Kit the Knife

D slowly stood up and stripped off Mil's old jacket before taking a deep breath and allowing his body to change. Dean sat across the campfire, his own breakfast sitting in his lap as he worked to eat with just one arm. His face was calm as he watched black scales that shimmered with a prismatic gleam spread across the boy's body. His nose flattened and tiny bone ridges sprouted on the bridge of his eyes. D watched the ranger waiting for his reaction, he'd given it a lot of thought. Keeping the truth from the ranger would prove problematic if they were going to continue traveling together for any period of time. It would be better to see how things went and deal with the ranger now away from town if needed.

Jane sat beside D and watched as he transformed, she was curious like the others about his newest form. He was much smaller and sleeker looking than previously while missing many features including the wings. From her angle, she could see as his slender tail started growing from the small of his back. It rose up and coiled slightly, staying hidden behind him blocked from the ranger's view. She also watched as the slender barbed spine slid out and leaked a vicious looking liquid. She tried to hide her shock as she realized should the Royal Ranger make a move that the lethal tail would be ready.

After a long pregnant pause, Dean sighed and started moving his food around working to get it on the fork with one hand. "I can't say I hadn't started to have my suspicions. This definitely explains a lot too." He started working on shoveling the food back into his mouth again.

"That's it?" D asked his body reverting to normal, including his tail retracting.

"Well even if you are part of some cult looking to overthrow the kingdom, it seems you missed your chance. Right now I've no choice but to rely on you. Being that monster from before just means you will better serve my purpose." Dean spoke around a mouth full of food.

D didn't know what he meant by a cult but sat back down to finish eating not caring enough to ask for further details. "After eating, let's turn in this job. I'll get another."

Dean nodded. "We will need resources." He looked around the copse of red maples, paying close attention to the rather dry and solid ground. "We are up near Nimil, correct? This place is a pretty nice spot for a base. I'd avoid staying in the town." He eyed the girls with them. "Only trouble awaits if we do. Can you do a more permanent ward here? Maybe make this place our camp?"

D swallowed most of his food in a few bites then licked the plate before answering. "Without a proper spell quill or catalyst, any ward I place will only last a few days at most. I can put down some for now though."

D eyed the fire and what little was left. They had plenty of provisions but had no idea how long they would be here. The job didn't pay much and there were tons of things they might need. With a depressed sigh, D got up leaving the bit of food in the pot for the others. Crude quill in hand he worked on expanding the wards while Dean talked to the others about what supplies they might need. D was just finishing up with a complex layer of defensive wards when the others were done unloading the wagon. He might have finished sooner but a few of the topics of their discussion distracted him. It had moved from simply what supplies they might need right now to plans to build up a permanent base of operations here in the tiny island of dryland hidden in the swamp.

With the copse of trees heavily warded and Rachel armed with Mil's wand, the three male members of the group piled into the empty wagon with D's new backpack to depart. While riding along D thought for a while before handing Dean the knife he'd "acquired" the day before.

Dean cocked an eyebrow asking "Not worried I'll try and stab you in the back?"

D just grunted. "Didn't work well for the last owner, that's how I got it." Dean gave him another appraising look before remembering the fight against the ancient Destroyer and just nodded.

"Got one for me too? I left my wand with the girls!" Mil glanced back only slightly hopeful.

D started to shake his head then stopped thinking. A look of concentration developed on his face and after a bit, his tail emerged. Slowly a long spike ejected from the tip before D reached out and broke it off with only the slightest flinch. He handed the foot long bone spike to the slightly pale Mil who took it with a trembling hand.

"Um… Thanks." D just nodded.

The ride back to Nimil wasn't too bad, thanks to Mil's experience he was able to navigate the soggy terrain and only bog them down a few times. With D's inhuman strength getting the empty wagon unstuck was easy enough, something that didn't go unnoticed by the perceptive Royal Ranger. Nimil was just as depressing and horrible that day as it had been previously thought this time they drew even more attention than before.

