Chapter 7

Into The Heart

 

 

            “Izneria’s Staff, it’s cold!” Vincient swore. The young mage had barely entered the Heart and already the cold assaulted him. He had run only for ten minutes, but he had already crossed several miles. The dash came to a halt when a large mound of snow appeared closer than he thought. His attempt to stop caused his boots to slide on a large sheet of ice hardened snow, and he skidded until the snow mound broke his momentum. Emerging a moment later uninjured, he was wet from the snow.

            I should have paid more attention to my attire before coming here. Vincient thought regarding his pair of worn boots. They were well designed for walking the countryside, but not for this terrain. Vincient shook his head and began to prepare a warm air spell to dry him out, but on reflection he decided not to. I’ll have to conserve my energy to block the cold, which means I better use my spells wisely. Now the question is how do I cross this lords forsaken place? If I travel merely by foot, I’ll succumb to the cold before I get there. An idea began to form in Vincient’s mind. I’ll feel it worse that way, but I’ll get there much faster.

            Vincient stood with his back straight and legs together. Slowly he gathered his thoughts together and gave his body a command. He felt the binding force of gravity lose its hold on him. The soles of his boots lost contact with the snow-covered land. Vincient hung suspended in mid air for a moment. The young man relaxed, letting his body attain a more at ease position. From his new point of view he surveyed the landscape. A sharp blue sky joined a bright white field. The sun shone onto the ice and returned even brighter. He had to shield his eyes from the glare. After a moment they adjusted to the excess light. All around him were hills and valleys of snow and ice, stretching beyond his vision. The cold wind sliced through the mage and he wrapped his cloak tighter around himself.

            “Time to get moving.” Vincient faced the direction he wanted to go and shot forward. His flight was as fast as his running. Now I no longer have to worry about slipping. He thought with a wicked grin as he soared. Of all of the powers at his command, nothing gave him more pleasure than flying. The feeling of flight was the closet thing to pure freedom. Gliding amongst the clouds, feeling the wind move around him, it all made him feel free.  Vincient first learned a spell for it at age elven, much to the surprise of his teacher, who only saw the young man throw himself out a window. The grin turned to light laughter as he thought of his childhood, filled with much of these unintended pranks.

            The black cloak snapped in the wind as he flew. Vincient had great agility on the ground, but he had the grace of an eagle in the air. With great ease he was able to make subtle and great changes in his flight. As the young man soared through the cold clear sky, he would flip, move in tight and loose corkscrew patterns, as well as sudden dips and dives. Vincient loved every moment of this experience. He didn’t use it very often, due to the others. He knew he could wave it off as just a simple spell, but he was a lousy liar. The fact of the matter was that he no longer needed to cast a spell to fly. It came as naturally to him as walking.

            He made that discovery by accident several months ago. This had been shortly after they had met Dungar and Garette on Kednohom. He’d been climbing the mountain to reach a certain spot and lost his grip. There was no time to cast a spell; his mind just seized on one word, Stop! To his great amazement he did just that, hovering above the ground. After that he practiced with the new talent as best as he could. In time he gained an amazing amount of maneuverability. He never told anyone of this new power, it was his secret. Now he had the freedom to enjoy it to its fullest and still keep his secret.

            The bright harsh landscape unfolded beneath him. His eyes darted over the area, searching for anything that looked like it might house the disc. Vincient rubbed his hands together, trying to calm the numbing nerves. The cold was much more than he imagined. If it weren’t for his aura increasing his tolerance, he would experience more than this mild irritation. In truth he most likely would be dead by now. Even so, a pins and needles feeling was present in all exposed flesh.

            Gods, I still can’t believe that this has lasted over three thousand years! He marveled. Though born on Zauberra and living here his whole life, he had never given much thought to the Heart and Wrath, or their history. As he reflected on it, his fascination grew. He pondered what exact spells were used, what went through the minds of the casters and their opponents. Taking that such a measure was necessary he wondered about Kagero herself.

            What drove her to do what she did? Was the belief in Kuladar that strong, or was it that she believed he would grant her power? The chance for vengeance, whether real or imagined, against her? Or was it, as the guildmaster believed, the work of a devoted follower? If it was the latter then I’m more leery of her than ever. Vincient thought. Nothing will stop a religious fanatic once they are set to a course, nothing short of death will deter them, and in this case, not even then. Faith is a powerful force. The eyes of the mage hardened with an angry resolve, a trait not usually visible in his character. Well I’ll pit my love and friendships against her faith any day! Besides, if that fails my faith in magic will make up the difference. A cocky grin crept up on his face as he raced deeper into the Heart of Kagero.

