by C D Muller
The dragon saw another human that looked similar, running towards the room they were in, holding some sort of mechanism that the dragon had never seen before. The creature looked like the one the dragon stood next to, but different: more muscular, masculine, and more clothed differently than the other. He wore some sort of metal plating over his body; the boots were in the shape of dragon talons and the helmet he wore was in the shape of a draconic head.
He came in, panting, and looked at the dragon and the girl it sat next to. Out of reflex and defense, the youngling bared its fangs and fanned out its wings.
“Oi! Gromm, I found them! They’re all right! The girl is all right! Gromm!”
The one whom he deemed Gromm followed behind, holding the same device in its hands and wearing the same type of armor.
“Finally! You got us lost in this bloody castle, Beck!”
“I did not!” Beck quickly looked back and aimed his uncanny weapon at one of the cloaked figures that were following them and shot at it. Compared to Gromm, Beck seemed a bit scrawny. Gromm was large in the upper torso. They had the same brown fur on top of their heads and the same blue eye color. The dragon flinched once more at the sound.
“The dragon already hatched!” Gromm went over and reached out to grab it; the dragon growled and attempted to bite his hand; the metal gloves protected him. “Blimey! This bugger is a protective one! He doesn’t even want me to get close to her!”
“We have to get the dragon, too!” Beck fired another shot at the second cloaked figure that followed them.
“Wait a moment! That wasn’t part of our mission!”
“But we can’t leave it behind!”
Gromm reached out once more, but this time for the young girl. The dragon nipped at him again, but Gromm was faster. He then quickly grabbed the hatchling and placed it on the young girl before picking her up in his arms. The dragon wailed out of fear as Gromm made his way through the twisted room, dodging blasts of fire and lightning that were scattered into the air.
Together, Gromm and Beck made their way towards a large courtyard inside the castle. The stars above watched the chaos that ensued. A group of about twelve cloaked men, armed with various weapons, surrounded a large red dragon that stood in the middle of the ruined parts of the castle. The large beast fended off many others who swarmed in. A few held the same weapons that the dragonet’s rescuers had while others shot lightning and ice at them by magical means.
The red dragon quickly turned around and knocked the spell-casters down with its giant tail. Beck served as Gromm’s bodyguard, trying to shoot as many of the cloaked figures as he could as they made their way towards the dragon.
“Get her on the dragon! I’ll watch your back!” Beck called out as he danced around to dodge all of the incoming attacks while firing shots. Gromm placed both the small dragonet and the girl on the oversized saddle over the dragon’s back before grabbing Beck by the collar of his armor to pull him on board. After one last swing of the dragon’s tail, Gromm grabbed the reins and ordered the beast to take flight.
This was the first time the young whelpling ever experienced flight. Flight seemed natural to it, while at the same time was still terrifying. The dragonet was not sure where Gromm and Beck were going to take it and the girl. The thought of not knowing where it was heading terrified it.
The smell of sulfur lingered in the air. Black smoke clouds circled the peak of the volcano where the castle was perched. A thick blanket of smog obscured it. The soot fell softly like rain.
The young dragon yelped as it noticed that a castle as large as an entire capital city was built out of magma around the outside of the volcano near the peak. Numerous towers stretched high towards the heavens, jutting up from the magma pool in the center of the castle. Even the very air surrounding the castle was polluted by the maliciousness of the dark magic from the Lich.
Gromm and Beck held their weapons as if to prepare themselves for an attack. The girl lay on the saddle unconscious, covered by garments. Gromm held on tightly to the reins while holding his pistol in one hand. Beck sat back-to-back with his partner, holding a pistol in each hand, keeping a lookout for any followers. A few moments later, three dragon-like creatures appeared, each with its own rider as well, darting in pursuit towards the red dragon.
Beck made two shots at the rider on the wyvern to the far left: one shot near the left wing and the other near the neck. The wyvern shrieked in pain and fell out of the sky. The other two wyverns in pursuit split up, concealing themselves within the clouds.
