"It is." KoKo agreed, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed in thought. She shook her head sharply. "Stupid, stupid, stupid." She bit out. "We should have known it would be someplace around here, but nobody cared because it hadn't made a nuisance of itself. To think they'd dig up something like that." The Cait Syth began to explain. "This is bad. Lhamthanc's initial form is a serpent, a nasty one too, he'd probably consider Tabitha's dragon to be a hearty meal."

Louise blanched at the thought of something that could eat a dragon like so. Surely their were fiercer beasts, such as her own mother's manticore, but from the sound of it, this Lhamthanc might have just considered a manticore to be dessert.

"Excuse me, but what do you mean by 'initial form'?" The Count of Tarbes asked cautiously.

KoKo raised a hand to her chin and began to pace. "Basically, when Lhamthanc awakens from dormancy, its form is that of a serpent. In this form, Lhamthanc's hide is incredibly strong and it possesses strong melee and targeted poison based attacks."

"It nearly shot Sylphied from the sky." Leafa confirmed.

"Un." KoKo nodded. "His basic attack patterns in this stage aren't very complex. He'll move towards large concentrations of pl - . . . of Faeries or other mobs and try to consume them, and will attack anything that does enough damage to register as a threat. But really, he isn't that dangerous just yet. His attacks are strong, but easy to avoid, and he's fast, but ground bound. The problem is that, after enough time passes, Lhamthanc's form changes."

Leafa mumbled something about a "A multi-stage boss."

"So it undergoes a metamorphosis, like an insect?" The Count asked, appearing greatly curious. "Fascinating." How could he be thinking about something like that at time like this? Louise wondered.

"In its second form, Lhamthanc sheds its scales for feathers and develops a pair of wings. It transforms into an airborne boss. It also gets an upgraded area effect poison breath and powerful wind attack. Its defense is weaker in this form, but its even more mobile and its attack patterns become highly erratic." KoKo's eyes swept between those gathered. "It won't just be a danger to Tarbes, it will become a threat to every settlement in this region."

"Oh no." Leafa breathed, eyes widening. "Klein and Tabitha are still following it." She said. "They don't know that it can change its form!"

KoKo placed her hands on the young woman's shoulders. "Listen, Leafa, it'll be okay. I want you to go back and find them. Tell Klein and Tabitha what I just told you and to keep their distance if they're going to keep following it. I don't know when Lhamthanc may change to its second stage but we need to start getting ready. Evacuating the villagers isn't enough." The Elder Cait Syth turned to Silica. "Silica-chan. I have an important job for you."

The younger Fae nodded her head seriously. Her familiar gave a small, supportive, "Kyaa!"

"The Princess and Lady Sakuya both said that we should call for help if we found anything we didn't think we could handle." The hunter smiled, "I think this qualifies. I need you and Pina to head for Cadenza. There should be a Cait Syth squadron stationed their, including a squad of Dragoons. We're going to need all of them and any mages that the local garrison can offer."

"I understand." Silica said, the younger Cait Syth looked worried, "But it might be a while before they can organize and get here. Probably at least a day."

"That's okay," KoKo reassured."Just bring them here as fast as you can. In the mean time, we'll get to evacuating the village, and try to lead Lhamthanc back deeper into the forest. If the Pixies can Kite a boss, then so can we. Hopefully, even if his form changes, that will buy us some time. "Louise-chan, Kirche-san, we'll be trusting you as nobles to help lead the Villagers and get them away as quickly as possible."

Louise bit her lip, was that really all that she was good for? Shepherding commoners? But really, that was what they were here for, and it was obvious that Count couldn't lead them to safety on his own. "Alright." Louise said. "You can leave the Villagers to me and Kirche." Louise said.

"Okay then, we all have our jobs." The Cait Syth gave a brave smile. "Lets roll up our sleeves and get to work." KoKo said, she was already materializing her wings to follow after Leafa when the Count spoke up.

"Excuse me Miss KoKo, but is there really no way to avert this now? Perhaps I can still speak with the Pixies." The Count looked lost, to have gathered up his meager courage and to find it useless had left him defeated. For the first time, Louise felt she could empathize with the gentle old man and thought to speak some kind words.

"Maybe we still can." KoKo agreed. "In any case, they still have a friend of ours, so we'll need to talk to them to get her back. But first, we need to make sure the Villagers are safe and the boss is dealt with. Count, please look after those girls for now." The Cait Syth smiled, "I think they've taken a shine to you." Indeed, the three girls had returned to their places on the Count's shoulders and were gently leaning against him.

"Don't be sad Arthur." Celandine said.

"You're trying hard." Olive agreed.

The kind words seemed to fall on deaf ears as the count looked away glumly. "Y-yes If you think that's best. I shall do that." The Count said dully, "And I will try to be of what help I can."

