The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen

by Brent Roth

  "Ah, you've finally dropped the 'master' act?" I asked with delight. "Now, drop the sir part next, and my spirits will undoubtedly rise! Progress, at last!"

  "Humph, master is terribly impertinent today," she retorted as she sped up her walking pace to catch up to Selene, leaving me behind.

  "You may turn back at any time," stated Selene somewhat coldly.

  Yeah, right.

  They had pulled me away from my duties for this plan of theirs.

  My mood had soured, I merely wanted it to be over and done with as soon as possible now. I needed to gather more furs, as I had a scant amount of time left before the Longship would be finished, no more than two days really. As soon as that was done, my trade voyage to the eastern elven territories would begin.

  I needed to prepare.

  These devious women, luring me with vague descriptions of a dungeon and promises of a quick and fun trip into the forest… it was neither quick nor fun. If one wanted to waste a few hours with two attractive women in the middle of the forest, I would think, a walk by itself would be the last on the list.

  Well, it was, what it was.

  The sun was beginning to set in the distance, as the mountain range to the west of us created a low creeping shadow that seemed to fill in the void behind us. As we continued on our trek east, the shadow slowly caught up and then soon overshot our little expedition of three, as we found ourselves enveloped in the darkness of the night.

  With hardly a moon to speak of, the night was unbearably dark.

  Katherine had retreated to the safety of my arm as Selene, perhaps somewhat jealous, occupied the other. The three of us slowed our pace as we walked along the water's edge, following only the sounds of the creek. In the absence of light, the creek was our salvation, that which provided us the direction that we otherwise lacked.

  Howls filled the air, of beasts both familiar and unfamiliar to my ears.

  Loud, piercing cries of predators beyond the wolves and bears I was more accustomed to, breaking past the canopy of the forest as the occasional startled bird flew by. The sudden flap of wings in the night only served to spook us, as we continued on.

  We were deep into the forest now, in a part I had never ventured to at any point before. The ladies had supposedly traversed this route recently, but to call it a path well-traveled would be foolishly misleading.

  There was no doubt in my mind, that this part of the forest was different.

  A rustle of leaves to the side had me raise an arm and open my palm with expectations of lightning and death soon to follow. Except, it was only a rabbit, nervous and agitated by our sudden presence it remained still for a moment, only to disappear through the bush whence it came. It scurried away, perhaps in fear of us but more likely due to the strange creatures that occupied the night… either way, it didn't really matter.

  More howls followed, ones I couldn't place as the sounds of wolves and bears had long since vanished. A splash in the creek caused a nervous twitch in my neck as I turned to scan the water, eyes darting up and down, left and right, hoping to catch something. Only, to witness another splash and the glimmer of a fish's scales, as it broke the water's surface in some imagined attempt to feast.

  No, I wasn't imagining anything.

  These events were transpiring before our very eyes, unnerving us at every step.

  No one dared to talk, afraid to give away our position.

  What we were afraid of, was hard to say.

  We continued on though, with our destination the singular focus. Whether we encountered a strange beast in the night or made it there safely, was neither here nor there. The likelihood of some such occurrence happening was high, but it wasn't on our minds. The noises got to us, the darkness worsened it, but we weren't worried about the creature that would come.

  It was the atmosphere.

  The scene, was bothering us.

  Another hour passed, as a late night fog started to roll in.

  It was cold, damp, discomforting.

  The girls were clutching at my arms, chests pressed into me not only for warmth but for a sense of security… I welcomed it, as it reassured me as well. Their actions were unnecessary though, for they were my equals in combat.

  Yet, despite our prowess… a sudden attack, of bared fangs and glowing eyes, jaws opened and ready to snap, claws extended and raised, all appearing in an instant from behind the curtain… put a little fear into our hearts, and minds.

  Then a crack in the clouds appeared, slim, yet enough.

  Moonlight shone down like a beacon, breaking up the veil that had completely surrounded us as the fog that could only be felt, could now be seen. Visibility remained poor, as our vision turned from the absence of color to an odd rendition of the culmination of all colors. The white fog that permeated our entirety, had us completely encompassed.

  The fog seeped and oozed throughout the forest as far as our eyes could see. Though, as far as we could see, was no more than the hand extended out in front of the face. A lack of visibility, replaced with visibility lacking distinction.

  We were in no better place now, than we were before.

  And as we walked, the noises shifted again.

  No longer were there strange howls, shrieks, and cries… now, we could hear squeaking. An odd, squeaking, as if they were communicable sounds. A language, perhaps. That's what it sounded like, and soon, that awkward indiscernible language had filled the air.

  All around us, squeaking and hissing.

  High-pitched noises of an odd sort; disturbing, was what it was. Bolstered by the silence of the night, the voices carried further than they should. The noises grew louder as we continued to walk, step by step.

  Inching forward with weapons drawn, we were expecting something.

  The voices had encircled us, at some point unbeknownst to us.

  Yeah, we were surrounded.

  By the time we realized it, it was far too late.

  The fog was still dense, and despite the clouds parting a bit, the increased moonlight hardly helped as the light simply refracted in the fog to a useless degree. All we could do, was listen intently to the sounds of the footsteps that circled about.

