by C Woodward
"Your guess is good as mine," I whispered back.
"I can't smell anything past the putrid air of this place," Koj muttered quietly.
Koj put his pack down and looked at me, "We need to get over there. We need to try to get closer."
I gave him a nod and took the lead since Koj seemed a bit uneasy. He felt so uncomfortable just being there and I didn't blame him. The dark sky gave off a red tint and the air felt oddly stuffy with the faint scent of death. It wasn’t an overwhelming smell but it reminded me of wandering in an old tomb.
We crept closer to the camp. I didn't sense anyone in the camp nor heard anything outside except my heart beating and the wind blowing. We moved closer and still saw no signs of life anywhere. Finally, we entered the camp and looked around. No one was here.
"This is quite odd. These tracks on the ground appear to be pretty fresh but why is it empty?" Koj whispered. He poked around the tents. The flaps were open and he saw dust already moving in.
I stared at the fire ring and found cold ashes and charred wood.
"I found some strange human garments and books," Koj called out softly.
I turned my head to see him hold up a black robe with faded white markings. It took me no time to see those who made camp were necromancer cultists of Xum'gol.
"Xum'gol," I muttered as I reached for the book and thumbed through the pages. I recognized some of the runes and wording to know it was a spell book for necromancy. I tossed it on the ground in disgust and looked at Koj. "This is a necromancer camp; followers of Xum'gol," I frowned.
"How did they reach all this way?" Koj questioned. "I knew they were heading north but it would have taken them a long time to reach here," he added.
I sighed, "No clue how they got here, but the fact that they are here makes things worse."
Koj looked around, "There are tracks from them heading toward the ruins. The tracks are a few days old at least."
"That means they are trying to exploit the dead within the crater!" I explained. I dashed toward the crater.
"Blake! Wait! You are not going to face them now are you?!" Koj called out.
I turned to him, "If Xum'gol is involved, I can't just wait and hope for the best."
Koj groaned and followed me. I hiked up the trail toward the crater. The sky became more red and grim. The staleness of the air became even stronger as we got closer. Part of me knew I should rest a bit before I just ventured in but another part needed to not waste any time. As we hiked up, I could see the valley inside the crater.
Inside we saw what could have been a beautiful home with stone buildings and statues, now crumbled and half buried in dirt and ash. Bones of large dragons were scattered around, half buried in the earth. The dark clouds covered the sky and gave the place a darker red look. Everything looked dead. Not even a blade of grass could be seen.
Koj stared in awe and in horror. There was an overwhelming feeling of sorrow here. I couldn't imagine the pain Koj was feeling to see the ruins of what his people once called home. This felt so very wrong. Some powerful dark magic corrupted the land here.
I took a deep breath and climbed down. A flurry of dust flew around me. I shielded myself with my wings. As it ceased I could see a body lying on the ground near me. I looked down and saw a cultist, pale and lifeless. His eyes gazed upward in horror. He appeared to have been impaled by a large weapon and had been left behind. Glancing around, I saw a few other corpses of cultists. Each death appeared more gruesome than the last. If they weren't such corrupted beings, I would have felt pity.
Further out in the center of the crater, I saw the skeleton of a large dragon lying on the ground. It almost looked as if someone had cared for the remains. The skeleton was much larger than any feral dragon I had ever seen. The skull had horns that were as big as me. Clearly this must be the first born the others had mentioned. I had never seen a creature this big before.
A chill ran down my spine. The air around me turned almost freezing. I took a few steps near the massive skeleton and heard a raspy voice in the air.
"Admire my trophy, drake?" the voice called out. It almost sounded like the wind was calling to me. The voice spoke once more, "It has been so very long since I shed a drake's blood. I will enjoy this."
I caught a blur at the corner of my eye. I jumped away just in time to avoid a glowing green blade being plunged into me. I turned and saw a dark figure in black armor standing in front of me. It wore a great helm with large horns that appeared to be have once belonged to a drayken. The air around the figure gave off a soft blue glow. He gazed upon me with bright red glowing through the visor. He held a large halberd with a glowing green blade. There was no doubt that this was Gratius Fohrne!
"Your scales resemble my trophy. You will make a nice addition," Gratius spoke in a raspy voice. Without hesitation, he charged at me with lightning speed. I jumped back and let my wings help me get some distance away. He moved quickly!
He stepped in and swung his halberd at me. I parried with my gauntlets. Even though I was much larger than any human, he was much stronger. I made a swipe at him but he quickly leaned back to avoid it. He countered with a few quick jabs. One nearly hit me but went past my face. He wasn't allowing an opening, not at this close range. It was difficult to get near him without being skewered by his polearm.
Gratius spoke, "You are doing better than I expected. I might actually enjoy this." He then jumped into the air beyond what any human could ever do.
He drove down at me, with his halberd first. I put my forearms in front and blocked the hit. The point of his halberd pushed through the tiny gaps of the steel strips that lined my gauntlet and sunk into my right hand a tiny bit. He stepped on my arms and then jumped away from me. I glanced at the small stream of blood on my forearm. I was not surprised his magical halberd was made to cleave dragon scale.
