Glass or Diamond: Fairy's Wish

Episode 9: Slayers of Monsters

Murtoa of Lakia; famous monster slayer the world over. Even the fairy villages tell stories of the human knight who faces monsters no one else would dare face. He has defeated an army all alone and is credited with dozens of colossi being slain.
Lykha watches as this noble knight joins his party in a well-equipped blue-painted sand cruiser, and they make their way out of the town. 
Her disappointment and betrayal are simmering, as her warrior companion, who also calls himself Murtoa, sets his gear in their beaten up, salvaged sand rail. Coco curses in Coco-ese as she tries to get the sand rail to start, finding the brake is shorting out something. 
Lykha approaches the warrior, whispering, "Mury?"
He looks at her, "Hm?"
"Why didn't you tell me the truth?"
"What truth?"
"You know which one."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Your name!" she hisses.
He sighs. "What do you want to call me?"
"Are you kidding me!? That's not the point!"
"Okay."
"Don't 'okay' me!"
He looks at Coco, asking, "Any luck, Coco?"
The girl gives him a thumbs up, saying, "Got it! Stoppa migh' no' work so good, but she'll go."
The warrior scoffs, climbing into the driver seat this time. "That'll work." Coco closes up the front of the sand rail and climbs into the back seat. Mury says to Lykha, "Think or say what you want, but we're going. If you want to stay, stay."
She growls in frustration. "Grah! You're not done hearing about this!" She flies into the back seat, taking a seat with Coco, and the teen holds her waist gently. Just as Mury is about to leave, Gyrryth shows up, standing alongside the sand rail. 
"Gyrryth."
"Murtoa." The fairy grits her teeth when the drakyk says this.
The drakyk then says, "Interesting turn of events, no?"
"I didn't think so," states the human warrior.
"A mystery monster in a world full of monster hunters?"
"World's a big place. No person's crossed the southern mountains since the war."
"Mmm, indeed. A wise one appeared."
"Wise one?" asks Coco curiously.
Murtoa answers, "Sentient colossi. Nothing like the gryduke or the nightenmael."
Gyrryth says quietly, "I hear sentient colossi have fallen to a hunter."
The human says calmly, "Bound to be someone out there."
Lykha scoffs in disgust, and Gyrryth looks at her.
The drakyk says plainly with a mysterious smirk, "Solving a mystery has appeal, but not for all I suppose. Good luck on your hunt, Murtoa."
"You too."
Murtoa drives out of town, heading north. They ride in quiet for a long time, and Lykha stares out at the horizon. Storm clouds slowly appear on the horizon far away to the east, growing darker and darker with every hour that passes.
He finds another tiny village around a small oasis, and he pulls up to the outskirts. Another sand cruiser is parked nearby.
As soon as the engine is stopped, they can hear shouting and crying.
As usual, Mury doesn't rush, but he does put his polearm on his back and straightens his gear. He walks casually into town, finding a large group -seemingly the entire village and six more rough looking individuals- all together.
The warrior-looking individuals stare at the trio as Mury looks around calmly. Lykha's heart aches as she watches the villagers crying. Some of them have already been bruised, and one of the younger men is unconscious.
The apparent leader of the bandits asks coldly, "You got business here, wanderer?"
"Just looking to refill our water."
"Find somewhere else."
"We won't make it to somewhere else."
One of the bandits starts towards them with a machete in his hand. Lykha readies herself. She searches his person for the most flammable thing she can find. Maybe even her flash will be better.
Mury says calmly, "Relax. I'm a monster slayer. I got no business robbing villages."
One of the bandits states angrily, "As you can see, no monsters here."
Just as the closest bandit says, "Is that a fairy?", Mury asks a surprising question.
"Aren't there?"
"Wait, what...?" 
The closest bandit loses his head faster than he can process; a feat, since Mury's polearm is long and takes a moment to draw. Still, his speed is incredible, and the other bandits are dumbstruck by watching their friend collapse to his knees as his head tumbles several yards away.
The warrior never paused, though, and pivoted with his own momentum in a complete circle, launching the polearm like a spear at the bandit leader, who is the furthest from any of the villagers. The polearm lands true, staking the leader to the desert sand as the other bandits stumble and try to collect their balance from being startled.
