The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen (24 page)

"The warriors are all carrying worn-out, brittle axes that should be replaced as quickly as possible," I stated clearly but kindly, not wanting to pressure him too much. "I believe there's enough iron in those three-hundred plus scrap swords to make at least forty quality axes, preferably of the two-handed variety."

"Would you have me focus on the axe production as well?" interjected Enok with an innocent look on his face, befitting his young age.

"I'll leave that up to you two," I answered with conviction.

Another twenty minutes passed as we talked shop and the two showed me what they had been working on, to which I intently listened and watched, mostly out of interest and a desire to learn. What they were making were the basic of the basics, but everyone had to start somewhere.

By the time I finished my visit and walked back outside, the sharp pangs and clangs of metal hammering on metal could be heard resounding off the log cabins and other wood buildings nearby. It was a noisy business, but it was a necessary one.

My next stop was the leather worker, then the shipbuilder, the tavern, the lodge, the weaver, and then a short visit with the warriors, too.

It would be a long day indeed.

Chapter 55: A Quick Hunt

(Friday, August 6th Game Day / Sunday, March 14th Real Day)

A small creek, maybe three feet wide and no more than a foot deep had led the way. The soft sounds of water trickling and running off the short falls were calming, but did little to appease my worsening mood. It felt, like I had been tricked into a goose chase.

Katherine paced at my side while Selene stayed slightly ahead, with the source of the creek being our intended destination.

Supposedly, there was a dungeon there.

The problem, was the trip had taken more than two hours and there was no end in sight. They were eager to show me this natural cave system that they had found, filled with creatures that weren't quite as natural.

Goblins, I thought.

That idea was wrong, though.

The creatures were hairy, rodent-like, and a bit smaller in stature than a goblin. They also didn't rely on melee weapons like the hourglass-eyed goblins, rather, they utilized magic. That was all the girls would tell me, which left a lot to the imagination.

Of course, I was curious.

When they asked me if I wanted to check it out, I couldn't refuse.

Well, after nearly two hours of walking, I was bored.

I had finished my journey from the south a few days back… and yet here I was, on another mini-journey out into the wilderness. Surrounded by trees as far as the eye could see, with a mountain range off in the distance that appeared to be the same size no matter how long we walked. 

"Katherine," I bemoaned, while tilting my head towards her. "How far away is this place exactly… it doesn't seem like we'll be reaching the end of this creek anytime soon."

"We're almost halfway there," cut in Selene before Katherine could reply.

"Half," I said with a slight laugh. "Hah, you girls, why didn't you tell me how far we would be traveling before we set out… 'oh it's just a short walk,' you said."

"You're being rather incorrigible Sir Sigurd," replied Katherine with a nudge.

"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 they 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.