 

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            The further Vincient got from the deserted ruins, the colder it got. He frequently encountered strong barriers of frigid winds. Bracing his shoulders against them he was able to force his way through. As they became stronger and more frequent, he contemplated landing and walking the rest of the way. However, a good look at the topography ended the debate. The snow and ice covered plains gave way to a ragged landscape. The floor was cracked by a multitude of ice mountains. The ground appeared to have a texture similar to stucco. It had an extremely unforgiving look to it. Vincient didn’t land, but he lowered his altitude to just above those dagger-like peaks. The strength of the winds had lessened, but the frigid bitterness doubled.

            Vincient estimated that his current excursion lasted about an hour. The bright sunlight had slowly begun to dim. Thick gray storm clouds blotted it out, dropping the temperature even more. It forced Vincient to cut a strip from his cloak to wrap around his mouth and ears. Afterwards he again drew his cloak tighter around him. These new defenses helped some, but the cold still cut through. Soon the winds began to increase the viciousness of their assault; it was then that he saw the first snow flake. In mere moments that single flake became a blizzard.

            The constant snow made it hard to see though Vincient tried to continue his search. With visibility become exceedingly more difficult, he feared he wouldn’t be able to see whatever might be housing the disc. It was then that he spotted something different out of the corner of his eye. There was a clearing nestled among the icy mountains, filled with clean and unmarked snow. In the center was a smaller ice mountain, or at lest that was what he thought at first. The closer he looked at it, the more something seemed out of place. The shape was too clean it looked almost deliberate. Its sides were too straight, its body too distinct, it almost cried to be looked at. Vincient changed his flight path to take him to the oddity.

            As he drew nearer to the clearing Vincient lowered his flight path. Once clear of the mountains he went even lower, until he landed only a few feet from the object. At this level the snow was a thin curtain, the surrounding mountains acting as barrier against the heavy winds. Vincient’s boots crunched through the calf high snow, as he walked towards the structure. He saw that it was, or at least had been, an obelisk. At the base of it Vincient stopped. It towered over him where it ended in a jagged peak. The piece he stood before was fifteen feet tall and had sides about four feet wide. Touching the blue colored surface he found that like everything else it was made of ice. Vincient began to walk around the obelisk, half way around the second side his foot kicked something buried within the snow. He brushed aside the layer of snow and found the upper portions of the obelisk. It was cracked and scarred with deep gashes. Whatever did this was extremely strong. He mused, brushing snow from his hands. While he did that he spotted something strange. At about chest level to him were some snow crusted carvings. Wiping snow out of his way Vincient found several rune-styled characters. These were the same characters that had baffled the paladin, but they were slightly more understandable to him.

            “It’s Sorcerer’s script!” He whispered. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. This obelisk is old.” The cold almost completely forgotten, Vincient’s mind locked onto this new puzzle. He glanced over the runes, taking each one at a time and trying to fit them together in an understandable order. As he glanced it over he was able to decipher part of the writing. It was one part history and one part spell. The history was a quick tale of Kagero’s fight with the guild and her fall. The spell was the incantation to seal her back into her tomb. “Why the hell would he put these here? It would kill someone to stay long enough to carve these in ice?”  Pulling an old leather bound book no bigger than his palm from his a belt pouch, he carefully copied the characters into it. The book returned to its pouch shortly later. Rubbing his hands warm Vincient walked around the other sides of the obelisk. On the final side he found an empty round socket.

            “The disc must’ve been kept here, but where is it now?” Vincient began to riffle through the surrounding snow. It took him a moment of fruitless searching before he stopped. He remained in the snow on his hands and knees then began to laugh. “Gods, I am a clod!” Standing out of the snow he turned to the empty socket. Raising his right hand to it he closed his eyes. In the back of his mind he saw an energy pool. He drew a handful of the energy from the pool. The pool vanished, and the handful was made into the shape of an orb. Placing his hand into the socket, a bright blue glow emanated from there. Raising his other hand, palm up, he forced that orb into reality. It was the size of a common globe, swirling with a myriad of colors. Slowly they settled into the same light blue as the socket. Once it became that full shade of blue he removed his hand, ending the glow. The sphere gained an eerie luminance. “Now, go fetch!” The orb floated up and raced out into the clearing. It went about twenty feet then stopped, bobbing back and forth it waited for Vincient. “Good boy.” He raced after it with a smile.

