Defying Destiny

by Andrew Rowe

  My aura was already too strong for me to suppress it entirely at any given time. It was cutting away at my backpack, my boots, everything around me, just very slowly. I probably had about two or three weeks to get to a town before my equipment fell apart.

  Any time I used that type of sorcery, I’d make the problem worse. Permanently, unless I also improved my degree of control over the aura, and that was easier said than done. Drawing the sword involved the same type of risk; a portion of that destructive magic would leak into me any time it wasn’t sheathed.

  If I didn’t find a solution, I’d eventually get to the point where I couldn’t touch non-magical objects at all.

  Or people.

  I didn’t exactly care for the idea of never being able to embrace my friends or family again.

  The old man who had sent me to this place?

  He was a famous scholar of sorcerous theory, and one of the few people who might’ve been able to help me.

  But there was always a price.

  And with that in mind, I continued into the cave. My back still ached from the brush with the razor bat’s quill. I waited until I was several minutes in before pausing, putting down the torch, and digging bandages and ointment out of my bag. The wound was relatively shallow, but not shallow enough that I could ignore it entirely. I applied the ointment and bound the wound, then continued on.

  Hopefully there’d be something a little bigger to fight deeper inside, if I was lucky.

  “Turn back.” The voice boomed, and it sounded like it was coming from directly in front of me.

  I saw the pair of glowing motes of light — presumably eyes — in the distant mist a moment later.

  I waved my off-hand. “Oh, you must be the creepy fog voice! I was hoping I’d eventually get to meet you.”

  The twin lights blinked.

  I walked closer, passing the torch to my off-hand. I wanted my sword arm ready, but I didn’t move it close to the hilt. I didn’t want to appear threatening.

  “Leave. This is your final warning.”

  I ducked under another low portion of the ceiling as I approached. The cavern walls encroached around me until I could barely fit down the tunnel, then widened again into a massive, almost circular chamber. The mist was the thickest I’d seen so far. I could feel the moisture on my skin, taste it with every breath.

  I could vaguely make out the outline of a humanoid figure ahead of me. That was a bit of a comfort, since I wasn’t sure I should expect anything close to human. Plenty of monsters could produce a human-sounding voice.

  “I’m sorry to intrude. I don’t mean to be rude.” I grinned, pausing now that I was close enough to get a good look at who I was talking to. I could see the outline of hair, almost floor-length. Slender arms and legs...did those hands end in claws?

  Yeah, those were definitely claws.

  Nice.

  The figure must have been wearing white. They blended in with the mist so thoroughly that I couldn’t make out any other details. I guessed they were probably about ten feet away now, which was about the farthest I could see in the haze.

  “Then you should have left when you had a chance.” They raised a clawed hand. “Prepare yourself.”

  As much as I wanted to fight, I couldn’t jump right into it. I’d finally found someone I could talk to, and I needed information.

  I raised a hand. “Wait a moment, please. I was teleported to this forest, and I’m lost. I’m supposed to be gathering information about the area. I’ve been told there’s a goddess called Selys, I believe? Are you her?”

  The figure tilted its head to the side. “...Are you mocking me? Is that a serious question?”

  “Completely serious.”

  The person...creature...thing exhaled heavily enough that I felt it. The air pushed me back a step. I steadied myself, bracing for an attack, but realized they had just sighed.

  Humanoid or not, this thing really knew how to breathe. “I am not the goddess, but I do serve her. I am the guardian of the Shrine of the Dawnbringer, one of the Six Sacred Swords.”

  I nodded. I was finally making some progress here. “Okay, great. If you’re in her employ, could you direct me to where I can find her?”

  “If thou dost seek the goddess, thou must climb the Soaring Spires. For the goddess resides in the skies above, and only atop the spires might one glimpse upon her greatness. But, be forewarned, ere false hope be thine — centuries live and die between the successes of heroes who seek to reach the spire’s summit.”

  Yeah, they actually used ‘thou’. Apparently they had penchants for both growling and theatrics. Maybe if I was lucky I’d get a prophecy at some point, too.

  “That’s great, thank you for that. So, there are a few of these spires?”

  “Six are the spires, as six are the sacred swords.”

  “Huh. Sounds like that’s not a coincidence, then?”

  The figure lowered their head, as if in prayer. “Atop each spire lays one of the god beasts, ferocious guardians that await those who would dare to seek an audience with the goddess. None would stand a chance against these beasts, save for the sacred swords — one blade forged to survive the power of each beast.”

  Ooh, god beasts sound like they’d be fun to fight. And I do love collecting magic swords.

  I was starting to get more excited. Maybe the sage hadn’t sent me to such a bad location after all. “Got it. That makes sense. And you’re the guardian of one of the swords?”

  “So I am. Since time immemorial, my people have served here.”

  I frowned at that. “And you’re okay with that? Servitude?”

  “My task is a sacred calling, given by the goddess herself. Thy banter and jesting are what bore me. Either flee from my sight or challenge me properly. Those are your choices.”

  I frowned. This was not going where I wanted it to. “Sorry, didn’t mean to sound insulting. Okay, challenging.” I cracked my neck. “What are the terms? Could we have a match to the first successful hit of any kind, for instance?”

