by Eden Redd
Drayke put his hand over his chest as if he was stabbed in the heart. “You wound me, sir.”
Kavan kept his gaze forward, ignoring the black and blue dragonkin. A short moment later, Drayke walked by Kavan’s side at a relaxed stride.
“What was your life like back on Earth? Were you a gamer with a passion for being the best? Or were you just someone who dreamed of big things and never achieved them?”
“What’s it to you? We’re never going back, so that life is dead to me. I thought it would be dead to you too.”
Drayke smirked. “Do you remember the mind scan that was performed to enter your name for the beta test?”
Kavan’s eyes widened a hair before they returned to normal. “It’s standard practice. Most games over the last five years require mind scans to ensure players have a mental fortitude and tolerance for the game worlds.”
Drayke nodded. “That is true, to a degree. It also helped the developers to tailor the game to players to enrich their experience. I happen to know about scans used for Monstar Saga and why. Do you want to hear it?”
Kavan remained silent as he continued to walk with his spear in hand.
Drayke continued, “The millions of possible beta testers were scanned and compared to each other. They had to fit a certain criteria to be allowed to play. Some of the qualities the creators were looking for were loyalty, open mindfulness, a sense of honor, strong internal drives and a sense of piety.”
Kavan let out a gruff chuckle. “The scans didn’t work that well in my case. I lost any sense of faith and religion a long time ago. I must have gotten in under the radar.”
Drayke shook his head. “So many people think piety is an all or nothing factor in their lives. Life can be very long with circumstances and experiences changing people’s views on subjects many times over. You may have lost it, but you did have it at one time or another.”
“What’s your point? Were you one of the creators or just someone who worked for the game company to look over results?”
Drayke looked over to Kavan with serious eyes. “My old life is dead. The game killed us and transported us to this world. I know why we’re here, do you?”
Kavan grew silent as they walked.
Drayke continued, “Please understand, we are on the same side. The exiled are here for a grand purpose and the two of us are a pair of soldiers in that purpose. We should be helping each other to figure out some of the minor pieces of the puzzle.”
“I thought you knew why we were here,” Kavan shot back.
Drayke nodded. “I know why we’re here, but I don’t have answers to many other questions. I have to ask, do you think anyone in town is different from everyone else?”
Kavan looked to the side as his thoughts filled with Brom. “No.”
Drayke’s eyes drank in Kavan’s demeanor as they walked. “You don’t trust me and are keeping things to yourself.”
“You attacked me on my farm. Why would I ever trust you?”
“I thought it was a bit of playful sparring? Two dragonkin getting to know each other through some sword and spear play. Neither of us were hurt and I left when your taur emerged from the barn. If that isn’t playful respect, I don’t know what is.”
“Drayke, I’ll ask again, what’s your point? You sweep into town, open a restaurant and now you volunteered to help take out a xykk colony. What are you trying to do?”
The dragonkin gave Kavan a measured gaze before smiling. “I’m trying to be a friend, in my own special way.”
Kavan growled deep in his throat. “Are you sure the mind scan didn’t make a mistake with you too?”
Drayke smiled wider. “I won’t deny that I am a little crazy. I can feel you are as well. Maybe you had a traumatic experience that defined you? Maybe you had a hunger that no normal earthly experience could quench? I don’t know. But we are here for the same reason, as well as the other nine-hundred and ninety-eight exiled here on Voldor.
“One does not simply appear on Voldor, without an invitation,” Drake said slyly.
Kavan looked over to the dragonkin with an annoyed gaze. “Drayke, why are we here?”
“To fight the dragon gods,” Drayke stated.
Kavan’s heart thudded in his chest and he blinked. “You… can’t be serious? Fight the dragon gods? I barely have enough gold to run my farm. I can barely hold my own against monsters attacking Moonvale. Fighting gods is not even an entry in my day planner, if I still had one.”
