Slowfall, beta

Slowfall.
With a final thrust of her blade, paladin Elloy finishes off the Menace of the High plains, the first dragon she took down on her own. It was a long and gruelling fight, but her armour held out against all the tricks the corrupted hellspawn could pull. Now it was time to bring her harem back to their wives and children. None of them had incubized, thank the Lord, but she got here in the nick of time. With a quick and precise flash o her sword, she breaks the lock of the main cage holding the poor farmers and guards. A dragon is far above what a simple guard could hope to face, especially one corrupted to that point. As horrible as most monsters are, they are FAR gone if they begin gathering harems. Elloy’s squire, Eric, is quick to guide them to the outside, and is also kind enough to hand them emergency clothing. It was Eric’s idea to bring that, which pleased the Paladin greatly. The boy wasn’t strong enough to do more than carry a part of the gear, but he certainly has the smarts to become a great knight someday. Hopefully to the rank of paladin, but it would be better to walk before one runs.

The escort back was tedious, though Eric was helpful in keeping the boredom at bay.
“So, that marks the first dragon on your list of kills, right? How did that feel, Ser?” He asked, youthful curiosity overtaking the decorum. Paladin Elloy was happy to reply, of course. Her voice was somewhat muffled behind her helmet, which she only rarely removed.
“It felt little different from any other type of monster, I must admit. The fight was more intense, I’ll admit that, but once you find the dragon’s weak spot, the rest becomes marginally easier. Her lust breath not working was certainly what gave me the edge, however.”
“Guessing from the soot, I’m guessing her fire breath still worked.”
“Eric, this armour was forged by Leeroy and blessed by the High Bishop. It will take more than fire to harm me… That said, I do feel a tad cooked.”
They laughed. Her laugh was warm and seemingly contrary to her fearsome appearance. Her white and gold armour, covered in blackened blood from her kill, gives her a fearsome appearance. The armour does not hide her curves entirely, but it’s still rather covering. One would need a particularly good eye to even spot the curves.
“Well, I’ll give it all a good shine and a hammering when we set up camp next time. Or are there no dents?”
“The claws may not have pierced it, but the finger strength of that beast… I shudder to think what she might have done to unprotected flesh. Thank God we were here just in time.”

When they get back to the village, the wives were already waiting. The collective sigh of relief was audible from farther away than thought possible, and the families happily reunited. Plenty of children were around, as well. Elloy took off her helmet, her scraggly black hair flattened from it. Her face may be pretty, but it was often said she had hair for spiders to nest in. She didn’t mind, a paladin is to remain celibate and armoured up anyhow. Despite the hair, however, she was not unattractive. Her green eyes were of particular note, often compared to emeralds, but otherwise she’s best described as just “fair”. She had that sort of “girl-next-door” look to her that wasn’t bad to look at. The current village elder steps forward holding a rather large bag of gold, but Eric was already rolling his eyes when Elloy stepped forward to insist on a smaller reward. Just enough to get by, no more. After a lot of haggling, Elloy eventually managed to take the price down to about 50 gold and a bushel of food. It took some quoting of her old oaths before the kindly old lady relented on the reward. The village didn’t look like they would be fine with that amount of gold missing. The men were gone for a week at the least, it’ll take some doing to restart it all. After the reward was taken care of, they headed for the tavern. While the barkeep was one of the kidnapped men, he wasted no time in opening it up. Mostly in celebration of his rescue.

“What do you say, Ser Paladin? Should we celebrate with the townspeople?”
“You know I can’t partake of the drink, Eric.”
“There’s no vows against alcohol! You’re trying to trick me on that, but I know your game~!” Eric said in an annoying sing-song voice, satisfied at his knowledge of the holy book and being able to counter his idol.
“Ah, you’ve been studying. Well… I admit, I was never able to hold my liquor. I was hoping you wouldn’t pry if I said…”
“Well, too bad! As your punishment, I say you need to perform the most holy ritual of all!”
“You don’t mean…”
“Oh you know what I mean. Get in the bar and celebrate removing some more corruption from the world!”

When she entered the paladin, following behind her squire, the tavern erupted into yet more cheers. It was a bit of an odd sight to see the tall paladin meekly follow her far shorter squire. There was only a four year difference in age, but they were as night and day in their appearances. Contrasting to the darker hair of Paladin Elloy, Eric had blonde hair and blue eyes. He came from an old noble family, though he suffered from the middle child syndrome of being unimportant. He took to the idea of knighthood very well, and using the Paladin Order likely gave his family some brownie points with the church. Eric himself didn’t care, though. He just wanted to protect people and kill monsters. Being able to spend time with a real paladin as a squire was another bonus.

“Barkeep, I convinced her! A round for the whole tavern!”
The barkeep was happy to oblige his saviour, and handed them both a drink. Eric was quick to start drinking, holding back a grimace from the strong taste. Elloy looked at the cup as if it was talking to her. After a little ribbing from Eric, she finally takes a sip from the beer. She instantly starts coughing, but after that subsides, she quickly goes back for more.
“I won’t do more than this cup, just so you know.”
“That’s fine, it’s probably enough to get you to loosen up and drop those shoulders. You should really get a massage done, sometime. It really loosens you up.”
“How do you know…”
“Rich family and a health nut for a mother.  What else?”
“Of course, of course.”

