-last edited on Mar 18, 2019 17:37:31 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on Mar 18, 2019 17:36:59 GMT
Chapter 78
As Skirj began to move scrolls and books, one of them caught his eye. At first glance, it seemed a perfectly ordinary scroll, made of thick, yellowed parchment, and tied with a half-decayed, reddish ribbon, but he kept finding his eyes drifting over to it.
What’s taking so long?
“Nothing. I’m almost there.” Skirj pushed aside a stack of slightly moldy papers bound in twine to reveal a huge tome at the back of the shelf. But before he could grab it, his eyes once again turned to the scroll. And this time, he heard a voice in the back of his head. Take the scroll, Skirj. It was not Septimus’s voice, and it was certainly not his own, but he felt compelled to obey it. The voice called again. Take it. Skirj grabbed the scroll and stuffed it into his pack. The voice stopped. He reached back into the shelf and took Septimus’s book.
The book was bound in thin pieces of wood wrapped in leather dyed dark violet. On the cover, scrawled in silver lettering, only a little chipped, was the title: On Spiritte and Bodie: A Historie ofe the Quryous Relacion-ship Betwene the Two Halves ofe Live-ing Be-ings and the Magicke Derive-ed Thereofe. It took some effort to drag the tome off the high shelf. Though in terms of length and width it was of an average size, it was over seven inches thick and rather heavy for its size. Skirj carried the book a few paces away and set it down gently on the stone floor. “Where should we begin?”
We should begin by leaving this temple and finding a more secure location from which to study.
“What? No! This is secure! We can stay here and start right now! We’re so close, Septimus!” Skirj flipped open the cover and began reading.
Listen to me, Skirj. You will starve down here. And you can’t do magic here, anyway. We can start as soon as we get somewhere safe, but this is not the place. You know this. Don’t let your eagerness to save your brother overpower your reason.
Skirj stopped, and slowly closed the book. His hands were trembling. He was so close! But Septimus was right. They could do nothing from here. Reluctantly, he placed the book inside his pack and began to walk to the staircase. “So, how are we going to get out of here?”
-last edited on Mar 19, 2019 18:50:40 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on Mar 19, 2019 18:50:15 GMT
Chapter 79
“Okay, I’m ready. On the count of three.” A dart pinged against the wall above Skirj’s head and fell to the ground. “One.” As he spoke, Septimus’s voice rang simultaneously in his head.
Skirj was clutching his short sword so tightly that his hand hurt. He could do this. Before he had become a sorcerer, he had been a warrior. “Two.”
Another dart struck the wall and fell. Skirj could envision the path he would take, weaving to avoid the darts, arm raised to swing as soon as he came within range. “Three.”
Skirj ran. He swung his short sword, and a Pantherian fell. On the backswing, he caught another, not even stumbling as he pushed through the magical barrier. Three more fell in the initial confusion as Septimus shouted in their minds. One more, and the way was clear. Skirj ran. He could feel darts whizzing past, cutting through the air a hair’s breadth from his face. One of them struck him in his shoulder. He kept running. Back the way he had come, through passageways and up stairs. He felt another dart pierce his thigh. His movements were slowing now; his limbs felt heavy. He could hear the pantherians coming closer.
A glimmer of sunlight up ahead told him he was getting close and with a burst of energy he sprinted out of the temple. There were more Pantherians waiting for him there, though, and while Septimus’s mental attack sent a few reeling most still stood. Skirj tackled a Pantherian as he dove through the archway. Instantly, three more piled on top of him. He felt a spear slide along his rib cage, but in the tangle, there was little room for anyone to draw weapons. His own short sword had fallen from his hand during the tackle. Summoning his remaining strength, he flung the Pantherians off himself with a burst of magical energy. A portal opened in front of him and he leaped through, closing it as soon as he was on the other side. He barely had time to re-cast his wards and purge his wounds of poison before he slipped into unconsciousness.
-last edited on Mar 21, 2019 18:48:55 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on Mar 21, 2019 18:48:37 GMT
Chapter 80
A beam of sunlight cut through the thick forest canopy, passing between trunks and branches on its way toward the forest floor and sliding through an open window frame formed of woven branches, before finally reaching its destination as it bore straight into Skrag’s eyes.
