Arnkatla's Semi Heroic Quest(s)

Anyone Else?

"I'm sorry Arnkatla...I can't fly any longer" Dragon groaned before pitching towards the ground, they had almost arrived at the heart of Mountaintown. Arnkatla could vaguely see the gateway of the path leading to Japan. "So that means we'll cover the rest of the way by walking, right?" Asked Neb. Dragon nodded in agreement, panting profusely, his stride made his exhaustion blatant "I'm going back to the boat near the village to get better weapons...y'know, since we can't use magic in there" Arnkatla said. She carefully took note of her surroundings allowing herself to use her alchemy to instantaneously return to that spot. She drew her knife from its sheath and cast a vortex directly beneath her feet, falling straight through and into the docked ship's hull. She took hold of as many weapons as she could carry and stepped back into the still opened vortex, returning to Dragon and Neb. Upon Arnkatla's return, Dragon advised that they ask Radioactive Mind the best way to vanquish a leprechaun since they knew not of their abilities or skills. "Radioactive Mind, come out" Arnkatla said.

"What do you need?" Radioactive Mind asked upon majestically disembarking from the Paragon of Magic.

"How do we kill a leprechaun?" Neb inquired.

"It's not as complex as you may think, kill it the same way you would a human but watch out for the leprechaun's allies, they never travel alone" Radioactive Mind stated matter of factly. Arnkatla let out a sigh of relief, she wished not to face anymore opponents with complex abilities, her patience was beginning to wear thin as was her time before the injuries got the better of her. They all continued walking onwards, to the towering gateway over the path to Japan. The arched gate was decorated with ornate engravings and dwarfed the adjacent buildings, a semi-spherical red gemstone was situated at the peak of the arch, glowing radiantly in the moonlight. "And here we are, ready?" Dragon said.

"Ya don't have to ask me twice, let's get it on!" Arnkatla eagerly responded, practically diving through the gateway, she vanished upon touching the path. "What the frick! She disappeared!" Neb exclaimed.

"Calm yourself boy" Dragon said, poking his head through the gate and seeing Arnkatla standing on the other side, waiting.

This shouldn't be too hard because apparently, the leprechaun doesn't have any bullshit abilities like the other enemies we faced up to now, I hope we don't have to walk too far because the bullet wound in my ankle is starting to act up and it's kinda making me lose my marbles. Yeah, the path to Japan is kinda weird cuz when I stepped through the entrance, I couldn't see anything besides the gate, the path and a few trees, all the buildings around me just stopped existing. Apparently Dragon and Neb couldn't see me either, that's what they told me after they got in.

We've been walking for a while now and it's pretty hard to tell how long it's been since the sky turned grey right after we started walking which was kinda weird and everything looks the bloody same which means no one can tell how far we've come. I can't see the entrance anymore so that's a good sign and plus, Dragon just told us that he's ready to fly again, thank Odin for that. We flew for like an hour before Dragon got tired and had to land again, this is ridiculous, everything looks the exact same as when we started so who knows, there could be some bullshit at play that's making us lose ground somehow but I hope not cuz if that's true, then we're pretty much screwed. Man, I feel like I'm going insane, it's only getting harder to walk and I keep fading in and out of consciousness, I don't think I'll live much longer but I'm not gonna give up, I won't let all of this be for nothing, hell no. Dragon just told me that I should let him and Neb fight the leprechauns while I sit out, it kinda makes sense since I'm pretty fucked up but screw that! I'll annihilate those leprechauns even without magic!

"Wha? No! Hell no! I'll kick the crap outta those leprechauns! Watch me! Just watch!" Arnkatla exclaimed in rebuttal to Dragon's proposal. Dragon shook his head and sighed, knowing that he couldn't convince her to avoid combat and if he did, she'd likely be attacked and forced to defend herself therein, argument was futile. In the distance, Dragon noticed a blob of emerald green, jet black and pearl gold, his face lit up with anticipation. "Neb! Hop on!" Dragon exclaimed, Neb hastily mounted Dragon's back and they took flight, leaving Arnkatla behind. Dragon knew it was best to keep Arnkatla away from the fight but he couldn't help but feel an inkling of guilt for leaving so abruptly. As they drew closer to the horde of leprechauns, Dragon noticed their pot of gold levitating behind them, closely following. Weird...I thought there was no magic allowed in here" he said, Neb squinted, peering into the distance "buzz off! They get to use magic but we can't? That is so uncool!" He exclaimed. Dragon adjusted his pitch so his mouth aligned with the leprechauns then when he was close enough, unleashed upon them a cavalcade of magma hot flames from his mouth. The moment before the flames engulfed them, the path sprung up like a rug and deflected the inferno, batting Dragon from the skies in the process. "What gives?!" Neb exclaimed, rising to his feet and standing afront the horde of leprechauns. "You bite us, we bite back, that's what gives" the leading leprechaun said, he stood at a towering seven feet and wore a pair of jet black shoulder pauldrons, comprised of cast iron and a matching pair of knee pads. "I'll tell ye only once, don't touch the gold. Do it and we'll tear ye a new one!" He said. Dragon's brows were furrowed in an expression of anger "touch the boy and I'll set you on fire, now give it" he said, without warning, the leprechaun struck Dragon with a hefty right hook, sending him onto his back. He recovered quickly "Alrighty mister leprechaun, you're about to get your ass kicked, what do you have to say about that, huh?" said Dragon.

"I think not! It's you who's about to get your ass kicked, you should know not to mess with us leprechauns, it never ends well!" the lead leprechaun said in response, accusingly pointing his finger at Dragon. He then leapt forward with the strength of a kangaroo and struck Dragon's chin with a wind-bending uppercut, he was launched nearly twenty feet in the air. Neb threw a shuriken that Arnkatla had given him earlier at the leprechaun in an act of panic only for him to gracefully take hold of the weapon in his greedy clutches and hurl it back at him at breakneck speed. Neb attempted to evade the projectile to little avail, it sliced his cheek open like a chicken breast as if flew past. He yelped in strife "what'd I tell ye? Don't mess with leprechauns lest ye wish for a major ass kicking! Beat it, wankers!" the leprechaun proclaimed.

"You'd better not talk to my friends like that or it's you who'll get your ass kicked! Give up!" Arnkatla said, Dragon gasped with surprise, he hadn't expected Arnkatla to step into the skirmish on account of her injuries and had grown ever more worried for her life. "Ye be no match for us leprechauns! A funny lookin' lizard and a pair of middle schoolers, laughable!" the leprechaun said in rebuttal.

"Well it's a good thing I came strapped, you're about to get smoked" Arnkatla said with a threatening tone as she drew a shiv and targe which were concealed behind her back. The leprechaun charged towards Arnkatla before she could initiate her attack only for her to sidestep him at the last conceivable moment then drive the shiv into his back and through his lung. She thought the attack would finish him but to her dismay, he sprung back onto his feet with great vigour and struck the bridge of Arnkatla's nose with a hefty jab. She tumbled to the ground, clots of blood gushed from her nostrils and she raised the collar of her tunic in an attempt to quell the bleeding, the shiv still obtruded from the leprechaun's back but he bothered not to dislodge it. He lunged forwards to land another strike on Arnkatla only for Dragon to dive forwards and dash the leprechaun's jaw with a cast iron stave, shattering it to splinters.

He was finished.

Arnkatla looked the remainder of the leprechauns dead in the eye with an expression of malice "anyone else?" she said with warm blood gargling in the back of her throat, stricken with fear, they uttered no response "that's what I thought" she added before taking hold of the pot of gold, facing no further opposition.