Seeing her Lord's crushed expression, Florine stepped forward. "Come along Arthur, you can help me see to my patients." The healer gently took her Lord's hand. "They will need to be prepared if we are to move them."

"Y-yes. Quite." The Count agreed, "I can do that. Fernand, let us help see to Florine's patients. Then you should return to the manor and tell the servants. Tell them to pack their belonging and my notes."

"Of course, my Lord." The Major Domo replied.

"Louise." KoKo said, nodding with a small twitch of her ears. "I'll be trusting you to look after everyone. I know you''ll do your best." The lookin the woman's eyes was so sincere that for a moment Louise didn't feel like she was being left behind and was instead being assigned a vital task.

"R-right!" Louise agreed, watching as the Cait Syth kicked off and headed into the skies after Leafa.

Silica was already preparing to depart as well. The young cat girl had acquired a shawl offered by one of the Village women and was tying together a sling to hold her still wounded familiar while she flew the distance to Cadenza. It would be less than an hours journey, but as KoKo had said, it would be unlikely that help would be able to arrive before morning at earliest. They would need to work quickly and into the night for the villagers to ready to depart. Though owning few possessions, it would take the villagers time to gather what they did posses and the commoners would want to secure their homes in hopes that they could return.

Kirche and Louise found themselves traveling door to door, alerting those who had not yet herd the news and trying to dislodge those who refused to evacuate. Personally, Louise would rather have left anyone too stupid to listen to their fate. But again the Zerbst had surprised her, proving quite gentle and insistent in getting some of the worst offenders to begin packing their things

Eventually they had found there way back to Florine's cottage where a number of men were helping to prepare the worst wounded for travel. By now it was getting into early evening and the sky was growing dark. The only light came from candles and mage lights cast by the Count and his majordomo to allow the Villagers to continue their work, loading a large wagon with Florine's books and medical supplies.

"Florine, is there anything you need from us?" Louise asked as they got near.

"Oh, Miss Valliere, Miss Zerbst." Florine looked up from where she was working by a magelight cast by the Count to clean a particularly deep wound that looked in danger of becoming infected.

"Another attack?" Louise asked. She wondered if the pixies would bother again tonight. They were already bringing a giant serpent to the village, so she doubted it.

"No, this fool simply decided to try and plow his field without help." Florine sighed. "The attacks have been leaving too few to see to sewing the fields. As a matter of fact, are either of you qualified in healing magic?"

Louise felt something in her crack but shook her head honestly. "I'm sorry, but I'm not terribly good with healing." Louise looked over to Kirche.

"Hey, don't look at me!" The fire mage said with an uncharacteristic look of uncertainty. "Healing magic and I just don't seem to work out." This came as a surprise to Louise who had been finding the Zerbst's talent and ability increasingly irksome in the face of her own failures. The idea that there was something that the other girl simply wasn't good at was somehow a great comfort.

"Well then. Florine said. "You can help Euphrasie with packing some of our things. I asked her to gather the last of the herbs from the garden. Most lose potency once they are picked, but we may not have a chance to come back for them." The healer gave a helpless look.

The two mages found Eurphrasie in the garden, working by magelight with a knife to cut and gather the herbs, or alternatively, digging up the smaller plants and placing their roots into roughly woven sacks so that they could be brought along. Euphrasie looked up in surprise when they entered the garden, leaning protectively over a small wooden box. Probably some heirloom her mother had entrusted her with.

"What are you doing here?" She asked quickly.

"Hey now, there's no reason to be rude." Kirche pouted. "We're here to help."

"Your mother asked us to help you gather up the last of the herbs." Louise agreed. The girl looked at them suspiciously but nodded.

"We need to get the honey weed and then I have to get the mushroom trays from under the tree. You two can handle the first one." Euphrasie offered both Louise and Kirche a knife before lifting up her box and racing off to the back of the Garden.

Louise and Kirche worked quickly. The academy had taught some simple gardening skills as a matter of course. Things any mage would need to know to raise certain basic medical reagents. Of course, that didn't mean everyone had taken to the lessons well.

"Kirche! You're butchering it!" Louise accused while looking at the shrub that the fire mage had largely denuded.

"Well we're in a hurry, aren't we?" The Zerbst huffed shortly.

"That doesn't mean you can just tear up the whole plant! We only want the seed pods. Like this." Louise demonstrated with her own plant. Despite Kirche's inelegant technique, between the two of them, they made quick work of the honey weed that Euphrasie had specified, continuing their way through the garden as it grew entirely dark. When they returned to Florine with the gathered herbs they found the healer conversing with several of the farmers, her daughter close at her side, clutching her box to her chest.

"Damn these little terrors and damn the Fae for not helping." One of the farmers spat, Louise thought he was the man who had spoken out the night before.

