Anger pulsed through Ryzen, stomping ahead of the group and venting her frustration into each step as she climbed the old trail up to the ruins on Aras. Why? Why did she have to get stuck with such a pig headed, dog smelling… Gah. It was bad enough that she had to be on this stupid quest to begin with but to be stuck with Wolf-boy was another thing entirely. The way he rubbed against her scales…
She thought she heard Fig calling out to her, but she ignored him. If I don’t get space from this kid then there will be an incident, she thought furiously. As much as she wanted to hurt the guy, she needed this plan to work.
Spotting a rock on the road she kicked it, watching in satisfaction as it soared in an arch before falling down the mountain side far beneath her. It felt good to get out some of her pent-up energy in a non-violent way, even though she one hundred percent wanted to give Wolf-boy a good punch in the gut. She’d feel loads better if she could just hit him once right?
Yeah, probably best if I keep my distance from him.
She continued to trek up the mountain until her feet got sore from all her stomping. Stopping to take a small break, she looked back to see where Fig and Wolf-boy were only to find that she had outpaced them so much that, they weren’t in sight anymore. Tapping the palm of her hand against her hip, she glanced back and forth along the road. She didn’t hear any screams of pain or agony, but that wouldn’t necessarily mean that the men weren’t in trouble. But if she needed to, she could always fly on her own now that they weren’t tethered together and could go back to see what was taking them so long.
She bit her lower lip as she thought. She could stay here and rest up while the boys made their way to her, or she could keep hiking up the mountain side and make sure that the coast was clear.
Glancing back down the trail she thought for a moment before shaking her head.
This was all stupid. Why even bothering waiting? They were grown men. They could take care of themselves. Plus, she wouldn’t have to see Wolf-boy's dumb face a little longer if she kept going ahead of them.
However, rather than continue her stomping pace she chose a more casual stride as she made her way up the mountain. Eventually the road leveled out and Ryzen smiled as she stared out over the ruins.
Towers and spires had crumpled, and many of the walls had fallen over. Here and there were columns that still stood, often surrounded by the rubble and debris of ages long past. Moving into what she thought was a courtyard, Ryzen’s booted feet kicked up dirt that had accumulated over the years due to exposure to the outside world, and she marveled that a place nearly four or five thousand years old still had anything left to show for it.
Even the air itself smells old, she mused and placing a hand on one of the columns that lay on its side. A shadow passed over her and her thoughts turned to the destruction and violence that had permeated this ancient place. Oddly shaped rocks and branches littered the ground and the place felt foreboding with those thoughts running through her head and her muscles tensed. Suddenly she felt like she had to run and flee from this place.
“Never thought I’d get to finally see this place one day.”
Startled, Ryzen spun around and threw a punch, landing a hit with a crunch on Wolf-boy's nose.
“Agh, gods! What was that for?” he cried, falling to the ground and clutching his nose with his hands. “Drahlros that hurt.”
Fig stuck his head out from one of the other pillars a way back and he looked curiously from Ryzen to Wolf-boy, then back to her with a frown on his face. “What did you do that for?”
Her fist stung, but not as much as his disappointment in what she had done. Gods, was she really going to mess up this mission and her chance to be alone with Fig? She glared at them, ignoring her pain and hoping to draw Fig’s attention away from her. “The idiot snuck up on me,” she accused, pointing a finger at Wolf-boy. “Don’t ever sneak up on me.”
“We weren’t sneaking up on you,” Wolf-boy said around a mouthful of blood that he spat on the ground. “But I’ll make sure not to make that mistake again.”
Fig walked over to them, but instead of reprimanding her, he stared around at the ruins. “What happened here?” he said, coming to a stop between the her and Wolf-boy, indicating the ruins around them. “This place feels... off. Like we shouldn’t be here.”
“We aren’t,” Wolf-boy said matter-of-factly as he kept a hand on his still bleeding nose. “There’s a reason no one comes here anymore. During his last days before his defeat, Jha’dor and a few of the Arcosia held a massive battle that tore this place apart. No one, except the Dark Lord, survived the fight. Everyone else either died or had fled long by the time it was all over.” He kicked a too round stone over, and her eyes widened when she saw the blank empty eye sockets of the skull staring back at her.