Mury never lets up on his momentum, drawing a throwing knife from his belt as Coco runs sideways away from him and Lykha flies upwards. A knife is thrown at the monster slayer first, and it ricochets off of his shoulder plate, which he partially steered into the blade's path before throwing his own. His knife slashes his target, but keeps going, and the bandit throwing knives strafes to the side.
Lykha spots one of the bandits starting to chant, and she quickly sparks fire in his face as she zips down towards him. He curses, losing his concentration for the briefest of moments, which is long enough for her. She uses her flash spell, quickly reciting the evocation for it. She beats the mage to completion, and the mage is blinded by a bright flash. He tries to swing his hands at her, but she nimbly flies away.
Meanwhile, Mury has engaged in hand-to-hand with the brawler of the bandits, a much bigger man than Mury with armored gloves on his fists. Still, Mury is fearless and deft in his footing, staying on the defensive until exactly the right moment.
The right moment is when a teen girl, curled in a ball behind a decorative stone, sticks her device out as they pass. It's another one of the electric shock devices, and it sparks with a violent crack at the brawler's waist, instantly dropping him onto his face in spasms.
Mury doesn't hesitate to draw his dagger and jam it into the man's back, falling onto his backside when another knife hits a weak spot this time. The warrior grunts, but manages to tumble out of the way of a follow up. 
Coco calls out, "Mury! He'e!" She tosses something to Mury, and he catches it. He instantly throws it. It hits the knife-thrower's head like a rock, but doesn't do anything special. The teen cries out, "NO! You were suppose' to hit the butt'n!"
"Too late." Mury simply stands up as he pulls the knife out of his gut. He throws it at the momentarily stunned knife-thrower, and the knife-thrower falls to a knife to the throat.
As the mage rubs his eyes, Mury jogs to him, slashing his throat with the dagger.
A young woman cries out, "No! Please!"
The three look, and the last surviving bandit has a young boy held close to his chest and hiding his head; a human shield. The boy is squirming, but the bandit is backing up towards the sand cruiser. 
Lykha starts to fly after them, but Mury stops her. He says, "Stay here."
"NO! I WON'T ABANDON HIM! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU-...!"
"I'm not. Watch the girl." She looks at the warrior as he takes a deep breath and forces the pain out of his focus. 
Coco shouts, "I don' nee' no leash!"
Mury ignores her, sprinting after the bandit and the boy. 
The bandit makes it into the sand cruiser long before Mury catches up, and the large vehicle starts off.
Mury doesn't stop though. His destination was always the sand rail. 
The fairy finds herself staring in surprise, and her heart is racing.
Coco whines, "You're no' in charge o' me, Bae. Get tha' ou' o' yer thinkin' blob right now!"
The sand rail races off after the cruiser, and both disappear over the dunes of sand as the mother or older sister sobs.
One of the bandits stirs, though, groaning. It's the one Mury hit with a throwing knife, and he seems intent on revenge. Coco jogs over to him and touches him with her shocker. He flops as the device cracks with a loud pop. And she says, "Bad zombie!"
Lykha quickly flies over, saying, "He's not dead, Coco. Do you have rope or anything?"
"I loo' li'e a tomb raida to ye?"
He groans again, trying to reach towards them, and both girls startle each other when they scream. Coco hits him again, and his body flops once more. She snatches the knife from his throat, holding it threateningly as she backs away. The blood suddenly starts pouring much more quickly from his injury, though, and he struggles only the slightest before losing strength.
The teen looks at the bloody knife, grimacing. She drops the weapon as if it was suddenly made of snot or something. She wipes her hand on her shirt, grumbling, "Goobs..."
Lykha gently pats her shoulder, but her gaze returns to the horizon, as the villagers watch with bated breath.
It feels like a long time, with the observers being forced to find shelter from wind blowing sand through the small village. Some of the villagers try to console the motherly figure, but she's still crying. Coco gives a try with, "Don' worry, Love. 'Usbando is the bes'. He's even legendary."
Lykha puts her hand on Coco's shoulder, shaking her head.
"Wha'? He is."
A man's voice calls out, "Hey! Hey everyone! Look!"
Everyone shields their eyes to step outside and look. 
Sure enough, a figure is walking into town with a small sand rail behind him as he shields a smaller figure's head with a blanket.
