A Gargoyle Problem

A Rock Gargoyle is not like a normal Gargoyle, they have hard and grey skin making it difficult to damage a Rock Gargoyle with common edged weapons. It is resistant to flames and isn’t afraid of fire, making it tough to defeat.

Their leather or claws surprisingly have little value because their original hardness is lost when they are gathered. Therefore, many adventurers are not willing to take quests involving these creatures. [src]

Gargoyles are a native of Drieghan and as of late Kamasylvia has been suffering invasions from gargoyles. [src]

By Kamasylvia Vicinity

Florentino Ibarra is assigned to escort some merchants from Heidel that are on their way to Grana. He is with a bunch of mercenaries. He is assigned to the middle guard.

They’re now along the road of Kamasylvia Vicinity, getting near the perimeter of Lemoria Guard Post.

Blasphemy!

“Florentino,” George said, he’s a mercenary equipped with a long sword.

“Yes?”

“Are the women of Kamasylvia beautiful?”

Florentino looks at George in disgust, “What kind of question is that? Why would you ask such a question?”

“I’m sorry, I thought-“

“Of course they’re beautiful! You asking such a question is blasphemous! Why would you ask such a question? “

“What…?”

Florentino stops in his tracks and grabs George by the shoulders, “My friend! I can’t believe you would ask such a question. First of all, I view women equally, they’re all beautiful to me. But! The women of Kamasylvia is on a different level!”

Florentino then points at Serena, a Ganelle Elf Ranger, and leader of the mercenaries, she’s currently talking to a male Shai, “Look at Lady Serena! She’s the most beautiful woman here. Why can’t you see that?”

“But… she’s not from Kamasylvia… she’s from Heidel.”

“Oh, you poor unfortunate soul… my friend… she’s still a descendant of someone from Kamasylvia. Look at her!” Florentino forces George to look at Serena, “Look. At. Her.”

“I am!”

“And…?”

“What am I suppose to see in her?”

“You’re… hopeless…” Florentino lets go of George and facepalms himself.

Serena then sees the two slacking off and approached them, “No, you two are hopeless! We’re on a mission here and you two are slacking off! Keep moving!”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” the two shouted in unison as they straighten their backs.

The two then ran to catch up on their post.

All for the Money… And It’s the Right Thing To Do…

“Well, they’re as lively as ever, don’t you agree?” the male Shai said as he approaches Serena.

“I don’t know what to do with them, sir Javier-“

“Please, no need to be so formal, we’ve worked together for years now.”

“-understood… sir Charles…”

“That’s… never mind… I’ll be inspecting the team you’ve hired for me.”

“By all means,” Serena smiles, “I’ve only picked the best… those two, however, they’re… like that but I assure you that you can count on them.”

“Well then, I’d like to have a word with them first,” Charles then gets up his donkey and gallops towards Florentino and George’s post.

“Woah there!” Charles exclaims as he tries to make his donkey slow down.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” he said to Florentino and George.

“Sir,” George said as he salutes.

Florentino nods, “To what do we owe the pleasure to have your presence here, my kind sir?”

“Nothing much,” Charles shrugs, “I just want to see Serena’s top picks for myself. I heard you two are the most reliable people she can think of.”

“You give us too much credit, sir,” George said, “we’re just doing what we’re paid for.”

Florentino leans over to George and whispers, “and it’s the right thing to do…”

“Right… and it’s the right thing to do.”

“Well then, I’ll be counting on you two,” Charles then makes his donkey gallop to the vanguard.

Gargoyles Out of Nowhere

Everything was peaceful until there are growling by the trees. The whole caravan then went to a halt to assess the situation.

“What was that?” George said.

Florentino looks up to the trees, “that, my friend, is the sound of gargoyles.”

“Shouldn’t we be worried…?”

“Don’t worry, they’re pretty harmless… as long as they’re not in large groups…”

George looks around, “You mean like that?”

Gargoyles then start descending from the trees, there’s a lot of them now flying overhead.

Florentino looks up again and smiles, “Ah, yes… something like that.”

He then realized where their position is at, “Oh no…”

“Gargoyles!” the other mercenaries shouted.

“Oh, right… well, come now, George,” Florentino removes some dust in his left shoulders, “looks like work is here now.”

Florentino arms his crossbow and points at one of the flying gargoyles. He fires a series of bolts to the gargoyles. All hit their mark, now three gargoyles fell to the ground.