"The Fae are helping plenty." Florine said. "It isn't their fault that this has happened."

"Aye, that would be the fault of . . . of . . ." The man had begun angrily before trailing off. Even a lowly commoner knew to catch himself before insulting his betters. "In any case, how can you say the Fae have helped? If they'd gone into the forest and destroyed those pests we wouldn't be running from some monster they'd managed to wake up."

"We aren't the only one who have been wronged." Florine replied, "This has been a horrible misunderstanding and the Fae have done everything in their power to do right by all of us."

"It is just as Florine has said." The Count offered shyly while looking about. The pixies on his shoulders gave small encouraging nods as if trying to bolster their friend's courage. "We . . . I mean to say, I, have . . . have done a great disservice to the Pixies. I promise that you will be able to return to your homes shortly, after I have explained everything to them, but for now you . . . You should evacuate as the Village Chief and Faeries have suggested." The Count nodded to himself. "Yes, that's what should be done."

Klein and Tabitha had followed behind the serpent for almost an hour. The boss was cruising at a much slower pace after filling its belly. Luckily, it was looking like the serpent type boss wasn't particular interested in moving much now that the only pray in sight was safely out of reach. Instead, it had taken to prowling, slithering slowly through the forest, hunting for its next meal.

"Well, so much for their big plan." Klein said more for his own benefit than any response it would net him from Tabitha. No sooner had he spoken than the sound of Dagger Dogs started up again. 'Me and my big mouth.' Klein thought.

Below them, the serpent began to pick up speed again, hearing the dogs, and smelling its next meal. Soon it was moving at its cruising speed once more, gliding and flowing between the trees like some segment of river that had come free from its banks. Ahead, another group of dagger dogs had gathered up a herd of dear to be the serpent's next snack.

Klein winced, it was like watching that infomercial where the announcer stuffed a whole steak into an industrial grade food processor. Now it's there, now it's gone. Except there wasn't any ground veal left over to make burgers, just a trench cut through the underbrush where the massive jaws had scraped along the forest floor. The only good news seemed to be that the Pixies were having a hell of a time leading the it in a straight line, and instead had to settle for just getting it to travel in the general direction that they wanted.

In the evening sky, Klein caught sight of two lights approaching from the direction of Tarbes, one green, and one yellow, either KoKo or Silica. His first guess proved right as they neared.

"Klein!" Leafa called. "Klein, we need to stay further back!"

"Oy, Leafa!" Klein called and then raised a hand to his ear. "What's that?"

"The boss! Get back!" The Sylph called again, "It can fly!" At mention of the monster's power of flight, Tabitha immediately pulled Sylphied up higher into the sky.

Klein bit down on a curse as he watched the serpent slink by below. Of course it could fly, being land bound, nearly indestructible, and able to shoot acid just made it too easy. It didn't look particularly airworthy at the moment. But he supposed that just meant it was a multi stage type boss. Then this was probably just a cocoon for a second stage that would be even stronger. That explained why its carcase was so tough.

"Care to fill us in?" Klein called to a fast approaching KoKo.

The Faeries gathered atop Sylphied, Tabitha listening in as the wind dragon slowly circled higher while keeping a close eye on the serpent.

"And that's all I know." KoKo finished going over what details she had on the boss type mob below them. "It's supposed to be incredibly tough. On top of that its really hard to find since it lays dormant until enough players or mobs gather to trigger its feeding frenzy. That must have been what the Pixies were doing when you found Lhamthanc in the clearing."

"Right." Klein grunted, "So what do we do now?" The trees below them rustled and cracked with the passage of Lhamthanc.

"We've got a Cait Syth squadron on their way." KoKo said. "If we can play keep away until the end of the night . . . Then hopefully by morning they'll have arrived and we can either destroy the boss or drive him back into hibernation."

"Plan until then?" Tabitha asked.

"If the Pixies can Kite him, then so can we." KoKo supplied with a fanged grin. "You said they're herding animals into its path?"

"Yeah." Klein agreed. "Its been an all you can eat buffet down their." In fact, irritatingly so considering the portions that Klein had been satisfying himself with. Not that he could complain, but fighting took a lot of energy. All that meat going to waste in the digestive tract of a giant snake when it could be filling his own belly hardly seemed fair.

"Then, I think we have our bait." KoKo said, ears piquing as the sound of more Dogs could be heard in the distance. "Lets try to see if we can't lead it North, towards the mountains." The Cait Syth suggested as she notched her first arrow and rolled off of Sylphied's back, followed a moment later by Leafa and then a reluctant Klein.

"Something wrong?" Leafa called to him as they went lower.

"I'm really missing my sword right now." Klein admitted, damn he'd payed extra to get that sword along with the account.