Spinning around she saw at least a dozen more skulls that she had mistaken as oddly shaped rocks were scattered all throughout the ruins. Some were still attached to the rest of the skeleton they belonged to, but others were in odd places with teeth and scratch marks that she took to mean something had been biting it.
“Why are they all still here?” Fig asked, his face contorted in a grimace as he looked around. “If these people died thousands of years ago, shouldn’t they have decayed by now?”
He and Wolf-boy turned to look at her.
“Don’t look at me. I didn’t even know these things were here until he said something,” she said, gesturing to Arclin. “What are we even looking for? Sranic seemed to think you might know what we were looking for when he said we had to come here with you. We know it’s about the World Gems, but we’ve had men come here before and not find anything.”
Wolf-boy closed his eyes, and he recited some kind of poem in a lowered voice. “Gone the Dark one may be, but by and by, we hold this plea. Let not a child of Venglath seek the stones for if found and brought before his throne the world will bow before his feet. Keep them hidden from all who seek, in the dark places under Aras’s Peak. Beware of the Dark one’s shadow.”
She had heard that before. It was called the warning or something, right? Their contact in Darithane was supposed to be handing over some book about that very thing, but she had never obtained it. When Wolf-boy had paused for breath she had thought the little rhyme was over, but to her surprise, Wolf-boy kept going.
“In my hands I hold the key but know the power it holds is not free. Beware the watchers of the rim, whether friend or foe your chances are slim. Should you win your path will be clear to doom Jha’dor and keep thy fear. And keep the gems far from Threar, or else beware the Dark one’s shadow.”
“What was that?” she asked wearily when he didn’t say anything more. “I don’t remember that being a part of the warning.”
“That’s because you’re not from House Vengoluth,” Wolf-boy said simply opening his eyes and looking around. “And it wasn’t always a warning about Jha’dor. In the beginning it started as some kind of prophecy, something about his return. But my third or fourth great grandfather felt that calling back a feared dark lord from Jung-Mar’s history wouldn’t be very wise, so instead our family stopped sharing the full tale. For the past two to three hundred years or so, my family went through and changed all the books to show the new version of the prophecy. As far as I know, there isn’t a place around that contains what was in the original prophecy, or if it was even a prophecy at all.”
“But why change it when he could be our greatest ally against the Revolution that happened?” she asked her scowl deepening. “If we knew he was an option in the Revolt then we could’ve called him back, and — ”
“Then the world be in his control,” Wolf-boy snapped at her. “My family may not have made the greatest choices in the past, but we weren’t about to ensnare the world in darkness again because of him. It already talks about a Dark one’s return, don’t you think our world is dark enough without forcing more into it?”
He moved on, leaving her and Fig behind as he walked around some pillars.
“Did Sranic not tell him what our main goal is?” Fig said, eyeing her.
“Shh, and no, he didn’t,” Ryzen said, lowering her voice and berating herself for almost spilling the beans again. She stepped closer to Fig so she could whisper to him, suddenly conscious of their proximity to each other she felt her ears turn pink. “Sranic said they talked about the World Gems on the blimp, and that Wolf-boy is doing this to find his sisters. For now he’s asked that Wolf-boy continues to believe we’re trying to collect the stones so we can return magic to the world and nothing else, so keep your lips shut, alright?”
Fig nodded before looking to where Arclin disappeared then to the ground littered with the skeletal remains of those who had come before. “So if others have been here in the ruins before, what are we looking for then?”
“No idea,” she said, walking after Wolf-boy and further into the debris.
Together, the three of them wondered where old halls used to stand, their crumbled walls hinting at a time long forgotten. A time when gods, magic and emperors ruled the world. A sad sight greeted her eyes as she came across what used to be a room. If anything had been in here from the past it was long gone, whether due to time or from those who had plundered this place for its riches. All that was left was the outline of what must have been a bed and a destroyed balcony.
