by Dante King
The Plank Pillar disintegrated after a second, and the salamander dropped to the ground, flat as a pancake. Even though the corpse looked like it had been pressed with a rolling pin, a tiny orb in its chest was completely unharmed.
The object was still secured by sturdy tendons, but the cage of bones that kept it safe was completely crushed. I carefully cut the tendons and pulled out the core, a glowing sphere that crackled with heat and power. I was tempted to press it against my chest then and there, to absorb the power straight into me, but Rutmonlir had ordered us to bring back each core we found. And I knew from past experience that absorbing a lot of power at once could be unsettling and might throw me off balance for the rest of the hunt. If I was going to beat Hamon to three scorched salamander cores, I needed to stay at my best.
The first salamander had proven far more difficult than I’d imagined, but I now knew that even fire-breathing had limits. I was also improving my ability to use only as much Vigor as necessary to keep my body cool. The channels inside my body had also grown in power, and I felt that I would be able to preserve Vigor for two more killing moves.
I slipped the core into the folds of my robes and tucked it beneath my belt before I exited the chamber. I traveled down another three tunnels but found no salamanders. With my lure destroyed, I had nothing to draw them to me, either. Returning to Rutmonlir was out of the question. I doubted I would find my way back to the entrance in less than an hour, and by that time, Hamon could have retrieved all the cores he needed. I’d kept track of my movements, so I wouldn’t get lost, but time was of the essence.
I heard heavy footsteps echo through the tunnel behind me and paused a moment before I saw Hamon sprinting toward me.
“I have two!” Hamon roared as he sprinted to close the distance between us. “I only need one more.”
He’d also removed his robes from his chest, and vicious burns marked his skin. They were far more serious than the ones I had earned from my first salamander. He still carried his lure, and I figured that maybe this time, I would purposefully let him get ahead.
At the fork in the passage, I went left, into a downward sloping tunnel. I pressed my back against the wall and hoped he would continue ahead of me. As soon as he passed me, I whirled around and pursued him.
“You’re too slow, peasant!” he yelled.
I balled my fists and willed myself to keep up with him. My Vigor was depleting by the second, but I couldn’t stand the thought of losing to Hamon. With his lure still intact, he was bound to come upon a salamander at some point, and I’d be the one to kill it first.
I sprinted into another cavern, leapt across a lava stream, and headed downard. This tunnel was darker than the chamber had been. There were fewer gems in the ceiling and fewer glowing seams in the walls, making it harder to see what was underfoot. I almost tripped over an ember sprite before it hissed and ran off down a fissure to one side.
The tunnel had more twists and turns, ups and downs than a roller coaster. It forked repeatedly as it headed deeper into the mountain. Soon, Hamon had outpaced me by a good two minutes, and I wondered whether I’d ever find him. But the fork I’d passed seemed to have been the last, and I could hear sounds up ahead: snarling and grunting, thumping and clanging. The unmistakable noises of combat.
I drew my sword and crept closer. Soon, the tunnel opened out into a vast chamber. This seemed to be a nest. Broken egg shells, some of them a foot across, lay scattered amid a heap of glowing rocks. The floor around them was littered with gnawed and splintered bones. Young had been raised here, though they were no longer around. All that remained was a single scorched salamander, the largest one I’d seen so far.
It was fighting Hamon.
I watched from the shadows as Hamon and the salamander clashed. The guild initiate was fighting with a pair of curved shortswords, their hilts ornate and their blades wickedly sharp. He leapt and whirled in front of the salamander as it snapped at him. The giant lizard opened its mouth, and a fireball erupted from it with a boom. Hamon lifted his left hand, and a shield of rippling flames appeared over his fist. It expanded until it covered most his body, and the fireball dissipated on its burning surface.
Well, that was new. It looked like Flame Shield. That explained why Hamon didn’t want the technique—he already possessed it.
