Fire & Stone_The War for Life

by Luis Robles

  “I wasn’t sure I would be able to do it. I’m not used to using so much magic anymore. But I’m glad that I was able to,” Bliss said as she wiped a bit of sweat off her forehead.

  “Who are you?” the leader of the apothecaries asked fearfully.

  “My name is Bliss, and this is Dragon. We are here to help rid the town of the illness it faces.”

  “All this time we have been praying to all that is good for someone like you to come,” the leader of the apothecaries said as he fell to his knees and took off his white faceless mask. “For years, we have been trying to keep the people of this town alive but to no avail. We were fighting an uphill battle.”

  “Your prayers one way or the other have been answered,” Bliss added.

  His facial expression fell into a frown. “Call me Tesoro. I am the head apothecary here, and this is my assistant apprentice Mihra. I knew there was something not right at play here... Never before have our potions done so little. You must be one of those powerful mages then, Bliss?”

  “Not exactly,” she admitted.

  “Well, that is not important now. I cannot thank you enough for what you have done here. If there’s anything I can do to repay you, anything at all…” Tesoro said, bowing his head.

  “That won’t be necessary at all, friend. Just keep helping the people of this village recover. Do what you know, and do it best,” the dragon said as he nodded.

  “Very well, I’ll do as you say. Maybe things might change back into the way they used to be. Maybe there is still hope left in the world. We’ll do the best we can with what we got until such a day comes,” Tesoro said as he put back on his mask.

  “Master,” Mihra whispered, but feeling proud of her master.

  Although the apothecaries were exhausted, they still had a lot of fight left in them.

  “We’ll be leaving now. We have one more thing to get rid of in this city,” the dragon said with a slight smile.

  “If I may ask, where are you heading to now? Another town perhaps?” Tesoro asked.

  The dragon looked down at the compass on his hand, thought for a second and said, “It looks like we won’t be going too far from here. The place we have to go is just at the backside of the city. That’s where the evil that plagues this city lies.”

  “The old windmill…” Mihra said, cringing.

  “You can’t go there! That place was long abandoned, and there is nothing but sickness there, a disease in far more concentrated level. Anyone that has ever gone in that area has never returned,” Tesoro expressed with a worried tone.

  “That’s the exact reason why we are going there. All of these have to stop,” the dragon said as he straightened up to his full length.

  “Very well then. It was an honor meeting you both. Please take of yourselves.”

  Bliss and the dragon walked over to the old mill, and along the way they noticed that the concentration of the sickness was increasing with every step. The air grew thicker and heavier. If it wasn’t for Bliss’ magic, it was certain that they would pass out from the harmful toxins. The walls were getting darker and covered in a kind of tar. The walkways were cracked, and there were puddles of water, with mosquitos everywhere. When Bliss was no longer able to skip through the puddles, she jumped back on the dragon’s shoulder, where she floated just a few centimeters above it.

  As they approached the old windmill, they heard a deep voice that made the nearby structures reverberate.

  “So, you have made it this far. I’m happy to tell you that this is as far as you will ever go,” the deep serpentine voice said from inside the mill.

  “Be careful, Dragon, I can sense he is not in there,” Bliss said as the dragon reached up to set Bliss down from his shoulder. Bliss primed her magic, and the dragon put up his guard.

  An earth-shattering sound came from behind Bliss and the dragon, pushing them towards the old windmill, going up and straight through it, effectively destroying the structure. The push was so strong that they ended outside the village, even breaking the top part of the wall that guarded and surrounded the city. Bliss stood in the air with an air bubble protecting her from harm, while the dragon bounced twice off the desert sand surrounding the village.

  Bliss faced what was left from the old windmill and descended slowly to the ground. The dragon stood up slowly and shook off any debris caught in his cloak.

  “Are you ok?” the dragon asked Bliss, not moving his gaze from the windmill ruins.

  “I managed to put a magic field around me just before the impact. I can sense movement. Be careful, Dragon,” Bliss said intuitively.

