“Thank you, Mother Nature,” I whispered hoarsely.
“It was Milktongue who found you, I just convinced her not to let you die.” Her voice was tight as she spoke through the otter. Dire otter? “Many of my creations perished in that battle, my child. And the great water dragon, Orlow’thes was injured.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss—our loss.” My skin felt hot, and I wasn’t recovering mana like I should have been. “What’s going on with me?”
“Orlow’thes’ blood is a toxin. When it touches something, it eats away the magic inside it.” Panic gripped my heart, my limbs running cold and my vision suddenly narrowing. “It is not permanent, thankfully. But every item you wore on your person or that wasn’t in your inventory is now inert. No longer magical or enchanted. The creatures in this area of magical origin are also in danger. Many lost their lives when Orlow’thes woke from his slumber, and his blood met the ocean.”
“How?”
“The toxin in his blood is the same that flows through all of the ocean guardians.” She sounded tired, and there was more than a small tinge of worry to her tone as the large otter looked over me with her eyes. “I am afraid that you will be without magic for a while. And it seems that fever is setting in.”
Fever? I felt cold if anything. I tried to shift into my fox form; it was natural, and I should have been able to do it easily, but I couldn’t. The world spun, and I puked again, only bile rising past my lips.
“It will be best that you do not attempt any magic for a while. At least a week, while you recover, and then until it returns after that.” She patted my leg with the massive otter’s paw. “I have asked the animals nearby to assist in caring for you while you recover. It is all I can do for you.”
“But wait, what about my brothers?” She looked away from me. I stood, fighting the dizziness that threatened to engulf me. “Where are my brothers? Where’s Vrawn? Kayda? What about Bea?”
I pulled the collar from my neck, and it turned to dust in my palm. “Bea? Bea!”
“Be at ease, Zeke,” Mother Nature barked, tears filled my eyes as I stared at her, bereft of words. “I was able to pull her from the collar before the magic was fully gone. But she is… not as she was. She will need to recover as you will.” I saw a small creature lying on the sands fifteen feet from me, a smaller version of my Bea—unconscious but alive.
As I finally realized that my metallic arm had slumped off my ruined forearm—the scar tissue still ghastly—I threw it around Mother Nature’s neck. I rested there, sobbing and thanking her softly for the small mercy she had given me. Given us.
“As for your friends…” She frowned, an odd facial expression for an otter. “I do not know exactly where they are, or what shape they will be in. My gift to you cost me greatly, and I cannot seem to find them. You will need to search for them on your own. I must leave you now. Trust Milktongue, and learn to work with nature in a new way. Recover swiftly, Druid. Your fight is only beginning.”
Crashing waves rocked the beach before me, wind buffeting the trees and sands, making small tornadoes of silica as they came into view. The dragon and Baranzil continued their battle. Their howls of pain and rage driving the world around them to lash out with their fury. Echoing calls of the same rage and anger, maddened calls and blood-curdling screeches and roars rang out far behind me that made my blood run cold.
Milktongue grasped me as gently as she could in her teeth and dragged Bea and me toward the cover of a small hollow in a cliffside by the ocean out of the wind and rising fury of the waves. Our surroundings really only being beach, water, this cliff, and a dense-looking tropical forest.
I continued to watch for hours until finally, the two behemoth monsters tired, the kraken having sacrificed another three tentacles to finally get away, a geyser of ink slamming into the dragon’s face and eyes as it fled. I was too weak to see if the dragon was okay, unable to truly move. But that didn’t mean it didn’t come closer to the land. Slowly, his long body writhed and thrashed, oceanic water covering his face, washing some of the graying ink from his eyes. He looked in my direction before opening his mouth and roaring in one long, ragged call before he flopped into the water and sank slowly down. I thought his massive bulk would hit the shelf by the beach, but apparently, it wouldn’t as the last I saw of him was his tail slithering into the waves.
The darkened clouds outside slowly dissipated and cleared, leaving warmer weather behind. Milktongue stayed with me for a time, her warmth keeping my shivering at bay before I fell asleep for a little bit. I woke up to find several fish laying next to Bea and me.
Milktongue was kind, nosing them our way and encouraging us to try and eat, but we were both so tired that we could barely keep our eyes open. After a while, she brought us a rock that had been baking in the sun—slowly because it seemed to hurt her paws to touch it for too long. She nudged it between Bea and me, where it radiated a delicious warmth that helped both of us rest a little bit easier.
Before darkness and this blasted sickness threatened to claim me, I swore then and there that I was going to find my brothers, Vrawn and Kayda, and kill that last general. I would survive this. We would survive this.
Or I would die trying.
Afterword
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Author’s Note
Hey y’all
Hasn’t this been a crazy experience? Book five! I cannot tell you how much it means to me to be able to share these exciting stories with all of you the way that I have been. (read: I love telling you all the stories that I tell him and never sharing the royalties.) We’ve laughed, we’ve cried--hell I even pounded my chest at some of the thi--(Can you believe this yutz? “I pounded my chest!” What’re you, an ape? Wannabe.) … Zeke, did you have something to say to the nice folks?