Rather than interrupt the battle, I decided to wait in the shadows. I figured the giant salamander would eventually run out of juice, and then, I could snatch the kill. I didn’t have a Flame Shield to protect me, and I was almost hoping the salamander could take Hamon down a few notches. I gathered my Vigor and bathed my channels in energy while I watched.
Hamon’s Flame Shield vanished into the air, and he darted in to strike at the creature. Both swords slashed at the lizard’s black scales, but they couldn’t penetrate its hardened hide. Hamon ducked beneath a counterstrike and shuffled backward under an onslaught of blows. He blocked almost every one, but a few managed to slip past his guard and gouge his flesh. It seemed that the creature had him trapped in one corner and was pressing him back hopelessly against the wall. But just as his back was about to brush the rock, Hamon leapt over the creature’s arm and out into the open.
The two turned to face each other again. While the salamander repositioned itself, Hamon closed his eyes. There was a moment of stillness and then, flames burst from the tips of his swords, turning it into a fiery lance. It reminded me of the Sundered Heart Sword’s skill, except this wasn’t a projectile. It was a flaming extension of his weapons.
He whirled the swords in his hands like some kind of fire dancer, and the afterimages almost blinded me. I would have been impressed, except I didn’t want him to get the kill. I’d have to enter the fray soon, but watching Hamon would give me some idea of his skill level.
The salamander roared and charged, its every step cracking the ground and leaving flaming footprints. Hamon slashed at the creature while the gap between them was still half a dozen feet, and his swords extended their flames. My heart sank as flames enveloped the salamander, but energy rushed through me when it didn’t slow down. Oblivious to its burning body, the giant lizard plowed into Hamon and tore him from his feet. The flames Hamon had used to ignite the creature were now roasting him as it ravaged his body with its claws.
It seemed that now was the time to be a hero, even if it meant saving the biggest asshole in the Seven Realms. I moved to enter the chamber, but a ring of fire suddenly exploded from Hamon. The salamander was thrown from its prey, and Hamon jumped to his feet. I doubted the fire had done anything to the lizard, but the sheer force of the martial technique must have launched it back as if it’d been hit by an explosion.
The giant lizard recovered quickly and thrashed at Hamon with a claw. The initiate fell, and the monster stamped its paw onto his chest. Hamon was bleeding from a dozen cuts, and almost his whole torso was covered in third-degree burns. He wouldn’t survive another flurry of claws from the salamander.
I really didn’t want to save Hamon, but I couldn’t exactly stand there while he was eaten alive.
Sword already swinging, I charged out of the tunnel mouth and caught the creature in the flank. My attack cut deep into its belly, and a torrent of lava spilled from its insides onto the ground. The burning liquid oozed toward me, and I summoned a Plank Pillar to use as a stepping stone. I slashed the creature left and right while its lifeforce leaked out. It opened its mouth, and I saw the familiar glow of a fireball in the back of its throat. Rather than let it incinerate me, I plunged my sword into its maw, and the tip of my sword poked through the back of its head.
I pulled out my blade as the monster toppled over. There was a glow from within the pile of innards. I removed the core from its bone-cage and shook off the gore that coated it. A gasp sounded from across the pool of lava beneath the dead salamander.
“That’s mine,” Hamon croaked as he fought to stand. He barely seemed conscious, and I doubted he would even make it back to Rutmonlir alive. Before
I could feel sorry for him, he removed a vial from his robes and chugged the contents down. Green lines glowed from beneath his skin, first in his mouth, then to his throat, before finally resting in his stomach. The burns and cuts on his body slowly faded until they were completely gone.
He rolled his shoulders and smiled at me, all signs of exhaustion gone. “Razor Birch nectar. Too bad a peasant like you can’t afford healing potions.”
“I don’t need them.” I tossed the orb in my hands.
“Give me the core,” he snarled.
“I figure a wealthy type like yourself could afford one. Or are you going to try and steal it from a peasant who just saved your ungrateful ass? No? Well, I guess you better find yourself another core.”
I sprinted out of the tunnel as I pocketed the salamander core.