The fairy's heart races once more, and a positive surge sweeps through her. She tries to temper herself. She can be fond of Mury. After all, she didn't necessarily start having these feelings for Murtoa of Lakia. Though, she's not sure why her feelings are so strong.
The villagers run to the wanderer, especially the mother. She cries out in joy, and the boy cries out, "Mama!" He jumps out of Mury's hands and runs towards her, and they meet in a loving hug, crying in joy.
Mury's armor is coated in blood, now gritty with sand sticking to it. He collects his weapons, as well as a few of the knives and daggers from the bandits, even as the villagers try to speak to him. 
"Thank you so much, warrior! How can we repay you?"
"Water will be fine."
"Indeed! We can give you a barrel! Make it two!"
"No. Just fill our personal water, and we'll go."
The villagers are dumbfounded, but he continues to collect his gear, and then returns the thrown device to Coco, saying, "We'll need to plan better."
She scolds warmly, "Ye think, Love?"
He scoffs and nods. He then looks at Lykha, "You okay?"
She nods, "O-Of course. What about you?"
"Let the boy drive while I patched myself. I'll be fine."
That explains what took so long... maybe.
One of the village men returns, offering humbly, "Please, wanderer. Accept this. We don't have much, but..."
It's a handful of silver coins.
Mury doesn't even look, replying, "Keep it. We know of the solaghoul bounty. I'm afraid I'm not currently hunting it. We were just passing through."
The villagers are speechless, and Mury asks, "May we?" He gestures at the ladle for the oasis. The man holding the money nods once, still stunned. The three travel to the oasis water, refilling their bottles with the ladle, so as to not contaminate the water with blood or dirt. 
Lykha notices the man try to silently hand the money to Coco, but she waves him off with a hand, and he looks at the fairy. She smiles and shakes her head.
Once finished, Mury stands up and says, "I'm grateful for your hospitality. We'll be going now."
"Wh-what's your name, warrior?"
Mury replies without hesitation, "Mury." He keeps walking towards the sand rail as Coco and Lykha follow. Coco says proudly, "You lot can call me Coco. Bes' techromancer in the world!"
Lykha scoffs, adding gently, "Lykha. And... Take care."
The villagers watch them leave, and the young boy jogs up to Mury, saying through sniffles, "Th-thank you."
Mury simply nods and continues to the sand rail.
As he climbs into the driver seat after stowing his polearm, Lykha hovers next to him, saying, "I don't get you."
"What's to get? I slay monsters. Nothing else matters."
She finally gets what he means. She'll never know how the bandit base where Coco was being held might've gone if Lykha never tried to confront them. Did he intend to kill them anyways? He claims the bandits hired him to kill the captured miniature nightenmael, but he said the same thing then.
Coco climbs into the back seat, saying proudly, "'Bando owes me a kiss for my 'ssistin' him so well. That be my only fee. But, a fee I WILL be collectin'."
He scoffs, replying, "Is that so?"
"Yep! Two bouts, an' my techs savin' you. Machen can't thrive on thanks beself."
"Put it on a tab, then," retorts the warrior. Lykha takes her seat with a smirk, and the warrior starts driving.
Coco shouts over the noise, "Coun' on it, Love! I ain't workin' for free!"
"I didn't hire you."
The teen gasps in shock, feigning absolute disgust. However, she smiles as she digs the blanket out of the gear bag, shielding her and Lykha from the blowing sand.
The next time he stops, it's on a large hill overlooking a huge alcove of rocks bundled together. It's evening time, so earlier than he usually stops for sleep, but too late to really try to start anything.
Usually.
"What is it?" asks Lykha as she yawns. She and Coco were admittedly drifting off.
"Just thinking."
"About taking shelter there?"
"No. It's probably occupied."
"Oh... Bandits?"
"No. Dartwings."
Lykha shivers.
"You wan' to off 'em, Love?" Coco leans on the other side of the front seat's back.
"Normally, yes. But, it sounds like there's not a lot of liquid coin floating around right now, so collecting hides won't be as lucrative as normal."
"Why are dartwing hides worth money?" asks the young fairy.