            Vincient kept pace with the orb as they streaked across the field. The snow thickened now obscuring the outer reaches of the mountain clearing. He never lost the orb; its light was a bright beacon. Who or what took this thing this far away? I wonder if it was the same thing that broke the obelisk? Just what the hell could live in this place? These thoughts ran across his mind while he ran the wide-open snow plain. They were interrupted as a shape emerged in the storm.

            It was a cave in the ice mountain. Vincient stopped at the mouth of the cave. There was a foreboding feeling about it, a shiver passed through him that had nothing to do with the cold. The orb paced back and forth like an impatient child, just a few feet inside the cave. Slowly Vincient entered the cavern. The blue light of the orb reflected off the icy walls. If it weren’t for the deadly cold, the ice cavern might have been beautiful. The walls looked like a pale blue crystal, with prism of colors dancing over its surface. Indigo, reds, oranges, it was a ballet of colors moving in a silent dance. Touching the walls Vincient found that they were indeed solid ice. The heat from his hands melted the layer he touched. Moving his hand along the wall brought another fact to his mind. The walls had a smooth wave-like texture. Given the fact that the ice mountain was artificially created, that would mean the cave was also artificially created. A creature wouldn’t burrow through, the walls had to have been melted and refrozen. The only guess he could wager was that some time ago lava erupted under this mountain and the flow created the tunnel.

            “Yeah, that’s probably what happened. Now that makes me feel better.” He muttered. Turning away he continued after the orb. Another several feet led to a turn. He rounded the corner and saw a white light at the end of the tunnel. Seeing the orb heading towards he moved as well. “I hope this does not lead me to the Illuminari.” He said chuckling. Though it didn’t lead to the Illuminari, he was hard pressed to think of how it could top the beauty of this chamber. Beyond that glow was a chamber of ice and light. Its walls smoothly rose into a domed ceiling White globes burned every few feet, each one attached to a column of ice. The light eliminated almost all of the darkness and shadow, it also removed the orb’s blue tint in the ice. It looks as if everything were made of flawless crystal. The blue orb looked like a crude stain amongst the walls. As for the orb it continued onward to the back of the chamber, finally stopping when it reached its goal. It simply remained floating where it stopped. Vincient walk to it, all the while taking in the sight of the chamber. His breath caught when he reached the orb, lying amongst some old weaponry was the disc.

            It was of same size and dimensions as its brethren. This one was made of an ivory colored stone. The crystal center was churning with a multitude of small pinprick sized lights. It reminded him of the snow currently falling on the heart. He reached out and picked up the disc. Looking it over he felt the magic held within. His mind longed to study it, to dissect and understand it. Vincient began to walk back the way he had come, ignorant of the metal crunching under his boots. A heavy tremor awakened him from his musings.

            Glancing around the chamber Vincient saw the wall on his left begin to move. As it shifted he saw that it wasn’t ice, but a wall of shinning scales. Large clawed feet pounded on the icy floor, dragging the large body behind with it. A long sleek neck craned around the first pillar of ice, looking towards Vincient. On it sat a triangle shaped head. The snout was long and thin lined with a thousand sharp teeth. That nose led up into a large crown of bone fanning out over the back of its head. Two large slitted eyes looked upon the mage with deadly interest.

            “A higher white dragon.” Vincient said with child-like wonder. The dragon cocked its head at an odd angel, its mouth opened in what looked to be a grin. The sapphire orbs that wore its eyes tightened with mirth.

            “You’re a rare one. A mountain of silver and gold stood beneath your feet and all you want is that ancient toy.” Innocently Vincient looked behind himself. A glittering mound of gold and silver coins led to where he got the disc. Several types of jewels were strewn about for good measure.

            “Huh, would you look at that! How’d I miss that? Ah, well.” He said with a shrug. He turned back to the dragon, gazing over the mass of muscle and scale. “I’d never thought I would see a higher dragon.”

            “Hmm, and what do you think?” Its tone was full of pride.

            “Neat.”

            “ ‘Neat’? I’m creatures that naps for longer than you live, I can swallow you whole, and command power beyond your imagination, and all you have to say is neat?!”

            “Yeah, that’s about it.”

            “You are strange human. None the less you are stealing my treasure.”

            “Wow, this scene is awfully cliché, a tacky bard’s tale.”

            “What?!”

            “The mountain of treasure, the dire quest for the world, and you the evil dragon, its been done before. So, I’ll tell you what, if you let me go, I’ll get my friends, we’ll bind the dead Sorceress, and I’ll bring it right back. If you’re asleep I can…by the way you’re narrowing your eyes I take it you don’t like that idea.”

