WARNINGS: Blood, violence, death
A/N: Now then, time to head them out of Goldenbrick!
Early the following morning Anna knocked on the door to Dramal's house with Natalie, Matt, and Lance standing behind her. There was no reply and no sound of the door being unlocked. The ranger frowned and knocked a little harder. When there still wasn't any reply, she glanced back over her shoulder at her friends who simply shrugged. Anna tried the door and was surprised to find it unlocked so she pushed it open just a crack.
"Do you think we should just go in?" Natalie asked with a frown.
Matt shrugged, "Sure; we can always just apologize for entering without permission."
"Besides," Lance added, "We need to get going soon. If he isn't in there then we can leave a note explaining what we found and where we're heading."
Anna nodded and pushed the door all the way open. She stepped inside the dark, single room shack and glanced around. There was no noise aside from the shuffling of her and her friends entering, but the ranger spotted a lump on the bed covered with a blanket. Dramal's white head poked out from under it, resting on a pillow, facing away from them.
"I think he's sleeping," Anna whispered. She stepped forward and placed a hand on the old man's covered shoulder and gave him a small shake, "Dramal, wake up." She frowned when he didn't reply and shook him a little harder. When he still didn't wake up, the ranger's eyes widened. She hesitantly felt the man's skin to find it cold. She pulled her hand back sharply.
Natalie swallowed and asked, "Is he… gone?"
The ranger's shoulders slumped and she nodded with her back turned. Lance stepped forward to give her a hug. "I'm sorry, Anna," he murmured.
Anna took a deep shuddering breath, and said in a quiet voice, "I kind of expected it, actually. He gave us a very final-sounding goodbye the last time." She leaned further into Lance's warm chest as she murmured, "He was sick and told me he expected to die soon."
Matt frowned sadly, "What should we do? We can't just leave him here. Do you know if he has any friends or family around Goldenbrick?"
"Not that I know of," Anna replied. She shook her head sadly, "I doubt he does, though. He told me I was the first person to ask for his name in five years."
"That's awful," Natalie murmured. She shook herself and looked over at the seer's body in the bed, "I guess we'll have to go ask one of the town's guards to see to his burial or cremation." At Anna's nod the mage turned to Matt, "You and I can go do that while Lance and Anna stay with his body; unless you'd rather switch, Anna?"
"No, I can stay here with him," Anna whispered, "I'd like to say goodbye."
"Be careful on your way, guys," Lance warned, "Just because we haven't seen any of those Origin guys recently doesn't mean they've decided to leave us alone."
Matt and Natalie nodded and filed out of the house. Lance guided Anna to sit down on a floor cushion and took a seat next to her. The ranger leaned back into him as soon as he wrapped an arm around her. For a few minutes they sat in silence until finally Anna spoke quietly.
"He was a good man. He came to Greenwood to try and warn us of the Primordial's attack, but no one really believed him. I found out when I came here a few months ago that the trip had been too much for his health," she said, her voice catching. Lance tightened his grip around her shoulders as she went on, "His journey was mostly pointless—even though he assured me that wasn't the case—but it gave me a goal after everyone was killed: find the seer and ask him what he knew. I found him and he was a huge help; not with information, but he kept me from spiraling down. I don't know what I might have done if he hadn't talked with me and given me a direction; maybe I would have just gone back and curled up at the graveyard, maybe gone off on my own to find the rest of the killers, I don't know." Lance remained silent as Anna talked, but began rubbing small circles her arm. "Thank you, Dramal. I know you said you didn't need my thanks, but I want you to have it anyway. May the spirits of the trees guide your soul to peace. I hope wherever you are now, you're happy. Goodbye," Anna murmured softly, tears in her eyes.
"I want to thank you, too," Lance said quietly, "Thank you for saving Anna from herself while the others and I were absent. We might not have known that she and the others were in trouble, but you did and sacrificed your own health to try and help. Thank you for your help in our new quest. Goodbye and rest well."