  “The hit was strong, but he won’t catch me like that again,” the dragon said, burying his clawed right foot on the ground.

  Gases were exhausting from the windmill ruins, and a large cloud of gray, dark smoke appeared before them. Within it, an enormous winged serpent appeared. “I am Malady,” a voice from the cloud said as they were clearing. Before Bliss and the dragon was Malady, floating in the air with his wings fully extended and body slithering just like a snake would. Malady was twice the size of the dragon, and his body was enclosed with sharp, blade-like armor. “Nice to finally meet you, Dragon,” he hissed. “As far as I know, you cannot take part in this war,” the serpent added as he faced Bliss.

  Bliss’ eyebrows narrowed. But before she could say anything, the dragon spoke loudly at the winged serpent. “Hey! You have other things to worry about at the moment. And those other things is me,” the dragon said, pointing at himself with his thumb.

  “You are but a mere overpowered dragon. You are nothing compared to the power of the Gates. Just surrender while you still have your life to your own. The Gates will eventually consume all in this pathetic planet. No matter how hard you try, you will never wipe us out. We will linger and comeback!” Malady hissed.

  “I don’t know about that, but I think I can try pretty hard,” the dragon replied as he took a step towards the winged serpent. Bliss backed away from the dragon and Malady as the two were getting ready to attack.

  In a matter of seconds, despite the dragon’s struggle to fend it off, Malady wrapped his entire body around the dragon, turning into a constricting coil. He was squeezing so tight that the blades of Malady’s armor started cutting the dragon’s skin.

  “Fuego!”

  With a muffled voice from within Malady’s grip, fire emerged from within Malady’s coil, making the winged serpent loosen its hold and letting the dragon go.

  Malady retreated a few meters away, with half of his body burned and part of his armor falling to the ground. The dragon’s body had lacerations, and some of Malady’s armor stuck to it. The dragon shook off the pieces of Malady’s armor, and his wounds began to heal slowly.

  “Not bad, not bad at all. It’s no wonder that you managed to defeat Despair and Meager. If I had hands, I would physically clap for you,” Malady ridiculed as he turned in the air.

  “Cut your crap. Let’s finish this!” the dragon announced, assuming an attacking stance.

  Malady launched towards the dragon, aiming to strike at his neck. But this time, the dragon was waiting for him. The dragon landed a blow on the side of Malady’s face. With one swift and powerful punch, he managed to break most of Malady’s facial and neck armor, knocking Malady out cold.

  The dragon stood, short-winded, still recovering from his wounds, waiting for Malady to move again. Bliss called to the dragon from a distance and said, “Dragon… Something isn't right!”

  Soon after Bliss’ words, a sinister voice surfaced and spoke out of nowhere. In a loud, dark voice, “I am truly amazed! You are just a dragon and you managed to do that to Malady. Somebody has to talk to the boss about replacing his emissaries.”

  The dragon looked at Malady with a confused face, trying to figure out what was going on. However, the voice was coming from elsewhere.

  The dragon’s body was still high on adrenaline, and he shouted out to the wind with a demanding voice, “Show yourself! I'm
tired of these games!”

  The sinister voice answered the dragon with a dark and mysterious tone, “Very well then. If you would like to meet your end already, I won't deny it to you…”

  Next to where the body of Malady lay, a large cloud of black smoke began to appear.

  When the smoke started to dissipate, another Gate creature became visible, wearing a large expanse of gold and other precious metals. Its body armor was clean and shiny, with swatches of gold everywhere that ended with diamonds on the tip. The creature was just a little taller than the dragon but looked twice as strong. Out of all the Gate creatures the dragon had faced in the past few days, this one was the only one that carried a weapon—a long, two-bladed, heavily decorated lance that looked sturdy and dangerous. The lance stood vertically next to the creature as he held it with the curl of his tail. It stood still next to Malady with his arms crossed, waiting for the dragon’s reaction.

