by Hans Bezdek
“Do you see the Arcane Staff yet?” called out Delvin again.
“I think… I think I do,” smiled Zeke.
Chapter 18
“Really?” Zeke heard Delvin gasp.
“Yeah, it’s right in front of me,” said Zeke, eyeing the Fourth Staff carefully as he put his dagger away. He was looking for if there were any pressure plates or some sort of trap. While getting this far had been fairly lucky, it seemed a bit too easy. Something more had to be here.
“Hurry and bring it back!”
Although if nothing had happened so far, there was probably nothing to worry about, right? With a shrug, Zeke grabbed hold of the Arcane Staff and pulled it close to him.
The floating wizard head immediately started to shake violently.
“Zeke!” shouted Delvin. “Something is happening!”
“I know!” shouted Zeke, scurrying up the steps.
They led to the front of the wizard face. Zeke paused for half a second as he saw all of the floating rocks shaking. Before he could do anything else, smoke began to pour out of the wizard’s mouth and into the sky.
“What did you do?” called out Delvin.
“I just took the Fourth Staff!” cried Zeke, jumping onto the nearest floating rock. He landed in the middle like he had so many times before, only the constant shaking nearly caused him to tumble off of it.
“Careful!” shouted Delvin.
The gnome wasn’t helping Zeke’s mood. The elf got his balance then jumped off after the next rock, glancing over at the smoking wizard’s head. There was something strange about how the smoke was all coming together in the air. Instead of dispersing into the wind, it looked almost like it was taking a shape.
Zeke groaned as he realized what it was forming.
“Z-Zeke!” cried out Delvin. “I think you might have a problem!”
The smoke swirled around until it took an almost solid shape. Zeke could make out clawed feet and hands, a long tail, and two giant wings. The brown head of the creature sprouted two pitch black eyes.
“A dragon,” complained Zeke. “Why does it have to be a dragon?”
“You need to hurry, Zeke!” shouted Delvin. “Smoke dragons are just as real as any other kind once they are fully formed!”
Just what the elf wanted to hear.
“Maybe put the Arcane Staff back, and it’ll go away!” recommended Delvin.
Zeke was pretty sure he couldn’t make it back there even if he wanted to. Besides, the whole point of coming out here was to get the Fourth Staff. They should’ve expected to have to pass some sort of test or guardian… Zeke just didn’t expect it to be a dragon.
The dragon reared its head back and let loose a horrible cry. The rocks seemed to shake even more at it, prompting Zeke to get a move on. He couldn’t get caught out on these rocks, or he’d be toast.
“Zeke, watch out!”
The elf jumped for the next rock, hearing a powerful collision behind him. Risking a look back after he landed, he saw that the smoke dragon had crashed into the floating rock, causing the rock to slowly fall down into the ocean. The dragon meanwhile took back to the sky, circling around as it prepared to dive down a second time.
“The power of the dragon breaks the magic on the rocks he crashes into!” cautioned Delvin. “Even if he doesn’t get you when he comes down, if you’re on the same rock as he is, you’ll fall to your death!”
“I noticed!” shouted Zeke, running as fast as he could, the Arcane Staff leaning against his shoulder.
There was another roar, and Zeke watched as the dragon nosedived right for him. The elf went as fast as he could, barely leaping off of the floating stone as the dragon connected once again.
“He’s getting closer to hitting me!” shouted Zeke. “Do something to slow him down!”
The gnome nodded, his eyes looking around sporadically as if he’d find an idea in front of him. When one finally came, he closed his eyes and raised a hand over his head. A dozen black bats popped into existence above him, then flew out towards the dragon.
Zeke kept an eye up as he ran, watching as the bats converged all around the dragon’s head.
The creature batted at them and hissed, but the bats were too fast and avoided his strikes. While they wouldn’t do much besides stall, they were accomplishing their job. The dragon was now flying in place, trying to take care of the immediate threat and ignoring Zeke.
The elf sprinted as fast as he could, nearly making it to the final rock before Delvin pointed up above him in horror.