Silence fell again as the two waited for Matt and Natalie to return. The door to the house swung open and the pair seated on the ground looked up and around to greet their friends only to freeze as they saw three Origin assassins standing in the doorway. Immediately, Lance and Anna sprang up with their weapons in hand.
"This is bad," Lance thought, "We're cornered, the space is small, and there are three of them."
As the pair eyed their enemies warily, two of the assassins stepped inside the small home. The third pulled a small handgun from beneath his black cloak. An arrow flew past Lance's shoulder from Anna followed by a curse as the man with the gun seemed to have predicted the shot and slid sideways. The two assassins in the room sprang forwards, daggers flashing in the dim light. Lance brought his gunblade up to block one and cursed as the second slid around him to head for Anna.
The ranger dropped her bow and slid her dagger free of its sheath to parry the second man's stab. The assassin seemed surprised at the ranger's sudden change in weapon and Anna seized the opportunity created by his momentary falter to lunge forward. Her dagger flickered out as fast as a striking viper and slid into his ribs. The man dropped lifelessly to the ground with a thud. By this point Lance had killed the second guard. He turned his attention to the final assassin and his eyes widened in alarm as he saw the man taking aim at Anna.
"Watch out!" Lance yelled. He slammed his shoulder into Anna, sending the ranger falling to the floor right as a shot rang out. He cried out as a searing pain flared in his shoulder. "Stay down," he said through gritted teeth as he saw Anna scrambling up. A curse came from the assassin at the door and with a flicker of his cloak, he vanished.
Natalie came running in just as Lance let out a groan and sank to his knees, clutching his wounded shoulder. Anna sprang up and pried his bloodied fingers away from the bullet-wound with shaking hands. Natalie dropped down next to them and cast a healing spell on the groaning gunner. Light engulfed Lance and when it faded, the wound was gone.
"Where's Matt?" Anna asked the mage.
Natalie shook her head with a frown, "He took off after that last guy."
Lance sprang up, "Damnit, we have to go after them!"
"I'm back already," Matt said as he walked in. He waved off the angry glare Lance gave him, "I'm fine, but the guy got away. He did a crazy mountain goat scramble up the cliff nearby."
Anna frowned and helped Lance stand up. "Don't go after them alone next time," she said to the swordsman.
Lance glared at Matt, "I can't believe you ran after a guy with a gun when you only use swords."
"I went after you, didn't I? But fine, I'll try to remember that for the next time," the swordsman promised with a huff. He glanced out the door, "They must have spies watching for us in every town. We never see them in the wilderness unless we had just left a town."
Natalie nodded, "We talked to the guard captain, he promised to see to a burial for Dramal. We gave him some money for the whole thing." She glanced over at Anna, "I'd like to stay for the ceremony, but I think we should go now."
The ranger cast a quick look at the seer's body before turning back. "You're right. I've said my goodbyes and I know he wouldn't have wanted us staying for his burial if it meant risking our lives," she said in a reluctant tone. Anna motioned to the other two bodies, "We'll need to report this attack on our way out, though. I don't want them thinking we killed some people for no reason."
"Let's go, then," Lance said, "The sooner we're gone, the better."
The gunner paused on his way out the door and gave Dramal's body a quick salute before exiting. Matt gave him a respectful nod while Natalie and Anna bowed. Together, the four friends hurried back to the captain of the guard and gave a rapid explanation of what had happened. The man had frowned at the fact that there were people running around attacking the heroes and promised to look into the matter before wishing them a safe journey.
As the party headed out of Goldenbrick white flakes began to fall from the sky. Anna tilted her head back to frown at the cloudy sky. "Snow? It never snows in Goldenbrick…" she murmured in confusion.
Lance glanced back at her, "Maybe it's just a cold year this year? It was really cold in Lankyroot, too, after all."
"Maybe," Anna replied. She glanced across the ocean with a frown as they climbed up the trail leading into Lankyroot Jungle. "Maybe, but the ocean should keep it from snowing here…" the ranger thought to herself. She gave herself a small shake and pushed the unusual weather out of her mind. They had enough to worry about without puzzling over strange weather patterns.
