Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

CHAPTER 311: Orthos

We had a lovely meal at the shore of the river. Just as we finished, rain started to fall and we moved back into the carriage. Kaito used his powers to form an umbrella out of frostfire. It was fascinating since the frostfire was not solid, however it froze the rain on contact. The result was an ice umbrella that glowed mysteriously due to the frostfire inside. It definitely added some flair to our carriage since he was the driver.

Inside the carriage it was warm and dry. Watching the rain was kind of peaceful. Thankfully it was not a real storm, just some early autumn rain. The sound made me kind of sleepy so I rested my head on Helena's shoulder and drifted off.

"Wake up!"

I heard the urgency in Helena's voice and immediately called on my magic as I opened my eyes. It seemed the carriage itself was not under attack but I could hear the sound of fighting.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Look." Cassie said, pointing at the right window.

What I saw was stunning. A creature the size of a horse, snow white fur and… I blinked. Two heads. Two wolf heads.

"Why is there a massive two-headed wolf?" I asked. "And who is he fighting?"

"Looks like adventurers, I think they are in trouble." Skadi said.

The rain was still going which did not help the visibility but I could see two people lying on the ground. Three were still fighting the monster.

"We should help." Helena said.

"Yes." I agreed.

Kaito had stopped the carriage. Thanks to our undead horses we did not have to worry about a panic and could just park in front of the fight.

We left the carriage as Kaito jumped down from the driver position. "I believe that beast is called an orthos, however I have limited knowledge about them."

"There are some in the mountains. They are not supposed to be here, in the forests." Helena said.

The fight was happening next to the forest on our left on a bit of grass but the battle had reached the road itself as well. A fighter desperately tried to block a paw with a shield and went flying. A mage threw some fire at the beast which led to a pained howl. Meanwhile an archer was trying to hit the heads but all he managed was to hit the left shoulder. It enraged the monster even more.

"Nyx, you are our best brawler. Try to keep the monster contained. Hatsumi and Skadi can back you up." I said.

"Meow!" Nyx grew and charged. Skadi had grabbed one of the arming swords from the carriage and Cassie handed her a potion. She quickly drank it, then followed after Nyx while her runes shone brightly. Her sword was being covered in blood as she charged. Hatsumi was right with them forming blood claws while running.

"I can try to immobilise it." Helena suggested while preparing her ice spells.

Cassie grimaced. "The rain makes fire a bad choice. I have some bombs but I have to be careful that I won't destroy the ice Helena is forming, or hit our friends."

"I can hit it with a necrotic ray if you can immobilize it, Helena. Maybe you can explode it once it's weakened, Cassie?" I suggested.

Helena was already starting to freeze the water on the ground, sadly the wolf monster seemed to care very little and easily broke free. It also did not mind the slippery surface.

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Nyx had reached the beast and jumped at it. The monster was fast. It managed to evade the pounce and hit Nyx with its paw.

Helena grimaced. "I am afraid it's resistant to ice. I can still try to trip it, or pierce it with ice shards. The physical damage would work but the cold is not going to be effective."

Meanwhile Skadi and Hatsumi had entered the battle. Skadi took a hit but shrugged it off while Hatsumi tried to hit the rear legs with her claws. Nyx was back in the fray and trying to bite the left throat.

I tried to get a good shot off but I could not risk hitting my friends. But we had more troops.

"Cats, move in!"

"MEOOOOOOOW!" The other cats charged. Their small size was an advantage when it came to dodginess. While the monster tried to catch them with its mouth they nimbly evaded and started going for the legs.

As Nyx attacked again she was hit by a frost breath, which she ignored. Nyx managed to bite the left shoulder of the beast. It slowed it down enough that Skadi stabbed the right and Hatsumi hit the rear. It also allowed our ibex to charge. Its horns penetrated the right side of the monster which was now being stabbed from all sides.

The orthos howled and unleashed an explosion of ice around it. My friends were blown back and went flying. Except for the ibex. The right head caught the ibex as it was blown backwards and bit down. I felt the link die as the ibex lost its head.

The mage and the archer who had been fighting the monster fell back to our position. I could not see their fighter.

