Ashes of Verdenheld

by Jack Wright

  Chapter Five - A Heroic Quest

  Eris rolled over onto her back, awaking from what had turned out to be a surprisingly good night’s sleep given her sleeping arrangement. The two of them had slept in the grass under a tree that night, after Eris realised she had forgotten to bring a bed roll or any sort of blanket. Sleeping like that could have been suicide back in the cold climate of Norskar, but here in Verdenheld the nights were actually fairly mild. In the summer, at least.

  “Morning.” Caesia chirped, already wide awake.

  Eris propped herself up. Caesia was sat cross legged out in the sun reading, already having cleaned herself of grass and readjusted her hair.

  “I borrowed your hairbrush by the way, I didn’t have time to pack my own.”

  “How are you already up?” Eris groaned, wiping the sleep from her eyes. “You were absolutely shattered last night.”

  “True.” Caesia smirked. “I’m a very good sleeper. I tend to need little of it to recuperate.”

  “Right.” Eris muttered, silently envious. Who wouldn’t be?

  She got up onto her feet and brushed the blades of grass off her clothes. Her eyes lit up suddenly as she realised that she was wearing her shirt the wrong way around and had been the entire time. She couldn’t be bothered flipping it around though, it wasn’t even noticeable under her armour.

  “I see you’re more of a ‘sleep like a log’ sort of person.” Caesia observed, her gaze still fixed on her book.

  “What makes you say that?” Eris asked, knowing full well that it was true.

  “Well I’m no astronomer, but looking at the position of the sun in the sky I would say I have been reading for… about three hours, maybe.”

  “Dad always said it’s ‘cause I’m too energetic, run myself into the ground.”

  “I could believe that.” Caesia chuckled. No doubt that was exactly the case.

  “Wait, you’ve been doing nothing but reading for three hours?”

  “As I said, I like to read. Believe me, three hours is nothing for me when it comes to reading.”

  Eris never really took much to reading, not that she couldn’t read. She just had no interest - why read it in a book when you could do it for real?

  Eris picked up her shin guards and knelt down to strap them around her legs. “Where’d you get that book anyway?”

  “I brought it with me.” Caesia replied, patting her shoulder bag, a small leather pouch with a long strap lying on the ground beside her.

  “You seriously brought books with you, but not food and water?”

  “What can I say, I was in a rush.” Caesia chuckled. “I just grabbed it on my way out, so whatever happened to be in there at the time just came with me. Besides, I couldn’t get my hands on any food. I swear, it was harder to sneak into the dining halls there than it was to sneak out the front door.”

  “Huh. So what else did you bring?”

  “In here? Just a few more books - one on basic elementa, one on intermediate abjuration and this rather convenient book on the history of Verdenheld, complete with a map.”

  Eris looked fairly confused. “Honestly, I had no idea what half of that meant.”

  “Oh, of course.” At this point Caesia should have been assuming that Eris absolutely no magical knowledge whatsoever. “Abjuration, my highest aptitude school of magic, governs defensive spells - shields and stuff. Elementa on the other hand, I taught myself at home as a means of self defence. It governs elemental spells.”

  Elemental spells? That sounded absolutely awesome! “Wait, so can you shoot fire and stuff? ‘Cause that would be so cool!”

  Caesia raised an eyebrow amusedly. It was funny how childish Eris sounded, like a young girl talking to a magician at a show.

  “I could if I wanted to, but I’d never use fire, nor ice for that matter.”

  Eris grabbed her bracers and started strapping them around her arms. “Why not? Think of how cool you’d look shooting fire out your hands!”

  “There is more to it than simply ‘looking cool’. I don’t use fire because of what it can do, same with ice. Both cause prolonged, searing pain and when applied too harshly easily cause agonising death.”

  “Ah… fire suddenly seems a lot less cool now.” Eris sighed.

  “Exactly. That’s why I chose to use lightning instead. When used right, it can easily disable a target without causing death, serious injury or permanent loss of movement. Albeit, there is a small spike of intense pain, but I would call it a small price to pay for survival.”