  The dragon glared and clench his teeth, revealing them as he snarled.

  “I am Greed,” the creature said as he slowly approached the dragon.

  “Two against one? That seems kind of fair,” the dragon growled.

  Greed moved his head slightly to one side and answered the dragon. “Two you say? Where do you get that number? This old snake won’t be getting involved. It will be just you and me. As soon as Greed finished talking, he launched an attack with tremendous speed, swinging his lance against the dragon. The dragon managed to move out of the way, escaping the large gouge that ran from his upper front shoulder to his stomach.

  The dragon countered the attack, grabbing Greed with force, lifting him up over himself, and slamming him into the ground. The entire ground shook as the dragon kept driving Greed into it. He then backed away slowly to deliver his finishing blow. He inhaled strongly and started to say, “Fue—” but was interrupted when he was blindsided by the now conscious Malady.

  Bliss cringed when she saw the two Gate creatures next to the dragon because she knew that the dragon stood little hope of defeating two of the creatures at the same time. Fear consumed her as she came into the realization. She forced herself to watch both malevolent creatures attacking the dragon in unison.

  Overwhelmed by Malady and Greed, the dragon was unable to form a counterattack, with any hope of victory diminished with every blow they landed. The dragon weakened, and Bliss was in a state of desperation as she saw him losing his ground against the two Gate creatures. She knew she could not help the dragon directly, but she kept asking herself desperately, “What can I do? What can I do? What can I do?” Then, an image from her past flashed in her mind, and she remembered a weapon that was once used against her, an unstoppable weapon.

  Without losing any time, Bliss extended her hands to the ground and pointed her palms in a slight angle. Gathering an enormous amount of magic in the palms of her hands, Bliss said in a commanding voice, “I call forth the Gemini’s Sword!”

  Moments later, the ground began shaking, and from far within the depths of the earth, a solid and perfect sword appeared through the fissures. It was as if it had been released from the depths of hell, still smoking hot and glowing orange. The sword was twice the size of Bliss and did not move a millimeter while it was in front of her floating in the air. She whispered to the sword, “You will now be the dragon’s sword. Go forth and protect him.” The sword shook in place, accepting Bliss’ command.

  The enormous weapon rushed to the dragon’s direction, getting in between the Gate creatures’ attacks on him. Malady turned to Greed and said in a cocky voice, “Just get rid of the dragon’s new trinket already.” Greed grabbed his lance with his hands and struck the sword with great force only to see his lance crack and fall into pieces. The sword stood unmoved, unscratched, and at an arm’s length from the dragon.

  Bliss quickly yelled to the dragon with a little more hope evident in her voice, “Dragon, grab the sword! Now is your chance!”

  The dragon reacted to Bliss’ voice and grabbed the sword with one swift motion. As he did so, power flooded his body once again as he felt the might of the steel that he held, his confidence returning, and the Gate creatures backing off ever so slightly. Without losing time or momentum, the dragon attacked the creatures with the sword, cutting them in half with one swift, powerful movement. The two creatures stood no chance against the dragon and his new sword.

  Soon after the creatures were slain, they began to evaporate into nothingness. The dragon stood tired and weakened from the battle. Although the battle was somewhat short, the amount of force that was used far exceeded any of this world. Bliss ran to the dragon and asked in a worried yet happy voice, “Dragon, are you okay?”

  He turned to face her, but before he answered, he inhaled very slowly. Instantaneously, all his wounds began to disappear. With a slight smile on his face, he said, “It seems I'm just fine. Where did this sword come from? Why was it able to cut them just like that?” the dragon asked as he inspected the sword.

  “That is Gemini’s sword. It was once used as a weapon against me and my Watcher at the time. It was also one of the last thing we were able to survive together. It is the strongest weapon on Earth crafted from fallen metal, a blade that cannot be stopped. The sword can cut through anything; it was sharpened with some of the strongest magic there is,” Bliss said with a sigh.