"Female specifically. They're vibrantly colored, and leather made from dartwings is magic resistant. Mages usually pay pretty well to have cloaks made out of them. But, as you're both aware, dartwings aren't exactly easy to hunt. A nest, less so."
Lykha puts her chin on her hands as she leans on the back of the seat. "So, you want to know if we're willing to help you clear a nest for the greater good and little else?"
"You wouldn't have to help. Just trying to decide if I have the gear to do it."
"How many do you think are in there?"
"No more than four. It's a relatively small hole, and they always travel in pairs, and sometimes pairs of pairs. Never more."
"Why only four though, if they'll tolerate another pair of each other?"
"It's resources. Two pairs increases their chances of capturing prey. More has diminishing returns on the prey captured. They also will take turns protecting the nest when it's mating season."
"Is... it mating season now?"
"No. But, it's close. Anomalies happen."
Coco says confidently, "I say we clear 'em out. 's'a point of bein' monsty slayas if we don' do some slayin'?"
Lykha crosses her arms, saying, "I assumed it wasn't a vote, but I guess I'd be outvoted now anyways. If you think we can take them, let's do it."
"No need for a vote. As I said-..."
Both girls shout at him, "We're not letting you go alone!" They glance at each other briefly, and then return their gazes to him. Lykha adds gently, "You're too hard on yourself, and you can always use some backup."
"I won't object." He climbs out of the sand rail, retrieving his polearm as he groans, massaging his injury from earlier. Lykha asks, "Sh-should I-..."
"Save your magic. Could be useful."
He flexes his arms and says, "Try not to get dead."
Lykha replies sarcastically, "Great. Thanks for that."
Coco, however, teases, "My fee for slayin' dartwin's is two kisses, Love."
"It's only fair I tell you. I'm not paying that."
"Fine. One'll hav'ta do." Coco starts down the hill first, and Mury doesn't argue.
The rocks themselves are gigantic, standing nearly as tall as some of the great maples of the forest Lykha grew up in. In fairness, everything is big to a fairy, but these boulders are no laughing matter. The space between them feels small by comparison, like the gap between fingers of a closed fist. But, the space seems to be plenty for several adults to fit with ease, even drakyks, and still move comfortably.
Mury gestures for them to stay silent and careful. He even gestures at the tip of his weapon and then the wall, and both girls nod. He doesn't want them to accidentally bump something metal to the wall.
He walks with the blade of his polearm forward, ready to spear anything that might launch out at them. The sun sinking is quickly taking what little light makes it into the cave-like structure, but Mury continues cautiously ahead. 
He stops suddenly and without warning, and Coco squeaks ever so quietly when she bumps into him. It's a quiet touch, but it happened. 
Nothing happens yet, but Mury looks at them again. He points at Lykha and then to the left wall, indicating her to follow the left wall, and then same to Coco for the right wall. He then points at himself and gestures straight in the middle.
Lykha wishes she knew what Mury knows and why he does the things he does. Is it so the dartwings can't dive straight at her and Coco? Is it because he'll draw them into the middle? They can't fly close to the walls?
Mury climbs up the rocks in the middle quietly, and Lykha hovers up higher to see. She almost gasps when she sees the dartwings -just as he predicted-. They're sleeping cuddled together in respective pairs, and in close proximity to each other.
He draws his dagger carefully, stalking silently closer. Once he's in lunging range, the warrior dives at the closest pair and slashes his dagger across the male's neck. It flails silently, but loses blood quickly as it tumbles off of the rock. 
Mury is already diving onto the female's back as it scrambles up to its feet with a growling snarl, and he wrestles with it using his polearm as it shrieks and snarls, waking up the other two.
Mury and the first female tumble to the central 'floor' of the chamber as it flails and snarls. He tumbles off of it when it rolls quickly to dislodge him, but it's now close to Coco, and she lunges in, hitting it with her shocker. It shrieks, and it jumps, but this puts it back next to Mury with its guard down, and he jams his polearm blade-first through its mouth and out the back of its neck. He withdraws quickly, and it collapses, while the two still up high roar loudly. All three people flinch from the volume of the roar. The male leaps to the left wall above Lykha, but its gaze is on Mury and Coco. Coco swings her focus and the shocker back and forth, trying to stay ready for either one. Mury throws a knife, shouting, "Mage look out!"
