Alisia stood at the gates of Dalton for a moment. She turned around and waved to the child Timmy and then proceeded south.
As she walked, the past few hours rapidly flashed through her mind.
She had spent a good deal of time at the inn, getting the lay of the land and some general knowledge of Lunar and its inhabitants. Alisia even gave in and purchased a small meal (slightly under the pressure of the child and his persuasive father). It certainly came to be a surprise that the same silver coins she had from Earth were used as currency on the moon.
Alisia learned of the local monsters and how to defend from them as well as the locations of several towns for shelter in her travels.
She thanked the kind family and paid for her meal, then decided to head south to Larpa.
She had walked only for about ten minutes when she heard a deep murmuring coming from the north... where Dalton was.
Alisia gasped and ran back toward the town... seeing a sea of green forms near the distant town.
Leo ran, seemingly with unlimited energy, as he chased the Destiny on foot. The little fire elemental Whisp did his best to keep up with the dashing beast-man.
Gwyn had left them as soon as they disembarked his boat. The aging scholar piloted the craft back to his home to await his grandson.
The former White Knight of Althena was able to keep the DragonShip in view mostly due to the inept mages driving the ship.
The Blade Wizards were having a great deal of trouble with the Destiny. They had no experience with a craft of its magnitude... despite the simple controls. The Destiny zigged and zagged all over as it rounded Larpa and proceeded north.
Leo kept his gaze set on his ship, determined not to let it get away from him.
Timmy stood at the gates of Dalton, watching the strange girl head to the south. He was about to run to play with his friends when one of the guards at the gate yelled.
"GOBLINS! A whole horde of them!"
The child glanced at the armored man as he ran for the rest of the guards of Dalton. He then looked to the north and screamed in fear. As Timmy ran back to the inn, there was indeed an army of the green creatures charging toward the town, yelling gruff battle cries.
By the time the guards were alerted, the horde had already reached the gates. Armed with simple clubs, the goblins pushed their way through the doors and began to pound on everything they could find in the city.
Spear-wielding guards did their best to defend Dalton, but the sheer numbers were the deciding factor as the defenders were forced to retreat into buildings.
The Goblin King and the two Fly-Boys proceeded to the temple of Althena at the top of the village and eliminated the priests there. The winged duo was about to blast the statue of the Goddess with their weapons when a pitched scream pierced the air outside.
The three miscreants ran outside to find their horde running about hurriedly. The maddened goblins seemed less intent on penetrating the buildings and more focused on something at the gates. The Fly-Boys hovered over the edge of the temple and looked as the monarch goblin noticed a small, shivering shape behind a number of supply boxes nearby. He reached down with his claw and picked up the form of the child Timmy. The boy had not been able to get back to the inn before the creatures reached it, so he headed to the temple for protection.
Timmy kicked and cried as the Goblin King bound him and carried him down to the bridge that led to the port.
The Fly-Boys also descended as they saw the cause of the commotion: a strangely dressed girl with red hair was flinging lightning bolts around the town at their army. They watched as a goblin attempted to jump her from behind, but she spun in a split second and cleaved the creature's club in half with some sort of short sword made of lightning. The goblin looked dumbly at the pieces in his hands as the woman sliced his stomach open.
Angered, they scanned the city for their warrior...
Alisia returned to Dalton to find it overrun by the strange green-skinned beasts. With anger at the carnage, she proceeded to zap the goblins from behind as she manifested LightningFang. She took down a dozen of them before they surrounded her in the center of the village.
She guzzled a quick healing drink as they stood around her, unmoving except for their waving clubs.
Then a larger goblin stepped out of the mass of green. His face was extremely ugly... covered with scars and deep gashes. He cradled an axe in his muscular arms.
A guttural voice yelled from above her.
"Kill her, Squat!!!"
The thunder sorceress glanced upward and saw an aged, gold-skinned goblin wearing a crown and bearing a staff... and Timmy! The creature held the boy over the edge of the bridge.
Squat cackled with glee and charged Alisia. His axe flew fast and wide as she hopped backwards to avoid its swath. She replied with a short dose of electricity to his axe arm.
Without the bat of an eye, the goblin hulk brought his weapon over his head and thrust it downwards with tremendous force.
