Wood, Stone and Bone

by Ian Rodgers

  Littering the path was a trail of devastation. The dead and dying, man and beast alike, were thrown aside like trash as the monster moved towards us. It had slowed down as it got closer for some reason. Blood and gore seeped into the road where the bodies lay. Pitiful cries of pain and moans of fear echoed forth, but faded away in the force of the storm that the being brought with it.

  The man who had contemptuously continued on his way after ignoring my warning shook in his saddle, his own horse rooted to the spot as its senses were bombarded by primal terror.

  The monstrosity approached him and stopped, towering over him. It peered down with beady purple eyes to appraise the beings that dared to bar its path.

  It lifted a large paw and swiped, almost lazily, at the horse and its rider.

  The steed was torn in half and the man was shredded by the force of the blow, his limbs scattered like petals. Their remains were sent tumbling through the air, landing with a wet, red series of thumps on the side of the highway. They hadn’t even had a chance to scream.

  The creature looked up from their deaths with a bored expression. Its eyes glowed with a dark, vindictive joy as they alighted upon the caravan.

  Despite my terror, my gaze couldn’t help but get drawn to the beings’ chest, where there was a tiny discoloration. On closer inspection, one of the scales was missing. Katherine also seemed to notice this and went deathly pale as she clutched her stomach and tried to recover quickly from her fear-puke.

  The monster took a step forward, its gaze still locked onto us. Then, it tilted its snout back and let out a tremendous, earth-shaking roar. The clouds above us began to darken.

  And I fervently began to pray to all the deities I could think of to help us.

  .

  It had the beast taken some time to finally discover the location of his scale. At first, the creature had thought it was another of the thief’s tricks. Many times before it had given chase after its stolen property only to have it vanish when the beast got close.

  But this time, a full day after the stolen scale had been out in the open, the creature started its approach. Oddly enough the thief was moving agonizingly slowly, and in the company of others.

  The scaly being growled. If the thief had companions it would tear them all to pieces as well.

  Another snarl spilled forth, and an eagerness to spill blood infused its limbs. The monster began to hurry towards its prey, and the denizens of his territory fled for their lives at its rampage.

  The bestial lord paid no attention to the prey that ran. They were wise and clever to flee its wrath; it was only right that the weak either prostrate before it or leave.

  After a day, the beast came upon a scene of death. Some of its subjects who had fled had met their ends at the hands of the thief and its companions. The creature paused, confused, as the thief’s scent – a sickly stench of rot and darkness – was gone.

  Yet the scale’s presence remained. So what if the thief had disguised their own scent? The lingering trace of the scale remained, and would direct him towards it. And the great beast would savor their agony.

  The ruler of the forest hurried along the artificial path that had been made by the human-prey who dwelled beyond the borders of its territory. Some of these same beings appeared on the road before it now, astride their tamed beasts and dragging wooden boxes on wheels. Their screams whetted his appetite, yet the creature did not partake of his kills. It left their corpses to rot on the side of the road. It moved faster than before, the lost scale calling out to it.

  After a few hours of nonstop running it could almost see the one who currently possessed its property and the scaled monster slowed down, confused. Why had one of the mountain folk obtained its scale?

  Well, it did not matter. It would slay these interlopers for daring to claim one of its scales for themselves and then hunt down the thief.

  A puny human-prey and his steed barred his path and the beast stopped, annoyed at the fools who dared to stand in its way. It lashed out and sent the man and beast flying. It had stood in the path of the Lord of the Dullwilds and paid the price.

  Its prey was finally in sight. It raised its head to the sky and let out a victorious roar.

  Now the killing could finally begin!

  Chapter 18: The scales of fate

  “Oh by the gods! An Urdrai!” Yorrik gasped. His twin swords shook in his grip.

  ‘Tara?’ I pleaded telepathically. She instantly provided all she knew.