Stepping forward she looked around the room until her gaze spotted an odd stain on the floor. It was nearly indistinguishable from the rest of the stonework, could’ve been anything really, but for some reason she felt drawn to it. Kneeling, she brushed her fingers on it, and a chill ran up her spine.
“What happened here?” she muttered, and she felt like an intruder. An unwanted guest. But something about the mark on the floor seemed to call to her, to whisper her that the things that had happened here had been tragic. A warning.
“Are you willing to sacrifice just as much?” it seemed to say to her. “What lengths are you willing to pay for what you seek?”
She shivered as a cool wind blew across the mountain top drawing her from her thoughts and back into the present.
“This place is creepy,” she said, trying to warm up her arms as she glanced around. Something snapped, and Ryzen spun to watch as a rock from one of the walls dropped to the ground, making a cracking noise as it hit the stone floor.
Nothing else moved, but Ryzen stared at where the rock came from. Stones that big don’t just fall like that from a small breeze, she thought, her eyes squinting in suspicion. She continued to glare for a moment before she heard Fig’s voice calling to her right.
“Everything okay, Ryzen? We heard something fall and weren’t sure if you were okay or not.”
“I’m fine,” she called back, her eyes never leaving the wall and debris. She knew she should head over and join them in the search together, but she couldn’t help shake the feeling that something was watching her. “Hey, Wolf-boy,” she called, hoping that he could hear her too. “Wasn’t there something in that poem of yours that we had to watch out for something?”
“Yeah,” his voice came drifting back over the wall. “Something about the watcher at the rim, but I don’t know what exactly it’s talking about. Did you find something on a rim?”
“Not really,” she replied, thinking that the branches leaning against some boulders were oddly shaped. “Just some weird trees and rocks.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Wolf-boy said sarcastically. “Why don’t you come over this way and glare at what we’ve found? We need your input on something.”
“Fine,” she sighed in exasperation as she turned away from the wall. “It’s gotta be better than what I found over here.”
She decided to walk over the fallen wall rather than around it, and saw both Wolf-boy and Fig in a courtyard surrounded by four different statues and an assortment of crumbling pillars here and there. No, not a courtyard, she thought after taking a moment to bring it all in. Her eyes widened in surprise as she realized that this littered courtyard was really an old chapel. Much of the walls were gone, but she could still make out where some stained-glass windows were perched, their colors reflecting dimly in the sun’s light. Grass, small trees and weeds had broken through the stone floor and walls, while high above one of the columns stood so tall she was shocked she had thought this a courtyard.
“What do you think of this?” Fig called up to her. “A little different than the one you’ve got back home, eh?”
“You guys still have a functioning chapel?” Wolf-boy asked surprised.
“We did, until they closed it due to lack of attendance,” Ryzen said as she hopped down the rubble. “Most of the Silvi people now believe in Relthar, or the One True God, nowadays. No one uses the old temples and their chapels are either unused, in disrepair or have been plundered for their treasures..”
“That’s unfortunate,” he said. Scrunching his face, Ryzen watched Wolf-boy say the name of the True God in his mouth. “Relthar. I haven’t heard of it before.”
“It’s newish,” Fig said as Ryzen went back to exploring the ruins. “It’s a budding religion that started up around fifty years ago. They worship Relthar as a god of light with their main tenant of their faith being that all the other gods are dead or gone and that he is the only one that can save Jung-Mar from destruction.”
“That sounds…ominous,” Wolf-boy said hesitantly.
Ryzen smiled to herself. It did sound ominous, but it was also hopeful. There were times when she would be drawn to the messages shared by their priests. They helped her hope for a world better than her own, rather than the one she had to live in. Doomed to destruction by its own citizens.
“It’s alright. Most of us among the Revolt don’t really believe it,” Fig said with a chuckle, and again Ryzen felt her ears flush pink. “We find it just as ominous too in some ways, but we’re not as concerned with them since they haven’t really helped or hindered us as a group either.”
Other than the soft patter of their footsteps, their little group fell into a silence that pervaded the ruined chapel as they all made their way around the ruined chapel.
