Ashes of Verdenheld

by Jack Wright

  “Eris, get the door would you?”

  “With pleasure.” Eris grinned.

  She stepped up to the door and threw her full weight against it. The bulky stone door slowly began to grind open. Caesia covered her eyes as the blinding evening light slipped between the doors and encompassed her vision.

  As the door ground to a halt, the two stepped through and into the light. The air was cold and fresh, but the sun was warm all the same. Eris inhaled with all her might, relishing the cool air as it rushed into her nostrils. She would never take fresh air for granted again.

  Eris adjusted to the light quicker than Caesia, who was less used to being outdoors. As it died down, she could finally behold the Valley of Fire.

  Chapter Eight - Before the Storm

  The Valley was incredible, like a mix of the best parts of Norskar and Verdenheld. The Valley, washed in the fiery orange light of the setting sun, was seemingly infinite - just like Caesia had said. In its basin was a gentle river, rolling endlessly into the distance. The whole place was lush and green with grass and trees, transitioning into blankets of snow as the towering ice capped mountains rose around it. It had truly been almost untouched for centuries.

  As Eris stared in awe, Caesia rubbed her eyes and looked around for herself.

  “Oh my God…” Caesia gasped, blown away by the beauty of the landscape.

  Never had she seen anything different from the grasslands and forests surrounding Abenfurt. It was as enchanting as it was exhilarating.

  “We made it…” Eris gushed softly.

  “Not so useless after all, are we?” Caesia grinned.

  Eris smiled timidly. “Maybe not useless, but I sure am tired.”

  “Ha, speak for yourself. I’m so exhausted I got a nosebleed from it.”

  Eris chuckled quietly. “What was that anyway?”

  “The nosebleed? Essence overload - applying too much pressure when harnessing essence can manifest in… various undesirable ways.”

  “Damn, that’s pretty crappy.”

  “Only without training.” Caesia shrugged dismissively. “Of which I had little…”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I didn’t even get through first year, remember? Luckily, I managed to teach myself a few things when I had time away from my ‘lady training’.” Caesia smirked at how ridiculous her life always sounded - lady training and etiquette lessons. “But back to the matter at hand, I say we stop here for the night.”

  “Agreed, this spot is amazing.” Eris sighed in awe.

  To some extent, she wished that she could stay in this valley forever. There was food to forage, fresh water to drink - it was perfect. She couldn’t though - thousands of people were counting on her. That and she couldn’t stay for more than a year anyway, because of the stupid Journey.

  Eris flung off her bag and dumped it on the ground, along with her bow and quiver. She doubted that she would need them, not yet.

  “Right, I’m going to get some branches for a fire, I’ll be back soon.” Eris declared, turning to leave down the hill.

  “Great. As for me, I haven’t bathed in the past forty eight hours and I smell like blood, sweat and dead people.” Caesia groaned. “I’m going to head down to that river and wash myself, so I’ll meet you back here shortly.”

  Eris felt a frigid breeze against her skin and came to a realisation. “Hey, if you get cold I’ve got some extra furs in the backpack. You can borrow some if you-”

  “That won’t be necessary.” Caesia smiled, waving off Eris’ offer. “Over winter I learnt to use basic pyromancy to internally heat myself. A handy, yet often overlooked use of the school.”

  Never had Eris been so genuinely jealous of someone as she was right now. That had to be the single greatest use of magic ever.

  “Huh, that’s… pretty cool.” Eris murmured in an attempt to mask her envy.

  “Indeed. See you in a bit.” Caesia started down the valleyside, the river not that far down from where they stood.

  Eris sighed enviously and headed off to the nearest cluster of trees, unbuckling her sword from her sheath.

  Caesia stepped knee deep into the shallow river, having soaked her clothes and left them to dry on a rock nearby. In case she was ambushed by a dragon, she opted to keep her underwear on to at least die with a bit of dignity intact. She cringed for a moment at the cold sting of the icy water as she dipped her feet in. The coldness was short lived however, as the water began to hiss and simmer at the magical heat she was emanating. As the water became temperate, she crouched down and thrust her head under. Letting her ragged hair soak, she wiped the dust, dirt and dried blood from her face.