  “We would fight until one of us could fight no longer. I would not be gentle. Face me and you should expect to lose your life.”

  I winced. I loved fighting, but I was strictly against killing people without a good reason. “Could I convince you to alter the terms to a middle ground? First blood, perhaps?”

  “The terms are set down by tradition. They cannot be altered.”

  I nodded sadly. “I expected as much. And the sword is right past you?”

  “It is not far. I am not the last of the challenges, but I am the greatest. It lays in the grove of three virtues, untouched in the two decades since it was last claimed.”

  So, someone had the sword twenty years ago, but it’s been hundreds of years since someone successfully reached the top of a tower. That means even having the sword is far from a guarantee that we’re going to be successful at finding this goddess. Wonderful.

  “Okay. And just to be clear, your responsibility is to guard this specific tunnel?”

  “Such is the path to the sword.”

  I focused, trying to peer through the mist as best I could. I thought I could just barely make out an exit tunnel on the opposite side of the chamber, maybe twenty feet away.

  I picked my torch back up, waved, and shifted my stance as if I was about to turn around. “Okay, thanks for all the information.”

  I hated to leave a potential fight behind, but I couldn’t accept the offered terms.

  “You’re...leaving?”

  I think they actually sounded a little disappointed. In truth, I was disappointed, too. “Yep. I’m not going to invade someone’s home and kill them just so I can walk through a particular cavern. I figure now that I broke your teleportation rune, I can probably just walk out of the forest and find a town. But you’re a great storyteller — that part about the spire was riveting. You’re welcome to come with me if you’d like.”

  “You...mock me.”

  I shook my head. “
Nope. I just don’t think anyone should have to live their life in a cave because a goddess told them to, and I’m certainly not going to kill you just because a goddess put you here.”

  The creature in front of me growled and lowered their stance. “You insult me and the goddess alike.”

  “I don’t mean to be insulting.” I raised my off-hand in a defensive gesture. “Just sympathizing. My own life has been largely dictated by the whims of the gods, and I’m tired of it. If you’d like to get out of this situation, I’d be glad to help you.”

  No growl that time, which was progress. Just a tilt of the head to the side, maybe a bit of introspection. “I will not leave while my task remains undone.”

  “I understand.” I nodded affably. “Well, I’m leaving then.”

  “See that you do not return unless you are prepared to face my challenge.”

  “Right. That won’t be a problem.”

  I shifted to the left as if I was turning around...and rushed forward at top speed.

  I’d gone left because the torch was currently in my right hand, and as I sprinted past the creature, I waved it right in front of their eyes. Not close enough to hit them — I was just going for momentary blindness.

  They roared, far louder than their body should have been able to, and the entire room shook. Dust and debris rained from the ceiling. Fortunately, I was used to sprinting across uneven terrain, and I maintained my footing. I turned toward the exit tunnel as I moved, finding it easily as I approached.

  I was only a couple feet away when a wall of stone shot upward from the ground, blocking the path.

  I spun just in time to dodge a spiked tail that was arcing toward my face.

  “Coward! Craven!” The creature roared, lunging at me with clawed hands. As they drew closer, I got a better look. They had a human-looking face and body, but they were covered from head to toe in white scales, and they had a serpentine tail covered in wicked six-inch spikes.

  I side-stepped the lunge and the creature missed, stumbling. I realized they were probably still half-blind from the torch, and they had probably responded to my movements through hearing or another sense.

  That didn’t stop them from whipping their tail around the moment they failed to connect with me, though. It was a low sweep, so I hopped over it, backing up and keeping the torch in front of me. “A little redundant there. Coward and craven are pretty much the same thing. I appreciate alliteration, though.”

  They just roared at me in reply. They were done talking for the moment, it seemed.

  I considered sprinting back toward the entrance, but they were in reach of me now, and faster than I’d expected. I wasn’t confident I could outpace them, especially after they recovered their sight.

  Instead, I stepped to the side and began to circle them, moving gradually back to the area that had been sealed by the wall. I wasn’t a master of stone sorcery, but I could use it. If I could find a few moments, maybe I could make a gap big enough to climb through.

  “I’d really like to avoid—”

  They swiped a claw and knocked the torch right out of my hand.

  I stared blankly for a moment as the light source clattered across the floor, then punched the scaled creature in the face.

  Hard.

  The creature staggered back, raising a hand to their cheek. Their expression changed.

  To a smile. “Better.” Their blue eyes seemed to shimmer in the dark.

  That was not a good sign.

  I’d learned to control my swings a long time ago, because I liked being able to spar with humans without crushing their bones to powder.

  But I’d taken that swing out of instinct. It wasn’t quite my full strength, but I would have put my fist through the stone wall without any difficulty.

  They weren’t even visibly bruised.

  Their return punch came a moment later, and I raised an arm to block. The blow carried me off the ground and threw me back a good ten feet. I landed in a slide, my arm aching from the force of the impact.

  Motion sorcery, I realized. No amount of pure physical strength would have knocked me upward like that. Instead, the strike had carried with it a blast of magic that enhanced and spread out the impact.