Leafa looked thoughtful and then shrugged, "Here." She unsheathed her blade and handed it to Klein.

"Eh, but doesn't that leave you without a weapon?" Klein asked.

Leafa smiled confidently, "I can handle myself well enough with magic. You need this more than me."

Klein shrugged, he had to admit, Leafa's taste in swords wasn't half bad as he hefted the blade experimentally. ALO might have been a game where magic was supreme, but he had grown used to fighting in the environment of SAO and would take a sword any day over some chanting, lights, and SFX.

"There they are!" KoKo pointed to where a pack of Dagger Dogs could be seen racing beneath the trees. The trio of Faeries spread their wings to steady themselves before KoKo and Leafa let loose with their first attacks. Leafa lead with a short spell, wind magic that shot forth from her hand and shredded the earth to the side of one of the Dogs. The mob yelped in surprise and broke away. At the same time, KoKo loosed her first arrow with a whispered chant, aiming to the left of the latest herd of boar.

The arrow struck with a small explosion and a concussive blast. Klein whistled at the elemental based attack and KoKo gave a little wink. The herd veered off, squealing in fright and now heading almost due north as the Dagger Dogs tried to get them back under control. At their back, Lhamthanc had sensed the change in its prey's heading and began to follow.

"If we can keep this up we might be able to keep him away from Tarbes until the reinforcements arrive." Leafa said with a growing note of confidence.

"What about when it starts to fly?" Klein asked.

KoKo chuckled nervously and gave her fanged smile. "Well . . . If that happens . . . There should be a little warning before hand at least. He'll have to stop to shed his skin. So uhm yeah . . . When that happens, basically, run."

'Great advice.' Klein thought dryly. Well it was a boss, and none of them were crazy duel wielding freaks of nature, so what else could they do?

"Heads up, Klein, KoKo." Leafa pointed to the west. A half dozen shapes were rising to meet them, with more approaching from the north and south. Each as large as a volleyball and striped yellow and black. Willow Wasps. An ill aimed fireball seared past Klein to the right. Correction, Willow Waps and Pixie riders.

"Man, because the giant snake would be too easy." Klein grunted. 'Why couldn't we ever get a fight that was easier than expected. Like a giant slime made of tapioca?'

Bringing his borrowed sword up, Klein charged into the breach. At the moment, he was the only melee fighter in their group with Leafa acting as support and KoKo keeping the pressure up on the mobs below to try and redirect Lhamthanc's movements.

Klein rushed straight for the first Willow Wasp, their combined velocity eating up distance too fast for the over sized insect to evade. His borrowed sword flashed forward in a strike that cleanly severed the Wasp's right pair of wings, sending the giant bug plummeting to the ground with a chittering hiss. The pixy rider separated from its mount, launching a flurry of magic attacks in retaliation. Miniature fireballs and a rapid fire wind spell like one of Leafa's own attacks.

The salamander weaved about but hesitated to land the final blow. Damn it! It was like trying to smack Yui's twin out of the sky! A dazzling flash of electric blue light shot past him and struck the Pixie dead on. The tiny figure went stiff, wings stretching out wide before fluttering limply towards the ground far below. Klein glanced over his shoulder to see Leafa at his back, hand extended, a look of complete focus on her face. Before the stricken Pixie had fallen more than a half dozen meters, a second Wasp swooped down to retrieve her and fled back into the forest.

More Wasps closed in. 'Some days you just can't win.' Klein thought as he spun out of the way and rattled off a rapid fire blast of magic. He wasn't a pro like Enya, or even Leafa, but the resulting small fireball was still enough to knock another angered Willow Wasp from the sky and send its rider fleeing. But there were just more behind that one, and the faint glow of Pixie wings in the evening sky warned of even more threats than could easily be seen.

Klein grimaced. This world wasn't like SAO, there wasn't any game balance to ensure that a fight was fair Sometimes a battle was just unwinnable, as much as he'd hate to admit it.

No sooner had he begun to think this, then an icy gale pressed down from above accompanied by a shower of hale. The hailstorm spell which had done nothing to the flanks of Lhamthanc was a hell of a lot more devastating when turned against Wasps and Pixies. One Wasp struggled to hold its course in mid air and was immediately splatted by a hail stone the size and general shape of a traffic cone.

"Oy, they're dropping like flies!" Klein laughed, receiving glares and groans from both women. "Nice shot Tabi-chan!" He shouted up to the circling dragon. The only reply was another blast of icy air and rain of razor like hail. Klein's grin faded and his face set back into a mask. The Pixies weren't going to let them spoil their plan without a fight. They weren't fighting a game AI designed to be beaten any more, there opponents were living creatures that were out for blood and wanted it as badly as Klein and his comrades wanted to stop them.

Looking back to the shadow filled forest below. It was going to be a long night.