Help!

“Great job, Ibarra!” Serena shouted as she dashes passed Florentino and George.

“All in a day’s work, Lady Serena!” Florentino then fires at the gargoyles again.

“Now let’s go to the front!”

“What?” George looks confused, “but what about the shipment?”

Florentino then starts walking to Serena’s direction, “You’ve heard the lady, George, let’s get a move on.”

“But the shipment!”

Florentino turns around and looks at George, “Forget the blessed shipment! This mission’s true priority is Javier, without him, there wouldn’t be any more trade runs with Kamasylvia in the future! Oh, and we wouldn’t be paid for this job if something bad happens to him.”

“Fine!”

They both started running towards the vanguard.

“I better get paid double for this!” George shouted as he sprints past Florentino.

Florentino smiles, “that’s the spirit.”

Gargoyle Infestation

At the Vanguard, Serena and the other mercenaries are trying their best to hold the line.

“Well this is a predicament,” Charles said as he casually walks near the wagon.

“Charles! Stay behind us!” Serena exclaims as she fires an arrow at one of the gargoyles.

“There’s too many of them!” One of the mercenaries said.

“Who said it’s a good idea for you to bring a longsword and no backup ranged weapon?” One of the rangers said.

“Lay off me, will you?!”

Serena looks at the two, “Focus! Stop fighting each other for a moment!”

“Yes, ma’am!” The two exclaims and now focuses on the gargoyles.

They’re completely surrounded and the gargoyles have blocked all means of escape. The only thing to do now is to hold the line and try to survive.

On the bright side, the gargoyles are ignoring the wagons and the shipment, however, it can’t be said for those defending the wagons.

The gargoyles are only focusing on their prey, they’re hungry and as violent as ever.

“How are they so many?” Serena said as she fires an arrow, “I’m almost out of arrows.”

Not Going Down Without A Fight

Serena grabs for an arrow from her quiver, only to find out that she has only one arrow left.

There are three gargoyles focusing on her, all are hovering overhead, getting ready to dive in for an attack.

Is this finally it? Serena thought.

She then gets the last of her arrow and aims at one of the three gargoyles.

“I’m not going down without a fight!” She exclaims.

“Nor will you be going anywhere, Lady Serena!” Florentino shouted just as he dash passed some of the gargoyles and is now right behind Serena to defend her from behind.

He then aims for the gargoyles with his crossbow, “I heard you have a gargoyle infestation, ma’am, did you call for an exterminator?”

“Don’t be such a smartass! Did you have any arrows for me?”

“Serena! Use mine!” The ranger from earlier shouted as she throws her quiver full of arrows to Serena.

Got Your Back

Serena gets the arrows from the ranger’s quiver and put it in hers. She then throws the quiver back at the ranger, “Thanks!”

“Well, now that you have your arrows, are you ready for another round, Lady Serena?” Florentino said.

“As ready as ever, do you have enough arrows yourself?”

“Well… I have a few crossbow bolts left… nothing serious of note.”

“That’s good to hear, but where’s George?”

“George is a little… preoccupied right now.” Florentino then leans to whisper at Serena, “He’s showing off to some of the lady merchants. The poor bastard is just throwing stones to get the gargoyle’s attention and slashes them with his longsword.”

“And you’re the one to talk? You’re the serial womanizer here!”

“Lady Serena, I admit that I am such but at least I look good while doing it.”

“And would you please drop the ‘lady’ thing? It’s getting on my nerves!”

“With all due respect, milady, but you deserve to be called as such and not just because of your beauty. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to treat milady for dinner!”

“Would you please stop embarrassing me! We still have a job to do!” Serena then leans to whisper at Florentino, “Thank you… for being here and… I’ll… think about it…”

Florentino smiles, “Yes, ma’am!”

And with that, they both fire at the gargoyles.

Get Me Down From Here!

There are only a few gargoyles left, many of them have already given up and fled. The merchants and mercenaries only suffered minor bruises, fortunately.

“Secure the perimeter!” Serena shouted.

Charles, who has been hiding in one of the wagons finally got out. He then approached Serena, “Great job, Serena, we’re all safe, and the shipment is still intact.”

“Thank you, Charles.”

Charles then looks at Florentino and George, “Great job as well, you two. You’ve done splendid work!”