An hour into walking through Lankyroot and the weird weather was once again pushed to the forefront of Anna's mind. She frowned to herself as she eyed a half-frozen stream along their path and stopped to kneel next to it. The others didn't notice the ranger's pause and kept walking. She didn't notice them continuing out of sight through the trees, but something else did. Three pairs of hungry eyes from watched from the thick foliage as Anna used her dagger to chip of a chunk of the ice to see how thick it had gotten.
A snarl was the first clue Anna had of monsters nearby and she spun around to see three bears eyeing her. The ranger's eyes widened in fright and she took one step back only to shiver as her boot landed in icy water. She swallowed and rammed her dagger back in its sheath, shrugging her bow around to nock three arrows on the string. A few seconds later and a Combo Shot slammed into the shoulder of one of the bears. A loud and pained roar rang out and one of the other bears lunged forwards with its fangs bared. Anna slid to the side and dodged the first lunge only to let out a yell as the second bear leapt forward and slashed at her. The ranger hissed and pulled her dagger back out to make a clumsy slash at the bear as she moved away. She kept her eyes constantly moving across her opponents, berating herself for being distracted by the ice and getting separated from the others.
At that moment, the bear she had wounded earlier suddenly burst into flame. The other bears shied away from the fire and roared a challenge to whoever had attacked their ally. Matt and Lance came charging out of the leaves, slashing at the pair of animals. Natalie stepped out from behind them and cast a brief glance at the ashes that remained of her target. Anna grinned in relief at her friends' arrival and raised her bow once more only to realize that the other two bears were already dead. Lance stormed over to Anna with an angry face only to stop and pale as she turned to face him.
"Holy- Are you okay?" he asked frantically.
Anna frowned, "I feel fine. Why?"
Matt stepped up next to Lance and gaped at her side, "Because you have a river of blood pouring from you? Natalie, we need some healing, quick!"
With a surprised glance down, Anna realized she had forgotten about the slash the bear had gotten on her. Blood coated her side and ran in a thick stream down her leg. She blanched at the amount of blood running from the slash and groaned, suddenly dizzy. Pain swept through her as if it had been waiting for her to notice the wound before flaring up. Lance ran forward to catch her as she suddenly crumpled, her weapons falling to the ground. A few seconds later, and Natalie's healing magic washed over Anna and the slash closed up.
"There, that should do it," Natalie said. She eyed Anna's pale face for a few seconds before adding, "Might want to carry her, Lance. My magic can't restore lost blood."
"I can walk," Anna insisted. She heaved herself up only to sway as the world spun around her, and fell back into Lance. "Or not," she mumbled, avoiding the 'I told you so' look Natalie gave her.
"I can carry you, no problem. Just let me put my rifle away," Lance said.
He carefully released Anna who remained sitting upright, but slowly tilted sideways until Matt caught her. Swiftly, the gunner stuffed his weapon in his Adventure Pouch before kneeling in front of Anna. He waited until the ranger had wrapped her arms in a firm hold around his neck before standing up with a small grunt with his hands holding her thighs to support her. Matt gathered Anna's bow and dagger from the ground and carefully tucked the blade back in its sheath at her waist before slinging her bow over his own shoulder. Lance jerked his head for Matt to take the lead and followed behind him with Anna on his back and Natalie bringing up the rear. After a few seconds though, the gunner turned his head to glare at his girlfriend.
"So, mind telling us why you decided to stop without saying anything?" Lance asked her sarcastically. He frowned as she mumbled something into his back. "You were poking the ice on the stream?" he asked incredulously.
Natalie sighed from behind them, "That's what distracted you? I know the cold weather is bugging you, but next time at least give us a warning?"
Matt nodded from in front of them, "We thought you had been silently picked off by Origin assassins. We're supposed to be sticking together, remember?"
