Day 15

Thomas pressed his knees into his huddled arms as he shuddered in the cold.
"B-by the armpits of Hephaestus! This is f-f-freezing!" The cold air froze Thomas's gasp into a white mist, which vanished the moment it was created, "F-forgive an old s-sailor wh-who is used to warmer climes, but... D-did the s-sun forget to shine on this place this summer or s-something?"
"...In a manner of speaking, I suppose it did." Ofelia said as she glanced towards the frozen fields surrounding them, a look of concern on her face, "This did not happen by natural means, nor was it created by magical forces."
"So the rumours are true then." Simon shuffled himself closer and hugged the succubus, so that their warmth could be shared, "There really was a dragon attack."
"Yeah..." Ofelia clenched her fist, "All the reports concurred... All that we knew converged at the same conclusion. And yet, I couldn't bring myself to believe it... Until I saw it for myself."

With incredulity in his eyes Thomas looked around, "You... you can't mean that all of this was done by a single monster? A monster girl?"
"This is the apex of mamono-kind, Thomas." Ofelia glanced towards the sky, as if she was expecting the dragon to arrive at any moment, "The power of normal mamono, that in and of themselves dwarf the strength of humans, is nothing compared to the might of dragons. Their very presence shape the environment around them."
Thomas blinked, "Now hold on a minute... Are we gonna end up running into them, what with us chasing them around like this?"
"We can't rule out that possibility. After all, we have no idea what we will find here." Said Simon.
"Now, hold on a minute!" Thomas raised both hands between himself and the pair of companions, "Forgive an old sailor for not bringing this up before, but why are we here to begin with? Now, I know the Dark Temple sent us here, sure. but why are they making it their business? Can't they let all this be between the Order and them dragons? Do they really really need to make us stick our necks out like this?"
"Thomas... " Simon sighed, a cloud of white vapor escaping his mouth, "The willpower of dragons is vast enough to resist even the influence of the Demon Lord herself. They don't let themselves get dominated by lust like other species of monster girls. Nor do they hunt for husbands, for they deem humans as unworthy. They behave more or less like they did in previous ages... Like they did in every age. If any one monster would be able to challenge the Demon Lord, and end her dreams of a world where humans and monsters live together... It would be a dragon."
"While they look down on humans, in this age they are still potential mates of their species in their eyes. That's why they haven't attacked human settlements in ages." Ofelia lowered her head, slumping into Simon's arm, "...Until now."
Simon rested his chin on the top of the dark priest's head as he held her closely against her, "Something has changed. And I have been tasked with finding out what, so that the Demon Lord's Army can decide if they need to worry."

"Now, I for one already made up my mind on that!" Thomas declared.
The knight smiled at Thomas, "You're not getting cold feet, are you? Rememer, we're not letting you get away."
"Cold feet? Me? The only thing that's cold here is..." Thomas wiggled the toes within his boot, "...Well, y-yes actually. I do have c-cold feet. But not in that way, no siree!"

The cart slowed down, and stopped. The clopping of hooves on the frozen ground, and the creaking of the wheels beneath the three wanderers, made themselves conspicious in their absence. Ofelia and Simon looked around themselves, only to find no sign of civilization. All they coud see was vast stretches of leaf forest on each side of the road, their green crowns carrying a layer of crust snow.
Ofelia climbed the pyramid of carpets, and looked down on the driver, "What's the matter? Why did we stop?"
The driver looked over her shoulder towards the succubus with a droopy smile,"Ehehe... Yeah, guess three times..."
"Is it...?" Ofelia started, but was interrupted.
"Something's in the way on the road." The driver took a swig from her bottle, "Ehehe... Looks like we're not leaving until that thing's moved out of the way..."
Thomas and Simon stuck their heads out from the cart, and saw on the road a fallen tree trunk lying in the way. It was perfectly obvious the forest surrounding it was too dense to travel through.
Thomas stretched and cracked his knuckles, "Well, looks like it's time for some good old fashioned elbow grease."
Thomas jumped out of the cart, but Simon grabbed on to his shoulder. The knight had an alert yet strangely calm look on his face.
Simon reached down to his boot and pulled out a dagger, "Stay in the cart, Thomas. Hide in the carpets. Draw your sword. Don't make a sound. Am I clear?"