Looking back, Zeke saw that the smoke dragon had enough of the bats. Opening its mouth wide, a red and orange ball formed in its mouth.
“Smoke dragons can even breathe fire?!” cried out Zeke, diving down onto his rock.
Fire erupted from the dragon’s mouth, destroying all of the bat illusions in one go. The flames came down close to Zeke but thankfully ended a few feet above him.
“Go, go, go!” encouraged Delvin, waving at Zeke to make the final trek.
The elf hurried to his feet, jumped to the last rock, then jumped again as he heard the smoke dragon crash down onto the final stone
Zeke had to jump to early. He wasn’t going to make it..
“Delvin!” shouted Zeke, pulling up just short of the ledge.
The elf reached the Arcane Staff up as high as he could as he fell. Just when he thought the gnome wouldn’t be fast enough, two little hands appeared above Zeke, grasping hard onto the circle on top of the Staff.
“I-I g-got ya!” groaned Delvin, trying with all his might to pull Zeke back up.
Zeke looked back and saw that the dragon was taking to the sky again to continue the assault. He didn’t have time to see if the gnome was strong enough to do this on his own. Swinging forward, Zeke ran up the side of the cliff, holding onto the Staff as he went. The two of them and the Arcane Staff rolled onto solid land.
Zeke wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but there wasn’t any time. The dragon was already halfway to them in his descent. They didn’t have any time to get out of his way.
“I never should’ve left Re’Lus!” Zeke winced, holding the Arcane Staff up over his head.
The purple glow on the end of the Staff abruptly expanded. Before Zeke could see what was happening, the dragon was upon them. The purple exploded out, and a shockwave sent everyone back.
Zeke and Delvin landed back on solid ground, while the smoke dragon crashed into another floating stone.
“W-What was that?!” asked Delvin, patting himself down to make sure he was still in one piece.
The smoke dragon leaned forward, shaking its head and beating its wings. It was the first time it looked like it took any damage.
“The Arcane Staff shot out a sort of purple wave when the dragon connected with it,” said Zeke, getting to his feet. “It looks like it protected us.”
Delvin gasped. “Maybe that’s how you’re supposed to defeat the guardian! With the power of the Fourth Staff!”
“I don’t know what I’m doing, though,” pointed out Zeke.
“Well, learn fast!” exclaimed Delvin, pointing as the dragon kicked off the stone, rocketing towards them. The gnome booked it to the far right, but Zeke held his ground.
Zeke brought the Staff up and pointed the purple glowing circle towards the dragon. A purple portal-like substance formed in the circle. Not knowing what he was doing, Zeke thrusted the Arcane Staff forward.
Out of the portal came a constant ray of purple energy, connecting with the center of the smoke dragon’s chest. The dragon was pushed back, roaring as the ray continued to bore into it. The ray stopped and the dragon collapsed to all fours.
“Keep doing that!” exclaimed Delvin. “It looks like it doesn’t like it!”
“I don’t know how to keep it up!” said Zeke, waving the Staff around while trying to activate it again. The portal inside the circle had disappeared.
The dragon turned its attention to Delvin, apparently deciding Zeke was mo
re trouble than he was worth. The dragon opened its mouth, and once again a fiery substance began to form in the smoke.
“Delvin! Run!” shouted Zeke.
Delvin tried to, but tripped over his own feet as he tried to escape. Landing defenselessly on the ground, the gnome whimpered and threw his hands over his head.
Unsure of what to do, Zeke pointed the Arcane Staff at his friend. The top of the Staff shimmered as flames leaped from the dragon’s mouth.
A second before the fire breath reached him, a purple bubble of energy encased the gnome. Fire tore all around him, blocking Zeke’s view of Delvin or his fate. When the fire finally relented, the ground all around the gnome had been scorched completely black. The bubble still held, however, and Delvin appeared unharmed.
“Di-Did it miss me?” asked the gnome.
Zeke didn’t have time to respond. The dragon let out a roar of frustration, then began galloping for the elf.
