Seventh Talon_Dragonrider's Fury

by James Patton

  One of the beasts leaped on his back awkwardly and bit down on his wing, but he heard Boh fire her weapon and felt a sharp pain in his side. The beast fell off him, but only because it was startled by the shot.

  “Why the hell are you shooting me?” Midnight growled but did not slow his attacks or momentum. “If you cannot see, don’t shoot.”

  “Your breath is getting pulled towards the exit, so it did not come my way. I can see just fine; I just can’t shoot worth shit.”

  They both heard more of the beasts coming.

  “Dammit, should have warned you not to fire that thing,” Midnight said as he finished off the last two. “Get ready for more, that sound carried across the entire cavern.”

  “It echoed, they will have a hard time pinpointing the sound,” Boh told him, and he laughed at her.

  “Drakes are land beasts, and they make their homes in deep cave systems. Their fur is sensitive to sound vibrations, and they can use that to map out entire cave systems. They know we are here, probably have this entire time.”

  They both could hear the drakes as they rushed down the hall, blocking the way back to the ledge. If there was no going back, then their only option was forward.

  A loud roar echoed across the city, and he shuddered. Once more getting an inkling of recognition, and for the first time in centuries, he started to fear.

  “Now we run.”

  Boh

  Chapter 33

  Deeper is Not Better

  A good knife is better for survival than any gun. It is reliable, does not fail, and has many uses. It was something my father preached often, until I got in trouble for bringing my knife to school.

  -from Boh’s Journal, August 19th, N138

  “I think we killed the vanguard,” she whispered to the dragon.

  “Technically I killed them; you shot me,” Midnight growled lightly.

  “Oh get over it you baby,” she laughed at him.

  “Follow, and stay quiet. Put the gun away and use the knife if you can.” Midnight told her, and she did as he said. It still rankled that she missed the shot.

  Trouble, the tactical knife he gave her, was serrated on both sides near the hilt, but the blade itself was narrow and looked deadly. She tested it a few times and found it to her liking, and was more confident with a knife than the gun. The brass knuckle grip felt solid and ensured she did not drop it.

  Midnight led her down a side tunnel that eased downward gently, and she felt confident they were winding around towards the city. She was singing under her breath to keep her nerves from getting the best of her.

  Looking back the way they came she tried to find any magical signatures, but she could not see anything. She did feel it, and she had heard the roar a few more times.

  They walked for several more minutes before the tunnel took a sharp right turn. The stone here was not nearly as polished as the entryway had been, and this area looked like it unused. She could hear dripping water nearby, but could not locate where it originated.

  “Boh, look for anything out of place. There is another passage here, but I have never actually seen it. Stay here.” Midnight told her and went around the bend.

  She did not see anything that stood out and doubted it would at this point. The stone looked damp, and any newer stone would blend in. All cracks and crevices were probably smoothed over. The switch was most likely magical, but she had no way to confirm that.

  Or did she? Her skill book came open, and she looked at how to cast Elemental Sonar, which just had her put her hand palm down, then curl her ring finger into her palm, then rotate her hand, so her palm faced up and outward, and finally spread her fingers wide.

  This spell was not a primary skill, so she had to do the gestures herself. It took two tries, and she watched the magic surge out from her and layered the entire area. Nothing stood out at first, but when she turned to look back the way they had come, she saw the glimmer of an Elemental Shield on the wall. It was interesting how her ability highlighted objects by covering them with a shield.

  A groan escaped her when she saw the switch, and yet by the subtle perverted carving, she knew it was the switch. Midnight was right, the dwarves were an odd bunch, but she could admire the subtleness. She pressed the tip of the carving and felt the heat flare up in her cheeks as she did so.

  A low rumble started beneath her feet, and she heard small rocks falling to the ground and dust filling the air. Where the tunnel veered sharply to the right was now another tunnel that continued straight ahead.

  “Girl, what are you doing?” Midnight asked her but stopped when he came around the corner and saw the doorway. “Impressive, but we need to go, they felt those vibrations and are coming this way.”

  Midnight went first and had to get creative to slide through the entryway. The wings pulled tightly against his body, and his body seemed to elongate and stretch.

  It almost reminded her of a how a snake could alter its body shape. The thinner version of Midnight slid right through without issue.

  “That was neat.” She told him, but he just turned an eye to her and gave her a toothy grin as his body shifted back.

  The switch on the other side was easy to find now that she knew how to spot it. She sighed as she pressed the top of the aperture. Midnight was chuckling as she pushed it.

  “Dwarves.” He said still laughing at her discomfort, and she decided just to embrace the crazy. “Quick, reach into my bag and pull out the crystal sphere in there before that door closes.”

  The door was sliding close and darkness was descending on her fast. The dragon had turned enough for her to see him in the remaining light and she jumped up on his extended leg and accessed the inventory. The sphere was easy to find.

  You have received a Light Sphere.