“Come back here, you sniveling peasant,” Hamon shouted as he chased me up the tunnel. “Give me my core back.”
I didn’t waste my breath answering, just kept running up the tunnel. There were twists and forks again, and I kept following whichever path led uphill, or whichever was widest if there were two. I logged the directions in the back of my mind so that I could make a quick route outside the cave. I’d now realized that there was a consistency to the tunnels: the leftmost paths always went downward, and the right ones went upward. That one fact made me think that the Ember Cavern wasn’t natural but manmade. All that didn’t matter right now, though, because there would be no point leaving unless I found my last salamander core.
A hard blow hit the back of my head, and I stumbled. My head spun as I turned to see my attacker. A foot lashed out while I was still stunned and knocked my legs from under me. I fell to the floor and bit my tongue as I landed.
“You pathetic, little shit.” Hamon kicked me in the ribs. “You temple-dwelling, troll-sucking, flea-infested peasant.”
I tasted blood as his sandaled foot slammed into me hard. I was ready for the next kick. As his foot came in, I caught it with both hands, pulled hard, and dragged him off balance. He fell to the floor beside me, and I scrambled onto him while ignoring my own pain to inflict some on him. I pressed my knee into his chest and managed a couple of good punches before I released him.
“You had enough?” I asked as we faced each other. “Or are you going to strike me in the back as soon as I turn around?”
Hamon glared at me, anger burning in his eyes. “You will regret this.”
Neither of us went for our weapons, which came as a relief. Sure, I was really starting to hate him, but I didn’t want to kill him. And I definitely didn’t want him to kill me, either. If we kept this from getting deadly, so much the better.
His leg shot up in a high kick, but I just managed a block that left my right arm throbbing. He was good with his feet, so I decided to get in close and rob him of that advantage. I shoulder barged straight into him, lifted him off his feet and slammed him into the wall.
Hamon was as strong as me but lightly built. I used my bulk to pin him up against the wall while I pounded at his body with my fists. His hands and elbows battered against my back. It would all come down to who had the most endurance.
The pain built in my back as we pummeled each other, driven by adrenaline and mutual dislike. My back ached but I kept going, sure I could outlast the prim little git.
A hiss echoed around the chamber, followed by the rasping of claws against stone.
We both stopped fighting and turned toward the sound.
I’d had no idea that scorched salamanders could get so big. It was nearly twice as long as the first one I’d encountered, with a head the size of a sofa and a five-foot-long tail that hit both walls as it swung back and forth. Its massive pits for eyes stared hungrily at the lure dangling from Hamon’s waist.
By unspoken agreement, Hamon and I moved apart and drew our swords. We weren’t preparing ourselves like allies—we both wanted the core and would do anything to obtain it.
Fire rose from the blade in Hamon’s right hand, and more sprang up in a ring around him. He took the lure from his belt, held it up, and swung the cord. The salamander seemed entranced, unable to look away from the glowing, caged orb.
Hamon was standing head-on to the salamander, and there was no way I could get past. He’d assumed correctly that I would strike him from behind just to obtain the lizard’s core. An almost deafening rumble came from the salamander’s throat, and a smile touched my lips. The only way Hamon could survive a direct hit from a fireball was by using Flame Shield. It would take almost all his focus to block an attack from so large a salamander.
The salamander opened its mouth, and Hamon sheathed his sword. He held both hands in front of him, and a dome of fire expanded over them both. It was much larger than his previous shield, and it extended all the way to both tunnel walls. The lizard’s giant fireball crashed into it, but the barrier held. I waited until the last second before Hamon would remove the shield and took a running start.
As his barrier came down, I planted my foot on his back, leaped over him, and landed on the salamander’s head. The beast’s mouth hung open, letting out a gust of hot air that smelled of ashes. Hamon jumped onto the creature’s back and ran along it until he stood over the neck. He bent and slashed at it with his swords. Sparks flashed as the blades bounced off the tough scales.
