Iornheart Part 4
"Diana, please reconsider this. You don't have to go through all this trouble," Stephanie pleaded.
"I have to, and I want to," said Diana, packing her satchel with her tools.
"But it's too dangerous!"
Diana turned to her mother. "Dad left behind the knowledge of something that can help you improve your health. If it's out there…then I will get it."
Stephanie sighed. "Diana…just please—"
Diana gently hugged her mother. "I will be careful. I know I just met this group today, but…they genuinely seem like good people. They'll have my back."
Diana said goodbye to her mother as she left the cottage and mounted her horse. Bean, Elfo, Luci, and Koga followed the blacksmith down the path heading north of the bedrock kingdom. As they went further and further north, they noticed that the weather was beginning to change. The clouds were now grey, and the wind started to pick up. More and more dragon remains were beginning to come into view. Some were towering over others. Some were even as large as mountains. "That…was one big dragon…" Bean whispered. "That's an understatement…" said Elfo. The corpses of dragons weren't the only visible thing. Corpses of soldiers were visible in the soil, along with old swords, axes, and spears. Large trees were sprouting out of the ground, and flowers of all kinds were growing out of the cracks in the ground. They entered a large canyon-like structure with dragon bones sticking out from the canyon walls. What caught the eye of Bean, Elfo, and Luci most was the glowing blue mist hovering over them. Occasionally, balls of light would fly over them, causing them to duck.
"What the hell is that?" Bean asked, looking over to Diana.
"If I were to take a wild guess, it's magic that accumulated over time from the dragon's remains," Diana watched as the glowing mist. "We need to tread carefully."
BOOM!
They all looked up. A small rock lands on Koga's forehead. He rubs his head and sees a giant boulder falling towards them. "EVERYONE MOVE!" The wanderer called out. They all dismounted their horses and leaped out of the way. They covered their heads in anticipation of debris hitting them. But nothing happened. They didn't even hear the boulder hit the ground. They moved their arms away from their faces to see the boulder hovering in the air. The mist caught the boulder and tore it apart, turning it into white dust.
"Thanks, glowing green mist!" Elfo waved at it. That same mist the elf waved at caught a bird passing by, and the bird fell to the ground, twitching. "Oh…wow…."
"This place is way too unpredictable…" said Bean, on edge.
"You see why I haven't tried coming out here alone?" said Diana.
"Come on, we need to keep moving," said Koga. "If we stay in one spot for a long time, who knows what will happen to us?"
"You don't have to tell me twice…" said Bean. She got off the ground and tripped. "What the hell?" Bean turned around and saw that a skeletal hand had gripped her ankle. The princess let out a shocked scream when she laid eyes on the skeletal hand.
Koga rushes over to Bean, grabs her hand, and yanks her away from the skeletal hand. They all backed away as, one by one, four glowing red corpses were crawling out of the ground. Their bright eyes were hovering in their sockets, and a smokey red mist was coming out of their mouths.
"Hey, Bean, maybe one of these guys is your type?" Luci laughed.
"Everyone get back, I'll handle this," said Koga. He drew his longsword and rushed forward with a downward slash at the undead corpse, cutting him in half. Koga would go on to do the same to the other three. Koga turned to face the group, looking unamused. "Jeez… it's always undead corps—"Elfo would suddenly yell, "Koga behind you!" Koga turned around and saw the undead corpse he'd just slain swung at him. The wanderer jumped back, dodging just in time. "Hey! That's not how that's supposed to go!" He scowled. A transparent body had emerged inside the served corpses, and they all slowly walked towards them.
"Well, that's bullshit," said Luci.
"Umm…what do we do now?" Bean asked as they all began backing away from the corpses.
"What do you think? We book it!" said Koga.
KEEEREEEEEE!
The group turned around, and their eyes fell on the bird knocked out of the sky. Its bones began to crack and pop, and its eyes began to glow purple. It started to grow and grow, and it's long and wide. The giant bird gets on its feet and toward Bean, Elfo, Luci, Koga, and Diana.