  “So, you don’t like killing people is what you’re saying?”

  “Of course I don’t! Surely, you feel the same?”

  “I… never really thought about it.” Eris awkwardly muttered. “I guess if they were gonna to kill me, I wouldn’t be against it.”

  Caesia furrowed her brow in uncertainty. “But if you could say, knock them out, you would do so instead, right?”

  “Um, yeah I guess. I mean, I would only really kill bad guys anyway.”

  Caesia chuckled, amused by Eris’ black and white, storybook view of the world. “There’s no such thing as ‘bad guys’, Eris. It’s a matter of perspective - some shades of grey are just darker than others. Look, if it’s really necessary, I’m okay with you killing people. But if you have any choice to do otherwise, I want you to promise me that you will take it.”

  “Okay… I promise.” Eris reluctantly groaned. “But we’re still good on killing the dragon, right?”

  “Yes. Unless we can talk it down, that is.”

  Eris got back onto her feet, fully suited up, with a confused look on her face. “Wait, dragons can talk?”

  Caesia crammed her book back into her shoulder bag and slung it over her shoulder.

  “These Nord bedtime stories of yours are rather nondescript, aren’t they?” Caesia sneered. Come on, we can talk about it on the way.”

  They headed east along the road and past the Norskar Gate again. Caesia gave the Gate a longing glance, her mind begging her to go, before bottling up the thought and continuing. She was by no means confident in their chances, but she wasn’t about to abandon Eris to a lonely death in a tomb.

  “You don’t really think we can kill that dragon, do you?” Caesia asked, still holding onto the hope that she could dissuade Eris.

  “I don’t see why not.” Eris replied, optimistic as ever.

  “You don’t? How about the torrents of fire with enough power to shatter a city wall? Or the colossal jaws that could swallow the both of us whole?”

  “Ah, we’ll be fine. Part of every good adventure is figuring out how to take down a monster way stronger than you! We just gotta figure out its weaknesses and take advantage of it.”

  “A good enough strategy by conventional means. Dragons though, are well renowned for not having any major weak spots. The armour at their joints is somewhat weaker, but not enough to make a difference for us.”

  “Maybe...” Eris trailed off, deciding to leave the conversation there rather than lose the argument. She knew she was right, even if Caesia wouldn’t listen. “So, how far are we from this ‘Tomb of the Dragonslayer’? I’m pretty sure we’ve only just gotten off the road I took from the Gate.”

  “I can’t really be sure. I’ve never been out here myself and there’s no accurate recorded location for the tomb. Hopefully we’ll know it when we see it. As for time, I’d estimate about three hours to reach the rough location of the Tomb, perhaps stick on anywhere up to an hour for actually finding it.”

  “Well, at least we’ll get there about mid-afternoon. Wouldn’t want to have to stay the night in the middle of a tomb, would we?” Eris teased jokingly.

  “Yeah…” Caesia replied hesitantly.

  Eris joked about it but to Caesia that was quite a chilling thought. It wasn’t so much the invasion of a burial place that bothered her about going through the tomb. Rather, it was simply the thought of the tomb itself. Cold, dark, filled with corpses… the thought made her sk
in crawl.

  This was far out of her comfort zone - all of this was. She didn’t belong out here in the wilds, let alone in an ancient forgotten tomb. Unlike Eris, she grew up being taught how to be a lady, taught mostly skills that applied in the home. She was raised to never leave city walls and now that she was here, that lack of experience was taking its toll.

  “Wait.” Eris stopped in her tracks and searched around her. “You hear that?”

  Caesia, her bubble of thought burst, listened closely and looked around. She could very distantly hear a group of men shouting.

  “Yeah…” She mumbled apprehensively.

  “You don’t think it could be-”

  “My father?” Caesia stammered, becoming tense at the idea. She had assumed they wouldn’t find her so quickly out here. Never would they have been able to predict her doing this. “I… maybe?”

  Eris could tell that Caesia was becoming agitated - her arms were tense, her brow was furrowed and her eyes were wide with fear. Her breathing was becoming gradually shorter and more rapid.

