Chapter 5: Welcome Backs, Frozen Fire, and a Little History
The Earth Dragon upon which I rode on continued her noisy strut to Deep Root. One would've imagined that such clamor would've attracted predators rather than scare them off, but to my surprise no creatures seemed to be trailing us. Its plant wrapping continued to give way, and one side of the flowers fell to the ground. She turned to look at the source of the sound, and she saw the fallen blossoms which brought tears to her eyes. Regardless to her grieving, anger, and generally sour mood, she continued on. Her brown tail flailed about as she made her stroll through the mountain valleys, and she began to enter Doomwood.
The dark forest began to consume my surroundings; the moans and cracks of bones of the Undead cursing these woods could be heard. The deep chirps could be heard in the distance, though they were drowned out by the dragon's stride and the march of Undead. There was a purple glow to the landscape, but the pine trees masked the sources. A few times a single Undead would rush the fashion-sensitive reptile, and she would petrify their rotting bones with her breath of elemental earth. While she did this, she likely unleashed some of her tension and anger.
It wasn't too long before the dragon came upon a small group of Skeleton Guardians, and their blacken helmets gazed towards the brown lizard. Their tainted armor served as a disgrace to the shining steel and gold trim of most Guardians. I suspected that these deceased Guardians were likely from Amityvale. Their simple breastplates and greaves matched the dark color of their helms, and their swords bore elegant handles and hilts. The blades were not as intricate, as they bore no carvings. Instead of etchings, the edges of the sword barely curved inward until they neared the head of the blade.
The skeletal Guardians lumbered towards the Earth Dragon, and she raised her arms as to smash the poor defenders. It had worked, to a degree, as the Undead Guardians were unable to comprehend that they had fallen down, therefore they were unable to get up(perhaps this wouldn't have happened if they had Undeath Alert). With the majority of the group made harmless, we continued on. Although, I took notice to something peculiar, and then I realized that it was an Undead Berserker among their group. He seemed infuriated, despite the general lack of means to express emotion.
The barbarian's spiked, steel pauldron covered one of its shoulders, and it was alone in that regard. It carried a stone axe with rough hide making the handle. It bolted towards the disgruntled dragon, who had not heard the careless commotion that the berserker made in its motions. The stonework battleaxe met the muscle of the reptile's tail, barely able to force its way through the protective scales. As the edge of the weapon bit through the scales, the Earth Dragon went through the normal reflex and immediately kicked backwards. To our fortune, the blow shattered the ribs and sternum of the raging Undead, and he had fallen down, useless. His ulna and radius cracked, and this caused his savage weapon to crush through his skull.
The encounters only heightened her fury, and she even had the audacity to stop to futilely try to calm herself down. I could only have imagined what she did to Zolkt when she got back. It wasn't long before she made an outcry. The deathly roar had seemed akin to a summon for Zayn, who then seemed to have descended from nowhere. He found the source of the appalling howl at least, and glanced at her injury. He labeled off it off as merely a flesh wound, despite this he remained on the ground. One would've gotten the impression that the Theemis felt she alone wasn't sufficient for an escort.
Zayn's stay proved itself useful towards the end of trip, when an Undead Skuller ambushed us. He jumped from the pine trees, and his black, morning-star flail circled around the similarly colored handle upon its chain. The skeleton's golden colored armor seemed unusual, due to its ragged nature. Its steel buckler was in the shape of a pentagon. The Theemis's speed proved far more valuable against this foe who loved to chuck the heads of his enemies clean off in fell swoops than the Dragon's strength.
The head of the flail swung towards our group, and it nearly hit the neck of the Earth Dragon. She then reacted with sending her talons down among the Skuller, but he blocked the brunt of the blow with his buckler. Zayn noticed this, and he sprinted forward to kick his shield down. With the aegis on the ground, Zayn pondered the opportunity to fly through his defenseless foe, but the Skuller wasn't wishing to give up so easily and continuously whirled the flail's head to dissuade the Theemis from daring near him. A vain effort, as Zayn quickly flew towards him, and knocked the flail out of the way. His talons pierced the Undead's armor, and he pecked away at the Skuller's neck until the vertebrae broke apart.
With the golden armored Undead downed, we began our strut once more to Deep Root. As that Skuller was likely raised from BlackWyn Tomb, which was northwest of Deep Root. We followed a nearby sign post that pointed southeast with these words written on it, "Deep Root." Before we could even start though, a band of people were walking cautiously onto the road from Deep Root. In the band of people, I spotted a few of note, and they were Zairos, my mother, Zaz', and my sister.