  Item Name

  - Details: Channel magic into the sphere closing your hand around it and squeezing it. Once activated it is tethered to you, if at any time you wish to make it brighter just apply more pressure to it.

  - Brand: Coldman

  - Type: Light

  - Feedback: 1% [Committed]. Channeling more energy increases the area of influence. Every five feet you expand the light, you channel 1% Feedback every five seconds. As an example, expanding the light another 15 feet costs 3% Feedback every 5 seconds.

  - Range: Area of influence is 15 feet. Every 1% [Channeled] while applying pressure increases the area of influence by 5 feet.

  - Requirements: 2 Magic

  - Caution: The sphere is fragile, channeling high amounts of energy can shatter the object.

  Skill Book Update:

  Committed Feedback – This is when the caster dedicates part of their Feedback to a spell. The Feedback is locked and will not recover until the caster cancels the spell. Do not confuse this with channeling a spell.

  How to cancel a committed spell: All Committed spells are visible on the top right of the caster’s vision. The caster concentrates on the committed spell with their hand opened wide and once locked on they close their fist.

  Benefit: The caster does not need to maintain a hand gesture to keep the spell up.

  Downside: The caster has to give up a portion of their Feedback for the duration of the spell. Which puts the caster closer and closer to their threshold.

  Channeled Feedback – This when the caster’s draw phase remains open during the forming and casting of a spell.

  How to cancel a channeled spell: A caster cancels most spells by closing their fist, or in the case of the sphere, breaking contact with it. The other option is to starve it of energy until the spell collapses.

  Benefit: The caster can keep a spell alive longer, and in some scenarios, can increase or decrease the energy flow.

  Downside: Channeling increases Feedback every tick

  The Light Sphere felt warm in her hand, and she squeezed it gently. The sphere grew warmer as it linked it to her like a battery to a flashlight. One last thing to do.

  “Light,” she muttered. It was ha
rd to describe the feeling that followed, but it felt almost as if the object tethered itself to her. On her Feedback bar, she saw a small sliver of gray.

  “Ok, we need to move now. There is something very wrong with those drakes. I am sure they are feral, but all of them? It makes no sense,” Midnight told her.

  “I- what?” She asked, not sure what he was trying to tell her.

  “Drakes, they are intelligent, noble even. Those things are cunning, there is no doubt, but they are- twisted. Broken.” Midnight explained to her. “I have no idea what is going on here, but I feel like I should recognize the dragon that was roaring. There is an entire army down here, but how?”

  “You said they lived underground. Maybe the problem is perspective,” she said, still fascinated with increasing and decreasing the energy to the light source.

  “What?”

  “Perspective, you are looking at it wrong. Maybe the drakes were always here, below Minot.”

  “That is-” Midnight turned to look at her, and she was not sure what he saw but his mouth opened in a toothy grin. “Brilliant. Such a simple answer and it would explain much. I think like a dragon, but I’m working on it.”

  “Well, we all have our flaws.” Conversation stopped for a brief moment until Midnight started laughing and she joined him.

  “At least you do not startle at my every movement anymore. I will take that as a good sign.”

  Pausing, she realized he was right. At some point, she started to trust the big guy and had not even realized it.

  They walked for a while in silence, but she was searching in every recessed area for danger. This tunnel used roughly carved stone and did not look like the dwarven work she saw in the city. More than once she stumbled over a dip or a rise on the uneven floor.

  “Where are we headed?” She asked.

  “Out. I have no idea what is going on, but I need to get you away from here. I do not think this is an army of Brocard’s making, which means the king needs to know.”

  It also meant he had to hide Boh away somewhere.

  Midnight

  Chapter 34

  Mourner’s Wail

  I regret no action, but there are things I wish I could unsee.

  -from Matriarch of Sorrows

  Boh walked beside him, but she had not said anything in a while. Not that he blamed her, this place was starting to feel more like a tomb than a city. At least he did not smell the rot and decay anymore.

  It had been years since he had been down here, and it worried him that all of the side passages were inaccessible. At least by him, Boh could make it through without issue. If he remembered right, most of these tunnels were for mining, and he doubted any of them led out of this place.

  They came to the end of the tunnel and off to the right was a crevice of undeterminable size. Boh dropped a rock down it, and he could hear it bouncing off the walls for a long time. He wondered how deep the cave system went because it made Boh’s theory about the hidden army even more plausible.

  “Are they all dead?” Boh asked him in a soft voice. He wondered what was bothering her, and now he knew.

  “If any are still alive, they are in hiding. I doubt the people escaped, and the only consolation I can give you is that those beasts would not have prolonged it. They would have killed quickly, but the dragons have been bothering me. They would not have gone down easily, and at least one of them should have escaped.”

  “Unless they are part of it.”

  “Girl— do not speak of what you do not know! You have no idea what are you saying,” he said harshly. His reaction was a testament to how much this place was wearing on him, and he knew Boh was not at fault. She might even be right.