            “No, I do not.”

            “Okay, well how about this…bye!” Vincient dashes past the dragon, in a black blur, back into the tunnel.

            “Crazy little son of a…”

            Vincient ran down the icy corridor as fast as he safely could. He would constantly crash if he used his top speed in such tight quarters. The young mage ran back into the thick snowfall, the temperature had dropped severely. The wind tore into his face and hands. He dropped the disc into a large hip pouch, magically created to hold more than it was meant too. Quickly, he wrapped the scarf around his face and ears. As he ran a large dark shape emerged from the snow. The dragon sat waiting for him. The mage skidded to a stop, snow flying everywhere. He looked at the dragon with great confusion.

            “How the hell did you beat me out here?!”

            “Teleportation spell, it is quite handy.”

Vincient suddenly slapped his forehead. “And I couldn’t think of that!”

            “Hehehe” The dragon’s laughter was only slightly warmer than the air. “You forgot one part of this cliché, death by dragon’s breath!” The higher dragon lifted its head and drew a deep breath. Particles of blue light began to dance around its open maul.

            “Great! What the hell does this thing breath? Acid? No, that’s black. Lightning? Nah, that’s silver.” As the great wyrm gathered its attack Vincient rattled off every color of dragon and every effect of each one’s breath. Small crystals of ice began to form in the air. “White’s breath ice!” Vincient shouted. He separated his feet, setting them in a braced stance, and brought his right arm forward. The palm flat and fingers spread, Vincient began to chant.  “Fires of Hell spin around me to become my shield, Armor Of the Efreet!” Instantly both dragon and mage released their power. The dragon threw its head forward, a great wave of frozen crystals blasted out of its gullet. The icy stream raced to Vincient. As it approached a dome of fire exploded around him. The stream hit with great force. Air hissed and steamed as the cold met fire. Vincient’s arm twitched, feeling the physical force behind the dragon’s attack. With each moment Vincient pushed more power into his spell. The flames surged farther and hotter as he fed mana into it. Soon all Vincient saw were flames and steam, while the dragon only saw its deadly breath. I have to be careful, if I use too much mana I will exhaust my own life force. Then I will be just as dead as I would if this beast’s breath touched me.

            After about a minute of constant flow the dragon cut off the blast. A large white cloud covered the area where Vincient stood. The hot cloud was slowly being consumed by the frigid winds. Those sapphire eyes narrowed with agitation. Vincient emerged, unscathed. Sweat even dotted his brow. The flames were no longer circling him, other than the slush under him it was hard to tell they were ever there. Tendrils of steam rose from his body. He lowered his right arm and put his hands next to each other. His chest shuttered with a sigh. The fingers danced in a nervous motion.

            “That was a rather impressive trick. Not many have the power to counter a dragon’s breath. What did you do?”

            “A simple fire shield, just with much more power than normal.” As the dragon talked it was unaware of the sickly yellowish green glow growing around Vincient’s moving fingers. They rapidly moved over and under each other.

            “A fire shield you say? How could that be possible? You’re far too young to have that kind of power! I have over two millenniums of life and power, yet you have a spell power to rival me, How IS THAT?!”

            “A good diet maybe?”

            “You are quite flippant, it’s going to get you killed.”

            “Not by you.”

            “Oh, and what makes you think you can escape the cold, let alone me?! You’re just a…what’s that light?”

            “Just a little something to keep you warm!” The light around his hands had become a blaze. With a yell Vincient threw both hands forward. A large net of that sickly luminescence sprayed from his fingertips. The dragon had no time to react, the net splashed over the massive chest. Several scales hissed and cracked under the sudden temperature change. While others melted into an ooze. Its agony echoed over the icy mountains. Vincient took off into the heavens. Once he cleared the jagged peaks he pushed himself in the direction of Kagero’s fortress. The storm seemed in league with the dragon. Heavy winds slowed his progress, while heavy snow blinded him. However, it was what he heard that frightened him. The snap of larger leathery wings and a roar sliced through the air. I have to regroup with the paladin, I can’t kill this thing on my own. At least not without freezing to death! I already wasted a great deal of energy in that shield spell and the cold’s draining the rest. Vincient’s thoughts broke off when he was assailed by powerful wind sheer. As he righted himself he saw the dragon bearing down on him.

            “I’m going to devour you!”