Figuring that everything was going his way so far, Zeke rushed ahead to meet the smoke dragon head on. When the dragon roared again, he joined in with a battle cry of his own. It wasn’t the best, but it got the message across. Bringing the Arcane Staff up like a spear, Zeke thrusted out at the dragon’s head as it reached him.
There was an explosion of blinding purple energy.
The shockwave sent Zeke flying back again, this one even more powerful than the first. The elf felt oddly exhausted, using the Staff as a cane to help him stand.
Looking over at where the dragon lay, he saw smoke rise from its body. It was slow at first but quickly picked up until Zeke was no longer able to make a form out of the mass.
“Did… did you kill it?” asked Delvin, walking over to Zeke as he watched the smoke rise.
Their attention turned to the loud crashes as several of the floating rocks tumbled into the ocean off to the side. Even the rock with the wizard’s face began to crack, pieces of it crumbling down. Then all of it fell out of the sky. Finally, all of the rocks that had once been maintained by magic collapsed into the sea.
Zeke looked back over to where the smoke dragon was, but nothing remained.
“I think I did,” marveled Zeke. He held the Fourth Staff out before him. “No one’s gonna believe this!”
Chapter 19
“For Lord Kutarm!” shouted the last remnant of the guards.
Sloane and the others had scoured most of the city. Over the last several hours, the Resistance had pushed Kutarm’s forces further out towards the gates, until finally nearly all of the men had fled. There were pockets of demons, undead, and fae, but they were quickly destroyed.
The remaining guards rushed out of the gates to where the Linsuk Resistance was patiently waiting. The Resistance outnumbered them nearly fifty to one, but they were content with keeping Kutarm’s forces outside of the walls. After all, their goal was to win Nurem back, not to hunt down all of the men that had once occupied it.
For reasons Sloane would never understand, these foolish men decided to still fight. Blades crashed against blades, and one by one the guards fell. Sloane kept her bow at the ready, but there was no reason for her to draw any more blood that day.
When the deed was finally done, the dwarves and Resistance sympathizers all raised their weapons to the sky and cheered. The day had been won after all.
“Where’s Throgrom?” called out some of the dwarves. “We couldn’t have done it without our fearless leader!”
Sloane looked around as everyone else did, but she hadn’t seen Throgrom since the battle had started. While she was tasked with the northern parts of the city, he was needed in the south. Even when going to other parts of Nurem to help eliminate the remains of Kutarm’s forces, she hadn’t noticed him.
“H-He’s dead!” cried out a dwarf towards the center of the group.
Gasps and murmuring filled the crowd, before they quickly hushed as the dwarf continued. Sloane recognized him as the one who nearly started a mutiny before the battle had even gotten started.
“H-He fell towards the end,” groaned Bruno, rubbing his hands over his face. “I was so caught up in the sure victory, I had left me guard down. A man with a lance dove at me, and… and…”
Another dwarf patted him on the shoulder, taking over for him. “Throgrom pushed Bruno aside and took the blow. The foolish lad that struck him didn’t stand a chance against Throgrom’s axe, he didn’t. Even so… the stab proved to be enough in the end.”
Sloane hung her head low, as did all those around her. She hadn’t known Throgrom very well but was looking forward to chatting with him more after the battle. If it hadn’t been for him, she and her friends might’ve been rejected by the Resistance, and not gotten the vital information they needed on where Wizard’s Keep was.
“I-I can’t believe I doubted him!” wailed Bruno, slamming his mace down into the dirt.
“That’s enough, Bruno,” came a woman’s voice. Ivsaar pushed through the dwarves and laid a hand on the crying dwarf’s shoulder. “Throgrom wasn’t one to hold a grudge. He’d have not thought any more about what transpired before the battle, and you shouldn’t either.”
Several of the dwarves nodded, and Bruno quieted his sniffling.
“While we will have time to mourn the loss of our friends and family… now is not that time,” said Ivsaar, steading her gaze at the crowd. “We have lost a great leader, and for now I will temporarily take his place. There will be time to pick a true successor soon enough, but I will make sure we get out of the city as smoothly and as soon as possible.”
“Out of the city?” repeated another dwarf.