My mother, Iritha, was one of the easiest to spot out, as her ash blonde hair and blue eyes made her stand out immensely compared to everyone around her. Her dress had a modest neckline, which matched the customs of the time. The attire was of a faded turquoise and bore patches over time. Azaila, my little sister, had a small flowery gown and shoes. Their pastel colors seemed odd compared to the blue and brown that the rest of my family wore(myself included). Her hair was a mix between my father's and mother's, being a hybrid of brown and blonde with a slight lean towards brunette. Her eyes were hazel with a slight case of sectoral heterochromia that gave some blue to her irises.
My mother was the first to actually realize that I was on the back of the Earth Dragon. Once she knew that, she hastily grabbed me from the plant wrapping. Iritha began, "Oh, my baby boy, he's alright! He's alright! Oh, thank you, strangers for bringing him home safely! Blessed be you two, Theemis and Dragon of the Earth!" She was in tears towards the end of her gratitude, which was rather embarrassing for me. My sister, Azaila, giggled at my humiliating situation, and not that I could blame her, since she was six at the time. At the same time, Zairos looked like he was trying to hold back from bursting out in laughter at the scene.
My brother, Zazaith, spoke next, "Mother, I do believe that's enough, who knows how much of what you just did will scar Razen, so how about we just get him home?" My mother wiped her tears from her face, and she nodded to Zazaith's suggestion.
"So, Kydoz, you say that you have tracked down one of Myodei's companions?" Xalvyk queried.
"That is correct, Xalvyk, though despite knowing that it is one aligned with Myodei, I know not which of them it is," Kydoz answered.
"It matters not, the three of us can easily lay waste to one of them alone," Hyzela blurted.
"I will go with Hyzela on this, Kydoz," Xalvyk began, "Now, where did you find this associate of Myodei?"
"Towards the icy peaks of the Frozen Northlands," Kydoz replied.
"We shall go immediately," Xalvyk stated, who raised his four hands lightning crackling in each one. His six dorsal fins stretched out in different directions, and the energy surged from his fingers to them. The bolts continued by erecting a portal to the Frozen Northlands, and specifically to around where Kydoz had traveled the day before. The three elementals walked through Xalvyk's gateway, and they found themselves surrounded by the cold frost and snow of the Northlands. Hyzela shrunk in response to the new surroundings, and Xalvyk shivered due to the freezing temperature.
Xalvyk gazed around, and he tried to find another elemental in the region around them. To his surprise, the Zarlath noted in the distance a flaming figure, and even further against logic, it seemed to get even more frigid as they neared him. They trailed the burning entity, and they were thinking of a way to ambush him. The wintry area had many mountains, so when the blazing elemental had to travel in one of the many valleys. He seemed to be near one, and entered it as Xalvyk hoped.
Xalvyk and Hyzela took to the opposite sides of the valley, and Kydoz was to follow behind the ignited being. Xalvyk and Hyzela were able to get into their positions well enough, and Kydoz was to serve as the distraction. The blazing figure eventually took heed to Kydoz's trailing of him, and turned around to find the ambush awaited for him to do that. Rather than casting flames at Kydoz, he simply sarcastically shouted out to all of them, "Your efforts are vain!" Xalvyk and Hyzela ignored his mockery of their trap, and foolishly continued down to try to down the aflame being.
As they scaled down the surrounding mountains, the ignited figure simply waited for them. Energy crackled throughout the entirety of the Zarlath, and the Bubble Elemental was ready to pulverize the blazing fool. Lightning bolts surged towards the burning entity, but when they got near him, they simply froze. With no further explanation to the bizarre phenomenon, the frozen bolts fell to the ground and shattered. The aflame being continued to remain still and redoubled his previous jeer, "Your efforts are vain!"
Xalvyk looked in confusion at the shattered remnants of his previous attack, and he was entirely baffled as to how whatever this thing was had accomplished this feat. Hyzela continued on, since she believed herself to be fine for some reason. The Zarlath wasn't long behind on following the Bubble Elemental on this idea and thought, and they both were now within some number of yards from the alight being. Hyzela rushed towards him first, and her arms were ready to smash down on him. She immediately froze as soon as she found herself some inches from the body of the blazing entity, and the ignited figure's identity and abilities were still unknown. The frozen remains of the Bubble Elemental looked terrified and shrunk compared to her previous size. Xalvyk slithered back some, and he tried once more to surge lightning through the burning being.