  ‘This is long overdue’, she thought to herself as she flicked her hair back. The water was beginning to steam and bubble, like a warm bath back home. It was dull back there but the high life had its perks. She span around and laid back in the water, letting the gentle stream wash over her. Considering she couldn’t swim, she was quite glad the river was so shallow.

  She liked to use these moments of tranquillity to think. Every day, she would lay down in the bath and ask herself the same questions over and over again. The past couple of days, she’d gained a few additions to that list.

  ‘What does green essence mean?’ No idea. It scared her as much as it fascinated her - many of the College researchers wanted to study and probe her and she had worried about how far some of them might have gone for their research.

  ‘What happens if my parents find me?’ Run. There was no way she could go back, particularly because she could be executed if they found out about the tomb. Even so, to return to being a pawn in their political games would be a fate worse than death.

  ‘How do I kill a dragon?’ Teamwork? The mouth would be a good start, if those carvings were anything to go by. How were they even going to find the dragon? That would need some discussion.

  ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ Also no idea. She certainly didn’t belong here - her first priority after escaping a tomb was to have a bath. That said a lot.

  ‘What do I make of Eris?’ An interesting question, one she hadn’t had much time to think about. The girl was reckless, naive and extremely overconfident, yet in a somewhat lovable way. She was entertaining, that was for sure. Good company as well, Caesia had never really had anyone to talk to about her problems before - Eris was the first person to ever give a damn. What’s more, it was becoming apparent to Caesia that Eris was relying on her a lot for emotional reassurance, that she needed her to keep going. Similarly, Caesia felt that she needed Eris’ to be confident before becoming confident herself.

  She knew that they needed each other to survive out here, that alone they were nothing. She thought back to Eris’ proposition, which felt like an age ago - to join her on an adventure, to see the world. It seemed so stupid at the time, she even recalled laughing, but now here they were - a team.

  Caesia rose from the water, having sufficiently soaked herself clean. In her trance of thought she hadn’t noticed the sun drop below the mountains, that darkness was rolling over the valley and the orange evening light was overcome with blues and purples. She scrambled out of the water, which once again grew cold in her wake.

  As she stepped out of the water, she drew her heat back in and her underwear began to sizzle and steam, as the water they held evaporated away.

  She grabbed her trousers and slipped them on, followed by her shirt and jerkin, all of which also began to bellow with vapour. She grabbed her first sock and sat down on the rock on which her clothes had rested. Lifting up her foot to put the sock on, she first batted the granules of stone and dirt from her feet, not wanting to dirty her clean white socks. As she batted away the filth, something caught her eye - small black particles amongst the dirt.

  “What the…” She put down her foot and peered closely at her fingers. “Ash…”

  Realising what this meant, Caesia jumped up off the rock and crouched low to the ground. Sure enough, the grass was litt
ered with tiny ash particles, just like Eris had found near Jordenholm.

  “Well, well.” Caesia muttered to herself with pride at her discovery. “Thought you could hide from me?”

  She quickly batted off her feet again and slipped on her socks and boots. Her clothes now mostly dried by her radiant heat, she started back towards the tomb’s exit. She couldn’t wait to tell Eris of her ingenious discovery.

  Eris swung her sword a second time into the branch, snapping it off and adding to the pile on top of her shield. She was quite proud of her cunning invention - Caesia had left her shoulder bag behind so she strapped it into the shield where she normally would slot her arm and used it to pull along the firewood.

  She started back to the tomb’s exit, branches in tow. It was dark now and her father had always warned her against the dangers of venturing out at night, that she could be assailed by wolves or even drakes. She wasn’t worried though, she had no problem crushing a wizard, why should a drake or two be of concern?

  Eris had been spending this time alone plotting a plan as to how she would convince Caesia to come with here after all this. On one hand, they had definitely warmed to each other and Eris reckoned that Caesia would certainly have a hard time declining an opportunity to keep working together. After all, Eris was her only friend.