“Yet, you joined a game called Monstar Saga? The definition of ‘saga’ is a long story of heroic achievement. You joined a game where quests and puzzles could take years to uncover and solve. How is this any different? Sure, we are on a distant world on the other side of the cosmos, but that doesn’t mean our story ends. It’s just beginning.”
Drayke turned his gaze forward and looked to the forest ahead of them. “She called to you, just as she called to me. If not her, then one of them did.”
“What? The gods?” Kavan said flippantly.
Drayke didn’t make a sound as they walked.
Kavan looked over with a raised eye ridge. “The gods called us here? Was it the dragon gods or the ones that fled when their realms were attacked? Why now? The dragon gods took over thousands of years ago. After all this time, why bring us here to fight a battle that was lost a long time ago?”
“It’s something we may have to ask them, when we find them,” Drayke said with a whimsical tone.
Kavan was about to attack the dragonkin with a barrage of questions when Drayke held up his scaled hand and pointed. Kavan followed Drayke’s finger and gaze to the thicket of trees before them. Just past the brown trunks and emerald green leaves, the trees thinned and stone structures could be seen in the short distance.
Kavan looked over his shoulder to Durzol a little ways behind. The orc nodded with his spiked hammer in his hands.
Kavan and Drayke crouched down and moved closer. Durzol moved to their sides and stayed low. When they reached the edge of the forest, they stopped and looked beyond the surrounding trees.
Rocky ruins stood, brilliant sunlight on the stones. Strange mounds filled the area of various sizes. The area was silent as a grave as nothing moved or stirred. Further in, a stony entrance stood with inky shadows just beyond the morning sunlight.
Kavan, Drayke, and Durzol looked around as a strange, dried scent touched their sensitive noses. It was at that moment, the three of them looked at the mounds by the entrance and realized what they were.
Destroyed corpses and bones were piled in heaps by the entrance. Sunlight basked the piles of body parts and bones in an unforgiving light. The low stench of decay filled nostrils as the trio continued to visually scan the area. Deformed monsters lay on some of the piles, their decapitated heads staring at nothing and their over muscled bodies lying in pieces. The entire area gave off a foreboding gloom, despite the sunny morning.
“They slaughtered the dead and piled them outside,” Durzol whispered with wide eyes.
Kavan stared out as he opened his mouth, “We don’t know how many may be in there. We should let the potions do most of the work, but from what I know about the dungeon, it's deep. We will have to enter and move in as far as we can. We then start throwing fire potions and keep throwing them as we retreat out.”
“Simple plans are usually the best,” Drayke smirked.
Kavan’s left hand stabbed into his satchel on his hip. He reached into one of the inner pockets and pulled out two potions between his spindly fingers. Drayke did the same. Durzol pulled out one potion and held it in his left hand.
“I need use of my hands for my spiked hammer. I can guard the two of you once we start unleashing potions inside.”
Kavan nodded. “We don’t speak a word once we begin. This hand signal means to start throwing potions. This one means to retreat. This one means to stay quiet,” Kavan explained as he made a few simple hand gestures.
Drayke and Durzol nodded in agreement.
/> “We will move as silently as we can. I’ll take the lead. Drayke, you take the rear. Durzol, you’ll be between us, ready to fight and defend.”
“Let’s get this over with. I need to prepare for tonight’s celebration meal at the restaurant,” Drayke chuckled.
“I’m looking forward to it. I can still remember your delicious cooking from the other night,” Durzol smiled.
“I see you’re an orc with good taste,” Drayke smiled.
“Guys, let’s focus. We have to make sure we throw everything we have and get out. If we’re ready, let’s go.”
Drayke and Durzol nodded.
Kavan stood up and stepped out from the tree line, while calling up his stats.