Luci looks at Diana. "The price for our services has now jumped to eight thousand gold pieces…"
The giant bird uttered a loud screech and thrust its beak at them. They managed to avoid its attack, and the monstrous bird had eaten one of the glowing red corpses. It swallows them whole, and the bird's fur color changes from black to red. The bird roars as it raises its leg and brings it down near Bean and Elfo, its claws tearing apart the ground. The enormous bird places its eyes on Elfo. Elfo panics as the bird thrusts its beak toward him. Elfo would leap to the left, and the bird's beak pierced the ground.
"AH! WAIT! DON'T EAT ME!" Elfo cried as the bird pecked its beak at Elfo repeatedly. "I DON'T TASTE GOOD!"
Bean would unsheath her sword and rush over to the monstrous bird. "Leave my friend alone, you bird bastard!" The princess shouted while swinging her sword at the creature. The bird screeches as Bean leaves a flesh wound on its wing. The bird turns around, twists its neck, and bites at her. Bean falls back, nearly getting her arm bit off as Koga leaps in and swings at the bird's neck. It was a deep cut, but It didn't kill the bird. All it did was leave the same transparent wound as the undead corpse Koga was fighting earlier. The giant bird snaps its beak at Koga, nearly biting his head off. In haste, he loses his weapon, which slides over to Diana.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Koga yelled.
"Now, what are we going to do?!" Bean panics.
"Guess you'll die," Luci shrugged, watching them fight from above. "It was nice knowing you guys!"
"KOGA!" Diana shouts. "HERE! STAB IT IN THE HEAD!" She tossed Koga's sword back to him.
Koga catches his sword, grips it, leaps into the air, and stabs the bird in the head. Koga hops off the bird, and it flops down on his stomach. The bird slowly began shrinking till it was back to its regular size. Its once red fur color was once again black.
"What the—it's dead now? What did you do that was different?" Bean asked, looking over at Koga.
"It's not what I did," Koga looked at his sword. There was a white, faint glow that resonated across the blade. He looks at Diana. "What did you coat my sword in?"
"Something that could save our asses," The blacksmith replied. She looked around and noticed that the horses were missing. "I guess we'll be traveling on foot…come on, we need to move. We're close…" She hurried along.
"Yeah…I don't want to run into anything else that will turn into a monster," said Elfo, hurrying along with Diana. Koga looked at his sword again and saw that the white glow was gone. He sheathed his sword, and he and Bean followed along quickly.
Little did the group know…they had spectators watching their battle. Three knights clad in black armor and gold platting around it's shoulders and colar's stood high on the canyon's cliffside.
"Well, it seems like he lives up to his name,"
"Uh huh…"
"And they have an elf with them, too!" said black knight Lucias
"Yeah…"
"Lucias…we don't need the elf,"
"That makes no sense! We could use the elf's magic for our fleet!"
"We've talked about this, Lucias. If it's not a part of our mission, then we leave it alone,"
"BAH!"
"Veronica," said Dalton, clad in light black armor and gold plating around the shoulders and colar. He wore a helmet with one horn sticking out on the base. He stared at his partner, who wore a black amour with a helmet with two horns sticking out on the sides. "Veronica!"
"What? I'm listening!" She replied, following Bean, Elfo, Luci, Koga, and Diana as they moved through the canyon's passage.
"You're not just staring at the princess, are you?" Dalton asked.
"What? Noooo…" Veronica would extend her telescope to get a closer look at Diana. "I'm staring at the blond girl…respectfully, of course."
"Ugh," Lucia's groaned. He wore a bulkier black armor and a helmet that resembled a lion. "We're wasting time."
"It's called recon, Lucias," Veronica moved her telescope to Lucias. "Now, I'm staring at you. Disrespectfully, of course."
Lucias reached for the telescope in frustration, but Veronica moved it away. "I'm sick of you and your games!"