As usual, the sunlight seemed to work its way between the half-breed’s eyelids tugging at them until at last they opened, and he awoke with a groan. Of all the beds in the tiny city of the Arachnidians, why did his have to be the one that received the most direct sunlight. Of course, he could ask to be moved, and he had little doubt they would oblige. But Skrag liked Levridum’s brother and he wasn’t about to walk away just because of a little sunlight. Indeed, sometimes he wondered if he should be grateful for the sun, for waking him from the nightmares that haunted his dreams, but at the same time he wanted the nightmares to come. They were the only place he could see Zargan, the only place he would ever again see his best friend.
Skrag was unsuccessfully trying to return to his slumber when there was a knock at the door. “Skrag, is visitor to see you.”
Groaning, Skrag sat up. He did not want a visitor. In fact, he would very much like to be left alone by everyone he had known before, but he replied anyway. “Let him in, Ablesritus.”
The door opened and in walked a pale-striped Arachnidian, followed by a man Skrag had not expected to see. “Skirj. I was expecting Hithrol.”
Skirj smiled thinly. “Why? I’m your brother, and he’s busy with the Dragon Riders. And I’m a sorcerer.”
“I guess I thought you’d be busy studying at the Towers. What do you want?” Skrag barely tried to keep the irritation out of his voice.
“I want to help you, brother.”
“I don’t want your help.” This time, there was no disguising his mood. “When I do, I’ll find you. But for now, I just can’t go back. I can’t be around anything that reminds me of that life, or anyone.”
Surprisingly, Skirj seemed almost to understand. “Very well. I will go. And I won’t tell anyone where you are. But please, if you need help, come to me at the Towers. I’ll be there.” And then he was gone. Skrag rolled over and tried to get back to sleep.
Progress Update: I only have six more chapters left to write, plus four Epilogue chapters. Things are a little busy for me right now, but I should be able to have those done in time.
-last edited on Mar 24, 2019 18:46:11 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on Mar 24, 2019 18:45:57 GMT
Chapter 81
The sun was just peeking over the horizon when Legolie was awakened by Isabel. “It’s time. They’re moving out.”
Immediately, the elven queen was on her feet and helping to rouse the others. After almost a week of tense, boring waiting, split between fear they would be discovered and smashed before they could do anything and wondering when they would actually get to do something, the bandits were finally heading out again, without the dragon. This was their best chance to attack and they would not miss it. Legolie would provide cover from the hills while Isabel and Leinad harried the bandits with rapid, in-and-out attacks. Jayden and Caisara would head into the cave and deal with the dragon. Besides the dragon, whom Jayden named Fovos, the ultimate target was the leader, Pursigon – they had concluded that the bandits would likely return to more peaceful ways with him gone. If not, well, then this job was far too big for the five of them alone. In that case, if King Leonus wanted these bandits gone, he would have to send some help.
It didn’t take long for everyone to be ready; all had been sleeping lightly, with armor mostly donned and weapons close to hand, in anticipation for this day. Before the sun was fully visible, she, Leinad, and Isabel were on top of the hill and Jayden and Caisara were approaching the cave, all waiting for Legolie’s order. The bandits had filed out of the mountain and were beginning their march east, about two score of them, which left just over half a dozen in the cave for Jayden and Caisara. And the dragon, of course. Legolie wasn’t sure who had the harder job. She looked down at the bandits again. They were a rough-looking lot for the most part, if not particularly well-equipped, and all had likely seen their fair share of fighting. On second thought, her job was definitely harder. Without saying anything, Legolie loosed an arrow at the head of the column. The attack began.
-last edited on Mar 25, 2019 19:34:54 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on Mar 25, 2019 19:34:40 GMT
Chapter 82
There were two bandits standing at the mouth of the cave, guarding the entrance. Caisara took care of them with her bow, leaving Jayden to catch them as they fell and muffle the sound. Inside, the cave was dark, lit only by a handful of torches in stands along the walls. It was colder than Jayden had expected, and he shivered as he saw Caisara catch up to him out of the corner of his eye. He hadn’t heard a sound as she approached, and he suspected he wouldn’t have seen anything either if she hadn’t wanted him to.
As they moved deeper into the cave, they found three of the bandits lounging in a cavern off to the side. Caisara smashed one with an arrow as he ran to sound an alarm, and Jayden engaged the other two. The first found himself at the wrong end of Jayden’s spear before he had time to react, but the second was ready. He thrust a pike at Jayden, grazing his thigh. Jayden’s spear glanced off his shoulder, and then both backed off, circling, looking for an opportunity. Both armed with polearms, a close-quarters fight could go either way. Just as Jayden saw his opening, an arrow took his opponent in the throat. He looked up to see Caisara behind him. Too slow. Are you okay? she signed. Jayden shook his head “I’m fine. Let’s keep going.”