            “Oh that sound good.” He muttered. A purple glow surrounded Vincient, he then pushed onward into the powerful winds. He was able to gain more ground, but as fast as he went the dragon moved even faster. Damnit! I have to ground that thing. He risked a look back to see the dragon less than two hundred meters behind him. I have no choice but to cast another spell, this one has to count. Vincient let the purple glow die suddenly as well as his speed. He stopped dead and began to gather power for his spell. Once again he pictured a sphere, but this time gave it an entirely different purpose. Cupping his hands and placing them slightly apart, he locked gazes with the mass of scales barreling towards him. In a matter of ten seconds the dragon closed the distance. Vincient shoved the sphere into reality, it blazed in his hands. The maw opened as the dragon soared. Those teeth were a second away from catching Vincient, the mage vanished, instantly appearing behind the dragon. “Fireball!” The fiery orb flew unerringly to its target, then through it, exploding harmlessly on the ground. “What?!” The dragon broke apart into billows of smoke.

            “Got you!” Vincient turned in time to receive the dragon’s attack. A massive claw struck him. The force was so strong it hurled Vincient to the ground. Vincient impacted hard, raising a cloud of ice and snow. When everything settled on the ground so did the dragon. The ground shook under the ancient behemoth. It surveyed the broken snow for Vincient.

            “Probably killed him with that. Oh well, food’s food.” It chuckled. Its head came to attention when it heard something. Slowly Vincient’s ragged form rose out of the snow. His right eye was squinted shut to keep out the blood flowing from the gash above it. A scream escaped him as he pulled something out of his left side. A large sliver of ice was now in his hand, covered in his own blood. Vincient tossed it aside.

            “Ah, you’re still alive. Good, I like to play with my food.”

            “You’re really sick, you know that don’t you?” Its laugh was the only response.

            Gods damnit! I can’t afford any heavy spells with this wound. My energy is lowering with every drop I lose. Vincient sent his senses out, trying to find the strong life force of the paladin. He felt a strong aura far out to his left. He looked to see the dragon to his right. Okay only one trick left Vincient make it good. Vincient concentrated his will on the storm raging around. Slowly he began to recite the words of magic. The winds reacted to the arcane language. They became thicker with snow. Loose ground snow lifted into the sky to join its newborn brethren. The white maelstrom soon obscured Vincient’s foe. The mage used one last trick; he blinked thirty feet to the left and began moving as fast as he could. As if to mock his efforts, the wind carried the dragon’s laughter and its shambling steps to his ears.

 

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            For over an hour Vincient traveled. By now his hopes had become as barren as the landscape around him. His strength was depleted almost completely. The frozen air leeched heat from his body and lashed his skin. Blood still flowed freely from his wound; part of the stuff was frozen into his tunic. His lips were cracked and bleeding from severe cold. Every last part of him seemed stiff from cold. He was exhausted in every sense of the word. His body wanted him to lie down, even his will had given out, only his anger and his pride kept him going.

            Bastard! How dare he toy with me! Though Vincient was not ruled by his power and he was not always pleased with the side effects of it, he still had pride in his abilities. The dragon was mocking them. It could have easily killed him at any moment, but it did not. Instead it chose to play with him. It loped along at a leisurely pace, moving just fast enough to keep up with Vincient’s hobbled walk. Occasionally it would toss out taunts and laughter to its lame prey. Vincient was further hindered by the new intensity of the storm that he had created. To Vincient it seemed everything in reality had cut a deal with the dragon.

            “I may not be able to see you, but I can still smell you. Yes, the scent of your blood fills me with delight. I can’t wait to taste it.” The giant reptile laughed with delight. Its laughter filled Vincient’s head like a demon. All sensation had left his skin, his legs felt like rubber, he staggered a few more feet before those legs gave out. Vincient fell face first into the snow. There was no strength left to move.

            “Now, you’re mine!” The dragon hissed with pleasure. Vibrations from its movements rolled through his weakened body. Who would have thought it would end like this?! I didn’t even get to use my best spells. The mage though while he closed his eyes and prepared for those deadly jaws.

            “Get the hell away from him right now!”  Vincient’s eyes flew open. This new voice was very familiar to him, drawing the last shred of energy he looked up above him. What he saw must have been a dream, a wonderful fantasy made up by his dying mind to comfort him. The paladin stood above him, masked in mist. It stood only inches away. Tendrils of steam flowed off its armor, adding to the dream-like quality of the view. However, the heat Vincient felt radiating from its armor was real. The snow melting near its feet was likewise real. The paladin wasn’t looking at him, its face was locked with the dragon. He could hear the muscles popped taunt on its arm as its fist clenched tightly.