"Nobody asked you to come along, Lucias. Dalton and I were in charge of this mission!" said Veronica.
"And I'm glad I came along! We have magic from these dragons' remains and can nab an elf! Do you not realize the magical potential we can have if we take him?" said Lucias.
"Meh meh meh, Elf elf elf," Veronica mocked.
"Enough of that, you two," said Dalton. "We came here to the bedrock kingdom to get the remains of dragons and to search for Gregory Ironheart. Nothing else…"
"Did you notice that hot blond girl coated that guy's sword with some weird magic?" said Veronica. "I didn't see her use a scroll either."
"I did notice that. The woman probably knows something that we, and many others, don't." Dalton replied.
"So, what's our next move?" Lucias asked impatiently.
"We capture her, find out where Gregory Ironheart is, and take him too,"
"And what about the princess?" Veronica asked.
"We don't need a princess,"
"Oh well," Veronica shrugged. "She looks too young for me anyway."
"Is that all you think about is women?" asked Lucias, annoyed.
"Got a problem with that?" said Veronica threateningly.
"Enough bickering. While our crew harvests the dragon's remains, we must acquire these two blacksmiths. Let's focus and move," said Dalton.
The three black knights began to make their move.
Bean, Elfo, Luci Koga, and Diana had finally made their way out of the canyon pass. The weather was no longer cloudy or windy. The sky above them was now bright blue with a few white clouds here and there. It was a stark contrast from where they originally were. But things were only beginning. The group looked at that wide-open area of ore that faced them. It went on for miles—black and white ore, red and white, green and purple. All sorts of ore of all kinds were sticking out of the walls and glowing in the sunlight.
"Whoa…" Bean said in awe. "I'm guessing we made it?
Diana's jaw dropped. She had only seen average ore all her life. To see all of this now was breathtaking. Once they took in the beautiful sight, they all marched on, eyeing the colored rocks and crystals that shined in the light. Diana stopped, and her eyes fell onto a dark grey rock sticking out of the wall with a few other small ones. She took out her small pickaxe and began pecking at the rock till it broke off.
"This is for your new sword," said Diana, stuffing the ore into her pouch.
"What about what you're looking for?" Bean asked.
Diana looked up. "Well…from what others have told me, they're always hidden in the highest places…"
"We're going to have to climb high up, aren't we?" Elfo asked.
"Don't worry, I can do this part my—" Suddenly, Koga unsheathed his sword, turned around, and swiped away two daggers with one swing.
"Impressive Koga the Wanderer," said Dalton. He, along with Veronica and Lucias, approached Bean, Elfo, Luci, Koga, and Diana. "You might live up to your name after all…"
Koga's eyes widened as he focused on Dalton, Veronica, and Lucia's black armor.
"It's impressive," said Veronica. "Buuuut…our general is ten times better than you. Just keep that in mind."
Bean glared. "And who the hell are you three?"
Veronica raised her hand to answer but paused. "Umm…" She looks at Dalton. "Umm…are we pirates?"
Dalton turned to her. "We're an army, Veronica,"
"Well, that's boring…pirates sound way cooler,"
Lucias rolled his eyes under his helmet and stepped forward. "We are the dark legion! We demand you hand over that woman and the elf!"
"What?" Diana took a step back.
"What in the world would you want Elfo for? The guy doesn't even bathe," said Luci.
"What? I can't help it if bathes irritate me," said Elfo.
"Who the hell do you a-holes think you are marching up to us and demanding to us to hand over our friends?!" Bean shouts, bawling up her fist.
"Didn't you hear my elf-loving weirdo right here?" Veronica points her thumb at Lucias, who grumbles under his breath. "Let's not take things further and just comply with our demands, ok?"
"Like hell we are!" Bean draws her sword. She looks at Koga, who stands there staring at the three black knights. "Koga?"
Koga didn't reply.
"Hey Koga, sanp out of it!"
A trail of sweat ran down Koga's face as he stood there transfixed.
Memories of the past began to fill his mind.