“So you're telling me that this... this, womb... of pure energy was completely involuntary?” Mongaku asked, seeming dismayed.
“I swear it, brother. I remember nothing, but a profound sense of clarity amidst the chaos.” Roley laughed, he sat across the small fire with his back against a dirty, gnarled root bigger than an elephant. Only hours ago they had fled into this cave, formed by two towering tree's roots. It was a prolonged battle that these two sentries fought. It would be a thousand years or more before one smothered the other out. The centuries long stalemate stood in stark contrast with the furious scene it had recently hosted.
As the group had passed through a clearing and into the jungle on the far side, the Canopy Falcons had begun bombarding the edge of the tree line. Without warning, half a dozen giant Scleropori rumbled across the glade behind them. The falcons would not attack them, they were poor food and hardly worth the fight.
An eery silence had fallen over the jungle as the lizards descended upon them and the trees shook from the falcons' repeated impact. Roley was falling behind as Mongaku and Senneila easily cleared objects that he struggled to scramble over.
As he cleared one particularly worrisome tangle, he lost sight of the others. He cursed the gods as he pressed on, knowing he was as good as dead. He would be a mere distraction before the lizards caught his friends.
“Roley!” Senneilia shouted, “In here hurry.”
“Its too damned open.” He heard Mongaku insist. Of course, the cat was right. Even the largest of the lizards could have forced their head inside/
“We'll sneak out the back while its stuck. Just hurry before it-”
With a loud crash, the lizard thundered through the vines that had given Roley so much trouble. It was nearly upon him, lowering its head to knock him to the ground when inexplicably it tripped. The great beast tumbled, sailing over a ducking Roley and slammed into the tree. Bark exploded from the scar as it made contact.
“You have the damndest luck little man.” Mongaku said as he snatched Roley's arm and drug him toward the hole. “It won't be stuck for long.”
Had their lives not been in danger, this might have been a humorous scene. The great thorny beast thrashed about, its legs flailing in the air. The other five closed in upon it, staring for a moment before a couple rammed it from the other side to free it from the tree.
“Quickly, through the roots.” Mongaku said, turning and pushing his comrades to the rear of the cave.
“Senny, you first. You're the smallest.” Roley told her. He and Mongaku tore at the roots trying to widen it out some for them.
As her head disappeared from view, they heard a shriek and a crash. Moments later she came clawing back through the pass, her face pale.
“They went around,” She gasped. “We're doomed.”
“So it seems” Mongaku replied, forcing the butt of his spear into the ground. Roley did the same, both pointing at the gaping entrance of the roots. “Here cleave this into the earth between the spears.”
“Be ready.” Roley told them as Senneilia swung Mongaku's massive battle-axe with all her might. She embedded one side of the blade over two feet into the earth. It wouldn't hold, but it might hurt the first lizard to lunge through. The Scleroperi had surrounded them and charged with astonishing precision for dumb beasts.
A great maw came snapping into the cave looking for its meal and the others set to ripping into the roots around them. Without warning a blinding light exploded outward, flinging the creatures away. Two crushed against nearby trees, dieing instantly. Another pair wanted no more to do with these strange little devils and scurried back into the glade, safe from the light. The last duo would not be deterred, they charged back toward the root-cave. Unable to penetrate the telekinetic barrier, they clawed viciously at it for over an hour. Their food was only feet away, yet they could do nothing to obtain it. Finally, they gave up and limped away bruised, bloodied, and defeated.
“I was terrified that I might snap a twig and disturb you.” Senneilia said, snuggling close to him. She sat between the two of them. Now their small fire was the only magical barrier keeping away the creatures of the jungle.
“As was I.” Mongaku replied, his eyes wandering into the distance. He seemed distracted by the fireflys in the distance. “Yet, there you were just kneeling. Your hands upon your thighs and your eyes flaming blue. I wonder, did you have control of the crystal or did it take dominion over you?”
“If only you could have seen yourself, dear.” Senneilia said. “Your entire body was covered in the lightest blue flames, the color of the summer sky.”
“It was not deliberate, but it was indeed my will commanding the energy.” Roley replied, he too now distracted. He watched the flames intensely as he spoke. “I could feel the energy pulsing through me, burning through my veins. For a moment, I feared I would lose control of it and kill us all. I don't know why I began to meditate, somehow I just knew to do it.”
“Your Lord Master is indeed wise. He teaches you to discipline your subconcious, child.” Came a raspy voice.
“Roley.” Senneilla grasped his arm, forgetting her strength for a moment. “Who... was... that?”
“My friends, it has been my life's highest honor journeying with you.” Mongaku said solemnly. “It is a fitting end that we meet a foe that even the gods fear.”
Chapter Twelve
Can You Fight a Fairy Tale?