Damn straight I do, the real author of these stories is more than enough. Get back to writing for me bookworm. (Now who’s the jerk?) You say something? I’ll show you writer's block… That’s what I thought. Anyway, thanks for your support, my brothers and I, as well as Kayda, Bea, Maebe, and Vrawn, all really appreciate your time and interest. Spoilers: We ain’t down and out yet, and I wanna let you know that the boys and I will be back to struggling real soon. In the meantime--feel free to hyuck it up with the big guy until he gets the lead out on another book for you lot.
Sincerely,
Zeke (And Me) shut up, no one likes you, bookworm.
And then Zeke died from the poison flowing through his veins, the sickness too much for his substantially weakened body to take
P.S. I’m really sorry, big guy. Did I tell you how mighty your beard makes you look? hehe hehe … okay, but please don’t kill me. It’s my story.
You’ll have to read the next book to find out whether I feel merciful or not.
Fuck!
About Christopher Johns
Christopher Johns is a former photojournalist for the United States Marine Corps with published works telling hundreds of other peoples’ stories through word, photo, and even video.
But throughout that time, his editors and superiors had always said that his love of reading fantasy and about worlds of fantastic beauty and horrible power bled into his work. That meant he should write a book.
Well, ta-da!
Chris has been an avid devourer of fantasy and science fiction for more than twenty years and looks forward to sharing that love with his son, his loving fiancée and almost anyone he could ever hope to meet.
Connect with Chris:
Facebook.com/AxeDruidAuthor
Twitter.com/JonsyJohns
About Mountaindale Press
Dakota and Danielle Krout, a husband and wife team, strive to create as well as publish excellent fantasy and science fiction novels. Self-publishing The Divine Dungeon: Dungeon Born in 2016 transformed their careers from Dakota’s military and programming background and Danielle’s Ph.D. in pharmacology to President and CEO, respectively, of a small press. Their goal is to share their success with other authors and provide captivating fiction to readers with the purpose of solidifying Mountaindale Press as the place ‘Where Fantasy Transforms Reality.’
Connect with Mountaindale Press:
MountaindalePress.com
Facebook.com/MountaindalePress
Twitter.com/_Mountaindale
Instagram.com/MountaindalePress
Mountaindale Press Titles
GameLit and LitRPG
The Completionist Chronicles and
The Divine Dungeon by Dakota Krout
A Touch of Power by Jay Boyce
Red Mage by Xander Boyce
Space Seasons by Dawn Chapman
Ether Collapse by Ryan DeBruyn
Bloodgames by Christian J. Gilliland
Wolfman Warlock by James Hunter and Dakota Krout
Axe Druid and
Mephisto’s Magic Online by Christopher Johns
Skeleton in Space by Andries Louws
Chronicles of Ethan by John L. Monk
Pixel Dust by David Petrie
Artorian’s Archives by Dennis Vanderkerken and Dakota Krout
Appendix
The Good
Zekiel Erebos (Zee-key-uhl Air-uh-bows) – Marine who loves gaming as a civilian with his buddies who are still in. Class: Druid. Race: Kitsune, has tails.
Yohsuke (Yo-s’kay) – Zeke’s best bud/brother from the Marine Corps. Overlord, yeah, you read that right. Class: Spell blade. Race: Abomination (halfbreed drow and high elf) also, he’s a vampire now. Big whoop!
Jaken Warmecht (Jay-ken) – Zeke’s friend who typically needs help catching up in the games the group places together. Class: Paladin of Radiance. Race: Fae-Orc.
Bokaj (Bow-ka-jh) – A friend from the gym who loves video games and is in a pretty wicked band! Class: Ranger. Race: Ice Elf.
Tmont (Tee-M-on-t) – A panther with a taste for tails who happens to not just be a walking bag of assholes, but is also Bokaj’s pet. Mainly that first one, though.
Balmur (Ball-mer) – Bokaj’s best friend, and another good buddy of Zeke’s who loves to game! Class: Rogue. Race: Azer Dwarf (Fire dwarf) HIS BEARD IS A FLAME!
James Bautista (Really?) – Another Marine that Yohsuke and Zeke know and game with often. Class: Monk. Race: Dragon Elf.
Muu Ankiman (Moo Ahn-key-men) – Dragon beast-kin with green scales and Zeke’s roommate on Earth. Liiiiittle crazy, but he’s okay. Class: Fighter. Race: Dragon-kin (it’s shorter!)
Kayda (Kay-duh) – A pretty little bird with a shitty past, and hopefully, a bright future. Recently turned into a Storm Roc. Very protective of a certain flame wolf. And raptor now.
Coal – A flame wolf that Zeke took care of for a bit on behalf of the Primordial Flame Elemental. He’s got a good temperament, a little heated at times, but he’s a cool pup. He’s home now and hopefully happy.
Bea Arthur (Bee) — A gust raptor and royal pain in the ass, but man does the group love her! She’s a big scary, scarlet baby who loves Vrawn almost as much as she does Zeke.