“So, Ryzen, what do you think of this place?” Wolf-boy asked, coming to walk beside her.
She glanced at him and sneered. Why did he insist on talking to her? All she wanted was to find anything that could help them find the World Gems and be on their way. She was about to tell him what she really thought of him, when a glint caught her eye from one of the statues.
Stopping, she turned and saw the statue of the goddess of her people, Silventha. Her hair flowed and weaved around her shoulders like the vines from the jungles of Torlista while flowers ringed her head and blossomed like the gentle petals of a rose. Her face, though small, held a gentle smile that Ryzen found hard to look away from, and around her eyes were the lines of laughter and joy. She almost felt as if she could still see the jewels that were vacant empty sockets on the statue. Thought she could imagine the exact color of Silventha’s dress. A bright green. The same green of a blossoming and blooming spring after a harsh winter.
Deep inside, Ryzen suddenly felt torn. Never had she beheld a statue of Silventha like this. None except the small and ineptly made were left now, and most of them were either torn down by those who no longer believed in the old gods, or sold off to wealthy collectors who sought pieces of Jung-Mar's history. Even her family’s own chapel back home had nothing more than a miniature statuette of Silventha no more than five or six inches tall. A poor replica of the true masterpiece standing before her.
A tear slid down her cheek. Not from sadness, or adoration. No. She had given enough tears to those emotions. All she had left was anger, and frustration. Here was the image of a god who cared, a face that said, “I will always be there for you.” But in all the times she had prayed to Silventha she had never felt anything the face before her promised. There had been no hope. No joy…. No love.
“We used to have statues like this one in my family’s chapel,” Wolf-boy said solemnly from behind her. “They weren’t as worn as this one is, but you could tell it hadn’t been treated properly in years.”
“Do you still believe?” she asked, shocked she was asking him.
He didn’t answer. She didn’t know if that was a yes, but it definitely wasn’t a no.
“Do you ever feel like they aren’t there anymore?” Ryzen continued, whispering so softly she could barely hear herself over the breeze. “That we don’t matter anymore in their eyes?”
He remained silent for a moment, contemplating her words. “I’ve never really had a chance to think about it. All my life I’ve been told to look out for myself and my sisters. We used to pray to Drahlros. Pray that his light would guide and watch over us. But now… now I don’t pray. I guess that I still believe. But I have to wonder how can the gods say they love and watch over us when they haven’t been doing a very good job of that. Scorch, I can’t even do that. My parents told me to take care of my sisters and instead I lose them. Does that make me as bad as them for abandoning us, even when they said they loved us?”
She couldn’t say. On the one hand, she commemorated him for wanting to find his sisters, but on the other, she wanted to berate him for even losing them in the first place. She didn’t know all the details for how Wolf-boy had been separated from them, but she still felt that there could’ve been something he could’ve done.
Wolf-boy seemed to take her silence for an answer because he walked away. She didn’t see where, but it sounded like he was walking over to one of the other statues.
Giving a soft chuckle at her own foolishness, she shook her head. Turning to move away, she again caught a glint of light from the statue.
Unlike other statues at home, the one before her held out its hands, holding an orb a little larger than a closed fist. At first it looked just like a stone that had been carved and placed into the statues outstretched hands. Curious, she walked over and reached out a hand to see if she could lift the stone.
Rocks fell behind her and she spun around watching to see what had moved, but both Wolf-boy and Fig were in opposite directions from where the boulders had tumbled and both were looking at the spot curiously.
“Did you guys see what made those fall?” she asked.
Wolf-boy and Fig both shook their heads. Ryzen snorted in derision. Why did she even bother asking? She should just know by now that she could only trust one person with her safety and that was herself. She scanned the broken wall looking for anything out of the ordinary and noticed that there were those odd logs and branches like she had seen before, leaning against two bulbous stones. Maybe someone came around and placed them that way? she reasoned. It wasn’t too farfetched. Stories abounded of treasure hunters seeking lost treasures from the old ruins were abundant. Perhaps there were some people—or uh, pilgrims—that were around who came as some kind of spiritual journey to find out nonsense about the past or whatever.