Lykha dodges as the dartwing falls with a shriek, and she flies into the middle, "MY TURN! DON'T LOOK AT ME!"
She chants her spell, "Bright shine, we'll be fine. Give me light, if only a mite!" Her clap unleashes a blindingly bright light, especially for creatures sleeping only a moment ago.
The male shrieks and roars, while the female roars from the boulder as it was trying to crawl down towards Mury.
He sprints at the male, twirling his blade skillfully to unleash a flurry of light slashes. When he has a solid opening, he slashes its neck with an overhand chop, and this finishes the second male. 
The final female has backed up over the boulder in the center, snarling. Lykha starts to fly up, but she's yanked downwards just in time by her leg. The female whooshes over her head by a tiny margin, but it doesn't seem to have been specifically targeting her. Instead, it reaches one of the exits of the room, turning to confront them, but backing out as it roars and shrieks.
Mury swaps his grip to spear throw, but his throw misses, and the dartwing vanishes around the corner. Coco jogs up, asking, "Do we chase it?"
BOOM! BOOM!
Two loud firearm-sounding shots thunder the cave and startle all three. Murtoa takes the central position as Coco backs away nervously.
A tall shadow approaches them, and even Mury backs away from the entrance and off to the side.
Suddenly, Coco screams, "MURY!!!!" Her body hits the ground as the other two pivot, and she's suddenly dragged behind the boulder the dartwings were sleeping on.
Mury is gone in a flash, sprinting after her. Lykha is caught by surprise. She briefly wonders sometimes if he feels anything for either one of them, given that he didn't rush to aid Coco during the time she was startled by the braxes, and he doesn't usually babysit them anywhere they go. If either girl doesn't stick close to him, he could vanish with how he continues forward.
This time, however, he didn't hesitate, and he's right behind her as Lykha flies quickly after them, glancing behind them as the big shadow takes a humanoid shape, though with something on its head that could pass for horns, perhaps. A problem for when Coco is safe.
Suddenly, Mury drops, and Lykha follows as he slides down a long downwards slope. The girl is still screaming somewhere in the darkness below, and he already has a torch ready to ignite when he can.
As soon as he hits the ground, he digs for his flint, but Lykha simply ignites it with her magic, and the torch illuminates the chamber beneath the ground.
A wriggling mass of twisting whitish-green tentacles writhes and squirms, and Coco is screaming as she's being dragged into the central mass, where leaves seem to be flickering in addition to the tentacles.
The fairy points, but Mury stops her from using her flame spell. "Won't do enough damage, and it'll constrict faster. It's loose for now."
"What do we do!?"
Coco cries out, "Muryyyy!" as she's dragged into the mass by one of the long, thick vines.
"Did she drop her shocker? It might stun it."
Lykha looks around frantically for the device. For all she knows, it could be up top.
Mury sticks the torch in the ground, as well as his polearm.
"W-What do you plan to do?"
"Whatever it takes."
A sudden scraping slips in close behind them, and they both look. A towering, reptilian being rises to full height at the tunnel they came down in, wearing a big, broad-brimmed hat with as many firearms as Mury has knives.
The drakyk known as Gyrryth asks, "The girl?"
"It grabbed her!" Lykha points at the strange monstrous plant.
The lizardman licks his lips with his long forked tongue, thinking. He says, "Snare weed. Tricky mess."
"I've heard they have a core. If I can reach it..."
"Indeed. It is a bulb at the root of the plant." The drakyk draws a pair of his handguns off of his belt. They look like old-style flintlock pistols, but without the flintlock... or any moving parts of any kind save a trigger. It only now dawns on the fairy that these firearms can't conceivably fire.
"Lightning damage should loosen its grip temporarily. I recommend extracting the girl first."
Mury nods. "I'll do it."
"It'll grab you in her place."
"Not a concern." 
The drakyk nods, and Mury draws his dagger. He says, "Mage, you'll need to ignite the core once it's coated."
"Coated!? With what!?"
"Oil." Mury reveals the small jar he pulls out of his gear bag. He clips it into his torch clips on his gauntlet and readies his dagger. "Ready."
"Ready."
Lykha squeaks nervously, but states, "Ready."
Mury sprints headlong for the twisting mass of the plant, jumping over vines scattered on the sandy floor of the cavern. 