  ~Urdrai, also known as Scaled Bears or Beasts of Vengeance, are one of the most dangerous creatures that exist on Erafore,~ the Spirit of Knowledge managed to get out through her own fear. ~An Urdrai is classified as an S-rank threat, on the same level as an adult dragon! In fact, several times throughout history there have been fights recorded between dragons and Urdrai! And fifty percent of those end in the Urdrai’s favor!~

  ~They are armored with magic resistant scales and possess claws and fangs that rend through steel and stone with contemptuous ease! Their physical strength is such that they can lift a two story house and throw it dozens of feet, and they wield insane amounts of stamina, making them capable of running for days without stopping to rest or sleep!~

  ‘Any weaknesses I can exploit?’ I inquired as the scaled behemoth stomped forward in no particular hurry, content to savor our terror.

  ~No.~ If I’d had a heart, it would have suffered an attack when I heard Tara’s response.

  ‘What in the Hells can we do then?!’ I demanded.

  ~Pray that it gets bored.~

  ‘What about running?’

  ~The Urdrai is known by the moniker ‘Beast of Vengeance’ because it will hunt down without fail those who intrude on its territory, insult, or harm it, and murder them with extreme prejudice. ~ Tara explained.

  ~ They have the uncanny ability to track and follow anything that it considers a foe or its property. Distance and time do not matter to their magical senses. Six hundred years ago an Urdrai chased a woodsman across the ocean to Distant Qwan and brought ruin upon one of its port cities because the man had chopped down a tree in the Urdrai’s territory. There is no slight too small or grievance too petty for an Urdrai to avenge. And all in their path will be destroyed in their pursuit of vengeance.~

  The Urdrai’s gaze fell upon me and I went rigid as it looked me over, appraising me. It snorted in what sounded suspiciously like amused disbelief before it focused its attention on Katherine. The beasts’ eyes narrowed and it let out a fearsome growl.

  “Why is it looking at you like that?” I hissed at the dwarf. She reached into one of her pockets with shaking hands and revealed a dark green scale identical to the ones the Urdrai possessed. And one that looked like it could fit suspiciously well in the empty spot on its chest.

  “I found it in the dirt after the stampede,” she whimpered. “I think it’s here for this.”

  I snatched the object out of her hands and mustered up every drop of courage I could summon. I stomped forward despite everyone behind me shouting at me to come back and stop being reckless.

  “Take your stupid scale and leave!” I shouted, throwing the discarded piece of keratin at the Urdrai’s feet. It tilted its head and let out a huff that I likened to laughter.

  It then swung its left arm faster than I could follow and struck me in the side, sending me flying into a tree at the edge of the Dullwilds. I struck it with a sickening squelch and chunks of my gelatinous body went flying upon impact.

  Screams of shock and cries of horror went up from the people in our caravan when they saw me appear to die in front of their eyes.

  Indeed, had I been human I would have perished. If not due to the claws ripping through my side than from slamming spine first into a thick, solid oak.

  Instead I lay there, stunned. I was overwhelmed by the sheer speed and strength the creature had displayed. Worse, my core had been cracked by the force of its paw striking me. The golden sphere that was the source of my entire being had a long, thi
n fracture running halfway across its surface. Had the paw struck me any harder it would have perfectly split my core in half. No matter how shock absorbent my slimy flesh was it had barely done anything to stop the kinetic energy of the Urdrai’s blow.

  I was screaming silently in pain. I had never experienced a cracked core before, and I wished I’d never have to again.

  Imagine for a moment that every bone in your body suffered a hairline fracture at once. Imagine that every movement you made, every twitch and jerk and thrash, involuntary or otherwise, sent ripples of fiery, biting pain through your entire form. Every breath you took also caused the fractures in the bones to widen and worsen bit by bit, thus increasing the amount of pain that happened and caused yet more tremors that thus repeated the whole cycle.

  Then imagine you could feel every drop of blood in your body transmuted into tiny needles and begin to rip up your insides, while your skin became hyper sensitive and turned even the gentlest of breezes or the softest of silks into white-hot brands upon it.