Ryzen shook her head. She was being stupid again. They were just rocks. Turning around she looked at the statue of Silventha and the stone it held and noticed that there was a clear silvery mark on it. Not the kind of silver that you would find in a vine of a mine, but kind where something had brushed the dirt and grim off metal, letting the light hit its beautiful surface. Reaching out, she picked up the stone with both hands.
A wild screech rang out across the ruined chapel, and clutching the stone to her chest, Ryzen spun to see the sharp wooden branches and stones running towards her. Together the logs and giant stone pieces had formed a spider-like creature that came running at her. Its eight black eyes glittered dangerously as it raced straight for her.
She didn’t know what to do, startled as she was, she could only watch as the thing charged, already halfway to where she stood.
A yell rang out that quickly turned into a snarl as Arclin shifted. Leaping forward, his fangs latched onto one of the spider’s tree like legs. Growling and snarling he tried to slow it down as he yanked and pulled the stone leg away from her.
“It’s an octilid!” Fig called out, running toward her. “But, I’ve never seen one this size before. Perhaps it has something to do with the altitude?”
An Octilid. A creature that was both a spider and an octopus and could live both on land and sea. The largest she had ever seen them get was the size of a dinner plate. This was clearly much bigger than that.
“Who cares how big it got, why did it charge me?” she shouted, backing away as Wolf-boy continued to struggle with one of its eight legs.
“I cannot say. Did you touch something that set it off?” Fig yelled back.
Glancing down, she saw the stone still clutched in her hands. Perhaps she had.
Despite the octilid’s struggle with Wolf-boy, it was still working its way toward her.
Well, now’s a good time as any to test my theory.
“Hey Fig, catch!” she called out and tossed the stone to Fig. The moment it left her hand, she shifted into her true self. Others claimed that the human form was a shifters true form, but not her. Everything felt right as her body elongated grew wings out of her back. Stretching out her furry maw, she let a rumbling roar escape her lips in challenge.
But the creature didn’t care, it wasn’t even facing her anymore. The moment Fig had caught the stone the octilid had changed course and was now trying to chase Fig, who was unfortunately a closer target now.
Great, better get over there before the octilid does. But it confirmed her theory. The orb must be a World Gem. Or at least something valuable.
Raising her wings she charged the stony creature. She nearly missed her target as the octilid dragged Wolf-boy beside it. Fortunately, like Arclin, she was able to latch onto another one of the spider-like legs with her clawed hands. Between the both of them their weight caused the octilid’s pace to slow significantly. Looking over at Fig, Ryzen tried to urge him to run.
Come on, Fig. Take the hint and go! she thought silently, hoping his big smart head would catch up to what she was signaling. Luckily, he did. With a nod of his head he turned and ran for the other end of the chapel and away from the creature.
A screech of rage and frustration erupted from the octilid’s beaked mouth. Hissing and clacking, the octilid’s eight eyes finally turned their attention to her.
That doesn’t seem like a good thing.
With another screech, it raised one of its rocky forelimbs and brought it down hard through Ryzen’s hind leg. She roared in pain and let go of the leg she had been holding, and tried instead to remove the spiny intrusion out of her body. Gripping it with her teeth, she was able to get it free, but saw, to her horror, the octilid raise another leg, getting ready to stab down on Arclin’s wolfy head. With the jerk of her head, Ryzen tried to stop the octilid by pulling it away from him. She failed…sort of.
With a quick motion from the octilid its sharp leg came down, because she had jerked it and, it had only stabbed Wolf-boy’s wing arm instead of his head. With a howl of pain, Arclin let go of the octilid’s leg and the creature swung another leg around to try and do the same thing to Ryzen. With a growl of frustration, Ryzen released the leg from her teeth and flapped her wings to get away from the thing.
Once free, the eight-legged freak turned tail and went straight for Fig again.
Still holding onto the stone orb she had thrown to him, Fig began running around and between the columns that were still standing among the ruins, trying to lose the horror hunting him now.