Alisia brought LightningFang up to parry the blow, but the force was too great and it knocked her to the ground beneath him. Squat brought the axe up again to finish her...
Suddenly, a loud rumbling was heard nearby. All the goblins paused their cheers and attacks for a moment.
Then a building in the corner collapsed onto another ten goblins. A huge white ship crashed into the side of the town and then sat silently at the dock. Two familiar shapes upon its deck... who she recognized as the Blade Wizards... picked themselves up and bustled about trying to start the craft up again.
Alisia took this opportunity to thrust her lightning blade upwards and stabbed Squat where it counted. She rolled away as he dropped to his knees, clutching his groin and screaming in pain.
Shouts went up among the surrounding goblins. They bared their teeth and advanced on her with menacing looks.
She stood up and began to charge up Thunder Magic in her palms.
One goblin began to run at her... but fell in two pieces as soon as he stepped in the circle.
A form appeared next to Alisia, bearing a rapier in front of it dripping with emerald-colored blood. She looked at its face. It looked like a male half-beast/half-human clad in white armor and a red cape. His face had small fangs in the mouth, pointed ears at the sides and a short pointed horn beneath his thin light-blue hair.
"Ganging up at a single girl I see... there's no honor in those odds," he spoke in proud voice, shifting his weight to his back foot.
Alisia looked back at Squat and found him on one knee, still holding his spurting jewels. On his flanks were now a pair of winged figures with large weapons at their sides. One proceeded to fire at the newcomer.
The beast-man yelled, "Grizzle Gash!" and vanished. Something flew in front of him and absorbed the Fly-Boy's attack, but Alisia was watching elsewhere as she saw the half-breed appear next to several goblins and both winged guards and then disappear with a quick slash to their vitals.
Then she noticed Squat slowly reaching for his axe.
The goblin warrior was feeling great pain at this point. All he could concentrate on other than the stinging was the weapon in front of him. He suddenly noticed a pair of long human legs crossed around his neck.
"Oh no you don't!" he heard the girl yell.
Alisia leapt onto Squat’s back as he was hunched over and wrapped her legs around his throat. She then proceeded to spray electricity directly into this face and eyes from REALLY close range. He stood and thrashed about, trying to shake her off.
The beast-man finished his strikes and engaged several more of the beasts as Alisia continued to hold on.
With a gurgling noise, Squat finally sunk to the cold stones and died. Alisia stepped to the ground and charged up for another spell.
"Rolling Bolt!"
The circle of thunder shot out and took down several more the beasts. The newcomer stopped his attack as he watched the young mage shock the goblins.
Those who weren't decimated by the lightning ran off toward the gates. Screaming, they fled from the town to the northeast.
Alisia wiped the sweat from her brow and looked up as the rumbling began again. The Goblin King was looking nervously at the white ship. He grinned evilly and threw Timmy off the bridge. He then ran toward the newly activated Destiny and leapt aboard as it drove away to the north... along the coast.
The child yelled as he plummeted to the blood-covered pavement below. Both Alisia and the beast-man ran to catch him. Timmy stopped crying as he landed in her arms. Alisia immediately tried to console him as the beast-man watched the enemies escape and cursed.
Alisia then noticed who had blocked the Fly-Boy's attack...
"WHISP!" she exclaimed as the ball of fire floated over to her. His 'face' had an expression of happiness on it.
The beast-man turned at this... but was interrupted as the townspeople of Dalton emerged from their hiding places and cheered.
Alisia let Timmy down to the ground and he ran to his rapidly-approaching parents. His father picked up him and hugged him as his mother clasped her hands together. A tear rolled down her cheek.
The father spoke hurriedly.
"Oh thank you Ms. Dragoon! Thank you and..." he noticed the beast-man, "Lord Leo! Thank Althena that you came to our rescue!"
Alisia turned and looked at the half-breed.
"'Lord' Leo?"
Whisp nodded to her, then floated around happily.
Leo walked up to her and bowed, then noticed the behavior of the wisp.
He replied, "Yes. Former White Knight of Althena. You are quite an effective fighter Ms. Dragoon... and I notice that my fiery friend here seems to know you."
Alisia responded as the townspeople began to disperse and begin repairs... there hadn't been too much damage from the horde really. Injuries were widespread among the people though.