  I knew what was coming next.

  They blurred, flashing forward in a burst of kinetic energy, closing the gap between us in an instant.

  But I’d fought motion sorcerers more times than I could count. Even before they landed, I was rotating my hips for a real punch, the kind I used to practice tearing through breastplates.

  I hit them dead-on in the solar plexus. That actually slowed them down. They doubled over, clutching their chest and coughing.

  For a moment, I was concerned that I’d misjudged and hit too hard.

  Their tail whipped over their head, spiked tip arcing toward my throat. I grabbed it just in time, cutting one of my fingers on a spike in the process. They jerked the tail back, but I maintained my grip and stumbled forward.

  With my free hand, I tried to throw another punch, but they grabbed my arm with both of theirs. We were practically on top of each other at that point, so I threw a knee upward. They countered by raising their own leg to block, which I hadn’t expected.

  They snarled, biting at me with a set of teeth that were just slightly sharper than human ones. I stepped back to avoid the bite, and they finally managed to pull their tail free from my grip. Before they could swing it again, though, I slammed my boot down on their foot.

  That got my hands free while they recoiled, and I used that freedom to back off a few feet. My left hand was still bleeding from where it had brushed against a spine, but not badly.

  They backed off as well, apparently assessing me. That seemed good, until they kept backing off to the point where they disappeared into the mist.

  I glanced around for any signs of my opponent, then headed for where I’d dropped the torch.

  It went out before I reached it.

  Resh.

  I was plunged into darkness. I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear something moving to the side of me.

  Something big.

  I heard a growl, followed by what sounded like bones snapping to my side.

  I continued to inch toward where I’d last seen the torch. Since blinding the creature had seemingly worked, it was possible the creature would have a tough time finding me in the dark, even if their night vision was better than mine.

  I was pretty close to where I’d thought the torch was when I ran into something much larger than I was.

  I took a step back. I hadn’t remembered a wall there. I raised a hand and ran it across...scales. Large scales, each the size of my fist.

  Uh oh.

  I stepped back just before something slammed into me the size of my entire midsection, hard enough to throw me almost ceiling-high. I landed hard and fell on my side, rolling a few feet across the floor.

  That hurt.

  I barely managed to push myself to the side before something landed on the stone where I’d been moments before, smashing the stone of the cavern floor.

  Even without the light, I was close enough to get a glimpse of the clawed appendage that landed near my face. It was even bigger than what I’d felt connect with me, probably about the size of the upper half of my body.

  I’d been thrown and battered by nothing more than a glancing blow.

  I pushed myself to my feet with a cough, raising my left hand.

  The darkness wasn’t slowing this thing down as much as I’d hoped, but it was making it impossible for me to evaluate my opponent effectively.

  Burn. A sphere of flame the size of a watermelon appeared in my hand, and a chill ran down my spine as the spell extracted its cost. I rarely conjured fire on this scale due to the tax on my body, but I needed this flame for two reasons — both to see, and as a potential deterrent to further attacks.

  “Foolish human,” they spoke, the room trembling with each word. “Had you chosen to fight me honorably fr
om the outset, I would not have used this form.”

  As they spoke, I took in what I was looking at.

  A huge, serpentine head with a pair of vicious horns, each of which was large enough to impale me with ease.

  A leonine body covered in hardened scales, with four massive clawed hands. Though standing on four legs, they were still twice as tall as I was.

  And their wings were vast, at least twenty feet in total span, nearly brushing the ceiling and walls.

  They were a creature of legend.

  Unfortunately, I had no idea what I was looking at.

  They don’t have dragons where I come from.

  Acknowledgements

  A lot of the characters in this trilogy were based on player and non-player characters in role-playing games I ran over the years. Some of the locations and historical elements were also drawn from these campaigns.

  I’d like to thank everyone who I drew inspiration from, including but not limited to: Mowi Reaves, Carly Thomas, Andrew Warren, Joshua Noel, Rachel Noel, Kieran Brewer, Danielle Collins, Justin Green, Emily and Trevor Gittelhough, Robert Saunders, Robert Telmar, Morgan Buck, Mackenzie Jamieson, Alex Arjad, Edward Fox, Rob McDiarmid, Eric Maloof, Joslyn Field, Michael Kelly, Rebecca Nieto, Michael Corr, Chris Ruffell, Devin McCarthy, Amanda Mielke, John Lin, CW Fox, Ali Buntemeyer, Anthony Scopatz, Shannon Kirkwood, Brittany “Emma” Brooks, and Jess Richards.

  My beta readers were also tremendously helpful. I’d like to thank Brittany Chhutani, Jess Richards, Bruce Rowe, Christine Rowe, Samuel Williams, Rachel Noel, and Will Wight, as well as all my other beta readers.

  I’d like to thank everyone at Podium Publishing for their help with the audio versions of these books and Nick Podehl for his amazing narration.

  Daniel Kamarudin has been my cover artist since the very first book in this series, and his amazing artwork has helped bring my characters to life in ways I never imagined. Thanks, Daniel. I look forward to working with you for many more series in the future.