The bolts again got close to the alight entity until they froze. They then fell to the ground and simply shattered. Xalvyk attempted to get into melee combat with him now, like Hyzela. The Zarlath hoped that his alignment to Energy would serve him better against this foe than Hyzela's allegiance to Water. He launched one of his fists towards the burning being's head, but it was frozen in an instant once it neared him. Although, Xalvyk did notice that it seemed to get immensely colder as he neared the ignited figure, and he figured that there must be some bizarre reverse temperature applied to him. With this in mind, the Zarlath tried to send another punch with his frozen hand. As soon as he did this, however, the rest of his arm became numb and lost all heat in it.
The figure simply laughed, "I told you, your efforts are vain!" With all of the blood in one of his arms frozen, Xalvyk decided that there was no way that he could best the burning entity. He turned around and slithered, and the Zarlath tried his all to flee to Kydoz, who might have a chance. To Xalvyk's misfortune, the alight entity took notice of his flight, and he motioned his hand towards the retreating Zarlath. The sub-lord of the Plane of Energy was burned to a crisp, and so Xalvyk's cindering ashes and his limp, frigid arm were all that remained of him. "Are you going to run as well, Adalon?" He asked, and there was a deep sense of mockery in his tone.
Kydoz, who was still a great deal away from the blazing being, immediately ran towards Xalvyk's portal, and the Adalon hoped that the gateway was still open. The lightning shaped edges of the opening gave view to a dreamy landscape. The stars and ethereal sky of the space seemed otherworldly in their majestic nature. Such was the city of Aloria, which was nestled in the Outer Planes, and it was best described as being suspended in space at the intersection of the Planes. In this unique region, gods and their servants lived in unity, but there was that one occurrence where an entire race under the service of the Light Lady was considered Fallen. Regardless, Kydoz entered the open entrance to Aloria, and he hoped that the hatch would dissipate quickly. He certainly did not wish to be followed by such a dangerous foe.
Kydoz entered the realm, and he now resided in the wondrous city of Aloria. From the empyrean above gleamed an array of colors, and to one's surprise was comprised of every element, rather than just elemental light. The Elemental Lords often resided within a large chamber, and it served to be their room of council. The white-gray marble that made the pillars of the archways was splendidly smooth and lustrous. The archways went far above Kydoz's head, and the gardens between the walls flourished immense varieties of plant life. Many of which Kydoz knew not the names of. The flowers always fascinated the Adalon, despite his blindness, and their fragrance filled him with harmony and serenity. Their colors and shape were identified to him by Xalvyk and Hyzela, but it was still difficult to imagine their appearances due to the overflow of aromas.
Connected to the top of every arch was a dome. The top of this dome was made of white and gray marble, like the pillars, and followed a style of semi-circle segments making the outside of it. The cupola had the elemental wheel etched into it, and it indicated where in the chamber of council each Lord or Lady and their respective Avatar were located. They were arranged as follows: Light was to the North. Wind was to the Northeast. Ice was to the East. Water was to the Southeast. Darkness was to the South. Earth was to the Southwest. Fire was to the West. Lastly, Energy was to the Northwest.
The Elemental Lords floated above the ground as ghostly figures. Their avatars sat in pause, as they listened dutifully to the words of their respective Lord. The horned helmet and immense blade of the Lord of Darkness were surrounded by his two sets of bat-like wings, and his words were directed to Voidstar. His wife, the Lady of Light, hovered at the other end of the council chamber, and her bird-like wings sprouted from nearly every part of her ethereal body. She spoke to Celeritas of her decision to let Sek have the Orb of Light and the potential repercussions. The discussion seemed rather interesting. Kydoz was looking for the Lord of Ice though, so he'd have to return to question the specifics later.
In the direct middle and east of the Lady of Light and the Lord of Darkness sat the Lord of Ice. Though he personally finds the name Lord of Cold more fitting and accurate to the domains of his element, but most prefer to not confuse his lordship with that dastardly attack of The'Galin and his Network. Regardless, his figure was one of frigid nature, and upon his German-style sallet rested an asymmetrical crown of ice that had some of the pieces shattered. His bright turquoise or cyan eyes shone intensely from the tiny slit of the helmet. His body seemed akin to that of a battlemage's, for it wore robes with light bearings of frozen chain-mail, icicles still clung tightly to the ringlets of his armor. The arms of his robes drooped far below his hands that were covered by gauntlets also made of mail. His hands grasped onto a rigid staff and shield. Both of which bore the scars of his lord's glacial winds surrounding him. To his right was the Lord of Wind, and to his left was the Lord of Water.
The Adalon stood before Kyanos and their lord, the Elemental Lord of Ice himself. Kydoz spoke before his lord and his lord's avatar, "Lord, I come before you with tragedy and curiosity."
"Continue," the Lord of Ice declared in response.