I let out an angry growl and tried to read his movements. He kept a safe distance from me. It was almost like he was waiting for me to make the next move. If I so much as leaned one way, he was ready for it. My wound wasn't bad enough to worry about but the fact he wounded me so easily worried me more. I wished I had a full suit of armor to counter his magical halberd. Even a shield would be most helpful.
"Blake! Breathe fire at him!" Koj called out from a distance.
"I don't know how!" I shouted back.
Gratius must have gotten tired of waiting and made his next attack. He took a wide swing at me. I back-handed his weapon with my left which gave me the opening I was waiting for. I charged toward him and thrust my right arm at him like a spear. He leaned back but I still clipped him. I could feel my claws striking his armored side. He moved back and just laughed. The attack was hardly lethal.
"Inhale from your gut and breathe out from the sides of your mouth!" Koj cried out.
I took a deep breath and felt something within the sides of my throat but nothing happened. Before I could figure out what I did wrong, Gratius came at me again. His halberd came right for my neck. I jumped back but hit an object behind me, which caused me to stumble a bit. Thankfully my tail helped me balance. Gratius swung at my legs and pulled back. The halberd caught the back of my leg and with his unholy strength he pulled me flat on my back.
"From your stomach!" Koj yelled.
Gratius stepped in and aimed for the kill. I sucked in air from my stomach and spewed out a cone of flames at him. He cried out and jumped away. I took this moment to get back on my feet.
The flames didn't seem to damage him but caused him some pain. He stood a distance from me with his polearm ready.
I took a few deep breaths. Breathing out fire like that was a strange feeling; almost like I was shooting energy out of my mouth. I recalled reading a similar feeling when channeling magic. Perhaps fire-breathing was how dragons and draykens alike cast spells. Whatever it was, it will come in handy. I needed to take some deep breaths before trying to do it again.
"Filthy drake! I will make a mantel out of your hide!" Gratius insulte
d. He made another amazing leap up into the air toward me.
I moved my arms in front to get ready to block again. Then I inhaled with my stomach and held it. I looked closely at his glowing halberd and moved my armored gauntlets to block. He struck my forearms with great force but I was more than ready. I quickly opened my arms wide and let out a big stream of fire at him. He cried out and rolled back away from me. I wasn't done. I quickly turned to the side and let my wing smack him as hard as I could.
Gratius fell back onto the ground. The halberd flew from his hands. Now he was on the ground, disarmed. I kicked his weapon further away and stepped between him and his magical polearm. I took some deep breaths and positioned myself to finish off this monster once and for all. He extended his arms at me and just stared at me with his hate-filled, glowing, red eyes.
I stared down out and again breathed deep in my gut. I stomped on his torso to make sure he couldn't get away. I released a heavy stream on him. I thought I felt something moving past my legs from behind but all I could see was fire engulfing the monster. A second later I felt a searing pain in my chest. It knocked all the wind out of me. I let out a loud gasp. As the flames died, I saw that he somehow made his halberd return to him and it impaled my chest.
The long spear-like point of his halberd punctured deep into the right side of my chest. I could only look at the weapon protruding out of me. It almost felt cold. Gratius pulled the halberd out and a spray of blood shot out. My legs buckled and I was kneeling on the ground.
I put my left hand over the wound and barely breathing. I coughed out a bit of blood; worried he hit my lung. Gratius stood over me, almost gloating and savoring the moment. He swung upward with the handle of his halberd and hit me under the jaw. I fell to the side, dazed and short of breath.
"May your blood coat this land, drake," Gratius insulted.
I took a few shallow gasps since a deep breath would be impossible and too painful. I could barely make a sound. I stared at him. He swung his weapon around to taunt me. A rock beaned the side of his head. He turned to see the source. I knew it had to be Koj.
"Don't give up Blake!" Koj cried out as more rocks flew at Gratius.
Gratius spun and easily avoided the rocks, "Are you eager to die slowly, drake?"
I had to do something but my right arm felt weak and I couldn't stand. Breathing fire was out of the question. What could I do? I put my hand over my wound and felt something else nearby. I glanced up to Gratius’ back of and used every bit of strength I had to be able to stand. Gratius turned toward me. I was close enough to jam Clagmir's sword up inside his helmet and under his jaw.
Clagmir's blade sunk deep up into Gratius' skull. The fiery sword lit up the inside of his helmet. Gratius let out an unnatural cry as he fell on his back. He flailed his arms and legs wildly as every inch of him burned from within his armor. A bright light discharged from him and then a deafening boom. His armor exploded into pieces. Afterwards, the only thing remaining was ash and his halberd.