When Mil parked the wagon once again in front of the hunter's guild D hopped off with a grunt before taking his backpack in with him. D walked straight to the dingy counter where the guild clerk, a greasy looking man with a nasty scar running down the side of his cheek that turned across his throat. He spoke in a wispy quiet voice as if speaking was a strain. He grunted when D dumped the bloody tails on the counter before signing off on the contract. D then took up his post before the board trying to find something worth doing. There weren't many jobs of any real value so D took another one involving killing local pests, a type of mud dauber wasp which was only considered a monster because they were nearly three feet long. A good sized nest was reported to have been built in the remains of an old shack along one of the few roads into the swamp. It was close enough that it harassed travelers, not that there were many so the reward was again minimum.

With the contract in hand, D stepped out just in time to watch Dean who was behind a man and had his one forearm locked against his throat draw his arm back sliding the knife in his hand across his captive's throat. He then shoved the dying man away before kicking him in the small of his back to send him flying forward into one of the other four that were surrounding him. Mil was standing on the settee making wild jabs with the bone spike to keep two other men back. While he halted just outside the door into the guildhall someone slammed into him from the side. For the second day in a row, a knife scraped against his flesh that hardened with scales in reflex deflecting a sneak attack.

When D lashed out the man was already skipping away, not caught off guard a second time. He inspected his knife blade finding it without the expected blood. "What trick is this?"

Standing in front of D was a man he vaguely recognized. Standing five foot eight he was taller than D but far from imposing. Wiry and thin his clothes were a mix of light leathers and common travel clothes that seemed the standard for hunters in this area. His hair was a dark brown that looked similar in color to the fetid waters found all through the area and just as filthy. His grey eyes were bright with bloodlust as he danced the knife in his hand around like a serpent ready to strike. D let the scales spread to cover most of his torso but not enough to be easily visible before motioning the man to come.

With a sneer and a swear, the man rushed forward his blade flashing. Again, D found himself at a disadvantage in a fight when he couldn't employ his monstrous nature. D used his arms to protect his neck and his scales to protect his vitals leaving his arms covered in slashes and more holes in Mil's coat. "Got ya some armor under there do ya boy? Won't matter, ya shouldn't have picked a fight with Kit the Knife! I'll bleed you out slow like." Stepping back from their engagement the knife wielder mocked D.

D was just debating on pushing his transformation and killing the man when a body thumped down between them. Sweaty and with several bleeding, but far from life threatening, wounds Dean stepped between them. "How the hell did some cripple and an old man take out my entire gang?!"

Both D and Kit noticed that the four men that had been left fighting Dean were down, most of them not moving. While the two engaged with Mil seemed to have decided to cut their losses instead of fighting over an empty wagon against the dangerous one armed blonde man. With a sneer Kit backed up. "Fine, you win this time!" He turned as if to flee before wiping around and lunging lightning fast at the one armed ranger.

Dean never even flinched his one arm snapping out to catch the other on the wrist with a sharp bone snapping blow. Stepping forward as the knife dropped to the muddy ground Dean transitioned his blow to the man's wrist into a quick jab that caught him on the chin. Stumbling back his head rattled he vaguely saw the tall blonde man's arm coming forward before Dean pulled him back into a one armed headlock. His body bowed back, Kit struggled to break the iron strong grip of the Royal Ranger. His eyes bulged with panic before, with his teeth gritted with effort, Dean did a small hop and snapped the man's neck. Dropping his body to the ground he let out a breath of relief. Fighting so many men, even weaklings like that with only one arm and a knife was exhausting.

Turning back to the boy who wasn't even watching but already searching the pockets of the other men Dean sucked in a deep breath before letting out an exasperated sigh. He'd had a whole speech explaining the importance of proper training, how valuable his teachings could be to the boy. Planning on using the impression his fighting skills would instill on the younger boy to prove the value of his training, instead, it seemed the boy wasn't even watching at the end. 'How the hell did Larian get anything out of this kid?'