by David Greer
Chapter 27
“So how do we hunt that thing?” Nobody answered. Nobody dared to venture a guess. The only sound came from their feet trudging along the dirt path that crested over one of the many hills of the Windy Pass. They had traveled cautiously for the past few days, which allowed Leo's leg to heal up. Nobody spoke much. They had gone beyond the gusting winds of the pass and finally Grimey was able to express the question on all their minds. He wasn't surprised at the silence that met his question. He didn't have any ideas himself either.
“My spear did nothing.” Kane said. Leo nodded. It was the only weapon that punctured the dragon's scales deep enough to hit flesh and it had no affect. If anything it might have irritated the dragon. Leo's arrows merely bounced off the beast just like Grimey's hatchets did. Their only option at that point was to flee. Luckily the falling rocks gave an opportunity to do so.
“Do you have any ideas?” Leo asked. Grimey shook his head and met Leo's eyes. Those eyes weren't hopeful but they longed for any shred of an idea. Silence continued to sing loudly.
What a blur the past few days were, Grimey thought. Traveling far north, the pitch black Tunnel of Lights, a dragon rose from the depths of the earth, and a mountain exploded. After all that their journey back to Khurt was surprisingly uneventful. Grimey kept watch for blinking jewels as they passed through the glowing section of the tunnel. He was ready to face swarms of lurkers but no swarm ever came. Only a few of the cave-dwelling beasts attempted to ambush the hunters. It wasn't difficult at all for Grimey to spot them and cut them down with a hatchet. It was almost effortless.
The three hunters did hesitate a moment when they reached the end of the tunnel. The dragon may have been waiting for them on the other side. What if it was circling the skies waiting to swoop down and rip apart the first thing that came out of the tunnel with those massive claws? What if it was hungry and viewed the hunters as a meal? Or what if is was simply perched above the tunnel entrance waiting to spit on them with scalding blood?
There was only one way to find out. Grimey exited the tunnel first, axe at the ready. He burst through the crack in the rock at a run, immediately scanned the landscape and then the skies ready to duck, dive, dodge, and fight. But there was no sign of the dragon. No sign of anything red anywhere. Grimey slowed to a walk and waved the others out of the tunnel.
The great beast was gone. Unfortunately that meant it could be anywhere, or on its way to anywhere. Those wings could carry it clear across Arlynd with ease. However, on the upside the three hunters were safe. Better to live and figure out how to hunt down the dragon than be blindly killed by it.
Their journey through the Windy Pass was windy, as expected, but nothing more. No buzzards attacked. In fact the only buzzards they saw were the decaying corpses of those they killed a few days earlier. “Not too graceful anymore are ya.” Grimey said to one of the corpses, kicking it as he passed by.
The hunters had continued beyond the Windy Pass and were now almose at Khurt Town when Grimey posed the question about how to hunt the dragon. Until then they had trekked up and down the many hills in silence. And now the bearded hunter had fallen silent as Leo turned the question back on him. He didn't have a single idea. Then a simple thought came to mind.
“I think taking its head off might work.” Seemed like a reasonable approach. Leo's face drooped and his eyes turned incredulous. Grimey shrugged and kept walking. “Did you see its wounds?”
“Yes. I shot an arrow into the large one along its body. Nothing happened.” Leo said, “It bled from those wounds just before it spit up blood. You warned Kane to get out of the way. How did you know?”
“When I was at the top of the mountain the thing spit at me. I ducked behind a rock but some splattered around me. I could feel heat coming off of it. That stuff burns. And I saw its wounds start bleeding just before it spit at me.” Grimey said.
“Interesting. At least we know something to watch out for.” Leo said with a furrowed brow.
“I heard the thing. It spoke to me.” Grimey said, which sparked a look of confusion from the two islanders. “When it first burst out of the mountain. It looked at me and growled. I heard a word in there.”
Kane and Leo were in disbelief. Monsters don't talk. They growl, sneer, screech, and yelp but they never speak. “What did it say?” Leo asked.
“A single word. It said 'Arkadius.' I don't know how it could know that. Nobody knows that.” Grimey scoffed. “There aren't supposed to be dragons either but there is a dragon and it knows that word.”
“What's Arkadius?” Kane asked.
There was a pause. Grimey took a long breath deciding whether to say anything further or keep silent. But he also knew that this particular situation was too unique to keep to himself. Hearing the word in a dream is one thing but hearing it spoken by a beast thought to be extinct is an entirely different matter.
“It's my name. My real name.”
The three hunters were cresting the top of the last hill before reaching Khurt when Leo spotted something in the ground. An arrow protruded from the dirt. Nearby was another one. Both were angled steeply, telling Leo that they had been fired skyward, missed their target, and landed there in the ground. Observing the angle, Leo figured the arrows must have come from the other side of the hill they were currently climbing. Just over the hill was the town of Khurt. A horrible thought dashed into Leo's mind.