"Please, call me Alisia, Lord Leo. And yes, Whisp here is one of my friends. I am a, uh, traveler here and he was one of my companions."
The beast-man grinned. "He did seem out of place in the Dragon Ruins to the southeast... I'd say you REALLY got separated. And just call me Leo."
The innkeeper offered that they return to the inn and rest there, but both Leo and Alisia politely declined.
"I must hurry," Leo started. "The ship that the monarch goblin escaped on is my responsibility. I need to recover it as soon as possible."
Alisia, with a puzzled expression, answered, "That's your ship? That was amazing to behold! But I fear that the drivers of it are truly evil beings."
"Who are they? They stole the DragonShip Destiny from me back in the Salyan Desert and led me here."
"The Blade Wizards... a pair of evil twin magicians from Ea... uh... far off. I had been chasing them myself before I was separated from my companions," she replied.
Leo paused a moment. "Very well... I must be off. If they find out how to use the Destiny's cannons, it could prove deadly for the citizens of Lunar."
Whisp made a strange sizzling sound at Alisia's ear. She whispered back to it.
"He says that he wants to come with you... I agree. I want to see them defeated for good. We're both coming along, Leo."
"You can understand him?"
Alisia smiled. "Yes... I've been able to talk with animals (well, those who care to listen) my whole life. C'mon! Let's go north!"
Still a little puzzled at this strange girl, Leo waved farewell to the residents of Dalton and ran north, followed by Alisia and Whisp.
They made good time and reached the Forest of Illusion in about an hour or so.
"This forest is extremely dangerous... many creatures and twisting paths... it's a good thing Ronfar told me the correct path through already," Leo noted.
Alisia looked about at the dark trees all around.
"So, we have to go through here to chase both the Destiny and those goblins who sacked Dalton."
Leo nodded, "Yes... though if those wizards move off the coast... they could go almost anywhere on Lunar. If only there was a boat anchored at Dalton..."
Whisp burned slightly brighter as they proceeded inside the forest.
"Ronfar...what are they?"
The strange, yet apparently friendly creatures looked up at Mauri, the lover of the man who had brought them into the town of Raculi.
"I'm not exactly sure... these three," Ronfar pointed at the water drakes, "seem to be some type of winged serpent."
Mauri held up Boomer in her arms. The boomerang lizard relaxed a bit.
"This one is particularly different... these look like actual boomerangs stuck in its back."
Ronfar nodded. "They seem to be made of a type of metal that I can't place." He chewed on his weed and continued, "Well, what do we do with them? When's the last time ya saw creatures so, well, tame in Raculi?"
Mauri shook her head. "It feels like they don't belong here..."
Suddenly, one of the town guards knocked on the door.
"Priestess Mauri! Priestess Mauri!"
Ronfar opened to the portal to find the manic-looking guard next to an injured priest.
"Yes, I'm here," the beast-girl replied.
The guard exclaimed, "Serak Palace has been attacked! The priests and workers who were renovating and purifying it were driven out by monsters!"
"What?!?!"
Ronfar muttered to himself, "Why doesn't Ruby watch the front door to her cave more carefully?"
The ragged-looking priest spoke slowly.
"They... came without warning... but they ignored the dragon cave entrance. It appeared they were searching for something..."
Puzzled, both Ronfar and Mauri asked, "What?"
The priest only shook his head. "I do not know..."
Ronfar looked down at his side to see the four animals listening to the tale.
Mauri spoke, "We must recover that holy place."
The guard replied, "We're setting up a party to take it back. You two heroes of Althena should lead it."
Mauri nodded, "Yes. We'll help-"
"Damn!" Ronfar exclaimed. "The Red Dragon Crest is there! We put it there after Hiro went to the Blue Star... maybe they're after it!"
Mauri's eyes opened wide.
"Let's hurry... eh?" Ronfar was about to run out the door when he felt a tugging at his leg. Boomer had his tail coiled around his ankle. "What?"
Mauri noticed the expressions on the creatures' faces.
"I think they want to come with us."
Boomer and the drakes indeed wanted to come along. This Mauri (and her loud friend Ronfar, somewhat) seemed friendly enough... they did take them into their home and feed them... and perhaps they could look for Alisia on the way.
In a half hour, the recovery party left as the afternoon began the slow transition to evening.