            “This is one hell of a hallucination.” He whispered hoarsely. Then its head shifted to look at him.

            “This is real, just hold on a moment my friend.” It returned.

            “Excuse me, I do hate to interrupt, but I should remind you that you are in the presence of an annoyed and hungry dragon!” The wyrm snorted.

            “I’ll deal with you later.” The paladin knelt by its comrade, without glancing at the dragon. It began a prayer, placing its hand on his neck. Vincient closed his tired eyes, reveling in the warmth stored in the metal hand. A surge of warmth spread out into his body. The tell tale itch of mending flesh came from his side. “I’ve closed the wound, but you’re still in danger. Let me finish the dragon…”

            “You’re not gonna finish that sentence, let alone me!” The massive head shot forward. Stretching its mouth open, intending to swallow the paladin whole. Its teeth crashed against a barrier. Water-like ripples formed where the teeth impacted. The paladin watched the eyes of the dragon widen in surprise. A small titter of laughter came from Vincient.

            “That’s a neat trick.” He whispered weakly. As the paladin watched the dragon, it noticed the large patch of melted scales on its chest. A smile formed behind the helm.

            “It appears you used a few of your own.”

            “Didn’t even…get to use…my good…spells. Too…worried about t-the cold to…” Vincient tried to get up.

            “You idiot! I said to let me handle this. I only cast a light prayer spell, it just undid the surface damage. If you waste any more of your strength you’ll start to get frost bite.”

            “I’m at least going to watch!” Vincient said as he struggled pulling himself into a sitting position. “If you’re going to kill it, do it before I grow old.”

            “You certainly know how to make a date interesting.” The paladin darted forward.

            “Date?” Vincient said in surprised puzzlement.

 

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            The dragon watched as the paladin and Vincient talked. The paladin’s trick had left it very puzzled. Something was oddly familiar about it. It’s not magic, all but the blues’ know magic, and this is something else entirely. Entirely. Something slipped in the dragon’s brain, a memory of his fledgling days. The stories of the ancient Zantherian warriors, who could harness their souls and use them like weapons. It was said only one group could do this besides them. Silver warriors who hunted dragons and won. Could this be a-a paladin? Looking at the metal warrior and its powers, it was hard to deny. “The mage was right. This is quickly becoming a cliché.” Its attention shifted when it saw the paladin move towards it. Rearing back the dragon prepared to meet its new prey. The paladin stopped before the dragon.

            “Normally I’d try to reason with you, but you dared to wound him. For that I will kill you!” With one fast and fluid motion the paladin brought forth its weapon. The strange blade blazed with silver fire.

            “Nice toy, think it will do any good?”

            “Let’s see.” The paladin rushed the great beast. At the same time the dragon brought its arm down in a deadly swipe. Jumping straight up, the paladin avoided the attack. Then it pulled a trick from its battle with the sand crawler. It launched itself off the scaly hand with all its might, readying the blade upon the creature’s right eye as it flew. The paladin saw its body reflected in that large perfect blue orb. The eye narrowed, a white streak then knocked the paladin out of its path. The metal titan crashed into the snowy ground. Without hesitation it rolled to its feet, quickly getting the dragon back in its sight. A long and thick tail danced around the beast’s head. “Okay, you wanna play like that then, huh?” It once again rushed the dragon. On its approach the tail whipped out. The paladin suddenly vanished just as the tail reached it. Snow exploded under the thunderous blow. At the same time the dragon felt the wind shift behind its head. It quickly tried to move its head to the side when a searing pain erupted behind its jaw. Turning its head back, it saw the paladin running to a safe distance. With a roar it made a lunging swipe with its hand. The hit landed, knocking the paladin down and tearing most of its cloak away.

            Though the paladin only caught a grazing blow, the hit still struck with tremendous force. It fell forward in an awkward roll. The armor-clad warrior’s world was still spinning as it struggled to its feet. That massive hand was bearing down. Unfortunately the paladin was not fast enough to escape it, it forced the warrior back to the ground. As the dragon applied great pressure the paladin released a grating metallic scream.

            ‘Hahaha, I love canned food!” The dragon roared with sadistic glee. Metal screams and dragon laughter were interrupted by a powerful crash of thunder. The right side of the dragon’s head exploded. Blood, scale, bone and traces of lightning sprayed into the sky. With a cry of pain the dragon backed away. In the next second Vincient replaced the dragon in the paladin’s vision.

            Vin-Vincient, wh-what did you do?!” The young mage was gasping for air. Though obviously exhausted his typical grin returned. A laugh escaped his lips between gasps.