  “Stay here, I’ll take a look.” Eris commanded, setting off towards the voices.

  “Eris, no!” Caesia snapped in an impatient whisper. “Now isn’t the time for heroics, we need to… to hide or run or-”

  “You hired me to protect you from these guys and I’ll be damned if I don’t follow through with it.” Eris insisted as she walked away.

  “I can’t believe this!” Caesia muttered to herself. “What is she thinking?”

  Could Eris not go but a couple of waking hours without walking off against her warnings? Recklessness like that could get a person killed, so it seemed it was up to Caesia to keep her alive. She once again trailed off after Eris with a heavy sigh.

  Eris reached the top of the verge and laid carefully down in the grass. Ahead of her was an opening in the trees, in which she could make out three men shouting loudly beside an overturned cart. In fact, there was a fourth, tied to a nearby tree.

  Two of the men were searching the contents of the cart, while another stood by the tree pointing his sword at the man tied to it. They were clearly highwaymen, dressed in ragged hooded clothes. They didn’t have their hoods up however, they likely only used them for evading the law. Two of them were heavy set, one bald and one sporting a hairy mane, while the other was scrawny and scarred. They looked hardened, but certainly not the sort of people a self-respecting noble would hire to find his daughter.

  “Doesn’t look like my father’s men.” Caesia whispered, appearing suddenly behind Eris and making her jump out of her skin.

  “Stars, don’t do that!” Eris snapped. “I told you to stay back.”

  “And I wasn’t about to let you run off without me again, you’ll get yourself killed!” Caesia hissed. “Besides, I can handle myself just fine.”

  “I don’t doubt that.” Eris muttered, drawing her gaze back to the clearing.

  “Good. Now that we know we’re safe, I think we can be on our way.”

  “And leave this poor guy to the hands of those three? No way!”

  Caesia rolled her eyes and laid down in the grass beside her. “Alright then, I’m well past trying to convince you not to do stupid shit. So, what’s your plan?”

  Eris looked back at her blankly. “Well… I guess we’ll go over there, ask them to stop and then kick their asses if they don’t.”

  “Oh really?” Caesia sneered sarcastically. “Look at those guys, they look like hardened criminals. I’m pretty sure the skinny one’s missing an eye!”

  “All the more easy to fight then!” Eris exclaimed eagerly.

  “Fine. You go ahead and try and talk them out of it. I’ll stay here and jump out when you inevitably fail.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Eris exclaimed eagerly, jumping up onto her feet and making off into the clearing.

  “Let’s just hope they’re not as stubborn as you are.” Caesia muttered under her breath, shifting onto one knee. “Bloody moron…”

  Caesia watched Eris closely as she approached the clearing. She couldn’t believe she let Eris talk her into this. In fact, she was beginning to think she may have had a bit of a problem in that regard.

  The three highwaymen gradually all noticed Eris approaching and grouped together, all chuckling amongst one another.

  “What’s a lil girl like you doin out ‘ere?” Boomed the bald highwayman.

  “Okay, first off can we not do the ‘girl’ thing?” Eris casually demanded. “It’s getting old. Also, I don’t suppose you guys would mind leaving this man alone, would you?”

  The men looked at one another and all simultaneously burst out in hysterical laughter.

  “So… no?”

  “Look lil missy, I think you’d best get the fuck outta ‘ere if you knows what good for you.”

  Eris smirked amusedly. “Oh come on now, that’s no way to talk to a lady.”

  The men slowly advanced towards her and the scrawny highwayman piped up. “Maybe my friend here weren’t clear enough. Fuck. Off.”

  The people of Verdenheld certainly weren’t polite. “Okay… well, I tried playing it nice but seriously, get lost.” Eris aggressively commanded.

  The men cackled amongst one another once again and the bald one turned to his hairy friend. “Sounds like the lil lady’s got a death wish. I says we give her what she wants, ay lads?”