Gyrryth starts chanting, "Spirits of thunder, lend me your power. Give me lightning without the shower." The handguns begin to glow with bright purple glyphs. The fairy has never heard of this form of spell casting.
Just as Mury is reaching the threshold of the plant, the drakyk fires the right pistol, and a streak zips out with a spark-filled flare of miniature lightning. The 'projectile' explodes bright with lightning bolts. The plant seems to shiver and flinch away from the explosion of bolts, and Lykha catches a glimpse of Coco. 
Mury dives in without even faltering a single step. He slashes his way in closer, his mission clear.
Just as the vines start to close in again, Gyrryth fires again. He holsters both pistols, drawing another pair. 
Again, the plant flinches away from the explosion of lightning, and Mury flinches from being briefly shocked, it seems. Still, he reaches the teen girl, cutting her free of the coiled vines wrapped snugly around her. He doesn't cut the coils, but the end vine connecting to the plant. He wrestles his way to the threshold, shoving her out to the ground. He twists back in, struggling to keep his arms free as he works his way in.
Lykha asks quickly, "Why aren't you firing!?"
"These are fire spells. I'm out of lightning spells."
She's about to protest or scold, but halts herself. Every spellcaster has their method of magic, and each method has its own limitations. If the guns are the magic item, then they may have to gather magical energy from the environment, which explains why Gyrryth has so many.
There's a brief glimpse of Mury, and she can see him dumping the oil, even as one of the vines is coiling around his neck.
Gyrryth states, "If you can hit the core, do so. My shots will definitely injure our friends."
Lykha glances nervously at him, but then back to where she last saw Mury. She watches intently as the vines coil. She can see Mury fading, and her heart pounds. She almost lets herself drown in her concern.
THERE!
She barely spots it in time, focused on Mury. An opening, and she snaps her fingers with her focus squarely on the core.
A tiny spark of fire.
And then a humongous flame as the plant seems to almost explode its vines outward even more than Gyrryth's lighting spells did.
The lizardman holsters his pistols, jogging close to Coco to grab her and pull her clear with ease, batting away flailing vines as the plant frantically tries to escape its own body, it seems.
Lykha watches Mury, but he can't seem to get free. He still doesn't seem to have enough energy.
The fairy flies without thinking. She ducks and weaves through vines that aren't moving lightning fast, but would pose a definite danger if she wasn't paying attention. She does get batted through the air once, and she coughs.
So does Mury. 
Normally, she wouldn't think anything of it. He's being strangled and smoke is filling the cavern. But, other peculiarities have been in the back of her mind, and now this. She puts it out of her mind, though, and flies to him. She uses both hands to pull one of his knives out of his belt, saying, "Hang on Mury! I'll cut you loose!"
He is unable to respond, but she does just as he did for Coco. It takes her a long-feeling time as vines curl past her, some of which she has to avoid. But, she stays focused on the same point, sawing the blade back and forth as quickly as she can to break the vine.
Soon enough, it loses the ability to suspend him, and it breaks, toppling Mury to the ground. Without its constricting strength, the warrior is able to pull the vine from his neck and catch his breath before freeing himself. He shouts, "Move!" The two bolt out of the mass of the snare weed, avoiding the clumsy, spasming vines as the plant slowly dies.
They regroup with Gyrryth and Coco back at ground level, where the smoke hasn't built up. Gyrryth has since freed Coco, and she's coughing and trying to catch her breath. She says, "S-s-sorry..." She coughs hoarsely.
Mury coughs as he looks briefly down the tunnel. "Don't be. Monster plants are still monsters."
"Th-Thank you."
Gyrryth remarks, "Seems our goals were not so different today."
Mury replies with a rough voice, "Seems like."
Lykha asks, "Why DID you come after dartwings, though? You must know there isn't money in them right now, right?"
The lizardman nods. "Like you, I intended to ensure our comrades are unchallenged in their hunt of their bigger prey."
The fairy blinks in surprise. It grows as she realizes Mury had to have thought the same.
When she looks at him, though, he's removing his gloves as he prepares to stitch a cut on Coco's forehead.
A bandage with a thin blood stain on the palm is wrapped around his right hand. His right glove is completely undamaged.
She asks the warrior in shock, "What did you do?"
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