            “It…was…my…thunder cannon…spell. I think….I used…too…much of my…energy in it.” The paladin sat up focusing his senses upon Vincient’s aura. His life force is dangerously low! I have to get him out of here before… The paladin stopped dead, all thoughts ceased. A trickle of red flowed over the eyepiece of its helm. Coated in blood, one of the dragon’s talons was sticking through Vincient’s stomach. It happened so fast that he hadn’t time to scream. The talon, which was curved towards the ground, turned over. As Vincient’s mouth worked wordlessly, blood flowed from it.  On that impaling claw, the young mage was hoisted into the air. He was brought before what remained of the dragon’s face.

            The upper right portion had been completely destroyed. The scale, muscle and even the bone around the right eye had been blasted apart. The orb itself was burned out of existence. Only a dark and grisly pit remained. Extremely dark red blood filled the socket, small rivers ran down its face.

            “I do believe this was your doing.” It snarled. Through sheer force of will Vincient summoned enough effort for one final return. He spat blood at the higher dragon, it splashed under the now one good eye where it fell away like a tear. “Enjoy that? Much like all of your other efforts little mage, this was very useless. I shall enjoy watching you die.” A sudden sharp high-pitched sound pierced the air. The paladin with a primal battle cry ran at the dragon with its burning blade braced in front of it. The dragon quickly tossed Vincient at the paladin, at the same time the paladin chucked its sword like a spear. The moment the blade left its hand, the paladin leapt into the sky. It quickly met and caught Vincient, a split second later it saw the dragon’s tail whip towards them. With a single thought the paladin gathered its energy and thrust it to the right, forcing it several feet left. The tail passed them harmlessly. With all of the grace of a cat the paladin landed on its feet. From behind it the dragon’s laughter boomed, the paladin turned on it.

            “I don’t know what you thought you accomplished with this…” Its clawed hand indicated the paladin’s sword. The mystic blade had embedded itself in the mass of melted scales. “But its about the same as a bee sting would be to you. The mage on the other hand is all but dead.”

            “Make no mistake about this, you will die.”

            “I will be two thousand years old at the end of this battle, what makes you think you can kill me? You miserable…” The dragon’s remaining eye widened in great surprise. It rotated downward, gazing at the sword. With a sudden powerful movement, the blade rose straight up its chest. Steam flowed from the burning trench left in its wake. Another hard movement brought it just up into the neck. The tip of the blade sprung out of the other side, again there was no blood. Only the steam of burning flesh. The eye returned its gaze to the paladin. It remained still with Vincient draped lifelessly over its arms. There was no surface evidence, but the dragon felt its hate. Like the heat of the sun it radiated out from it. In that instant the dragon knew its fate. With one last stroke the sword ended the dragon. It ripped along the serpentine neck, until cleaving through the skull. Even the large crown of bone that topped the head was sliced through. Once free of the dragon’s flesh the sword boomeranged back to the paladin, burying itself in the ground. The dragon’s head and neck fell apart in two equal halves, landing on both sides of the its collapsed body. As everything settled the paladin turned back to Vincient. Gently it laid him on the snow, cradling his head in its arm. He was still breathing, very shallowly but breathing none the less.

            “Vincient!” It called sharply. “Vincient, wake up!” Sluggishly Vincient opened his eyes.

            “Is it dead?”

            “Yes, it is. Listen we don’t have much time.”

            “I…know, at…at least it was a higher dragon…”

            “You’re not going to die! I won’t let you!”

            “Can’t…heal.”

            “You’re right I can’t heal you, but I can still save you.” Vincient tried to respond, but began coughing up fresh blood. “Just listen to me. In a few moments your body and powers will be returned and I will be dead.” Vincient’s eyes widened. “Just don’t do anything to me, especially bury me. I will wake up, and trust me having to crawl out of the ground is not fun.”

            “But…agh”

            “Quiet! I have to do this now.” The paladin placed its hand over Vincient’s heart. It felt his heart beat weakening. It cleared its mind of everything but that beat. “Tenaria, Heavenly Mother, Goddess of Light, I beg you answer my prayer.” A golden light emanated from around the metal fingers. Vincient felt the stored warmth of the desert in that hand, that light enhanced it even more. It flowed into him like a gentle wave. Pain eased from his face with the sensation. His hand covered the paladin’s and grasped it lightly. “Make his pain, my pain, make my strength, his strength. I give my life for his life.” The glow became a golden glare. The gentle wave of warmth became a raging torrent. His body was suffused with that raging warmth. Despite his condition Vincient’s eyes opened wide and alert. All but the vaguest outline of the paladin’s form was lost in the blinding light. Vincient’s mind was racing with thought. Along with that he felt his body heal and his power returning.