“I think we lost ‘em!” Beck exclaimed.
Gromm gave out a sigh of relief, but from the corner of his eye, he saw one of the wyverns come in from the side. Its rider held out a pistol and pointed it at Gromm’s head.
“Beck!” Gromm shouted.
Beck quickly turned towards the second wyvern. He fired his pistol, which struck the cloaked rider in the arm. He was knocked backwards before he could retaliate. The rider on the wyvern quickly switched over to magic. With only one hand uninjured, the caster threw a pulse of lightning towards Gromm and Beck.
The dragon lifted up its head and shot a blast of fire to counter the lightning spell. The fire and lightning clashed in a great explosion; the red dragon dove downward to avoid collision.
The other wyvern appeared on the other side. The rider held a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. Flying towards the side of the red dragon, the second enemy tried to swing his sword at the dragon’s side.
“Blimey!” Beck shouted, “there are still two of them!”
As the two bickered with one another, they stopped when they saw a flash of light emanating from the magma castle. The light came from the Lich’s hand as he stood out on the balcony to watch the fight scene before him.
“I have had enough of this childish nonsense,” he said in a menacing tone, his crimson eyes piercing the thick fog; chanting in words no longer known from this world, from the knowledge that he had learned from making pacts with the demons of the deepest circle within Oblivion, the sky was blackened with his dark veil of magic. The clouds themselves came down and swallowed up the two wyverns that were chasing the red dragon. A dark lightning radiated from the center, as anguished screams of pain and agony could be heard from the wyverns and their riders. Suddenly, a bolt of energy shot from the clouds, revealing a monstrous creature.
A gigantic two-headed wyvern, black as night with flesh rotting from its very bones, bearing the insignia of the Lich, roared with a blind rage. As it flailed about wildly, its three golden eyes turned crimson red. Within the beast’s foreboding mind, its master’s voice echoed, “Destroy the two dragon riders and bring back their corpses.”
Beck looked at the terrifying beast with his mouth open wide, feeling as though the air was sucked from his lungs. “What in the name of the three Divines is that?”
Gromm looked back, flinched slightly and turned to look at his partner, Beck.
“That is the Universe coming to kill us,” he said in a bit of a panicky and yet sarcastic tone.
The Lich calmly lowered his hand, watching his beast at work. He knew the foolish mortals had no chance of defeating a beast of that caliber. He had forged the living souls of both wyverns and their riders into one beast. He felt reassured that what they stole from him would be returned.
“Shoot it!” Gromm shouted as he tightened his grip on the reins, “use your pistol, use magic, do something!”
“I don’t know magic!” Beck struggled to try to reload his pistol.
“Then shoot it in the face!” Gromm called back.
“I only have six bullets left!” He dropped his gun on the saddle as the wyvern roared and soared after them, its demonic aura trying to engulf Gromm and Beck.
“Then shoot it in the face six times!”
Beck fumbled with his pistol and fired two shots at it, but the beast remained undeterred. He aimed his gun at one of its eyes and when the timing was right, he pulled the trigger. The bul
let projected into the beasts’ right eye, and it stopped in pursuit as it roared in pain and agony.
Gromm turned around to face his brother for a brief moment as he watched what happened. “By the Divines, you actually shot it in the face!”
Beck ignored this comment. “I have only three bullets left. When it gets closer, I’ll try and shoot it in another eye to buy us some time.”
“Then what are we going to do, smart one?” Gromm went back to steering the dragon. “It will only continue to chase us down until we’re dead! Well, you have three bullets left and he has two more eyes! Blind the bastard! It can’t follow what it can’t see!”
“Uh, right,” Beck said with a nervous chuckle as he got ready with his pistol once more, looking out for the wyvern. The clouds became as dark as the void behind them as he saw two of its three red eyes glaring back at him. It roared as it concealed itself in the shadows, continuing its pursuit of the two.