"Okay, okay," Anna huffed, "You're right: it was stupid of me and I shouldn't be getting distracted. I'm sorry. It's just…" she trailed off with a worried frown and shook her head.
Lance glanced at her again, "Just, what?"
Anna hesitated a moment longer before heaving another sigh, "Lankyroot is a jungle, right? In my entire life, it has never been cold enough here to freeze water—and definitely not running water." She shook her head again, "But that's not what's really bugging me."
"What is it then?" Natalie asked.
"It was something Lana told me a long time ago, but I can't remember," Anna admitted.
Matt glanced back, "Another village legend, maybe? Like the one about Godcat?"
"Maybe…" Anna mused hesitantly, "I'll let you guys know if I remember." She rested her chin on Lance's shoulder and murmured, "I'm sorry for scaring you. I'll try not to get distracted like that again." She smiled as Lance's back relaxed some and he gave a small nod.
The rest of the journey was uneventful and soon they were on the outskirts of the ruined Greenwood Village. Lance lowered Anna to the grass and let her slide off his back. Matt moved to the remains of a burned house and, with a glance at Anna for permission, began gathering chunks of it to make a fire. Soon, a warm fire crackled in front of the group and they munched on some food Natalie pulled out. Silence reigned as they ate broken only by the cracks and pops from the fire.
"That's what it was!" Anna suddenly exclaimed loudly.
The outburst caused the other three to jump with surprise before they cast mildly annoyed looks at the ranger.
"First, she scares us by pulling a vanishing act and now she's doing jump scares," Matt muttered.
Anna gave him a sheepish grin, "Sorry. Anyway, I remembered what Lana told me. It was an old legend after all." She glanced around at the interested looks she received before continuing, "I can't remember the specifics, but it was about a great evil that could control the weather."
"Great, so there are two evil things to deal with now?" Natalie sighed.
Lance frowned thoughtfully, "How long has the weather been cold, Anna? It was chilly when we first got back."
The ranger gave him a nod, "I can see where you're heading with that. Yes, it started about the same time as Greenwood's destruction."
Matt gaped at her, "So let me get this straight: the Primordial has three heads with evil death-breath, acid saliva, it's a giant, can possibly teleport, is unaffected by regular attacks or magic, and it can control the weather?" He flopped onto his back when Anna nodded and moaned, "We're screwed; I just know it."
Natalie frowned, "That's right: magic makes it stronger, right? I can heal you guys, but I won't be able to attack it."
Anna gave a nervous laugh, "Eh heh, actually, you can attack it, Natz."
"But I thought you said…" the mage trailed off with a confused frown.
"Pure magic works on it," Anna informed them, "Dramal told me that you can probably damage the thing with a minimal amount of strength being given to it, Natalie."
"Oh, well why didn't you say so sooner?" the mage said with a relieved grin.
"I, uh, kind of forgot," Anna admitted with a blush of embarrassment.
She glanced at where Matt was lying on the ground with one arm thrown across his face before moving her gaze around to the other two. "You guys… don't have to fight if you don't want to," she hesitantly offered in a quiet voice, "I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to quit now."
Matt immediately sat back up to join the other two in staring at her incredulously.
"And you're going tackle it alone again?" Natalie asked with an arched eyebrow.
Anna flinched slightly, "Well… yes, I guess so?"
"Oh, no you aren't. And don't you dare pull another stunt like our first trip to Whitefall," Lance snapped. He glared at the ranger as she shifted uncomfortably, "You've already admitted that you couldn't do anything to the Primordial on your own and I sure as hell am not going to let you throw yourself into this alone. I'm staying with you and that's final."
Natalie nodded, "You can't do this by yourself. If I'm the only one who can do magic damage relatively safely, then you need me with you, too."
Matt grinned and said, "I wasn't going to just quit now! We're going to get some awesome new weapons and destroy this stupid god, and where the team goes, I go! Besides, if the Primordial is going to run rampant then nowhere will be safe, anyway."
Anna's face broke out in a relieved smile, "I don't know why I even bothered offering."