“Why is it chasing me?” Fig yelled as he jumped on and around the debris as the octilid followed him out of the chapel area. “I haven’t done anything to anger it!”
That was true, he hadn’t done anything. Except hold one of the World Gems that it was guarding. Shifting into her human from, Ryzen cupped her hands together and shouted, “That’s the watcher at the rim. I threw you one of the World Gems and it’s trying to get it back!”
“We’ll that’s comforting. Why in the abyss would you toss something that valuable to me?” Fig said as he temporarily went out of sight behind the rubble.
Ryzen shifted again, and was about to fly into the sky when something rammed into her from behind. She tumbled into the dirt and gravel and groaned in pain from a rock jutting up into her belly. Clacking noises rose up from behind her and two legs pierced her wing membrane, causing her let out a long guttural scream. Her eyes watered and she tried to move without tearing her wings further, but the octilid pinning her down screeched at her as a third leg sank into her haunches.
Blinking her tears away, Ryzen turned her head just enough to see this new octilid raise one of its forelegs high into the air, ready to spear her through.
Suddenly Arclin shot through the air, tackling the octilid and biting down hard on its beaked face. The octilid screeched, drawing its legs away from her the two took the fighting away from her.
Sighing in relief, Ryzen stood on all four of her shaking legs and took in her surroundings. Fig had made his way back, still running from the first octilid, while Wolf-boy wrestled with a second that had come out of nowhere.
This isn’t getting us anywhere, she grumbled, gritting her teeth in pain. How are we supposed to fight these things? We can barely handle one as it is.
Fig suddenly tripped over a rock, and Ryzen watched as the World Gem he was holding went flying into the air and into a pile of rocks near a ruined wall. Ryzen cried out in fear as the octilid overtook Fig. No, don’t you dare step on him! She made to intercept the beast, but it changed course and went after the gem instead of finishing off Fig. Not taking any chances, she ran over to his side, her legs shaking with the effort to stand.
There was a roar from Wolf-boy as the other octilid stabbed him in the tail, pinning him down and making it so it could crawl away from his sharp teeth. Once away from Wolf-boy, it joined the other octilid around the rubble, and together the two worked to find the gem.
Wolf-boy limped over to where Ryzen stood, ready to pounce should the octilids change their mind and come for them again.
“The stone?” Wolf-boy moaned after he shifted back, rubbing his shoulder and backside. A benefit of being a shifter meant they didn’t have to deal with wounds they received in the other form. Unfortunately, it still took just as long to heal. “They were fighting us over a rock?” he said incredulously.
“That was no mere rock,” Fig replied coming to stand next to Ryzen. “Did you not hear Ryzen shout it was a World Gem she was holding?”
“It was?” he exclaimed, looking toward the creatures. “What are we waiting here for then, let’s go get it.”
Ryzen stuck out her snout in front of him and snorted.
“What’s the matter with you?” Wolf-boy said with a scowl.
“What’s the matter is that we just got our backsides handed to us,” Ryzen said, shifting so she could talk to them. “We need a plan before we just run in and get hurt, more than we already have been.”
“Right,” Wolf-boy said, rubbing his shoulder again. “So what do we do?”
“The odds are in our favor, three against two,” Fig said. “And yes, I count myself, even though I cannot shift I can still contribute just as I did when Ryzen gave me the stone.”
“So what I’m hearing is we need another distraction,” Wolf-boy replied. “Got any ideas on how you can cause one?”
“I do,” Ryzen said, pointing back towards the statues of the gods. “That stone was only one of the World Gems that we needed, right? Then let’s go back and search for another one. If these things are supposed to be the guardians or protectors then maybe we can distract them with another one? While they go after the second gem, Wolf-boy and I can take them down one at a time.”
Fig’s face fell as he looked back to the octilids. “That means I am the bait then.”
“Wait, wait. Really?” Wolf-boy said incredulously. “That’s our plan? Find the next Soul Gem and have these things chase Fig until we can stop them? What if they catch him and he dies because of this?”