Sir Willem Dillon – Owner of the tavern in Sunrise Village (the starter town) and Paladin of Radiance. The first guy the group meets and doesn’t try to kill. (Or do they? MUAHAHAHA—No, really, do they?) Jaken’s trainer.
Dinnia (Dih-nee-uh) – An elven druid who takes pity on poor Zeke and brings him into Mother Nature’s good graces. Zeke’s trainer.
Sharo (shah-row) – Another panther who assists his partner in crime Dinnia in training her student. Not a walking bag of assholes.
Kyra – Queen of the bears and good friend of Dinnia’s. We like her.
Marin (mare-in) – We, uh… we don’t talk about her. 10 out of 10, though. Kickass dire bear.
Rowland – Blacksmith in Sunrise who decides he likes the travelers, especially the one with the tail—no bias.
Maebe (may-buh—soft buh—if she hears you talking shit, I’m not responsible, yeah?) – Unseelie Queen of Winter and Darkness, who somehow gets thrown into the mix. Also, Zeke’s wife. I know, right?
Thogan (ThO-gun) – Champion of the Unseelie Fae, and a rather clingy dwarf with a rough complexion.
Titania – Queen of the Seelie Fae, who has a predisposition of being a raging bitch to anyone and everyone she doesn’t like. Like outsiders.
Craglim (Crag-limb) – Rowland’s cousin. Racist piece of shit—but he’s a good fighter.
Zhavron (Zah-vrun) – Orc fighter with a sordid past. Muu’s trainer in all things fighting. A little intense at times.
Pharazulla (Far-uh-zu-la) – A bard of some renown, though a bit of a stuck-up asshole.
Vrawn – A lovely orcish woman with a soft spot for our local druid. She’s built like a busty, brick shit house.
Sam – Mayor of Sunrise village. A fair man whose bear-kin wife and half bear-kin children believe in him wholeheartedly. Prefers to hunt for the village rather than govern.
The villagers of Sunrise – Great people who recently went through a lot of bullshit. Go easy on em, yeah?
Set – A decent little Fae-orc kid, doped into hunting a Belgar.
Ampharia (Am-far-ee-uh) – An elder green dragon friend of Mother Nature’s who gives Muu her blessing and teaches him how to fight dragons.
Natholdi, Granite, and son (Nath-ol-dee) – A good, humble dwarven family that both Muu and Zeke love dearly. Newest additions to the Light Hand Clan.
Farnik Mugfist (Far-nick) – Leader of the Mugfist clan and good friend to the party. Loves a good cup of mead and song.
Shellica Light Hand (Shell-ih-cuh) – Leader of the Light hand clan and a Grand Master Enchanter. Crazy as shit with a diabolical wit. Zeke’s trainer, unfortunately.
Silvannas (Sill-vahn-us) – Queen of the High elves on the prime plane of existence. Sort of a role model to Maebe.
Questis (Quest-ihs) – A high elf Druid enchanter who has a soft spot for kitties and bait. Pretty awesome guy. Seriously loves cats, though.
Fern (Like the plant) – A sabertooth cat that has a serious god complex. Loves to be fed and worshipped. Gives his druid Questis hell all the time.
Telfino (Tell-fee-no) – Son of Queen Silvannas, and inheritor of the throne. He’s a good kid with a seriously strong class.
Manly Warbottom – A rascal bounty hunter halfling with a weird motley crew of badasses. Good lady likes money. A lot.
Braves of the Thorn – Manly’s peeps and party, consisting of Dawn, Nick, Nic, Bonnie, and Manly’s best buddy Humphrey. Quality people.
Milnolian (Mill-Gnoll-Ian) – Goes by Servant, but he’s a loyal servant of Maeve’s who she passed to him as a gift.
Eiran’a (Ee-rahn-ah) – Maeve’s momma and a highly skilled ice mage. She doesn’t really care for the loving protagonist, but hey—beggars and choosers, am I right?
Westwind Royalty – The royal family of Zephyth, good people with a lovely daughter. Aboiye (A-boy-Eh), the king, and Chareen (Shareen) his wife.
Villeroa Westwind (Vill-er-oah) – Princess and water mage, with her elemental friend.
Zygnal (Zig-nahl) – Water elemental assigned to protect and help train Villeroa.
Jafrik (Ya-frick) – A Drow boy chosen by the Primordial Light Elemental to become the first of a new race, the dawn elves.
Vlegen (Vleg-ehn) – A dwarf of the Mugfist clan who didn’t know his place. He learned the hard way that xenophobia isn’t right.
Katja (cat-yuh) – An in owner and quite a nice lady of a little stoic for her own good. Has great booze though.
Calmyra (Cal-Meer-uh) – A cat man rogue with the Syndicate in a certain city who helped flush out the e
vil in his own people as they were working with outside factions against them. He’s cool.
Captain Holly Jenisovna (Jenny-sohv-nah) – Captain of the Pussy Willow and her crew. A nice feline lady who doesn’t play to anyone’s tune but her own.
Joesa Webbost – First mate of the Pussy Willow and a sea elf. He’s also a pretty cool dude, a little goofy at times, but kind.
Into the Storm Page 34