After a bit more time, where Elloy spends most of her time seeing if her beer will evaporate by looking at it sadly, Eric eventually moves on to the dragon girl that Elloy slew.
“I heard that the Terror used to be the village elder. She was so scared of dying she made a pact with some other dragon, not too far from here.”
“What? A pact?”
“Yeah, it’s a simple thing, I believe it was drinking blood? I don’t exactly have a lot of knowledge on monster girl pacts.”
“And let us keep it that way. But say… Do you know where this other dragon is?”
“To the east, past the plains. It’s close to Elkerlich.”
“The undead city?”
“Ser Elloy, you need to pay more attention to the news. The Order took it over and is using the infrastructure as a new city. It took some doing to properly purify the place.”
“I’m sorry.”
“And don’t apologize so much!” Eric laughs as he says it. She’s a fine hunter of monsters, but she doesn’t carry herself as such. The squire’s been doing more teacher than the mentor, at this point
“I’m… I will try.”

Two days later, the two were almost to the city. The journey was delightfully easy, nary even a bandit. Apart from a single Danuki peddler, that was quickly chased away. While there is a non aggression pact between the two of them, that doesn’t mean there’s a lot of love. Not that Elloy wanted to start trouble, it took Eric to make it quite clear that the Danuki was about two sentences away from getting a punch to the face and a prayer for the road. Unbelievable how a dragonslayer can be this bashful.
When they arrived at Elkerlich, it didn’t take long before a pleasantly plump priest came up to the both of them and asked if they were here on pilgrimage. Elloy wasted no time and asked about the dragon close-by, instead. The priest was a bit taken aback at how blunt the question was, but quickly understood that the paladin was here to help.

“The lair of the accursed beast is about half a day’s hike up the nearby hill. There are no paths there, and the infernal beast prefers to fly, but I believe some scouts have confirmed that it is just a short climb to get up there. Thankfully, our ballistae have prevented any kidnapping, as of yet. Yet, I fear she might just snare people further away from her nest.” The priest explained.
“More correct than you would like, I fear. Not to worry, reverend. My squire and I will make short work of that thing.”
“You are protected against the beast’s corruption, I pray? That armour looks solid, but dragons are treacherous beings.”
“It was blessed by the High Bishop himself. I trust my life on it.”
“Ahh, of course. Happy hunting, my child.”

The climb up the hill was easier than expected, but it was still quite the ordeal in heavy plate. The craftsmanship may be high quality, but it doesn’t take away it’s a lot of metal to be attaching to one’s body. By the time they reach the lair of the dragon, it was already late in the evening. The sun was setting, casting the surrounding area in an orange light. Both Eric and Elloy had their weapons at the ready, Eric standing ready with his crossbow. It’s the first time he is allowed to help, but he is still supposed to run at the first sign of trouble. Considering the risks of being made a dragon’s husband, he did not disagree.

The fight was… gruelling. In comparison to the less experienced dragon, this creature was leagues above. However, once more the armour held out against the breath of the creature, even if it only barely helped against the boneshattering force of the massive scaled woman. She was dominant, fierce and almost unnaturally beautiful, despite her build. But after hours of fighting, Paladin Elloy found the right opening and pierced the belly of the beast with her sword, having to push her whole body weight down to manage it, after an earlier gravity-assisted tackle. Eric proved a handy distraction, unwillingness besides. The dragon screamed in a fury before Elloy removed the blade, spraying the surrounding area and her armour in the dragon’s blood. Then she allowed herself to collapse, her leg having been broken earlier. As the corpse continued gushing blood, and the dragon finally died, Elloy begins to crawl away from the corpse, towards Eric.

“SER ELLOY!? Are you going to be alright, please tell me you’re going to all right!” Eric said, uncharacteristically panicked. He had already refused the order to run, though if he didn’t it would have been the end for Elloy.
“I’m fine… Just… Just a broken leg. It will heal, in time.”
“H-hold on, I’ll get a, uh… A… A piece of… w-wood and…”
“Eric. Breathe. There was a tree outside, take the axe and get two hefty sticks. I’ll remove my armour in the meantime. It’s filthy, regardless. Bring the waterskin and the rope, while you’re at it.”
Eric just about sprints outside. He was a cocky lad, Elloy thought, but he’ll need to work on those emotions if he’s ever going to become a true paladin.

Removing the armour wasn’t easy, especially with her leg throbbing the way it does. The armour itself has a dent, nearly forcing itself stuck, but Elloy managed to take it off with clenched teeth and prayers to ward off the pain. The armour felt a lot better once it was off, and it was only then she noticed that she felt boiling hot. The exertion is taking its toll. She finishes taking off her armour, leaving her in nothing but a simple tunic. The armour was hot enough to not warrant pants, and it must have been month since she last took it off for any purpose other than bathing and cleaning.
A medical issue is kind of a first.
Eric comes back inside having calmed down for the most part. His face turns red when he sees Elloy’s legs, muscled and scarred from long hikes and her own training, but still attractive in a sense. Her tunic is a tad outdated for her figure, though there isn’t much to really be taken away with. She did not have the body fat needed to be stylish.  They’re certainly long. Of course, the swelling takes away a lot of the allure. It’s not a compound fracture, at least, but likely a touch above hairline.
There is still some shaking, but Eric is steadyhanded enough to correctly apply the splint correctly.

“Thank you, Eric. I… I will have to remain here for a moment longer, while you get help.”
“No! T-there could be other things out here, and you’re out of your armour! I’ll, uh, j-just help you get down the hill.”
“Eric, we both know that won’t be possible.”
“If you were wearing the armour, sure. But like this? We can just keep it in a bag. It’ll survive, right? Leeroy’s works can survive a little dirt, right?”
“…Fine. We’ll try. This cave is dangerous, besides. Help me up.”
While Eric is still a lot shorter than Elloy, he was still able to offer enough support for her to get moving. He brings her out of the cave, mostly to see how they would best be moving forward. With the makeshift splint, it should be safe to just give shoulder support. They attach their gear to ropes, to be pulled along as they walk. They’re bound to lose a few supplies, but if it meant safety it was worth it.