            No, not just returning, growing! I’m…I’m getting stronger, but how? Why? Vincient free hand lightly touched his stomach, only to find the fatal wound gone. Almost as suddenly as it had appeared, the light vanished. When the paladin’s hand left his chest, Vincient rose. He stood staring down at his hands. Vincient couldn’t ever remember feeling like this. The way he felt now was both wonderful and frightening. He could feel the mana coursing through him like never before, it was as if he had be reborn. His attention shifted when he heard the sound of metal sliding over metal. That power he had felt fled his legs as he witnessed the price of it. Falling to his knees, Vincient whispered, “Lords preserve us!”

 

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            “So, now you know everything.” The paladin said. Though it was no longer necessary it had redone its armor. It was a day after they had reunited and night had descended as the two were back at there make shift camp. Vincient, powered by his renewed energy had carried the paladin most of the way back to the camp before it finally awoke.

            “What exactly was it that you did to me?”

            “The spell is called ‘Martyr’. Basically I took your fatal wounds upon myself.”

            “That’s why…why you…”

            “Yes, the wounds transferred to my body.”

            “It did more than that. From the way I feel, your Ki was fused into me as well.”

            “Fused?”

            “I felt this tremendous power enter me. Afterwards I felt a power within me like never before, I’m beginning to adjust to it now though.”

            “I don’t get it, but I have only just learned of this Ki business.”

            “Think of it like a water. Your body is a container and your Ki energy is like the water inside of it. You use an ability that drains Ki, you empty some that water, use too many and you empty the container. If you don’t die, this water comes back, only with more volume. Physical wounds are like holes in the container and they slowly leak the water. Again if you live and heal you get stronger as a natural result. In my condition I was empty and your spell filled me with the water from your container, but when my own water returned it merged with the water you added.”

“So, you now have my power plus yours?”

“Something like that.”

“You should be able to easily defeat a creature like that now.”

“ Well I have added power, but I have to learn to control it now. It will take time to gain the experience to learn how to use it.”

            “I’m just glad you’re here to gain that experience.”

            “Thanks to you, and someday I will pay you back that debt.” A moment of silence passed before the paladin voiced a new subject.

            “Do we move onto the inn or finish the night here?”

            “We can get some sleep first then move out. I didn’t think I’d have much power left when we got done, so I was counting on the horses. Now I can open a spatial gate and get us there in an instant. Plus I have to conjure new clothes, it’s a little too cool to walk around topless.” Vincient laughed, the paladin nodded. Vincient created his clothes while the paladin relaxed. Shortly later both retired for the night.

 

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            On the outskirts of a quite mountain village, a loud boom shattered the silence. A circular distortion grew to sudden life in the grassy plains. Two figures on horse back burst out of it. Once the pair was clear it snapped shut.

            “That method of travel will take some getting use to.” The paladin said bringing its horse under control.

            “Sorry to say that it doesn’t get better with time.”

            “It seems to have brought us just outside of the village.”

            “I could’ve opened it right inside the inn, but I didn’t want to spoke everyone.”

            “Good point.”

            As the returning duo moved through the small village they didn’t come across a single soul, not a stray animal even. Vincient scanned over the area, his eyes searched for any signs of life.

            “Something’s not right here.” He said.

            “You’re right. Even for early morning it’s too quiet. I don’t even hear the livestock.” Vincient suddenly came to a rigid attention. He stopped his horse.

            “You feel it too?”

            Vincient merely nodded. What he felt was a force unlike any he had felt before. It was not just strength that he felt, but a deep darkness. The power throbbed like some vile heart. With sudden urgency Vincient twisted in his saddle looking off, deeper into the village.

            “It’s coming from the inn!” With a sharp kick to his horse’s flanks Vincient was galloping away. The paladin followed in close pursuit. In a few moments they reached the inn, only to be greeted by an shocking sight. Bound and gagged at the base of the inn’s long wooden porch were Darius, Garette, and Dungar. Other than a few scrapes they were in good shape. All were unconscious, lying against the wooden latticework behind them. Their surprise was not long enough to become vocalized for they were interrupted by the sound of the inn’s door opening. Heavy boots were heard walking across the wooden planks. Vincient and the paladin at last looked upon their adversary.

            “Well it seems the final two pieces have come together.”

 

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