  “How did you survive against this thing?” the dragon asked curiously.

  “My Watcher was a strong one, and he did everything possible to protect me,” Bliss said, looking down.

  “Do you miss him…?” the dragon asked, realizing he had made a mistake.

  “Very much...he was the only family I ever knew,” Bliss answered, trying to conceal her tears.

  Not knowing how to deal with the situation, the dragon stood quiet and just waited for Bliss to speak again. “But that’s a story for another time. Now, we just must focus on saving the world. Right? If we don’t save it, nobody else will.”

  “When all of this is over, I would like to listen to your story. If you’d like to tell it,” the dragon said with a soft voice.

  “I’d like that! I’d like that very much, Dragon,” Bliss said with a slight smile. “We should go inform the apothecaries of what’s been done here today.”

  As they walked towards the entrance of the village, Bliss noticed that the dragon carried the sword awkwardly. “Oh, right! Let me make a harness for it so you can have your hands free.” She waved her index finger at the sword and said, “Conceal.” A special holster for the sword appeared, fitting it like a glove. It hung on the dragon’s right side and disappeared when it was not in use.

  “Woah! This is going to be handy if I can find it!” the dragon said with humor and a bit of sarcasm.

  “Anytime you wish to see it, it will appear,” Bliss said with a smile.

  “How does your magic even work? I only heard you say ‘conceal’ and yet the magic that you put on the sword does much more than just conceal it,” he asked as he played with the appearing and disappearing of the sword.

  “You see, Dragon, unlike mages, magic runs through my body as it was a part of me. I can so much think and it will happen. But when I chant it, it strengthens my bond with the magic, making the spell much stronger. That’s all,” Bliss explained in a causal tone. However, Bliss was deeply concerned as she noticed that the dragon had two more scars that did not heal. She was certain that the battles between the Gate creatures and the dragon were leaving marks on him. But for what? She did not know.

  Tesoro and his apothecaries were already waiting for them. Tesoro asked him in a newly anxious voice, “Are you two all right? We thought you will never survive. We were able to witness from afar. Is it true? Is it really true? Have you slain the evil that plagued this city?”

  A slight smile showed on the dragon’s face as he replied, “There will be no more sickness and disease from that old mill anymore. Now, my friend, all your efforts will not go in vain. Take care of the village. You know what to do.” Without sa
ying anything else, the dragon walked away towards the last remaining glowing dot on his compass.

  “Something big has happened today. Big change is coming. Mark my words, they will change the world,” Tesoro said to no one in particular as Bliss and the dragon disappeared into the horizon.

  6

  The Great Wall of Stone

  They walked for two days and two nights, only stopping to eat and rest. Nature was so peaceful that for moment at a time, they were able to forget the task at hand, and they remembered what it was like to live. But all of that changed when a wall became visible in the horizon.

  “Tell me if I am wrong, but isn’t that wall right in our path?” he asked, turning his head slightly to his left shoulder where Bliss was floating.

  “You are right, Dragon. That is the Great Wall of Stone. Gargoyles built it to protect their kingdom and all villages in the vicinity from the constant attacks,” Bliss explained.

  “Attacks from who or what? Is it from one of those creatures?” he asked.

  “If it were one of the Gate creatures, I do not think the Stone Village would survive, or any of the villages surrounding it. We believe it is their pawns that have been attacking the region, but we also believe that the last of the Gate creatures we are looking for is behind it. I think it is a good idea to stop by the gargoyle village and find out the latest events that have occurred in the region,” Bliss said, lost in thought.

  “Sounds good to me! Is everything ok?” the dragon asked, concern about Bliss’ health.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just remembering the last time I was here. The place has changed so much. They have expanded more than I would have thought.

  “Looks like we have company. Five of them are coming this way.” The dragon motioned towards the direction of five gargoyles approaching.

  As they approached the wall and the entrance was finally visible, the five winged gargoyles landed just a few meters away from Bliss and the dragon.