Kavan Cynder
Species: Dragonkin
Health: Normal
Mana: 7
Gold: 12
Attributes
Strength: 4
Intelligence: 4
Dexterity: 4
Constitution: 4
Willpower: 4
Natural Abilities
Claws
Regeneration
Spheres
Fire: 2
Body: 1
Life: 1
Skills
Combat: 4
Kavan took the lead, moving with his half spear in hand and bent legs. Durzol followed, with a spiked hammer in his hands. Drayke took the rear, his sword still sheathed against his back and potions in his hands.
“Kavan, I’ll connect to your senses and assist,” Viz said.
Thank you. It’s much appreciated.
The entrance to the dungeon stood like a dark omen. Weathered arcane symbols were carved into every inch of visible stone. They only added to the dismal pulse that seemed to radiate from the dungeon entrance.
Kavan ignored the smell of putrid decay filling his nose. The stench was overpowering as the destroyed corpses cooked in the morning sun. Boots stepped carefully around piles of skeletal and mummified body parts.
When Kavan reached the entrance, he tried to visually pierce the inky darkness beyond.
Easy in, easy out.
Kavan stepped toward the entrance and silently moved into the shadowy darkness. His senses were dialed to eleven as he carefully moved one boot in front of the other. The inner walls to the entrance were covered in odd markings and symbols. The air was dry, like a desert at noon. It sapped the very moisture from his eyes as Kavan stepped down a step. The stairs proceeded down about a dozen steps before he reached the bottom.
When the dragonkin took one step further into the corridor, he froze as something shifted to his right.
Kavan turned his gaze to the side, seeing a xykk standing in the gloomy darkness. Its pointed head was bowed and arms folded against its body. It nearly blended in with the walls. It almost looked like a standing piece of weathered lumber, until its head shifted again. Unblinking white eyes stared at nothing as the thing didn’t move any further.
Kavan silently turned his head and looked around, his slitted eyes adjusting to the dark. Several xykk stood, side by side against both sides of the entrance. Their upper limbs were folded against their bodies and their heads were bowed. There was nearly a dozen of the creatures, six on each side of the dragonkin. The stench they gave off burned at Kavan’s nose, the dragonkin wondering if it was meant to deter other creatures from getting too close.
Kavan fought through the urge to gag as he stepped forward, silent as a ghost.
Durzol looked to each side of the dungeon entrance with wide eyes. His hands trembled a little, holding his spiked hammer. He controlled his breathing, but his heart beat like a large drum in his robust chest.
Drayke looked from side to side with cool eyes. Scaled hands held the potions with confidence as he followed Kavan and Durzol.
The corridor expanded the further they stepped in. Kavan turned his head to see entrances to rooms, the doors long rotted away. Cool darkness greeted him as he made his way along.
Between open rooms, more xykk drones stood against the walls. Still as statues, their presence only added to the foreboding feeling of the ancient dungeon. The musty air swirled as warm bodies stepped further in.
Kavan looked around, soaking in the dungeon and what Brom told him. It blended into reality, the very dungeon around him that housed the lich as he built his undead armies to strike back at his family. The history dripped from the walls, a melancholy story of a man turning to evil because he wasn’t accepted by family.
Brom must have spent so much time here, filled with rage and venom. It was enough to bring him to a point where the only answer was to make them kneel and acknowledge his own power.
When they died from the madness that consumed the world, the weight of it must have shattered his sanity at some point. I don’t know if I would have recovered if I had to do what he did to stop their suffering.
“Grief, pain, and trauma can make anyone turn to a darker path. It often comes from desperation and a personal need to fight against a certain perception, real or imagined,” Viz added.
Viz, if I ever turn down a dark path, talk me out of it.
“I will. I promise.”
Kavan walked on silently as he put the potions back in his satchel. His hand reached into his belt pouch and pulled out the makeshift map. He unfurled it and looked it over. He could see the wide corridor stabbing deeper. Further down, there was a large, circular chamber and many tunnels branching off. As Kavan walked, he noticed the slight downward incline, just enough to move with gravity, but not steep enough to knock anyone off balance.
Sleeping xykks grew in number along the walls. Patches of three to six were clustered together. Round insect eyes stared at nothing as the three intruders made their way a little deeper in.