  "If things get bad," I whispered as calmly as I could, while taking a step forward. "Abandon me and retreat, alright? No questions, just do it, if it gets to that point."

  Selene had her bow drawn but it wouldn't be of much use, while Katherine had her hands up and at the ready, waiting for a chance to cast her holy magic. As for me, I was equipped with my halberd, having left my axe and shield at home.

  Against an unknown enemy, I would have preferred a shield.

  And then my ears perked up at a sound, distinctly different from the rest.

  The sharp but quiet, audible resonance of ice, mushing and grinding together… the sounds of a [Frost Bolt] being formed. Countless hours in a dungeon next to a man casting the very same thing had alerted me to what was happening past the thick fog. Beyond what we could see, were creatures casting frost bolts… not one, not two, not three, four, five, or six… at least a dozen frost bolts, coming from every direction.

  "Follow me, quickly!" I yelled as I broke into a run and charged straight ahead.

  There was only a second before their casts would complete, and as my voice left my body and reached my companions' ears, the first wave of frost bolts hit.

  "Get down!"

  Swinging my halberd in a wide arc, I met two frost bolts head on with the axe-head as an ice-cold frosty mist sprayed over me, only to get hit from behind as one had found its mark. My back, covered in frost, had stiffened due to the cold as my mobility had been slightly reduced. Taking a quick glance behind me, the girls had both been hit as well, twice for Katherine and once for Selene.

  Continuing with my advance, I charged through the dense white fog with halberd held high above and behind me, ready to swing down at a moment's notice. How the creatures could figure out our location in the midst of this fog, was beyond me, but if the
y were casters, we needed to get into melee.

  Not more than two seconds had passed as I came across the first of the creatures and let my halberd down with an exhale as my shoulders and chest went to work. Cutting deep into the hairy rodent's collarbone and straight through to its stomach, I pulled the halberd back as the three foot tall mutated rat collapsed to the floor, partially split in two.

  "What the fuck is this thing," I muttered as something caught the corner of my eye.

  Twisting and ducking to the ground, three frost bolts flew over my head and off into the distance, as another two impacted with a thud behind me. Rolling onto my back and looking to where Selene and Katherine were standing, they had both been hit again.

  "Dodge that shit!" I yelled as they look startled and confused.

  Katherine snapped out of it first, and began to heal herself as Selene started to shoot arrows off into the fog, hoping that the rats had yet to shift their positions. Standing back up, I ran in a circular direction as I attempted to find the other rats, watching and looking for the soft glow of their hands.

  Another two seconds, another wave of frost bolts shot by, towards Selene and Katherine as I had moved out of the line of fire. In that moment, I was able to trace a frost bolt back and thrust my halberd out, spear-tip first until it made contact with something squishy. Taking another step forward and digging my heel in, I pushed again and twisted as one of the humanoid rats screamed in pain. Pulling my halberd and simultaneously leaping to the side, a second rat was trying to escape as I hooked it with the backside of the halberd's head, dragging it back into me.

  The creature turned its beady eyes up to me, locking eyes with me as fear took over. It wanted to run, tried to run, but I simply grabbed it by the throat and shot a lightning bolt straight into its body. Dropping the lifeless corpse to the floor, I started to sprint again as another wave of frost bolts were shot erratically in every which direction.

  They were breaking ranks, and were obviously starting to panic.

  Easily avoiding the frost bolts that came my way, I traced their trajectories back to their origins and increased my pace. Sprinting through the fog with my halberd parallel to the ground, I was charging with spear-tip at the ready.

  A pair of glowing hands in the distance became my target, as the soft white-blue glow gave the rat away. Without bothering to slow down I ran straight through the creature as I impaled it on the end of my weapon, only stopping to discard the body with a flick of the tip.

  Squeals could be heard as they started to communicate, but the interjecting screams of the rats I found only created more confusion. Eight rats were dead or maimed now, and as I found myself next to Selene and Katherine, my heart nearly stopped.

  Somehow, Katherine had taken far too many frost bolts and was at death's door. Unable to cast due to the constant onslaught of spells impacting her body, and without the agility to dodge, she was a sitting duck stuck with spell rebound. I looked at Selene, who was at nearly full health while shooting her bow randomly into the fog.

  She was useless.

  And then a glimmer to the side, from the corner of my eye once again, two frost bolts headed straight towards Kate. I was too far to block with my weapon, too far to reach by foot. She was at least eight feet away as I whispered to myself, "Flash Step."

  In a literal flash, my corporeal body transformed into pure energy and traversed the distance between us as a bolt of lightning, only to rematerialize in front of Kate as I threw my arms out and turned my back.

  The sudden impact of two solid frost bolts connecting and exploding against my back sent a chill through my spine and into my chest as the wind was knocked from me. Leaning against Kate with arms wrapped around her, Selene turned to look, only to see that she had been oblivious to the state of affairs.

  Grabbing Kate, I picked her up in my arms and started to run in the opposite direction. Selene followed, not knowing what else to do as frost bolts flew past us. There were only three or four rats left, but I needed to get to safety.