Beck’s hand shook with fear as he tried to time his shots accordingly. However, the beast started summoning large fireballs in order to try to hit them. Gromm tried maneuvering their dragon through the chaos, which made it even more difficult for Beck, trying to shoot at its remaining eyes. However, when for a brief moment while flying straight, one of the giant wyvern’s eyes was directly in line with his pistol, and he fired another bullet, which blinded it in its second eye.
The wyvern roared in pain once more as it stopped in midair, the black clouds concealing it from view as it tried to recover. The giant fireballs ceased, as Gromm’s and Beck’s dragon tried to fly faster and higher into the sky.
Beck grinned with delight as there was only one more eye left.
“Did you shoot it yet?” Gromm called back.
“I blinded it in two of its three eyes,” Beck said proudly.
“Well get on with it then! Shoot its last eye and we’ll make it to Rune Citadel in Alfheim!”
Beck fumbled with his gun once more as he scanned for any signs of the formidable beast. However, he did not see anything emerge, and at first thought that perhaps the beast gave up on the pursuit.
“Something’s not right,” Gromm said in a low tone as he looked around, “keep a lookout, Beck. I fear the worst.”
Beck nodded and went back to scouting the area for any signs of the wyvern beast. He looked over the side of the saddle and almost collapsed out of shock and fear.
The wyvern was directly below them, opening its maw as if to devour them. Its fangs dripped with acid that would corrode them with a single drop. The inside of its mouth was nothing more than an endless void.
The Lich, upon watching this, was satisfied, the two dragon riders getting what they deserved for stealing from him. It was only then that he realized it: a scent, a presence of someone he had not seen in many years. His voice became raspy, almost afraid as he muttered barely loud enough to hear, “It cannot be…I killed you…”
As the rotting two-headed wyvern approached for the kill, it appeared all hope for the Empire of Armageddon had been lost. A dull screech could be heard very faintly, through the sound of the wyvern’s beating wings as a bladed chain shot through the air, wrapping itself around the wyvern’s right hind leg. The two riders on the red dragon noticed this and also saw a slight tug on the chain, which forced the beast to turn completely around.
“Gromm,” Beck said in a terrified voice, “what the bloody hell is going on?”
The two riders saw only a flash of red dart up along the chain that controlled the two-headed wyvern. They noticed that the flash was actually a man of lightning speed, wearing a very large red jacket, running up along the chain and jumping backwards towards the giant wyvern.
“It looks like he’s saving our asses,” Gromm said in a sarcastic manner, pointing out the obvious.
For a moment, it appeared that the beast would devour him with a single bite.
The beast reached up with its talons to try to strike the man. For a slight second, the person froze in mid-air. He lifted up his arms with his wrists facing towards the giant beast. Flicking his wrists only slightly, thousands of steel chains shot out from the sleeves of the red jacket. They pierced and tore through parts of the rotting beast’s exposed flesh.
The beast’s cry in pain thundered across the heavens as it desperately attacked back. It was still blind in two of its eyes as it frantically struggled to defend itself against this man.
Beck pulled out his pistol once more and tried to aim for the last eye so that the fight would be easier. He tried lining up his shot, but it was difficult since the beast was randomly thrashing about as the mysterious man continued to summon chains to distract it. Beck, when he thought his timing was right, fired his pistol when his target was open. However, the shot did not hit the target, and Beck swore under his breath.
“Gromm!” Beck called out, “you have to get me closer to the beast!”
“Are you insane?” Gromm tightened the reins. “We’ll be killed if we go back!”
“But he may need our help and I still need to hit the bugger’s third eye! We can take it down if we can blind it completely!”
Gromm swore to himself but did not argue. He ordered the dragon to turn around so that they could help.
“Keep the dragon steady. I only have one shot left!” Beck lined up his pistol once more and tried aiming for the last eye.
The chain master kept himself afloat with his chains as he randomly attacked the beast’s blind spots. He managed to wrap the beasts’ talons together so that it could not attack him.
