The Holtur Enigma (The Holtur Trilogy)

by Cameron Wayne Smith

  Climbing over the fence where the little mare had collapsed, he closed his eyes, giving gratitude for the horse. Vivian was unsure what happened to it after fending off the Eye of Desecration, but he hoped she was ok.

  Eventually he had made it to the main entrance of Holtur, a large unloaded ballista pointed towards him. “Fucking Patressi!” Sonja began to laugh from upon the wall. “Returning from his date with Glacious! Well I’ll be…”

  “Any sign of my assistant?” Vivian skipped the pleasantries as he made his way up the stairs.

  Sonja sighed. “No, not yet, I’m sorry Vivian. We’ve had scouts out looking constantly, but we’ve found nothing. The bargetier has most likely gone into hibernation until the frozen suns are over.”

  A man walked out from the bartisan, it was Commander Fin Maver. “On the positive though, your ride will be ready first thing next sun,” he said with a nod.

  “Fuck my ride,” Vivian cursed. “I’m not leaving until we find Donna.”

  Fin tilted his head, then looked to Sonja who took a step back. She too, was staring at Vivian, her eyebrows raised. “Settle down there Vivian,” she said cautiously.

  “No!” Vivian looked back to the two of them sternly. “The shit I’ve been through since coming down here, assisting Holtur through its own troubles. I won’t leave until I secure a victory of my own.”

  “I will admit, you have helped us quite a bit,” Fin agreed. “Especially if the Eye of Desecration has been dealt with once and for all.”

  A sympathetic gaze came from Sonja. “You do realise, she is probably dead though?”

  “I don’t want to think that, but if she is…” Vivian growled. “I want to see that fucking bargetier’s head detached from its fucking body.”

  “I didn’t realise Holtur had such an effect on you!” Sonja reached an arm around his back and gave him a friendly side hug. “But you can stop using f-word so much now, it doesn’t suit you.”

  “Fuck…” Vivian said in defiance.

  “I’ll be sure to allocate more scouts to the search after shift change,” Fin agreed, then turned back towards the bartisan.

  “I want that bargetier dead just as much as anyone.” Sonja’s expression became grim. “The sooner the better.”

  A roar bounced off the mountains towards them, followed by four more. They weren’t as intimidating as the other roars Vivian had heard since being in town. But a roar, was a roar, and this was supposed to be the calmest time of the year.

  “Fuck…” Vivian repeated once more, he was beginning to enjoy using the word. It almost worked as a tension relief when something terrifying was happening. It also seemed to ease the pain in his shoulder.

  Sonja already had a looking glass up to her eye. “Four… No five. Five reds on approach,” she said. “Bloody Altkrugans being lazy again.”

  “Altkrugans?” Vivian asked. “What have they done now?”

  “They are supposed to keep an eye on the flame wyvern populations. Obviously it’s getting a little crowded up there.” Sonja clenched a fist.

  “Juvies?” Fin Maver question, while reaching for the looking glass.

  “Pretty sure.” Sonja nodded. “Shouldn’t be much of an issue.”

  “Do we have to?” Volk appeared as if out of nowhere. “For wyverns, they sure are majestic creatures.”

  “Oh Red, you and your flaming fetishes.” Sonja laughed. “Maybe we should just let them burn Holtur down?”

  Volk shrugged. “At least it would warm the place up.”

  “Come on Red…” Vivian just realised Volk and the Flame wyverns shared the same nickname. “Burn the reds!”

  “Hilarious…” Volk rolled his eyes, then made his way to the armoury behind the other slayers on duty.

  “What do you want me to do?” Vivian asked Sonja once she finished loading the ballista turret.

  “Grab a bow,” she spoke dutifully whilst walking towards the armoury. She glanced back at him and laughed to herself. “Actually, that didn’t work so well last time.”

  “I doubt this wound would boost my archery skills,” he said while tapping the air near his shoulder.

  “How about this?” Sonja handed Vivian a crossbow, similar to the one Donna had tried to use on that stone wyvern. “You should have the strength to load it. Whatever you do, once it is loaded, don’t point it at anything but the wyverns.”