  Katherine was cold, nearly frozen as her health was reaching critical levels.

  She would die without a heal soon.

  After twenty seconds of running, I set her down and told her what to do.

  "Heal yourself, quickly," I stated with urgency. "I'll shield you."

  Understanding the situation, her hands began to glow a dim golden-white.

  Selene stood at the rear, her face clearly pained.

  "Holy Light!" said Kate after a few seconds had passed, as a golden-white beam of light engulfed her and brought her back to stable levels.

  "Heal to full, I think they've retreated."

  Scanning the fog to the best of my ability while maintaining position over Kate, there were no signs of movement or of any frost bolt headed our way. Though it was hard to be sure, as the visibility was still piss poor.

  Ten seconds passed as Kate healed everyone to full and nothing else had transpired.

  As far as I could tell, we were safe for now.

  It looked, as if things were over.

  A few minutes came and went as we cautiously loitered about, waiting and watching for movements. Mostly, we listened for the squeaks and squeals of those deformed rats.

  Nothing ever came though.

  Eventually, the sun began to rise and the fog started to part, revealing our location to us once and for all. The reality, was somewhat strange.

  We had reached our destination.

  And we didn't even know it.

  The creek was only fifty feet away and the mountain side was an equal ways off to the east of us. The cave system that the two had mentioned, was visible in plain sight. The corpses of the weird rats were littered about in front of the cave, as everything started to make sense to me.

  They attacked us, because we invaded their territory.

  "So, we made it after all," I mumbled as I looked at Kate, who had fallen asleep in my arms. She was safe; comfortable with me around. Exhaustion had set in, so I didn't blame her for catching a wink of sleep.

  Selene on the other hand, was clearly upset.

  "Ah," I whispered to myself.

  A lot of things were starting to make sense.

  Selene wore the same expression when they went hunting a while back, and though she never explained why to me, Kate had later informed me that they had a close call. That Selene blamed herself for failing to protect Kate when faced with desperate odds against a pack of wolves. Selene wasn't good in dire situations, where her panic and fear could take over and cloud her judgment.

  Yeah, I had seen it firsthand now.

  She shot her bow well, was a proficient hunter, and was someone I could trust to hold the rear and continue to attack… she came through when we fought the village chief's henchmen. But, I also took every attack… not one was directed at her, and despite her continual pelting of arrows, I nearly died back then too.

  Selene wasn't that reliable in a pinch.

  She wasn't bad though, maybe a bit absent minded at times, was all.

  It didn't really fit her serious persona, but that was natural.

  Appearances often belie a person's true self.

  "Let's rest, Selene, come here."

  Beckoning her over, she sat down next to me as I opened an arm and brought her in.

  The two of them could sleep while I watched over them.

  There was no reason for her to worry over the past.

  People aren't perfect, and it seems, even AIs aren't perfect either.

  Chapter 56: Rattanorv

  (Saturday, August 7th Game Day / Sunday, March 14th Real Day)

  Letting out a yawn while stretching my jaw, I cracked my eyes open in order to take in the scenery before me. Selene was occupying the space between my left arm and my chest and was fast asleep, while Katherine had taken up residence on the right side, with her head resting on my shoulder, and my head, on top of hers. With my back against a tree, the three of us had napped rather peacefully during this mid
-summer day.

  Thoughts of rodent mutations were still on my mind, but I enjoyed the moment that was at hand, first and foremost. I was starting to wonder if I had chosen wrongly, having picked Selene over Katherine, as the latter had been steadily growing on me.

  Well, even Selene told me to reciprocate some of Katherine's advances, less she lose all her womanly self-confidence. Knowing her past, I sort of understood it… but these were NPCs. They were realistic, far too realistic really, with their advanced Artificial Intelligences. Yet even with such evidence staring me in the face, I was hard-pressed to believe that she would be scarred if I turned her down.

  That seemed rather, improbable, to say the least.

  I wasn't looking for a harem anyways, or a three-way, triangle-anything.

  Eh, it was a complicated matter… one that I didn't want to deal with.

  The area we had ended up in was awfully beautiful, despite the perilous journey that preceded it. At the base of the eastern mountain range that separated my territory from an undisclosed neutral region, and with the elven territory a ways off on the other side, we were quite a distance from Dragon's Breach. It was at least fifty miles by the end of it, and I was a bit mystified that Kate and Selene had ventured this far out into the forest on some whim.

  An odd thing, really.

  Meh, who was I to question what two women did on their spare time.

  Glancing around at the scenery, the trees were much larger here, and considerably greener as they were near a large source of water. At the base of the mountain were multiple creeks spreading out like a web, as the melting snow and ice trickled down the mountain and filtered out through the forest.

  Dragon's Breach sat at the end of all these creeks, streams, and rivers and was quite lively in its own right, but the source was a bit different.

  Lush grass and green foliage throughout, this isolated area had been largely undisturbed. Humans didn’t travel this far out, only animals and beasts. This area was truly a secluded one, far more so than my village.

  That was something we could all enjoy.