It hadn’t initially crossed her mind, but now that her plan was out in the open she didn’t know how well thought out it was. “Well then why don’t you come up with something better, Wolf-brain?”
“Please, do not fight on my account, Princess,” Fig said stoically, straightening his shoulders. “I did not mean to worry you both with my concerns. It is a good plan. That does not mean we have to fully like it.”
Wolf-boy remained silent, and Ryzen appreciated Fig standing up for her plan, even if it was an idiotic plan.
“Let us go and look for the other gem,” Fig said, waving them onward. “Perhaps by doing this it will draw their ire?”
Smiling at him, Ryzen wished that Fig would’ve fought for her like this sooner. Well no time like the present, she thought as she ran back to the statues of the gods. Together the three of them spread out across the ruins of the chapel hall, weary of the octilids and the space they occupied where one was still searching for the World Gem Fig had lost over there.
She looked up and down the statue she had run to, but her gaze kept going back to the octilids and where they were searching. Stop it! she chided herself. I need to stay focused. She couldn’t let the others do this alone, not with her attention being continually drawn away. Pulling her eyes back, she glanced at the statue before her, trying to see or find anything that resembled the World Gem she had found before, but this stone figure was so deformed she could hardly tell who it was supposed to even be.
Her gaze shifted back to the octilids, and she watched them for another minute before catching herself again. Why do I keep doing that? It’s not like they’re doing anything spectacular. But the more she observed, the more she realized that for whatever reason, those creatures were unable to find the gem in the rubble. Something began to pull at her mind, and letting her attention shift, her eyes fell on the one round orb by the octilids. A glint of silver sparkled at her, and Ryzen caught her breath. There it was, the World Gem of Silventha not more than three feet away from the octilids and neither one seemed to know it was there. Were they blind, or just stupid?
“I found it,” Wolf-boy called from the opposite side of the chapel, raising his hand into the air while holding up another sphere similar to Ryzen’s. “It’s Drahlros’s I think.”
The yard froze as all eyes turned to him, even the octilids.
In a flash, the octilids were both running for him and Wolf-boy had the same look she must’ve had when they went after her.
“Quick! Throw it. Give it to Fig!” she called to him. In a burst of speed she ran to intercept the octilids from reaching him. Shifting into her Nethardra form, and despite the pain, Ryzen pushed herself to get them.
The world changed around her to fit her new perspective and the octilids didn’t seem nearly as large as before. With a mighty roar, her head slammed into the closest octilid and together they tumbled around, her armored scales banging against the creatures stony hide. When the world stopped spinning Ryzen locked onto one of the octilid’s great mandibles near its face and bit down as hard as she could, her teeth cracking it’s exoskeleton and releasing a flood of gooey fluid.
Shouts came from behind her, but Ryzen couldn’t stop to see what was going on. Instead she bit harder and jerked. The mandible came free and the octilid screeched in anger and fury at her. With a massive lurch, the octilid shoved her away causing her side with the injured leg to smash into one of the columns still standing. With a loud creaking and cracking, the pillar fell with a loud crash into the debris around them.
Grimacing in pain, Ryzen forced her eyes to stay open as the octilid’s many legs clacked against the ground towards her, its face a gruesome mask of blue blood and goo.
A figure jumped over her in a rumbling howl of defiance, and tackled the octilid. With another roar that mingled with the octilid’s screeching cry, Arclin bit the other one of the mandibles and pulled the creature away from Ryzen.
Using this chance to gain her footing, Ryzen ignored the pain in her body and went after Wolf-boy and the octilid. The octilid had almost shaken him off, despite the fact that Wolf-boy had nearly ripped off the mandible that was still clutched in his mouth. Seeing her chance, she took in a sharp breath and expelled it in a fiery blast that covered the octilid’s backside in red hot flames.
The octilid screamed in agony and tried to crawl away from both of them. Thought you’d get away that easily, huh? she thought as a low rumbling growl escaped her throat. With another deep breath she shot fire from her maw at the octilid’s beaked face.