I took a few breaths and coughed again. I reached for his halberd and could still feel the energy within it. I grabbed Clagmir's sword and with the pommel, I smashed away at the blade of the halberd. Without its master it became weathered and brittle. I hit the head of the halberd. It cracked and out flew another flash of light. This time, it went up into the sky. The light itself attacked the clouds overhead. Seconds later, the clouds dispersed and the night sky became clear.
I took a few more breaths while kneeling on the ground. I was still too winded to stand up. I stared at the night sky and felt the air suddenly more crisp and clean. The feeling of sorrow and hate that engulfed the crater had vanished as well. There was no longer a bleak, red light but a beautiful night sky.
"Blake! You did it!" Koj called out in excitement. He ran over to me, "Let me help you up."
As Koj put an arm around me and pulled me up, I let out a chuckle, "Now you show up."
Koj sighed, "Sorry, I just froze. As soon we came in here, my body just couldn't move. It was like I was frozen in terror. Please forgive my cowardice."
I took a deep breath which hurt more than I expected, "Ugh. Don't worry about it. There was some really strong, foul magic here. I doubt it was cowardice."
Koj laughed, "Still, I could have done more, but I just couldn't move."
"Your rocks helped," I smiled.
Koj laughed, "Yeah! One did get him right on the head, too! That sure ticked him off." He turned back to the remains of the large, dragon skeleton, "They can finally rest."
Koj helped me back to the cultist camp. I sat by the fire as Koj placed a damp cloth on my wound.
"Hold this tight here as I treat the back," Koj instructed.
"So, it went through? Figures." I muttered.
Koj held my wing away and put his hand on my shoulder. "This will hurt," he warned.
Before I knew it, a burning pain hit my wound that made me roar out in pain.
It felt like forever but lasted only a few seconds. Soon, Koj stood up and walked around in front of me.
"What did you do?" I groaned.
"I closed the wound to stop the bleeding. It was too difficult to bandage it," Koj explained. He then pulled off the wad of cloth I had in front, "Now this will hurt just as bad."
I cringed and almost whimpered as he burned the wound in front. He controlled his fire breath to a small stream which felt even hotter than a normal flame. The wound was painful at both ends and the air felt like a dagger in it.
"Now the risk of bleeding out is gone. I can make a sling for your arm so you don't strain your shoulder," Koj said cheerfully.
"I'm more worried about internal bleeding and a punctured lung," I muttered.
Koj laughed, "Naw! You will regenerate from this just fine! It was a clean wound and it missed your lungs. I will put something over the burns so they won’t hurt so much."
At this point, I was too tired to argue. Koj seemed to know what he was doing and understood how a drayken heals better than I did. He wandered back to retrieve his pack as I sat staring at the fire pit, hating every gust of wind with a passion. He eventually came back and took out a balm and placed it on my burns.
"You really prepped for treating injuries didn't you?" I asked as he clumped the strange smelling balm on my wounds.
"Of course! I wanted to be sure I had something to treat any wound after your battle. I even have some stuff to treat poisons and a splint, in case you broke something," Koj said proudly.
"You're a regular boy scout," I remarked in a tired, surly tone.
He gave me an odd look, "A what?"
"Never mind," I muttered.
After Koj treated my wounds, he made a fire and looked for some food around the camp. I sat there tired and relieved that the battle was over. I was also happy that the balm seemed to be working.
Koj started cooking something on the fire, "So, were you ever this injured after a battle?" He asked.
I stared at the fire, "Too often, if you ask me."
"Really? Like what?" Koj asked.
I tried a deep breath, still rather painful, "I’ve had my body clawed at by wild beasts; hit in the head hard while wearing a helmet; dislocated my shoulder; shot by an arrow in three of my limbs. One other time, if you count the crossbow. Um, kicked in the ribs and stomped on; banged around like a rag doll; slashed in the face until it hit bone; got grabbed in the face while still trying to heal from that; hit in the side really hard; fell from a great height which broke a rib; had my life drained from me which was a weird one. Um, and a few other things that I can't recall at the moment. Oh, and being impaled by a halberd."
Koj just stared at me with his jaw opened. He didn't utter a word.
I pondered a bit, "The worst for me was being slashed in the face. I never want to experience that again."
"You must either be the luckiest or unluckiest person I have ever met!" Koj remarked.
I couldn't help but laugh which was cut short since laughing was very painful no
w.
After our long flight there, then the battle and losing a considerable amount of blood, I had no trouble falling asleep. The next day I woke up to the smell of soup that Koj made from leftover dried meat and some things he found around the camp and surrounding area. The soup was quite good and I enjoyed the quiet rest afterward. Koj walked to the ruins to check things out and pray. I was too tired to join him.
I hated the idea of spending time here when I needed to return and figure the next part of the plan to stop Xum'gol but I needed another day's rest. I was thankful that I was healing well. Koj told me that dragon-folk can regenerate wounds pretty fast and it also eased a lot of fatigue. I spent the day resting by the fire and woke only to eat something or empty my bladder. Each time I napped, I felt a little better and my appetite was more demanding as well. It was a good thing we had a camp with plenty of still edible food around.