"Keep shooting it!" I told them.

"Too much magical fatigue, I can barely stand anymore!" The mage complained.

"My arrows can't penetrate the skin deep enough." The archer complained.

"I have got some poison for your arrows!" Cassie said and opened her pouch. "Here, use that!"

"You should send in your other fighters!" The mage suggested.

I looked at Bob and Frank, who were still waiting. I ordered Frank to use his armour. It would give him some decent protection. Bob followed, hopefully he would be able to use the beast's blood against it. However Hatsumi and Skadi seemed to struggle despite the monster bleeding from several wounds.

Meanwhile Kaito stood close to the fight concentrating on something. He raised his hands and a large cloud of frostfire shot towards the beast. It was covered in it and the rain began to freeze around it. While the orthos did not mind the cold, its constant need to break the ice did slow it down.

I mentally sent a warning to my undead and used the opportunity for a necrotic ray. The magic formed in my hand and shot towards the beast. I hit the left flank and the left head howled in agony, the right head opened its mouth and shot a spear of ice. I stopped my spell and Helena jumped in front of me with a shield of ice.

But while the monster had been distracted with us Skadi got her sword into it once more. The cats jumped onto the orthos' back and began to claw into it. Nyx got her mouth around the left throat and started biting. Skadi abandoned her sword, which was still stuck in the monster, and grabbed the right head in her hands. It allowed Hatsumi to bite. The monster grew visibly weaker as Hatsumi injected her poison and consumed the monster's blood. It looked like we had won, although I was sad for my ibex. It had only been a tier two but I still felt the loss.

"Fucking mess. At least we still have the corpse." The archer muttered.

"Thanks for the rescue, I am Jonathan." The mage said. He wore a flaming red robe, matching his eyes and beard.

"How did you get attacked?" Cassie wondered. "And you still have my poison, you haven't even used it!"

"I was not going to poison the merchandise. We had a job to transport that thing but it woke up! Hope they take the corpse, it should cover some of our losses." The man said.

"This is our corpse, we slew the monster." I said.

"Eh? How much are you offering?" The archer asked. His dark eyes were filled with greed.

"We saved you." Helena pointed out. "And we slew a dangerous rampaging beast. The corpse is ours, by law. Of course if you want to claim this was your pet, you would be responsible for its actions and would be charged with assault on nobles and students of the Royal Military Academy."

"Listen you stupid girl, this is our monster and… Argh!" He jumped back as a bolt made from blood landed at his feet. Chariot jumped down from the top of the carriage forming more blood spikes on his back.

"My undead don't react well to threats." I pointed out.

"No need for violence! I apologise for Archie, he has been under a lot of stress." The mage said.

Cassie snickered. "Archie the archer."

"Look, we really can't just hand you the corpse." The mage tried.

"You released a dangerous beast due to incompetence, damaged the road and now you think you have a right to the corpse? You did not even contribute to the fight." Helena pointed out.

"The beast has been slain." Kaito announced as he joined us. "Hatsumi is currently keeping the cats from eating it. I am sad to report the loss of our ibex, everyone else is unharmed. However we believe the corpse will be a great addition. We can manufacture an ice sled and drag it with the carriage."

"What are you supposed to be?" The archer asked.

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Never heard of dullahan before?"

"Your type of undead is rare and usually not a goblin…" The mage's eyes widened. "You control tier three undead!"

"Obviously." I stated.

"Archie, we are leaving." The mage said.

"What? The fuck we are! This is our money! I am not intimidated by…" Frostfire started to form around the man and his body began to freeze.

"You were saying?" Kaito asked.

"Stop! You can have the body!" The man cried out.

The frostfire disappeared. "It is good that you saw reason and we can handle this like civilised people."

The mage swallowed. "Thank you, we shall take our leave then…"

"I believe you have fallen. Maybe you should attend to them? I also believe you have a wounded fighter to look after. Skadi has stabilised him but we do not have a dedicated healer among us." Kaito said.

"Ah, yes. Of course." The mage said.

"He is near the shore." Kaito added.

"Bloody freaks…" The archer added as they both left.