Lance tugged her into a one-armed hug, "Because you're worried about us, that's why. At least you asked instead of just running off this time." He glanced around the fire with a yawn, "So tomorrow we go into the Crystal Caverns, find this Equilibrium sword, hope Matt can lift it, and then what? Where should we head next?"
"The bow, I think. The mountain range is just past the Crystal Caves, after all," Natalie said after a short pause, "It's the biggest range around so it's probably the one we're looking for."
"Sounds good to me. Now let's get some sleep," Matt said. With that, he flopped back again and started snoring.
Natalie shook her head at him fondly and helped Anna set some wards out before pulling a blanket out and curling up next to the swordsman. Anna and Lance snuggled down under a blanket as well and soon all four members of the party were asleep. Late that night Anna bolted upright as she sensed something trip one of the wards. Lance groaned and opened his eyes at the sudden loss of warmth at his side. He spotted Anna silently pulling her bow out and snapped to complete alertness. A second later and the wards around their campsite began flashing and chiming loudly. Matt and Natalie jerked up with weapons in hand. Anna flicked her wrist and the wards fell dark and silent. The four peered around and listened carefully, but nothing moved in the darkness.
Matt lowered his sword slightly and suggested, "False alarm?"
Anna frowned, "I've never heard of properly set wards giving a false alarm. Something or someone is here, I know it."
A sudden chill wind sprang up and howled through the trees. Accompanying the sudden gust was a wave of energy that had Anna gasping. The other three sensed the evil presence and glanced at each other and the suddenly pale ranger.
Natalie shifted uncomfortably, "Anna, what-"
"Later, Natz," Anna snapped, raising her voice over the wind, "We need to run; now." Without waiting for a reply, the ranger sprinted a short distance away before pausing and motioning frantically for the others to follow.
The sudden command took the others by surprise, but they began jogging after their friend as the wind whipped around them. An eerie shriek suddenly pierced the night and the gale died abruptly. Despite Anna's urges to run faster, the other three paused and glanced back. They froze and gaped as their eyes fell on a massive shadow near where the altar used to be. The ranger ran back and began tugging on their arms, but they were too stunned to move.
"Wh-what the hell is that?!" Matt gasped.
"It's the Primordial," Anna said rapidly, glancing at the shadow as it slowly tromped towards them. She yanked harder on Lance's arm, trying to get him to start running again. "Guys, please. We need to go right now," she moaned.
The ground began to tremble as the ancient monster drew even closer. The ranger swallowed heavily as her friends remained still, gaping up at the monster in fear. They hardly twitched as a blast of lighting crackled into the sky from one of the mouths.
"I've never seen them like this; it's as if they're paralyzed," Anna thought frantically.
She looked rapidly between her friends and the monster before her face set in a determined glare. Shrugging Sky Feather off her arm, the ranger raced away from her stunned friends. She headed in a wide loop around the Primordial before drawing her bow back to full draw in a Piercing Shot. The arrow sailed through the air and slammed into one of the hind legs of the monster. Immediately, the Primordial shrieked and rounded on Anna. The ranger was already moving further away from her friends, firing arrow after arrow to keep the ancient god's attention focused on her. One of the heads lowered to ground level and its jaw cracked open. A bluish white glow appeared, silhouetting the massive fangs for a brief moment before a blast of freezing ice slammed into Anna.
DDDDDD
Lance's mind ground to a halt as soon as he saw the Primordial. "How in the Hell are we supposed to stop that?" he distantly wondered in despair. He heard Anna yelling something at him and then felt her tug on his arm, but his attention was captivated on the monstrosity that lumbered closer. He didn't register when Anna left his side or the fact that he really should be running. It wasn't until the Primordial let out another unearthly screech that raised the hairs on his neck did he begin to snap out of his daze.
A smaller, human scream that cut off abruptly was what finally broke the spell of terror, though. The gunner jerked and looked around, spying Matt and Natalie next to him still staring at the behemoth in front of them. Anna was nowhere in sight. Lance's heart stopped and he whipped around to stare at the god again.