“All in a good day’s work, sir,” George said.

Florentino looks at George, “Ah, George, you’re here. You’re done impressing the women, I see.”

“You’re the one to talk.”

“At least I look good doing it. Maybe next time, you should also bring a bow and arrows so you can avoid throwing rocks.”

“I can’t argue with that. I didn’t expect that we’ll be fighting flying creatures.”

“No matter,” Charles said as he walks past Florentino and George, “at least we’re all safe thanks to each and every one of you.”

Suddenly a gargoyle dives down out of nowhere and grabs a hold of Charles.

“Help me!” Charles cried.

“Charles!” Serena then aims at the gargoyle.

Florentino made Serena lower her weapon, “Not just yet, Lady Serena.”

“But-“

“We can’t risk hitting our employer.”

Safe and Sound

Charles is now struggling from the gargoyles clutches, “Oh, for God’s sake! Get me down from here!”

“That’s our queue,” Florentino then looks at George, “Now George!”

George then picks up a rock and throws it at the gargoyle.

It’s a hit. Now the gargoyle is stunned and just hovering overhead.

Florentino then looks at Serena, “Milady, would you do the honour?”

Serena nods and aims at the now stunned gargoyle, then fires.

The gargoyle lets go of Charles as it was hit by Serena’s arrow and started wailing.

George and Serena run towards the now freefalling Charles to catch him. But then George trips and slides, luckily enough, to where Charles would be hitting. Charles hits George and now they’re both on the ground.

“Sir Javier!” Serena said, “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for giving me a soft landing, George,” Charles said as he pats George’s back.

George groans, “All in a good day’s work, sir.”

“Are you hurt, Charles?”

“Other than being traumatized, I’m fine, Serena.”

“I’m fine too… if you guys are wondering…” George said as he continues to groan.

Not in the Mood

Florentino kept quiet the whole time after Serena fires at the gargoyle. He then starts walking along the road, leaving the others for a moment.

The other mercenaries and merchants are frightened at what they see in Florentino and just let him continue walking.

Serena didn’t saw Florentino’s face because she’s focused on Charles, but the others did so. They can see in his eyes the rage that was built up.

George, who is still lying on the ground, sees Florentino walking. He knows what happened earlier. He saw the relentless volley fire of Florentino’s crossbow bolts.

As Florentino takes a deep breath, he stops in his tracks and looks up.

He recalls what happened earlier. Florentino was in a blind rage, his pupils are constricted, even while in rage his aim is still true, even more, accurate and precise than usual.

You dare cross me!? Florentino thought during that state, Die, die, die, die, die! Just die already!

The gargoyle wails in every hit from Florentino’s crossbow bolts, some of the bolts even went through the gargoyle.

He then sees men in white hoods surrounding him, all pointing their weapons at him.

The wailing then fades away and Florentino is standing alone by the road.

He looks at his right hand, it’s shaking. Seeing this, he clicks his tongue and clenches his fist.

Dinner for Two?

Soon after, Florentino hears someone walking towards him from behind. He leans to his left and activates his crossbow, the limbs expand outward and the crossbow is automatically loaded with a crossbow bolt. All while still stationary and not moving an inch apart from his head turning to his left.

The footsteps stop, “Is that the way you treat a lady now?”

Florentino returns to his senses and made the crossbow’s limbs retract. He then turns around and saw Serena standing behind him.

“Lady Serena, I didn’t realize you were there,” Florentino said.

“That’s awful of you…” Serena looks at Florentino’s eyes, “what’s… wrong with your eyes…?”

“My eyes?”

“Yes, it’s like the eyes of someone… who hates everyone and everything.”

Florentino shuts his eyes and rubs them with his hands, “Oh, I’m sorry, it’s just… something got into my eyes…”

He then opens his eyes slowly, now his eyes are normal.

“Right… say…” Serena walks closer to Florentino, “about dinner….”

“Oh, right… if you don’t want to then-“

“No, no no! I’d love to… I mean…” Serena covers her face that is slowly turning red.

Florentino smiles then laughs, “you don’t have to force yourself, you know? If you don’t want to then it’s fine.”

“But I do!” Serena removes her hand from her face and looks directly at Florentino, “I do want to have dinner with you…”

“Then, it’s final,” Florentino went closer to Serena, “a dinner for two once we get to Grana.”