  On the other hand, Caesia made clear that she doesn’t belong here. Eris wasn’t sure if she absolutely resented the adventure, or if she was enjoying it. She supposed if Caesia still wanted to go to Norskar, she could always go with her. As much as she wanted to see the world, Eris knew she would be far happier with Caesia by her side.

  Eris threw down the shoulder bag and loaded some of the branches into a pile. She grabbed two smaller branches and sat down cross legged beside the pile, vigorously rubbing them together.

  “Ah, good. You’re here.” Caesia exclaimed, emerging from the trees. “I was worried I’d have to sit awkwardly in the dark for a while.”

  “Have a nice bath?” Eris spat in jest.

  “What, jealous?” Caesia sniggered in amusement at Eris’ pettiness. To be fair, she would have felt the same were it the other way around.

  “A little…”

  “Well, here’s something to take your mind off it.” Caesia sat down across the fire from Eris, legs folded. “I figured out how to track down the dragon!”

  “Really?” Eris gasped. Her eyes brightened as she looked up from the firewood in intrigue. “That’s great, how?”

  “You remember how you found that ash leading off to into mountains?”

  Eris nodded attentively. “Genius, if I do say so myself.” She chirped under her breath.

  “Well, I’ve picked up the trail again. The ash seemed to lead south east, up one of the mountains.”

  “Up a mountain?” Eris groaned. “Oh, great.”

  “I thought Nords loved mountains.” Caesia sneered.

  “Stars, you people really like your stereotypes don’t you?”

  “Yes, you’re about as likely to find someone in Verdenheld who isn’t a cynical prick as you are to catch a Thyresian without his toga.”

  “Yeah, I still haven’t seen anyone around who isn’t a prick.” Eris jabbed.

  “Personally, I take pride in it.” Caesia grinned. “You’ve got to love what you do.”

  Caesia groaned as Eris continued to rub the firewood together, to no avail. She flicked her wrist and fired a tiny bolt of lightning into the pile of wood, igniting it immediately.

  “Um… thanks.” Eris threw down the firewood and pulled her backpack close, rooting around inside.

  “Um, Eris?” Caesia hissed with a piercing glare, gesturing behind her. “Is that my bag?”

  Caesia’s shoulder bag was still strapped to Eris’ shield, covered in a pile of spare firewood.

  “Yeah…” Eris mumbled fearfully.

  She got no response from Caesia, only a scowl and a burning glare. Eris pushed herself up and wandered over to the bag, throwing the firewood aside and unstrapping the bag.

  “As much as I admire the initiative, I’d much rather you ask next time.” Caesia snapped.

  “Ah, you weren’t using it.” Eris replied light heartedly.

  Caesia was quiet for a moment, Eris could feel her eyes on her back. She was not impressed which, considering that the bag contained her only worldly possessions, was fair enough.

  “You understand I could paralyse you right now, yes?” Caesia spat menacingly.

  Eris was silent, deciding it best just not to say anything - she had a nasty habit of making things worse in this sort of situation. She unstrapped the bag and handed it to Caesia.

  “Anyway…” Caesia digressed, in a marginally more friendly tone. “I think we need to come up with a plan for taking out this dragon.”

  Eris sat back down by the fire and began digging through her bag again. “Alright, you’re the nearest thing to an expert we have.”

  Caesia hated that this was true. “Well, we know that shooting the dragon in the mouth with a powerful spell could cause catastrophic damage-”

  “And do we have a powerful spell?” Eris asked, restlessly swivelling a carrot in her hand.

  “Possibly… I’m not sure if I could pull it off though, especially not with the required precision.”

  “What if we just shoot its mouth a bunch of times with weaker stuff? You’ve got your lightning and I’ve got my bow.”

  “Hm…” Caesia pressed her hand against her chin in thought. “Possible, but it would require us to survive for longer.”

  Eris yanked a chunk of bread from her bag. “We can do that, right?”

  “Well, that all depends on how hard it is to sustain a shield against dragonfire. I imagine it is very hard.”