"In the Frozen Northlands of Lore, a Zarlath, Bubble Elemental, and I had encountered a being which was on fire, yet froze all that neared it, even lightning, the Zarlath, and the Bubble Elemental," Kydoz explained himself. He continued on with, "The latter two of which I listed died, but the Zarlath was burnt to death."
"I see, though I only know of one entity that matches such a description," the Lord of Ice stated, "And that being would be...Zynaer. He's quite the anomaly of a Fire Demon, but it is not my place to inform you on the Dominion of Fire."
Myodei sat in an ebony chair, and he had a mahogany desk before him. A book with a teal painted leather cover sat upon the writing table, and it had etched into the binding On the Planes, by Giovanni Sytril. There was a torn bookmark towards the beginning of the tome. Myodei began, "Bah, this space is scorching again, and we don't have Zynaer to cool it off this time around." The surrounding space was made of black rock with occasional veins of lava breaking through the volcanic rock. In the corners and along the walls were a few burned remnants of bushes, and their decayed leaves seemed quite depressing. The chamber was off some deal from the entrance to the volcano, and to the right of the room was a stone and wooden door with a fiery skull on both parts of the gate. Sharp stalactites were erected from the ceiling of the volcanic tunnel, and they made travel through the shaft difficult.
"Where did he go anyways?" the moist figure that was Veqwei queried.
"He said that he needed to relax," Myodei answered, "And he said that he was going to the Frozen Northlands. He should likely be back in a few days. He simply needs to 'cool' off." The two entities chuckled at the last bit.
"I find it doubtful that he can," A voice declared from an umbra filled abyss, "It's more likely that he'll cool his surroundings or some fool that dared get close to him."
"Whatever Zynaer's doing in the Northlands is irrelevant," A static voice blurted. He continued with a different tone, "What's truly important is if Szayan was able to make arrangements with Sek-Duat. I suppose that we'll learn that whenever Bazrir returns."
"Bazrir will get here sooner than Zynaer at least, Dyjhal," Veqwei responded, and continued, "As for you, Vyrdae, I would suppose that is true, considering Zynaer's...abilities. Regardless, how goes the reading, Myodei?"
"I'm at about the fifth page, as I only began my reading," Myodei replied, "But, the pages seem lacking on information of the Planes themselves though. So far, all that it has begun to talk of is Caelestia and its bizarre Pantheon. Not to mention the failures of Therlion the Mad with his attempts at stabilizing the region."
"Only Caelestia so far? That's bizarre," An echo from the dark void could be heard.
"It is indeed, Vyrdae," Myodei returned, "The table of contents did mention Aloria, Star Dragons, the Engine of Creation, alternate realities, and a few other things of interest, so I'll suffer my way through the dreary thing." The icy hands of the figure grasped the cover of the tome, and Myodei opened the book to where his bookmark left off. Myodei began reading to himself, Therlion the Mad allegedly rested beneath a close-by rock for 99998376 years, 8 months, 12 days, 3 hours, 26 minutes, and 2.706 seconds. By the time that Therlion had awoken from this slumber, other deities had colonized Caelestia to expand their own power. Therlion seeing that other deities took claims of Caelestia displeased him, so he decided to create the Man in Black, the Man in White, and the Man in Gray or Red(depending on the version that you've heard). The Man in Black represented absolute Evil; the Man in White symbolized pure Good. Lastly, the Man in Gray or Red embodied true Neutrality, also referred to as balanced.
The next paragraph expounded onto the problems of the bringing of the three Men in Colors. Therlion's attempt at balancing the domain of Caelestia proved to be an absolute failure. The Man in Black spent his time gathering power to usurp the Man in White and Man in Gray/Red, as the Man in Black took Therlion the Mad's creation of him for granted. In his attempts of seizing control over Caelestia, the Man in Black had caused multitudes of Caelestian and God Wars to disrupt the power and religious structure of Caelestia. Eventually, the previous deities of the Caelestia were banished from the domain, and the Man in Black was confined. He had to be held captive in a demiplane, as he harnessed too much power to be dismissed from Caelestia.
"Oh, the Man in Black," Myodei began sarcastically, "How you embody absolutely everything I adore in Creation." He chuckled after he finished, "My apologies, I couldn't keep a straight face."
Days passed before my father returned from the Elemental Foothills, but the Boveoxen carriage eventually came to a halt. The sound of the hungry Boveoxen grazing on any grass that they could find filled the air of their arrival. The rugged figure that was Galvin helped Illoz carry Rifroz out of the carriage, and his studded leather armor bore the scars of dragon's fire. Illoz still had some marks of the sanguine red over his armor and face, and these stains were a stark contrast to his light blue skin. His hair made it seem more like the blood was used for highlights than involuntary streaks. Rifroz was still intact for the most part, but a good few of his bones were broken.