Jayden and Caisara continued moving through the cave, checking for traps and enemies as they went. But they saw no one until they reached the very back, where a dirty red curtain had been set up, concealing whatever was behind. Two more guards stood there. The first fell to Caisara’s bow, the second to Jayden’s spear. They pushed aside the curtain and stepped through.
At the back of the cave were two things Jayden had expected to see, and one he had not. There was a pile of loot, whatever the bandits had stolen from the villages they raided, though it wasn’t much – mostly they had just taken lives – and the dragon, yellow-scaled with purple along her spine and stomach. There was also a small, wiry man with greasy hair hanging past his shoulders. He wore a black tunic, stained and fraying at the edges, embroidered with a red dragon. “Hello, Jayden,” he said as they entered.
-last edited on Mar 26, 2019 18:53:31 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on Mar 26, 2019 18:52:47 GMT
Chapter 83
From the wiry man’s tone, Jayden could almost have thought he had been expected. But a shaky foot tapping and shifting eyes gave away the truth. “Hello, Henphril. Still the lackey, I see. What happened? You lost Kelrin, so you latched on to Pursigon, the nearest thing remaining?”
Henphirl glanced nervously over at Fovos, and then replied, “I live to serve, Jayden Crow. Please, spare me, and if you win this battle, perhaps I can be of service to–.”
Jayden cut him off. “Just go, Henphril. Make sure I don’t see you on my way out. Caisara, go with him, please. Make sure he doesn’t cause any trouble.”
Henphril scuttled out of the room, but Caisara didn’t follow. Can’t leave you alone.
“I’ll be fine, Caisara. This is what I do. Go, please. I don’t trust that man.” Caisara gave him a look that said they would speak of this later, but she went after Henphril.
Finally, alone with the dragon, Jayden considered his foe properly for the first time. She hadn’t done anything during that whole interaction. He wondered what she could be thinking. “I’m here to smash you,” he said.
Fovos nodded. “That is what you do, after all. Jayden Crow, Dragonslayer. Who hired you?”
Jayden lowered his spear but kept himself ready to fight. “King Leonus.”
“I thought so. Are you finally ready to finish what you started, all those years ago?”
“What do you mean?”
Fovos shrugged. “You smashed my brood mother, helped to steal my brood mates and me. You are the reason Kelrin Dragonsblood almost succeeded. Now, Pursigon and I are the last remainder of Kelrin’s legacy. Are you ready to end that?”
Jayden adjusted his shield, gripping his spear tighter. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You don’t strike me as a man who relinquishes the past easily, Jayden. Are you really ready to end this?”
Jayden scowled. “I’ve moved on. I’ve left my past, everything I did with Kelrin and before, behind me.”
Fovos laughed. “No, you haven’t. Just because you work for the ‘good guys’ now, and have that girl with you? You are still Jayden Crow, Dragonslayer. You will always be.”
-last edited on Mar 27, 2019 19:00:26 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on Mar 27, 2019 18:59:58 GMT
Chapter 84
Legolie loosed another arrow. It landed in one of the bandits standing in a ring around Pursigon and he fell. But before she could shoot again, another moved to fill his place. It was infuriating. As soon as the bandits figured out they were targeting their leader, they had formed up to protect him, and it was working. Nothing Legolie, Isabel, or Leinad could do got them close enough.
At least the bandits weren’t retaliating. They were too busy protecting their leader to mount proper attacks of their own. It helped that they likely didn’t see three attackers as a proper threat. Legolie hoped that wouldn’t change. She also hoped they were wrong.
And so Legolie, Leinad, and Isabel continued their fruitless assault. By this point, several of the bandits had fallen and the others looked anxious to retaliate. Fortunately, their leader, afraid for his own safety, was keeping them close. If they stopped listening, though, Legolie, Leinad, and Isabel would have to escape quickly, or all three of them would be smashed.
As Legolie watched, five bandits broke from the group and began running in the opposite direction from Leinad and Isable. Legolie should have let them go. They weren’t likely to be much of a threat on their own, and their departure only weakened the remainders. But she was tired of feeling useless, like nothing they were doing had any real effect, so she charged after them.
Two fell to arrows by the time Legolie closed the gap. She swung her short sword, dodging an attack, and used her momentum to throw her opponent to the ground. The last two reached her at the same time. She caught one sword in her bow, twisting it and tangling up the blade, and met the other with her own short sword. Two quick slices took down the latter and the former fell seconds later to a thrust. The bandit she had knocked over tried to get up and she kicked him in the face.