  Vivian grabbed it with his good arm. “Got it.”

  “And don’t go using the marked again!” Sonja laughed once more. “You did good with the Eye, but wyverns are a lot easier to slay.”

  “Four juveniles and one adult,” Fin called out as the wyverns came closer. “It may even be an alpha! Take that thing out as soon as possible.”

  “What’s the difference?” Vivian questioned. He was holding the crossbow with his feet, struggling, but succeeding at pulling the bowstring back with just his left arm.

  “Juvies are small, weak, but unpredictable.” Sonja turned the turret around to face the oncoming wyverns. “They might randomly fall from the sky, or even retreat. They also can’t control their flame sacs all that well. They could get excited and spew forth a gigantic inferno, or completely fail, and engulf their prey in mere bad breath.”

  “And the alphas?” Vivian’s voice sounded a little fearful.

  “Do I need to spell that out to you?” Sonja smirked. “Big and bad. We take it out, and the juvies will most likely flee.”

  Another collection of roars trembled across Holtur, confirming the wyverns were closing in. Four of the slayers—equipped with long bows—rode out the main gate atop masculine steeds. The men and stallions were both much larger than Vivian and the little mare he rode out the other sun. They were heading in the wyverns’ direction, yelling and screaming at them, attempting to get their attention. It didn’t take much effort getting the five wyverns to take chase.

  The horses turned back towards the main gate, while the slayers took aim and began firing arrows at the wyverns. The flame wyverns swivelled and curled through the air with much more grace than the rigid stone wyvern. A single arrow managed to pierce through one of the juveniles, sending it plummeting towards the ground.

  “Here goes!” Vivian excitedly pointed the loaded crossbow towards one of the wyverns. The creature was—as its nickname implied—an intense red colour. Their body structure appeared similar to the stone wyvern, only lighter, and elegant, with two sets of holes, embedded in carapace, running along their spines. He pulled the trigger, releasing the bolt which flew straight through the cold air. Its trajectory travelled nowhere near the wyverns and landed softly in the snow. “Maybe if my right arm was in a little better condition,” he mumbled to himself.

  “Helps if you aim Patressi!” Sonja laughed. Once the larger wyvern had flown within proximity, she released the much heavier bolt from the turret, firing it directly towards the alpha.

  A loud roar escaped the jaws of the alpha, followed by a huge plume of flames that collided with the bolt. The bolt seemed to explode, sending fire spraying in all directions. The alpha flew through the blazing sky like it had barely changed its movements.

  “Beautiful thing,” Volk spoke with appreciation, then fired an arrow at it. The alpha swung around, avoiding the projectile.

  A slayer with long, messy, black hair followed up with another arrow, piercing part of the wing. The arrow seemed to annoy the wyvern more than hurt it, but it became angered, deciding it was time to inflict pain upon the dark-haired slayer.

  The juveniles were still distracted with the horses. They were chasing them around, and it seemed more like a game to the mounted slayers than an issue of survival. The alpha was more calculated, understanding that the archers—and the ballista turret—had to be dealt with before they could consume the humans.

  Sonja fired another ballista bolt, which the wyvern gracefully spiralled away from. It then spat a ball of fire at the ballista, engulfing it in flame. The wyvern then blasted another at the dark haired slayer.
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  The flame wyvern swooped in with a roar. The dark-haired slayer threw off his coat, revealing an incredibly pale, shirtless man, with two swords strapped to his bare back. The shirtless slayer did his best to mimic the roar of the wyvern, then charged towards it.

  This guy was insane. The two of them charged towards each other. If Vivian was a betting man, he would have put his money on the flame wyvern. Mainly due to the fact that its gaping maw looked large enough to consume the man whole.

  The dark-haired slayer screamed again, and fire pulsed from the holes lining the wyverns back. Closing in on each other, he leapt through the air. Vivian wanted to divert his gaze, but he had to know if the wyvern was going to come for him next!

  The slitted pupil of the wyvern’s eye began rapidly expanding, blocking out the yellow and almost filling its eye completely black. It blinked a few times, then flipped itself around, like it had failed a game of chicken and wanted to escape. For whatever reason, fear was completely lacking in the dark-haired slayer. He leapt once again at the retreating wyvern, his arms outstretched, managing to grab hold of the base of its wings.