  The hairy man reached over his shoulder and grasped his weapon. Eris grinned excitedly. She drew her sword from its sheath with one hand and reached for her shield with the other. As she parted her legs into a fighting stance and readied herself for a fight, the man brought forth a weapon that was alien to her. It was like a bow attached to a carved piece of wood, with the arrow locked into place over it. He drew the weapon in front of his face and pointed it towards her.

  “Haha, whoa now! Let’s just… let’s just calm down.” Eris urged, backing slowly away. “You know, I-I think I was just going, actually!”

  With a thunderous crack, a crackling bolt of pale green lightning streaked over Eris’ shoulder. The bolt slammed hard into the highwayman's chest, blasting him straight off his feet and flinging him several feet back. He landed with a thud in a crumpled heap on the ground, shaking and convulsing violently.

  Eris grinned cheekily at the remaining highwaymen, who stared for a moment at their twitching comrade before drawing their swords and charging towards her with a furious roar. She’d never taken on two people at once, so she figured this would be fun.

  “You guys are screwed.” She smirked, raising her sword and shield defensively.

  The scrawny man was faster and struck ahead of his friend. Eris lifted her shield in front of her face and pushed it forwards, causing her assailant to reel back as his sword deflected off it with a metallic clang. As the second came in for an attack she kicked out at the first, pushing him out of range.

  The second swung his sword hard at her neck. She narrowly dodged the blow and as he swung a second time from the other side, moved her sword to intercept, catching his blade with her crossguard and driving his into the ground. As she saw over her attackers shoulder the other assailant on his way back, she resolved to eliminate this one while she could.

  “Heads up!” She yelled playfully.

  Pulling back her shield arm far as possible, she swung her shield hard into the side of the man’s head as he attempted to pull his sword from hers. The shield’s iron rim battered his head aside with a satisfying bang. The man’s sword clattered to the ground and he fell on his face, unconscious.

  “Your dead, girl!” The remaining highwayman yelled ferociously, barrelling towards her.

  “I didn’t think losing an eye made you blind!” Eris laughed, confidently flourishing her sword.

  Brimming with confidence, Eris ran to meet him. These guys talked big, but they were awful swordsman. She knew they were no match for her.

  Her attacker swung his sword above his head and brought it down over her. The slow and drawn out swing a
llowed her to easily bat the sword aside with hers. She sidestepped him and let him stagger past her and as he did so, thrust her sword down and slashed the back his calf. He yelped in pain and fell to one knee. The wound wasn’t deep, simply a break of the skin, but it was enough to give her the opening she needed.

  Eris skidded to the highwayman’s side and smashed the hilt of her sword into the back of his head with a thud. The man dropped onto his other knee, eyes rolling up into his head, and fell flat in the grass.

  Eris wiping the sweat from her brow, nudged the highwayman with her foot to ensure that he was unconscious. She looked around the now eerily quiet clearing, where the three highwaymen all lay unconscious in the grass. Caesia was on her way down into the clearing, pale green sparks dispersing from her hands as she shook off her wrists.

  “Non-lethal, just like you asked!” Eris jested excitedly, adrenaline still pumping. “And not a scratch on me!”

  “I admit, I underestimated you.” Caesia sighed, walking concernedly over to the man she had struck with her spell. “It might’ve even been awe inspiring had you not nearly gotten yourself shot.”

  “Good thing I had you covering me then, ay? We’re a natural team!” Eris gushed ecstatically.

  Caesia smirked in amusement at Eris’ hyperactiveness. “Yes, you do all the stupid stuff and I get you out of whatever mess you make.” She chuckled sarcastically.

  “Hey, it worked didn’t it?” Eris giggled giddily. “What was that thing anyway?”

  “This fellow’s weapon?” Caesia crouched beside the man and placed her fingers gently on his neck to ensure he was stable. “You not have crossbows up north?”

  “Never heard of ‘em.”

  “I see. Well, now you have.”

  “Excuse me?” A voice called from within the clearing. It was the fourth man, still tied to a tree. He was dressed in rather expensive looking clothes and sported a finely pruned moustache. “I appreciate that your victory is to be celebrated, but would you ladies mind releasing me?”

  “Oh, Sorry!” Eris exclaimed embarrassedly.