“I am Roley, Blademaster of the Guardian's of the Deepest Light.” Roley said, brandishing his swords and walking out into the night. “And I fear no man. Identify yourself, phantom.”
“Fearless and foolishness make good bedfellows.” The voice hissed, this time from a different direction altogether. “The furry one knows what I am. Don't you, little kitty?”
“Indeed, I do.” Mongaku growled. “You are the embodiment of death. No enlightened creature is permitted to see your face and live to tell of it. The old men say you often toy with your victims, letting them glimpse you and then stalking them for days before ending their miserable existence.”
“You detected me four nights ago, did you not?”
“Why didn't you tell us this?” Senneilia cried. “What is this thing?”
“You would not have believed me. Even I didn't believe it.” Mongaku continued. “Why do you prolong our deaths?”
“My friend, I think it would be helpful to know what is out here.” Roley said, his blades out and ready for battle.
“Yes, tell him.” The voice hissed. Goosepimples burst down Roley's spine. He had felt the creature's foul breath on the back of his neck
“Dransk, Herald of the Dragons.” Roley whispered as he turned to face his end. “Harbingers of Death.”
Without a sound the creature whipped about, its thick heavy tail knocking Roley to the sound. The Dransk's short snout curled into a snarl as it held Senneilia's spears just inches from its grotesque face. Legend held that the Herald's had evolved from the Drake's, the smallest of dragons. Unable to defend their selves from their massive cousins they became willing servants to the benevolent Dragons of old. They were a myth, a horrible bed-time story told to bad children to coax them into behaving.
“We have not been trekking you since you left the chasms just to eat you, foolish girl.” It snarled, lunging forward. It was upon her before she could react. “You are going to need this soon. Not even I can protect you from what is still lurking in the darkness.”
“By the gods!” Mongaku exclaimed, coming forward to examine the creature. “What greater horrors could possibly be out there?”
“Back under the tree, quickly.” The Dransk said, looking at Mongaku with what could have only been disgust. “The Unseen will soon be upon us. Your little display earlier has angered them. Who knows how long they would have stalked you, had you not hurled five of them to their deaths.”
“Why would t
he Unseen be stalking three companions on a pilgrimage?” Senneillia asked
“My master and I have been investigating strange movements from their order for over two years now.” The Herald said, squatting near the fire. Its tale wrapping around near its feet. “Never, in their thousand years, have they been so brazen as to seek quarrel.”
“How could you have stalked them so long and far?” Mongaku wondered aloud.
“Hush kitty, we are not through.” The Dransk said. Mongaku growled, but conceded. “Like the fluffy ones, we too have a council. Both Dragon and Dransk sit upon it as equals. However, our time is occupied with affairs more pertinent than chasing string. My master is Zagn, Lord of the Dark Dragons. I am Zraign. Because we rule over the various dragons of the night, the council has tasked us with following the Unseen. Our vision lies within a spectrum beyond most creatures. We can see by heat, sound vibrations or even auras.”
“So you've tracked them by following their auras?” Roley asked.
“One would think.” Zraign continued, “However, it is not so simple. The unseen learned to separate from their bodies. To go forth, while leaving their mortal form behind. Oddly enough, their aura is not what travels these lands. It is something different. We have been tracking them by their heat patterns, or lack thereof. You see, where they stand a void is left and the air does not radiate. It flows around them, leaving a colder pocket in a man-like shape.”
“And they are watching us, even now?” Mongaku asked.
“Yes, they gather in the distance. We see them clearly.” Zraign said, not bothering to insult the cat this time. “We know them well. We know that they can be sent back to their mortal forms.”
“You would have us fight them?” Roley asked, astonished.
“Yes, we fight them now.” Zraign hissed. “They see no better than you, pale one. Fight them in the dead of night and you are just as invisible as they are.”
“Senny, hand me the paint we brought for the natives.” Mongaku said. He began stirring the paint into the nearly boiling pot of tea.
“Smart kitty.” Zraign said, not quite nicely. “We will not allow them to see us. The council has forbidden it. We will fight with you. When we reveal ourself once more, the Unseen will have all been sent back to their monastery. Do not speak of us. They are not to know we have been stalking them.”
“I can only hope that we do you honor by fighting by your side.” Mongaku said, commanding the Dransk's wandering gaze.
“I have lived so long that years have lost any meaning, yet I never once imagined that I would do battle locking shields with a Felinra Lord, A demi-god, and an exceptionally talented pale one.”
“The wards are not demi-gods,” Sellennia replied. “If we were, we could move the heavens and earth with but a thought.”
“Perhaps we were not referring to the pale girl?” Zraign hissed and shot out of the cave, into the night,
DUN DUN DUN DUN!!!!
To Be Continued...
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