A Feast of Dragons
FIRES and small embers licked the crumbling stone walls. Pillars were cracked and some lay on the floor, useless and not fulfilling their purpose as gaping holes now replace the ceilings. The ancient Fort Limestone has held of many intruders and seen better days, however nothing could prepare the men of Limestone for the might of the fire-breathing monstrosity as it lay waste to the once proud fort.
For centuries, the wyvern claimed the fort as its own and it has fiercely protected its lair, occasionally raiding nearby pastures of livestock for meat. In the desolated and abandoned stone fort, the wyvern lay on the ground unmoving surrounded with skeletons of the Limestone soldiers. The wyvern's lair reminiscently resembling the condition it looked like when the fort was attacked many years ago as fresh fires littered the area and new cracked were made on the destroyed fort. The dragon still lay on the ground as a pair of teeth, sharp and deadly tore through meat and hungrily devoured it, savouring the crispness of the meat as it had been cooked with fire beforehand.
A deep rumble could be heard throughout the damaged fort, rising in volume before a roar of laughter echoed and rebounded around the fort. Accompanying the laughter was a declaration. A declaration loud enough to reach the heavens.
"Chicken! It tastes just like chicken, only meatier!"
RED orbs of fire streaked through the air, briefly painting the sky in various hues of ember as scarlet trails were left behind by the fireballs as they raced to their target. A great roar accompanied by a strong blast of hot wind and fire erupted from the fireball as the magical spell connected with a tall pillar, destroying stones and tossing around debris. The blast of energy was strong and unfortunately, a slender young man was caught in the edges of the blast and was pushed away by the force of the wind.
With his bow at the ready, Harvey let loose a flurry of arrows to his prey. He felt satisfaction as the scales of the wyvern were slowly chipped away by his efforts. The human ranger ran through the courtyard, zig-zagging between broken walls and pillars as he vaulted over obstacles with fluidity and grace honed over the years in countless forests. As he skidded to a halt behind a low wall and pulled back his bow to strike another blow, a flash of red caught his peripheral as a streak of red raced through the air and impacted the thick meaty tail of the monster.
Brown eyes widened in panic as the man abandoned his shot and scrambled away hoping to dive for cover, completely forgetting about the limited protection that the short stone wall provided him. Unfortunately, the hem of his pants was snagged by a ribcage from the skeletons that littered the ground which caused him to trip. The blast caught him on his back and he felt the hot wind rushing through him. He distinctly heard the angered roar of the monster overpowered his own yell as he was propelled a distance away before being brought to a stop after slamming through a rotting wooded door.
"Damn cards." Harvey coughed out. He crawled to the side and made use of the wall as a support as he pulled himself up with a grunt. He fought to keep his legs from wobbling as he looked around the interior of the tower that he was flung into before he spotted a flight of stairs leading upwards. Harvey took a moment to compose himself as he readied his bow before jogging up the spiral stairs, cursing under his breath at pyromaniac Gnomes and magical cards.
PEARLY white teeth glistened between lips stretched into a grin. A small figure stood tall on a stone balcony as violet eyes scanned the courtyard beneath him. A rectangular object hovered above a tanned palm as it rotated in a diagonal axis, showing off runic alphabets etched onto both sides of the card. Keinen's eyes sparkled with glee as the inferno he created engulfed the wyvern. The card levitating on his palm rotated to its side and spun rapidly to resemble a disk, producing a low hum as it glowed a bright orange.
Eyes narrowed in concentration, he blocked out the roar of the wind as he trained his eyes on the flailing wyvern. He drew his arm back as the card in his hand spun at an increasing speed. The low hum of the card rose in crescendo and a sharp constant whistle emitted from the glowing disk. Keinen's grin threatened to split his face when the wyvern, with flames still licking its scales, met his gaze with its own yellow reptilian eyes. Yellow eyes clouded in fury as it opened its jaws to unleash a mighty roar reverberating throughout the courtyard.
"Yahtzee!" Keinen flicked his wrist and the card shot through the air leaving behind a faint orange trail as it left his hand, a wisp of arcane energy smoking off his fingertips.