"Anna?!" Lance yelled, "Anna! Are you okay?!"
There was no reply from the ranger. Lance snapped into action. He sent a small electric burst at the pair frozen next to him. The pair jolted out of their stupor in time to see Lance lifting Super Snipe onto his shoulder. The gunner channeled a massive amount of mana into the gun, causing it to glow red and tremble.
"Guys, head for the trees," Lance snapped without turning around.
Matt hesitated for a brief second, but nodded and snagged Natalie's arm and pulled her away. They stopped just inside the tree line and turned to see Lance launch a Hyper Beam from his rifle. The blast slammed into the Primordial's side, causing the creature to stagger sideways. There was another chorus of shrieks before a tricolored flash of light engulfed the area, blinding the three. When it cleared, the Primordial was gone.
Not pausing to wonder how or why the creature had disappeared, Lance threw down his rifle and sprinted over to a massive patch of ice-covered ground that had been revealed when the god's bulk had vanished. He heard Natalie and Matt come running out as well, but didn't turn to look as he searched for Anna. The gunner tripped over a lump and twisted to see Anna lying on the ground, half coated with frost. He stayed frozen for all of two seconds before scrambling to her side and reaching for her wrist. He gave a sob of relief as he felt a pulse despite the iciness of her skin.
The gunner had just pulled her up when Natalie came skidding to a halt next to him. Without a word, the mage began casting Heal on the unconscious ranger, healing the frost burns on her body. Matt came up as the last wound was fixed and Natalie shifted to heating the air around the ranger to dry her clothes. Lance's Super Snipe was clutched in the swordsman's left hand.
"Is she going to be okay?" Matt asked worriedly.
Natalie nodded, "She should be fine. It might take a while for her to wake up, though."
Lance held Anna tightly and his face took on a disgusted look. "I can't believe we just froze like that. And right after we told her we'd help her fight that thing, too," he spat, self-loathing coating his words.
Matt's free hand clenched, "Me either. She told us to run, pulled on our arms, and we just stood there like idiots."
"It took her screaming in pain to get me moving," Lance muttered, "And she was still weak from her tangle with those bears."
Natalie nodded somberly, "I made sure she had a lot of juice at dinner, though. That would have helped with the blood loss. We're lucky she didn't lose her head like the rest of us. Good work with that Hyper Beam, though, Lance." The mage shook herself, "Come on, let's bring her back to the blankets. She's probably cold, still."
Lance nodded as he felt Anna shivering in his arms. He stood up and led the way back to the camp with the ranger still in his arms. On unspoken agreement the other two grabbed the discarded blankets and moved them into the trees. Lance settled Anna on top of the one they had been sharing earlier and pulled her bedroll out of her Adventure Pouch. He gently tucked the shivering girl inside before squeezing in behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. Lance pulled her closer, despite the chill coming from her body, and rubbed at her chilly arms. Natalie set some new wards out before settling down beside Matt; both were soon back asleep.
The same was not true for Lance. He lay there, warming Anna and thinking. He was ashamed of how he had reacted when the Primordial had appeared. Anna certainly hadn't done that either of the times she had seen the thing. In fact, each time she had thrown herself headfirst into combat, alone, to defend the people important to her.
Lance's face set with determination; next time she wouldn't be alone. She had been lucky both times she had faced the god to not have been killed, but Lance was not going to count on her luck holding out. No, he would help her through the fight as many times as it took before the threat was defeated.
As if in response to his sudden resolve, Anna stopped shivering and snuggled closer to him with a small sigh, still asleep. Lance smiled slightly, his eyelids slowly sliding closed as he drifted off to sleep.
A/N: Bum, bum, bummm… Dramal is dead, and The Primordial strikes once more! But he just vanished again! Le gasp, how does he keep doing that? Next chapter they'll be getting Equilibrium, and there will be an awesome (in my opinion) fight-scene towards the end.