  The wyvern spiralled and looped, trying to buck the dark haired-slayer off. “Who is that?” Vivian asked Sonja. He was watching intently while struggling to reload the crossbow.

  “Ivan Griswald.” Sonja picked up another ballista bolt. “Went a little crazy, not long after you took out the Eye.” She pat out the flames flickering along the ballista, then loaded up the ammunition.

  “Trying to outdo me?” Vivian lifted the crossbow, then fired another shot. The bolt missed all intended targets. “I didn’t really do that much, and you won’t see me riding a wyvern that’s for sure!

  Sonja aimed the turret. “I don’t know, but probably best for you to avoid him. If he survives whatever he is playing at anyway.” She fired the ballista again, the bolt puncturing straight through one of the juveniles. Fire poured out of its chest, followed by its insides, then it fell to the ground.

  “Only two left in the sky!” Vivian smiled, giving up on the crossbow and deciding to play commentator. The alpha was roaring in a mix of anger and fear. Ivan was only holding on to one wing now, furiously hacking at the other with one of his blades.

  Sonja was loading the turret once more when the last airborne juvenile did the unexpected. It flew towards two of the mounted slayers, then released an impossibly large blast of flame. It was massive! Vivian figured that even the alpha couldn’t release such a devastating attack! The horses released a bloodcurdling screech, which was cut short with their entire corpses being turned to ash.

  “Fucking juvie,” Sonja cursed, releasing the next bolt at the out-of-control wyvern. The wyvern’s exhausted body had fallen to the ground, and it fell below the projectile without any effort. The two other mounted slayers approached it, ready to take advantage of its drained state. One slayer speared it through the chest. The second cleanly removed the creature’s head as his horse galloped past.

  “YOUR GOING DOWN YOU FILTHY RED!” Ivan screamed from atop the large wyvern.

  The alpha released another pained roar which ended in a yelp. An aggressive human roar was released, along with one of the wyvern’s wings.

  “He hacked a wing off?” Vivian watched the one winged wyvern spiral out of control. “What a guy!”

  “See!” A smirk appeared across Sonja’s face. “I told you these things were a piece of piss!”

  “Yeah.” Vivian wanted to say something about the two slayers and horses that were now ash, but decided it best to keep his mouth shut. He’d come to terms with the fact that slayers die, almost every sun, and was sure that Sonja must have done so well and truly before himself. “Piece of piss.”

  Sonja, along with a bunch of the other slayers that had been firing arrows and bolts at the wyverns, had raced down the stairs and out the main gates. Vivian chased behind, noticing that two juveniles were definitely dead, while the others, and alpha, weren’t quite finished.

  A bunch of slayers descended upon the remaining juveniles like a pack of wolves. The wyverns tried to blast them with flame, but their fear only let them summon puffs of smoke. One released a light roar, which yelped into a squeal, and then finally silence. The other didn’t even get that opportunity.

  “Hey Vivian,” Volk called out from beside one of the juvenile corpses. “I’ve got a gift for you.” He threw a small meaty bladder, no bigger than a baby’s fist to him. “Poor thing’s flame sacs are sealed tight.”

  “Oh yeah?” Vivian had no idea what Volk was talking about.

  “Full of wyvern oil.” He continued ripping more of them out of the wyvern’s chest, placing them into a red satchel. “And it’s the good stuff! Flame wyverns have the best oil, that’s how they create blasts of fire at will. Juvenile’s have the most concentrated sacs too.”

  “What do you expect me to do with it?” Vivian rolled the meaty sac around his hand.

  “Firstly, be careful with it!” Volk’s eyes looked at Vivian’s hands with disapproval. “Secondly, if you ever need something ignited, just throw it, as hard as you can. Even in cold or wet weather there’ll be enough oxygen to ignite it. By Aesterus, it will probably burn under water!”

  “Right, thanks Volk.” Vivian placed the meaty sac into a pocket on the right of his chest. He didn’t like the idea of carrying explosives, and it hurt his shoulder putting it in his pocket, but figured that would be the least likely spot he would take a blow, or press something heavily against himself.

