Fantasy Cursed Island

[Fangs9090]

She paused for a moment, looking at her hands. "Hm... I don't know. I was...made here. But part of me feels like I came here. I don't remember anything before being here though."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"That is... weird," Jerry remarked, before standing up. "Well, I'm here for treasure, you can come along if you want. You got a name?"

 

[Fangs9090]

She looked at him before rising herself. "Not one that I can remember. I'd like to come with you. I'll help however I can, as thanks for setting me free."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"If you weren't intelligent I'd have cut your throat and moved on," Jerry replied to her thanks. Without skipping a beat, he moved on. "So you don't have a name?" She was kinda funny looking, like a patchwork of who knows how many different creatures, and she just said that when she drinks someone's blood, she becomes like them. Kinda like shuffling decks together. "How about Shuffle?"

 

[Fangs9090]

She considered the name before she smiled and nodded. "Works for me. I'll follow your lead then. I'm not sure what counts as treasure anyway."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Just about anything shiny, for the most part," Jerry replied, "Do you think that'll fit you? It's better than fur, I promise." He pointed at the scrapwork armor on the goblin mess.

 

[Fangs9090]

Shuffle looked at the metal bits before picking a piece of it up. "Mm...kinda heavy for how small it is. Somehow I feel like I'd rather stay light on my feet."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Oh, you're going that route, good call," Jerry nodded, "Alrighty. Try to keep quiet, I don't know if the lizard things have moved." He started back towards the main room where the lizards were, switching to sneaking once the hall of torches came into view.

 

[Fangs9090]

Shuffle followed after him, lowering herself to walk on all fours when she noticed him sneaking. The lizards hadn't moved an inch since he last walked through. A low growl rumbled in Shuffle's throat as she looked at them.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Jerry was going to have to ask why she did that. The goblin and now the lizards. "Okay, there's four of them, one's a big one, last I was here. I think we can sneak past the big one if we're really quiet, but I don't think we can take them in a fight," he whispered.

 

[Fangs9090]

"Hm... They use their tails for balance. Cut it off, and they won't be able to stand well enough to use their spears. We could take them one by one, if we avoid getting all their attention at once."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"I don't know about you, but I don't think my sword is going to pierce their scales, and I don't think they'll go down quietly."

 

[Fangs9090]

"Hm...maybe poison..." Shuffle shook her head. "I'll follow your lead."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Maybe, let's stick to the outsides, work our way in," Jerry replied, pulling his sword and sneaking up on one of the lizards that was facing away and asleep. Okay, Jerry, without a tail, it's just a lizard, right? Just a lizard with huge jaws and claws. No way this can possibly go wrong, you've got Shuffle to bite it if it does go wrong. He looked to make sure where Shuffle was as he prepared to try and cut the tail off, hoping she was in a position to kill it when that inevitably woke it up.

 

[Fangs9090]

Shuffle followed along behind him, stepping lightly. As she saw him take his position behind the reptile, crouched nearby, ready to spring at a moment's notice.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Kai held up finger for a count down. 3... 2... 1... SHING! He plunged his sword tip-first into the base of the tail, slicing a messy cut.

 

[Fangs9090]

As he thrust, Shuffle sprang onto the reptile. It snarled as the blade met its tail, but Shuffle was on it before it could react, sinking her fangs into its neck. It clawed at the ground as she held on, but it quickly weakened from the poison and the bleeding. Shuffle kept a firm grip on its neck until it finally lay still. She released its neck and stepped back as it started decaying.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Just how fast is her venom?, Jerry thought as he moved to the next lizard. Rinse and repeat. Taking out the lizard that was most separated from the others before moving to the next. The three little ones weren't something he was worried about, but the big one was.

 

[Fangs9090]

Shuffle followed along, helping with each one. Thankfully, the others didn’t take notice for each kill, allowing them to work their way through them.

However, as the last of the small ones decayed, their luck ran out. A sudden roar filled the room as an icy chill ran down their spines, their vision distorting for a moment. When it cleared back up, they were still in the same place, but something else had appeared. Another poison hound, about three times bigger than the other one, had come literally out of nowhere, appearing right by the remains of the first reptile they’d killed to eat it up, bones and all. As if that wasn’t enough of a problem, the beast’s appearance woke the larger reptile, using its spear to help it rise to its feet.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Gods dammit," Jerry muttered. "We gotta make this quick Shuffle, numbers are not on our side." Pulling his dagger and resting his sword on his shoulder, he took a stance where he could dodge in either direction should either beast charge. "I knew I should have shelled out for the invisibility ring. Alright Cujo, I just killed one of you half an hour ago, let's dance."

 

[Fangs9090]

Shuffle stood beside him to face the reptile, but the reptile was more interested in the newcomer. It snarled before jumping at the giant hound, stabbing down at it as it landed. The hound looked up and jumped to the side, growling at the reptile as fog seeped from its mouth. They both seemed distracted with each other, paying Jerry and Shuffle no mind.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Huh." Jerry seemed to relax a little. "Okay, let them kill each other. We'll take out the survivor." He started walking back towards the room where he'd left his trunk, reasoning that in that time, one could kill the other, and the survivor would be pretty messed up to the point where, with some strategy, he and Shuffle could kill it and then he could move through here unmolested.

 

[Fangs9090]

The two giant beasts went at each other full force, stabbing, clawing, biting, spitting. It seemed the reptile had some kind of projectile spit, which it usually aimed at the eyes. Between the two, the reptile was tougher and had a longer reach, but the hound was faster and better able to dodge and get in close, landing a hit before darting away.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Huh. Alright, cheat time, I'd rather deal with the dog," Jerry decided, picking up a loose brick. Taking his time to line up a shot, he sent the brick pounding through the air at the reptile's eye.

 

[Fangs9090]

The brick itself didn’t do much, but it was enough to make it flinch. That was all the opening that the hound needed. It lunged through the opening, sinking it’s teeth into the reptile’s neck. There was a bit more struggle as the reptile kept fighting, but the hounds jaws were locked on. Eventually, the reptile was dead and the hound let out a howl before leaning down to feast.

It didn’t get a single bite though before it found Shuffle on its back, sinking her teeth into its shoulder.