“Steady,” Beck said as Gromm got their dragon closer to the scene.
“Just shoot the damn thing already!” Gromm called out.
“I have to make this right!” Beck called out, “I only have one shot!”
“You better hurry; I don’t know how much longer he can keep that thing distracted!”
Beck concentrated on the last functioning eye and, when he believed the timing to be right, he fired.
The bullet surged through the air and hit the monster in its remaining eye. It struggled and roared in pain and in panic as it could no longer see. The man used this to his advantage as he summoned more of his chains and targeted every blind spot, weak point, every vital organ of the rotting beast’s flesh. In only a few seconds, the giant beast of darkness was covered in the chains that began to shine with an ice-blue aura. With the simple parting of his arms and a small word, unable to be interpreted by mortal ear, the chains tore the beast asunder. They shredded through the rotting flesh and bone, crushing it, turning it to nothing more than ash and brimstone.
The mysterious person withdrew his chains and used the force from the destruction of the dark wyvern to land on the saddle of the red dragon with Beck and Gromm.
Beck, being the brave-hearted hero he was, jumped into the arms of his dear partner and brother, Gromm, screaming at the top of his lungs. Gromm immediately dropped him promptly back into the saddle.
The two brothers nervously looked at their mysterious savior with a mixture of awe and fear. The lining of the red jacket had rune symbols along the edges, as well as around the bell-shaped sleeves. Near his waist was a large belt that appeared to be too big for the jacket, with a metal plate holding it in place. The high collar of his apparel partially covered the stranger’s face, as did an ominous looking mask. The upper part of his pants was black while below the knee they were red.
The bizarre mask made the two brothers quiver with fear. One half of the mask was black with a white design around the eye that faded out towards the edge. The other side was the reverse. The center of the forehead bore a strange symbol that looked like a black fox head. Gromm squinted at it and gasped slightly, recognizing it almost immediately. It was the symbol that Varathka Gundisalvus himself bore during the One Hundred Years’ War.
Beck stood up, shaking violently, not knowing whether this stranger was friend or foe, but found the courage to ask, “So…what should we…address our hero as?”
The
mysterious stranger glanced at both of them, quickly determining who appeared to be the stronger of the two. He approached calmly as he began to speak.
“Phantom Dust.”
Both Gromm and Beck flinched at this, but he held up his hand.
“You need not worry though,” he said in a monotone voice, addressing this more to Gromm, “you and I stand on the same side. I am simply here to ensure that your task is completed.”
He nodded towards the dragonet that still remained by the unconscious girl.
“You must hurry to Helshire Village.” He stopped for a moment. “I, unfortunately, cannot go much farther, so you two must inform the Empress of all that has transpired here. Other than to myself and the Empress, you two will not speak of the strange magic you have witnessed here again.”
The two brothers shook their heads nervously in agreement as the red dragon flew off into the distance towards their next destination.
Chapter 2:
“Who is she?”
“Dunno, Chaliss,” Gromm said as he kept looking down at his hands, “my brother and I were only told to find the girl but we picked up a new companion along the way.”
Their female friend, who Gromm referred to as Chaliss, sat down at the edge of the bed where the young girl lay unconscious. She appeared to be a fair maiden. Her face was pale and narrow. Her thin black hair flowed down past her hips. The small dragonet kept itself near the little girl’s head, as if it were protecting the child. Its snout was about an inch away from hers, its wide amber eyes staring fervently back at her.
The walls within the room that they were all in had a few cracks that webbed upward from the wooden floorboard. A small window sat beside the untidy bed. The room itself was small, but comfortable.
Chaliss placed her soft hand against the girl’s arm.
“She’s cold as ice,” she whispered, “and yet, she’s still somehow alive.”
“What do you reckon the Lich was going to do to her, Gromm?” Beck asked.
“You bloody idiot!” Gromm lifted his massive hand and slammed it against his brother’s head, “what do you think he was going to do? Invite her to a tea party? No! He was going to kill her!”