The reptile roared at the small Gnome defiantly but was soon choking when the enchanted card found its mark and with a dull thump, it exploded in the monster's mouth causing thick black smoke to start bellowing out from the wyvern's open jaw and nostril.
The Gnome bounced on the balls of his feet as he danced in a circle, laughing and pointing at the choking monster, almost falling off his perch on the tower's balcony. His laughing fit tapered off when he heard footsteps coming from behind him. His pointed ears twitched at the sound of a male voice grumbling and cursing, the grumbles rising in volume as it got closer to the gaping hole that was used as the entrance to the tower's balcony.
Harvey was greeted with the sight of a small Gnome lying on the ground, grasping a card covered in a layer of frost in his hand, prepared to fling the card in his direction. His eyes widened and he quickly ducked back into the entrance and braced himself behind the safety of the stone wall.
"Great sparrows above! Hold your hand, it's me!" Harvey yelled at the top of his lungs as his legs almost gave out from fright, afraid of being in contact with another of Gnome card slinger's spells. He let out a sigh of relief when he heard his friend going into another of his laughing fits.
"Harvey! Buddy! How are you?" Exclaimed Keinen as he cut off the arcane energy flowing into the card, noting that the ranger's leather armour had some burn marks and smelled of smoke as Harvey inched out from his protective cover. Harvey still kept his distance since he saw the disenchanted card still levitating on the Gnome's palm, twirling and dancing between his fingertips. Keinen looked at his friend, wondering about the smell of smoke wafting off the Human ranger.
"What happened? Did you smoke your pipe? I don't think this is the time to do that though." Harvey looked appalled at the notion. Didn't he see him running around in the courtyard?
"You happened, you pyromaniac! I almost died!" Harvey didn't usually screamed but sometimes Keinen proved to be a challenge on his nerves. Keinen stroked his chin for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and smiled at the dishevelled man.
"Well the good news is, you are alright!" Harvey's jaw hung open as his friend gave him a thumbs up, grinning like a loon with a perpetual twinkle in his eyes. Before he could retort, Harvey caught a blur of green and the glinting of metal to his side. Scanning the courtyard, he quickly found Damira charging with the speed of a runaway mine cart towards the wyvern. Following his friends gaze, Keinen's eyes brightened at the sight of their Half-Orc companion.
"Look at her go!" Keinen's loud exclamation caused a chill up Harvey's spine and the sense of foreboding increased when he saw Keinen's violet eyes glinting brightly without the help of sunlight. Keinen turned to the trembling Human with a wide Cheshire grin.
"I have a plan." Harvey's legs almost gave out yet again.
WHITE puffs of vapour rushed out of her nostrils as Damira exhaled during her frenzied dash towards the wyvern. Channelling the energy within her, her body expelled more heat than average to accommodate the excess of energy generated in her run, turning her normally lime coloured skin into a deep emerald as her skin flushed from the rapid pumping of blood through her body.
She vaulted over a crumbled wall and made use of a fallen statue to jump upwards to another pillar and continued to sprint up the inclined plane provided by the fallen pillar. Her path lead her higher above ground, towards the wyvern's head. As she neared the end of her path, she brandished her war axe and leapt high in the air. Furious brown eyes met frenzied yellow reptilian eyes as Damira brought down her weapon with all her strength while falling down on the wyvern's head.
The female Orc's eyes widen in surprise when the wyvern proved to still be quite agile despite the damage it sustained throughout the battle so far. The wyvern twisted its neck and Damira yelled in frustration as she missed her mark however the blade of the war axe dug deep in to the shoulder of the wyvern, sinking and almost cutting through its left wing.
Damira cringed as her ears felt the full force of the wyvern's screech and she tightened her grip on her weapon as the wyvern struggled to shake her off. She kicked the wyvern's snout away after a failed attempt to bite her off its back and the Half-Orc repeatedly punched the back of the war axe down deeper into the shoulder joint. The wyvern's screech returned in full force when Damira's bade slashed through the tough scales, separating the wing with a jagged cut from the monster's back. As Damira flopped down along with the wyvern's wing, the side of her lips twitched upwards at the satisfying thud.
