Saul frowned at this, then noticed her smirk and laughed. He closed his eyes and started muttering, Vashni could feel energy being drawn into his words, as he finished he placed a thumb on her forehead and brought his chant to a crescendo. Vashni jumped back a little as a jolt of cold smacked into her body. She felt colder, more resistant to heat, she smiled, “Impressive wizard, how long will this last?”
“A few hours, less if you are struck by heat - I don’t think it is powerful enough to withstand you standing directly in the path of dragon breath. The intense heat would be too much for this simple ward.”
Korhan now approached, he felt good... His increased agility and mental acuity, coupled with the fact that the effects of being overworked had been removed, had left him feeling ready and alert. Saul looked up to him, “Ahhh... Korhan my friend, please sit - I will place a ward of fire resistance upon you.”
He repeated the process as he had performed it on Vashni, again Korhan feeling the sensation of coolness and the comfort of having a layer of protection. Again Saul warned him that this ward would not prevent direct contact with dragon breath from vaporizing him.
Their attention was drawn by a twang and a dull thud. Glancing across they saw Brael had strung the crossbow he’d taken from the Berger of Trest’s men and taken a practice shot at a dead stump a few metres away. Silus sneered at him, “I doubt quarrels will penetrate a dragons hide Gravian - you waste your time.”
“They may not penetrate a dragon’s hide or scales, but every beast has its weaknesses and I am an excellent shot.”
Harald was taking a few practice swings with his battle axe, when Korhan strode up to him, “Harald, I will wield the sword gifted to me by the elf... Why don’t you take my old great sword? It may be more effective at penetrating a dragon’s hide than your axe.”
Harald reached out and took the blade he was offering, “Thanks... I shall take both weapons into the cave, that if I am disarmed I have a spare.”
Callen yawning approached Saul, “Come on! It’s time we were going.”
Callen was waiting at the bottom of a narrow shale covered path, barely big enough for an adult, weaving its way up the rock face. Grimly the warriors walked towards him, Votrex having donned his full plate armour now including his helmet and each warrior except Vashni wielding their weapons in readiness. They climbed a couple of hundred feet to a narrow ridge. Callen poked his head over first then turned back, “Shhh! The priests are fastening her to the sacrificial stone now!”
Harald and Saul reached the peak next and peered over, Harald gasped, “Why does she not struggle? She is holding her hands out for them to shackle her to the rock!”
He was right; the girl in a simple plain white cotton dress, with a crown of flowers was standing still, allowing them to shackle her ankles to the standing stone. The platform which the standing stone sat on looked partially melted as did the standing stone, and it was blood stained, with odd human bones scattered about. Saul was sure he saw a severed hand with rotting flesh on it near the base - presumably a remnant from when Thrax had ripped a prior victim from the stone.
She had been fastened securely to the stone, but if anything she appeared happy to be there, she showed no sign of struggle. As they finished securing her the priest who appeared to be in charge approached her and placed a mark upon her forehead with his thumb, then muttered something while shaking water from a small flask at her. The priests then backed away, bowed deeply, then backed away a little further and bowed again. Finally they backed off, bowed, then turned and headed for the path.
Callen watched them go then turned to the others, “Now’s your chance! You don’t have much time!”
Scrambling over the ridge, the band of warriors descended the other side of the rise towards the sacrificial stone, the girl didn’t notice them until they were close, her gaze fixed upon the gaping cave ahead of her. As they approached she turned to them and gasped, “What are you doing here?! Lord Thrax, Master of flame and sky does not like to be disturbed when he is feeding.”
Saul looked at her in disbelief, still trying to catch his breath from their brief climb, “Does it not concern you that you are about to be chewed up and eaten by a huge, fire breathing lizard?”
“Hmmph, do not be so vulgar! It is a great honour to be chosen as fire queen and my sacrifice will win land and title for my family!”
Harald shook his head, “Good lady, the land hereabouts is not great, and title that is of significance in the village of Brunwelt is not worth giving up your life for.”