“It was here.” Leo said. The others snapped to attention. “These arrows. They were fired skyward. The dragon was here.”
Leo dashed to the top of the hill, the others close behind. What they saw below halted them in their tracks. Khurt had been reduced to rubble. What were once buildings and houses were now fallen rooftops, lone walls, and piles of rock. Here and there, red ooze dripped down from the ruins. The dragon's blood. Rained down from above to scorch any person below and burn through anything else it touched. There was no doubt that the dragon was there.
Grimey quickly scanned the skies and surrounding landscape for any sign of the beast. But the skies were blue, the hills were green and gold with poppies. No sign of anything red. The beast had gone.
With no sign of danger Grimey dashed toward the ruined town. The other two followed. The three hunters scavenged through the ruined town for survivors. They found several bodies but no signs of life. Grimey spotted a pair of legs sticking out from behind a pile of rubble and jogged over to them in hopes of finding a survivor. Only a lifeless body of a once able-bodied man laid face down, arms spread wide. There was a quiver of arrows strapped to his back and nearby a crossbow rested on the ground. This man was one of Khurt's local hunters.
Grimey felt a pang of sorrow course within him. The loss of any hunter was a tragedy. The loss of an entire town was unfathomable when hunters were there to defend it. But here lied a hunter who had died defending his home. A once unimaginable scene had become a reality. Grimey bowed his head and silently mourned for the man.
When he raised his head, Grimey noticed the hunter's body was different from the other deceased they found. Every other body they came across had been partially or totally buried under rubble. They had been crushed or trapped. However, this man was out in the open in an alley much too small for the dragon to fit into. And the wound was a single, crushing strike to the back of the skull. The shape of the wound ended in a point, which seemed familiar to Grimey. Then it hit him. A buzzard tail had struck down the Khurt hunter.
Grimey called over Leo and Kane and shared his discovery. The two islanders agreed. The dripping blood and wreckage left no doubt the dragon had been there. Now, after looking at the local hunter's corpse, it seemed like the dragon was not alone. They found others slain in the same way as well. To imagine the sky filled with shining black buzzards, screeching and diving with their whipping tails while the great red beast circled above, spewing scalding blood and tearing down homes was something straight from a nightmare. No wonder the Windy Pass held no sign of buzzards. They had all followed th
e dragon, just like how banshees follow a kingpin.
When the hunters reached the town square they found it demolished like the rest of the town. Even the small fountain at the center was reduced to bits. The water that once filled the small pool had long since drained and evaporated.
Kane dashed off up the hill a ways. He leaped and scaled over rubble until he reached what was left of a particular house. Grimey watched as the islander swarmed inside and disappear into the ruins. The islander scoured the inside for several long moments. He emerged with his head low and slowly made his way back to the town square. Completely dejected, Kane sat on the rubble that was the fountain. He looked around hopelessly shaking his head taking in the sight of what remained. All of Khurt was in ruins. Leo sat next to his cousin, patted him on the shoulder and said a few silent words.
“No sign of them.” Kane said. It was all Grimey could hear of their conversation. Leo whispered something else to his cousin. Grimey couldn't make out the words but they sounded hopeful though it did nothing to better Kane's gloom.
Before Grimey could think more on what the two were talking about something caught his attention. A shuffling sound came from what used to be the bar. Only the southwestern corner wall stood, the rest of the tavern was rubble. But underneath it all came the unmistakable moan of a man in need of help. All three of them heard it and Kane was the first to move. He rushed over and began heaving stones aside. Grimey joined him. They uncovered the bartender. His body was broken beyond repair and he clung to what little life was left.
The man struggled to focus his eyes, which eventually locked onto Grimey. “You.” The bartender uttered. He then noticed Kane, then Leo, “All of you. Could have used your help.” He coughed and spit up blood, most of which spattered onto his chin.
Leo knelt next to the man, “What happened here?” he asked softly. The bartender went into a coughing fit before answering.
“Reapers. A whole skyful of them. Attacked. Relentless. Tails and screams. Then a roar.” The bartender's eyes widened as he recalled the memory, “Terrible roar. A dragon. Red like ruby. High above. Rained blood. Watched as reapers terrorized us. Too many. Couldn't fight them. Then it dove. The dragon. A real dragon. Destroyed the town. And my bar.” There was no hope left in the bartender's eyes. His town was ruined and his bar, his livelihood, was destroyed. There was nothing else for him anymore.
“Did anyone get out?” Leo asked.
The bartender's eyes wandered and began to roll into the back of his head. Leo put a firm hand on the man's shoulder a repeated the question. It was enough to bring the bartender back. “A few. Fled to the woods.” Kane shifted at these words and a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes. The bartender went into another coughing fit, spattering more blood onto his chin and chest. He didn't have much time left. With his last remaining strength the bartender gripped Leo's arm. “You. Have. Work to do.” The bartender's grip loosened and his body was still.
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