  That was what having my core cracked felt like. I could not even hear Tara or Rosa my mind was so fogged up with pain.

  Speaking of my Familiar, as soon as I was sent across the field by the Urdrai’s strike Rosa had shot off after me. The Carbuncle hovered over my fallen form, fretting about. She swooped down and began to gather up the scattered clumps of gel that had flown off me. Most of them were already dissolving into puddles of magic that then evaporated into the air, and they slipped through her tiny hands as she tried to grab them.

  I choked down my pain and managed to send her a telepathic message.

  ‘Rosa, run,’ I ordered.

  (No! I won’t leave you!) she cried, tears falling from her eyes. They crystallized and turned into miniature pebbles of cloudy quartz as they landed in the grass.

  (Come on, get up!) she begged, shoving a handful of myself onto my deformed body. I absorbed it without thinking, and immediately regretted it. The magic which entered me tried to heal my wound, but instead caused yet more pain. I let out a yelp which devolved into a pathetic whimper.

  ‘I can’t move until my core is repaired,’ I revealed. Already my massive mana reserves were working on it, but it was sending spikes of agony through me.

  ‘You have a chance to escape! I don’t think it spotted you, and if you flee to Gaeum you can hide from it!’

  (I won’t leave you! I won’t, I won’t, I won’t!) Rosa shouted at me. She collapsed at my side, sobbing loudly. (I won’t.)

  ‘Rosa, if you don’t we’ll both die,’ I said softly. Pushing through the pain I reached out with a tendril and patted her head.

  ‘I don’t want that to happen. Go back to Liliana and Verde. Back to Tara. She’ll need someone to help her find a way to make a body for herself now that I’m in this state.’

  (Stop acting like you’re going to die, damn it!) Rosa screamed at me. (You’re gonna be just fine, and we’ll keep adventuring together, and see the world, and, and, and…!)

  “By my right as your Contractor, I command you, Rosa the Carbuncle, to save yourself!” I shouted out loud, and instantly descended into a fit of pain wracked gasps.

  Rosa let out a muffled gasp of her own before her wings started to flutter and buzz. She shot off into the forest, crying and screaming at me all the while.

  ‘Tara, help me speed up my healing process. I need to get down there and help them!’ I declared, staring at the caravan.

  It was in chaos. All the adventurers were scrambling about trying to hold off the Urdrai as it ponderously approached. It was toying with them, allowing the adventurers to try and score a few blows before retaliating and murdering them in a single strike.

  The merchants and other travelers were faring no better. Many of their horses refused to move, paralyzed with unnatural terror. The few who could move were simply thrashing and stamping about in panic and running in circles.

  A handful of people abandoned their wagons and transports and joined the people on foot in a mad dash towards the east and to the defenses of the city that lay at the end of the highway.

  I watched, helpless, as the Urdrai reached down and scooped up a stone from the side of the road, ignoring the futile blows of swords and axes that fell upon its hardened scales. The Beast of Vengeance then wound up its arm and tossed the chunk of rock like it was a pitcher in a game of stickball.

  The person at the head of the fleeing group dropped dead as the stone tore through his back and burst out his chest, painting the ground red. The others screamed and came to a screeching halt behind his corpse. The Urdrai’s message was clear; run, and you die next.

  “St-stay back!” one of the adventurers commanded, waving his sword in front of him in a desperate attempt to keep the monster at bay.

  The flimsy steel was no match for the Urdrai however; it reached out and plucked the blade from the C-ranker’s hands. The large scaled monstrosity then made a show of snapping the sword in front of the adventurer.

  With a growling laugh the Urdrai then moved its head faster than the poor soul in front of him could react to and had everything above his shoulders bitten off. The beast chewed, swallowed, and proceeded to pick its teeth with the shattered blade before flicking the shard of steel away where it embedded itself in the neck of a cowering merchant.

  “Damn it all!” I cried. All I could do was watch in horror as the people I had come to consider friends were torn apart one by one with exaggerated cruelty and arrogance by the Urdrai.