Illoz carried Rifroz for the most part, since it was easier for the giant to carry him alone rather than for them to try to balance the Water Elf between them, especially when a failed attempt at doing so could easily harm Rifroz even more. Some of the drops of dragon's blood fell onto Rifroz's torn leather armor. His legs drooped down, as the gravity from the Mana Core of Lore pulled down upon them. His tibia, femur, and fibula of both legs were both broken, and the skin of Rifroz's legs sickly stretched down by the force of gravitational pull.
Galvin opened the door, and he beckoned Illoz to bring Rifroz in first. The Lightning Giant held the torso of the Water Elf in his chain-mail gauntlets. Rifroz groaned painfully, and the sound of his moans garnered the attention of Iritha and Zazaith. They let the wounded elf pass them, and after he was rested upon a sufficiently sturdy table. Zazaith examined Rifroz's body, and he noted the broken leg bones. Zazaith took some alchemy reagents that he had gathered in their absence. He grabbed his worn stone mortar and pestle from a nearby counter. He crushed the Azure Leaves and Blood Lillies, and he made a paste out of the mushed reagents.
Zazaith carried the paste-filled mortar. He didn't add any water, as to dilute the solution would weaken its healing capabilities. The teenager covered his palms in the violet plaster, and then he applied it adequately to the elf's legs. "That should mend the bones in your legs perhaps two weeks sooner than it'd normally take," Zazaith stated, "Oh, right, it should also ease the pain in about an hour."
"Well, Rifroz and Illoz," Galvin began, "I suppose that since it was my fault that you two have found yourselves injured that it is only fair if I invite you to remain in my home while you both heal. Granted, my house is limited in space, therefore if you do accept my offer, then you will have to share a room."
Illoz responded with, "I don't believe that will be a problem, Galvin, what say you, Rifroz?"
Rifroz spoke weakly, bloody coughs interrupted his speech, "I...I see...no problem...with...that."
"I'm happy to have you as my guests then," Galvin answered, "So, do enjoy your extended stay on my behalf. Though, now that we have that arranged, I really must talk with Razen. So, I must take my leave."
The rugged figure in his burnt studded leather armor met me in the living room of the house. His face still marked with stubble and faint marks of burns, but past scars were more prevalent. He knelled down on his knees, so that he could look at me eye-to-eye. "Razen, do you know why I had to go hunt a Wind Dragon in the first place?" My father asked me.
I answered timidly, "No, no, I don't."
Galvin rose back up to his feet. He moved his left arm out, and he began to speak, "Well, you see, Razen, some four-hundred and seventy five years ago or so, an ancestor of ours had bested a group of demons all on his lonesome. He was renowned for wearing a mail made of Wind Dragon Scales, and every twenty-five years, a male member of the Veldrin family is to craft a set of this alleged armor to carry on his memory. I know not as to why our ancestor set out on this quest or how he succeeded, but I do my duty to recollect our family's spotlight in history."
I decided to query my father, "Wait...was one of these demons' names Zolkt? Was another of them Ariyzi?"
He looked at me somewhat dumbfounded, "Yes, actually, to both of those. How did you learn this? Who told you, Razen?" A small sense of panic seemed evident in his tone towards the last question.
"Do you promise not to hurt them?" I questioned with innocence overflowing from the question.
My father sighed, "Yes, I promise, Razen, now please quickly tell me who informed you of their names. It is of the utmost importance, you need to understand."
I gulped and continued with responding, and a deep fear and guilt pressed over me, "Zolkt did."
Galvin redoubled his sigh, and had asked to himself aloud, "How did this happen?"
Not knowing he was asking himself, I answered, "Well, when the Pancival took me from the glade to the mountain valleys north of the Sandsea..."
Galvin batted his eyes at me, and stated, "I didn't mean to say that aloud. I already know the answer. ...why didn't I personally see to your safety?" He continued to beat himself up until Iritha walked in, and her blonde hair seemed on its lonesome to be a good omen.
She spoke her words with a great deal of grace, "Galvin, you shouldn't beat yourself for actions that you had no control over. Besides, you had to get those Scales for the entire honor of our family, and we still have our dear little Razen home! Isn't that truly wondrous?"
"You're right, dear," Galvin sighed once more, "I suppose that the events which have transpired cannot be helped now." He glanced once more at me, and his solemn eyes filled my heart with fear.