“You think that is the limit of Lord Thrax’s powers? He is biding his time and building his strength; soon he will fly forth and start to bring more villages, towns and cities under his control. Those who have been loyal shall reap the rewards... “
Votrex rolled his eyes, “Hmmph, you’ll be dead though - what rewards do you expect?”
“Ishar grants the highest honour in Kirkfell, the Banquetting Hall of the dead to those who have sacrificed themselves for their god and Thrax is our god.”
This seemed to make Brael shudder, “I cannot tell you why fair maiden, but this logic is faulty. You cannot secure a place of honour anywhere by being willingly eaten by a dragon.”
“Well it is my choice to make, now leave me to my fate, lest you anger Lord Thrax.”
The warriors looked at each other confused, this had not been expected. Korhan looked her in the eye, “You want to die? Do you realise you are stating that you wish to be chewed up and eaten? Surely there are better ways to meet your end than this?”
“Ishar will see my bravery and reward me in the afterlife; my sacrifice will secure riches for my family on this world and riches in the next for me.”
Brael turned to Saul, “We cannot allow her to do this!” Vashni shrugged, “I do not see why not, I do not sense any enchantments upon her - if she desires to be torn limb from limb and chewed up then who are we to argue with her? Let her feed herself to the beast and maybe twill distract him long enough for us to kill him quickly.”
The girl glared at her, “You mean to harm Lord Thrax?! Hah! You are fools, you cannot destroy a god!”
Silus laughed, “Hah! God!? A great ugly lizard is what he is, I killed a dragon before - I see no reason why we can’t kill another.”
She looked forlornly at the path where the priests had headed, clearly thinking of screaming for help - alas they had long since vanished.
Votrex groaned, “So she’s not enchanted, she genuinely wants to be eaten... What are we to do?”
Vashni smirked, “Hah! Perhaps I could whisper her into ‘wanting’ to be saved, then we could save her and any moral ambiguity would be lost... I believe if Thrax has been able to bend her mind to desire being eaten her willpower is probably low and her mind quite easy to manipulate.”
The girl glared at her, “Hmmph! I am here you know! I do NOT want you to mess with my mind so I want to be saved, I want you to leave me alone and allow Lord Thrax to consume me!”
Korhan stormed forwards, “Enough! People’s minds can be bent into doing strange things without the use of enchantments, she has clearly lost her mind, the only question is do we leave her shackled to the rock while we kill Thrax, or do we free her and send her on her way!”
“If you free me I shall run into his open jaws! There is nothing you can - “
Thump!
Korhan shook his fist, he’d swung a punch at her jaw, not hard enough to do real damage, but well placed enough to knock her out. As she slumped against the rock Vashni stepped up and whispered to the shackles in turn, making them fall open. Amongst the warriors two short lengths of rope were found and her hands were bound tightly behind her back and her ankles tied hard together. She was carried unconscious some distance from the cave and lain down prone on the floor.
As they laid her out Callen looked about them, “I’ll go get me ‘orse... Take her back to Duramer.”
Saul shook his head, “No, Duramer is under Thrax’s influence
, you should take her over to Strak, keep clear of Brunwelt and the road, and don’t stop to wait for us, take her to the Berger and explain the situation, we’ll join you when we can... If we survive.”
Enter the Dragons Den
Brandishing their weapons they started the slow walk towards the cave, as they did Harald chuckled and cast a sly glance at Korhan, “Tis true... Sometimes the minds of people can be bent to do strange things, even in the absence of enchantments.”
Korhan scowled at him, “Keep your mind on the task at hand Harald son of Korvak!”
Brael paused to load a bolt into his crossbow and Saul handed out a tiny vial of slipperin oil to each, with the warning it would probably only last for a couple of strikes, so if they decided to use it, make it count.