“Yes,” nodded Ivsaar. “For one, the damage that has been done to most of the town would take months, if not years to rebuild.”
“Aye, them fae mages didn’t take it easy on us,” agreed a dwarf. “Some of the eastern district shops have been completely demolished!”
“Very true,” nodded Ivsaar solemnly. “This brings me to the other, more important point. As we all saw today, it isn’t just humans that work with Kutarm. The demons, undead, and fae have struck a deal, it seems, or are perhaps under a spell from an Arcane Staff. While they had many of these abominations at the ready today, they will return with a hundredfold more. If we stay here, we’ll be sitting ducks.”
Murmurs of agreement broke out in the crowd. Sloane was surprised to hear that they wanted to leave so soon. Had they not just fought to regain the city? She supposed none of them knew the true extent of the evil forces at Kutarm’s control beforehand. It appeared that changed things in quite a hurry.
“Everyone begin packing and making plans to leave immediately,” continued Ivsaar. “We’ll talk again before we leave.”
The dwarves dispersed at that, heading off to find what remained of their homes and possessions. Sloane knew the pain of knowing that your home was destroyed and that you needed to leave. At least most of these people could take solace in knowing that their loved ones and neighbors were around to help carry that burden.
“It looks like you’re the new leader of this faction of the Resistance,” commented Sloane, approaching Ivsaar after she answered a few questions some had.
“It appears that way for now,” sighed Ivsaar. “Throgrom was a great warrior and a great leader. I hope to do his memory well.”
“I’m sure you’ll do great,” smiled the human.
“Get yourself to a priest?” asked Ivsaar.
“I did,” nodded Sloane. The pain eventually got to her towards the end of the fight, so she sought one out. The healing process took just a few minutes, and then Sloane was back out on the battlefield. “Why the desire to leave the city so quickly? Surely Nurem would be easier to defend than a brand new city that doesn’t even have walls built yet.”
“We’ll be quickly setting up a new city somewhere nearby, but we’ll only leave a small regiment behind to protect those that can’t fight,” explained Ivsaar. “The rest of us will continue to bring the fight to Kutarm, and dive deeper into his territo
ry.”
“What about what you said about forces of evil being even stronger closer to Kutarm?” asked Sloane.
“It most certainly will be true,” nodded the elf. “Unfortunately, there won’t be anywhere safe until Kutarm himself is defeated. If that means having to fight more abominable creatures than so be it.”
“You don’t want to rest at all first? Surely it will take time for Kutarm’s forces to regroup. Perhaps you’ll be able to connect with others in the Resistance and strengthen your army.”
“I won’t stop the fight until I’m dead,” said Ivsaar, steel in her voice. “Throgrom talked openly about this with me and a few of the others. The plan was to start a revolt here, but carry it out as quickly as possible across the rest of Linsuk. With today’s victory, we will be able to convince people all across the lands to rise up and fight! If we wait, even a short while, we will lose some who otherwise would stand against Lord Kutarm.”
Sloane nodded, unsure of what else to say. While she admired Ivsaar and the others for being so willing to fight to their end, she didn’t see for what reason. Fighting for one’s home was one thing, but fighting an offensive was quite another. Not that Sloane found there anything morally wrong with what Ivsaar and the Resistance were trying to do, just that she wasn’t sure it would be worth the risk.
“We will be sure to give you the gold your owed before you leave, of course,” added Ivsaar. “If you will give me an hour or so, we should be able to gather enough together to pay you for your services.”
Sloane knew this moment was coming and was dreading it. She loved getting paid for a job but had come to a painful decision a couple of hours earlier.
“No, that won’t be necessary,” said Sloane, gritting her teeth.
“Nonsense,” laughed Ivsaar. “We agreed beforehand-”
“The Resistance and the people of Nurem could use the money much more than I or my friends could,” said Sloane firmly.
She didn’t need to be tempted anymore, or she would take what the elf was offering. She felt too guilty about taking the money after realizing the repairs that would be required from all the devastation, and if they were going to try and restart somewhere else, then they’d definitely need every ounce of gold they could get their hands on.