She bared her fangs and hissed at the flailing wyvern on the ground. She ducked and parried the potentially decapitating blow as the wyvern flicked its tail towards her. Her Orc blood boiled with rage and her weapon was swung towards the offending tail, slicing a deep gash onto its surface. She was about to follow up on her assault before a shrill whistle coming from her Gnome companion's last position caught her attention. Diving for cover, to protect herself from whatever spell her friend might be conjuring, she looked to the singular tower in the courtyard missing the top half of its roof.
She chuckled as she saw the excitable Keinen waving to her before planting both his hands onto the shoulders of her Human friend and hunting partner. Poor Harvey looked ready to faint as he readied his bow and took aim to the downed wyvern. From this distance she could see Harvey's face lose its colour as Keinen's hands glowed violet and too her surprise, the Gnome's arcane energy coiled around the ranger's arm like water and coated his bow and arrow.
"A-Are you sure this is safe?" Harvey's arms shook with fright. Travelling with Keinen has taught him that the Gnome's magic has the tendency to share his excitable and…explosive personality. Keinen rolled his eyes, smiling widely up to his trembling friend.
"It's fine." Drawled out the Gnome. "Now stay still and concentrate, you might blow us up."
Harvey's arm almost slacked and released an arrow to the sky if he didn't caught himself and steeled his nerves. He took deep breaths and aimed the magical, possibly explosive, arrow towards the wyvern and taking a beat before he let loose the arrow. The arrow left behind a trail of violet as it exited the string of his bow and a strong force of energy pushed both him and Keinen tumbling backwards off the tower, part of it cumbling down due to the force of the blast. Harvey yelped and grunted as he landed on his back and groaned when a giggling Keinen landed right on his chest, thankful that Gnomes did not weigh more than a child. Both were not hurt too badly and suffered minor bruising.
Damira was worried for a moment at the tower's collapse but sighed in relief when she heard groaning and laughter from her traveling companions. She watched on in awe as the arrow formed into a violet streak resembling a sparrow's head and the magical construct opened its beak, letting out an echoing screech before increasing in speed and piercing through the wyvern's chest. The wyvern stumbled for a moment, gasping and looking at the cauterised hole in its chest before collapsing on the ground.
The lone female of the trio took a moment basking in their victory against the frustratingly difficult monster before plopping down on her derriere, laughing and applauding such a powerful attack as she rested her cooling body.
"Well done! Mission accomplished!" Yelled Damira as the looked across her shoulder towards her friends. The Half-Orc laid on the ground taking in deep breaths as her body cooled, her skin slowly regaining a light green tone. "The Queen would reward us greatly for this, I am sure of it."
"Kei-Har Combo, success!" Keinen pumped his fist in the air and whooped in joy as Harvey groaned in discomfort at the movement on his bruised chest. Keinen laid on his friend's chest as he folded his arms across his chest, admiring the clouds as they float by. "We should do these combos more often."
Harvey grumbled and pushed the Gnome off his chest, who fell off with an indignant yelp. The Human ranger rubbed his chest to soothe the aches before he felt multiple aches blossoming around his body. Resting his back on a pile of stone, he slumped against it as he rested his body and tried to straighten his nerves yet again.
"We are not calling it that." Groaned out Harvey. Harvey just closed his eyes to rest when he saw Keinen waving him off with a tired hand and continued to watch the clouds.
"Well then, now that that is done."
Keinen planted his hands behind his head and kicked himself upright into a standing position off the ground. Patting the patches of dirt off his dirty trousers the best he can, he walked towards the wyvern's cooling corpse while flicking his wrist to unsheathe a small knife from one of the many pouches he has on his person and catching the hilt on his palm.
"I'm telling you guys, I think wyvern tastes like chicken!" Damira grinned at the Gnome and looked at the wyvern's cooling corpse. She pushed herself off the ground using her weapon as support before following her friend towards his destination, intent on helping to harvest the meat and taste Harvey's cooking. Harvey tilted his head and glanced towards the pair making their way to the wyvern before relaxing against the stone wall, planning the ingredients that would work well with wyvern meat.
END