The salamander reared as it tried to remove us, but I planted my sword between two scales and held on. Hamon continued slashing, likely believing that the scales would eventually give way. He might have known something I didn’t about salamanders. I studied his movements while evading the salamander’s swipes as it lumbered around the tunnel too narrow for its body.
Hamon was definitely attacking the scales with purpose, and it looked like he was trying to pry one off with the end of his sword. The creature twisted its head around and snapped at the nuisance on its back. Hamon cursed and dodged away as the salamander tried to bite him in half.
I glanced over the scales on the salamander’s head and realized that they were almost glued together by magma. My sword hadn’t been damaged by lava before, so I plunged my sword downward and heaved on the hilt with all my weight. The sword bent a little, and a scale flipped off the salamander with an audible pop. The giant lizard bellowed, the sound amplified by the tunnel.
Soft flesh showed where the scale had been, and tightened my legs around its crenulated spine before I removed my sword. The monster bucked, but my legs held firm, and I stabbed its soft flesh with my sword. The blade skewered the salamander from cranium to jawbone, and it crashed in death.
I hurried to the salamander’s torso, pried off a number of scales, and cut into the meat. I could hear Hamon doing the same on the other side of the corpse, so it was a dissection race that would have rivaled any 7th grade biology class. Guts poured out in a scalding wet heap of lava and innards.
“Where the fuck is it?” Hamon’s voice came from behind the corpse.
I caught a glimpse of white bone and dug further, careful not to let the steaming entrails touch me. I cut the bone-cage free and inserted the two orbs I’d gained earlier. They fit together in the single cage, a trio of glowing spheres that would grant me Untamed Torch.
Hamon climbed over the steaming corpse, jumped off its back, and stood facing me.
“You have it, don’t you?” He pointed with his sword.
“Of course,” I replied.
“Give it to me.”
“My kill, my core.”
“You dirty, thieving shit.”
“I’m certainly dirty,” I looked down at robes steaming with fire-infused lizard blood. “But this is still mine.”
He lunged forward, trying to wrap his arms around me. Fast on my feet and slippery with blood, I half-dodged, half-slid clear, then turned and ran up the tunnel.
Hamon was after me again, so close behind I could almost feel him. We sprinted up the tunnel as my damp sandals slid on smooth stone, and Hamon snatched at my robes. My body ached, my skin tingled from the lizar
d blood, and the breath burned in my lungs. None of that was going to stop me from proving who was best.
I had hardly any Vigor remaining; the fight with Hamon and the salamanders had robbed my body of almost every fraction. Still, I had a sliver left, so I turned around and faced Hamon. He grinned at me, but his smile faded when I lifted my hand.
“Have a Plank Pillar,” I said as a wall of wood shot up from the ground and closed off the tunnel. Hamon must not have been able to stop in time, because a heavy thud reverberated from the other side of the newly created wooden wall.
The sound of metal against wood came as Hamon attempted to cut his way through my obstacle. I used the opportunity to retrace my route before I again heard Hamon quickly gaining on me. He’d used a healing potion after his first few rounds, so his Vigor was likely undepleted. His steps were getting louder, but I found the entrance tunnel and burst into the fresh air.
I pulled back my arm and threw the bone-cage with three cores like a professional football player. It tumbled through the air toward Kegohr, who caught it in a single clawed hand.
“That’s three!” I yelled and raised my arms.
My fellow initiates cheered, clapped, and stamped their feet. Everyone was jubilant, down to the last student.
Hamon snarled as he shot out from the cave, and I spun around to face him. He glared at the cheering initiates and then at me. His rage seemed to overflow before he charged. Suddenly, Rutmonlir leaped from a boulder and was between us. He’d moved so fast, it was little more than a blur. I stared at him in wonder as he planted a palm in Hamon’s chest.
“You seem angry,” the tutor said to the furious initiate.
“He stole my cores!” Hamon spat at me.
“He took them from your person?”
“No.”
“Then he didn’t steal them. He bested you. But you’ve come so close, it’d be wrong to waste the effort.”
