We didn’t have long to put Phoenix’s plan into action. Fortunately, it didn’t really require much set up. The main difficulty was getting the Sun Dragon clan to go along with it. They were happy for the extra help, however did not appreciate a plan coming from outside of their clan… never mind outside of their species. They did eventually come round to the idea, thankfully.

  We had a group of Sun Dragons, led by Damecus, waiting at the east side of the jungle, ready to engage the enemy. We let the enemy think they were winning and had the Sun Dragons retreat, luring the enemy into the jungle. It was hard to tell how successful this had been, given the fact that they were all invisible. We could see the leaves and vines of the jungle rustling as they filtered in through the trees. The rest of us were all positioned within the treetops. We had asked all of the Sun Dragons to leech Nautaus’ ability so we had an enormous number of archers with an infinite number of arrows. All we had to do was wait.

  Phoenix told us that after the incident with Dominus, back when I got knocked unconscious, Phoenix had made a point to learn some high-level water magic. As Phoenix prepared to cast her spell, Kiyui stood by her, performing a mana boosting chant to give her spell as much power as possible. She was going to cast a spell called tempest… which I had never heard of before. The arcane really isn’t my area of knowledge.

  As the Blood Dragons got deep into the jungle the Sun Dragons silently moved through the tree tops to circle round the back of the enemy and block off their retreat. At that point Phoenix began her spell. The sky started to fill with clouds… strong winds began to flow through the trees… thunder and lightning started going off left and right. Tadwick got scared and clung to Nomius. It had been suggested that Nomius stay in the trees with Tadwick to avoid anybody accidentally targeting him, what with him having the same abilities as the enemy. Suddenly the heavens opened and the downpour was unreal.

  I was absolutely soaked through within seconds. Then I looked down… the rain was bouncing off the invisible enemies. Nautaus was right about rain rendering their invisibility pointless. So, the signal was given and all of the Sun Dragons unleashed the full force of their bows upon the Blood Dragons. It was an absolute massacre… they didn’t stand a chance. They were impaled by arrow after arrow… each wave of arrows would disappear from their injured bodies and another wave would fly down.

  A couple of them managed to throw their spears up into the trees and take out some of the archers… but only one was fatally injured. The enemy called for a retreat and very few of them managed to make it out alive… and most of the ones that did were badly injured. All in all, I would say that Phoenix’s plan was a resounding success. It was nice for something to actually go as planned for the first time in what feels like forever.

  The Sun Dragons were very grateful to us for the assistance. The sheer number of supplies that they gave us for our journey ahead was amazing. It certainly looked like we wouldn’t be starving. Although Nomius and Damecus could probably eat most of that stuff in a few days. Their appetites are ridiculous.

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  They even gave us a little cart once we got to the far end of the jungle to transport our supplies on. Phoenix is currently lying in it. That spell she really drained her… even with the mana boost that Kiyui gave her. I suppose because I’m not a mage I don’t realise how much magic can take out of you.

  Nautaus: “Thank you all again for your assistance. That water magic of yours is indeed impressive, my lady.”

  Phoenix: “You are welcome. Now let me sleep.”

  Nautaus: “Of course, my lady.”

  Phoenix: “Urgh…”

  Dwynfel: “Will the Blood Dragons return?”

  Nautaus: “Probably, but it is unlikely they will do so for a while. They are ambitious, but also cautious. Such an embarrassing defeat will make them wary of such an assault again.”

  Beiroth: “Will you be returning to the area soon, Damecus? You have four years left of your tal voshak, do you not?

  Damecus: “Indeed… I am but 71… I have some time left.”

  Tadwick: “You’re old!”

  Damecus laughed.

  Damecus: “We live much longer than humans do child. Barring injury or disease a healthy Lizardman can live to 300, sometimes longer.”

  You know… my book on monsters had a whole two pages on lizardmen. Even so, I have learned way more about them just from spending this brief amount of time with these guys. Hell, most of the information on those pages was wrong anyway. They aren’t all green for a start. I suppose it goes to show that you can’t believe everything that you read.

  Beiroth: “You never answered my first question.”

  Damecus: “Because I do not know the answer. It may take longer than expected to return these people to their homes. And then there is the corrupted incubus that will need to be dealt with.”

  Nautaus: “It comes for the boy?”

  Damecus: “Yes.”

  Nautaus: “My condolences. That is not an enemy that I would wish upon anybody.”

  Damecus: “There will be a way to defeat it. We just need to find it.”

  Damecus picked up the cart and turned to leave.

  Beiroth: “I wish you good fortune.”

  Damecus: “I wish you a happy and healthy child.”

  Beiroth turned to Nomius.

  Beiroth: “I guess you have no plans on returning soon either.”

  Nomius: [Signing] “Protect… child.”

  Beiroth: “I knew you’d say that.”

  Beiroth turned to Tadwick.

  Beiroth: “You have a very dedicated guardian. He looks all big and tough, but you look after him now. He’s been through a lot.”

  Nomius: [Signing] “Stop… over… dramatic.”

  Tadwick: “I look after him. Pwomiss.”

  Tadwick gave the two of them a big smile and climbed on Nomius in preparation for our big trek through the marshlands.

  I find myself wondering what other creatures my monster’s almanac is wrong about. It said that all lizardmen were warmongering hyperaggressive beasts who will stop at nothing to expand their territory. Which I grant you in clearly correct about some of them. But you could say the same for humans really. Some of them are absolute arseholes. But I find myself growing fond of these lizardmen. Nomius in particular will do anything for Tadwick. I know that we had a bit of a disagreement with Damecus back there. But he wasn’t trying to abandon us. He was just trying to keep us safe. I respect him for that.