  “Now all we need to do is take out the alpha.” Volk moved away from the corpse. He began to stride towards the alpha that was limping away towards the mountains.

  Vivian saw Ivan lay still in the snow, belly up, making no effort to move. He must have fallen when the wyvern crash landed. “Is the bastard dead?” Ivan coughed from the snow, revealing his life not ended.

  “Not yet.” Sonja reached her hand out to Ivan. “It doesn’t look far from it though.”

  Ivan reached for the offered hand, which promptly hauled him back to his feet. He then staggered about for a moment before regaining his footing. “Ah, letting it go would be torture!”

  “It sure wouldn’t survive the frozen suns,” Volk added.

  “I’ll finish it.” Sonja started to chase after the creature.

  “Hey!” Ivan suddenly appeared rejuvenated and dashed up to Sonja. “Don’t go stealing my kill, ya bloody dike!”

  “Ivan!” Sonja stopped in her tracks, allowing Vivian, Volk, and some other slayers to close distance. “Whether you like it or not, I’m still your captain, and you will treat me with respect.”

  Ivan licked his lips. “That is true, Captain. I apologise for my outburst, but that.” He pointed to the limping wyvern, it was staring back as it tried to hurry away. “That is my kill.”

  “It’s not dead yet.” Sonja threw her authority around. “We work as a team.”

  “Race you to it?”

  Sonja couldn’t refuse a challenge, especially from one who spoke like Ivan did. “You’re on!”

  The two of them dashed towards the wyvern, which suddenly seemed to be in a lot less pain. Its limp became a disorganised gallop, using the claw on its remaining wing, and its tail, to move as fast as it could. It wasn’t fast enough though, and Sonja and Ivan caught up with the creature without too much hassle. Vivian and the other slayers weren’t far behind.

  “It’s mine!” Ivan bellowed, slashing his sword through one of the knee joints. “I had it first!”

  “Well done,” Sonja responded, cleaving her large blade through the other knee.

  The wyvern released a yelp along with plumes of flame from the holes along its back. If it was meant to be an offensive maneuver, it didn’t work all that well, as it just slumped to the ground after. It began clawing at the snow, in a desperate attempt to create distance between itself and the slayers.

  “Go home and take care of your sickly brother!” Ivan yelled, his anger clearly growing. “Just let me have th
is one!”

  “What the hell is your problem?” Sonja screamed back.

  The other slayers stood back. No one was going to side with Ivan’s insubordination, but at the same time, they were well aware Sonja was more than capable to fight her own battles. Ivan shook his head, waving his hair around like a drunk woman attempting to be seductive, only a little wilder, and with a manly roar. “Do you understand now?” Ivan’s eyes were fixed on her.

  “Shit…” Sonja’s gaze diverted to the ground, like whatever had happened, she was at fault. “I’m sorry Ivan. This one, it’s all yours… I’ll talk to you later.”

  Vivian and the slayers looked on, unable to figure out exactly what had just happened. She began walking back towards them, catching their gaze. “Leave this one to Ivan…” Sonja sighed, then diverted her path to walk around the others.

  Ivan though, had made his way to the front of the distraught alpha. He was yelling obscenities at it, mocking it, cutting it, torturing the poor thing. It yelped and screamed as though begging for death. The other slayers watched on.

  Vivian and Volk looked to each other, they were both uncomfortable with the way Ivan was treating the wyvern, but knew there must be a reason for what was going on. A reason for his madness, and Sonja’s backing down.

  “Here you go you piece of shit!” Ivan had brought both of his blades up to the wyvern’s neck. “Sleep tight!” The blades slid past each other and through the burning flesh of the wyvern. Its head fell into the snow, blood and flames bursting from where its skull had once been attached.

  A knot grew inside Vivian’s stomach, he had pondered on who the real monsters were before. He knew humanity would always be his side, but watching this felt wrong. Maybe a flame wyvern had taken one of Ivan’s loved ones or something, maybe several of them? It mattered not, he decided that he too, should keep a distance from Ivan, and followed Sonja’s lead back to Holtur.