  “Come on, Tara, help me heal faster! They won’t last much longer!”

  ~Jelly, I’ve already released the contents of an Elixir into your body! You have to give it time to mend the crack!~

  “I don’t have time! They’re all going to die in front of me if I do nothing!”

  ~You can still try to run, though! It’s distracted and already thinks you’re dead! Save yourself!~

  “I’m not going to leave them like this, Tara! I have to fight!”

  ~You don’t owe them that much, Jelly!~ the Spirit of Knowledge cried, all but weeping as she tried to change my mind. ~If you do this, not only will you die for certain against the Urdrai, but they’ll all know you’ve been hiding something from them when you stand back up unharmed!~

  “So what?” I demanded of her. I was angry at Tara for trying to make me abandon them. I was angry at myself for being so weak. But most of all I was furious at the Urdrai for its arrogance and cruelty!

  I felt the crack in my core seal shut thanks to the potent medicinal Elixir, but even if it was closed for now, it was still not fully healed. It might crack open again and become even more damaged if I did too much spell casting.

  But what other choice did I have?

  “I can’t run, Tara. Even if by some miracle I could live with my guilty conscience, don’t you think the Urdrai will come after me once it realizes I’m not really dead? That it will chase me across Orria and beyond to slay me for no other reason than I dared to stand in front of it and demand it leave us all alone?”

  Down at the caravan I saw Yorrik finally stride forward to confront the Urdrai, twin blades glowing fiercely with a pair of Magic Edge spells coating them. Katherine was beside him, her own daggers glistening with applied poisons and a tortured expression of guilt on her face as she looked at the corpses that littered the ground around the Urdrai.

  “They’re going to die, Tara! I refuse to let them go down without a fight! I refuse!”

  Against her better judgement, and my own body screaming in protest, I reformed my body back into its Gel Doll form.

  I then thrust out my left hand towards the Urdrai as it was preparing to accept the blows from the two defiant adventurers.

  “Cut the untouchable, break the unassailable! That which is mortal can always die! Phantom Blade!” I chanted. As soon as the words left me the blades of both Yorrik and Katherine lit up in ghastly pale white color as they struck the Urdrai.

  At first, the beast had simply stood there arrogantly and
allowed every challenger before those two a single attack before it retaliated.

  However, the monster was both cunning and old, and its senses had been honed over centuries of battle against numerous foes. It detected the sudden shift in the energy around the attacker’s weapons and leapt aside at the last moment.

  Only one of Yorrik’s short swords managed to score a hit on the Urdrai’s scales, and a thin, jagged cut appeared on its left forearm. A tiny trickle of blood appeared, squeezing out from the wound and staining the scales around the wound crimson.

  I laughed triumphantly. Purely Dark Element spells were not my forte, but the few I did know were unique in that they were designed to allow someone to harm those beings who were considered untouchable. And the one I had coated Katherine and Yorrik’s weapon with was no different.

  Regardless if the opponent was intangible, ethereal, an Astral Projection, or merely possessed astonishingly durable skin, the Level Six Dark Element spell Phantom Blade granted weapons the ability to temporarily touch and damage almost anything. It cost an exorbitant amount of mana and nearly caused my core to break open from the strain.

  The Urdrai bled. And thus it could be slain, and the convoy and all the other people could be saved. It was a long shot, but it was still a chance. We had hope now.

  Everyone’s eyes were now drawn to me and I staggered upright. I had to lean heavily on the tree as my body’s mana was fluctuating wildly thanks to my forced rapid healing, and my bipedal form was rather dependent on said mana being stable so I could maintain it.

  Thankfully everyone assumed my floppiness was due to my sudden recovery. Which it was, technically speaking. Just not in the way they were thinking, though.

  The Urdrai roared in fury at having been wounded and made a beeline towards me, the one who had pulled that miracle off. Yorrik swore loudly and unprintably and darted after it, trying to keep it from reaching me.