As they neared the cave entrance the smell of brimstone and sulphur grew stronger, a deep rumbling sound could be heard somewhere. The atmosphere was tense, each warrior gripping their weapons harder and darting their eyes about the cave. Smoke could be seen visibly rising from the entrance. Silus cast a glance over his shoulder as they were about to enter, to see Callen retreating up the steep shale covered slope to recover his horse - this was it, there was no turning back now.
The entrance to the cave was as big as a grand hall, and it sloped steeply downwards shortly after the entrance. The walls, ceiling and floor had a smooth, melted look - clearly crafted and modified to a degree by its inhabitant.
As they entered Saul cupped his hands and started chanting into them, using magic to form a small glowing globe of light. As he finished it became a bright white ball and he threw it up into the air where it began to hover, “Racha... Vorrow!”
The illumination made it clear that more of the cave had been melted smooth; the ground was treacherous and difficult to traverse. It was deep too, and warm...
As they carefully picked their way over the rocks a voice echoed through the heads of all the warriors, ‘Welcome... I have been expecting you!’
Saul rolled back his sleeves, a tradition amongst magic users and called out to the gloom, “We are going to stop your evil Thrax, here and now!”
The voice, invading their heads chuckled, ‘Evil? What evil is this you speak of?’
‘Hypocrites! You kill and consume what you deem to be lesser life forms, why is your diet more morally acceptable than mine? I look after my livestock, I care for them, I ensure their welfare, and when it is time, I eat them... You wonder why it is always a young maiden? Ask yourself why veal and lamb is considered a delicacy, soft, supple flesh, young and tender... That has not been worked hard enough to form difficult to eat, stringy muscle... Young maidens are so much more enjoyable to eat than old farm hands or warriors, or even young men who have grown muscle bound through working in the fields... ’
It made Korhan feel sick, he fought the urge to retch. At the same time the warriors could feel a mental probe, testing their defences. They even sensed a hint of surprise that these mental probes were ineffective thanks to Vashni’s whisper.
‘Impressive... You’ve come well prepared; I did not expect an Elf to be amongst your number.’
The voice resonated through them, it wasn’t spoken it was almost rammed into their heads by a force unseen. They shuddered and pressed on down the treacherous slope, into the gloom.
‘I give you one final chance... I do not like ‘warrior’ tis too stringy and tough, besides which, I find armour sticks in my teeth - go now, re-shackle ‘Ellen’ to her stone and leave... Do this and I will allow you to live. Remain here, and you will suffer the same fate as the blacksmith Tam, and his wife, who thanks to their treachery are now no more than piles of ash after last night.”
The warriors exchanged a glance, Vashni sighed, “Tis probably true, last night he flew over to Duramer and flamed ‘something’ I did not know what at the time... But I believe he speaks the truth.”
Tam had been a good man, an honourable man and he had helped them. The fact that Thrax had casually incinerated him and his wife in the night simply made them angry, and thirsty for revenge.
Korhan growled into the darkness, “Never!”
‘Then die...’
The burst of flame roared from the depths and the whole band scrambled desperately towards the side of the cave, white hot flames shooting past them, even through Saul’s ward, intense heat could be felt. The blast rushed past, even though all managed to evade it, their proximity left their skin smoking. The voice of Thrax invaded their heads again.
‘That was a warning shot... I especially wish for Votrex to leave, he, has a right to quarrel with the dragons, for it is a dragon’s doing that ‘Durgheim Holt’ is inaccessible, its inhabitants trapped and enchanted. I would even tell you how to undo this evil, the power word to open the great door is ‘Kchta§ala scri§iroth umbrnar!’ speak this and the door will open. Find the temple of the mad god deep beneath Durgheim Holt, therein seek Sarazar the Red... Sarazar has been locked into stasis by a power word, to release him, and all of the dwarves in Durgheim Holt you must find Sarazar and unspeak the power word by uttering ‘ Hju§u §avati everor nomenci§...’ Go now, free your people...’
Votrex wavered and looked about his companions, “Can it be true?!”
Vashni smirked, “Possibly... Dragons are known to be masters of deception, in order to be a true master of deception however, it is imperative that you mix truth with lies. We can only be sure that either Thrax is telling the truth, a lie or the partial truth.”