Kavan stepped along until he reached a wide entrance. He slowed down, making a hand gesture to Durzol and Drayke to remain quiet.
The dark red dragonkin reached the entrance and looked down into a sea of darkness. His slitted eyes adjusted further, scanning the darkness for any hint of light. Small lights glowed in the vast distance. The darkness began to recede and Kavan’s heart thudded in his chest.
A massive underground arena spread out before him. Stone bench seating ringed the chamber and descended down to the floor of the chamber. Glowing stones were embedded into walls above the arena, barely giving it any light. Doorways lined the top of the arena, leading further into the dungeon, but those small points paled in comparison to what was in the middle of the arena.
A large, insect-like creature stood. Arms were folded to it as it stood on two thick legs. It was much larger than any drone, towering in the middle. It stood about twenty feet tall, round white eyes staring down at the arena floor. Around its clawed feet, a sea of balls ringed the giant creature, filling the area with large white pearl-like orbs.
Kavan’s eyes moved from side to side, seeing that the ring seating around the arena was packed with hundreds of standing xykks. They all faced the center, their eyes staring at the queen as she stood silently in all her putrid glory.
Durzol and Drayke moved to Kavan’s sides. The orc and dragonkin looked down at the large colony, a sense of dread touching their senses.
Kavan put the crude map away and pulled back the flap to his satchel. He put his spear behind him, attaching it to its sheath.
I’m going to need both of my hands for this.
Kavan reached into his tattered satchel and began pulling out more fire potions. Drayke did the same, his cool gaze on the impressive number of xykk in the massive chamber. Durzol’s hands tightened along the shaft of his spiked warhammer, a flame of confidence beginning to fill his chest.
Kavan glanced at the orc and dragonkin, each one giving a head nod. He readied to give the signal when a small sound touched his ears.
Kavan turned slightly, thinking he was hearing a kind of skittering. He looked back the way they came and horror stabbed into his spirit.
The wide corridor behind them was filled with whi
te grubs, the size of large cats. They moved along on clawed, stumpy legs as beady eyes stared at them. They made mewling sounds as they nearly covered the whole corridor floor, smelling fresh flesh. They spilled out from side chambers as the standing, sleeping xykks began to stir.
The feeling of horror drained away as Kavan’s eyes hardened. He made a quick gesture and turned around. Scaled hands pulled back with fire potions in them. Kavan took a breath before throwing them. Drayke followed suit, hurtling fire potions with equal parts amusement and deadly need to inflict a fiery storm on the monsters.
Durzol turned with his spiked warhammer to the advancing grubs. He looked down with contempt as they crawled closer, pincer filled mouths opening and ready to tear flesh from his bones. The orc raised his hammer when they were within a few feet of him. The moment a potion shattered in the dark distance, a grub leapt for the orc’s leg and was slammed into the stone floor, the point of the warhammer penetrating its thick body and smashing it into a gory mess.
Kavan and Drayke’s arms moved quickly, grabbing potions and hurtling them into the distance. Glass shattered on the white orbs and among the stands of the arena. The moment air touched the volatile liquid within, reactions sparked and flames exploded.
In a blink of time, fire bloomed in several directions and lit up the arena. Xykks woke from their slumber to chaos and fire. Wings stabbed out and blurred before fire washed over them and screeches echoed.
The queen in the center of the chamber lifted her pointed head as flames blossomed and spread. Her large, white round eyes glanced all around, seeing the fire spreading as her children screamed and screeched in pain. Smoke billowed into the chamber. The large white orbs around her unfurled and grubs tried to crawl away from the flames. Drones launched down to the arena floor and scooped up grubs. Some were not fast enough, the flames melting their transparent wings in an instant.
Durzol swung his hammer in rapid strikes, smashing grubs into paste. Further along the corridor, xykks took flight, hovering over the grubs and charging toward the intruders.
