myself to a stand. I ran a quick damage report, and discovered that I was alright. I didn't feel any pain, so of course I was alright.

I watched the battle for a little, but realized that Ayla was losing. Every time Kappa swung my sword, Ayla's arms would shake and falter from his strength. She was tough, but she didn't have the strength or the stamina to fight that monster by herself.

"How dare you use my weapon!" I yelled at the dragonoid, stabbing an elbow at the nape of his neck. After a painful growl, he swatted his massive tail at me. I blocked with my other arm, and I kicked his ankle to sweep him over foreword. Ayla jumped out of the way as Kappa fell over, dropping my sword. I picked up my sword as Kappa lifted himself up but didn't stand. He crouched on all sixes like a giant cat ready to pounce.

"so, you are robotic." He recognized with a grin. "Then you'll love this." He threw his head back, gaping his jaws wide open. He sucked in air, and his lungs made his chest puff out. I braced myself for a blast of fire, but…

"Clara, watch out!" Ayla screamed. "He's a bolt breather!" I turned to her in surprise.

"A 'what' breather?"

Suddenly, Kappa dropped his head and released a bright flash of light. I felt a force probably like a speeding bus plow onto me, and I felt every part of my insides sizzle like butter on a griddle. I felt myself fling over backwards, and I heard someone scream.

I felt confused, losing memory and replacing it with pain. My throat was in a knot, my circuits did backflips, my wires and cables squirmed like tentacles, and my vision was gone. So were my sensory programs; I had no idea I had fallen off the building.

Suddenly, I felt a sharper pain in my stomach. Confusion abruptly left my body, and so did the pain. My eyes snapped open, and I could see the sidewalk. I felt sore and fatigued, I could barely move my head to look around. Suddenly, my eyes met a pair of gray, old eyes. I weakly smiled and laughed with relief.

"Old man…" My head dropped, and I heard a woman screaming nearby.

"Oh my God!" I heard before passing out. "He impaled that girl with a sword!"

***

I woke up on the surgery table, very sore. I felt like someone gave me a coat of starch with a paintbrush. I couldn't find any strength to move. I heard a chair moan as it moved across the floor, and I saw Ayla's face hover over mine.

"Oh good, you responded." She sighed with relief. "I thought it was too late to use the reboot command."

"What happened?" I moaned.

"Kappa was a bolt breather." Ayla explained. "Some dragonoids possess special magic abilities. Some breathe fire, others breathe ice, others breathe lightning bolts…"

"You coulda told me that sooner."

"Sorry. Anyway, while he attacked you, I sliced his head off, so that's taken care of. You fell off the roof, but Uncle Magus caught you…on his sword…but that's alright. That didn't hurt you much, but the bolt did a lot of damage. You gotta be careful around bolt breathers."

"Kappa didn't seem as tough as he claimed…" I recollected.

"He used lies to scare you. He was probably a 39 or 42, we don't know. We don't even know if Kappa is his real name. Now get some sleep. I need to upgrade your system against bolt attacks."

"How will you do that?" I wondered, closing my eyes.

"I invented this while you were out. It's called a Light Shield. I'll explain everything later, just get some sleep. This'll take a while to install."