Votrex looked up at the entrance to the cave and sighed, then called into the darkness, “Thrax! I will not leave this place until you are dead!”
‘Chuckle... Then die...’
Another blast of heat surged through the cavern causing the warriors to throw themselves at the wall and grunt in pain as the air superheated. This time more than one warrior was left with red raw skin and blisters despite Saul’s well placed ward.
Sweating and shaking, Saul pushed himself off the rock face, “We’re sitting ducks here! Come, we must attack now or we die before we even meet our foe!”
As he spoke he quickened his pace into the depths of the cave, the others following, shaking from the narrow escapes they had already endure.
‘Hmmm, elf... I have not tasted elf flesh in a long, long time... I shall look forward to tasting your flesh elf... Perhaps I shall not kill you, but capture you and consume you later at my liesure?’
Harald pointed to an opening a hundred feet further down the slope, “There!”
It was wall of red scales barely distinguishable in the dim light, as he pointed it out, there was a deafening roar which echoed off the walls and the scales shifted, moved and were replaced by a grim looking head, full of menace. His face was constructed from sharp jutting bones, wicked looking scales and demonic eyes, each eye bigger than a man’s head, each jagged tooth bigger than a man’s hand. His horns were twisted and sharp and reached into the darkness behind him.
‘Die mortals!’
His great mouth opened and a fire started swirling and building, but before he could release it Brael raised his crossbow and unleashed a single quarrel. Thrax saw it late, but moved fast, shifting his head and blasting the cavern wall with flame by mistake as a result. The quarrel missed, bouncing off his iron hard scales, but the distraction was sufficient for the warriors to charge into range. Silus was the first to attack, launching his short spear again at the beast’s eye. Again Thrax swung his head out of the way with a mighty roar, but it allowed Silus to get closer still and slash at his great scaly neck. The sword simply scraped against the scales as if it met solid steel and a great claw swung at him, forcing him to dive clear. As the claw narrowly missed Silus, Harald came into range, hacking at the limb with Korhan’s great sword, again the steel bounced off the scales with a hollow clang. With a vicious back swipe the great claw lifted Harald off his feet and slammed him into the wall of the cavern with a sickening crunch.
Votrex was hot on Harald’s heels, while Vashni, Korhan and S
aul fanned out, trying to outflank the great beast. Votrex landed his axe with great force on the forearm of the winged beast, again meeting too much resistance, this time Thrax nudged Votrex onto his back, then pinned him down with his claw and moved his head in position to flame him to death.
‘Prepare to be boiled alive in your armour dwarf!’
While this was transpiring Korhan had flashed a drop of his slipperin oil onto Harbinger and seeing Votrex about to die, charged forward and threw all his weight and strength into a slice aimed to slide under the scales and damage the dragons right forearm which was holding Votrex in place.
As the blow landed, it acted as intended and slid neatly under the scales and sliced into his rough hide, severing several scales and causing a gushing wound. Thrax roared in pain and swung his head from Votrex to Korhan, but before he could attack Korhan jumped and span three hundred and sixty degrees throwing everything he had into a completely committed, downward slash at the wounded area now missing scales. The craftsmanship of this blade, the rather unsubtle extra sharpness caused by Saul’s concoction, and his great strength, meant the blade cleaved cleanly through the flesh, severed sinew and carried on until it met the bone and started to bite into it.
It was a devastating blow, leaving Thrax’s forearm limp and weak, but it left Korhan vulnerable. Thrax was bearing down on him, seemingly to bite him in two, when out of nowhere Vashni leapt onto the side of his head and stabbed her rapier like sword right into the beasts left eye right up to the hilt, splattering her arm and leather shirt in ocular fluids. The wound caused Thrax to roar in pain and throw his head upwards smashing Vashni on the roof and sending her tumbling into a crumpled heap on the cavern floor.
Deathsworn Arc: 01 - The Last Dragon Slayer Page 17