"Not really. But it sounds like you know what you're talking about." Thomas jumped deeper into the cart, lifting a pair of the rolled up carpets and hiding underneath them. Ofelia and Simon could only hide under one roll, but camouflaged themselves by rolling themselves in the succubus's wings.
"Ehehe... What an ungrateful bunch of passengers I've got over there..." The driver hopped out of the cart and stretched, "Welp... Guess I don't mind taking a moment to stretch... Ehehe..."
The woman with long golden lockes grabbed her bottle and staggered towards the fallen log.

THWACK!!
She stopped in her tracks to look down, finding an arrow dug into the ground just by her feet.
"Ah?" The driver cocked her head and dug her hand into her thick golden hair to scratch underneath it, taking a swig from her bottle.
In the corner of her eyes she noticed something moving behind her. As she looked over her shoulder she found one man and one woman, each pointing a repeating crossbow squarely in direction of the driver.
"Turn around! Get off the road! Get on your knees. Do it now!" The man yelled. He was muscular, his square jaw discernable even from behind the mask, and had cropped black hair.
"Ehehehe... Oh no... I am being robbed.. Ehehehe... " The driver, figuring she could take a swig before obeying them, pushed the bottle against her mouth.

CRASH!
The bottle exploded into a hundred pieces on impact with a crossbow bolt, and all she could do was look dismayed at the puddle of delicious rum filling the ground.
"Do not tempt us, lady. Do as the man said! Turn around and get on your knees!" The woman said, a resplendantly beauty with curvy pale blonde hair that cascaded down her back like a waterfall. Unlike the man, she did not see fit to wear a mask over her face.
This time the blonde woman did as was told, turned on her heels and stepped off the road into the forest, letting her knee touch the ground as she fell.
"Am I doing okay? Ehehehe... "
"You're fine. Just stay as you are." The man said as they jumped into the cart.
While all of that transpired, two more figures leapt from behind the shadows. One of them was an enormous, voluptous woman, curving out in the right places and never curving just a little. The man hijacking the cart may be considered well-built, but the power and beauty in the stocky legs and beach-ball sized boobs of this woman could not be compared. Just like the man, she wore a mask around her face, and the bushy white mane on her head was tossed behind her running down her back. Her outfit of a black top and black miniskirt, from under which a hairy tail with a furry tuft protruded, left much caramel coloured skin on display of this bubbly marvel. She carried a broad sword in her hands almost as long as the donkey.
The man on her side was short and lean, with a wicked yet passionate look in his eyes, his medium long black hair slicked back behind his neck. He too was wearing a mask. He was wearing black tunic and breeches and a grey hood.

"No funny business here, sheep-lady." The powerful woman said, pointing her sword at the driver, "And clasp your hands behind your back. No harm shall come to you."
"HIYA!" By this time the mask-less woman had taken the driver's seat and whipped the reins, prompting the donkey to run. The powerful woman lifted the log with one arm, tossing it out of the way. As the cart passed her and her companion by, the lean man jumped on to the speeding cart as the powerful woman ran after. Both men grabbed her arms, and pulled her into the wagon.

"Heh... Welcome on board, boss." The slender man said.
The powerful woman snorted, "Don't call me boss. We don't know if he's still out there."
"Either way," The muscular man said as he examined the fabric of the rolled up carpets, "This went down without a hitch. And you know what? This is weresheep wool. It'll catch a high price on the black market."
"Sure..." The powerful woman said as she stretched, "Just wish we could catch some men with the cargo every once in a while. That's what desparate mamono will really pay for in these parts. Male prisoners."
"Oh, come on now, Bo... Bess." The muscular man playfully nudged the powerful woman with his knuckles, "All the men you need are right here. Right Gus?"
"Hey, now Bobby!" The lean man said with a laugh, "Don't you go and give her any ideas now!"
"Oh, please." The powerful woman said with a giggle, "You guys are family, and you know what they say? You can't sell family."
"I... don't think anyone's ever said that." Gus said.
"Don't think anyone ever needed to say that." Bobby said.
"Doesn't make it any less true. Now let's just relax, and get this loot back to our den."

The powerful woman fell down, planting her plus sized rear down on the pile of carpets with.
"AAAAAHHHH! "
From underneath the pile, a man with long dark hair and smooth, handsome face crawled out, pointing his sword up at the bandits, who could only watch incredulously.
"...Surprise."