In a warbling cry, the octilid twitched and spasmed under her burning flames and Wolf-boy let go, growling at her in anger. But she didn’t care, she kept breathing on it for as long as she could before snapping her jaws shut. In morbid fascination, Ryzen watched as its eyes sizzled and popped from the heat.
With another growl, Wolf-boy raced past Ryzen and she saw why he was running.
Holding his hands aloft, Fig was standing at the top of a pile of rubble with the octilid standing a few paces away, its arms raised like a spider warding off another. It was an odd gesture and one that Ryzen wished she could think more about. Instead of coming for Fig, however, the octilid spun around in time to face off against Wolf-boy. Using its sharp legs, the octilid pounded the ground between them, keeping Arclin from biting it and from coming to Fig’s aid.
“Ryzen!” Fig called, holding up two World Gems. “Quick. I’ve got them!”
How in Jung-Mar had he been able to do that? He must’ve been able to grab it while both octilid’s had been busy facing off against her and Wolf-boy. But now that this octilid wasn’t fighting it had sought out the World Gems again. Shaking her head in disbelief at the audacity of that man, she charged after them, opening her wings she flapped until she was airborne.
It still hurt to use her wings, but it hurt less than her legs and she hoped it was enough to keep herself off her injured leg for now.
With effort, Ryzen tipped herself forward and began flying towards the octilid. The distracted creature did not know who to focus on between keeping Fig on top of the debris and fighting off Wolf-boy. With a few pumps of her wings she landed an second later and she put her full weight on on the eight-legged monster.
With a squeaking cry of pain, the octilid collapsed under her bulk and Ryzen tried to keep the octilid from getting back up again. She prepared herself to breath fire again, but with the octilid being right beneath her she had no clear shot to burn it.
A blood-curdling roar came from Wolf-boy and suddenly he was there, smashing his face into the octilid’s. A loud squelching crunch came from Arclin’s jaws, followed shortly by a warbling gargle from the octilid, and the monster sagged beneath Ryzen. Sensing its moment of weakness, she dug her front claws into its exoskeleton and began pulling and ripping it apart.
The octilid gave more garbled cries of pain, but Ryzen didn’t stop until it was nothing more than a tangled bleeding mess of goo beneath her.
Breathing heavily, she backed away to admire her gruesome handiwork.
Fig stood staring open mouthed at the top of the pile of rubble. Wolf-boy had change back into his human form, his face contorted in a tight grimace of disgust.
“By Mehru’s moon,” Fig exclaimed. “That was—”
But whatever he was going to say was cut off to Ryzen’s ears as she exhaled a final breath of flames on the creature. In this breath she found herself pouring her pains and frustrations of the last week, and wished that she could’ve shouted loud enough to be heard all across Jung-mar. But what she did hear was the sounds of her fire mixed with the octilid’s shrieks and cries of pain as its body sizzled and burned. Through the smoke, the smell of the briny sea and cooked sea food reached her nose and it reminded her of home. Abruptly she stopped her spout of flames, and scooted back so when she shifted, she wouldn’t be anywhere near the octilid.
“By Drahlros’s light,” Wolf-boy said, cursing by the old god’s name. “That… that…”
“Was nothing,” she finished, having reverted back to her human self. “It was nothing.” She turned away and moved over to where the other octilid lay motionless. I just…need a moment to myself is all, she told herself as her legs wabbled beneath her.
Not trusting her legs more than she already had, Ryzen found a rock large enough to sit on and plopped herself down, taking deep gulping breaths.
She jumped when a hand rested on her shoulder only to relax when she saw it was Fig, his face bruised and scrapped, but nothing worse than that.
“It would be good if you had someone to talk to, I think,” he said softly.
At first all she could grasp mentally was Fig standing there before her, but then Ryzen began to feel more. First it was the stab wound from where her Nethardra form had been injured, sending phantom pains through her leg and shoulder. She groaned in pain as the taxing realization hit that she had helped kill. And not just once, but twice. Bile and disgust filled her stomach, and, fueled by the pain she already felt, Ryzen bent over and puked onto the ground as Fig rubbed her back cajolingly.