He gestured with his wing, and the armor vanished. A second later it appeared on Killum. The enchanted cuirass fit perfectly.
Congratulations! You have been given a Bound Object Dragon Knight's Scale Armor! Protects from fire and to a lesser degree energy bolts. It is extremely good protection against mundane blades and missile weapons.
"Thank you, Gye, I accept your generous gift," he said. "What about weapons?"
The dragon's wing went back to the same pile of treasure, dug deeper, and pulled out a pair of blue dragon scale bracers. With a simple gesture he sent them to Killum's forearms.
Congratulations! You have been given a Bound Object Dragon Knight's Bracers! The left bracer protects with an energy shield, while the right bracer shoots energy bolts.
"Thanks! One's a shield and the other a weapon?" He admired them a second. "Is the shield stronger than Asha's?"
He lifted his right arm, curled his hand into a fist, and pointed it at the closest wall. Gye held up a taloned front hand to stop him.
"First, do not test them in here. You might bring the cave down on both of us," Gye said. "But the bracers are the primary weapon of a dragon knight. The left bracer is a shield, and the right throws energy bolts. Both are at least the equal of your little girlfriend's spells."
"Asha's not my girlfriend."
"Mmm-huh. Right," Gye said. The dragon quickly crossed to the other side of the vast cavern and dug out a sword on a wide belt. He also pulled out a white surcoat with a black dragon emblazon. In a flash they were on Killum, too. The battle-mage sighed with the pleasure of that sword's weight on his hip.
Killum pulled the sword with a flourish.
Congratulations! You have been given a Bound Object Dragon Knight's Battle Sword and Dagger! They can pierce or slice into dragon scale, and mundane armor as well.
"Those blades will slice through dragon scale, so mundane armor is nothing to them," Gye said. "They are meant to fight other dragon knights in the same armor you are wearing."
"Good. We've wasted too much time here," the battle-mage said.
Gye bowed down, the saddle reappeared, and Killum climbed up into the saddle. The dragon turned and raced down the tunnel, and burst out of the lair to soar straight out over the forest. Killum gasped, and a tingle ran down his spine.
"I will never get tired of that. You are like riding a cruise missile."
"I don't know what a cruise missile is, but I'll take it as a compliment."
Gye turned northward, flying faster than Killum would've thought possible. Warlord's Castle was high up in the pass before them. At that very moment his friends were probably fighting for their lives.
"How long will it take you to fly back to the castle?"
"An hour, give or take ten minutes," Gye said. "It'll depend on which direction the wind is blowing and how hard."
"Try harder," he said. "My friends need me. I can feel it in my bones."
Chapter 45
Dmitry slowly backed up the stairs, fighting every step of the way. He was starting to tire, but so was Asha. They stared daggers at each other.
"Surrender, Dmitry," Asha said. "I'll take that crystal off your face and free you from Lord Kathro's control."
"What makes you think I want to be free?"
"That's the crystal talking."
He surged down at her. Asha fell back a step and braced herself. The dwarf minotaur reversed direction and raced up to the next level. She cursed and followed.
"How does he move so fast with such short legs?"
The shaman waited for her at the top of the stairs. Killum's Power Sword held over his head, he grinned down a challenge. She clenched her teeth, dark eyes narrowing.
"You are such a fool," she muttered, and hit him with a thunderbolt. "Ha! Caught you with your guard down."
The little shaman flew violently backwards to slam into a wall. She charged the rest of the way up the stairs as he staggered in a daze. The sorceress knew she only had seconds to take him down, and thought she'd won.
Wild, high-pitched battle cries erupted to either side as she advanced on Dmitry. She froze, head whipping back and forth.
"Kobolds?"
Four foot tall monsters attacked from both directions. They were skinny, with faces halfway between reptilian and canine, with long floppy ears. Some were green like goblins, while others brown, but all were vicious little bastards. The sorceress found herself besieged by them, while Dmitry quickly recovered his wits.
It was all Asha could do to keep the little hellions at bay, her twin swords flashing in every direction. She kicked, punched, head-butted, as well as sliced and diced. And then Dmitry waded in swinging the Power Sword.
The mini-minotaur drove Asha back, but killed a kobold or two with every stroke. He was killing more of them than her. Dmitry, with the help of the kobolds, pushed her back to the brink of the stairs. And then he cried out in victory and charged.
"Nope," Asha said, dropping to her back. Her bent legs caught the pint-sized shaman in the belly. His momentum forced him to continue forward. She bent her legs to her chest, absorbing the impact, and then deftly flipped him over and down the stairs. "Idiot!"
She rolled to her knees, before sweeping the floor around her with a leg. That took down three kobolds that she dispatched with her keen blades. Surging to her feet, she cleared an area around her before turning her back to the wall and scanning the situation.
That level of the castle had a corridor circling around the outer wall, with a corridor going straight to the other side as well. Both stairs were visible from her location, but she didn't see or hear Rand.
How did he get past all of these kobolds?
Dmitry came running back up the stairs. She made her decision before he came into view. Asha feigned right, and leapt to the left using her Levitate spell. She flew over the heads of that gaggle of kobolds, and then hit the floor running.
"Rand, where are you?" she shouted.
She rounded the corner to see an empty corridor ahead. Now windows designed more for defense, and archers, provided the only light. The opposite wall had two doors, both of which were open. Kobolds poured out of the first door before she reached it, with kobolds and Dmitry following to block that avenue of escape.
The new group of kobolds fell back instead of attacking. She thought that odd, but it was also keeping her from levitating over them. On purpose? There was no way for them to know she could do that.
Asha stopped in front of the door. She panted as she looked to her front and rear. Far too many little monsters for her to fight alone.
"Rand, you little dork! Where are you? I need help."
A grunt drew her eyes to the door, and inside.
Rand. Dwarf warrior (Lvl 19). -1 Dark. PK: 5.