  “You are not thinking right,” she snapped right back at him. “If, as you said, no dragons escaped, then this scale of attack required an insider, probably several. I doubt the people in this village could have stopped them. Think about it, and stop calling me girl.”

  He did think about it because at every turn her logic surprised him. Boh’s intelligence should not surprise him, and he hoped he was not underestimating her for some preconceived notion. Dragons do not commit genocide for the sake of it, but her logic and reasoning made sense.

  What could have made them turn against their own? He questioned it but could come up with no scenario in which the death of thousands of two-legs made any sense. They just did not pose enough of a threat to warrant it.

  “You smell that?” He asked Boh. The rotting smell had come back as they passed the crevice, but it was much stronger here.

  “Yes,” Boh replied.

  The sound of something being dragged reached both them, and they turned down a side passage to investigate. Boh stayed near him, and when they entered the next chamber, he wished she had stayed back.

  Thousands of bodies were thrown haphazardly into this pit from the hole above. The light from the city overhead lit up the area, and he could see corpses of dragons and drakes covered over by many more bodies of two-legs. The stench made him snort a few times, but he doubted his watering eyes were from the smell.

  Another body was tossed down while they stood there, and he heard Boh vomit nearby. He stared at the scene, and his blood ran cold. It had been a long time since he felt fear, and he thought he recognized this handiwork. It was a warning.

  “It cannot be.” He whispered hoarsely.

  “You know who did this?” Boh said in her cold voice, the one he first met in the tower. It held little emotion and a lot of anger, and if he was honest, it scared him. Not because he feared her, but feared what she was capable of doing.

  “Maybe. I need proof first, or we will have all-out pandemonium.” He told her, but mass panic was the least of it. If he was right, they were heading for a war worse than the Usurper War.

  Drakes started coming down the hall behind them, catching up with them while they stood gawking at the corpses. They had not located them yet, but they had no retreat either. They would have to cross the chamber of bodies.

  “Boh, get in my saddle and lay low.” She did not hesitate and climbed up into the saddle, but she did not lock her legs in.

  Navigating the chamber was impossible without stepping on the dead, and decaying corpses pulped underfoot. War required soldiers—required him to do things he was not proud of, but never had he witnessed a mass murder. Once a dragon was going through a village eating civilians, but he killed the dragon and dared anyone to contest it.

  At times the two-legs had even called him a monster, but he had never felt like one until now. He crossed the room and refused to look at the corpses underfoot because he had seen children and families in the mix.

  Boh started singing softly, and it distracted him from what he was doing. It was a haunting prayer and frightening with its intensity. The sound of her song carried.

  “I invoke the Mourner’s Prayer

  To take the dead and grant them peace

  Shelter them on this darkest of nights

  And grant mercy to those who grieve.

  The Mourner’s Wail haunts this night

  With innocence betrayed she awakens

  Her wail pierces the darkest of souls

  And seeks until vengeance is taken!”

  Dark purple energy started coalescing around the corpses, and he knew she saw it too. Curses were his specialty, but he had never seen anything like this. After the song ended, the energy persisted, hovering close to the surface. It grew in strength before it just vanished. It left him worried.

  “Damn Boh, prayers like that have power. You need to be careful what you invoke, good thing I have never heard of the Mourner. And- I never want to meet her.”

  “That is a prayer from another place and time. It has no power that I have ever seen. I hope it does call up something because the monsters that did this deserve every torment.” Her voice was still cold, and he could not disagree with her sentiment. He felt a chill, and while he could not see any energy, malevolence hung in the air like
thick smoke.

  They crossed out of the room, but the feeling of the bodies squishing underfoot, and the smell would not leave him. He hoped he was wrong about was happening, or there would be many more of these open graves soon enough.

  “Stay low, and get ready to jump if I tell you. I’m not as fast as the drakes on the ground, and I’m not sure where we are anymore.”

  “Our exit was back the other way?” Boh asked.

  “Yes. Blocked now, and I will not walk back through that room again. There is another exit this way somewhere, but I’ve rarely used it.” He had not looked back at her but was wiping his talons on every rough surface he could to clean the gore off.

  “Why?”

  “It’s a coastal exit, half the time it's undersea.” He did not tell her the real reason he was worried. It was his battle sense, a skill he honed over the centuries. Not a fight like the ones they had with the drakes, but something different.

  After a time, they came to a dead end, but Boh hopped off silently. Her step was light enough that he barely heard her moving around, and he wondered if she too sensed it on some level.

  Boh looked around for what he assumed was a secret door, and he just watched curiously. It required a spell to locate, and he remembered she picked Elemental Sonar. It did not make sense when she chose it, but it was clear now. It worked.

  Her finger pressed against a spot on the wall and the door opened. After she crossed, she started scanning the walls looking for the switch to close it.

  Changing his body shape was not pleasant, but all dragons were born with the Innate skill. Bones shifted and organs twisted as he made himself narrow and more extended. Moving the organs was by far the most uncomfortable part. He did not use the skill very often, which made it even more painful.