  “Well, I don’t think we have a choice.” Eris concluded, with a mouthful of bread.

  “Not anymore.” Caesia muttered.

  She stared into the fire, considering how impossibly powerful the dragon could be. Abjuration shielding was powerful, but against fire that could shatter city walls? It seemed impossible.

  “Not to be a killjoy…” Caesia sighed glumly. “But we could die tomorrow.”

  “Maybe.” Eris replied confidently. “But I think I’d be okay with that.”

  “Really?” Caesia scoffed. “I mean, we’re so young!”

  “Well, I’d be more okay with living, but I think I could die pretty happy knowing I finally got the adventure I always dreamed of.”

  Caesia raised an eyebrow curiously. “Even after getting wounded and hopelessly lost in a tomb, you’re still happy with this?” Caesia could actually believe that, knowing Eris, but she didn’t really want to.

  “Totally! I’ve fought evil bad guys, saved a life, seen amazing things beyond my wildest dreams and made an awesome new friend who shoots lightning out her hands.”

  Caesia smiled warmly, making an effort not to blush in embarrassment. Eris was right, as harrowing as the experience had been, it had nonetheless been incredible. Complain as she may, Caesia wouldn’t have traded this for anything else.

  “Of course, that’s also all the more reason for us not to die tomorrow. After all, why have one adventure when your can have a hundred?!” Eris gushed excitedly.

  “You’re going to make this a regular thing?” Caesia smirked.

  “Oh, definitely. It was a rough first time, but I reckon I’ll get the hang of it in no time!”

  “Oh, come on Eris.” Caesia chuckled. “No offence, but you wouldn’t last a day without me.”

  “And you wouldn’t last a day without me.” Eris rebuked with a cocky smirk.

  “I guess that leaves us at an impasse…” Caesia sighed.

  Eris grinned as Caesia fell into her trap. “You see an impasse, I see an opportunity.”

  “Eris…”

  “Come on, Caesia!” Eris urged energetically. “We belong as a team, taking on bad guys and saving the day!”

  “I’m sorry Eris, but I just… I don’t belong out here
. I’m not cut out for all this action and adventure.”

  “So where do you belong? Alone in Norskar with nothing but your books?” Eris jumped up defiantly. “Back in that tomb you were amazing, you melted two doors! You turned all those skeletons to dust and saved my life! Then you took, like, twelve fireballs from a super powerful wizard!”

  Caesia shook her head, not wanting to accept the truth. “I…”

  Eris circled around the fire and sat down beside her. “Stop putting yourself down!” She urged, a firm hand on her shoulder. “You’re so much more than some useless city girl with lame magic tricks.”

  Caesia looked into Eris’ eyes. She genuinely believed in her - that she was more than just some pampered noble girl. Nobody had ever believed in her before. She knew deep down that she was more than what she would tell herself. Beneath her contempt for the trials of their quest, she knew she loved it, that she had never felt such excitement, such thrill and such belonging. She’d finally found the freedom and acceptance she had sought all her life and here she was trying to run from it.

  Caesia stood up over Eris and took in a deep breath. “Look, you have put me through hell. I have cried and bled, I have felt fear like I’ve never known before and I have been utterly traumatised.”

  She sighed and screwed up her face at the embarrassment of what she was about to say. Her legs went to jelly at the anxiety of it.

  “That said, I have never felt such… belonging.”

  Eris smiled eagerly and sprang up beside her, knowing she finally gotten through to her.

  “All my life I’ve been kicked around and used, with not a shred of affection from anybody. You’ve shown me freedom like I never dreamed, shown me a life worth living.” Caesia gushed, welling up at the release of her bottled feelings. “I was nothing. Now I have a chance to be something.”

  Caesia snivelled timidly as she outstretched her hand, a few tears rolling down her cheeks and sizzling as they dissolved in her radiant heat.

  “Partners?” She mumbled quietly, her hand trembling.

  Eris smiled with both empathy and satisfaction. She brought up her hand and wrapped it around Caesia’s, whose emanating heat warmed her hand as they sealed their alliance.