All her enemies now fallen, Legolie looked over to the main group to see what was happening. She saw Leinad charging in, with no cover from her arrows. He crashed into the bandits in a flurry of steel and did not pull back, even as they tore into him. He felled half a dozen before they took him down.
-last edited on Mar 28, 2019 18:24:21 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on Mar 28, 2019 18:23:46 GMT
Chapter 85
Something broke in Legolie. She charged toward the bandits, tossing aside her now-broken bow. When reached the bandits gathered around where Leinad had fallen, she tore into them. Such was her ferocity that none could stand before her. One by one, they fell, until she had cleared a wide ring around her friend. This time, no one seemed eager to fill in the gap. They simply stood around, watching her, ready to retailiate should she attack again. Legolie hardly registered any of that. Instead, she knelt at Leinad’s side. He was too pale. Desperately, she tore off pieces of his cloak and tried to wrap them around the wound. It wasn’t working. It had to work!
Dimly, she felt a hand at her shoulder. Leinad’s hand. She realized he was trying to say something. “Let . . . me go . . . Legolie. Just . . . let go.”
There were tears running down Legolie’s face. “I can’t lose you, too, Leinad! I have no one else! Please!”
Leinad shook his head. Legolie could see it pained him to do so, and she placed a hand on his forehead to stop him. He spoke again. “You need to be a queen, Legolie. You need to be who you were born to be.”
Legolie drew back. “I can’t to it, Leinad. I’m not strong enough. What will happen if I fail?”
Leinad made a hoarse, gasping sound. It might have been laughter. “You won’t. You’re the strongest person I know, Legolie. Do this for me, for Link, for Fingolfin, for your family. Be the person you know you can be.” He took another rattling breath, and then stopped. He was gone.
Shakily, Legolie got to her feet. The bandits around her readied their weapons. So did a woman clad in purple, standing next to Legolie. While she had been with Leinad, Isabel had arrived. Legolie glanced over at her. “Are you ready to end this?”
Isabel nodded, and they set about their grim task.
Progress Update: I just finished Chapter 118. That leaves three more left to write, plus the four epilogue chapters I've mentioned. I hope all of my reader is still enjoying.
-last edited on Mar 31, 2019 17:23:38 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on Mar 31, 2019 17:23:09 GMT
Chapter 86
Jayden Crow remembered the day Kelrin Dragonsblood had come to him. He had left home by that time and was wandering, looking for work, or perhaps just for something to do. On that particular day, he was sitting in a tavern, listening to a bard with a broken harp singing off-key.
Jayden took a sip of his drink and almost spat it out. Between the sickening fare, the awful entertainment, and a general sense that nothing had been cleaned in about a decade, this might have been the worst tavern he’d ever visited. But if he left, where would he go? He had no home to go to and didn’t know where to find work.
As Jayden pondered this question, the door swung open with a creak and a man entered. As he was dressed rather unlike the typical clientele, in a darkly embroidered red silk tunic, and every patron needed a distraction from the entertainment, all eyes were on the man as he walked across the room and sat down in front of Jayden Crow. If that bothered the man, Jayden saw no indication of it. Rather, his arrogant expression seemed to say that he hadn’t noticed any of the other customers and was only sitting in front of Jayden because he thought those were the only two chairs in the building.
This theory was soon proven incorrect, however. “I need to slay a dragon,” said the man.
Jayden did his best to mimic the man’s arrogance as he replied, “That’s what I do. Care to provide any details?”
The man seemed unamused by Jayden’s attitude. “There is a brood mother in the mountains that I need eliminated. I will pay well, but you must come with me right now, and you will speak of this to no one.”
“Fine.” Jayden and the man stood up and began to walk out of the tavern.
Before they reached the door, a large, mean-looking man stepped in front of them, fingering a knife and eyeing the silks. “Hand over everything and I’ll let you leave.” The man in silks drew his sword and gutted the would-be attacker without breaking stride. He and Jayden left the tavern.
Progress Update: I just finished Chapter 118. That leaves three more left to write, plus the four epilogue chapters I've mentioned. I hope all of my reader is still enjoying.
Sure am. I can't believe we're so close to the end!
Progress Update: I just finished Chapter 118. That leaves three more left to write, plus the four epilogue chapters I've mentioned. I hope all of my reader is still enjoying.
Sure am. I can't believe we're so close to the end!
Technically, you're still 35 chapters out. I'm the one who's almost done.
I can't believe we're so close to the end! 
I can't believe we're so close to the end! 
Much moar story then. 
Much moar story then.